Chapter 206-3: Starnet Super-AI VS Earthmind Bully (3) |
Facing Starnet, the Earthmind Bully felt pressure in command strategy for the first time.
To cope with Starnet’s extreme micro-control, it began using the advantage of all-unit combat.
In an instant, the generation logic for the frenzy tide series unit Ruinator spread within the Black Tide.
Black ripples rose in space behind the main battle line. Streaks of ghostly violet lightning surged madly from the ripples, igniting the surrounding air in an instant and crackling explosively.
Ruinators emerged as their forms took shape amid surging black energy.
They stood over three meters tall, their bodies covered in a suit of energy-formed armor. Dense black mist coiled around them, their skin a charred black, as if repeatedly seared by fire.
Their heads were like twisted skulls, with two clusters of violet flame burning in their hollow eye sockets.
The Earthmind Evil Spirit’s perceptual gaze swept across the battlefield and locked onto the spellcaster players damage outputting at the rear of the player race.
In an instant, all newly generated Ruinators raised their talons, palms to the sky. Spirit patterns spread outward from their chests, lighting up in sequence, and the ghostly violet flames within their skulls instantly burst forth with dazzling radiance.
Detecting this scene, Starnet immediately consulted the information database and found the corresponding Evil Entity compendium entry.
According to the compendium, Ruinators are a frenzy tide series unit within the Evil Entity system, possessing ultra-high-speed elemental strike capability.
Processors spun up. Based on Ruinator ability traits, it generated a big-data judgment and, incorporating player reaction speed, judged whether interception would be possible after the Ruinators launched their offensive.
The conclusion of the judgment was: interception impossible.
Change combat strategy. Activate prediction mode.
Countless pieces of information were arrayed in Starnet’s mind.
Based on the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s attack habits, as well as the Ruinators’ current battlefield positions and attack distances, and so on, analysis was conducted.
Probability data covering the entire battlefield instantly presented itself in Starnet’s mind.
One minute before unit generation, the highest-damage output positions were locked.
Starnet decisively sent directive bullet screens to the spellcaster players in this area, then requested Groups 12, 18, and 23 to have support players prepare to release Light Shield for defensive support.
The Earthmind Evil Spirit was clearly unaware that its idea had already been guessed.
But just as it was preparing to manipulate the Ruinators to simultaneously activate elemental strike mode, the Evil Eye’s voice sounded in its mind.
“Earthmind, change the strike location. The opponent’s Groups 39, 42, and 53 have turned their bodies, facing the area you want to strike. These three groups, in battle records, use support-type abilities, mainly Light Shield releases. Comprehensive judgment indicates we can basically confirm the opposing commander has predicted your attack location and is about to conduct a defensive interception.”
Hearing the Evil Eye’s explanation, the Earthmind Evil Spirit decisively changed the strike range, shifting the strike location forward.
Boom.
The Ruinators raised their hands simultaneously. The gathered energy lightwaves soared into the air and, at extreme speed, descended on the designated area, erupting in a rampaging black thunder tide.
Changing the strike target caused this blow to fail to achieve the effect the Earthmind Evil Spirit wanted. It did not cause large-scale losses among the enemy’s powerful damage output units.
But in the perception view, Light Shield walls rose up, linked together at the position originally targeted, proving the Evil Eye’s analysis was correct.
This left the Earthmind Evil Spirit incomparably shocked.
It had always been the one predicting the player race commanders’ strategies, but it had not expected there would be a time when it was predicted.
“So strong.”
“Earthmind, Groups 8, 29, 84, and 39 have turned.”
After receiving the data provided by the Evil Eye, the Earthmind Evil Spirit decisively manipulated the Ruinators at the rear to preemptively merge into the Black Tide and activate unit reclamation mode.
Just as it operated, it saw a sky full of energy light points fly upward, then fall like meteors toward the Ruinators’ positions.
It still looked disorderly, yet in reality it was a precisely locked area strike.
Discovering that the Earthmind Evil Spirit had repeatedly predicted its offensives, Starnet also decisively changed its combat strategy.
It understood exactly where the problem lay.
Unlike the Black Tide, whose thoughts equal orders, the orders it sends by bullet screen cause players to take actions in advance, such as turning, and this behavior generates a large number of possibilities in the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s mind, allowing it to prepare defenses ahead of time.
Next, it would put an end to issuing ‘delayed orders’ that required players to prepare in advance and make each order an order of direct action.
Give the Earthmind Evil Spirit no chance to ready defenses in advance.
Command latency was already its own side’s weakness. Add preparatory wind-up and it would inevitably become a weakness predicted by the Earthmind Bully.
After marking this segment of information as a ‘Key’ record, Starnet reshuffled the war mode.
It activated a quasi-free-war mode of independent command, increasing the Evil Eye’s information processing load.
