"A deal?" Sun Jack looked at the UO before him with a hint of surprise, truly not expecting an exiled AI to actually be capable of making a deal with him.
"I don't think the troubles I'm facing right now can be aided by a trivial AI like you." Sun Jack directly employed a strategic withdrawal to probe the other's intentions.
"Really? You're now forced to hide out in the wilderness, rife with radiation. Do you truly not feel the need for new allies?"
The UO spoke with full confidence, and as he spoke, green data streams rapidly scrolled across the metal Artificial Eye under his control.
Clearly, the UO had come to Sun Jack having already gleaned some information in advance.
"Indeed, I have been driven to hide in the wilderness, but how much better off are you? If you were really comfortable, why would you seek me out? What, chased around in cyberspace by Class 3, huh?" Sun Jack blatantly exposed the other's predicament.
The UO didn't deny it and straightforwardly admitted, "Yes, exactly because of that we should stick together for warmth. After all, we've both been in prison together, haven't we, Sun Jack?"
"Cut to the chase, I'm pressed for time." Sun Jack said impatiently.
"This matter, I need to discuss it with your true self." The UO laid out his condition.
"Are you going to talk or not? If not, I'm leaving." As Sun Jack spoke, he covered his eyes with the white Flash Membrane, preparing to dive into the water.
"A city, I can help you take down a brand-new city." The UO directly revealed his objective.
"Hiding in the wilderness is no good for you; even the Spacecraft Carrier needs maintenance and repairs. In that environment, to avoid FFP scanning and detection, you even dive into more radiation-infested areas. Without a stronghold, no matter how strong your Spacecraft Carrier is, it won't last long."
At these words, Sun Jack instantly ceased his descent, his body slightly convulsing as his consciousness overlapped with his true self. "Interesting, keep talking."
"My friends and I can assist you with a city, providing you a territory to settle in. But as a condition, our existences also need to avoid being hunted down by Class 3."
"Which city?"
"The Himalayas."
Sun Jack rapidly conducted a search in the system and found that the Metropolis in the Himalayas was located inside Mount Everest—a refuge from The Previous Era, transformed from an underground bunker, somewhat similar to Emola; only, one was underground while the other was in a mountain.
However, when Sun Jack saw the news about the Metropolis in the Himalayas, with its inhabitants sporting metallic hair and electric-arc adorned, special style, he inexplicably felt it was somewhat familiar.
It quickly dawned on Sun Jack; wasn't this X's style? The spokesperson for the Mechanical Conservative Faction. In the past, he had even impersonated him to wield some borrowed influence. So it turned out his city of residence was the Himalayas.
"How do you plan to do it?" Sun Jack asked UO again.
"Simple, there are already your Wild Men in the Himalayas, but not in sufficient numbers. So, send all the Wild Men nearby to the Himalayas to fully infiltrate the city."
"As long as the timing is right, just open the gates for all of them to enter at once, and with joint forces from inside and outside, seize the city."
"Hah, it all comes down to my effort, while you sit back and reap the rewards, huh?"
"No, we certainly have our uses too. Leave the network side to us, and I will also stir up some trouble with FFP in advance, to keep them off our backs for the time being."
Sun Jack thought carefully after hearing the other party's plan and slowly shook his head, "Forget it, even if we did manage to snatch the Himalayas, wouldn't a line of the Expeditionary Army from the FFP just show up and it would end up the same as the Metropolis?"
UO shrugged his shoulders. "That's exactly why we chose the city of the Himalayas. It's a fortress, a real floating fortress, and it contains hidden equipment from The Previous Era. If we get our hands on it, it won't be easy for the FFP to find it."
"You've thought this through? Seems like you're really prepared," Sun Jack sized up UO in front of him, trying to find any major pitfalls in his plan.
"No choice, you see, looking for a place to stay is quite a challenge for us."
"Who else is there, besides you? Saotome?"
"Yes, she's in, and there are others, some abilities not accepted by the masses."
"Saotome? What's her deal?" Sun Jack recalled the woman made of metal tentacles in his mind.
"A hacker, a top-level hacker. One who can upload consciousness to the net, but what she is now, different schools have different views on that."
Just then, UO's face turned into a sly smile, "Speaking of which, I have some gossip about Saotome, do you want to hear it?"
"I don't want to hear it."
As soon as Sun Jack finished speaking, he received a voice message from UO. He sighed, opened it directly, and then an extremely angry woman's voice rang in his ear.
"What did you say?! So the child in my belly is actually that man's seed with that bitch?"
The voice was unmistakably Saotome, but the content of the message surprisingly formed a sentence that Sun Jack had not expected.
UO continued to explain, "You know why she had that attitude towards you in Cell No. 3? Because you reminded her of the man who betrayed her."
"Wait, is there a problem here? Are you sure it was that man who betrayed her? Never mind, almost got carried away by your story, I don't want to know her gossip, let's leave it at that, I'll go back and think about it. I'll give you an answer later."
With that, Sun Jack used the network to upload his consciousness again, returning to the shield machine deep underground.
"Where have you been just now?" Tapai, who had a back full of data cables connected to a portable server, asked.
"An old friend, he says he has a trade for me," Sun Jack leaned back in his seat as he sent the information to the Think Tank.
Soon, the preliminary feedback from the Think Tank came in. UO hadn't lied; the Himalayas was indeed a colossal floating fortress.
"What do you think then?" Tapai asked.
Sun Jack looked at the control panel in front of him, thought for a while, and then spoke, "The Himalayas would indeed suit us at the moment, we need a mobile base, but it's a risky bet. I just looked it over, the Himalayas' strength is not weak, they could use all their defensive systems against us."
"If we were to launch an assault, a lot of people would die, a whole lot of people."
"But when haven't you made a risky bet? In your current situation, no matter what you do, a lot of people are going to die because of you, and even if you do nothing, many people will die because of you," Tapai spread his hands, and an emoticon popped up on the screen on his face. "ლ(･ิω･ิლ)"