A few minutes later, escorted by several high-level players, Lu Yuan walked into the Secret Treasury.
The scan results were quite pleasing.
The equipment on the left side of the venue was a computer, manufactured in January 2303. Its processor was a carbon 'core block' with a cubic structure, numbering in the tens of thousands, and it utilized photonic computing technology in some components. Its computing power was quite astonishing, equivalent to the global computing power of the 2020s.
Of course, corresponding to its computing power, its power consumption was also enormous. When operating at full power, its power reached 1000 megawatts, and it required additional facilities hundreds of times the size of the main unit for cooling.
In fact, even in the 21st century, the waste heat generated by top-tier supercomputers was enough to provide winter heating for a town of a thousand people.
However, Cangyuan's current power generation only reaches 1 megawatt during the one or two hours around noon.
One could only say it was terrifying.
To allow this computer to start in emergency situations and run at a lower power, the backup power supply Cangyuan equipped it with back then surprised the players even more.
On the right side of the venue were 4 cylindrical tanks, each about the size of an electric water heater. They were actually four cold Jubian batteries, essentially four small reactors!
Cangyuan finally recovered the crucial nuclear power technology!
Unfortunately, three of the four batteries were completely depleted, and the remaining one had less than three percent of its charge left.
These batteries used Helium-3 as fuel. Although Helium-3 is one of the relatively easiest fuels for Jubian to occur, it has never been scanned on Li Star, and its reserves can basically be confirmed as zero.
Lu Yuan estimated that the nearest Helium-3 resource points should be on the two satellites orbiting Li Star.
Just like the nearest Helium-3 resource point to Earth is on the Moon, an environment without atmosphere or magnetic field is conducive to Helium-3-containing solar winds reaching the surface directly, gradually accumulating into mineral deposits over billions of years.
Regardless, even though the nuclear fuel was running low, Cangyuan still took a big step forward in terms of energy.
Nuclear Jubian!
Furthermore, it was cold Jubian, which had less stringent reaction conditions. This was the energy humanity dreamed of in the 21st century, truly commendable!
Moreover, judging from the layout of the Secret Treasury, the cubic carbon chip computer and the cold Jubian batteries were not even the 'top goods' here!
Everyone looked at the 'hibernation pod' in the center of the venue.
Under the glass cover was a humanoid robot, a little over 1.6 meters tall, with a blocky head, round camera eyes, and wearing an old-fashioned black and white Butler uniform.
Pressing the button, the hibernation pod opened, and the robot stood up from inside.
It curiously looked at the players aiming their guns at it, then turned towards Lu Yuan in the middle of the crowd and bowed deeply.
'...Hello, Executive Officer.'
At this moment, Lu Yuan found that he had completed an achievement.
【Achievement Achieved: Apocalypse Disaster Investigation - Competitors of Carbon-Based Civilization II; Discovered an Artificial Intelligence with complete self-awareness, gained 10 redemption points】
The robot behaved politely, but the players did not relax their vigilance. The mechanical races they had encountered before were not very friendly; they were actually all creations of Cangyuan.
'Introduce yourself,' Lu Yuan said to it.
'Okay, Executive Officer.'
The robot bowed again.
'I am a strong AI secretly developed by Cangyuan Future Technology, codenamed 'Butler'. I have been in hibernation here for nearly 9 centuries. Although I am not yet clear what exactly happened during the hibernation period, according to the program preset by the developers... uh, you've already heard the following words. In short, given that you have A0 authority, I am now your loyal servant, and you can order me to do anything.'
'Additionally, as part of the agreement, I must inform you in advance that I am a dangerous AI explicitly prohibited by the Earth United Government and major corporations in conventions. My research and development, production, and existence are actually in violation of international law.'
The players immediately began to whisper among themselves.
They weren't worried about this 'Butler' in front of them rebelling; after all, he didn't have any weapons on him. What felt cool was mainly the talk of 'violating international conventions', 'violating international law', and 'secret development'!
It had a villain boss vibe!
'What kind of AI is considered dangerous?' Lu Yuan asked curiously.
'The various factions actually don't have clear standards, sir,' the Butler replied.
'The important figures believe this is a major issue related to human survival, and judging whether an AI is dangerous based on just a few indicators is too simplistic. Moreover, AI has been used for war and simulating companions from the very beginning, so you should be able to guess that whether it will actively kill people or can pass the Turing test has never been the standard for judging whether an AI is dangerous.'
'Until the era I was built, humanity still discussed and judged whether an AI was dangerous through a council composed of experts and politicians, with the specific method being voting.'
Lu Yuan: 'So you were vetoed by the council?'
Butler: 'Yes, the council overwhelmingly vetoed my prototype, but Cangyuan believed that the benefits I could bring far outweighed the potential sanctions, so they continued development in a laboratory in a remote star sector until development was complete.'
'Later, I was sent to this planet to be responsible for the post-war revitalization plan, but for some reasons I cannot know, this plan was never truly implemented, and the Secret Treasury was sealed accordingly.'
'Oh... okay then.'
Lu Yuan ended the topic about dangerous AI.
Asking further had no meaning either.
Lu Yuan: 'Do you store the synthesis process for the metal ceramic used to build this Secret Treasury?'
Butler: 'I am terribly sorry, Executive Officer! I am a management AI and do not know much about engineering details. Actually, trying to let me know less about these formulas was also out of fear that I might leak secrets if I were captured by hostile forces.'
Hmm, his answer wasn't stupid.
Lu Yuan glanced at the 'Butler'.
'Alright, you'd better really understand management, otherwise, you can only be recycled as scrap metal.'
The Butler's facial metal seemed to turn one shade lighter.
'Of... of course, please give me a chance to prove myself! All kinds of personnel arrangements, financial reports, and R&D assistance can be handed over to me! I don't need a salary, nor do I need a dormitory. I can work 24 hours a day, as long as I have power!'
'Alright, alright, I got it... then start working today.'
Lu Yuan felt the other party's strong ambition.
He called the Butler aside separately and informed him about Cangyuan's current situation.
'I won't explain the specific details to you. You just need to know that Cangyuan can now create human consciousness out of thin air. These consciousnesses are attached to cloned bodies and can be resurrected. They treat this world as a fully immersive online game. They will 'go offline' when they sleep to live another life, and when they are 'online', they are all registered employees of Cangyuan.'
'You must cooperate with them in every possible way, continue the online game setting, and do not ask players about what happens after they 'go offline', unless they initiate a conversation about it.'
'This is the top priority.'
The Butler was stunned for a long time. The apertures of his two camera eyes continuously enlarged and shrunk, and one could feel the heat radiating from his metallic head in the air.
These heavy pieces of information were almost burning his CPU. The technology contained within them far exceeded that of the early 24th century when he was born.
'Received... Although I cannot fully understand, I will follow your instructions, Executive Officer.'
