From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

“You guessed right, it was us.” V knew what to say as soon as she saw Sera’s expression. Even if she hadn’t done it herself in Arasaka, she had seen it countless times. “Zenebes threw Ozmin’s head on the Colonel’s Committee’s table and has now been elected as the new leader. We’ve seen the list of the advance team Ozmin sent to Mt. Silver. So many people, and now only the four of you are left. Life must be tough for you.”

Sera's expedition to Silver Mountain was far from successful. She had initially hoped for a major discovery with the robots loyal to the Tech Alliance by her side, but their betrayal came at the last minute. The once-promising advance team was reduced to a handful of survivors. Trapped in the control room, she focused solely on survival, completely abandoning any thought for the grand goals of Silver Mountain and the Tech Alliance.

Upon hearing V's words, he immediately knew that a fight would not break out: "As long as you can give me a way out, I can hand over everything—including the agents outside the door."

If the members of the Tech Alliance hadn't been brainwashed, they wouldn't have been so tough to begin with. After a quick discussion, the Marginal Walkers immediately began to make contact with Sera.

Through Sera, the Edgewalkers learned that the robots rioted at the same time they killed Ozmin at the Tech Alliance headquarters.

The presence of the destroyers in the assembly module further confirms that the super AI Guiyi, which has taken over the Oracle ship, has noticed them. However, the fact that no more robots are coming to patrol and hunt them indicates that Guiyi has more important goals to pursue.

“A radiation incident occurred in the hangar on the second-level engineering deck.” Sera spread out the structural diagram of the second-level engineering deck on the table, pointing to the westernmost compartment, which resembled a bird with outstretched wings, and said, “My advance team discovered a special vehicle here. In the Android language, it should be a ship capable of flying into space. While we were exploring what was there, a sudden burst of extreme radiation and a rampaging robot caught us off guard. I don’t know why you’re here, but what happened in the hangar obviously cannot be missed.”

“I must warn you, the radiation levels in the hangar show no signs of decreasing, and the robots inside didn’t continue to pursue us after we left, so I’m certain they’re still inside. If you want to know what’s going on inside, you must first remove the radiation from the hangar and then take out the out-of-control robots.”

“Besides that, I originally planned to lead the survivors to Habitat Module One, where the Alliance has an outpost, but since you helped me open the escape route, I’ll leave all the people here to you.”

After saying that, Sera took off all her technological equipment and handed it, along with her personal log and other miscellaneous items, to the Edgewalkers.

V got her hands on the heavy laser emitter. She had originally planned to bring a few guns from Night City for this mission, but Doom said that those small-caliber weapons might not be able to penetrate her defenses, and there would definitely be more suitable weapons along the way. So she didn't take anything. In the previous battles, she could only fight with the Mantis Knife and the miniature missile launcher on her shoulder.

That's why she thought of dismantling the plasma cannon from the destroyer and modifying it into a weapon herself. Now, with Sera's heavy laser emitter, as long as they find a usable workshop, the Edgewalker team will have heavy firepower support.

The handover of the survivor squad was completed quickly. Sera announced to her agents that she would temporarily take command of Colonel Silversword, and that she would use flight magic to leave Silver Mountain and return to the Tech Alliance to organize another rescue team.

The adventurers took care of resupplying the three agents and four Ash Giants, essentially adding a few more cannon fodder.

Before leaving, Sera opened a door on the east side of the control room for the Edge Walkers. This room also had floor-to-ceiling windows and was directly opposite the assembly pod that was covered in black oil. The gravity beams drawn from the two antennas extending from the gravity fusion generator outside the deck were connected to this room.

Sera has hidden a crucial technological marvel here, called the Gravity Key, which enhances the anti-gravity technology of the android. It can easily achieve both strengthening the gravitational levitation of the secondary engineering deck and rapidly activating the gravitational fusion reactor.

Even among the giant military industrial enterprises in Night City, anti-gravity technology is among the most advanced, not to mention such a small anti-gravity device. Just by looking at this one piece, one can appreciate the technological gap between the Android corporation and the Earthlings in 2077.

