CH 2

2. Then let's call you Axiu ba.

"For unknown reasons, my database has experienced data loss, just like you. I am currently in a state of complete ignorance," said the little boy with an inorganic voice.

"But don't worry, I can download the necessary information from the internet to fulfil your needs. I have already been acquiring data before you woke up, such as the recent gym promotion I obtained through map data," he continued.

Ji Mingzhu felt that this guy was a bit unreliable, but he was still in the dark about his own situation. He could only respond, "Well, continue downloading then."

"Alright."

As soon as the AI's voice fell, Ji Mingzhu let out a hiss and instinctively covered his nape. He felt as if a surge of electricity had passed through that area for a moment, causing a fleeting tingling sensation.

Curiously, Ji Mingzhu touched the back of his neck but didn't find anything abnormal. There were no foreign objects or scars. It seemed that the technology in this world was quite advanced. He had only seen such highly intelligent AI in movies from his previous world.

For an ordinary person, suddenly having an AI inside their body would surely evoke panic and fear. However, Ji Mingzhu was always a lazy and indifferent person, adhering to a life philosophy of "anything goes, whatever works." He was open to all kinds of strange phenomena and rumors as long as they didn't harm his body. He took things as they came.

Although he had such a disposition, it didn't mean he was indifferent to his survival environment. At least for now, there were several urgent problems he needed to solve.

Firstly, he needed to quickly figure out his current situation. For Ji Mingzhu, it felt as if he had fallen asleep and woken up to a completely transformed world. He had no knowledge about this world whatsoever, and if any crisis or unexpected situation arose, he would be utterly helpless.

Fortunately, after waking up, he had this AI that emerged from somewhere within his body, significantly improving his ability to gather information.

But this led to the second issue...

Judging from the environment around him since he woke up, the current economic condition of this body seemed bleak. Inside the cramped rental room, there was nothing valuable to be seen. Compared to the bustling and prosperous city outside, it was like a dark corner in a sewer. Given this economic situation, could someone afford to have a highly intelligent "AI assistant"?

Or was the technology in this world so advanced that even the poorest individuals could possess a personal, highly intelligent AI assistant?

"Hey."

Ji Mingzhu pondered for a moment and summoned the voice in his mind.

"Are you calling me?" the voice asked.

Ji Mingzhu responded, "I still don't know what your name is."

"I don't have a name," the voice replied.

Surprised, Ji Mingzhu asked, "No name? Then how did I refer to you before?"

"Perhaps I had a name before, but my memory module has no records," the voice explained.

The voice of the little boy AI continued, "Although most of my functions were not affected, my database and memory module are completely blank, similar to a human baby when they are first born."

"So you don't know who installed you in my body?" Ji Mingzhu asked.

"Yes, I don't know," the AI replied.

An AI with no memory paired with a person who has no memory of this world, what a combination, Ji Mingzhu thought.

"If you're willing, you can give me a new name," the AI politely suggested.

Ji Mingzhu casually glanced around and said, "Then let's call you Axiu."

"Alright," the AI agreed.

Politely, the AI asked, "May I ask if this name has any special meaning?"

"It doesn't have any particular meaning..." Ji Mingzhu's gaze shifted outside the window. The closest place to his residence was a repair shop, and there was a shiny neon sign with a prominent character "修" (xiu), meaning 'repair'...

Ji Mingzhu fell silent, contemplating his current situation while waiting for Axiu to finish downloading the data. He had a lot of questions now and needed Axiu's help to find answers.

"Di."

While Ji Mingzhu was waiting, a clear and crisp notification sound echoed in his mind, followed by a virtual window popping up in front of him. In the center of the window was a blinking red dot, indicating a new email.

"Your personal terminal has received a strange email from an unknown sender. Would you like to open it?"

Ji Mingzhu hesitated for a moment and chose to open the email.

【Tonight at 10 PM, Tianchi Arcade, Scarface, be ready for action.】

Ji Mingzhu initially thought that the email might be from the previous owner's friends or something similar, but upon opening it, he found this abrupt and incomplete message.

Before he could contemplate further, the peculiar email suddenly vanished from his sight, leaving his inbox empty as if it had never appeared.

