Hunter of Mysterious Creature

Chapter 885 - 114: Surname Zha, Given Name Ersi_2

"What kind of relationship?"

"The kind you’re thinking of," the mercenary grumbled. "In this organization, apart from the mercenaries, they also recruit some young women who are good-looking and have nice figures. Even if these women have no combat ability and no other skills besides their appearance... Guess what they use them for?"

"Looks like the Dragon City Hunter Management Bureau needs a major overhaul..." Sun Hang nodded thoughtfully.

"Any Hunter who has been around the Hexi Corridor for a while knows that this crappy management bureau is full of problems, but what’s the use? Our voices don’t matter, even if you speak up... You’re someone from Dubhe Tower, maybe you can make a difference, but it won’t be much... At most, a temporary fix, then once the attention fades, everything goes back to the way it was." The mercenary shrugged. "I’m used to it. I just complain a bit when I have nothing else to do. After all, I’m not a Hunter, so I don’t have to deal with those people."

"There will be changes, and significant ones at that." As he spoke, Sun Hang had already issued a new command to the mainbrain: After this operation ends, directly cancel the Dragon City Hunter Management Bureau’s structure, and let the Dubhe Tower mainbrain take over all the bureau’s tasks.

Doing this might consume some of the mainbrain’s computational power, but right now, the mainbrain’s capacity is abundant. Handling Dragon City’s workload—or even ten times that—won’t be an issue for it.

And when Sun Hang retrieves the other half of the Sphinx’s brain, the mainbrain’s computational power will see a qualitative leap—according to its own estimation, once the Sphinx’s brain halves are reunited, the sheer computational power of this super biocomputer, even without using its predictive capabilities, will be enough to handle all information in the Earth-Moon system.

Even if humankind recaptures all territories on Earth and offloads all information processing tasks to the mainbrain, it could still manage an entire moon on top of that... And we’re not talking about the current moon, but a fully colonized, inhabited moon.

No one knows if that day will come, but at least this indicates the ultimate potential of Sphinx’s brain.

Then, the surplus computational power can be used to analyze various mysterious memes, develop specialized weaponry, and more—the possibilities are endless outside of prophecy.

As for the Dragon City Hunter Management Bureau, Sun Hang doesn’t even want to investigate—when you see one cockroach, there might be entire nests out of view. To truly change the status quo, you have to break the old framework and establish a new order.

At this moment, Pei Zongjun’s voice suddenly sounded in Sun Hang’s earphones: "The mainbrain of Dubhe Tower is controlled by one half of the Sphinx’s brain, essentially a kind of anomaly, letting anomalies manage humans—doesn’t this seem a bit inappropriate?"

"Mr. Pei? You’re not dead?" Sun Hang was slightly taken aback and immediately activated a soundproof barrier, asking into the earpiece.

"I’m an AI simulated from the personality of the previous mainbrain manager, Pei Zongjun. This was a safety measure added by Pei Zongjun to prevent the mainbrain from going rogue. When the mainbrain’s permissions exceed a certain threshold, I get activated to temporarily take over." Pei Zongjun’s voice explained.

Is this... a cyber-ghost?

"So how do you think this should be handled? Let this Hunter Management Bureau continue to rot? Or draft a batch of outstanding talents from elsewhere? But I think these are just stopgap measures... As long as power exists, corruption will follow. Humans have desires, unless I can find a way to strip them of those desires, but if I did that, would they still be human?"

"Maybe there’s a middle ground solution," Pei Zongjun’s personality AI suggested, "but it will take time."

"You just asked if it’s inappropriate to let anomalies manage humans, so let me ask you, what do you think I am? An anomaly? An infected? Or human? Why would you entrust me with this power and responsibility? Aren’t you afraid I’ll screw it up?" Sun Hang countered.

"That was the conclusion drawn by the mainbrain’s prediction..."

"Isn’t this predictive ability derived from one half of the Sphinx’s brain, essentially coming from an anomaly? You trusted a so-called prediction from an anomaly and handed the reins to someone who may or may not be human... So let me ask you, do you think this might be inappropriate?"

Pei Zongjun’s personality AI was silent for a long while, then sighed, "Alright, you’re right. As for my motivation, perhaps I’ve witnessed too many despairing futures, and that’s why I chose to place all my bets on the singular glimmer of hope that appeared in the depths of despair... You could say I’m gambling."

"Well, since you’ve placed your bet, let’s wait and see the outcome."

Sun Hang turned off the soundproof barrier, and Ya Qiaoxi’s voice immediately came through, "What were you just mumbling about? I couldn’t hear a word of it."

"Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about some stuff. My lips move involuntarily when my mind’s busy," Sun Hang made an excuse offhandedly.

"Oh, that’s not a great habit," Ya Qiaoxi remarked, "What if you run into someone who can read lips? Your thoughts would be laid bare."

"True." Sun Hang nodded, deciding that next time he used a soundproof barrier in front of others, he should also add a "Blinding Skill" for visual deception, just to be safe.

"By the way, what’s your name?" Sun Hang asked, looking at the mercenary.

"Charles," the mercenary replied.

"You look like a pure-blooded Xiazhou person, so how come you have a Western name? Is it a codename?" Ya Qiaoxi asked.

Charles removed his helmet, scratching his short hair deformed by the helmet. With resignation, he said, "My last name is Cha, first name Ersi... It’s my actual name, not a codename. My dad, who was into foreign trends, gave it to me. He said it sounded stylish, and when I joined big companies in the future, I’d need an English name anyway, so calling me Charles would be convenient."

"Your dad’s thinking is so outdated..." Ya Qiaoxi remarked, facepalming, "Since the downfall of the Hezhong States and the European Union, the Federation Government has long since bought up all those foreign firms’ Xiazhou divisions. Which big company still requires English names now?"

"I can’t help it, I couldn’t argue with my dad, and this is the name on my household registration. I got used to it and didn’t bother changing it," Charles said. "My dad passed away when I was in high school; if he knew I ended up doing this kind of work, he’d have to climb out of his grave to beat me."

"Isn’t it mandatory to cremate now? All that’s left is an urn; there are no coffins anymore," Ya Qiaoxi muttered in a low voice, "Due to the existence of mysterious memes, burials might lead to zombies, causing unnecessary anomalous attacks..."

"True, the old man has been cremated anyway, haha." Charles chuckled nonchalantly at Ya Qiaoxi’s slightly morbid comment, "You reminded me of it; I had almost forgotten."

Most mercenaries are indifferent to life and death—both their own and that of others.