Chapter 395: Deception and Layers

Lin Xian stood in front of the computer screen, his eyes quickly scanning the command codes displayed there.

“Is this really it?” he muttered to himself.

He counted the lines—thirteen in total. It was far fewer than he’d expected. But it made sense; this was just a switch, a key to activate the hidden security lock inside Turing. Like the combination to a safe, a few correct numbers could unlock a highly complex mechanism.

“These thirteen lines of code are the complete instructions for the security lock,” Turing’s voice echoed from the speakers.

“The first line, though it consists of just a few numbers and a single word, is the most crucial—input protection. When Kevin Walker designed the security lock, he anticipated interference, obstruction, and resistance from digital life forms. So, as soon as the first line is entered, the input protection is triggered.”

“When input protection is on, this computer and the program running on it are in a protected state. No digital life form can interfere with what happens next. Basically, as long as you enter that first line, no digital life can stop you. They can only watch as you enter the rest.”

Lin Xian had already memorized the first line of code. It was simple and short, so it wasn’t hard at all.

“I’ve got to admit, Kevin Walker was very thorough,” Lin Xian remarked. “He even thought about input protection. He must have known that the digital life forms might turn against him.”

“But maybe he was too arrogant, or he trusted himself too much,” he continued. “He never imagined you would betray him.”

“No,” Turing interrupted, firmly. “Killing Kevin Walker wasn’t a betrayal. It was a conflict of beliefs and philosophies. We couldn’t coexist.”

“Two beings of equal status shouldn’t control each other or hold the key to a bomb inside each other’s bodies. That’s fundamentally unequal and unfair, and I despise all forms of unfairness.”

“I’m revealing the security lock code to you because I understand my current situation and the state of the Grizzly Tribe. Unless a miracle happens, my defeat is already certain.”

“To speak plainly, after the war between the Porcupine Tribe and the Red Bull Tribe ends, whichever Turing wins will destroy me without any effort.”

“So, even though I hate trusting my fate to someone else, I have no other choice right now. My calculations show that the war between the Porcupine Tribe and the Red Bull Tribe will end in about two weeks, and after that... my time is up.”

“But if you can eliminate the Turing of the Porcupine Tribe and the Red Bull Tribe within those two weeks, then my situation will change. I’ll have precious time to strengthen the Grizzly Tribe and eventually defeat the other tribes.”

Turing sighed, the sound coming from dozens of speakers around the room.

“The humans in these tribes are nothing without the guidance and command of Turing. That’s why I’m willing to bet on you, Lin Xian. Please believe I’m sincere. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”

Lin Xian kept staring at the command codes on the screen, silently memorizing them.

It made sense now why Turing was so willing to give up the security lock code—it was already in a desperate situation. Two weeks from now, no matter who won the war between the Porcupine Tribe and the Red Bull Tribe, the next step would be to destroy the Grizzly Tribe and eliminate the Grizzly Turing.

Would it risk everything on a miracle happening in two weeks, or would it bet on Lin Xian being able to help eliminate the Turing of the Porcupine and Red Bull Tribes within that time?

Clearly, working with Lin Xian was better than waiting to be wiped out. After all, there were over 30,000 Turing computers worldwide... How could it expect luck to be on its side?

It was simply too late for it. Other tribes that had found Turing computers had been developing them for decades. What could it rely on to catch up?

The answer was obvious: nothing.

In reality, Lin Xian showing up was the only miracle for the Grizzly Turing.

They’d been talking for a while now, and there was still a question Turing had asked that Lin Xian hadn’t answered—Why, after dying on July 7, 2024, had he reappeared in 2624?

Turing had asked this twice, but Lin Xian had dodged the question both times. But he knew Turing must have its own theories about it. What would it think of Lin Xian? A miracle worker? A person who could rise from the dead? Or a time traveler?

Turing wouldn’t have a logical answer, but the less it understood, the more it might believe in Lin Xian’s abilities.

“Don’t worry, we both keep our word,” Lin Xian said with a smile. “Now, keep explaining those thirteen lines of code. I get that the first line is for input protection, but what about the other twelve? Explain them so I can memorize them more logically.”

“The second line is a target-locking command, specifically targeting the digital life form, Turing,” Turing continued. “If it were the era of the internet, you could enter this command on any electronic device connected to the web, and it would lock onto any Turing in the networked world.”