"This email had a self-destruct program," said Axiu. "It was a special encryption algorithm, and I didn't have time to intercept it."

Ji Mingzhu inquired, "Can you find out who sent it?"

Axiu didn't answer immediately, seemingly tracing the email. After a while, Axiu said, "...No, the email was set up with complex bouncing servers. I lost track of the information trail after the twelfth hop."

Ji Mingzhu couldn't help but sink into contemplation.

Who sent it?

He didn't believe it was a mistakenly sent email. With the special encryption algorithm and the numerous bouncing servers, it was evidently not a randomly sent junk file. The first two words indicated a time and location, while the latter two words seemed incomplete, and there was the final phrase "be ready for action"... What action? With whom?

Without the memories of the original owner, he had very little information to work with.

"Axiu, can you find my personal information?" Ji Mingzhu asked.

"Yes, I'm searching the resident information database," Axiu replied.

After a momentary pause, Axiu continued, "Your name is Ji Mingzhu. You were born on September 29, 309 TYL (Tianyuan Calendar), and you just celebrated your 18th birthday..."

Having a thoughtful artificial intelligence assistant is quite reassuring. Without Axiu, it would have been difficult for Ji Yinzhou to gather all this information in such a short time.

From the data provided by Axiu, Ji Yinzhou quickly learned many details about "himself." This body shares the same name and age as him and is an ordinary orphan from Satellite City No. 5. His parents passed away, and he grew up in a welfare institution in the Capital.

Previously, the original owner had been juggling part-time work and studies. He attended public school for free, relying on government welfare policies, while also working at a mechanical repair shop to sustain his livelihood. His social circle was simple, and he didn't have many friends. He was always on his own.

Although the original owner came from a humble background, he was determined to succeed. With outstanding scores in written and interview exams, he entered the prestigious "Zongbingyi Academy." It was one of the best higher education institutions in the Capital, with an extremely high threshold. This fact demonstrated that the original owner was a talented young person with boundless prospects.

The information and resume were displayed before Ji Yinzhou without any issues. Overall, this was a young man who, despite his disadvantaged background and struggles near the poverty line, had been striving hard in life. He was highly motivated and had a clean resume.

But... was it really like that?

The tone of that email clearly indicated that it wasn't the first time the sender had contacted the original owner. Moreover, after reading the email, it immediately self-destructed, indicating that the sender had a cautious personality. The mention of "be ready for action" at the end of the email, along with the time and location mentioned earlier, made Ji Yinzhou feel that the other party was part of a special organization planning something. If he could have a connection with such an organization, the original owner might not be as simple as the data indicated.

Ji Yinzhou was feeling overwhelmed.

He hadn't inherited the memories of the original body. In the absence of information, it would be extremely dangerous to go alone to the meeting. But if, as he suspected, the sender came from a mysterious organization, like an underground assassin group, wouldn't that be even more dangerous? If he didn't go, would the other party think something was wrong with him?

There was a risk of exposing himself if he went, but not going might put his life in danger. Ji Yinzhou was wavering.

Wait a minute...

If the other party did come from a mysterious organization, then the AI in his mind could explain everything.

Was the resident information database a place accessible to anyone? Clearly, that was highly unlikely. However, Axiu could easily retrieve information about the original body from it. This indicated that Axiu possessed considerable authority. It wasn't some ordinary program. Perhaps it was implanted in his body by that mysterious organization?

But by thinking like this, Ji Mingzhu became even more worried about his situation. If that were the case, could his conversations with Axiu have been monitored? Taking it a step further, if Axiu was controlled by someone else, it would mean that his life was also in the hands of the controller... Who knew if this AI could suddenly turn into an explosive device and blast him into the sky?

Ji Mingzhu took a deep breath and said, "Axiu."

"I'm here," Axiu replied.

"Can our conversation be heard by a third party?" Ji Mingzhu asked.

"You mean monitoring?" Axiu responded. "No, I am your personal assistant terminal. Without your authorization, your information is absolutely secure. Furthermore, there are no surveillance or listening devices in this room. I scanned it before you woke up."

