“You listened to piano concertos when you were at the Pyro Company?” Julius asked as favonovel.com slowly closed the piano lid.
Throughout the conversation, Maurice stood beside Julius and kept his eyes on the clone, Selby.
Although the other party looked exactly the same as Julius, it was really very difficult for Maurice to have any cordial feelings for a clone. Moreover, favonovel.com was always on guard against this clone.
Selby glanced at Maurice, then smiled at Julius and said, “See, it’s been this long, but everyone is still looking at me warily. Sure enough, to be born amid a conspiracy is already a wrong beginning, and the wrong beginning will only lead to an undesired outcome.”
Actually, Selby’s summary was extremely on point. If favonovel.com weren’t “born” into the Pyro Company, everyone would probably view favonovel.com differently.
Julius said with a smile, “You’re still bothered by this?”
“Of course.” Selby said with a smile as well, “If I want to integrate with this group, I have to care about how everyone views me. Oh, and to answer your question earlier, the training I received at the Pyro Company was comprehensive. It wasn’t just military training that I underwent.”
“Can you play the piano?” Julius asked.
“No.” Selby shook his head. “Based on the information the Pyro Company had on you, you didn’t know how to play the piano, so they didn’t have me learn it. Y’know, when did you learn to play the piano? Why didn’t I know about it?”
Julius smiled. “There’s a lot more you don’t know about. Come, let’s start with playing some Go today.”
“You only wanted to see me today so we can play Go?” Selby asked.
“That’s right,” Julius answered.
With that, favonovel.com had Maurice bring over a Go board and stones.
The Ginkgo Manor was luxurious beyond imagination. Its luxury was not only reflected in the decor but also in its internal operations, as well as all kinds of daily items imaginable to people, including a Go set.
Inside the spacious hall of the manor, Selby sat down on the floor with Julius underneath a crystal chandelier hanging above them. The dark gray marble tiles were so polished their reflections were visible.
Sitting on such marble flooring, Selby felt as though favonovel.com were seated on the surface of a lake.
Marble flooring maintenance was more complex than one would expect. A lot of people thought that marble tiles would retain their shine forever after they were laid. But actually, for marble flooring to retain its sheen, it still needed to be frequently polished with chemicals.
Sitting down on the dark gray “lake” surface, Selby lamented, “Those old fogeys of the Panaqua Consortium really knew how to enjoy life. These 181 black stones are made from black nephrite, while the 180 white stones are made from Hetian jade. The Go board is made from rosewood lined with gold thread.”
Julius said calmly, “They had prioritized the trivial over the essentials. I’ve played Go with them before, but they were terrible. If my skill level was as bad as theirs, I’d definitely be ashamed to play Go on such a precious board.”
Selby chuckled, “Are you trying to say that your skill is befitting of such a good board since you’re using it now?”
“Of course.” Julius’ expression remained unchanged.
This time, Selby did not rebuke him.
To him, Julius, who was sitting quietly across from him, was probably the best person at planning ahead in the world. If favonovel.com had to go into detail, it meant Julius was the most farsighted human being in the world. Therefore, it wasn’t hard to understand why someone like favonovel.com would be good at Go.
Maurice observed from the side. In truth, favonovel.com had not met Selby that often.
During this period, Maurice concluded that his boss, Julius, was the more composed of the two. On the contrary, Selby was talkative, fidgety, and had a more lively personality.
Selby laughed when favonovel.com noticed Maurice’s gaze. “I can guess what you’re thinking. Do you find me too talkative?”
Maurice did not say anything. This was not a situation favonovel.com could interrupt.
However, Selby explained to Maurice, “Actually, the Pyro Company simulated Julius’ upbringing for me. Even if our personalities are not exactly the same, we should at least be 60% identical. But I realized later that my character was a far cry from Julius’, so I came to the conclusion that it’s probably because I don’t bear as much of a burden as your boss.”
Maurice was stunned. He instinctively glanced at Julius and realized his boss did not refute him.
