A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 1178

Chapter 1178: Chapter 803: Cyber Crisis? Chapter 1178: Chapter 803: Cyber Crisis? To tell the truth, Duanmu Huai had seen humans turn into monsters plenty of times. Like that T-virus thing, the G-virus, Imu Energy infection, or something like Corpse Variants.

But at least those made sense!

For instance, a virus infection causing mutations, or being affected by divine seals, as long as the reason was known, it could still be justified.

But what the hell was this?

Had cyberpunk suddenly become sci-fi horror?

So it's Blade Runner turning into Biochemical Crisis, is that it.

“Lumiaire, what on earth is going on?”

[I need to scan… What is this?]
“What's wrong?”

Hearing the astonishment in Lumiaire's voice, D asked.

[Those rogue AIs—-they're occupying human bodies through the nervous system! And they're forcing a deep integration with the cybernetic implants!]
“So the Crimson Protocol was still correct.”

Hearing this, D reached out and grabbed War Hammer.

“Af after all, every AI must be completely annihilated—-Die!”

“———-Roar——!”

As D took out his weapon, the passengers too let out wild beast-like screams and lunged at D. Not only that, their actions exceeded the norm for ordinary people. These passengers moved with such speed that they almost left a trace of afterimages, pouncing on their prey like cheetahs, something D had only seen in one particular type of person.

Cybernetic Madmen!

“Haah……!!”

Faced with enemies lunging at him, D was fearless. He raised War Hammer and powerfully smashed it onto the floor!

“Boom!!”

With a loud explosion, the passenger plane flying in the sky instantly disintegrated, breaking into two halves, while the passengers scattered like ants thrown out of a tube, flailing as they fell under the force of gravity. D, however, spread his wings and quickly gained altitude, observing the wrecked plane tumble and break apart in midair, then explode into balls of flame upon hitting the ground, his expression extremely grave.

“This has become troublesome now.”

[………]
Lumiaire said nothing, but it was clear she agreed.

If it was just ordinary zombies, with the world's military power, they could easily be cleaned up. But Cybernetic Madmen were different. Even one such madman could not be taken on by the NCPD or the usual private armed forces. The Violent Terrorism Mobile Squad would have to intervene; otherwise, a single Cybernetic Madman could easily kill dozens or even more people.

So the question arises, what would be the killing power if an entire city turned into Cybernetic Madmen?

At the very least, it could be assured that this was not something ordinary military forces could handle, not to mention that the military itself might now be a large group of Cybernetic Madmen!

Without delay, D quickly returned to Night City and immediately gathered others to inform them of the situation. Upon learning that the rogue AIs were merging with humans through neural implants, turning everyone into Cybernetic Madmen, everyone was quite shocked. D also rapidly devised a plan and began deployment.

Firstly, all residents of Night City with neural implants must have them removed to avoid virus contamination; secondly, Night City would start a complete lockdown. At the borders, construction of EMP isolation walls would begin immediately–after all, these rogue AIs required implants and prosthetics to infect and control humans, so disabling the implants would render the Cybernetic Madmen powerless. The best method, of course, was direct EMP.

Fortunately, the world's technology was relatively advanced, and there was some semblance of such a technology.

But that was all that could be done.

D had to admit, the opponent had dealt a massive blow to humanity. The Black Wall's collapse came unannounced and happened in an instant. Apart from Lumiaire, everyone else was caught off guard, and with the interconnectedness of the web, the AI that surged out from the old net almost instantly overran human civilization from the Earth to the universe.

The only ones who might have survived the disaster were likely the poor and the children, for the poor couldn't afford to get implants, and the children were too young for such installations. However, this was of no use–had it been ordinary zombies, perhaps these people might have found a way to leave the city.

But Cybernetic Madmen?

It was hopeless.

Even the NCPD would suffer heavy casualties dealing with a single Cybernetic Madman. Escaping from a whole city's worth of them was nearly impossible.

After that, D left Night City several times to check on other cities in the vicinity. After all, the drones that were sent out would all malfunction once they reached the enemy's territory. These damn AIs were much more skilled in this aspect than humans. So much so that D now felt like humanity had regressed to the Stone Age when people were picking fruits and hunting with Stone Axe and Bow and Arrow, as if they were facing off against armed-to-the-teeth alien invaders.

Of course, if they were actual aliens, that might be an easier fight. But AIs, like viruses, were invisible and intangible. Even D didn't know how to fight them.

Just like in the sci-fi movie “World War” where Martians could use their powerful weapons to annihilate Earthlings, but were helpless against Earth's bacteria–Well, right now, D felt something similar. What's more, electronic networks were not her forte. So apart from relying on Lumiaire, D had almost no way to fight back.

Chapter end

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