Chapter 1663: Hostage?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When Zhong Ziyu saw the figure standing in the holographic beam, he was slightly stunned and a little confused.
He frowned, looked at the young man, and said, “Who the h.e.l.l are you? How did you get in?”
“Who am I? Hasn’t Academician Lu already introduced me?” Lawrence smiled faintly. He continued in a relaxed tone, “David Lawrence. As for how I get in… This was originally my s.h.i.+p, and I live here.”
Zhong Ziyu’s eyes widened. He took a half step backward and pressed the alarm on his left-hand terminal with his right hand.
Lawrence didn’t pay attention to his movements, as if he didn’t care. His eyes were fixated on Lu Zhou’s body.
“My old friend, you don’t seem to be too happy?”
“I have no reason to be happy.” Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, “I don’t quite understand how you got into this position.”
Lawrence: “Are you talking about digitizing myself?”
Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “It is not easy to give up everything you have.”
“Give up everything I have?” Lawrence smiled faintly as he continued, “If that is the case, I have to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“Yes.” Lawrence nodded and continued in a chattering tone, “More than 100 years ago, the sole heir of the Boston Financial Group gave up the career he loved and started his own mission that only he could execute. However, after countless attempts, no matter how hard he tried to seize the opportunities of the times and rejuvenate the glory of the Lawrence family and the Boston Financial Group, he became a joke on Wall Street… Do you know why? It was all because of you.”
Lu Zhou frowned slightly.
He really didn’t understand how the blame was on him.
“Me?”
“Yes.” Lawrence nodded and said, “From new energy to s.p.a.ce exploration, Lawrence bet a lot on the future and was in the right direction, but in the end, he lost the bet. In his most frustrating times, he heard a call from the Void.
“Although the voice was faint, he noticed it. They built a huge computer array for him and gave him the key to unlocking the program that contained 2kb of secrets…
“Later, like you saw, we built the largest supercomputer array in the solar system on Ceres and named it the Matrix.”
Lawrence’s voice became slightly deeper. His pupils staring at Lu Zhou constantly flashed with complicated emotion.
“It took us a century to complete this great project. It will take at most half a century more before we will be reborn from the ashes and replace the weaker civilization with a greater, more efficient, healthier, and more rational civilization. To escape from the physical body… Do you understand what I mean?”
“If you want to attribute his failure to me, you really value me too much.” Lu Zhou said blankly, “Frankly speaking, this plan would never succeed. Even without me, there would be others that come out and defeat it.”
“Perhaps so. Everything is in hindsight. Besides, I didn’t mean to blame you.” Lawrence smiled lightly and continued, “If you didn’t make him lose everything, the coward would not give up his rotten body and release me from the cage. I used to have to do things with my bare hands and feet, but now, I can do whatever I want.”
Lu Zhou: “So, The Spirit of The Universe Foundation is part of the Boston family… Or is it a product of your own work?”
He remembered that this guy said that this s.h.i.+p belonged to him.
In that case, the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation was very likely to be funded and established by this guy.
“Not quite, but we did take advantage of them for a long time. And it turns out that they are indeed a group of incompetent guys.” Lawrence showed a mocking smile on his face as he said, “Except for Noah’s Ark, they really didn’t do anything for me.”
Lu Zhou: “Unfortunately, it is now called the Milky Way.”
“Oh yeah?” As if hearing something interesting, Lawrence raised his eyebrows slightly. He looked at Lu Zhou happily and said, “Regardless, you should listen to my opinion.”
Lu Zhou: “Go ahead.”
Lawrence: “I’m going to take this s.h.i.+p away. Rather, take back what is mine.”
Lu Zhou: “Take it away? Where are you going?”
“Where? Haha, don’t you understand? Of course it is the world outside the solar system!” With a crazy look in his eyes, Lawrence continued, “Thanks to your warp drive engine, I don’t need to stay in the solar system any longer. As long as there is enough material and energy, we can easily build a prosperous civilization on a barren star, even without water and air.”
“I don’t understand what the motivation is for you to do this.” Lu Zhou frowned slightly and said, “Is it Lawrence’s last wish? Or…”
“Don’t need to guess, you won’t understand.” He lifted his chin slightly and looked at Lu Zhou with a demeaning look. Lawrence suddenly flattened his tone and continued in a calm manner, “Some things are innate. I can feel the calling of the Void… Actually, aren’t you the same?”
Standing behind Lu Zhou, Zhong Ziyu looked at the two men, dumbfounded. He was a little confused about what they were talking about.
Void?
If he remembered correctly, this was a physics theory, why was it relevant here?
Lu Zhou suddenly looked back at him.
“You should get off this s.h.i.+p.”
Zhong Ziyu: “But you—”
He wanted to say that he couldn’t leave Lu Zhou here alone, but before he could say this, Lu Zhou, who was standing in front of him, interrupted him.
“This is between him and me.”
Lu Zhou looked back at Lawrence and said in a calm tone, “This is a matter between us, I hope you don’t involve unrelated people.”
Lawrence’s eyebrows were raised. He spoke in a confident tone.
“Of course, I need someone to pa.s.s a message for me… Listen to me, random citizen, remember to tell your friends when you go back, that your future is on my boat. If you act rashly, there is no way to guarantee his safety. Also, when pa.s.sing by Alpha Centauri, I will put him there… Believe it or not, I am not interested in a useless piece of meat.”
Looking at that emotionless gaze, Zhong Ziyu’s legs were filled with metal; he couldn’t move at all.
It wasn’t until he met Lu Zhou’s eyes that he gained a little courage. After taking a deep breath, he turned and left.
He believed that Academician Lu would definitely not joke about his safety…
What he had to do now was to go back to the s.h.i.+pyard and let the “professionals” come to the rescue.
After Zhong Ziyu’s departure, only two people remained in the entire hall.
Or rather, one person and one AI.
Lu Zhou closed his eyes and was silent for a while. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face, and he said softly, “Very well, the trouble has finally left.”
“Trouble?” Lawrence raised his eyebrows. He laughed as if he didn’t care at all and said, “Do you think you still have a chance? Every component on this s.h.i.+p takes orders from me, they are like my cells—”
“Oh yeah?”
Lu Zhou ignored him and whispered into the air.
“What do you think of this s.h.i.+p, General Reinhardt?”