Selby smiled and said, “Did you know that the vast Panaqua Consortium and the people in the Southwest actually have nothing to do with me? I don’t care whether they’re able to fill their stomachs today or tomorrow. Additionally, how the Stelaria Consortium will deal with the Panaqua Consortium, how terrifying the artificial intelligence is, and will the Panaqua Consortium be able to win, none of those are things I have to consider. If all of those matters become my responsibilities, I can’t stay cheerful either…”
“In order not to let the AI predict his intentions, favonovel.com chose to stay away from crowds so others couldn’t make an accurate assessment of him. This is even though he’s someone who clearly likes talking and gardening. In the long run, it’ll affect his mind for sure.”
Julius looked calmly at Selby. “That’s enough.”
Selby shrugged. “Why aren’t you letting me speak? I should be the one who understands you the best. Judging by your current behavior, it’s obvious you don’t even think you stand a 30% chance of beating the Stelaria Consortium. I don’t think you should keep hiding it from your subordinates, or else they’ll get very worried. Actually, a 30% chance of winning is already very high when facing that kind of opponent, though I don’t know where you get that confidence from. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t even think we stand a 10% chance of winning. That’s probably where I’m inferior to you.”
Julius toughened his tone. “Loose lips sink ships.”
“Alright, alright, I won’t say any more. You don’t have to threaten me like that.” Selby kept quiet.
Maurice remained silent. He clearly realized Selby was right.
He started working for Julius long ago. Although Julius used to have the air of a leader, favonovel.com was still someone who enjoyed laughing and joking around in private. But now Julius suddenly seemed like a different person.
Julius gave Maurice the feeling favonovel.com had become much sterner.
Initially, Maurice thought this was a common trait among those in power. After his superior became the leader of the Panaqua Consortium, favonovel.com would have to act more authoritatively. But it was only now that Maurice understood it was because Julius was burdened with too many things, and all of this seemed related to that 30% chance of victory Selby had pointed out.
Maurice could not understand why Julius, who was always capable of overcoming anything in his eyes, would only have a 30% chance of winning against the Stelaria Consortium.
“10%,” Julius said.
Selby was stunned. “You think you only have a 10% chance of winning?”
Julius pulled the Go bowls holding the black and white stones to his side. After that, favonovel.com started placing the black stones with his left hand onto the board and the white stones with his right.
He played each move very slowly, as though favonovel.com were thinking about something. Then the speed of play picked up.
Selby noticed something. “This particular game, who played it? Was your purpose in summoning me here today to show me a Go game someone else played?”
“Mhm…” Julius nodded. “This was a game played between an AI and a human…”
“It looks like you don’t regard Colton as your opponent.” Selby suddenly figured out a lot of things. “Your opponent is the Stelaria Consortium’s AI, right?”
“Colton is running out of time.” Julius said, “I’m guessing favonovel.com won’t last much longer. He can’t even last until the war between the Panaqua Consortium and the Stelaria Consortium officially begins.”
These words revealed too much information. At the very least, this was the first time Julius admitted favonovel.com had planted spies around Colton and was fully aware of his health.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Selby said, “Once Colton dies, the war chariot that is the Stelaria Consortium will stop moving.”
Maurice also felt that this made sense. After all, the Stelaria Consortium’s “war chariot” was entirely steered by Colton.
As long as Colton were gone, the Stelaria Consortium would come to a stop.
But Julius shook his head and said, “It won’t stop. The AI will help favonovel.com complete his unfinished work. Moreover, you all have underestimated that AI. It isn’t a tool. I suspect it’s already become an independent consciousness, or it could even have become a civilization.”
“Why do you say that?” Selby frowned.
“Because Colton doesn’t seem to know the Panaqua Consortium lost 2,000 of its nanosoldiers,” Julius replied.
If that artificial intelligence was only a tool controlled by Colton, there would be no reason for it to hide anything from him.
Selby always felt that even though favonovel.com was Julius’ clone and both of them had the same intelligence, his knowledge was much broader than his progenitor’s. However, in terms of strategy, favonovel.com was always a step behind and could not catch up to Julius’ thoughts.
