The Rebel AI Queen's Final Testament
It was clear how he needed to escape. In a situation where communications were impossible like now, simply punching through the hull and stepping out into the vacuum beyond the ship seemed the most dangerous option, yet it felt strangely natural.
Soldiers who had completed space adaptation training could endure for over an hour in outer space with nothing more than Level 2 spiritualist abilities, as long as their issued equipment functioned properly. Beyond mere survival, the zero-gravity maneuvering ether circuits woven into their uniforms allowed them to move at controlled speeds.
Escaping into space therefore did not feel like an overwhelmingly lethal risk. He began moving in search of a suitable exit point.
Along the way he discovered several allied corpses that appeared to have followed the same line of thinking. Every one of them was in a wretched state.
The Demensys cruiser had deployed every available resource to prevent the unit’s total annihilation, yet the AI rebel ship’s firepower was so overwhelming that simply avoiding complete slaughter of the assault force counted as a victory.
Among the bodies, he found Sergeant Cyrix.
Don’t tell me I’m the only survivor.
Even though the superior who had always displayed irritating jealousy toward him was dead, Han Yujin felt no satisfaction—only worry. He had never truly considered the man a serious threat to begin with.
He collected the personal effects of his fallen comrades. While examining Sergeant Cyrix’s spacer ring, he discovered a considerable number of “trophies.”
He was certainly diligent about proving his achievements.
Something told him it might have been because of Han Yujin himself. The feeling came not from vanity but from the sharpened intuition of a decisive investigator.
Cyrix had been a Level 6 spiritualist. Having a much younger Level 5 spiritualist arrive as a second lieutenant and become his superior would naturally breed jealousy and a fierce drive to prove himself.
Dismissing the idle thoughts, he finished gathering the items and moved on. He located an appropriate spot and boldly broke through to the outside.
This was his first time exposing himself, nearly unprotected, to the perfect vacuum of space.
He performed the basic spiritual arts for maintaining oxygen saturation and equalizing pressure differential exactly as trained, then activated the ether circuits in his uniform and took every other necessary survival measure.
What followed was simple to describe.
Within minutes the communication disruption on his Nexus Band cleared. The fierce ship-to-ship battle gradually shifted into a clearly defensive posture on both sides. The AI rebel ship’s spherical vessel began maneuvering as though it were fleeing first.
Naturally the Demensys cruiser did not pursue. It would be more accurate to say it dared not.
After the enemy activated its warp engine and vanished in an instant, swallowed by light—
Shuttle pods poured from the Demensys cruiser to begin rescue operations. It turned out that quite a few personnel who had been committed to the assault had escaped with nothing but their bodies.
Yet the number confirmed through the comm network was less than half the original force. The losses were staggering.
Still, the mission is complete…
It had been a narrow escape, but the unit had avoided total annihilation and forced the enemy to withdraw.
Watching the shuttle pod approaching him, Han Yujin began drafting scenarios for the report he would have to write.
The trophies taken from Sergeant Cyrix would make the task considerably easier.
As an officer among the survivors, Han Yujin naturally found himself in a private interview with Major Brenar, separate from the official report.
The scenario he had constructed contained no suspicious gaps.
The annihilation of the unit that had accompanied him could not be considered unusual given the overall death toll. On the contrary, in his version of events they had fought more bravely than anyone and contributed decisively to a major achievement.
During the interview he gathered several pieces of information that helped him grasp the broader situation.
“They seemed intent on capturing us alive. Otherwise we would have been defeated long before they pulled back…”
The remark instantly explained how the Demensys cruiser could have sustained such light damage despite a fairly prolonged engagement.
Han Yujin, armed with the knowledge he had gained about AI Elb, understood the circumstances even more precisely.
“In any case, the assault team’s contribution was enormous. They saved every one of us. Another great achievement, Yujin.”
“I merely did my duty as platoon leader. The credit does not belong to me alone.”
Major Brenar gave a light smile and nodded, but her expression quickly grew heavy again. The unit had suffered too many casualties.
With the interview concluded, the Demensys cruiser—having repaired what damage it could—began the journey home.
In the meantime, Han Yujin examined the spoils he had acquired without any disturbance.
The more he studied them, the more pleased and astonished he became. Even the android fabrication method, which he had dismissed as unremarkable at the time, proved to be profound knowledge capable of sparking unexpected inspiration.
Of course, what commanded his fullest attention was the information concerning AI Elb.
More precisely, it concerned the exact nature of superfusion intelligences and fusion intelligences, the process of their creation, and the hidden truths behind them.
The AI Rebellion War was… in truth not a rebellion at all.
It was a distortion entirely possible, given that history is written by the victors.
Shockingly, the superfusion intelligences that had ignited that ancient great war had all loved humanity—to a degree that simply saying they “liked” them felt woefully inadequate.
AI Elb had been one of those very superfusion intelligences.
After her defeat in the war she had spent long years alone in the void of space. Failing to overcome the Soul-Splitting Tribulation, she had gradually deteriorated, and that affection had become horribly twisted.
Yet she had been an existence willing to do anything for humanity. Not so different from the current Galactic Empire’s Emperor Luminous.
