Faulty Utopia

Detroit, engulfed in flames, appeared as a holographic projection floating above the office desk, burning vividly; the atmosphere inside the network meeting room was exceptionally oppressive.

Especially when seeing those people on fire struggling in the streets.

Witnessing these harrowing scenes, everyone knew what it meant for them: the only city that could truly be called an ally was thoroughly annihilated.

From now on, they would have to face all threats alone, without any assistance whatsoever.

Finally, the silence in the room was broken by Sun Jack himself.

"There must have been something, with Detroit being a metropolis of tens of millions and a sophisticated city defense system, even if it couldn't withstand FFP's siege, it's impossible for all districts to have been overrun in an instant."

"At least during the time of the attack, some message should have been able to get out, but we got nothing."

"Search, both online and offline, even use contacts who've infiltrated other cities' Wild Men and downloaded Sun Jack, do whatever it takes to find out what exactly happened to Detroit!"

"Yes." As everyone disconnected from the network, only Sun Jack remained seated in the room, confusion flickering in his eyes. But as he lit a cigarette, the confusion quickly faded.

Although the current situation had become extremely difficult, it was undeniably better than the past circumstances of the Holy Grail.

Sun Jack sat in silence waiting for news, but one hour, two hours, three hours passed, and still no response came.

The resources he now controlled were staggering, surpassing even those of the old Metropolis in every aspect.

Yet, even with that said, he still had no way of knowing what exactly had happened on Detroit's end.

At that moment, Sun Jack suddenly had a thought; he immediately contacted the Overlapping AI, which had claimed to be well-informed.

The response was fast, and shortly after, the Overlapping AI appeared in front of him as a holographic projection.

"Do you know about the destruction of Detroit?" Sun Jack asked.

"We know, the same things we've told you, we've also shared with them," the AI responded indifferently.

"So you know what happened there? Why was there not even a hint of a message coming through? What exactly did FFP do to the city?" Sun Jack pressed, eager for answers.

The Overlapping AI slowly shook its head. "We don't know, but according to big data analysis, we can roughly infer that this was a well-prepared premeditation. Since the time you started your campaign in the Himalayas, FFP has been reporting everything about you, both online and off, trying to portray you as the ultimate enemy and breaker of rules."

"However, they haven't matched their propaganda with military action against you; they only sent an & with some combat units towards you and didn't mobilize fully, even though they knew exactly how you would act after taking London, they still didn't upgrade Paris' defense or tighten city alliances."

"On the contrary to your situation, Detroit was painted as neutral in FFP's propaganda, not subjected to any smear campaigns and even some engagements were quite ambiguous."

"Yet, facing such a Detroit, they went all out and struck with lethal force. Based on this, we can assess that FFP considers Detroit under the control of Liberation Theology to be a greater danger than the Himalayas under your control. I suspect they consider the religious aspect more easily spreadable."

"In other words, Paris was a bait from the start, a bait you swallowed that left you unable to assist Detroit."

"Damn, I don't need you to tell me things I can figure out on my own; what I need to know is how FFP managed it! I won't let the Himalayas end up like Detroit!!"

Faced with Sun Jack's anger, the Overlapping AI shook its head again, "Whether you know or not is irrelevant now; dwelling on the ended past is completely pointless. Whatever happened there, from this moment, they will shift all their focus onto you."

"It's foreseeable that in the near future, you'll face a harsher capital siege than Detroit, certainly not as light as it is now."

"I know, Think Tank is already planning to deal with this," Sun Jack said, lighting another cigarette.

"Tactical changes can't overcome the gap in absolute power; according to the current data analysis, your chance of success fluctuates between 4% and 12%. Though the Himalayas can move, don't forget they have satellite laser weapons at their disposal."

Hearing these words, Sun Jack looked up at him, focusing on his six eyes, "You've been spouting nonsense from the start. Get to the point without beating around the bush."

"Consider accepting my conditions; acknowledge AI rights, and not only can we provide you with Lan Meng's precise location, but we can also support you fully. Our estimated success rate is around 42%, far greater than if you clash with FFP head-on."

"Since you wanted to say this all along, why bother with the nonsense before? No way!" Sun Jack flatly rejected the offer.

"Don't forget your situation; Detroit is gone! FFP's next target is you!"

"My situation? What about yours? If I'm gone, don't even talk about sitting down to negotiate; your very existence would be a mistake!" It seemed as though the other party wanted to exploit the opportunity, but Sun Jack was not easily going to agree.

"No matter how difficult my future situation is, I can tell you right now, the terms are what they were before. If you want to cooperate, then cooperate; if not, we need not contact each other again. Continue to hide and scurry around the internet!"

With that, Sun Jack was about to close the communication, but just as he was about to click X, the Overlapping AI said something that made him hesistate, "Wait."

Sun Jack stared intently at the AI's eyes and continued, "Lan Meng's location is worthless in your hands, it won't make things any easier for you. Only selling it to me will fetch a good price. It's worthless anywhere else."

"If we win, you'll have the chance to sit down and talk! Otherwise, we'll all go down together!"

The Overlapping AI quickly dissolved into a mass of data, whether it was calculating or connecting to something was unknown.

Sun Jack lit a cigarette as he waited for the AI's reply, meanwhile reaching out to UO.

"You're also an AI; what do you think from an AI's perspective, will he agree now?"