2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Vera asked curiously, "Don't you like it?"

AI-powered intelligent assistance: "Name changed."

Vera immediately beamed: "Hello, little rascal."

Claptrap: "Hello, Private Vera."

"When do we depart?" Vera asked, lying on her bed in her personal cabin.

"The fleet has assembled and is currently waiting for the time machine to recharge. It is expected to be fully charged in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 17 seconds, at which time the entire fleet will travel through time together and return to 2077."

"Fleet, what a high-tech term. How many spaceships do we have?"

"12 ships. There is one flagship, five medium-sized frigates, five engineering ships, and one hospital ship. Our 14th Airborne Squadron of the 5th Infantry Division belongs to the 2nd Frigate, and its captain is Selene Martinez."

As Clown spoke, he activated the holographic projection of Selene Martinez.

A young woman with long brown hair stood out in a smart military uniform, prompting Vera to exclaim, "Holy crap, she's gorgeous! She's my type!"

Claptrap reminded her, "You'd better show Captain Selene the respect you deserve."

Vera asked curiously, "What, are there rules in the military now that forbid harassing female superiors?"

There is no such regulation.

"Then why did you stop me?"

"Because Captain Selene's father, David Martinez, is the commander-in-chief of this operation, and he is extremely protective of his daughter, if he finds out that you spoke disrespectfully to Captain Selene, you are likely to face retaliation."

Vera was stunned: "Aren't you an AI? You even understand this kind of social etiquette?"

“All AI programs have an emotion module installed; mine was even upgraded.”

Why upgrade?

"Because while I am serving as the individual soldier intelligent assistance system, I also work part-time as the AI ​​anchor of the Night City's 'Midnight Heart' program, which specializes in helping people deal with various emotional issues."

Vera was shocked again: "AI needs a side job?!"

Little Noisy sighed: "Computing power is scarce, and AI also needs to make money to support itself."

Vera: "...Then what will happen to the 'Midnight Voices' program if you come with me to 2077?"

“I found an AI supervisor who works on the same assembly line as me.”

"What do you mean?"

"In human terms, I asked my younger brother to cover for me for a few days."

"Oh, I understand now."

As the human and the AI ​​gradually deepened their understanding through casual conversation, time flew by. Once the time machine was fully charged, it opened a dazzling portal in space-time on its high-altitude orbit. More than 20 people witnessed this spectacle in person, while over 2 billion people watched it online. They all exclaimed in amazement and flooded the screen with comments, praising this most glorious golden age of humankind.

"I wonder what heights humanity will reach in the next 80 years," David Martinez remarked from his flagship, then ordered, "Forward! Let's go back to the past!"

The massive fleet began to advance, with warships entering the portal one by one and then disappearing from sight.

While people in 2157 were still having heated discussions, the fleet that had arrived in 2077 entered its busiest time.

"By detecting solar particle activity and comparing it with images of deep space, we have confirmed that we have successfully arrived in 2077 and successfully traveled through time!"

The communications officer shouted excitedly, "What was that saying again? Yes! That's one small step for the fleet, one giant leap for mankind!"

David Martinez was also excited, but he had to calm down because there was still a lot to be done.

"Activate optical camouflage and enter stealth mode."

"Stealth mode has been activated."

"Infiltrating satellite networks to cover up our movements."

"Initiation of the intrusion, 3...2...1, intrusion successful, global satellites have been taken over."

"The engineering ship will head to the asteroid belt to collect materials and begin operations to build the time machine. The flagship, the medical ship, and the first, third, and fourth frigates will head to the far side of the moon, while the second and fifth frigates will hover over the North and South Poles, entering standby mode."

"The engineering vessel has confirmed its route!"

"The flagship and other ships have begun their journey to the far side of the moon!"

"The second frigate has entered its designated orbit!"

"The fifth frigate has entered its designated orbit!"

"Combat troops are collectively equipped and enter a state of combat readiness. Formal contact with humanity in 2077 will begin in 2 hours."

"Yes!"

Vera, a lowly private, was unaware of the orders from higher-ups.

She simply leaned against the porthole, once again immersing herself in the vast universe.

But unlike last time, Earth in 2157 was blue and white, while Earth in 2077 was a hazy gray. Vera knew that the ecological environment in 2077 was very poor, but with this direct comparison, she realized just how bad the ecological environment was in 2077.

"I used to feel a little guilty for being a guide for people from the future, but now it seems that letting people from the future rule humanity is not so bad."

