Age of Cosmic Exploration

Sitting in the captain’s chair, a tired-looking Guang Zhen commented, "So the Anima’s song has this effect as well."

Ever since the war started, this was his third ship. Humanity had lost plenty in this war. Even though they managed to tangle with the AI fleet and successfully got onto the AI fleet’s energy umbrella pathway, they were still behind the enemy. Other than the Black Star Troopers who managed to get into the middle of the enemy fleet, the rest of them were left far behind, unable to take part in this final war.

The biggest worry for Guang Zhen was the Black Star Troopers who had been battling for several ten hours already. Unlike normal human beings, when they used their Homo Evolutis power or focused fully in battle, fatigue would catch up to them easily. If their initial fighting score was 100, as time moved on, when they were fatigued, the score would lower to 50. Currently, human technology hadn’t figured out a way to remove this fatigue. Drugs could temporarily solve this problem, but due to the side effects, the usage was banned.

Therefore, resolving Homo Evolutis’ fatigue problem had always been the human medical community’s biggest hurdle and issue. However, this problem was now handily resolved by a song. Furthermore, the song was not only effective to the Homo Evolutis but also all the human beings. This was truly an ultimate weapon for extended warfare!

"Alas... Xi Kong’s singing is also done through Homo Evolutis, so she too will feel tired. If she can continue singing, then this war..."

Guang Zhen knew he was dreaming. He sighed, but before the thought settled in his mind, about 10 seconds after the song ended, another song began. The feeling the joy and relaxation that originated from the song was like a cold shower in the middle of a hot day washing over Guang Zhen. It made him feel completely refreshed. Xi Kong had started singing a second song.

"Then again, she is also a child of man. This is a war that will decide the fate of humanity, so who wouldn’t give it their all? At most she’ll only be exhausted, but she understands her songs will change the tide of the battle..."

Guang Zhen sat quietly for a few minutes, feeling his spirits slowly soaring. Instantly, he ordered, "Wake up the batch of Black Star Troopers who returned. Also... get Xing Ling Amulo Rei into space as well. Tell him to join the battle with the Steel Ball. Have him move to the frontline with the highest speed. Tell him to aim for the high score and don’t hold back. Let’s get moving, people, this is the last battle... After this battle, I’ll give everyone a three-month long holiday!"

As the commander of the Defense Unit and the vice-captain of the Black Star Troopers, Guang Zhen’s promises definitely carried weight. Furthermore, he was a pure military person, so the daily training was horrendous. There weren’t many holidays in a year. Both the Defense Unit and the Black Star Troopers actually had some complaints, so this three month holiday was a pleasant surprise.

Even though no one cared about holiday at that moment in time, when Guang Zhen said that, it was still welcomed with a glorious cheers...

In one of the rooms, Amulo was chatting excitedly with Lee Xia Ya. Sitting beside them were both of their parents and Lee Sai Na, who was sitting in her mother’s embrace. Biting her finger, she glanced at the two boys as they talked about the effectiveness of long-range shooting compared to close-quarters combat. She couldn’t find a lull in their conversation to intervene, and the little girl was quite annoyed.

At this time, a soldier suddenly knocked on the door to tell them Guang Zhen’s orders. The room turned silent instantly. Amulo’s mother rushed to hug her son immediately. Even though she didn’t say a word, the meaning of her action was obvious.

Amulo, though, claimed excitedly, "Mom, it’s fine, the Steel Ball is safe. If I control it, I can clear the robot fleet in seconds. They won’t be able to even lay a finger on me. Don’t worry, I can do it!"

The mother’s expression was a mix of pride and sadness. She slowly released her grasp on her son. She touched her son’s face and said, "Rei, you’ve grown up so soon... you can make your own choice now. Your father has always wished for you to be a responsible young man, and you’ve done that... Go ahead then, my son, make us proud... go, but promise that you’ll return safely." Then the woman’s tears started to fall.

Amulo was in a panic. He tried to wipe away his mother’s tears, but she was pulled up by Susan beside her. She took care of his mother and told him, "Go along, child, this is your destiny. Haven’t you always wanted to be a Black Star Trooper? Go ahead, fight..."

Amulo nodded affirmatively before glancing at his own mother with worry in his eyes. When he realized his mother wasn’t going to stop him, he ran to the soldier and got onto the floating shuttle. As the shuttle drove away, he didn’t realize Xia Ya was glaring at him with envy...

At the same time, on the other end of the ship, Zhang San sat quietly by his bed, listening to Xi Kong’s song. He appeared to be quite distressed. He didn’t know how to sing. In fact, even though he was also an Anima, the most he could do was create a "roar" in the soul web. However, that not only wouldn’t relax others, it would cause harm to people around him. Even though Anima were also Homo Evolutis, compared to Perceptors, Seekers, or even Diviners, he was horrible at combat. This made him feel completely useless, and that was not a good feeling to have.

Furthermore, the final battle was happening soon. The City of Light, where his parents, friends, and lover resided, but what could he do? In order to protect him, his request to join the battle was rejected firmly by Guang Zhen...

"Zhang San, is this enemy fleet controlled by an AI?" Intel suddenly asked.

Intel had always stayed by Zhang San’s side. When Zhang San was depressed, Intel was continuously calculating and analyzing something.

Zhang San was startled before nodding. "Yes, it’s an AI-controlled fleet, so no matter how many of them we’ve destroyed, they will not be fazed. They’re heading towards the City of Light Moon... and we have destroy them before they reach it!"

Intel’s eyes glowed slightly before asking, "Is this City of Light Moon very important to Zhang San?"

Zhang San confirmed immediately, "Of course, that is my home. My parent and lover are all there. The City of Light Moon is more important than anything, even my life."

Intel’s eyes continued to glow. "Zhang San, there are two possibilities from my analysis regarding the possibility of trading information with this AI fleet. One, this AI fleet has an internet connected AI computer. In other word, each chip is an individual AI. Even if we destroy all the motherships, the individual ships will continue to fight because that’s how they’re programmed...

"Two, this AI fleet has a cloud server system similar to humanity’s mother AI. In other words, this is one or a few mother AIs, and they are responsible for controlling all the spaceships...

"There are only these two possibilities. The first possibility is more possible because when the creator’s particle covers the battlefield, the cloud server system will lose its purpose and there wouldn’t be flexibility in the programming. In other words, this sub-fleet wouldn’t have been possible."

Zhang San was shocked. He looked at Intel for a long time before asking in a hurry, "You thought of all of this yourself?"

Intel’s eyes shone. "Calculating... thinking, yes, I’ve thought of this myself... I, myself, seem to be a mother AI as well."

Zhang San had a hard time understanding him. He walked to face Intel and asked seriously, "Intel, tell me, why are you telling me all this? Tell me everything, okay?"

Intel calculated for several seconds before continuing, "It appears like I can overwrite the program of non-mother AI chips. That is why I’ve been analyzing the information trading system of this fleet. If this fleet is the second possibility, then there is nothing I can do, but if it is the first possibility, and each machine has its own individual chip, then I can use a virus to hack and overwrite their program. With enough time and power, as long as this fleet belongs to the first possibility...

"Then I can take control of this AI fleet."