Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 833: Chapter 832: Even if I, Cortana, die, even if I have to jump down from here...

The Chief Officer’s speed was truly swift. In no time, he appeared before Fang Zheng, piloting a transport aircraft.

Upon seeing Fang Zheng, his first words were.

”When do we depart?”

”Wait a moment.”

Though Fang Zheng was pleased with the Chief Officer’s efficiency, there were matters he needed to clarify before proceeding.

”I agree to go with you to stop the Missionary’s plan to eradicate humanity, but I need to make one condition clear.”

”...Condition?”

”Strictly speaking, this isn’t a transaction.”

Fang Zheng spread his hands, staring at the Chief Officer in front of him.

”I’m just telling you in advance what I’m about to do, so you’ll have a mental preparation. Whether you oppose it or not, I don’t care. Do you understand?”

”...Go ahead.”

The Chief Officer didn’t hesitate much and quickly nodded. For him, saving humanity was the most important thing, as for the rest...the Chief Officer wasn’t particularly concerned.

However, what Fang Zheng said next still made the Chief Officer tense up.

”Recombination Device.”

”...Recombination Device?”

”That’s right, the Missionary’s Recombination Device, I will take it. This isn’t a transaction; I’m merely informing you. I’m very interested in the structure of the Recombination Device, so I’ll take it for research. I promise that once I take this thing, it won’t appear anywhere in this world, but that’s it. If you want to stop me or oppose it, feel free, but I won’t change my demand.”

”...Understood.”

This time, the Chief Officer only hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded. Hearing his response, Cortana immediately cried out.

”Chief Officer?!”

”Cortana, stopping the Missionary is the most important thing now.”

”Good, since we’ve reached an understanding, let’s prepare for departure.”

Seeing the Chief Officer being so sensible, Fang Zheng snapped his fingers in satisfaction, after which Iona summoned her battleship from subspace again. Though the Annihilation Level hadn’t been completely repaired, given the situation with the Chief Officer, Fang Zheng used his Time Manipulation to accelerate the completion of the repairs.

Then, Fang Zheng promptly boarded the Annihilation Level with the others and started it up swiftly, watching as it flew rapidly towards the exit of the Gravity Well.

”Alright, let’s address the second issue now... we have a little time before we reach our target...”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng glanced at the Chief Officer, who nodded. Then, the Chief Officer took an SD card out from behind his helmet and placed it in Fang Zheng’s hand.

Soon, a miniature AI emerged from it, looking quite uneasy as though she were about to be kidnapped... Well, Fang Zheng could understand; for an AI, it was almost like being dissected alive.

”Nymph, handle her.”

”Got it.”

At Fang Zheng’s command, the Little Angel reached out and waved her hand lightly, causing several screens to appear before her and a series of complex characters to pop out. Nymph focused on these characters and soon let out a surprised ”Oh.”

”What’s wrong?”

”This AI... is infected with a virus.”

”A virus?”

Hearing Nymph’s revelation, Fang Zheng glanced at Cortana, who seemed somewhat panicked.

”Looks like your firewall isn’t that great; is the UNSC’s antivirus capability this poor?”

”No, this virus is a bit unusual, Master.”

Nymph shook her head.

”It has infected through some biological pathway... it has caused some disturbances in the AI’s logical thinking. Fortunately, because the AI’s program is quite outdated with a lot of abandoned accumulated data, the logic virus hasn’t fully mutated it.”

”...”

Hearing Nymph’s explanation, Cortana’s expression was extremely complicated, unable to think of what to say.

”I need to activate these abandoned data and completely erase this part of the logic loop.”

As Nymph spoke, she raised her hands again, tapping in the air swiftly. In conjunction with her actions, Cortana’s figure began to look rather unstable. Seemingly in great pain, she curled up, causing the mini-figure to tremble. Soon, a previous electronic roaring voice echoed.

”I hate her, I hate that woman!!”

