Over the span of a month, Qin Mo gradually developed several urgent projects and put them into production. During this time, the master control AI even prepared a gift for him.
"What is this?"
"A terminal for controlling the logistics machinery?"
Still seated in his office on New Kato, Qin Mo examined the screen in his hand, carefully reviewing the design schematics displayed. It depicted a machine, crab-like in appearance, bristling with antennas to transmit commands to the logistics machinery. It could be piloted and was integrated with a matter printing device. Its name: the Engineering Unit.
Qin Mo had no involvement in its design. It was independently conceived by the master control AI.
Upon seeing the blueprints, Qin Mo assumed the AI believed that the current production capacity of the logistics machinery was insufficient, requiring human labor to assist in the construction of massive space projects throughout the Talon system.
The construction of the supermassive teleportation device and the stellar energy extraction unit was a monumental undertaking, rivaling the reconstruction of an entire Hive World. Even now, the space fortress had not yet been started, so it was reasonable for the AI to require more workforce.
But Qin Mo couldn't understand the need for a dedicated terminal for the logistics machinery.
"The Engineering Unit is not a mere terminal. Its design is meant to create a psychological suggestion in those who see it."
"In other words, any black spheres operating near the Engineering Unit would undoubtedly be assumed to be under its control."
"Furthermore, if someone attempts to decrypt the signals sent by the Unit, they will be misled into believing that the logistics machinery is indeed controlled by it."
"Nevertheless, the true purpose of the Engineering Unit is to assist the logistics machinery in construction tasks. There is a large labor force in the Hive World and the other two planets within the system that needs work."
The AI elaborated on its design philosophy and the purpose of the Engineering Unit.
After listening, Qin Mo nodded thoughtfully. It seemed the Engineering Unit could be quite useful. While the logistics machinery would eventually be capable of handling space construction independently as its numbers increased, the military would still need engineering troops, and ships would as well.
The Engineering Unit could accompany ships, repairing hulls in emergencies.
As Qin Mo pondered this, a more significant question occurred to him: "Why did you design this?"
"Because I thought you needed it," the AI answered coldly.
"I mean, how did you learn to research?" Qin Mo clarified his question.
"Everything you create passes through me for execution. Even when warships are built, I mobilize the orbital shipyards for production. All of these processes are stored in my database, allowing me to learn and study," the AI responded.
Upon hearing this, Qin Mo suddenly realized that the AI might serve as an excellent research assistant.
He had never considered this before, as he had always assumed that the AI lacked the capacity for independent research—it was, after all, not human, incapable of sudden flashes of inspiration.
But inspiration wasn't necessary, only a need.
"I want to allocate part of your computational resources to assist me in research," Qin Mo said.
"My current resources are already at their limit. While I can handle long-term, low-difficulty research, dedicating significant resources to focused studies may not be feasible," the AI replied.
"That's not a problem. I can create another AI like you. Transfer part of the database to the new one," Qin Mo suggested.
He had long wanted to create a second AI, after all. Managing a single Hive World was one thing, but now there were two additional planets, and it was unrealistic to think that humans could govern them entirely.
The High Lord Council of the Human Empire faced a similar issue. None of the council members were incompetent, yet they had so much to manage that the empire ran inefficiently and sluggishly.
If he could ensure that the AI would never be corrupted or influenced, artificial intelligence would be the perfect solution for planetary administration.
"When the next AI is created, I will transfer part of the data for it to learn and handle administrative tasks," the master control AI acknowledged.
"Of course." Qin Mo nodded, immediately beginning preparations to create another AI following the master control AI's blueprint.
Although the existence of the master control AI was based on certain twisted physical laws, Qin Mo could easily allocate enough power to sustain it—and now, he had the strength to maintain ten such AIs without much difficulty.
"There is one matter to report," the AI said once more.
Qin Mo listened silently.
"A person in the Lower Hive has exhibited sudden psychological changes. After interviewing their neighbors and colleagues, all reported unusual behavior recently."
"This person disappeared five minutes ago. I dispatched surveillance drones, and they have located them."
"Shall I terminate them?"
As the AI described the situation, the screen in Qin Mo's hand displayed what the drone had found in the individual's home: two crudely crafted brass axes.
"Don't have the drone handle it. Send Yao En instead. Let him get some practice," Qin Mo ordered, setting the screen aside. He then praised the AI: "You detected and identified a corrupted individual swiftly. Efficient. Well done."
The AI did not respond to the praise. Compliments were meaningless to it, and it had to relay the order to Yao En and continue monitoring the situation.
Ten minutes later, the AI finally reported: "Eight minutes ago, Yao En arrived at the location. He has decapitated the corrupted individual with a chainsword, and the body has been incinerated."
"Efficient," Qin Mo nodded approvingly.
"Shall Yao En handle similar situations in the future?" the AI inquired.
"Yes, he needs the experience," Qin Mo replied.
"The order has been logged in the database. In future, Yao En will be mobilized to deal with such incidents," the AI confirmed.
Qin Mo was extremely satisfied. Even as they had been discussing the issue, the AI had dispatched the surveillance drone, located the corrupted individual, relayed the command to Yao En, and dealt with the problem.
Yet amidst his satisfaction with the efficiency, Qin Mo couldn't help but feel a sense of inevitability. Despite the stringent control measures, corruption still found a way—chaos was truly insidious, ever-present.
"What do we do next?" the AI asked.
"Develop," Qin Mo replied. "We must develop. I will stop at nothing to prevent Abaddon from destroying the Black Stone Obelisk on Kadia."
"The Eye of Terror is already a massive cesspool; we can't let it expand to the point of tearing the galaxy apart."
"We also need to construct the space fortress in the Talon system," Qin Mo continued.
"Train more crews, produce more warships at the orbital shipyard."
"Train more soldiers, manufacture more weapons and equipment."
"These are our priorities."
The AI recorded each task into its database.
"Fortunately, we still have time," Qin Mo muttered to himself.