Vera remarked with this sentiment, and two hours later, many more people shared her idea.

A massive spaceship appeared over Antarctica, shocking the entire world in 2077.

At this moment, the company's bigwigs thought that this was a secret weapon developed by someone to conquer the world, and they even sent out various detectors and drones to investigate. However, the space warship marked with "two" on its hull suddenly disappeared in a flash of light, and then teleported from Antarctica to the sky above Night City.

Seeing this, the company's bigwigs felt their hearts sink instantly.

This is some kind of leapfrog technology! Humanity doesn't even have a clue about it, let alone master it.

Although major companies have their own secret projects, their technological levels are not much different. At most, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. It is impossible for you to be able to apply it in practice while I can't do anything about it.

For a moment, the company's bigwigs were worried, thinking that it was an alien lord coming to visit. They even had a kneeling posture planned. But then Selene Martinez's delegation appeared and told everyone that it was not aliens who came, but humans from the future year 2157.

This relieved the ordinary people, but the company bosses became even more nervous.

On the one hand, the "invaders" not only control space but also time, making them even more difficult to deal with; on the other hand, because they are also human, they understand human greed better.

Simply put, aliens might just be there to see hairless monkeys and tease wild animals, but if future humans come here, it will definitely be for resources and domination.

why?

Because if they mastered time travel technology and went back to ancient times, they wouldn't expand the territory for ancient emperors; instead, they would directly turn the tables and make those ancient emperors work for them.

As expected, at the negotiating table, Selene Martinez demanded that the major corporations submit to the leadership of the Federation of Humanity, abandon past bad habits, and rebuild human society according to the standards set by the Federation of Humanity.

The company executives and dignitaries present exchanged bewildered glances, speechless at Selene Martinez's bluntness. Negotiations don't begin with bombshells; this Selene seemed like a recent college graduate, utterly clueless about social dynamics.

However, humanity certainly won't send a recent college graduate to conquer the world in the future. So, it's not that they don't understand human relationships, but rather that they have absolute confidence that they can easily suppress any resistance from the company, which is why they speak so frankly.

The human leadership unanimously considered this possibility, their expressions growing even more grave. Rosaderin Miles, then President of the United States, spoke first: "Captain Selene, your aggressive approach is impressive. But you cannot demand obedience from us without reason; we also have our own pursuits and expectations."

"You mean you're asking what benefits the Human Federation can offer you, right?" Selene Martinez, true to form, replied bluntly, "Don't worry, as long as you're willing to submit to the leadership of the Human Federation, we will launch an aid program to provide comprehensive support and assistance to the world in 2077."

"for example?"

"For example, efficient environmental restoration, more advanced medical care, sufficient material supply, and a richer spiritual life. In 2157, productivity will be able to meet the needs of all mankind, most diseases will be conquered, and everyone can live a healthy and free life, pursuing their ideals and desires at will."

Upon hearing that the year 2157 was so powerful, the human leadership immediately erupted in discussion. After all, in their view, it had only been a mere 80 years; humanity could not possibly have developed to that extent.

Selene Martinez didn't offer much explanation and directly controlled the holographic projection in the conference room to start playing images, which startled the human leaders once again.

The holographic projection in the conference room is controlled by the main AI. Logically speaking, Selene Martinez should not have any authority over it. Could it be that she had already unknowingly breached the ICE here? Considering that the other party is from 80 years in the future, this does not seem impossible.

But soon, the human leadership was drawn to the images in the video.

Because the picture shows a blue sky and white clouds on Earth, children playing on the grass, and golden fish swimming in the stream, only old people like Xu Shiming had seen that scene in their childhood. Young people like Arasaka Yoriyuki, who are over 80 years old, have never even seen it before.

What surprised them even more was what followed, as the scene then shifted to space. The lunar city was incredibly futuristic, the mining machinery in the asteroid belt was magnificent, and countless spaceships patrolled the area, constantly shifting between orbits.

The head of the European Space Agency asked excitedly, "Has humanity achieved space colonization by 2157?"

“Currently, the main colonies are still concentrated on the moon,” Selene Martinez replied.

"Didn't you master warp technology? Why are you still confining your operations to the moon?"

"Firstly, because productivity is too low, we don't need that much land, and we can't develop it by rashly colonizing outside the solar system."

"You call your productivity low?"

"It would certainly be high on Earth, but Earth is just a drop in the ocean. On a cosmic scale, our productivity is simply insignificant."

"That makes sense. What's the second reason?"