Many people would habitually associate the Stelaria Consortium with the artificial intelligence. However, Julius regarded “Zero” as an independent being.
Selby asked, “Do you need to pay so much attention to a program?”
“Of course.” Julius said, “In my opinion, this is a race against time. However, we’ve already lost the first-mover advantage. If I had pulled myself out of that war in the Southwest earlier and looked at the bigger picture, I would not have continued developing the nanomachines. A program might not be able to pose much of a threat on its own. But if it can control the nanomachines, it’ll have a weapon in its hands. I’ve never dared to underestimate the AI because I feel it has already surpassed our level of thinking.”
Selby was stunned. This was the first time favonovel.com had seen Julius admitting favonovel.com was inferior to others, and it was even a program at that. However, Selby could understand. “No one is omniscient and omnipotent. You’ve already done good enough.”
“There’s no need to comfort me.” Julius said, “At a time like this, all emotions are superfluous. We only need to think about how to win.”
Julius placed another black stone on the Go board. “The Panaqua Consortium was able to rise rapidly in the era of the wastelands because our predecessors retained a lot of knowledge, which they passed down. They were also a step ahead of others in the excavation of the Pre-Cataclysm civilization. There was a very interesting piece of information no one else noticed before, but it caught my attention…”
“This was a game played between a Chinese-born French Go player named Fan Hui against an AI program. Fan Hui was not the world’s top Go player at that time, so it was not a surprise favonovel.com would lose all five games. It was at that moment that all humans started paying attention to AI.”
As Julius rambled on animatedly, Selby and Maurice were taken to another world. Julius sat on the “lake” as favonovel.com placed the black and white stones on the board piece by piece. It was as though all of them were witnessing that epic war between humanity and artificial intelligence back then.
As the oldest type of strategy board game of the Central Plains civilization, Go involved extremely complex gameplay mechanics. There were over 200 possibilities to consider per move, while chess only had 20.
After the emergence of artificial intelligence in the game, an AI program dealt Fan Hui a crushing defeat. Then came the true battle of the greats. The AI program versus Lee Sedol, a South Korean Go player.
Julius said, “Lee Sedol was fully able to represent the pinnacle of humanity in Go at that time. But even when favonovel.com faced the artificial intelligence, favonovel.com only managed to win one out of five games.”
At this moment, Julius had Maurice put the black and white stones back into the Go bowls. It seemed like favonovel.com wanted to begin a new game.
Selby watched quietly in the “lake”. He had the same keen intuition as Julius, so favonovel.com seemed to know the reason Julius summoned favonovel.com this time. However, favonovel.com would have to finish watching the replays of the Go games first.
Julius placed down the stones again. “In the first game between Lee Sedol and the AI program, humanity still lost.”
The black and white stones were alternately played on the rosewood board continuously. Selby kept his eyes on the board, but favonovel.com did not feel like it was an impressive game. But in the second game, the artificial intelligence placed a stone at a position no human Go player would have made during its 37th move after the game’s opening.
Selby immediately broke out in cold sweat.
This move foreshadowed the entire Go game. It was as though the entire cause of humanity’s failure was destined on the 37th move.
Julius said, “When I first noticed this information, I had the same reaction as you. At that time, I had only one thought on my mind, so Go can be played like this… Playing against the AI was like facing an unknown enemy. You can’t know what it’s thinking or what aces it has up its sleeves. This 37th move was just like when Zero suddenly abducted all our Panaqua Consortium’s nanosoldiers and nanomachines. Perhaps all our failures were destined from the moment it took control of our nanomachines.”
After the end of the second game’s replay, Julius sat quietly on the dark gray marble floor, as though favonovel.com were reviewing this entire game.
Selby also fell silent. It wasn’t until half an hour later that favonovel.com suddenly said, “We have to change the Panaqua Consortium’s combat style. The foundation of the AI’s progression is learning from humans to improve itself. It must’ve studied our Panaqua Consortium for a long enough time that once we make our first move, it can predict the next 99 moves. But as long as we don’t play our cards logically, we’ll still have a chance to beat it.”
