Unconventional security

"Fiber wafers?"

Upon seeing these four words, Chen Bei was taken aback.

The initial cutting-edge theory of this was published by a Chinese research team on January 22, 2026, in the main journal of Nature.

"Are they going to venture into space?"

"If this technology achieves another major breakthrough, the application of various computing powers should be even stronger. Could it allow ordinary people to directly possess level 1 or 2 computing power?"

"If a modified human like Song Ming were to further improve his strength... no, neither Miao Yun nor Song Ming have unlocked their genetic locks. Modification and the genetic lock might be mutually exclusive."

One thought after another flashed through Chen Bei's mind: the fiber chip was not of much help to pure androids and could not help them run computing power.

Fiber optic wafers simply transform traditional hard wafers into various items, such as clothing or other products.

Perhaps people can complete all their online interactions simply by wearing one piece of clothing.

Therefore, the most powerful application of this technology is to modify humans, allowing them to be better compatible with mechanical parts and to better utilize AI computing power.

If a cyborg can awaken its genetic lock simultaneously, it's equivalent to having two abilities, which is not as simple as one plus one equals two.

However, Chen Bei saw no signs of the gene lock being activated in either Song Ming or Miao Yun. The best-case scenario was that the two forms were incompatible...

A sense of urgency welled up in Chen Bei's heart. He could feel the situation becoming increasingly dire. Even though he had only recently unlocked the third gene lock, he was still so insignificant.

"My skills still need improvement..."

Chen Bei continued scrolling through the information, which contained details about some fiber optic chips. He glanced at it briefly and then skipped over it.

Chen Bei searched for information about the space program and the resurrected humans. He couldn't find any information about the former, while the information about the latter was the same as what the Lower City knew.

People who have recovered have been labeled as virus carriers and are universally condemned.

Chen Bei then searched for Hope Tower, the highest-level building in the Upper City District, but the exact number of floors was not displayed.

Its function is equivalent to the government affairs hall of the entire Upper City, or more broadly, the government affairs hall of the entire human city.

The highest-ranking members of the human council meet at the very top of the Tower of Hope.

The document states that all interviewees for Hope Tower must undergo a strict information verification process, and unregistered individuals will be directly exposed if their identity information is scanned.

"Tsk, luckily I was careful back then."

Chen Bei muttered to himself, "It's always good to be cautious in everything."

"It seems there's a lot more advanced information inside this tower. If Ye Zhixue could go in, she could dig up gold just by looking up some information about the Earth's core."

Chen Bei then searched the research institute and the Kashgar caves in turn, and found the corresponding locations for both.

It's worth mentioning that the Kashgar Caves are located in Area A, which they cannot access.

Chen Bei also found out the conditions for going to Area A: one needs to be a long-term resident of the urban area and have certain identification documents or have opened 4 or more gene locks.

Chen Bei couldn't meet either of these two conditions individually, let alone both.

As for the information from the research institute, well, that's exactly what I feared.

The institute has two publicly disclosed research projects, one of which is the IRC-IV drug.

Although the experimental sample had been stolen, the research did not stop, and a second sample was still being produced.

The second research direction is to modify the compatibility of human dual abilities.

Chen Bei didn't understand why they wanted to research this. It was neither beneficial to those with awakened genes nor to the android faction, yet those councilors actually agreed to it.

That's utterly absurd.

If they were to figure this out, there would probably be another riot immediately.

Before that, we must do our best to improve our strength.

After searching through all the information and gaining a fairly comprehensive understanding, Chen Bei then began searching for information about the East African Bridge.

The East African bridge, located in a foreign land, reflects the fact that while humanity is no longer divided by nationality, this awareness persisted in the early stages of the disaster, leading some to band together for mutual support.

Because Chinese people have a higher chance of unlocking and breaking through genetic locks, their population base is large. The East African Bridge has thus become a base for people from all countries except China to unite, represented by four human legislators.

The East African Bridge, as its name suggests, is its most iconic structure. Resembling a stairway to the heavens, it is said that those who cross this bridge can quickly overcome obstacles in a short period.

"And he broke through the bottleneck very quickly, just like in a cultivation novel."

Upon seeing this, Chen Bei couldn't help but complain, "How can something so mysterious exist? Human genes and cells have been around for hundreds of years, and humans themselves still haven't figured them out."

Not to mention that the problem could be solved simply by crossing a bridge.

Either there's something fishy going on here, or there's a higher-dimensional force at play.

[Recently, the East African Bridge region has increased its investment in construction, proposing to open 104 cities and offering to fund 80% of the costs itself, but the proposal was rejected by parliament.]

The reason why the East African Bridge region was able to come up with such a huge sum of money is unknown, but there have been gaps in AI tax reconciliation in recent years...

"Funding the construction of 104 cities?"

Chen Bei was taken aback. The 103rd city had been under construction for 5 or 6 years and it was still not finished. And they were already thinking about starting to build a new city?!

Could it be that a new mineral vein has been discovered? That shouldn't be the case; if it had been discovered, the proposal wouldn't have been rejected.

There's something wrong with the people behind this East African bridge; their top brass are those four foreign parliamentarians.

These four people have a big problem!

Their tax evasion is a done deal. Ye Zhixue's interview task is simply to find out how they managed to evade taxes.

And what were they planning to do with the money they evaded?

After thinking through these two questions, Chen Bei had a preliminary answer to the second question in his mind, which was inevitably related to City 104.

I then searched for "AI tax," which is unique to the Shangcheng District.

Because the technological development in Shangcheng District is too rapid, 90% of the area has already become fully information-based and AI-driven.

Therefore, their daily expenses are relatively low, such as the cost of taking a taxi.

Their main source of income is the lower city area outside the city. Simply put, they earn money in the lower city area to maintain the operation of the upper city area.

If they want to make money comfortably without leaving their homes, they will naturally need to use AI, which will involve AI tax.

Tax evasion is no longer as simple as it was hundreds of years ago. The AI ​​they use records behavioral patterns directly, and taxes are deducted when settling accounts.

But now, someone has actually managed to exploit the loophole.

"Gu Zhou, have you seen any information about the East African Bridge? This AI tax doesn't seem so easy to handle."

Ye Zhixue, who was sitting to the side, finally spoke up. Just to be on the safe side, she still called Chen Bei by his pseudonym.

"No, quite the opposite, it's very easy to handle!"

Chen Bei confidently replied, "This Upper District may seem deserted, but it's actually full of cunning old foxes!"

You can tell just from the content of this interview.

"Let me tell you..."