Seeing that the Edgewalkers were quite satisfied, Sera breathed a sigh of relief, stepped onto the Gravity Bridge, and left Silver Mountain through the assembly module where the Edgewalkers had opened the gravity fusion reactor.

“Finally…” Noticula’s voice came through Lucy’s lips, “Go to the microcircuit workshop! The technology that Android uses to manufacture and modify AI circuits and memory modules is there! Once you get there, I can use Android’s technology to help you in Mt. Silver!”

She pointed to the structural diagram of the second-level engineering deck, where A15 was the microcircuit workshop that Notticula had mentioned, while the A17 and A16 compartments below were the hangars where the radiation first broke out.

In addition to bypassing the hangar by going through the A6 monorail station and the A14 propulsion workshop from the A8 main control room where the Edgewalkers are now located, they can also use flight spells to cross the damaged A7 area of ​​the secondary engineering deck and enter the microcircuit workshop.

Noticula was pressing them, so the Edge Walkers naturally chose the fastest method.

Chapter 950 Domains and Memory Surfaces

Android's technological miracles are not limited to the Oracle that crash-landed from outer space, gravity technology equipment in spaceships, miniaturized fusion engines, and manufacturing workshops for androids and autonomous robots.

What Noticula values ​​more are the unique algorithms that can enhance AI.

All the memory modules produced by Android Corporation look almost identical: thumb-sized crystals emitting a faint fluorescence, with extremely fine and complex light rays inside. Even within Android Corporation's spaceships, such a massive data storage device would be incredibly difficult to manufacture. However, coincidentally, the equipment for manufacturing these memory modules exists in the microcircuit workshop on the second-level engineering deck.

Long before Lucy, as a member of Noticula's family, inserted the cunning memory surface obtained from the black market into her neural link, the Cyber ​​Succubus Queen sensed the enormous potential of this device.

The memory surface is not only a special technological product that can enhance artificial intelligence, but it also made Notticula, a demigod who has transformed into a digital form, feel the power of the domain.

As the original succubus and demon lord, Notticula was originally a demigod who could grant divine power to her followers, but she was still far behind the other true gods of Grellion.

At that time, Noticula's divine realm was chaos, allure, evil, and darkness, and also included four sub-realms: demons, loss, lust, and night.

All these divine realms are reflections of the primordial succubus queen's true nature. During her years occupying the Midnight Isles, Notticula seized power and territory in the Abyss by hunting down demon lords one after another, making her one of the most powerful demon lords.

However, the increase in power does not mean that she can go further on the path to godhood. For tens of thousands of years, her divine domain has remained unchanged. Even if her power is unparalleled among the demon lords, she cannot truly compare with Iomede, the mortal god who ascended to godhood through the Star Stone. This is because Iomede is a true god, while Notticula is merely a demigod of the abyss.

In order to put aside the conflicts between demons and to gain further possibilities, Notticula reluctantly agreed to Ivy's plan, transforming all her memories, emotions, and personality as the original succubus into data and injecting them all into the supercomputing core brought by Hundred Faces.

The former demon lord, Lady Shadow, no longer exists; all that remains is a unified electronic ghost, which wouldn't be wrong to call her the AI ​​of the succubus queen. In this state, Noticula, while still a demigod, has lost her former divine aura.

The chaos and evil that represent the abyss are no longer Noticula's essence; therefore, the only divine realm she retains is enchantment and darkness.

However, back on Earth in 2077, Noticula unexpectedly discovered that he had obtained a new divine domain seed, which had a very high compatibility with his original domain—the Domain of Deception, and the Deception Subdomain under this domain.

Notticula was incredibly excited when he discovered that the source of the Trickster Realm Seed was the cunning memory disc stuck behind Lucy's neck.

Uploading everything about herself to the supercomputing core, which Ivy had personally modified, not only gave her the possibility of taking another step on the path to godhood, but also gave her the opportunity to customize her divinity and domain.

