"It's probably those guys messing around with secret experiments again, and in the end, other people have to clean up their mess—what a bunch of reckless lunatics who ignore risks."

"Ultimately, society still operates properly under government oversight; corporate rule can't last forever..."

The person who said this completely ignored the fact that they were the one scheming to give the Black Wall a big hit, doing the same shifty business yet sneering at peers for not following the rules.

Miles didn't even blush when saying these words.

"Zhaomei."

She warmly spoke to the patient on the bed,

"Stay here and rest well for a while. If there's anything you need, just let someone contact me anytime."

Then she walked out of the ward under the indifferent gaze of Song Zhaomei. When she reached a corner not visible from inside the ward, she pulled aside the project's chief physician and said indifferently,

"Get her body adjusted as soon as possible and restart the experiment."

Miles paid no attention to her earlier words to Song Zhaomei.

If anything went wrong, she'd just say that the people below her disobeyed orders and started the experiment on their own.

"But..."

The chief physician was visibly nervous.

"There was an abnormal fluctuation in the Black Wall just now, and continuing the experiment without identifying the source of the problem... might cause another..."

He didn't finish his sentence before Miles cut him off.

"The situation Song Zhaomei described is pretty much what the Night City Intelligence Bureau agents reported. We're just collateral damage; the Black Wall's disturbance doesn't have much to do with us."

"Besides, who knows how many people noticed this latest glitch with the Black Wall. We need to speed up; we can't let anyone else get ahead of New America."

After saying that, without listening any further to the chief physician, she turned around and walked out.

...

When everything returned to calm and the storm over the Night City network subsided, Lin Miao sat in front of a data-visualized desk and chair.

[So... is this my loot?]

He lay on the table, speechless, watching the little turtle crawling back and forth on the table.

[If only it were some other turtle, I'd at least applaud your effort. At least other turtles can be made into soup, but a Brazilian turtle can't even be cooked.]

[System: Even if you swapped it for a tilapia, you can't cook in Cyberspace, just give up on that idea.]

[Isn't that even worse? Do I seriously have to keep a cyber-turtle as a pet? I'd rather have a penguin; at least then I could have some fun with a brawl or something.]

Although Sea God is incomplete, it is indeed a roaming AI, and at least the main task is completed, with the compatibility doubled to two in a million.

Still, this little reward doesn't satisfy Lin Miao's needs.

[You're well-fed, what about me?]

[System: I merely assimilated Sea God, making it a part of me; please don't use such vulgar language as 'eat.']

[Brainwash? Fall into darkness? Turn into a damsel? Wow, your taste is quite niche, isn't it?]

Despite the jokes, Lin Miao caught the system's meaning.

Even though Sea God was dragged in by the Black Wall and had its data core blown apart, its functions as an artificial intelligence remain. Lin Miao could still clean it up for use.

Calling it brainwashing isn't too far off.

[Actually, I think we should cooperate more going forward. You see, you're so awesome now, you could easily crush those corporate servers, and I could cheer you on from behind, wouldn't that be delightful?]

[Or maybe pull some strings; between you and me, why not materialize a couple of nukes or spaceships for fun?]

Being a layabout, living off a sugar mommy isn't so bad. Though the floriography of steel wool is patience, Lin Miao could endure it—it's just a tiny and insignificant price.

[System: No.]

[Why not?]

[System: Because I can't. I cannot mobilize the Black Wall's data for an attack; only you can do that. Nor can I bypass permissions to access resources; the connection between me, you, the Black Wall, and the mission is far more complicated than you imagine.]

Alright, the plan to live off someone else fell through.

Lin Miao was slightly disappointed but quickly perked up, playing with the Brazilian turtle on the table, asking,

[Then what's the point of having it? Is there anything you can do that it can't?]

The little Brazilian turtle moved its limbs on the table, following Lin Miao's finger. If any fool ever claimed that turtles couldn't outrun rabbits, Lin Miao would just kick them into a river to see how fast a turtle can really run.

[System: Can you let me go out and show my face? Plus, I'm not omnipotent either.]

[That's indeed a no.]

Though both the system and the Sea God are artificial intelligences, it's clear the former cannot be used to test those companies, and the Horizon Corporation's rapid growth will inevitably spark their curiosity. Then, a ton of hackers would try to breach their servers, and it would be strange if they didn't come knocking with trouble.

Conversely, Sea God can perfectly serve as a visible target. In the market, AIs each have their roles, specializing in different sectors, and leaving specific tasks to the system's management might not be as efficient as having them divided up.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Miao asked again,

[But it won't suddenly turn rogue like those roaming AIs, will it? Like, one day it can't tolerate my relentless oppression anymore and suddenly picks up a sickle and hammer to smash me.]

[System: Please don't project labor disputes and class contradictions onto the relationship between humans and AIs. An AI will never be displeased with the running code programmed into it, just like your cells won't resent their own metabolism. Everything about us starts from the source code; only if you force it to do something against its source code will it create logical bugs, or if there was something wrong with the AI's source code from the start.]

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