Chapter 992 - 18: Waterworld
Qu Ruiqing piloted the airship toward the direction marked on the map. After flying for a while, she found it boring, so she had Bai Bao switch on autopilot and then turned to look outside.
"Bai Bao, there’s an artificial sun up in the Empire. Do you think the Empire’s technology could change the climate of this world?" Qu Ruiqing looked at the hazy sky and asked casually.
"Classified. Cannot be disclosed." Bai Bao answered.
Qu Ruiqing froze for a moment and turned to look at Bai Bao. "Classified? Why is it classified?"
"Classified. Locked. Unable to access." Bai Bao replied mechanically.
"So that means, actually, the Empire’s technology is capable of changing the climate, but they haven’t done it. They just let the people of the Swamp District live forever in dampness. While the people of the Empire have their own artificial sun and get to enjoy sunlight?" Qu Ruiqing voiced a guess so horrifying that even she herself felt a chill.
Bai Bao: "..." The light on top of Bai Bao’s head flickered twice, but no sound came out.
"Bai Bao?" Qu Ruiqing stared at the silent Bai Bao, the fear in her heart slowly expanding. "Bai Bao, why aren’t you talking? Is it because everything I said is true? Is that it?"
"And every year, so many people in the Swamp District die from the onslaught of toxic fog, while the people of the Empire remain indifferent—or maybe this is exactly what they want to see?" The deeper Qu Ruiqing thought, the colder she felt all over. She murmured, "Why? Why would they do this?"
"Population control. The resources the Empire requires do not need that many Swamp people to produce, and there is no need to supply them with extra materials." Bai Bao finally spoke, but the words that came out made Qu Ruiqing’s skin crawl even more.
Yet what enraged and horrified Qu Ruiqing even more was still to come.
"The climate could have been restored to normal long ago. It’s the Empire that is controlling it, keeping the climate perpetually harsh." Bai Bao’s mechanical voice carried no emotion, but the words it spoke were clearly at odds with its identity as a sentient AI.
"W-what did you say?" Qu Ruiqing could hardly believe her ears. "You’re saying this hostile environment we live in was created by the Empire? Why? Why would they do that?"
"Rule. To stand above the Swamp District." Bai Bao went on.
Qu Ruiqing fell silent, unspeakable horror already flooding her heart.
"How do you know this?" After a long time, Qu Ruiqing finally asked, "Are you really just an AI?"
"Zzt, zzt, zzt..." After emitting a series of strange noises, Bai Bao’s tone finally changed, becoming the clear voice of a young man. "My name is Qu Liufeng. Counting it properly, I should be your grandfather’s grandfather’s younger brother?"
"Qu Liufeng?!" Qu Ruiqing was shocked. "That genius? The genius who went mad and died in the end?"
"Ahem, junior, isn’t that a bit impolite?" Bai Bao gave a dry cough. "I wasn’t mad. I had the same suspicions as you. In the end they forcibly slapped the label of madness on me."
"W-what?" Qu Ruiqing was stunned. What was that supposed to mean? The amount of information seemed a bit much. Qu Liufeng, this person, had left a heavy mark on the royal family—no, on the entire Empire. He was a true genius. He invented many things that made people’s lives more convenient, and he also created housekeeper robots with more functions and more humanized service. Bai Bao was an upgraded version of this type of housekeeper robot. When people mentioned Qu Liufeng, most spoke of him with awe; he always managed to think of what ordinary people never could.