Ji Mingzhu asked again, "Then, Axiu, may I ask who your owner is? Or rather, who do you answer to?"

This question was crucial to Ji Mingzhu.

"Of course, it's you," Axiu answered. "According to my underlying instructions, all my permissions are granted to you. There is no second person with control over me."

Ji Mingzhu asked, "What if I were to instruct you to self-destruct?"

Axiu paused for a moment but replied truthfully, "Then I would execute the self-destruction command. However, even if my intelligent program is destroyed, I cannot be uninstalled from your body. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I was just asking," Ji Mingzhu said.

Ji Mingzhu felt somewhat relieved.

Assuming Axiu wasn't lying, according to its statement, at least it seemed safe within his own body. Upon further consideration, he had already had conversations with Axiu before receiving the mysterious email. If someone could truly monitor him, they wouldn't have sent him a message like this.

And Axiu has also mentioned that its database and memory modules are in a blank state. Ji Mingzhu speculated that some unexpected events must have occurred before he woke up, leading to the erasure of Axiu's original data. He didn't know exactly what happened... Even if Axiu truly was an AI implanted into his body by some mysterious organization, it couldn't pose a threat to him for the time being.

In Ji Mingzhu's original world, artificial intelligence had already reached a certain level of intelligence and was shining in various fields such as scientific research and daily life. Although it hadn't advanced to the point of being implanted into human bodies and possessing the high level of intelligence that Axiu had, his brother, Ji Qiming, was a scientist in the field of artificial intelligence. Ji Mingzhu had been exposed to AI since he was young, so it wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him.

Regardless, the information in that email had caught Ji Mingzhu's attention. Whatever awaited him, he had to see it for himself, or else he would be left in a state of complete ignorance... And what if it wasn't what he had anticipated?

If possible, what Ji Mingzhu wanted to do right now was to get a good sleep. He disliked dealing with troublesome problems, but unfortunately, the current circumstances didn't allow it.

Ji Mingzhu mustered his spirits and sat up. "What time is it now?"

"It's 9:14 PM," Axiu replied.

There was still over half an hour until the email mentioned 10 PM. "How far is Tianchi Arcade from here?"

"According to the map information, it is approximately 4.2 kilometres from your current coordinates. It is estimated to take 34 minutes to reach on foot."

34 minutes... Ji Mingzhu had ample time left.

He was still unfamiliar with this world, but now he didn't have time to slowly understand it. Ji Mingzhu stood up and prepared to go out and take a look, using Axiu to learn about this world along the way.

Axiu kindly advised, "The current temperature is 18°C. I suggest you wear an extra jacket to prevent catching a cold."

Ji Mingzhu looked around and picked up a relatively clean jacket from the worn-out chair. Before leaving, he searched through the furnishings in the room but didn't find anything useful apart from some everyday items. He sighed in disappointment, opened the door, and stepped out of the cramped rental house.

Looking at this unfamiliar world through a narrow window was like watching a visually stunning movie through a screen, lacking a sense of reality. But when Ji Mingzhu truly stepped into it and became a part of the movie world, the scene before him was as awe-inspiring as the first time he encountered "Warfall."

Towering skyscrapers reaching into the clouds, manned shuttles whizzing through the densely packed high-rise buildings, roaring suspended monorail trains—people in this world seemed to have a special fondness for brightly lit neon lasers. The dense array of colorful lights adorned the night with vibrant splendour, giving Ji Mingzhu a feeling of being in a large nightclub.

He even saw many buildings with a rich Chinese architectural style, such as the structure in front of him that resembled a casino. It adopted the style of heavy eaves and pavilion roofs, with protruding flying eaves adorned with quaint patterns. Below was a grand entrance designed with arches reminiscent of ancient palaces, where people flowed in and out. Neon lanterns were hung on both sides of the arch, emitting an irresistibly dazzling red light that stood out, particularly at night.

...What is this? A fusion of traditional Chinese architecture and high-tech cyberpunk elements?

Such designs could be seen on the streets, not just in isolated instances. When glass, laser neons, cold alloys, holographic billboards, and ancient elements blended together, they emitted a contradictory and enchanting charm. This inadvertently gave Ji Mingzhu a sense of temporal and spatial confusion.

