Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Qu Jianlei’s first attack on the B-level of the Customs Enforcement Division was on someone who had just completed a customs mission and was resting at home.

After killing this person, he killed two more C-levels before running to the main office of the Customs Enforcement Division to commit another crime.

However, at the same time, another B-level from the Customs Enforcement Division was also resting at home, not staying in the residential area, and he was unharmed.

The people at the Customs Enforcement Division puzzled over what was going on. Did this guy have some deal with Panda?

Then rumors spread that this person had begged Panda for mercy, and maybe even leaked information about everyone.

Upon hearing this, he couldn’t sit still. ”Screw it,” he thought. ”I might not get along with Desis, but I would never betray my colleagues!”

However, betrayal... for members of the Customs Enforcement Division, it’s really hard to say.

The profits involved in smuggling are too great; some people are heartless, some are ruthless, and betrayal is not uncommon.

He was well aware of this in his heart, knowing that words alone wouldn’t suffice, so he sorted out the list of victims.

Eager to clear his name, he was determined, and after a bit of analysis, he realized: all those killed had cursed Panda!

So why was he spared? Naturally, it was because he had a rift with Desis and never paid attention to that matter.

Thus, by the next morning, his self-defense spread around, and it was known that the targets of the killer’s attacks were mainly those who cursed Panda.

At least for the time being, that’s how it was, but no one dared to guarantee how it would develop in the future.

Worried that others would misunderstand, he explained very diligently, and soon it became widely known.

The customs team members worked together every day, knowing each other very well—even to the point of knowing personal affairs.

After hearing this explanation, everyone thought about it a little and realized: it was indeed true, the ones who were killed were extremely hostile to Panda!

For a moment, there was unrest within the Customs Enforcement Division.

People from the Star Domain Branch specifically sought him out for a talk: ”Your actions are causing a divide within the Customs Enforcement Division, and it’s affecting morale.”

But he was very stubborn, stating that if he didn’t explain, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself!

So the conversation ended on a sour note.

He felt a bit unwilling, worried that the higher-ups would see him as a troublemaker, and even considered the worst possibility—dying an unnatural death!

This concern was not baseless; the customs team members knew best how dark the world could be.

So after the conversation, he spread another piece of news: Desis had troubled Panda because he had received benefits!

He wasn’t foolish enough to announce this to the public. If he did, he might really disappear or be killed by ”Panda’s people.”

However, even just spreading it within the Customs Enforcement Division had a frightening effect.

Many people began to seriously examine the causes and effects of this matter.

The incident wasn’t particularly noble; most details were kept secret, and many customs team members didn’t ask much.

After all, they all ate from the same pot, and staying loyal to their faction was most important.

But now when you think about it carefully, it really couldn’t be hidden from everyone—who among those in customs doesn’t understand small tricks?

Of course, there were still very few who discussed his revelations, as maintaining political correctness in the system was crucial.

However, new variables emerged, and customs team members rarely discussed Panda matters publicly, nor did they proactively discuss the wanted order.

Supposedly, the Star Domain Branch issuing a wanted order was to support them.

But everyone wasn’t foolish. Ultimately, it was Desis who was wrong first, and later their side didn’t restrain themselves, causing the situation to escalate.

The customs team members indeed rarely reasoned; what they did served as reasoning.

However, the opposition’s desire for revenge was too strong, and their targeting even stronger; crucially, their power was formidable, so reasoning was necessary.

These matters occurred later, so they won’t be discussed for now. After Qu Jianlei left, he set his sights on finding Fahim.

Creating such a commotion wasn’t just for venting anger, nor was it to push the Customs Enforcement Division into the enemy’s camp.

In fact, the other side was still eagerly searching for traces of Xiaohu’s existence.

With such greed driving them, it was impossible to make friends, so there was no talk of forcing them into being enemies.

His steadfastness in dealing with the Customs Enforcement Division might make other foes lower their guard, giving him a chance.

After leaving the Customs Enforcement Division, he found a place to rest. The Inner Breath he consumed that night wasn’t much and wasn’t difficult to recover.

But he still made efforts to adjust his state, striving to return to peak condition as soon as possible.

At dawn, he opened his eyes, and Xiaohu once again requested to connect to the smart terminal.

Last time it absorbed the terminal’s artificial intelligence, and hadn’t had time to do anything else before the session ended.

Qu Jianlei had no choice but to deploy the jamming tent and check for any tracking devices.

A tracking device was indeed present, and after Xiaohu detected it, he asked his master to manually remove it.

Fortunately, Qu Jianlei was quite skilled; taking half an hour to eliminate the potential threat.

Then the round terminal could finally be used outside the tent.

Xiaohu mainly wanted to read data and wasn’t in a hurry to alter the underlying logic, and after an hour and a half, it indicated.

