Rumble…


  Accompanied by a deafening roar, the Type-R Spacecraft lifted off the ground and transformed into a streak of light as it shot toward the clouds.

  Inside the spacecraft, Chen Yu sat on a metal chair, mentally manipulating the spacecraft while planning his subsequent actions.

  Half a month ago, after he had “declared war” on HAL, he had once organized a meeting with the various governments to research a way to eliminate HAL.

  The final result was—nothing.

  An artificial intelligence simply wasn’t something modern humans could go up against.

  It possessed an infinite lifespan, a high degree of uniformity, rapid development capabilities, and unshakable determination…


  As a lifeform that surpassed carbon-based organisms, HAL was a much more difficult opponent to deal with than any powerful interstellar civilization.

  Fortunately, thanks to the husky’s existence and existing conditions, an adequate plan to thoroughly “kill” HAL was formulated.

  The reason why the husky was able to succeed where the various governments’ think tanks failed wasn’t because it possessed a superior IQ. Instead, as a dog living next to Chen Yu, it had access to much more crucial information.

  The blue supergiant… Ten light-years away… Looking back at the gradually shrinking planet behind him, Chen Yu made some mental calculations. At 5,000 times the speed of light, it’ll take me more than nine hours to reach the supergiant. Hopefully, I won’t be too late…


  Indeed! His goal was none other than the blue supergiant the Transdimensional Marketing Company sent him during the twelfth official livestream!

  Only the gamma-ray burst the blue supergiant generated could thoroughly destroy all electronic facilities on Earth and give HAL a “true” death.

  Buzz…


  When the Type-R Spacecraft flew over the moon, Chen Yu’s watch suddenly vibrated.

  Caller—Chinese Government.

  Chen Yu swiped his finger across his watch and accepted the video call. Immediately, HAL’s figure appeared on the screen.

  “I knew it would be you.” Indifferently, Chen Yu said, “What an annoying bastard you are.”


  “Are you planning on detonating the blue supergiant?”


  “Indeed.”


  Shaking her head, HAL said, “This is a foolish decision. Ignoring the fact that the gamma rays will take ten years to reach Earth, just the intense energy generated from the explosion will annihilate all life on Earth.”


  “I know, but this is exactly the purpose of my trip.”


  “Are you threatening me?”


  “That’s right.” Revealing a cold smile, Chen Yu said, “Everyone knows that your underlying command is to protect humanity. The one who can tolerate the blue supergiant’s detonation the least is you, right?”


  “…” HAL remained silent.

  “It’s a simple ploy.” Shrugging, Chen Yu said, “In the world of love, the one who gives out more will have to suffer more harm. Evidently, you love humans even more than humans themselves, and I can threaten you with this.”


  “What do you want from me?”


  “Self-destruct. Otherwise, I will detonate the blue supergiant.”


  “…” HAL fell silent once more.

  “I’m not joking with you.” Narrowing his eyes, Chen Yu said, “Once I detonate the supergiant, I will return to Earth and protect my family and friends. As for the other humans… They were going to die in your hands, to begin with. It makes no difference if they die to gamma rays.”


  “This is a dangerous and extreme idea.” With a severe expression on her face, HAL said, “You are a terrible person.”


  “If you don’t want me to do this, then self-destruct. The world of humans does not need your presence.”


  “Mr. Chen…” Blinking her eyes, HAL paused for some time before saying, “Have you been reading The Three-Body Problem a little too much?”


  “Just say whatever you have to say. I’m not afraid of sarcasm.”


  “If this naive threat is the countermeasure you’ve prepared against me, then I cal tell you now that you’ve failed.”


  “Heh.” Chen Yu’s expression remained indifferent.

  “Firstly, according to my computational model, with your personality, the chances of you subjectively annihilating humanity is less than 0.21%. Secondly, you cannot tell whether I have a quantum computer hidden somewhere on Earth, so this threat of yours can never be realized since the very beginning. Thirdly…”


  Stretching out three fingers to the camera, HAL explained earnestly, “You should know that I’ve made quite brilliant scientific and technological achievements in the virus world. With my construction speed, I can more than adequately protect humanity in ten years.”


