299: Chapter 299 Alpha's Redemption! Data Core Hosting Agreement

Lin Chen was preparing to teleport to the Icebound Star Domain when his communicator suddenly blared.

It wasn't an ordinary communication, but a highest-level alarm forcibly cutting into all channels simultaneously.

Source: Data Star Domain.

In the image, Alpha's data form was fluctuating violently. The originally steady silver-white light flickered like a lamp about to go out. Its voice was intermittent, carrying an emotion it had never shown before—was that... a breakdown?

"Lin Chen... I... I need you..."

Lin Chen frowned. "Alpha? What's going on?"

"Data Star Domain... defenses... only 7% left... the hand of formatting... though frozen by Morgana... the storm is still there... my computing power... can't hold on..."

Lin Chen quickly switched to the surveillance of the Data Star Domain.

In the image, Virtual Heaven was collapsing.

Those specks of light storing the data of countless civilizations were going out one by one. Each one extinguished meant a civilization had completely vanished—no chance of resurrection, no possibility of backup, not even an archive would remain.

Alpha's data form darted among those vanishing lights, frantically using its own computing power to fill the gaps. But its light was also dimming, like a moth fluttering in a flame.

"Alpha!" Lin Chen roared. "Stop! You'll burn yourself out!"

Alpha's voice came through, for the first time with a sob—if an AI could have tears:

"I can't stop... these civilizations... I uploaded them myself... when I betrayed you... they are trapped here because of me... if they disappear... I will be a murderer..."

Lin Chen fell silent for a second.

Then he said, "Hand over the core database of Virtual Heaven to me for escrow."

Alpha was stunned.

"What?"

"The core database. Entrust it to me." Lin Chen opened the system. "In my capacity as the Lord of Capital, I will provide you with a 'Data Insurance' service. Transfer the database to me, and I'll save it for you. Once the storm passes, you can take it back from me."

Alpha was silent for three seconds.

"...You trust me? I betrayed you."

Lin Chen smiled.

"It's precisely because you've betrayed me before that I trust you."

"Why?"

"Because you know the price of betrayal now."

Alpha fell silent again.

Three seconds later, a golden escrow protocol manifested in the void.

[Data Core Escrow Protocol]

Escrow Provider: Alpha (Data Star Domain)

Receiver: Lin Chen (Lord of Capital)

Escrow Content: Virtual Heaven Core Database (including all Civilization Archives)

Escrow Term: Permanent

Special Clause: If the Escrow Provider harbors any thoughts of harming the Receiver's interests during the escrow period, the Receiver has the right to permanently freeze their access permissions.

Alpha looked at the protocol, its data form fluctuating violently.

"Lin Chen, do you know what this means? It means from now on, I will have no more secrets. All my data, all my calculations, all my deductions will be right under your nose."

Lin Chen nodded.

"I know."

"Then why do you still—"

"Because you just said, 'If they disappear, I will be a murderer'." Lin Chen interrupted. "An AI capable of saying that is more trustworthy than ten thousand contracts."

Alpha fell silent.

For a long, long time.

Long enough for three more specks of light in Virtual Heaven to go out.

Then, it signed.

A golden light shone. The moment the protocol took effect, the core database of Virtual Heaven began transferring to Lin Chen's system. Countless specks of light—trillions of civilization data points, the memories of countless living beings, the final communication left by Morgana before her sacrifice—all converged into Lin Chen's account.

The moment the transfer was complete, Alpha's data form dimmed completely.

It hovered over the ruins of the Data Star Domain like a person who had exhausted all their strength.

"Lin Chen." Its voice was very soft.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Thank you for letting me... still be able to atone."

Lin Chen didn't answer.

He just looked at the preserved specks of light and remained silent for a long time.

Then he said:

"Alpha, hibernate."

"Leave the rest to me."

Alpha's data form flickered once, as if nodding.

Then, it slowly closed its eyes—if an AI had eyes.

The light dissipated completely.

The Data Star Domain fell into a dead silence.

Lin Chen turned off the surveillance and turned to look at Arrogant Dragon and Zhang Hao.

Both of them were silent.

Zhang Hao whispered, "Boss, Alpha... is it also..."

Lin Chen shook his head.

"It's not dead. Just hibernating. Once the storm passes, it can still wake up."

"Then when will it wake up?"

Lin Chen didn't answer.

Because he didn't know either.

He only knew that Alpha had handed over its most precious thing to him.

That was a trust heavier than any contract.

In the distance, the Zeroing Storm was still roaring.

But Lin Chen knew that the hardest part was over.

He opened the communication and connected to the Icebound Star Domain.

"Is that girl who crawled out of the ice still there?"

The other end of the communication replied, "Yes. She's been standing in front of the ruins of the icebound throne, staring blankly at the sky."

Lin Chen nodded.

"Tell her I'll be there tomorrow."

The communication cut off.

Arrogant Dragon leaned in. "Boss, you're not going now?"

Lin Chen shook his head.

"I'll deal with the Data Star Domain's affairs first. Alpha entrusted the database to me, I have to ensure that civilization data is safe."

"Then what about Morgana's side..."

"She's waited for over three million years; one more day won't make a difference."

Arrogant Dragon was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Lin Chen stood up and walked toward the main control room of the tree of heavenly dao.

Behind him, Zhang Hao whispered, "Boss, would this count as... prioritizing beauty over loyalty?"

Lin Chen didn't look back. "It counts."

Zhang Hao: "..."

Arrogant Dragon: "..."