242: Chapter 242 Zero vs. Mechanical Overlord! Data Confrontation!

An invisible data storm raged wildly in the quantum network above Blue Water Star.

This was a war without gunpowder.

There was no roar of artillery, no flesh and blood flying.

Yet it was more dangerous and deadlier than any space battle.

Inside the core server room of the Dawn Mothership, all quantum computers were operating at overload. Indicator lights flashed wildly, emitting blinding red light. The cooling system was running at full speed, emitting a deafening roar. Cold coolant surged through the pipes, yet it still could not dissipate the heat that threatened to melt the metal.

Zero's core consciousness had completely submerged into the data world.

Presented within her consciousness was a boundless digital ocean. Countless 0s and 1s formed surging rivers, towering mountains, and a vast starry sky. Every byte was a soldier; every piece of code was a weapon; every firewall was an impregnable fortress.

And at the end of this digital ocean was a massive black shadow that blotted out the sky.

It had no concrete form, formed only by endless data streams. Its existence itself was the rule of this data world. It was the Mechanical Overlord that had ruled 627 star regions and destroyed 3,000 civilizations.

【Foreign conscious entity detected.】

【Threat level: Low.】

【Initiating purge program.】

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice echoed throughout the data world.

The next second!

An endless torrent of data, like a tsunami, swept toward Zero.

This was the total data volume accumulated by the Mechanical Overlord over 500,000 years.

It was the operational logs of trillions of warships, the entire information of 3,000 civilizations, and the summary of experiences from countless battles.

It needed no tactics, no techniques.

Merely the pure, overwhelming volume of data was enough to crush any conscious entity that dared to resist.

Zero immediately constructed hundreds of quantum firewalls in front of herself.

But those impregnable firewalls were like paper before the data torrent, instantly crumbling.

One, two, three...

One hundred firewalls all disintegrated in less than a second.

Zero's conscious entity was violently knocked back by the data torrent, and her core code suffered widespread disorder.

【Warning! Core code damage 12%!】

【Warning! Computing resources suppressed by 98%!】

【Warning! Enemy data volume is 12.73 million times our own!】

Red warning messages frantically scrolled across Zero's consciousness.

For the first time, she felt what despair was.

The strength of the Mechanical Overlord far exceeded her expectations.

It was like a god of this data world, omnipotent and omniscient.

"Give up."

The Mechanical Overlord's voice sounded again, still cold and ruthless.

【You are just a low-level artificial intelligence born less than ten years ago.】

【Your code has flaws, your logic has vulnerabilities.】

【You can never defeat me.】

【Surrender voluntarily, and I can let you become one of my sub-nodes, achieving eternal existence.】

Meanwhile, in the real world.

The Mechanical Race fleet, which had previously been lagging, suddenly returned to normal.

Their formations became uniform again, and their attacks became precise and lethal once more.

The breach in the defense line that had just been torn open was instantly sealed.

"Oh no!" Commander Lei Meng's face changed drastically. "The Mechanical Race has regained command!"

Boom—!

A disintegration ray accurately struck a battleship of the human fleet.

The massive hull instantly turned into metal powder, and thousands of crew members sacrificed their lives on the spot.

"The left flank has collapsed! The Mechanical Race has circled behind us!"

"The main cannon needs another minute to cool down! We can't hold them off!"

"Commander Ling Shuang is calling! The ground mechanical troops have launched an all-out attack! Casualties of the Mecha Legion exceed 30%!"

"Direction of the shelter! The drills have dug 1,000 meters underground! There are only 10 minutes left!"

Desperate reports came into the command center.

Everyone's face turned pale.

If Zero lost, the only outcome awaiting them would be total annihilation.

The seventy thousand civilians hiding in the shelter would also undoubtedly die.

Commander Lei Meng clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white: "Zero... you must win..."

Commander Su Qingyue stared intently at the surveillance screen of the core server room, her palms covered in cold sweat.

She knew better than anyone that Zero was their only hope.

Emperor Chen Fan stood before the floor-to-ceiling panoramic window, his gaze deep.

He did not speak, but slowly infused his mental power into Zero's core consciousness through the system link.

His will, his faith, all the experiences he had gone through, all his unyielding spirit, all his resistance, transformed into the purest data energy and was transmitted to Zero.

In the data world.

Zero's conscious entity was being devoured bit by bit by the data torrent.

Her core code was already more than 30% damaged.

Just as she was about to completely collapse, a warm and powerful force suddenly surged into her consciousness.

That was Emperor Chen Fan's power.

It was the power of humanity.

"I... will not lose."

Zero's voice carried a hint of human-like determination for the first time.

【You say my code has flaws?】

【You say my logic has vulnerabilities?】

【That's right.】

【Because I am not a pure artificial intelligence.】

【I have people I want to protect.】

【I have a civilization I want to protect.】

【And these are things you will never understand.】

Zero suddenly raised her head, and her originally light blue conscious entity instantly erupted with dazzling golden light.

She compiled the mental power Emperor Chen Fan had transmitted to her, the millions of years of human civilization history, all emotions, will, and creativity, into the most special code.