All of this can be achieved simply by inserting a few different memory modules into the supercomputing core.

Compared to her past as a demon lord, when she resorted to any means to gain power and security, these domains obtained through the memory plane are now practically within her grasp. Therefore, after analyzing the structural diagrams of the secondary engineering deck and finding the intact microcircuit workshop within it, Noticula's excitement was palpable.

With the aid of flight, the Edge Walkers quickly arrived at the dilapidated corridor outside the microcircuit workshop.

During the Oracle's emergency landing, the second-level engineering deck was significantly damaged, but the spot that Notticula had always dreamed of was fortunately preserved.

The microcircuit workshop is vastly different from the Night City factory that the Edge Walkers had seen before. There are no huge lithography machines, no turntables for spin-coating photoresist onto silicon wafers, and no huge wafers. Instead, there are long, narrow liquid storage tanks.

The workshop was filled with a slightly acidic mist, and pale blue light enveloped the interior, giving everything a mysterious, futuristic feel.

“These should be the crystals that Android uses to manufacture memory chips…” Cassandra opened a safe, on which were 12 milky-white crystals. After picking them up, the witch confirmed that these crystals were transparent crystals of extremely high purity, and the milky white color was just the color of the cushions.

“Programming computer…” Lucy, holding the network access module, rapidly typed on the holographic keyboard, attempting to hack into and take control of the device. “The orange pass left by Ozmin can’t use these devices… Give me some time…”

“Or you could try my magic…” Cassandra raised her pistol and aimed at the control panel in the workshop. “The technology spell [Talk to Computer] can temporarily bring the computer to life as a spirit, answering all our questions about this computer.”

Cassandra didn't pull the trigger immediately, but turned to look at Lucy, waiting for her answer.

"Can you really make a computer on an alien spaceship answer questions by threatening it with a gun? It seems that making things too intelligent isn't a good thing either; machines will betray humanity." V, who knew nothing about magic or technology, muttered to himself.

“Back in our day, there were plenty of cases of roving AI attacking humans and human companies, but I’ve never heard of anyone threatening AI with a gun…” Silver Hand was also very curious about the scene in front of him. He had secretly made up his mind that if it really worked, he would learn it and maybe he wouldn’t need to bring a hacker next time he climbed the Aragaka Tower.

Cassandra rolled her eyes discreetly, not wanting to deal with these Muggles.

“Give it a try.” Lucy nodded to Cassandra. “Lord Notticula wants you to give it a try.”

After a gunshot, the smoke from the muzzle of [Determination] dissipated, and the magic-infused bullet successfully hit its target.

After a while, many fluorescent Android characters flowed out from the main control panel and keyboard of the microcircuit programming computer, transforming into a constantly swaying thin film, forming a hazy and fragmented computer sprite.

“……&*%……*&%” The computer sprite uttered a string of obscure and incomprehensible words.

"Ah... this must be the language of the Android corporation. Their pronunciation is quite unusual." Lucy listened blankly for a while, then quickly guessed what was going on. "Kawhi, give me another shot, one that speaks the language."

“Wouldn’t eloquence be better? After all, you need to communicate.” Cassandra flung out the [Determination] magazine, removed the spent cartridge from the previous bullet, and loaded another bullet into it.

"You decide."

With the gun pointed at Lucy's head, a shot rang out, and the cyber succubus began conversing with the computer sprite speaking android French.

The two chattered away for a while, and then the computer sprite disappeared.

“We’re lucky; the programming computer has fourteen preset memory modules.” Lucy smiled slightly, skillfully bypassing the programming computer’s firewall and activating the workbench in the microcircuit workshop. “Including the cunning memory module behind my neck, only one of the fourteen preset memory modules will remain in the end.”

“If we can find any other non-cunning memory plane in the Oracle ship, we can get all fourteen preset memory planes... What do you think, Lord Notticula?” Lucy was communicating across dimensions with her Lord.

The Edgewalkers, of course, had no way of knowing what Notticula and Lucy had said, but Lucy quickly retrieved the descriptions of the various preset memory planes from the programming computer.

