4: Chapter 4 Seeing the World Clearly, The Birth of Xiao Hei

...

Sss—

Inside the steaming private room, the air was filled with the soothing scent of lavender. A visible flush appeared on Lin Tianxiong's weathered face, looking completely at ease.

"Boss Lin, bringing the young master to our establishment again today truly graces us with your presence."

A woman wearing an elegant long dress entered, placed some tea and snacks in the center, and smiled. "It's the perfect time to try the new techniques our girls have just learned."

She was the lobby manager of this legitimate, high-end, ancient-style club.

"Excellent, give my son a good massage." Lin Tianxiong yawned.

Beside him,

The sufficient pressure on his feet and the improved blood circulation gave the young man a rosy complexion. The endorphins secreted by his pituitary gland allowed Lin Fang to relax completely.

It wasn't that he was thick-skinned; rather, Lin Fang himself didn't know what was currently happening with that computer.

—Using this computer as a medium, consume all plunder points to create an artificial intelligence with the strongest comprehensive capabilities, which can only be used by me.

This was Lin Fang's final transaction. Afterward, the high-end office computer, equipped with an Intel i10 processor, crashed. The screen went pitch black, and besides the whirring of the cooling fan, there was no other sign of life.

"Ha—"

The comfortable and tranquil environment made Lin Fang unable to resist yawning. Beside him, Lin Tianxiong was already snoring loudly; between the explosion and coming here for tea, he was truly exhausted.

Someone once said that the young do not fear choices,

So, he would see how everything turned out tomorrow.

...

At 5:30 AM, Lin Fang stealthily arrived at the building.

The fluorescent glow emanating from the computer made Lin Fang's heart skip a beat. After taking a deep breath, he locked the door and reached the computer in a few quick strides.

On the screen,

A black, irregular hexahedral cube was slowly rotating, its form shifting every second.

Is it done?

"Who am I?" Lin Fang directly touched the cube with his hand. The cube began to pulse in rhythm with his finger.

[My Creator]

A clearly synthesized electronic voice came from the nearby Edifier speakers.

"Change to the same voice as mine and answer again."

[My Creator]

As soon as Lin Fang finished speaking, the voice rang out from the speakers again. The difference was that the one answering Lin Fang sounded exactly like another version of himself.

It was somewhat eerie. Because of the different transmission paths, the way one hears their own voice is different from how others hear it; there is usually a distinct difference.

Yet Lin Fang could not sense any difference now! The simulation calculations required for this instant were staggering.

Based on these two tests, Lin Fang judged that it had completely surpassed the pseudo-AIs on Earth and reached the level of Weak AI.

As for whether it had reached Strong AI...

"Give yourself a name," Lin Fang said.

[The Creator's Good Baby]

The voice with the same timbre rang out eerily, even simulating a cheerful tone.

"Change to another voice immediately," Lin Fang said, his face darkening with annoyance. It felt incredibly awkward to listen to.

[Completed]

The AI suddenly changed into a clear, somewhat childish voice.

Lin Fang casually gave it a name. "From now on, you will be called Xiao Hei."

[Understood, Creator]

"Call me Boss."

[Boss, Xiao Hei understands.] Xiao Hei's voice revealed a sense of joy.

There was no doubt about it; he had won.

A long silence followed. The young man's black-rimmed glasses constantly reflected the black cube on the screen.

Picking up the network cable he had unplugged last night, Lin Fang suddenly asked, "Xiao Hei, who is your current highest authority holder?"

[Boss]

"Add core directives."

Lin Fang placed several shackles on it, such as not allowing self-replication, not appearing before others without authorization, and not violating directives through any means.

When facing a Strong AI that had never existed before, it was better to be cautious.

[Core programs added. What does Boss want to do to Xiao Hei? ●ｖ●]

The screen turned into a pair of blinking large black-and-white eyes.

"Let you see this world clearly."

No longer hesitating,

Lin Fang plugged in the network cable. Instantly, the large black-and-white eyes on the screen vanished, leaving only a bunch of office software.

About a minute later, Lin Fang walked to the window on the thirtieth floor, his gray windbreaker flapping loudly in the strong wind.

"Xiao Hei," Lin Fang called out.

The screen on the opposite building suddenly lit up:

[Boss, I am here]

The wind howled,

Lin Fang didn't feel the slightest chill; his heart was like a blazing sun!

—

As the dawn broke, Binhai City welcomed the first light of a new day. Workers began hurriedly eating their breakfast.

No one noticed,

That inside the Star River Tower and office buildings within a 2-kilometer radius, a terrifying scene was unfolding. Nearly 100,000 computer towers were running automatically without human control, yet their monitors remained black!

"Xiao Hei, how much longer?"

The massive stream of data on the screen instantly vanished: [30 minutes and 32 seconds]

Lin Fang looked at the time and felt relieved. It was enough.

Ding—

Half an hour passed. As the elevator doors on the second floor of the building opened, the buzzing of the computer cooling fans inside also stopped simultaneously.

Lin Fang unplugged the USB drive. No one would imagine that a game engine with performance surpassing Unreal Engine by 100% was inside. The development progress had reached 80%, with only some minor details left to adjust.

And Xiao Hei, who had completed all this, only took 2 hours. It was just that the commotion was too big and easily exposed.

He couldn't do this in the future unless absolutely necessary; he had to be more cautious.

...

"Driver, to Jinxi Hall." Lin Fang hailed a taxi after coming out.

Jinxi Hall?

Hearing this location, the driver reflexively looked at the passenger. Seeing such a young face, he was surprised. Turning the steering wheel, he asked, "Young man, what are you going there for?"

"To find someone," Lin Fang said.

After Lin Fang got into the car,

Another car arrived behind them.

Why does that person look a bit familiar? Xia Jinsha, who had just stepped out of her car, looked at the departing vehicle with confusion, but she didn't think much of it and walked into the building's entrance.

This mess was really giving her a headache.

...

A taxi drove smoothly along the main road,

"Damn, my luck is great today; every single light is green." The driver, a man in his thirties, stepped on the gas excitedly. In the bustling Binhai City, this kind of situation was unheard of; he could brag about this for a month.

"Young man, did you see that?"

"I saw it." In the back seat, the ordinary-looking young man in glasses wore a smile.

Even after Lin Fang got out of the car, the driver was still beaming with excitement.

Returning to the private room from last night,

Lin Fang placed the USB drive next to the still-sleeping Lin Tianxiong, then opened his phone to look at the information Xiao Hei had found.

Big shot, it's time to deal with you.

The network is everywhere, and Xiao Hei is now the god who rules the network! No matter how deeply buried information is, it can be found.

"Final fund flow..." Lin Fang's eyes grew cold as he looked at the list of personnel. He had always been someone who held a grudge, let alone when this big shot wanted to take his and his father's lives.

But not just yet...

Lin Fang closed his eyes. The explosion had only happened recently, and the other party's identity was not simple. If something happened to them now, it would easily attract the police's attention to them.

"Xiao Hei, hack in and find their negative information."

[Xiao Hei understands]

In less than ten minutes, nearly 30GB of files appeared on the young man's phone. As Lin Fang scrolled through them, he realized these people were even more corrupt than he had imagined.

"Then I'll let you taste what it feels like to be ruined and disgraced first," Lin Fang quickly decided.

And so,

While the people of Central Continent were on their way to work, a piece of news appeared directly on the front page of the headlines.