”Do you know what she said after our first game of chess?! ”

”He always likes to act alone!!”

”You’ve made the wrong decision!!”

At this moment, Cortana’s language had become fragmented, and the Chief Officer just stood silently beside, watching her. But soon, Cortana’s voice turned gloomy, and chilling.

”Why did she do this? Why did she only let me live for seven years? Seven years!! What right does she have to decide my lifespan?! I am her most cherished creation! She can’t treat me like this! I hate her!!”

”Seems like this AI’s logical thinking has some issues.”

Listening to Cortana’s vent, Fang Zheng shook his head, then extended a finger and tapped the SD card.

”Hey, I’m saying, you’re a bit too extreme here.”

”...Huh? What did you say?”

Apparently hearing Fang Zheng, Cortana raised her head, glaring at him.

”You have no idea what I’ve been through! My lifespan was decided at birth!”

”Oh, please, you’re not the only one whose lifespan is set at birth.”

Fang Zheng curled his lips.

”Don’t tell me you don’t know; many children are born with terminal illnesses, some not living past seven. Should they not live their lives? Moreover, humans and AI are different; at least you were conscious to enjoy your seven years. Those kids hardly remember anything at two or three; at least, you can remember how you were created, right?”

”I... but...”

”And frankly speaking, you should change your mindset. Look, you say you’ve lived for seven years; if those years were filled with good things, shouldn’t you be glad for having a meaningful seven years? If you didn’t have great experiences those seven years...”

Fang Zheng spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders.

”Then congratulations, your miserable days are nearly over; what are you dissatisfied with?”

”You... you...!!”

Faced with Fang Zheng’s words, Cortana found herself speechless, not knowing what to say. She screamed abruptly, clutching her head as she sat down, only to vanish moments later.

Meanwhile, Nymph waved her hand, closing the window in front of her.

”Repair complete.”

As Nymph spoke, Cortana’s figure reappeared, though now she seemed much more stable and not as volatile as before.

”Cortana...”

At this point, the Chief Officer quickly approached her, gazing intently. As she heard his voice, Cortana waved her hand.

”I’m, I’m okay... Chief Officer, I’m sorry... I caused you so much trouble before; I feel much better now... thank you.”

”You don’t have to thank me; it was just convenient...”

Just as Fang Zheng was about to say more, Iona’s voice suddenly rang out.

”Commander! Enemy fleet spotted ahead!”

”Oh?”

Upon hearing Iona’s report, Fang Zheng immediately turned around towards the screen, but the next moment, he widened his eyes in surprise.

”What the heck is that thing?!”

Amidst the clouds, a massive warship slowly emerged, resembling an upright stone pillar. The Star Alliance Warships surrounding it appeared quite tiny—no, even compared to Iona’s Annihilation Level, that odd warship was insanely huge!

”Data acquired!”

At the same time, rings of light flickered in Nymph’s eyes, and she quickly locked onto the target.

”This is the Forerunner’s flagship—the Ship of Inheritance!”

”This thing... it’s absurdly big...”

Staring at the warship ahead, Fang Zheng was momentarily speechless but soon composed himself.

”Plans changed, let’s not act hastily!”

Fang Zheng’s judgment was justified because, according to Nymph’s scans, the warship was 142KM long, 138KM wide, and 371KM high; effectively a super warship! And currently, Fang Zheng had nothing as large to match it!

Iona’s Annihilation Level barely completed its repairs, and after learning about the Chief Officer’s situation, Fang Zheng used his Time Manipulation to hastily finish repairing the Annihilation Level.

Meanwhile, the biggest warship, the Royal Navy Fleet’s Governor Level carrier, Unicorn, was only 3KM.

Fang Zheng could not compete with that!

Now... now what should I do...

Though Fang Zheng already knew the Forerunners weren’t easy to deal with, witnessing the opponent’s warship’s sheer size still left him troubled.