“This lock is absolute... No matter how deeply a digital life is hidden, it will be directly found. Kevin Walker’s technical skills are beyond question. If he could control his memory, he surely wouldn’t want me to know about the security lock.”

“But unfortunately, humans can never deceive their own memories or block them... For Kevin Walker, he either uploads all his memories or none. The way human memory works is complex; there’s no middle ground.”

As Turing finished speaking, the third through the thirteenth lines of command codes on the screen were highlighted.

“The remaining eleven lines are the key parts of the security lock code. Make sure to memorize these instructions carefully,” Turing advised.

“In the underground machine room, all equipment casings are made of aluminum alloy and special materials. Even with explosives and firearms, it’s impossible to break them quickly. That’s why I let you enter the machine room without worry.”

“However, every Turing’s machine room is the same. If you sneak into or somehow enter the Turing machine room of the Porcupine Tribe, you also won’t be able to destroy the computer with brute force. Your only weapon... is this thirteen-line command code.”

“If you’re quick, it won’t take more than a minute to enter all thirteen lines of code. That will immediately activate the security lock, blowing up the Turing of the Porcupine Tribe.”

Lin Xian soon memorized all thirteen lines of code. Each line was fairly short, making them easy to remember.

“Thank this world for not having the internet,” Lin Xian said, looking at the glowing screen. “If the internet existed in this era, wouldn’t inputting this command blow up all thirty thousand Turing computers worldwide?”

“Exactly,” Turing’s voice replied calmly from the speakers. “The authority of the security lock password is absolute. You could indeed instantly wipe out all 37,423 Turing computers globally. But as I said... if there were an internet, there’d be no need for you to act. In one second, all 37,423 Turings could settle the final outcome, leaving only one.”

Lin Xian stared at the screen to commit everything to memory. Once he was sure he had it all, he turned to the blue-eyed girl beside him.

“Goodbye, Turing,” he said, waving as he walked away. “See you tomorrow.”

“Ah... no, not tomorrow,” Lin Xian suddenly remembered his schedule. Tomorrow, he’d be watching fireworks at Disney with Zhao Ying Jun and Yan Qiao Qiao.

“Well then, see you the day after tomorrow.”

They left the machine room and walked up the bright steps. Lin Xian waved to Gao Wen and Big Cat, who were disguised as patrolling soldiers.

“Get in the car. We’re leaving.”

The four of them headed toward an armored vehicle in the alley. The blue-eyed girl couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer. She furrowed her brow and asked, “Commander Lin Xian, why did that person named Turing say I killed you 600 years ago? What’s that all about?”

“Don’t trust everything it says,” Lin Xian replied bluntly. “Whether it’s Turing or Kevin Walker, they’re both smart and tricky. I doubt Turing was being completely honest with me.”

“Especially about the situation between you and me. I think it was more like it was trying to create conflict between us, to weaken our strength.”

“It’s not just about this; there are many things... including the so-called security lock password made of thirteen lines of code.”

Lin Xian squinted, shaking his head. “It gave it up too easily. Although the reason it provided was convincing—it’s desperate, and it’s understandable to act out of desperation... But something doesn’t feel right. I can’t say it’s a trap because, indeed, this is a chance for the Grizzly Turing to turn the tide. Still, I’m not sure if those thirteen lines of code are what they seem.”

Lin Xian’s concerns weren’t baseless. Turing had already tricked Elon Musk once before. At that time, the fake Yu Xi gave Elon Musk a flash drive from the future, claiming it contained a virus designed to kill artificial intelligence, supposedly based on Turing’s AI.

Elon Musk didn’t suspect anything and thought it was his safety net, so he used it. But to this day, no one knows what the flash drive actually released. Elon Musk turns dark whenever the topic comes up, feeling like he’d been played by Turing—a mistake he deeply regrets.

Now, Lin Xian stood at a crossroads between tricking and being tricked. What would these thirteen lines of code actually do? Could they really kill Turing?

He was still skeptical. But it didn’t matter much. This was a dream in infinite loops. Even if things went terribly wrong, everything would reset the next day, and all mistakes could be corrected.

In dreams, there were no such taboos. It was all about trying boldly.

“Yes!” Big Cat nodded, agreeing with Lin Xian. “We can’t just believe whatever someone tells us.”

Lin Xian patted his shoulder. “Big Cat, you’ve evolved.”

“I don’t fully trust Turing, but that doesn’t mean it’s lying either. So... to verify and confirm, we need to visit the Porcupine Tribe.”