Ji Mingzhu looked at the street before him, stepped into the crowded flow of people, and followed the route given by Axiu toward the location mentioned in the email.

After walking for a while, Ji Mingzhu seemed to sense something and looked up at the sky. In the next moment, he couldn't help but reveal a look of astonishment.

In his field of vision, a grand and massive city... or rather, an island, slowly approached from the horizon.

It was a cone-shaped island, so large that Ji Mingzhu couldn't even determine its height. The moment it appeared, no matter which corner of the city one stood in, as long as they lifted their heads slightly, they could see the city slowly moving in the sky.

Even though it was high in the sky, Ji Mingzhu couldn't see its entirety clearly. The city on the floating island was obscured by the edges of the island, but he could still make out the tops of some buildings. As it approached, Ji Mingzhu noticed that the material carrying this city was not soil but a steel-like substance, reflecting the moonlight and the city's neon colors.

Ji Mingzhu had never seen such a magnificent sight before—a massive city situated on an island made of what seemed like steel. It almost covered the sky, and it was silent, as if a silent deity made of steel, silently observing the mortal world in the night sky.

"What is this?"

The translation with the updated name is as follows:

The spectacle in the sky is like a miracle, murmured Ji Mingzhu, questioning.

The people around him, unlike him, seemed accustomed to the presence overhead. Even after the appearance of this city in the sky, people continued to go about their own business, occasionally looking up with eyes of admiration, hope, and a hint of fanaticism, like devotees gazing upon a deity.

Axiu said, "This is Sky City, the city where the Immortals reside."

"Before the Tianyuan Era, history had a chaotic and turbulent period. At a certain point in time, a meteorite from outer space brought an unexpected guest to Blue Star—the Aberrations. With the arrival of the Aberrations, the peaceful lives of humans on Blue Star were disrupted, and a long struggle between humans and Aberrations ensued."

"The Aberrations were numerous and possessed peculiar abilities. Human bodies were feeble in the face of the Aberrations, but what was even more deadly was their unique biological environment. Due to the presence of this biological environment, most of the conventional weapons used by humans became ineffective. During the duration of the war, it was the darkest time for humanity. Humans faced defeat after defeat against the Aberrations, and the number of surviving humans decreased drastically. Just when it seemed like a matter of life and death, the Immortals descended with Sky City and saved the human population."

"They are messengers of the gods, embodiments of immortality. They are indestructible and supreme. They came from the sky and extended their compassionate helping hand to humanity, rescuing Blue Star from the brink of disaster. They are warriors, the elders of all beings, and the noble leaders..."

"Stop," interrupted Ji Mingzhu, breaking the exaggerated description. "Why does it sound like a myth?"

"This is a description from elementary school textbooks. I am simply recounting it word for word," replied Axiu calmly.

"In short, the Immortals and their Sky City appeared at the most critical moment for humanity, repelled the Aberrations, and helped humans rebuild their homeland. With the assistance of the Immortals, humans established twelve satellite cities and developed mechas capable of countering the Aberrations, providing humanity with the seed of rebirth."

"Mecha?" Ji Mingzhu caught onto this keyword. "Are they mechas like in 'Warfall'?"

"Yes."

"Are there really mechas?"

Ji Mingzhu was astonished and quickly realized something was off. "Wait... How do you know about Warfall?"

'Warfall' was the hottest mecha battle game before Ji Mingzhu's time travel. How could Axiu, as a product of this world, know about the game?

Axiu said, "Warfall is a popular game that has been trending for years. It is based on the mechas from Sky City, allowing players to experience the charm of mechas through the cockpit interface in the virtual world..."

Ji Mingzhu became more and more amazed as he listened.

Unlike his original world, where 'Warfall' was a fantasy game and mechas were not real, in this world, 'Warfall' was a realistic game that aimed to recreate the experience of mechas in the real world. Although mechas, as strategic weapons, were strictly controlled by Sky City in reality, there were no limitations in the game world. As long as one purchased a cockpit, anyone could become a coveted mecha pilot in the game.

TN:

Aberrations - Aliens