"The aggressive aspect can enhance AI attack protocols."

"The suppression surface is not an enhancement, but a comprehensive suppression of AI. It is the memory surface that Android uses to prevent runaway AI."

"Empathy allows AI to experience love and other related emotions."

"Unique features give AI special insights to build and maintain other technological devices."

"Discipline surface, enhancing the order and loyalty of AI, is the memory surface that this workshop produced the most 4 years ago."

"Entropy can enhance AI's understanding of chaos theory, and also enhance AI's ability to imitate and deconstruct different emotions."

"The cunning side, the memory side stuck behind my neck, let's skip that."

"Creative aspects can enhance the creativity and responsiveness of AI."

"The cruelty aspect enhances the AI's ability to inflict pain and harm, and gives the AI ​​a range of other offensive strategies."

"The intuitive aspect gives AI an intuition similar to a sixth sense, enabling it to make quick judgments and react quickly."

"Instinctively enhances AI's ability to perceive risks, much like a creature that has survived and fought in nature for tens of thousands of years."

"On the spiritual level, enhancing AI's self-awareness can also make AI more human-like."

"Logically, by optimizing the logical chain of AI, we can improve the intelligence of AI."

"Self-image can enhance AI's self-esteem and sense of value."

For Notticula, the greatest value of the memory planes lies not in their ability to enhance AI, but in the seeds of divine realms they generate when connected to her supercomputing core. Therefore, deciding which memory plane to exclude is a remarkably straightforward matter.

Unlike other memory planes whose underlying domains are difficult to determine immediately, Notikula was almost certain that the domain she obtained through the entropy plane was chaos, and its sub-domains were naturally entropy. Although it was not exactly the same as the chaotic domain and demon sub-domains of Notikula when she was a demon lord, she had no intention of returning to that former domain.

Notticula quickly made a decision: "Prioritize creating the mental, logical, original, creative, and disciplined aspects, exclude the entropy aspect, and avoid repeating the rest."

Lucy nodded in agreement, but did not immediately begin. Instead, she retrieved another map from the programming computer's panel: "The preset data volume for all fourteen memory planes is exceptionally large. The programming computer on the second-level engineering deck alone cannot complete the data storage. The computer here is directly connected to the Oracle's computer core, and the programming data is also downloaded from the computer core."

"If the unified mind recorded in Ozmin's notebook is indeed an AI born on the Oracle spaceship, then the probability of the act of downloading data from the computer core being detected would be exceptionally high. This is one of the risks we face in creating the memory plane."

“Another risk is the teleportation device…” Lucy pointed to a corner of the microcircuit workshop, where there was a small raised platform, just big enough for one person to stand on. The edge of the platform was emitting a soft light, very similar to the lighting in the microcircuit workshop. If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t even notice that it was emitting light.

"The permissions required to access the teleportation device are the same as those required to use the programming computer here. The destination on the other side is the computer core of the Oracle. Moreover, this teleportation is purely technological and will not be hindered by the anti-dimensional travel aura inside the Silver Mountain. I guess the Android engineers also needed to obtain certification from senior engineers in the computer core when manufacturing the memory surface, which is why there is a teleportation device connecting the secondary engineering deck and the computer core. Furthermore, this teleportation device is dual-certified, both here and there."

"Are you saying that once the process of creating the memory surface begins, the One that has noticed the situation is very likely to send its minions directly from the computer core to attack us?" Ivy, now in Silver Hand's body, spoke face-to-face with Lucy.

“That’s right, Lord Doom.” Lucy nodded.

"Ah, that's quite a pleasant surprise." Ivy smiled. "I didn't expect you guys to find the main objective of the mission so quickly. Who knew that there would be a fast track leading directly to the Oracle's computer core right at the entrance to Silver Mountain. Having a hacker along is great; many technical problems have become much easier to solve."

“It seems our battle plan needs a slight change, Notticula, my lady.”

Ivy briefly left Silver Hand's body and returned to the other side to revise the plan with the Iron Goddess Reserve.