The First Order

Jiang Xu was someone who constantly sought the truth. Therefore, in order to find out the truth about the artificial intelligence, he came to Stronghold 61 to personally experience how it felt like to live under its governance.

As such, his experience with the artificial intelligence was much more authentic than Ren Xiaosu’s.

His experience differed from Ren Xiaosu’s as Ren Xiaosu was currently only able to see how helpless the stronghold residents were when it came to choosing a job. Jiang Xu said to Ren Xiaosu, “You know Li Ran, right?”

Ren Xiaosu nodded. “I remember that she was also a resident of Stronghold 61, but she was saved during the creeper vine disaster.”

“She paid me a visit in Luoyang City when she was on her concert tour.” Jiang Xu nodded. “After Stronghold 61 was rebuilt, she came back here to live. When she found out I was here, she paid me a visit again. Guess what she’s working as now?”

Ren Xiaosu asked, “Is she not a singer anymore?”

“She’s not singing anymore.” Jiang Xu said, “She said the stronghold has arranged for her to work as a radio host. Actually, she has it much better than most people, but she’s still unsatisfied with the job assignment. She wanted to leave the Wang Consortium and go somewhere else to be a singer, but the Wang Consortium would not allow her to leave. They even sent a therapy team to her place every week to enlighten her and instill some obedience.”

Jiang Xu continued, “But that’s not the worst of it. What’s most unacceptable to her is that the therapy team actually has the keys to her house, so they can go over and give her counseling at any time. But don’t think too deeply into it. Those people have not threatened her personal safety at all. They only come to her house in the middle of the night for the therapy sessions. Apparently, the AI thinks it will be more effective for her if she receives therapy at that time.”

Ren Xiaosu raised an eyebrow. “What’s the difference between that and a threat? Was that why she paid you a visit? To ask you to take her away?”

Jiang Xu nodded. “I’ve negotiated with the Wang Consortium, and they’ve readily agreed to it. However, I can only help her alone. Furthermore, I have my own selfish reasons for doing so. I’m hoping Li Ran will tell everyone what she has experienced personally.”

However, this was only one of the minor incidents Jiang Xu encountered. He said to Ren Xiaosu, “Also, all of the phones in this stronghold are being monitored. A lot of people might not have realized it yet, but I have. In the past, no matter how powerful an intelligence agency might be, they still could not monitor the entire stronghold’s telecommunications. However, this AI can easily do that. So I don’t think you should use the landline at your place in Stronghold 61.”

That night, Jiang Xu chatted a lot with Ren Xiaosu about what he had seen and heard in Stronghold 61. In the end, Jiang Xu decided to objectively relate the situation taking place here. He did not inject any personal biases and just left it to the entire Alliance of Strongholds to discuss the current developments in the Wang Consortium.

He not only listed the cons but also talked about the pros.

Jiang Xu had to admit that Stronghold 61 was the safest stronghold he had ever seen.

Even in Luoyang City, there was still a lot of bad stuff going on. Crime was still frequent. However, all of that was unseen in Stronghold 61. It was as though someone had erased them.

Therefore, he wrote about these matters in his article.

Jiang Xu smiled at Ren Xiaosu and said, “It’s such a coincidence that you’ve come here as well. I was just planning to leave Stronghold 61 tomorrow and return to Luoyang City. If I estimate my time here, it’s been almost a month now, so it’s time for me to head back.”

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “I’ll see you off tomorrow then.”

Jiang Xu asked with interest, “Are you afraid the Wang Consortium won’t let me leave? If they really don’t let me leave safely, what will you do?”

Ren Xiaosu said in seriousness, “I doubt they can stop me.”

…

That night, Jiang Xu used Hope Media’s own transmission equipment to send over the draft he had written.

As the Qinghe Group owned seven satellites, Hope Media was always the fastest in transmitting their news among all the newspaper firms.

The next morning, Hope Media’s newspaper was published on time at 6:30 AM. Gradually, all the adults in the Alliance of Strongholds started a new day.

In Stronghold 73, a middle-aged man ate breakfast at home before bidding farewell to his family.

When he passed by a newspaper stand, he bought a copy of Hope Media’s newspaper to catch up on today’s new developments.

However, he was not in a hurry to read it. He planned to use this newspaper to pass his time in the morning after arriving at the office and pouring himself a cup of tea.

Then, during lunch, he would chat with his colleagues about the latest news he read from the paper.

The middle-aged man stood at the side of the road and waited for his ride. When the streetcar slowly drove over, he boarded it and swiped his monthly fare ticket on the reader.

The middle-aged man found a seat in the streetcar and sat down. As he had boarded at the depot station, the streetcar was very empty.

However, after the streetcar passed through two or three stops, the compartment started filling up. There was a strange smell of sweat and chives in the vehicle, as well as a lot of chatter.

The middle-aged man was looking out of the window contentedly as it drove. However, he gradually heard some people discussing, “Have you guys read the news? Today’s Hope Media newspaper has an article about Li Ran’s encounter with the Wang Consortium’s AI.”

“Li Ran? Are you referring to that female singer? I quite like her song, ‘Explosion.’ Why, what about her?”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he could not help but flip open the newspaper. However, the more he read, the more entranced he became. He did not even realize he had missed his stop.

For the entire morning, the artificial intelligence had become the topic on everyone’s lips.

Hope Media, which had always enjoyed a high readership, finally fired the first salvo at the Wang Consortium.

In the morning, Ren Xiaosu was preparing to head out alone with Jiang Xu and the reporters. Jiang Xu looked at Ren Xiaosu and asked, “Have the two of you had breakfast yet?”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “I’m gonna buy some along the way.”

“Haha, I knew it.” Jiang Xu handed him a brown paper bag. “Here, these are the fried vegetable dumplings made by our reporters. Have some while they’re still hot. When we first arrived at Stronghold 61, we were a little unused to it, because the commerce scene in Stronghold 61 is still in a very destitute state. For the time being, there’s only some publicly operated shops and breakfast stalls running, but they’re all located very far away from where we live.”

“Doesn’t anyone run their own small businesses?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.

“No, it’s apparently not allowed yet but it could happen in the future. For the time being, all of the commerce and business in the stronghold are run by the Wang Consortium,” Jiang Xu said.

“Then where does everyone get their motivation from?” Ren Xiaosu muttered. Could working for others be as enjoyable as making money for oneself?

In the end, Ren Xiaosu saw Jiang Xu and the others off to the stronghold gate. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jiang Xu being allowed to leave after having his identification checked.

Jiang Xu turned around and said, “Let’s meet again if fate wills it.”

Ren Xiaosu said, “We’ll definitely meet again.”

Jiang Xu smiled and shook his head. “In this world, nothing is certain. So we have to cherish every farewell.” With that, Jiang Xu got into the car and left.

Ren Xiaosu went back the same way he came, but the farther he walked, the uneasier he felt. Then an off-road vehicle passed him by. He was stunned and suddenly felt the three people inside seemed rather familiar.

He turned around and watched as the off-road vehicle drove out of the stronghold. He stood there and thought for a moment before running off in different direction.