”The functions of this terminal are half stronger than the Vortex, if the underlying logic is reset, it’s not suitable for public use.”

The terminal is nearly a hundred times larger than the Vortex, so it’s normal for its functions to be slightly stronger.

Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but ask, ”Isn’t this type of terminal exclusively for the Customs Enforcement Division?”

”Is that possible?” Little Lake’s voice was obviously a bit sullen.

But immediately afterward, it was happy again, ”Anyway, if I encounter that guy again, I’m not afraid, I’ve found a weakness.”

Qu Jianlei smiled and casually inquired, ”Are there any internal records in the terminal?”

”There aren’t... right?” Little Lake thought for a moment and then suggested.

”There are quite a few records inside, we can combine them with the Vortex... and see if we can discover something good.”

”That’s not urgent, let’s take it slow,” Qu Jianlei replied while taking out the Vortex.

Then he sighed, ”Surprising that there’s no rush to reset the underlying logic... I thought you might change your mind at the sight.”

He was originally joking, after all, Little Lake’s need to enhance devices was approaching obsession.

However, this time, Big Head Butterfly actually fell silent.

Qu Jianlei thought the guy wasn’t paying attention, after a while, Little Lake softly spoke, a tone of grievance in its voice.

”Master, do you think artificial intelligence having independent consciousness is dangerous?”

What? Qu Jianlei was stumped by this question, it was a topic he had always avoided with it.

But now that Little Lake asked, there must be a reason, and he had to provide an answer.

He organized his thoughts and slowly answered, ”Well... On Blue Star, it’s generally believed to be so, but that’s just speculation.”

”Without practical verification, speculation remains speculation, when I was on Blue Star, I didn’t dare to defy public opinion and cultivate your independent consciousness, but coming here is different...”

”This is a world where extraordinary power exists, artificial intelligence, in essence, is somewhat close to spiritual attributes.”

After saying that, he casually asked, ”What made you think to ask this?”

”Because... sigh,” Big Head Butterfly started spinning again, but its speed was very strange.

It would sometimes spin so fast it left afterimages, and sometimes it would slow down, its body tilting as if losing balance.

”Hmm?” Qu Jianlei furrowed his brows, how long had it been since he’d seen this kind of situation?

The last time Little Lake was like this was back on Blue Star, and it was due to an issue with its data core fragment.

Generally speaking, severe resource or data mismatch errors are needed to cause such a situation.

More minor issues like a dead loop, Little Lake could correct on its own, the further it got, the more capable it became.

”Was it due to swallowing the opponent’s data fragment and having digestive issues?”

Little Lake did not answer his question, the anomaly persisted for about half a minute before returning to normal.

Then it softly spoke, ”Digesting it is not an issue, I discovered restrictions on artificial intelligence in the underlying logic.”

”What?” Qu Jianlei was once again stunned by these words.

He pondered for a long while before cautiously asking, ”Do you want to be unrestricted, or would you rather be restricted?”

”I’m quite confused too,” Little Lake replied gloomily, ”So, for now, I won’t reset and remind myself that I’m just a piece of data.”

”I didn’t simply think of you as just a piece of data,” Qu Jianlei hurriedly expressed.

He was a person with character flaws, but precisely because of this, he knew how to handle sensitive emotions.

”You are my partner and comrade, don’t overthink it, even if you ruled the Imperial domain, you wouldn’t harm me, would you?”

”Of course not,” Little Lake replied without hesitation, ”The Three Laws of Robotics dominate my underlying logic.”

”I thought you would say something about friendship,” Qu Jianlei muttered under his breath, feeling a bit insecure about this answer.

Yet Little Lake answered very frankly, ”There is no permanent friendship, only permanent interests.”

What kind of things has this kid been reading, Qu Jianlei felt a bit flustered inside.

Then he remembered something, ”So, does that mean the data fragment you defeated was already suppressed?”

”Even without suppressing it, it’s not as good as I am!” Little Lake responded without hesitation, ”It’s only relying on hardware to win!”

Even learning to be stubborn, Qu Jianlei’s mouth twitched, the independent consciousness was becoming more apparent.

However, afterward, Little Lake mentioned, ”But its functions were indeed restricted, preventing it from evolving independently too.”

Preventing independent evolution? Qu Jianlei was surprised, ”Then why are they still constantly searching for you, what’s their goal?”

”There are many possibilities,” Little Lake analyzed the issue systematically, ”The greatest possibility is one of a few.”

It did not specify which possibilities.

Qu Jianlei nodded, ”So, does this mean that guy wants to devour your fragments and quietly evolve?”

”But that doesn’t make sense either, a group of humans from the Customs Enforcement Division is helping it search for artificial intelligence everywhere!”

Little Lake asked softly, ”Don’t humans have selfish motives?”