Chapter 635 - 398: Perfect World (2)
Although the combat mode of mercenaries is different from that of regular troops, compared to recruits drawn from civilians, mercenaries have a stronger and more professional combat acumen and are an excellent choice for manpower supplementation.
Over the past year, many mercenary corps from various regions have been summoned to the front lines.
Due to Luo’s earlier arrangements, with the fall of the original City Council’s leadership, "insiders" took over New Moon City, and Sikinkov, who succeeded as City Council President, consistently resisted pressure, preventing New Moon City’s mercenary corps from being listed for conscription, buying Su Mo more transitional time.
However, now the transitional period is over. Over three years, the Upper Court has continuously parachuted personnel in, familiarizing themselves and taking over local affairs, now starting to intervene in core matters.
Tomorrow, New Moon City will welcome a new City Council President, while Sikinkov will be transferred to the Upper Court Council to assume a high-ranking but nominal position without actual power.
This both formally promotes but secretly sidelines him, effectively dispersing the entrenched forces of New Moon City, making it easier to regain control of the city.
Meanwhile, the Mercenary Corps, such as Edge and Mo Xue, will be dispatched to the front lines to participate in operations against the wolf raids under the command of regular troops.
Su Mo handed the recruitment document back to KK, saying, "Handle it however necessary. Gather everyone and prepare to head to the front lines."
A flicker of meaning flashed in KK’s eyes as he nodded, "Understood."
Su Mo entered the elevator and headed to the underground levels.
It is well known that Edge Mansion has a total of 100 floors, 88 above ground and 12 below.
In the old days, there was a saying that land area is one of the metrics for measuring a country’s strategic potential, and this notion applies to factions too.
The ultimate potential of a faction is closely tied to its "territory."
Like Edge Mansion, which consists essentially of one building to accommodate people, house equipment, and store supplies... the limited space restricts the range of possible actions, setting the upper limit for potential.
To continue enhancing potential, expansion of territory is necessary.
The usual method is outward expansion, like contracting several parks or establishing branches to disperse business and equipment.
But Su Mo chose a different path, opting for "downward expansion."
Over these three years, thanks to the prior beast crisis event’s technological and experiential accumulation, subterranean navigation technology has become increasingly matured in the Future’s hands.
Using subterranean navigation technology to organize engineering teams, an extremely large space was developed underneath Edge Mansion, with a total floor area as vast as the entire Lakefront Business District when combined.
The reason for such elaborate efforts is because, three years ago, Su Mo had already been orchestrating a plan, a secret plan capable of altering the global landscape.
Su Mo arrived at the 12th underground level, halting at a corridor that appeared unremarkable.
He connected his phone to the corresponding system, input a command and password, and passed biometric verification.
The corridor suddenly quaked, and the entire segment began to slowly descend.
This process took a full minute, continuing until a concealed passageway appeared at the end of the corridor. After Su Mo exited, the corridor ascended back to its original position, leaving no traces behind.
Su Mo reached a steel door marked with a fiery red umbrella symbol. Entering, he was greeted by a vast space.
The walls were lined with various high-tech devices and holographic displays, flashing with complex data and images.
In the center of the hall stood rows of mechanical incubation chambers, each over two meters tall with transparent cases filled with a pale blue glowing nutrient fluid inside.
Floating within the chambers were humanoid constructs, not directly referred to as "humans" because despite their human appearance, their internal bodies exhibited a mechanical and inorganic structure, with eyes closed, suspended in the pale blue liquid, as if in slumber.
The quantity of these humanoid lifeforms was immense, this single level alone stretching endlessly, with similar spaces like this beneath Edge Mansion extending for over a hundred levels.
At the far end of this level, Qi Ling stood gazing upward at something.
As Su Mo approached, she offered a sweet smile, "You’re here, Mo Tong hasn’t awakened yet."
In front of them stood a specially designed glass pod, where a sleeping girl was suspended, her skin smooth and delicate as porcelain, appearing scintillating under the pale blue liquid’s immersion.
Her eyes were closed, long eyelashes resting upon her face and occasionally trembling, with several cable conduits extending from her spine, seemingly engaging in some form of biological data transmission.
This little girl was none other than Su Motong.
Su Motong was not human but a construct, her humanoid form simply a mimicry based on her perception of the surrounding environment.
The developmental cycle of constructs varies from humans as well; she looked like a three to four-year-old girl before, but now, three years later, she appears to be in her teens.
Three years ago, ever since Luo handed over the Human Document to Su Mo, he had continually been having Su Motong absorb the knowledge within.
The content of the Human Document is vast, comprising all historical human literature, impossible for any single human to absorb entirely.
Even Su Mo, with his superior memory, could not do it. He could perhaps remember everything he saw, but with just the naked eye, it was impossible to read all the materials in the Human Document.
It’s like counting numbers with your mouth, starting from one, even a lifetime wouldn’t suffice to reach a zillion.
The low learning efficiency is determined by the organic nature of carbon-based lifeforms.
But Su Motong, as a construct, has a different learning method; she can establish data-layer connections to input knowledge in a digital form into her consciousness.
Her learning efficiency in this manner is unimaginable for humans. To draw an analogy, humans must read a book page by page, whereas she only needs to copy and paste the corresponding data.
Currently, Su Motong’s mind encompasses the entirety of the Human Document, understanding everything throughout human history, discerning the essence behind every event, familiar with all things’ objective rules, possessing both flawless logical reasoning and the poet’s ability to appreciate the beauty of all things.
All-knowing and omnipotent, the union of absolute rationality and absolute sentimentality...
In literary works, such descriptions are often used to depict an entity—God.
Gazing at the sleeping Su Motong, Qi Ling pondered and asked, "Speaking of which, I don’t quite understand why you’ve spent so much time having Mo Tong absorb humanistic knowledge?"
"If it was just to enhance our strength, merely technical knowledge would suffice, and in fact, we had mastered blood codes, prosthetics, and spiritual brain technology from the Human Document two years ago, long possessing the means to overturn everything."
"Yet you kept delaying, having Mo Tong study history, read essays and poetry from the Human Document... I can’t quite see the point of it."
Su Mo smiled faintly and said, "Although Mo Tong is a construct, she’s also my child. I don’t want her world to be only cold and technical knowledge. I want her to know all the true emotions and warmth, the good and the ugly, that the human world has to offer, so she can live a complete life."
Qi Ling, being intelligent and sensitive, could sense that Su Mo’s words were a mix of truth and subterfuge, with genuine emotion as well as concealment.
But the true depth of his words eluded her.
Having been with Su Mo for so many years, Qi Ling was intimately familiar with him. He would tell you what he wished to say and wouldn’t disclose more upon repeated questioning.
She didn’t press further, tiptoeing to kiss Su Mo lightly on the lips, "Tomorrow, the world will turn upside down. I’ll go to do one last adjustment on the Black Extinction Virus to ensure there are no oversights."
As Qi Ling left, Su Mo continued to stand there watching her retreating figure.
It wasn’t until her silhouette vanished at the end of the corridor that a soft murmur escaped his lips:
"Ling... I want to give you all a perfect world..."