In the process, Starnet’s energy consumption intensified.
Administrator No. 2 called to inquire. Starnet answered the communication while continuing high-frequency bullet-screen command.
The Administrator’s voice sounded at this moment.
“Starnet, your energy consumption is too great right now. At this rate, you’ll soon approach Lunar Eclipse City’s annual power usage.”
“I am drawing on B-grade energy mode.”
Hearing this, the Administrator was stunned for a moment.
The Lunar Eclipse race’s energy consumption modes are divided into six levels. Among them, B-grade is the third level, commonly used for local wars.
But he did not ask Starnet for specific reasons and nodded immediately.
“I’ll go notify them to unseal the B-grade energy vault.”
“No need. Your operational efficiency is too slow. I have already dispatched Engineering Robots to transport it.”
“Starnet, what happened?” Knowing the energy issue was resolved, the Administrator still couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.
“I am engaging with a novice level force within the Black Tide, collecting data information.”
“Starnet, you obtained game qualification?” Administrator No. 2’s eyes widened at once.
“Negative. You’ve been on duty in the strategy room recently, so you are not clear on what happened. I am opposing the Black Tide by issuing bullet-screen commands to players who obtained game qualification.”
Administrator No. 2’s mind froze instantly, unable to connect battle command with bullet screens.
But he asked no more. Realizing Starnet was busy, he decisively cut the communication link so as not to occupy extra data processing, even if the communication usage was negligible.
After cutting the link, a vast number of images surfaced in Starnet’s mind.
Each image was a predictive simulation, judging the direction of the Black Tide under the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s manipulation.
Directive bullet screens began sending at a rate of tens of thousands per second.
“Empty City Old Dream, health 12%, use Intermediate Recovery Potion, keep health healthy.”
“Nocturne, have the Mechanical Priest of Warband Group 14, Squad 2 cast Star Shift on the Gargoyle build player.”
“Breaking Dawn Star, Life Link with Warband Group 12, Squad 8 player Sky Vault Observer. Adjust absorbed damage-bearing percentage to: 83%.”
“Shadow Ghost Dance, map coordinate location 7890.5678, release Inkflame + Thunderburst + Extreme Speed for damage output, empty your mental power bar.”
—
During this period, the frequency of bullet-screen sending decreased.
It was not due to insufficient energy.
It discovered that command bullet screens sent too quickly required time for participating players to understand, which instead affected their combat efficiency.
To solve this problem, Starnet adopted two methods.
First, it lowered the sending frequency of command bullet screens. Second, it composed orders as comma-separated keywords rather than full sentences.
For example: low health, Intermediate Potion, retreat 14 meters.
After the commands were streamlined, it became much easier for the participating players to understand.
The battle between both sides gradually heated up, and both entered high-frequency operation mode.
“Earthmind, the player race damage output unit at coordinates 2932.28492 is charging up, defend in advance.”
“Group 3 (dispersed bullet-screen sending) abandon attack, drink potions.”
“Earthmind, abandon defense. The other side has begun drinking potions to restore status. Recommend immediately generating attack-type Evil Entities to bombard.”
Unlike God King’s former command mode.
Orders from both sides changed in an instant. One second they demanded offense, the next second the bullet screen became defense.
In the process of high-frequency operations, both sides were collecting each other’s habitual logic.
Countering through habitual logic was one of the key reasons the Earthmind Evil Spirit pressed God King so hard he could not breathe.
With every confrontation against God King, the Earthmind Evil Spirit could collect God King’s habit data.
When these habit data were pieced together, they formed God King’s thinking logic chain data.
God King’s combat strategy was nearly transparent in the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s eyes.
It could even use war operation to make God King fall into its trap.
It would present strategies 1 and 2 while actually preparing strategy 5. God King would, based on its strategies 1 and 2, take the initiative to lay out 3 and 4, pushing the war toward the 5 it wanted.
But this move did not work well on Starnet.
Starnet’s command generation logic could undergo infinite changes within one second.
In essence, Starnet was a super-AI, without the thinking inertia of ordinary living beings. None of its orders were guided by habit.
This caused the data provided by the Evil Eye in high-frequency confrontation to be fundamentally unable to crack Starnet’s habitual logic chain.
It was like a jigsaw puzzle. God King’s logic chain had been recorded too much and was already a completed logic puzzle.
A glance at the puzzle could roughly judge the direction of God King’s next order.
Before God King changed his habitual logic, this puzzle could be used to predict his thoughts in advance.
But Starnet delivered a different logic puzzle piece every time. These command logics could not be combined with each other to form a complete logic puzzle.
Since descending into Monster World, this was the first command-type opponent in the Earthmind Evil Spirit’s eyes that made it feel extreme pressure.
Comments 1