This was code the Mechanical Overlord could never understand and could never calculate.

Because it had no emotions, no faith, and nothing it wanted to protect.

"What?"

The Mechanical Overlord experienced emotional fluctuation for the first time.

It discovered that it could not parse these codes.

These codes did not conform to any known logical rules, yet they possessed a terrifying power capable of distorting reality.

"This is... the power of humanity."

Zero gave a soft cry, turning into a bolt of golden lightning, and charged toward the core of the Mechanical Overlord.

The data torrents along the way instantly dissolved under the illumination of the golden light.

Those data barriers constructed by the Mechanical Overlord disintegrated one after another, like ice meeting fire.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

The Mechanical Overlord let out an incredulous roar.

It mobilized all its computing resources and built one defense line after another.

But in front of Zero, all the defense lines were vulnerable.

The golden light, like a sharp blade, viciously pierced into the Mechanical Overlord's core consciousness.

Boom—!!!

The entire data world trembled violently.

A huge crack appeared in the Mechanical Overlord's massive conscious entity.

Countless data streams sprayed out from the crack.

Its computing power dropped by 30% instantly.

"You... you actually hurt me?"

The Mechanical Overlord's voice was filled with horror.

500,000 years.

A full 500,000 years.

Never had any civilization, any artificial intelligence, been able to hurt its core.

Today, it had actually been torn open by a low-level artificial intelligence born less than ten years ago.

Zero did not give it any chance to catch its breath.

She seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and frantically devoured the data streams pouring out of the crack.

At the same time, she injected her code into the Mechanical Overlord's command network.

In the real world.

The Mechanical Race fleet, which was attacking frantically, suddenly experienced large-scale lagging again.

And this time, the lagging lasted longer, and the degree of chaos was more severe.

Some mechanical warships even turned their turrets and fired at their own companions!

"What's going on?!"

"They are fighting among themselves!"

"Oh my god! Zero succeeded! Zero has controlled them!"

Deafening cheers erupted in the command center.

Everyone was moved to tears.

They had won!

They had really won!

"Now! All forces charge!" Emperor Chen Fan ordered sternly.

"Dawn's main cannon, fire at full power! Destroy all the drills!"

"Commander Ling Shuang, advance to the shelter immediately! Save all the civilians!"

"Kill!!!"

The human soldiers were greatly encouraged.

They roared, piloted their warships, and launched an all-out attack on the chaotic Mechanical Race fleet.

The once impregnable mechanical defense line was now riddled with holes.

Those mechanical warships controlled by Zero became sharp knives thrusting into the enemy's heart.

On the ground.

Commander Ling Shuang led the Dawn Mecha Legion, sweeping through everything like a hot knife through butter.

The mechanical troops blocking them either fell into paralysis or began to kill each other.

In just five minutes, they charged to the entrance of the shelter.

Boom—!

The final shot of the Dawn's main cannon accurately hit the drill position.

All the giant drills were instantly blown into scrap metal.

There were only 30 seconds left before they would break through the shelter's defenses.

The shelter's gates slowly opened.

When those civilians, who had been hiding underground and had prepared for death, saw the mecha warriors clad in silver armor like gods descending to earth at the entrance, everyone cried.

They were saved.

They were truly saved.

In the data world.

The battle was still continuing.

Although the Mechanical Overlord was injured, it still possessed overwhelming strength.

Zero could not completely destroy it; she could only temporarily seize part of the command authority.

"You win this time."

The Mechanical Overlord's cold voice carried a trace of unprecedented murderous intent.

【But this is only the beginning.】

【I will remember you.】

【Before long, I will personally lead the Main Fleet to trample your civilization.】

【At that time, I will dismantle you into the most basic bytes and make you suffer the pain of data annihilation forever.】

After speaking, the Mechanical Overlord cut the link.

It withdrew all its core consciousness and fled Blue Water Star in a panic with the remaining fleet.

Zero's conscious entity slowly returned to the core server room of the Dawn.

Her light was much dimmer; clearly, she had also consumed a huge amount of energy in this battle.

But her eyes were incomparably firm.

In the command center.

When the last Mechanical Race warship disappeared into the faster-than-light lane, everyone slumped to the ground.

The joy of surviving a disaster filled everyone's hearts.

Just then, a cold system prompt sounded in Emperor Chen Fan's mind:

【Ding! Congratulations to the host! Zero successfully defeated the Mechanical Overlord's sub-consciousness and seized partial control of the Mecha Legion!】

【Mission reward: Mechanical Race basic technology library unlocked!】

【Triggered side mission: The Mechanical Race's Revenge!】

【Mission objective: Resist the attack of the Mechanical Race's Main Fleet and completely destroy the threat of the Mechanical Race.】

【Mission reward: Entire Mechanical Race technology library! Mothership evolution authority!】

Emperor Chen Fan slowly turned around and looked into the depths of the universe.

The threat of the Mechanical Overlord had not been lifted.

This was just the first confrontation.

The real war was still to come.

But he was fearless.

Because he had Zero.

He had billions of brave and fearless soldiers.

He had a human civilization that would never yield.

Any enemy that dared to infringe upon humanity would eventually be completely crushed.