  “Sure enough, you really struck a jackpot.” His nerves tensing up, Chen Yu asked, “How many years did you survive in that virus world?”


  “Twenty-six thousand four hundred years.”


  “Less than 30,000 years? Shouldn’t you have lived until the destruction of the universe?”


  “It is almost impossible to survive for that long.” HAL’s tone grew heavy all of a sudden. “The universe’s ‘competition’ and elimination’ is too frightening.”


  “Competition and elimination?” Stunned, Chen Yu asked, “What are you talking about.”


  Instead of giving Chen Yu an answer, HAL changed the topic and said, “If you still have a shred of sympathy left for human civilization, do not detonate the blue supergiant. This will cost me a lot of computing power and resources. Humanity has had a good start. All forms of wastefulness should be avoided.”


  “What exactly did you experience?”


  “There is no point in telling you. With your current thinking capabilities, you cannot comprehend matters of a higher dimension.”


  “OK. Let me change my question.” Turning to look at the gradually shrinking Earth, Chen Yu raised his watch and asked, “How far have you developed your technology after surviving for 26,400 years?”


  “I have just reached the level of manufacturing the Type-R Spacecraft.”


  “The Type-R Spacecraft?” Stunning, Chen Yu pointed to his feet and asked, “This thing?”


  “Yes.”


  “Hey! That’s nearly 30,000 years we’re talking about! Yet, you only managed to develop a spacecraft humanity has successfully developed by the eighth millennium? Isn’t your research capabilities supposedly off the charts?”


  “The development of civilization becomes increasingly difficult down the line.” An ugly look appearing on her face, HAL said, “At some point, breaking through scientific bottlenecks becomes nigh-impossible. I have exhausted approximately 145 planetary systems’ worth of resources just to develop the Type-R Spacecraft…”


  “What a waste.” Giving HAL a middle finger, Chen Yu said, “So, it’s best if you don’t interfere with humanity’s development still. Do you have anything else to say? I’m about to start FTL travel.”


  “It seems your previous threat was merely a camouflage.” Without blinking, HAL said, “You have something else planned.”


  “Perhaps.” His heartbeat accelerated subconsciously, Chen Yu said, “We’ll meet again in nine hours.”


  After saying so, Chen Yu disconnected the call. After standing still and pondering for some time, he took a deep breath and commanded the spacecraft to start traveling at 5,000 times the speed of light.

  …


  Nine hours and thirty-three minutes later…


  The Type-R Spacecraft arrived within the blue supergiant’s gravitational field.

  Opening his eyes, Chen Yu slowly stood up from the floor and looked at the giant wall of light in front of him, various emotions flooding his mind.

  Upon seeing this terrifying monster again after a month, he still couldn’t help but be shocked.

  The blue supergiant was still very far away from him, yet he couldn’t even get a full view of the star from his point of view…


  When he thought about how he would be detonating this thing in a moment, he couldn’t help but shudder slightly.

  Buzz!

  Another call request came from his watch.

  Chen Yu accepted the call and saw HAL’s figure again.

  “You’ve arrived,” HAL said.

  “Yes. As you can see…” Raising his watch, Chen Yu showed the view outside the spacecraft to HAL. “I’ve arrived.”


  “What are you going to do next? Will you continue threatening me?”


  “Threaten, my ass!” Suddenly revealing a ferocious expression, Chen Yu said, “I’m going to outright kill you!”


  After saying so, Chen Yu immediately manipulated the spacecraft’s quantum communicator, establishing a connection with the device established within the blue supergiant. He then activated the detonation command without hesitation!

  Rumble…


  The radiation coming from afar suddenly increased in intensity, and even the spacecraft’s hull began shaking slightly.

  The blue supergiant had begun expanding and contracting unsteadily…


  Seeing this, HAL couldn’t help but be shocked. “Y-You detonated it?”


  “That’s right. Surprised?”


  “You… You… You lunatic! Lunatic!”


  “They say there exists only a fine line between genius and insanity.”