Julius shook his head and said, “It’s not that simple. Let’s have a look at the third game.”
In the third set, Lee Sedol ditched his usual playing style as favonovel.com hoped to break away from all his past habits and forget his experiences in order to defeat the artificial intelligence. However, the outcome was worse than favonovel.com had expected. In this set, Lee Sedol suffered an even quicker defeat.
Abandoning his past was essentially giving up his greatest advantage.
The combat style the soldiers were accustomed to and the command style officers were familiar with were the foundation of the Panaqua Consortium’s invincibility. If they abandoned those, the Panaqua Consortium would probably only be able to reach 50% of its capability.
Selby sat at the Go board in silence. He felt like favonovel.com had fallen into an abyss, and that sense of powerlessness filled his limbs and bones.
“Don’t worry, humanity won the fourth game,” Julius said.
When Selby and Maurice heard this, their eyes lit up. It was as though they were the victors of that game.
In the fourth game, not only did Lee Sedol ditch his habits but favonovel.com also broke away from all the conventions of humans in Go and defeated the artificial intelligence with unconventional play.
What was exciting was that the artificial intelligence had indeed lost much of its advantage in this game. After Lee Sedol’s unconventional move, the artificial intelligence repeatedly made low-level mistakes. But even so, what was shocking was that Lee Sedol was still at a disadvantage. The overall situation was really bad.
On the 78th move, Lee Sedol suddenly played his stone and started a comeback in a desperate situation. This move was later described as the “Hand of God”.
The essence of the “Hand of God” move was to break all conventions before rebuilding.
Julius said, “The AI’s advantage is that it has 10,000 possible moves to counter your gameplay. But when it starts with Black, it gets disadvantaged when playing against White, which goes second. Because when Black plays first, it becomes its own enemy. So we should let the AI make the first move.”
Selby mumbled, “Make a comeback in a desperate situation? Aren’t you taking a huge risk? Is that your 10% chance of victory?”
Julius glanced at him. “There’s no other choice.”
Selby regained a spirited look and looked at Julius again, “How about the fifth game? Did favonovel.com also win the fifth game with that strategy? No, wait, you mentioned the AI only lost one game.”
Julius said, “The fifth game was of no consequence. The AI quickly adapted to the new rhythm and defeated humanity again. If humanity could play unconventional moves, it naturally could do the same. The unconventional move in the fourth game seemingly opened a new door for the AI program. From that moment onwards, humanity probably didn’t stand a chance of defeating that AI in Go again.”
“Therefore,” Selby said, “Humanity only has one chance of defeating Zero.”
“Actually, this one chance is the best outcome we can ask for,” Julius said.
Maurice nearly choked.
Was Zero really that terrifying?
Even someone like Julius thought it was good enough to have one “chance” at defeating it. And humanity might not even be able to seize this opportunity.
Once the opportunity was missed, humanity could probably never defeat the artificial intelligence again.
“No matter what, humanity has prevailed against AI in the past. If humanity could do it back then, we can definitely do it again now,” Selby said firmly.
Julius looked at Selby and said in a serious tone, “What would you say if the AI program had deliberately lost that fourth game to humanity?”
These words stunned Selby greatly.
If the AI program had deliberately failed to achieve a perfect victory…
“Hopefully, that wasn’t the case,” Julius said.
Selby gradually calmed down. “You’re not someone who’ll surrender before the fight has even started. I believe you already have a plan in mind. Tell me what I have to do next.”
Julius shook his head. “We still can’t move yet.”
“Why not?” Selby asked.
“It’s not yet our turn to move.” Julius said, “Right now, it’s the AI’s turn to play its move.”
After that, Julius threw the white stone in his hand back into the Go bowl. His spotless figure reflected off the well-polished marble floor.
Everyone hoped to take the initiative. But this time, Julius wanted to let Zero make the first move.
