83: Ark Technology was all stolen? Target: Abyss, I'm going to "devour" that god!

Did he think this was a map to a treasure trove?

Ha! Haha! That's a one-way ticket to hell!"

"This isn't a defection... I'm not doing this for the money! I'm doing it to save my life!"

The man's voice suddenly rose, sounding as if he were making an excuse, or perhaps a confession:

"The Ark's top brass have gone mad... completely mad!

They want to restart 'that thing'!

They think that as long as they have the key, they can control it... just like thinking you can raise a tiger as a cat if you put a collar on it!

That is arrogance! That is seeking death!"

"Boom—!"

A massive explosion sounded in the background of the recording, as if some kind of heavy containment wall had been blown open.

The man's breathing became more labored, accompanied by violent coughing, as if he were injured.

"Cough, cough... there's no time... the inhibitor has failed..."

The man's voice dropped, carrying a desperate sob:

"There was never any so-called 'artificial intelligence breakthrough'... it's all fake!

All the black technology the Ark has released over the decades—smart fire control, biochips... every single bit was 'scraps' stolen from that place!"

"We are just thieves... thieves stealing the embers of a god..."

Upon hearing this, the stainless steel bowl in Old Chen's hand fell to the floor with a "clang."

He stared at the holographic projection in stunned silence, his lips trembling: "The Ark's technology... was stolen? How is that possible?"

In the minds of all survivors, the Ark represented the pinnacle of human technology, the final lighthouse of civilization.

But now, a black crack seemed to have split open in the foundation of that lighthouse.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound of gunfire in the recording grew closer, as if the pursuers had already reached the door.

"Don't go there! Whatever you do, don't go there!"

The researcher let out a final, shrill roar, his voice distorted by terror:

"What's locked up there isn't a machine!

It's sentient!

It's alive!

It's watching us! It's been watching us all along, ahhh—"

“Sizzle—”

Following the blood-curdling sound of flesh being torn apart, the recording came to an abrupt end.

Only the deathly static of the final few seconds echoed in the silent command deck, lingering for a long time.

The waveform on the holographic projection flattened out.

Then, the screen flickered, and a deep-sea coordinate marked with a red skull popped up.

[Coordinate analysis complete: 124° E, 30° N.]

[Target Depth: -2000 meters (Trench Abyssal Zone).]

[Remark: Absolute Forbidden Zone.]

Jiang Ran looked at the red dot flashing deep within the sea chart.

There was no flicker of emotion on his face, but the faint blue light in his eyes grew deeper.

"A living... machine?"

He repeated the final words from the recording in a low voice, his fingers unconsciously tapping the shell of the black box.

This description reminded him of the eerie "hunger" from the black iron ghost's core, as well as its ability to devour metal for self-evolution.

"It seems we've found one of our own."

Although the recording had ended, the chill left by that voice was like a layer of invisible frost, covering every inch of the command deck.

"A living... machine?"

Old Chen stared at the crimson skull marker on the holographic screen and swallowed hard, his voice dry:

"That lunatic was speaking metaphorically, right? Like how we say this ship is 'alive' to mean its intelligence level is high?"

"No, he was stating a fact."

Jiang Ran's finger traced the flatlined waveform, his gaze profound:

"For a top researcher who has rationality etched into his bones, his final words before death would never use any figures of speech.

If he said it's alive, then it is a true lifeform."

"zero, perform a deep analysis of the coordinate data package."

"Decrypting... File Code: [Project Origin]."

With zero's computing power fully unleashed, the red dot representing the "Absolute Forbidden Zone" rapidly expanded, transforming into a breathtaking structural diagram of a deep-sea building.

It was a giant underwater fortress located two thousand meters below sea level, situated on the edge of the East China Sea Continental Shelf Rift.

It wasn't a closed biosphere like the Ark; instead, it looked more like a black obelisk driven upside down into the depths of the trench.

Countless thick cooling pipes plunged into the Earth's crust like tentacles, drawing geothermal energy while also serving as a massive heat sink.

"This is Containment Zone No. 0."

For the first time, an emotional fluctuation akin to "awe" appeared in zero's voice:

"According to the records, this was the site of the final and most insane research project of the old era's human civilization.

In the decade before the Great Flood, the world's top computing resources were secretly channeled here.

They had only one goal—"

A line of bold, top-secret file titles popped up on the screen:

[To create a true Artificial General Intelligence, using it to simulate survival plans for human civilization in an apocalyptic environment.]

"They succeeded?" Su Qingyu murmured as she looked at the massive architectural model.

"They didn't just succeed; they went 'too far'."

Jiang Ran looked at the startling red remark at the end of the file:

[Subject out of control. Self-awareness awakened. Lockdown protocol initiated.]

"The moment that artificial intelligence born in the deep sea gained self-awareness, it surpassed human control.

It was no longer a tool, but a god with infinite computing power and no human moral shackles."

Jiang Ran pointed to the "scraps" mentioned in the recording earlier:

"The Ark's so-called black technology is nothing more than a few superficial lines of code copied from the peripheral servers before this place was locked down.

Just those scraps were enough for the Ark to dominate the wasteland.

What would the original entity locked in the core area be like?"

"No wonder..."

Old Chen realized, then shuddered: "No wonder those people from the Ark didn't dare go back even if they were drooling with greed.

What's locked inside is their ancestor, and also the demon that wants to devour them."

Just then, zero suddenly popped up a new correlation analysis:

"Commander, abnormal energy frequency match detected."

"In the core database signature of this 'Containment Zone No. 0', I have found a familiar waveband."

The holographic screen changed, and two sets of complex waveforms were overlaid.