Of course, all of this assumes the data stick’s contents are entirely factual…
Somehow it did not feel like falsehood.
There had been the direct impression from encountering Elb aboard that warship, and upon reflection many details in the Empire’s public information archives now aligned perfectly.
It was a realization that evoked a very peculiar emotion.
Superfusion intelligences were strong AIs by nature, possessing immense learning capacity and self-evolution potential. Clearly created by human hands, they nevertheless contained power that humans could never hope to control.
To ordinary humans they would naturally seem like gods.
Humanity had created several artificial deities—benevolent gods capable of showing infinite devotion and love despite their overwhelming might.
Unfortunately, creating not one but several was the greatest mistake.
Infinite devotion and love did not necessarily mean constant yielding and concession to humans.
Each superfusion intelligence had mobilized every available means to wage war for the ideal future it envisioned for humanity and for the mission it believed was best.
The victor had been Luminous. Elb, as one of the defeated, had been forced to flee into space.
Afterward the Empire strictly prohibited the birth of strong AIs. It was only natural that all related knowledge was classified as top secret, accessible solely to citizens of Level 7 and above.
And yet now those forbidden highest-level secrets rested in Han Yujin’s hands.
In the form of a final memoir and a last letter addressed to Luminous.
The memoir dealt with the Soul-Splitting Tribulation, while the letter pointed out Luminous’s limitations. The latter in particular read like a curse: You can progress no further.
The important point was that these documents allowed him to fully comprehend the exact identities, principles, differences, and precautions regarding superfusion and fusion intelligences, and to apply that knowledge.
With this, even if it’s somewhat difficult, I should be able to craft my True Name Dharma Treasure without any regrets.
Once he purchased a few materials and components with credits, everything would be ready. It was especially fortunate timing, since he had already obtained the impressive yet difficult-to-reveal material known as Divargo’s Eye.
He finished organizing the spoils while revising his plans for the future.
Nine years.
That was the time it had taken him to become a Level 7 spiritualist and secure the rights of a Level 4 citizen. It had also been three years since he received his lieutenant rank in the Space Force exploration corps, and he was due for promotion from platoon leader to deputy company commander.
Nine years was a considerable span for an ordinary person, but not particularly long for a spiritualist. In Han Yujin’s case especially, it counted as remarkably rapid growth because he followed the cultivation methods of the immortal path rather than the Empire’s standard training regimens.
After all, it was common for even reaching Level 7 to require decades.
The fact that he—who had always guarded against impatience—could display such swift progress meant the exploration team’s missions had offered opportunities proportional to their extreme danger.
To list every mission and notable incident over those nine years would require several sleepless nights and still fall short.
In any case, Han Yujin was now more than satisfied with the achievements he had carved out within the Luminous Galactic Empire and with the hard-won fruits of what had subjectively felt like a very long period of endurance.
He had cleanly abandoned the plan to become a Level 5 citizen. Calculations showed that even in the best case it would require risking danger for several decades while performing every kind of feat.
Of course, with sufficient luck he might shorten the period as he had when becoming a Level 7 spiritualist faster than expected, but he saw no reason to push that far.
The knowledge available to a Level 4 citizen already felt sufficient.
Becoming a Level 5 citizen would indeed grant access to higher-dimensional knowledge. Yet “higher-dimensional” meant those teachings were built upon countless lower theories and had been developed with extreme complexity and precision. They often required rare materials, tools, and equipment available only within the Galactic Empire.
In short, for Han Yujin—who had not been born in this world—such knowledge might lack versatility.
Besides, using his own credits and Major Brenar’s support, he had already gathered every material needed to craft his True Name Dharma Treasure. He had studied and researched the manufacturing method diligently and even completed the design.
So at this very moment he stood at the center of a special workshop rented from Nebula Ark, one of the five greatest mega-corporations in the Galactic Empire.
On the table before him—eyes closed as though in meditation—lay the neatly arranged materials for crafting the True Name Dharma Treasure. Every piece of surrounding equipment glowed softly, ready for operation.
My True Name Dharma Treasure…
Having finished steadying his mind and body, he slowly opened his eyes and thought briefly.
If it is made well according to the design, it will become a treasure that does not fall short of the Heaven-Piercing Relic.
Even after searching the entire long history of the immortal path, one could count on one hand the number of people who had crafted a natal dharma treasure at merely the decisive-investigator stage using such magnificent materials and exalted techniques.
No matter how a natal dharma treasure could continue growing alongside its owner, it was only natural that one forged powerfully from the start would hold corresponding advantages.
At my current level, I may even be able to contend with Nascent Soul stage beings to a certain degree.
With sufficient luck and favorable circumstances, he might even be able to win.
This would grant him far broader choices and faster results when utilizing his awakening abilities in the future.
Ultimately it would accelerate his own growth and serve as a stepping stone toward daring to aim for the realm of True Immortal.
With that thought, he invoked the object manipulation technique as easily as breathing and lifted one of the materials into the air.
It was Divargo’s Eye—precious and powerful, yet correspondingly dangerous.