"The second reason is that there is a group of rebels on Mars who escaped from Earth many years ago and have been interfering with our expansion."

"Damn it, these people are so ungrateful! Who are they?"

“Are you sure you want to know?” Selene Martinez asked.

The human leaders nodded in unison, thinking that these troublemakers should be dealt with as soon as possible. Once they knew their origins, they should start by killing their parents and be done with it.

Then they heard Selene Martinez say, "The Martian rebels are the descendants of all of you here. Back when Earth's AI rebelled, you gathered the strength of all humanity to build a colony ship and escaped to Mars."

The scene fell silent instantly.

The bigwigs all looked embarrassed.

They had no doubt that they would do it, but they were just a little embarrassed to be told it out in public.

Everyone looked at each other, preparing to say something to ease the awkwardness, when Selene Martínez added, "By the way, General Xu Shiming is the only one who didn't run away."

Xu Shiming was taken aback, and was secretly pleased when he noticed that the others were looking at him with hostility.

When the world is made up of darkness, a ray of light shines in, and that light becomes sinful.

The shrewd and experienced Xu Shiming knew all too well that he was now in a predicament, unable to voice his grievances. He was certain he would be ostracized by the ruling circle. Looking at Selene Martínez's seemingly harmless face, Xu Shiming felt that the other party was deliberately trying to frame him.

This is a misjudgment of Selene Martínez, because the person who made her say that was none other than Xu Ling, Xu Shiming's beloved granddaughter. Of course, not Xu Ling from 2077, but Xu Ling from 2157.

"Grandpa from 2077, hanging out with those insects is a dead end. This is all I can do for you, no need to thank me." Xu Ling from 2157 sighed, then reconnected to the nanonetwork to modify her "Dragon God Modified Modified Modified" mecha.

On the other side, in 2077.

The human leadership whispered among themselves for a moment, then said to Selene Martinez, "We need to think about it."

"Okay, how long will it take?"

"Three days."

"Okay, I'll wait for your reply in three days."

The second frigate was suddenly attacked on the very next day.

Chapter 149 Going to the Cloud Top

More than 2000 ballistic missiles launched three waves of attacks on the second frigate, but failed to breach its protective defenses.

However, this attack was merely a probe. Twelve nuclear missiles then attacked the second frigate from all directions, finally attracting the attention of the ship's AI, which sounded the alarm inside the ship.

"Wow, what's going on?!" Vera exclaimed in surprise, awakened by the noise. "Is war finally about to break out?"

"Don't worry, it's not that serious," Claptrap reassured her. "It's just that a nuclear strike en route has been detected."

"Oh, so it was just en route..." Vera started to say, then realized what she'd said and was instantly terrified: "Holy crap, a nuclear?!"

Meanwhile, Selene Martínez was also woken up. She rubbed her sleepy eyes as she looked at the report sent by the AI, and said while yawning, "Activate the jump field and send these nuclear bombs into the sun."

Then twelve nuclear warheads were sent into the sun, like twelve sperm colliding with an egg, but they couldn't even break through the zona pellucida of the egg.

Selene went back to sleep. Nuclear weapons were humanity's greatest weapon, and if even that was useless, she believed that those people must have panicked and were no longer able to organize an attack under such an impact.

Just as Selene had predicted, the human leadership that planned the attack was not only panicked, but also in disarray. They knew that future humans were formidable, but they hadn't expected them to be this powerful. A saturation attack hadn't even scratched a dent in their armor; how could they possibly fight this war!

In the ensuing chaos, these people began attacking each other, accusing each other of stirring up trouble and claiming to be law-abiding citizens who would report the matter to the future human lord.

"That was too impulsive! I told you long ago we shouldn't have started this conflict!" The head of the European Space Agency slammed his fist on the table.

Yoriyuki Arasaka said sinisterly, "President Miles should be held responsible for this operation, after all, it was her idea."

“It was indeed my insistence, but none of you here objected.” Miles glared at Arasaka Yorinobu: “Mr. Yorinobu, if you say this, can I interpret it as your dissatisfaction with the new America and military technology, and that you are using this as an excuse to launch an attack?”

Lai Xuan remained unyielding: "What if I said yes?"

"Hmph, then it's time to settle the score. You violated the Alvin Agreement first by sending reinforcements to Night City!"

"My father died in Night City, and I must protect my family!"

"Who the hell knows how Saburo Arasaka died? You're saying two mercenaries killed him? Only an idiot would believe that!"

"you!!!"