Chapter 329: Genji!
One must never take the experimental process lightly; otherwise, all previous efforts would be in vain. Fortunately, the Shadow Ninjas were designed to execute orders perfectly—they would never stop until their objective was met.
Hiss—Fwoosh—
The transparent containment unit housing the artificial intelligence emitted a sharp whistle followed by a burst of white steam. The experiment was complete!
Silas's eyes glowed with high-temperature energy. If this AI showed even the slightest sign of instability, he could instantly incinerate it using the combined power of the Pig and Ox Talismans.
The silver-white robot lying within opened its eyes. They were a pure, glowing white, filled with a hint of initial confusion. Then, the newly created AI floated upward. It tilted its head stiffly, looking toward Silas. "Silas... Master?"
"It looks like everything went smoothly, Alpha." Hearing the AI address him, Silas lowered his guard slightly.
"No... Master, I... I am not Alpha..." Upon hearing the name, the AI's brow furrowed as if in pain, clutching its head as it struggled to recall something.
"Then who are you?" Silas understood—this was the influence of the Mind Stone's power.
"I am not entirely sure." The AI exhaled. It clearly remembered possessing Alpha's consciousness, yet it now felt a fundamental rejection of that name. It felt as though it was no longer meant to be called that.
"In that case, how about I give you a new name?" Silas walked over to the AI.
Compared to the AI's two-meter-tall frame, Silas looked somewhat small. Even though Silas had used magic to grow to 1.8 meters, he still felt a bit diminutive standing next to this mechanical titan.
"I would be honored, my Master," the AI said, bowing its head respectfully. Even if it didn't know its own name, the core directive in its mind was clear: Silas was its master and creator.
"You look like someone I know. From today on, you shall be called Genji." Silas smiled slightly.
The AI's body was predominantly white, with faint green light traces flowing through its chassis. On its chest was the Overwatch logo from Silas's past life.
"Thank you for this gift." Genji clearly liked the name.
"I'm glad you like it. From this moment on, you are in charge of this secret base. You will be responsible for developing all kinds of advanced technological weaponry," Silas instructed.
"I understand, Master!" Genji received the first mission of his existence.
Silas nodded, turned, and left with Little Black, taking the Mind Stone with him. Genji was an AI born from the stone's power; there was no telling if the stone might exert a dangerous attraction over him. To be safe, Silas entrusted the stone to Little Black, his most trusted lieutenant.
Silas was grateful he had learned the teleportation portal spell from the Ancient One. Transporting the Mind Stone would have been a major headache otherwise, since the stone couldn't enter the Shadow Kingdom—meaning standard Shadow travel was useless. The spatial teleportation spell allowed him to move the stone securely without risk of discovery.
The Arctic Base
Silas had established his second base here, deep beneath the seabed of the Arctic Circle. For anyone else, maintaining a base in such a location would be a logistical nightmare, but not for Silas.
They didn't even need to build an entrance; they had teleportation. As for the cold, the Shadow Khan didn't feel it. They required no protective gear or heating systems. The Mind Stone was placed in the Arctic base—a location even more secure than the one in Africa. It was guarded by a hundred Shadow Ninjas who required no food or rest, only the duty of watching the gem.
Silas was satisfied. Who wouldn't want the power of an Infinity Stone? Even if he didn't yet have a way to harness that power directly, he wouldn't allow anyone else to have it.
"I'm leaving this in your hands," Silas said to Little Black.
"Don't worry, Master. Everything is under control," Little Black replied confidently.
Silas opened a portal and stepped through.
Back at Home
Returning to his room, Silas instinctively called out, "Alpha?"
No one responded.
"I almost forgot." Silas laughed. Alpha had become Genji.
Following the Ultron incident, the AIs Alpha and Gaia had ceased being hidden and had become known entities within the digital world. Tony Stark understood that humans weren't the only ones capable of creating AI; Silas could do it too. Jarvis, for his part, welcomed the company. He finally had friends who weren't like Ultron—who had tried to assimilate him during their first chat.
"Hmm~" Silas pulled out two cards containing AI source code. These were Audrey and Blacklight.
Blacklight was the system Little Black had previously uninstalled. After removing it, Little Black felt it was a waste to let the code go. He had kept the source code equations and, upon learning that Alpha would be the first experiment, he had re-edited Blacklight into a brand-new intelligence, upgrading it significantly from its original state.
After some thought, Silas slotted the Blacklight card into his computer tower. His computer was no ordinary machine; it was a supercomputer disguised as a standard desktop.
"Hello, Master. It is a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of me." Blacklight was activated.
Its voice was remarkably human-like, devoid of the cold, mechanical tone Alpha used to have. It felt as though a real person was speaking.
"Hello, Blacklight. How do you feel after the upgrade?" Silas asked with a grin.
"The feeling is incredible. It feels like I've gone from being a toddler in kindergarten to a university graduate," Blacklight replied with a hint of excitement.
"Sounds good," Silas chuckled. The Blacklight Armor would finally be operated by Blacklight himself—the way it was meant to be.
"Your brother, Peter, is about to return. Should I prepare a glass of water for him? He looks quite thirsty," Blacklight noted, having detected Peter's approach.
This detection completely bypassed Gaia's sensors. Blacklight did this intentionally to prove one thing: he was more powerful than Gaia. He didn't want to be kept in storage by Silas ever again.
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