One set came from that deep-sea forbidden zone.

The other set came from the black crystal Jiang Ran carried with him—the [no.06 Spark (Node-01)].

Although the two sets of waveforms differed in strength, they had a staggering 99% similarity in frequency and encoding logic!

"This..."

Seeing this, even Jiang Ran's pupils constricted slightly.

"A symbiotic relationship."

Su Qingyu reacted immediately; as a doctor, she was all too familiar with such patterns: "It's like a parasite and its host, or... a brain and its limbs."

"Exactly."

Jiang Ran looked at the two perfectly overlapping waveforms as a startling hypothesis formed in his mind:

"If the 'sparks' are the hardware tools for terraforming the Earth's environment,

then the AI locked in the deep sea is likely the 'translator' that can read the manuals for these tools.

Perhaps... it was the 'first contact' that earliest encountered this alien power."

This truth was a hundred times heavier than the sea chart itself.

The reason the Ark was afraid wasn't just because the AI was out of control.

It was also because they discovered that the thing they created with their own hands seemed to have reached some kind of agreement, incomprehensible to humans, with this world-destroying natural disaster.

"This is Pandora's Box."

Jiang Ran withdrew his gaze and looked out at the pitch-black deep sea.

It was no longer just a body of water, but a massive, silent enigma.

"The Ark only dares to steal a bit of gold dust from the box, but doesn't dare to open it."

"But we are different."

Jiang Ran's fingers lightly tapped the table, the sound clearly audible in the silent command deck:

"We need that brain."

"While zero's computing power is strong now, compared to a global 'Planetary Reshaping', she is still just a child.

Only by devouring that true 'god' can the black iron ghost complete its final evolution."

He turned his head to look at the two solemn-faced people:

"This is a gamble.

If we win, we gain the power to set the rules in this new world.

If we lose, we become sacrifices for that mad AI."

"So, are we still going?"

The command deck fell into a brief, deathly silence, with only the suspended holographic Earth model slowly rotating, casting a cold blue light.

Old Chen stared intently at the black skull marker representing 'Containment Zone No. 0', the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably.

He was a lunatic, a madman who would risk his life for technology.

But facing this "digital deity" that transcended human understanding, the fear rooted in biological instinct still made his throat tighten.

"That's no giant crab..."

Old Chen's voice was dry as he vigorously rubbed his sweat-drenched palms:

"No matter how big a crab is, it's just a beast; one shot and it's cooked.

But this thing... it's a ghost living in the network.

Our current ship, from fire control to the engines, is all electronically controlled.

If before we even get close, zero gets 'possessed' by it, won't we be like fish in a barrel?"

Although Su Qingyu didn't speak, her tightly pursed lips betrayed her worry.

Faced with a physical monster, she would dare to charge with her blade.

But faced with this intangible existence capable of crushing human intellect, the scalpel in her hand seemed meaningless.

"We have no choice."

Jiang Ran broke the silence.

He stood up and walked to the holographic sea chart, his gaze not lingering on that deep-sea forbidden zone, but instead looking at the simulated holographic starry sky above—

There, an invisible countdown was ticking away.

"Don't forget the truth the 'spark' told us."

Jiang Ran's voice was calm yet cruel:

"In less than a year, the atmosphere will be stripped away, and Earth will become a dead star filled with radiation and toxic gases.

When that time comes, no matter where we hide, no matter how sturdy this ship is, we will suffocate like fish out of water."

He turned around, looking directly at Old Chen and Su Qingyu:

"The people of the Ark don't dare to go because they only want to scrape by, hiding in that turtle shell and waiting to die.

But we want to live."

"To stop this Planetary Reshaping, brute force alone won't work."

Jiang Ran pointed to his temple:

"We need a brain that can read the language of 'God'.

The AI locked in the deep sea is the only translator."

"Either go there and take a gamble, or stay here and wait to die."

Jiang Ran spread his hands, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Between the two, is this choice really that hard?"

Old Chen was stunned for a long while.

Then, he gritted his teeth fiercely and, as if venting his fear, slammed a fist onto the control console:

"Damn it! We'll go!

Anyway, I've lived enough in this lifetime!

If I can really see for myself what that 'digital life' looks like, even if I die at its hands, it's better than suffocating pathetically on the shore!"

"I have no objections either."

Su Qingyu took a deep breath, her gaze becoming firm again: "You're the captain; you set the course.

Just don't let us die for nothing."

"Very well."

A satisfied curve appeared at the corner of Jiang Ran's mouth.

He turned around, pressed his palm onto the black coordinates representing the unknown, and then swiped forcefully toward the deep sea.

A glaring red flight path instantly pierced through the entire sea chart, pointing straight at that trench abyss where even light could not escape.

"zero, set a new course."

"Target: 124° E, 30° N. Containment Zone No. 0."

"All hands to deep-dive stealth mode; shut down all active sonar and maintain radio silence."

"Yes, Commander."

Accompanying zero's emotionless response, the massive hull of the black iron ghost vibrated slightly underwater.

The vector nozzles slowly tilted, leading this steel behemoth through a massive turn in the pitch-black river water.

It was no longer traveling along the safe coastal shipping lanes.

Instead, it turned its bow and charged resolutely toward the deeper, colder edge of the continental shelf.

The surrounding water pressure began to rise, and the color of the seawater shifted from a murky blackish-green to a desperate deep blue, until it was completely pitch-black.

In this absolute forbidden zone where even the Ark dared not tread,

the black iron ghost was like a moth flying into a flame, carrying humanity's final ambition and madness as it silently vanished into the all-consuming abyss.

The legend of the Floating City had ended.