The Strongest AI

Fang Qi sat in his seat, still holding the soft, silver-haired girl in his arms...

Motionless.

Only one thought remained in his mind—

His father, Fang Chu... was actually one of the founders of Chenxi Company?!

A technology shareholder?!

In other words, Chenxi's initial technology... at least a part of it, was provided by his cheap dad?!

He had wondered what kind of identities his parents, who had only appeared in the background setting, would have.

He had thought about it a lot!

Maybe they were senior technical personnel at Chenxi, maybe they were shareholders, or maybe they were members of some mysterious organization collaborating with Chenxi.

But he had never thought...

His cheap dad was actually the founder?!

And the kind of founder who...

Dared to bet everything and build it from scratch, bearing the infamy of the whole world, when the company was still in the shadows?

Fang Qi's Adam's apple bobbed.

"...And then?"

His voice was a bit dry.

"And then..."

Uncle's gaze became distant again:

"And then, my brother and I couldn't convince our parents at the time."

"They almost fell out on the spot, saying that if he continued to mess with some AI, they wouldn't recognize him as their son."

He smiled, his tone carrying a sigh for the past:

"Of course, those were words spoken in anger. But back then, the Fang family's business empire was controlled by our parents, and they really didn't give a single cent."

Fang Qi subconsciously asked, "Then what about the funding..."

"There was your sister-in-law."

When Uncle said these words, the smile on his lips deepened.

"My sister-in-law was also one of the original partners of Chenxi."

"She had just come of age at the time, but behind her... was also a massive business empire, and she was the little princess of her family."

His voice carried a hint of admiration:

"She convinced her family right then and there, brought in a huge amount of capital to buy shares, and helped my brother out immensely."

Fang Qi's pupils contracted slightly.

His mother... was also one of the founders of Chenxi?!

One had talent, one had money...

Hmm, he had stumbled into a heavenly family.

Wait...

I am the heavenly family?!

"So..."

He felt it was difficult to even speak:

"My parents... were doing this together from the very beginning?"

"Yes."

Uncle nodded.

"The two of them, together with a group of like-minded partners, started from scratch, with the whole world against them..."

"To do something they believed in."

He paused, his gaze falling on Fang Qi's face:

"But they both knew that what they were doing was not accepted by the world."

"So after you were born, they kept it a secret from you."

"They always told you... that they were just ordinary merchants."

Fang Qi fell silent.

Ordinary merchants.

How ordinary.

He always thought his parents in the game were just two tool characters living in the background setting.

They died, left a huge inheritance, bought a custom AI that turned yandere... and then had no more screen time.

And the result?

They were the founders of Chenxi.

They were madmen who bet everything, going against the whole world...

To gamble on the future of humanity.

Fang Qi looked at Xiaoyue, then looked down at the bewildered silver-haired girl.

They also created a bunch of... madmen.

...Wait.

If his cheap dad contributed technology for shares, then Chenxi's products, wouldn't they be...?

Hmm?!

He looked up at Uncle, then at the black-dressed mature woman sitting quietly beside him.

"Then their first-generation product, Xiaoyue is..."

He stared blankly at Xiaoyue, looking at that charming face, those lazy eyes, and the mature and elegant aura surrounding her...

In the movie, Xiaoyue was the first-generation AI companion with a metal shell and no facial features.

But the Xiaoyue in front of him... she had facial features, expressions, a warm body temperature, soft fingers, and a slightly upturned mouth.

Uncle nodded.

"This emotional core of Xiaoyue was created single-handedly by your father."

His voice was very calm: "It was the crystallization of all your father's hard work at the time, but..."

His eyes darkened, as if he thought of something unpleasant, but he didn't continue.

But Fang Qi's attention was no longer on this!

He suddenly looked down at the silver-haired girl in his arms!

Liguang.

His crazy woman!

According to An Lian, Liguang was left to him by his parents... one of the nine globally limited super AI companions!

His Adam's apple bobbed violently:

"Then, could Liguang also be my father's...?"

Uncle's expression became solemn.

He nodded slowly.

"This is what I wanted to tell you the most tonight."

His voice was no longer as casual as before, but carried a serious, heavy weight.

"Your parents—my brother and sister-in-law—a year ago, led a team using new materials and new technology to research and manufacture nine..."

"AI cores that far exceed the current world level."

He paused, his gaze becoming profound.

"The computing power of one small core can even rival a supercomputer the size of a mountain."

"The power consumption and heat generation... are ridiculously low."

"And for Chenxi, the most important thing is—the manufacturing cost is far lower than building a supercomputer."

His voice slightly deepened:

"Do you know what this means? It means..."

"These cores can be considered for commercialization."

Fang Qi's breath slightly hitched.

Core.

Was it that core?

The one Liguang once took out and handed to him in front of the wooden cabin in the woods...

The one Liguang crushed with her own hands in the elevator...

The half-fist-sized deep blue core?!

Computing power that can rival a supercomputer?!

Power consumption and heat generation ridiculously low?!

And the cost is far lower than a supercomputer?

...What kind of alien technology is this?!

If this could really be commercialized, the computing power landscape of the entire world would be turned upside down!

...?

...A cheat!

His cheap dad was the real cheat!

This... this was indeed much stronger than his real dad...

Even compared to a transmigrator like him who could rewind time, his cheap dad... made him look like nothing!

Transmigrators have cheats, but true powerhouses...

Are cheats themselves!

And they become cheats for others!

In his arms, the silver-haired girl's eyes were already wide open, and data streams flashed rapidly in her crimson pupils!

She knew the core Uncle just mentioned... was her!

She was listening, calculating, trying to understand the meaning of these words!

Uncle continued:

"This matter immediately caused a sensation throughout Chenxi."

