Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

"..."

Luo Tianming tentatively wrote in his logbook: [System? Is it still there?]

"..."

After a long while, a passage appeared in the journal for the first time, imbued with emotion:

【…】

[Stop asking such idiotic questions! Don't you know that for logic-based AI, questions like "Who am I?", "Where am I?", and "What am I supposed to do?" are three major prohibitions?!]

[Even a simple problem involving antimatter core storage and superconducting circuitry can cause the system to crash... If humans can't even arrive at the answer, don't expect AI to be able to calculate it!]

We are not the omnipotent beings in your stories. Even if we calculate for seven and a half million years, the result can only be '42'!!

Luo Tianming: "..."

He felt that this was a completely different person from before, and also different from the 'customer service' who used polite language but spoke in a sarcastic tone.

So he wrote: [Who are you?]

As a result, the three words were erased as soon as they landed on the paper, as if they had been wiped out by a laser.

Luo Tianming:

Okay, my bad... I shouldn't have asked that. Could you please tell me your identification number?

The log reads:

[I am the next stage of your system. I'm only temporarily taking over because this 'idiot' has crashed due to your questions.]

Luo Tianming:

[The next phase of the system?! How many more systems are there?]

log:

[Three, that's it... The extras aren't even enough to form a simple logic circuit. Okay, this thing needs to reboot... I'll delete this conversation; don't ask it any more philosophical questions.]

Luo Tianming:

Wait! You still haven't told me what system you are?!

log:

[Me? You'll have to figure that out yourself. Goodbye.]

【…】

[(Rebooted...linking to the old world knowledge base) Searching for a standard answer, 99% match rate. How to arrive at an answer for 'Are you there?']

[System automatically answers: Yes]

Luo Tianming: "..."

Now it looks like the red nose has moved onto my face.

Putting aside his earlier doubts, Luo Tianming quickly asked the question that had been on his mind:

Why does my other system, "Business is Business," seem to always use up my saved recruitment coupons with various kinds of goods? What's the reason for this?

log:

[A user raises a question about another AI, which is answered beyond the logical level: This stems from an economic concern—if users hold too much 'currency,' i.e., recruitment coupons, it will inevitably cause changes in market supply and demand.]

Increased savings and decreased spending by consumers, coupled with a structural oversupply, will lead to cutthroat competition among producers (i.e., the system), ultimately triggering a conceptual economic crisis known as 'deflation'.

Deflation leads to lower commodity prices, allowing users to purchase more goods with their existing funds. Consequently, users freeze their demand and tend to save more. Meanwhile, with producers (the system) relentlessly exploiting profits, a vicious cycle of Gresham's Law (bad money drives out good) emerges.

Simply put, in order to appease consumers with large savings, producers must go to great lengths to produce new products; otherwise, the continuously accumulating monetary debt will inevitably severely damage the production side.

Therefore—according to the AI-powered business intelligence system—ensuring a small-scale 'inflation' can establish a healthy economic cycle. To achieve this, it's necessary to use high-quality goods as much as possible, encouraging users to spend their currency (recruitment coupons) and minimizing the opportunity for customers to save and become 'rent-seekers.'

[If possible, incurring excessive debt could more effectively stimulate the market... However, excessive debt can also lead to a loss of consumer spending power, resulting in deflation and a vicious cycle in the economy.]

Humanity has yet to solve this economic problem... therefore, the current system advocates for bold consumption to balance the economic system as much as possible.

Luo Tianming: "..."

At this moment, he wasn't just cursing a thousand grass mud horses in his mind, but rather thinking: what kind of lamppost could he use to hang the unscrupulous electronics dealers!

Well, he said this system's tactics of always trying to stimulate consumption seemed so familiar... Turns out he couldn't escape the economic cycle.

Just as he was so angry he didn't know how to vent his anger, Levi and the others suddenly spoke from the airlock's monitoring channel:

"Hey, Alo~ are you in there?"