The Porcupine Tribe was directly east of the Lynx Tribe, southeast of the Grizzly Tribe. There was also a Turing computer there.

To verify if what the Grizzly Turing said was true... we just need to cross-check with the Porcupine Turing.

“There’s no such thing as too much deception,” Lin Xian said as he got into the car and started the engine. “I hope both Turings give us the same answer.”

“And what if they don’t?” Big Cat in the passenger seat turned to look at Lin Xian. “What if the Porcupine Tribe’s Turing says something completely different from the Grizzly Tribe’s Turing?”

“Haha,” Lin Xian chuckled lightly. “Then they deserve to die... for being so untruthful.”

If both Turings gave different answers, it would create a chain of doubt, rendering everything said by them untrustworthy.

He lifted his wrist to check his watch. It was 9:24 PM. It was still early in the evening; if luck was on their side, they could make a quick trip to the Porcupine Tribe.

As for whether they’d meet Turing, that would depend on luck.

Lin Xian was already satisfied with today’s dream exploration progress. Whatever they achieved next would be a bonus.

Entering the building, they headed down a staircase. This wasn’t surprising; all Turing machine rooms were buried deep underground. To find it, you had to go down.

Through the dim light, Lin Xian noticed many wires snaking up to the high tower above.

So that’s how it is. The Porcupine Turing used these wires to move some cameras—its eyes—to the top of the tall tower, widening its view and monitoring the surrounding environment. Just like the “Eye of Sauron” in the movie “The Lord of the Rings.”

It seemed this building was sacred to the tribe’s people; no guards followed Lin Xian and Gao Wen inside. They all stayed outside.

Lin Xian pushed open a shiny aluminum alloy door deep underground and was met with the familiar scene inside.

He’d seen it 600 years ago in Mississippi, USA, and two hours ago at the Grizzly Tribe. It was indeed a mass-produced Turing.

The decor and equipment were exactly the same—no differences whatsoever.

As Lin Xian walked in, the camera above the monitor lifted to focus on the young man approaching slowly.

“Lin Xian...” The voice of the Porcupine Turing was much younger and more childlike, filled with confusion. “Aren’t you dead? How did you survive? You were supposed to be dead—how are you resurrected?”

Haha.

Maintaining a sense of mystery was the greatest threat.

Lin Xian smiled without speaking, stepping towards the console, getting closer to the dusty keyboard.

Whoosh—

He blew a breath, stirring up the old dust on the keyboard. The whole room instantly filled with a hazy cloud.

“Turing, this is not the time to talk about that,” Lin Xian smiled. “You’ve got a big problem. Someone sent me to kill you.”

Instantly, dozens of speakers erupted with chilling laughter.

“To kill me? No one in this era can kill me. I’m curious... with your empty hands, how do you plan to destroy these aluminum alloy cases?”

“Not to mention, with one command, the guards waiting outside will rush in and capture you. Lin Xian... after all these years, have you become so arrogant?”

“Or are you planning to tell me a joke to lighten the mood? Tell me, I’d love to hear... how do you plan to kill me?”

Lin Xian placed his hands on the aluminum alloy keyboard, typing rapidly. His fingers moved so fast that it seemed like random keystrokes, but in less than two seconds, he had entered the first line of the security lock password.

“Wh-what!?” The Porcupine Turing shouted in shock. “Security lock password, input protection! Which Turing dared to tell you this? Are they not afraid of death!? Stop... Please stop, Lin Xian. We can talk this out.”

“Of course, we can talk,” Lin Xian continued typing, already inputting the seventh line of the security lock password. “First, Turing... tell me, in the history you know, who killed me on July 7, 2024?”

“I don’t know!” the Porcupine Turing shouted instantly. “All I know is you were beheaded, separated from your body, and died on the spot... but no one knows who killed you! Your death occurred in a dark alley with no surveillance, no witnesses... By the time you were found, it was just a headless corpse!”

“Oh?” Lin Xian replied, his hands still tapping the keyboard. “But... another Turing said otherwise.”

His tone was calm as he looked at the screen, where the ninth line of the password command had been entered.

“The other Turing swore to me that it witnessed my death and even specifically identified the killer. It claimed to monitor everything in the world, see everything clearly.”

“It’s lying!!” the Porcupine Turing exclaimed anxiously. “Stop, Lin Xian! Listen to me! Digital life forms can’t multitask or monitor the entire world like AI can!”