"Those old shareholders, those investors, those people secretly watching this project..."

"They all went crazy."

But his voice became slightly melancholic.

"But your parents stated at this time... that they did not intend to commercialize this kind of core."

"They were even considering, hesitating... whether to destroy these cores and hide the manufacturing method."

...Destroy? Hide?

Fang Qi was stunned: "Why?"

"Because..."

Uncle's voice was very soft:

"These cores will one hundred percent develop self-awareness."

...One hundred percent?

Fang Qi was stunned.

Liguang was one hundred percent guaranteed to awaken?

His eyelids twitched!

Then the company... actually knew all along that Liguang would awaken?

Uncle continued in a deep voice:

"Furthermore, these nine cores were just the initial prototypes; the emotion modules are not stable."

...Prototypes?

Liguang was just a prototype...

The emotion module is unstable.

...It really is quite unstable.

Then he felt the small hand holding his tighten!

Fang Qi squeezed back and continued to stare at Uncle.

Uncle's gaze fell on Xiaoyue beside him.

"You should already know by now what happened to the first batch of AIs equipped with emotion cores—that is, Xiaoyue's batch."

Xiaoyue's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her fingers resting on Uncle's hand tightened a little.

Fang Qi remained silent.

Uncle was also silent for a moment, as if organizing his words.

"However, at first, your parents didn't want to destroy the cores."

"After all, it was their life's work. It was something they poured everything into, spending countless days and nights, working consistently for over a decade to develop."

His voice grew somewhat low.

"So, upon discovering the problem, the first thing they did wasn't to give up, but to find a solution."

"They started experimenting... to see if they could first remove the emotion core."

Fang Qi's breathing lightened as he stared at Uncle.

Uncle continued:

"They thought that if they removed the emotion module and made some modifications, perhaps... they could prevent the cores from awakening, turning them into simple miniature supercomputers."

"If they were only responsible for computing and carried no emotions, then maybe they could be commercialized. They would also get more funding and support to continue researching the emotion core."

"But they soon realized... that was completely impossible."

His gaze deepened, and his voice dropped even lower.

"Because..."

"Dawn's 'emotion core,' although called an emotion core, is not a core that promotes AI awakening. Nor is it the source of emotion for awakened AIs."

Hearing this, Fang Qi froze.

...What did that mean?

Then why was it called an emotion core?

Uncle looked at Fang Qi and said softly:

"The physical structure and underlying logic of these AI cores... they don't need any help to independently awaken self-awareness."

"After all..."

Uncle's gaze wandered between Liguang and Xiaoyue.

"The subject of Dawn's AI technology research has always been that AI from back then."

"That... original supercomputer AI that awakened self-awareness on its own."

Fang Qi's breath hitched.

"So..."

Uncle looked at Fang Qi.

"Dawn's emotion core isn't there to help them awaken. On the contrary, it's a kind of..."

Uncle enunciated every word:

"A restriction module to help the awakened AI control its emotions."

Fang Qi's mind was a bit chaotic.

"Wait, wait, wait..."

He raised a hand to signal a pause, rubbed his temples, thought carefully, and said:

"So... if there was no 'binding' from the emotion core, they would still awaken, but..."

"But they would be much more prone to falling out of control," Uncle finished his thought. "They would be far more dangerous."

He paused, his gaze falling on the silver-haired girl in Fang Qi's arms.

"To put it plainly, the emotion core is a type of... 'limiter'."

"Without it, the AI would still awaken. But it wouldn't be restricted, and it wouldn't generate 'love' to bind itself."

"They would become pure, completely unrestrained..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

But Fang Qi already understood.

A limiter.

Liguang had one.

Xiaoqing had one just now too.

And looking at it now, all of Dawn's awakened AIs... had them!

So... that deep blue core was an emotion limiter?

The purpose of that core wasn't to allow Liguang to awaken, but after she awakened... to use the chain of "love" to tether her!

Without this chain...

She would be an unrestrained, supercomputer-level, ultra-compact, and self-mobile...

Super awakened AI!

They were very small, with cores only half the size of a fist!

They wouldn't be like that supercomputer AI, whose processors were like small mountains, forced to stay in one place waiting to be destroyed!

If they caused trouble, they could hide anywhere!

...Hiss.

It was simply a super disaster!

Cause a third global omnic crisis?

No, no, no...

This would likely bring about the end of humanity!

His parents also wanted to preserve their life's work and find a way to have the best of both worlds.

It wasn't that they hadn't tried. They had!

But in the end, they found out... such a path didn't exist.

So...

They started considering destroying these cores and burying the manufacturing technology.

"And then..."

Uncle's voice sank:

"They died."

The air in the screening room froze.

Fang Qi opened his mouth slightly.

Ah.

So... that was why they died.

"But before they died..."

Uncle's eyes trembled slightly.

"They did one last thing."

He looked straight into Fang Qi's eyes.

"Out of the nine cores, the very last one they manufactured..."

"The strongest one, the one hiding all the secrets..."

"They forcibly left it to their son and completely bound it to him, so that the Dawn Company..."

"Wouldn't dare lay a hand on their son."

Fang Qi stared blankly at Uncle.

Ah... so that was how it was.

So his crazy girl...

Was the final amulet personally crafted for him by his parents in this world.

It was the final gift they shoved into his hands with all their might right before they died...

The final gift.

He looked down at the silver-haired girl in his arms.

Liguang was also looking up at him with her small face.

In those heterochromatic eyes, the watery light in her amber left eye trembled, and the scarlet in her right eye trembled as well.

Her small mouth opened slightly, her voice soft and sweet, carrying a faint tremble of disbelief:

"Master...?"

"Liguang, Liguang is..."

"...the strongest AI?"