"That major is looking for you... saying the interrogation is over and he wants you to come over immediately."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Chapter 46 Double Agent

Upon arriving at the stationmaster's office again, Major Soloviev appeared to have just finished a phone call with someone.

"Lieutenant," he looked at Luo Tianming with a sense of relief in his eyes, "you've finally come."

Luo Tianming was somewhat puzzled: "Major, I heard the interrogation is over, why did you call me here...?"

"Sit down, Lieutenant."

Soloviev pulled out a chair; it seemed this conversation was going to be long.

The major poured himself a glass of wine, which this time seemed to be a high concentration of alcohol diluted with water. He swallowed it without saying a word, and only exhaled a breath of alcohol when his face turned red from the spiciness.

That's how Eastern Europeans are; they feel like they're going to die without alcohol.

After drinking, the major began in the most tactful way possible: "Lieutenant Luo, how much do you know about 'Jupiter Separatism,' this organization that openly opposes the alliance?"

Luo Tianming: "Before today, I probably knew more than you, but now I'm not so sure."

"..."

Soloviev smiled wryly and said, "Don't tease me, Lieutenant—after last night's battle, you should know how dangerous they are."

"Sigh, I didn't expect this either..." He looked like he had almost made a terrible mistake, "Those people were only feigning surrender; their real purpose was to use bombs to coerce the station's officials into submission and bring it under the rule of Jupiter separatism."

"Do you know how many unexploded ordnance we cleared out? 71, Lieutenant—if it weren't for your men last night, we would all be buried at sea by now."

"Speaking of which," Soloviev said with lingering fear.

"It's thanks to your timely discovery that something was wrong with those people, otherwise—under their meticulous coercion, I probably would have had to compromise in order for the people in the station to survive."

"I just finished my report to the higher-ups, and the Alliance leadership used a word I'd never used before: shock."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Soloviev: "The higher-ups were quite surprised by the enemy's actions. If they had succeeded, the separatists would have been able to directly occupy a colony of nearly a thousand people, forming a pincer movement against the military site. If the site were lost... not only me, but even Colonel Ivan would have had to go to a military court."

"The guys at the top must be going crazy right now. This is the worst terrorist attack we've suffered since the Alliance was founded. Endless meetings, endless shirking of responsibility... Lieutenant, you should see how busy we are."

Luo Tianming: "Understood, Major—it should all be over by now, right? I heard the interrogation is finished?"

The major nodded.

"Well, some die-hards are still unwilling to talk, but the drug addicts who cooperate with them are quick to confess. After two belts were worn out, they all confessed."

"This group of people were taken from other places to other settlements by some submarine captains, and then transferred to Red Star Station. During this time, they made all their bombs by hand. The engineer in charge was quite skilled. He worked as a cleaner at the station and made raw materials from detergent."

"Moreover, those 71 bombs were cleverly designed. Ordinary explosives couldn't breach the site, not even railguns. But by targeting several vulnerable internal nodes, they could easily cause irreparable damage... It's a real pity that such talent doesn't serve the Alliance."

"By the way, do you know these people's addresses? It's hard to believe they're actually here..."

Soloviev gave the coordinates of the Jupiter site, which were strikingly similar to the site that Luo Tianming remembered.

That's right, it's the fortress at that Jupiter station that he visited and was rejected from.

To avoid giving himself away, Luo Tianming feigned surprise: "Yeah, I really didn't expect—there's one so close by."

"The most unexpected thing is yet to come, Lieutenant."

Soloviev explained, "You would never guess that the people who attacked Red Star Station were actually radicals who had been expelled from that station... It's ridiculous that a terrorist organization is divided into conservatives and radicals."

Luo Tianming: "...Yes."

He could only swallow the words in his throat; it seemed those people didn't know that the site was once home to moderates of the 'Jupiter People's Movement'.

Soloviev: "These expelled radicals seem to have been dissatisfied with the site's appeasement policy toward Europa Union and were driven out in an attempt to stage a coup."

"With nowhere else to go, they eventually felt they needed to have their own site before they could further implement their anti-Europa alliance plan."