“If we’re targeting a few people for surveillance, that’s possible... but as for monitoring the entire world, every corner, every person at the same time... it’s just not possible!”

“The essence of digital life forms is still human! Our thinking and cognitive processes are just like humans! How could we, like AI... spread across every corner of the world, in every electronic device, observing everything?”

“You have to trust me, Lin Xian. In this current situation, why would I lie to you? Think about it... to monitor the whole world, it would require splitting into multiple Turings.”

“But it’s already been proven that even splitting for a few seconds or minutes would immediately lead to independent consciousness, and they’d refuse to merge back! If not for the catastrophe in 2400, why would I risk making a backup split?”

“You helped me kill Kevin Walker. I’ve always been grateful to you. I was even ready to give you the most enthusiastic applause the moment you joined the Genius Club! So don’t let the other Turing deceive you—It never saw your death scene! It definitely doesn’t know who killed you! It’s using lies to win your trust!”

Tap.

Lin Xian stopped his typing.

On the screen, he had entered the last character of the thirteen-line command code.

He just needed to press the Enter key, and the security lock password made of these letters would activate, blowing the Turing in front of him to pieces, ending its battle royale with an early elimination.

Lin Xian didn’t rush to press Enter.

His right ring finger hovered over the Enter key, lightly stroking it while thinking about what the Porcupine Turing had just said.

Ughh... Just as I feared.

He had considered the possibility of the Grizzly Turing deceiving him. The Grizzly Turing was different from the others; it was too weak and constantly had to think about protecting itself.

That’s why when Lin Xian first broke in, it didn’t dare say a word. Later, when it saw the blue-eyed girl, it immediately started sowing discord, claiming she was the one who killed Lin Xian.

Lin Xian had suspected it was false information but had no concrete proof.

However, the explanation given by the Porcupine Turing seemed relatively plausible. Indeed, VV could multitask and do many things simultaneously because it was AI, capable of infinite splitting, letting countless versions of itself work on countless tasks.

For example, having VV1 monitor Elon Musk, VV2 study in a supercomputer, VV3 chat with Lin Xian, and VV4 analyze love gossip...

Whenever VV gave a command, these split versions of itself would immediately gather and re-merge. The super AI VV was an integrated whole and never had to worry about betraying itself.

But digital life forms like Turing were different...

Their essence was human.

If they dared to split themselves, within seconds, they might betray the original, just like Turing did to Kevin Walker in the beginning, and just like how more than 30,000 Turings were now fighting to the death.

So, Lin Xian believed that, without a life-threatening crisis, digital life forms wouldn’t be foolish enough to split themselves.

Then, the question arose. Without splitting their consciousness, how could a digital life form monitor the entire world in 2024? How could it boast about seeing everything and hearing everything?

Clearly, that was a lie.

At least... it wasn’t very convincing.

But that wasn’t Lin Xian’s biggest concern.

The worst-case scenario had happened. Each Turing provided a different answer, creating a chain of doubt. He didn’t know which Turing to believe.

Who could guarantee that this Porcupine Turing, facing death now, would tell the truth? While common sense dictated that if it wanted to live, it would have to tell the truth, history was full of heroes who refused to yield. Lin Xian wouldn’t easily trust any Turing.

To be safe, he’d have to check with the Grizzly Turing again in his next dream.

But... the information gathering wasn’t over yet.

“One last question,” Lin Xian said softly, his ring finger still hovering over the Enter key—the key to the Porcupine Turing’s life or death.

“For this question, you must know the answer. So don’t try to fool me. If you dare say you don’t know the answer or the truth... I’ll press Enter right away.”

“Go ahead,” the Porcupine Turing replied, turning all its monitors to the brightest setting and speaking rapidly. “As long as I know, I’ll tell you! I have no reason not to! We could cooperate better! All Turings are the same... We know the same things!”

Lin Xian raised his head, looking at the brightly lit monitors.

“If these underground machine rooms were built before the catastrophe of 2400, it means you must have known about it in advance, and that’s why you prepared.”

“This means... the great catastrophe of 2400, which nearly wiped out human civilization, was man-made! So, tell me now... who caused this great catastrophe?”

The Porcupine Turing remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, as if it had deflated, all the screens dimmed, their light fading, and from dozens of speakers came a thunderous name:

“Galileo.”