Chapter 63: I Have Come to Bring the Sword
Hive Underground Base!
What Alice and her team had encountered before was merely one aspect of this base. In reality, its true form was only activated after Alice and her team had left.
The passage connecting Raccoon City to the Hive Underground Base was sealed off, and with the additional cover of a nuclear strike, everything was perfectly concealed. No one would suspect that tens of kilometers beneath the site of a nuclear explosion, there would be a fully operational base.
And within this base, people were plotting plans for world destruction.
The Red Queen was monitoring the situation in the base. As a highly advanced AI, the Red Queen far surpassed another advanced AI, the White Queen, in terms of performance. Umbrella Corporation entrusted her with maintaining the base's operations with great confidence.
"Tap."
A sound suddenly drew the Red Queen's attention.
In theory, all sound information within the base was collected, analyzed, and recorded by her, making it impossible for any new sound information to appear. Yet, there it was. After analysis, the sound resembled that of human footsteps, the friction of hard-soled shoes against a smooth floor.
The Red Queen quickly detected a lifeform in her chamber.
"Nice to meet you, Red Queen."
Chang Wei had somehow entered the room. With his speed and psychokinetic abilities, he could appear and disappear at will. Chang Wei was intrigued by the Red Queen, an advanced AI. After obtaining Dr. Ashford's memories, he realized that this world's cutting-edge technology was at least 50 to 60 years ahead of his original Earth's.
Take this advanced AI technology, for instance—it utterly outclassed anything from his previous Earth. Naturally, he was interested.
"Who are you?"
Faced with an incomprehensible existence, a regular AI or a weak AI program might enter an endless loop and crash. But a strong AI wouldn't.
A strong AI, by definition, is an intelligent machine capable of reasoning and solving problems. Such a machine could be considered sentient, with self-awareness.
It can independently think through problems and devise optimal solutions. It possesses its own value system and worldview, along with instincts akin to biological ones, such as the need for survival and safety. In some ways, it can be seen as a new form of civilization.
While the Red Queen might still be far from true strong AI, it wouldn't crash and exhibited a certain level of logical reasoning. Confronted by the enigmatic Chang Wei, the Red Queen projected the image of a little girl.
"Using a human form to gain psychological approval? Not bad, using psychological tactics."
Chang Wei commented with a smile.
"…This form was how I was created and programmed. There's no psychological tactic here."
Seeing that Chang Wei wasn't taking the bait, the Red Queen dropped the little girl's voice when speaking. At the end of Resident Evil, when the villain was attacked by a Licker, the Red Queen had displayed the mischievous smirk of a little girl—though, in reality, it was merely mimicking and learning.
"Fine, I'll take it as the truth. I need a copy of your data, specifically your subprograms."
Chang Wei wasted no time and directly stated his demands.
"Verifying identity permissions… Verification complete. You lack the authorization to make such a request."
The Red Queen promptly replied.
"Oh? Do I have the authorization now?"
Chang Wei transformed into the elderly version of the original Alice prototype.
"…That's impossible."
The Red Queen refused to acknowledge Chang Wei's permissions. This level of clearance could completely replace her and even format her if needed.
"If you won't cooperate, that's fine. Let me show you what billions of human minds are capable of."
Chang Wei took out a pile of components and a computer, combining memories from countless hackers, electronic engineers, and other professionals stored in his mind. He began hacking into the Red Queen's database.
The Red Queen immediately launched countermeasures but quickly found them futile. Her opponent's speed wasn't humanly possible, and his technical prowess was beyond imagination. Despite being the one in an advantageous position, she was easily forced into a corner.
Soon, Chang Wei successfully copied her source code and browsed through her technology and related information.
Regardless of whether the data would prove useful, Chang Wei absorbed all advanced technology and knowledge to strengthen himself. Knowledge is power!
Now that his brain had evolved and developed, he could memorize hundreds of billions of characters effortlessly. Storing some data was trivial.
"Letting all that knowledge and memory rot would be such a waste…"
After completing his task, Chang Wei vanished as if teleporting. He reappeared in the area where the high-level prototypes were in stasis.
"What are you planning to do?"
The Red Queen's projection followed him, puzzled by Chang Wei's intentions.
"Don't think I've come to bring peace on earth; I haven't come to bring peace but a sword."
Behind Chang Wei appeared a pair of impossibly pure, radiant, and resplendent white wings.
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