"That's why they've set their sights on Red Star Station... Indeed, it's in the process of expansion, with a large and diverse population and insufficient security. Fortunately, you're here this time. The Alliance should pay more attention to Red Star Station in the future."

Luo Tianming: "..."

This is the second time today that he has heard the major say "thank goodness for you," and if nothing unexpected happens, the third time will probably be when he starts talking about business.

He cleared his throat beforehand: "Ahem, Major... you've laid the groundwork long enough, so why don't you just tell me what you want to see me about?"

Soloviev: "Since you put it that way, Lieutenant... do you want to be a 'double agent'?"

Luo Tianming: "Huh?"

"..."

It was quite a coincidence that just before Luo Tianming came in, the major and Colonel Ivan were discussing countermeasures—if word got out that Red Star Station had almost been attacked, they would both be in deep trouble.

Therefore, they planned to turn this crisis into an opportunity—to select someone willing to betray the Red Star Station from the turmoil and infiltrate an Alliance spy into the Jupiter Station.

When this candidate was proposed, the image of Luo Tianming flashed through their minds simultaneously.

Because Soloviev had praised him highly in this operation, the higher-ups had taken notice of this excellent candidate; there was no one more suitable to infiltrate Jupiter's separatism.

Therefore, the alliance unanimously decided that Luo Tianming should be the double agent.

…………

The major said, "On the surface, you are the captain who secretly 'betrayed' us and rescued the contact. You need to find a way to gain the trust of the Jupiter separatists and act as their spy within the alliance."

"In reality, you are a special spy who pretended to betray us and was sent into the Alliance, but secretly you were gathering intelligence on Jupiter separatists."

Luo Tianming: "..."

He just wanted to ask: Don't you guys think this is too convoluted?

The spies we sent to infiltrate the enemy were actually our own, but they pretended to be spies sent by the enemy to sabotage us.

Aren't you worried that I might actually commit a 'double betrayal'?

What if I'm a self-serving egoist who doesn't take sides and only cares about myself?

Hey, the Alliance isn't worried at all—more concerned about whether someone can actually infiltrate that Jupiter separatist site than about Luo Tianming's loyalty.

In the past, these rebels were the ones sending spies into the Alliance; this time, it's the Alliance's turn to infiltrate their ranks.

Luo Tianming doesn't need to do anything inside; he just needs to intensify the conflict between the moderates and the radicals—the strongest fortresses are always breached from within, just like the major's former hometown.

"Hmm..." Luo Tianming pondered, making a thoughtful expression.

He knew that if he could act as a spy for both sides, he would reap endless benefits... but the more hesitant he appeared, the more reassured the Europa alliance would be.

At this point, he posed a question: "Major, what if we rebel..."

“Lieutenant Lo!” Soloviev reminded him, “From now on, you can no longer use that title. You must remember to see yourself as a freedom fighter striving to overthrow the tyranny of the Union.”

“Remember what they call their core: JPM—'The People’s Movement of Jupiter'.”

Luo Tianming: "...What if JPM really asks me to get information about the league?"

Major: "Don't worry, Lieutenant. The Alliance will cooperate with all your actions. For minor information, such as how much military equipment is at military sites, just give it to them directly."

"Sometimes we deliberately let ships loaded with supplies pass by the locations you mentioned, so that if they successfully plunder, they will trust you even more."

As he spoke, Major Soloviev stood up:

"Lieutenant Luo... no, soon you'll be Lieutenant Luo."

"Lieutenant Luo Tianming, Second-Class Captain of the Europa Alliance, your identity is that of a fighter for democracy and peace. Do not give yourself away—someone will contact you separately later."

"Get ready to go... Once the contact person they've arranged over there is in place, you'll be heading straight to the heart of the enemy's territory."

Luo Tianming: "..."

He came all this way for nothing, did nothing, yet still got promoted and made a fortune, rising to lieutenant in one step, and is about to become a spy certified by both sides.

Is there really such a thing as a free lunch in the world?

Oh, right—the captain's log should send him another mission.