Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 378 - 342 Polishing

Chapter 378: Chapter 342 Polishing

Every decision a person makes in life is inescapable from the dominion of genetics and the influence of the environment.

"Let me show you these liquors." After the banquet, Asa Katsuragi took Kanako to see her collection of alcoholic beverages.

As the underworld declined, she knew the era of gangs was over, so she was recommended by her subordinates to start a large-scale tobacco and alcohol business. Through internal connections, she could use Federro Mc Gee Group’s transport planes to avoid Black Fire Innovation’s hunting ships and specialize in transporting fine tobaccos and liquors produced on the Taixi Continent, earning about 3 million per trip, and she was well acquainted with the city’s wealthy merchants and distinguished guests.

"It looks like I’ll have to come to you for the next banquet." Despite the tired look on her face, Kanako followed Asa Katsuragi.

They smoked in a private stall in the chamber, and Asa Katsuragi was pleased they shared common tastes; the brand of cigarettes defined a person’s worth, and at least in this respect, they were on the same level.

"I didn’t expect little Kanako to smoke too," Asa Katsuragi exhaled a puff of smoke.

"I only learned to smoke recently," Kanako said. "You can’t be the only one in the family who doesn’t smoke."

She sat on the cushioned booth with her legs crossed, her sandals teetering on the tips of her toes, her dark brown dress wrinkled up with her movement in the dimly lit warm light, and Kanako’s profile was as delicate as it gets, porcelain-like refinement.

"The feeling is mutual," Asa Katsuragi said with a smile.

Xu Yang had quit smoking for half a year and had sworn to never smoke again, he could die just by smelling tobacco. Thus, he turned and left, stepping out into the hallway.

"Bear with it," Senzoune handed him a pack of tissues.

"Thank you," Xu Yang leaned against the corridor wall and saw Taro Tanaka at the end drafting a proposal plan; he walked over and noticed that Taro Tanaka had given up a lot of shares. "Are you sure?"

"It’s the ideal, Mr. Xu," Taro Tanaka said, lifting the proposal with a mechanical arm. "I feel oppressed most of the time, but seeing the synthetic humans I crafted walking around gives me some joy. Especially when I saw A40 participating in the Colosseum festival, I thought: Ah—I’ve really done it; my craftsmanship is being appreciated by people all over the world."

Once someone has a special talent or hobby, they’re never alone. Xu Yang took a good look at Taro Tanaka.

"I’m sorry," Xu Yang said, "but I want to ask again... that same question, do you like sitting in this eyeball machine of yours?"

"It’s a complicated question," Taro Tanaka said.

"How so?"

"A part of me," Taro Tanaka used the mechanical arms to prop against the ceiling and ground, sliding the central spherical part from side to side, "A part of me has merged with the machine, and some accidents have occurred that I can’t explain. This happened many years ago."

"Sounds unsafe."

"It’s not safe at all," Taro Tanaka said. "That’s why I decided to design synthetic humans. Initially, I thought I needed to upload my entire consciousness and inject it into a synthetic human. Now that the technology is mature enough that I can enter a synthetic human, but when the moment came, I hesitated. It seems everyone has a conservative side, don’t they? I’ve never asked you either, Mr. Xu, why you leave Mrs. Lila Nestor’s name on every list."

He handed the proposal to Xu Yang.

Originally, Lila held 60% of the shares, Taro Tanaka 40%. After Kanako injected capital for shares, now Lila had 48%, Taro Tanaka 19%, and Kanako 33%. It was also agreed that each person had a veto over major decisions.

"Let’s leave it at that, Dr. Tanaka," Xu Yang agreed.

"I am a professor," Taro Tanaka muttered.

They signed a contract with Kanako and then each went to sleep, Xu Yang and Kanako in the same room.

Kanako sat on the tatami, looking at her phone in the dark.

"At this time, I should be listening to my mother’s ’teachings’," Kanako said. "But not now."

"Do you enjoy her words?" Xu Yang asked.

"She taught me how to live in a new environment," Kanako sounded a bit flustered, "If I stayed the same, I would have died some previous day."

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"I don’t want you to dislike me," Kanako looked at Xu Yang with a sense of loss, "It was you who saved me. And I owe my current money and status all to my mother’s promotion and even more so to Farosa’s suggestion, which suddenly made me an important figure in my mother’s eyes and gave me the life I have now."

"If she gave it to you, she can also take it away at any time."

Xu Yang’s words struck deep within Kanako, she shrank back, holding the blanket and retreating to the end of the mattress, when the phone rang—the caller was her mother. Kanako kicked it under the bed with her foot, Xu Yang picked it up and temporarily blocked the phone’s network module, turning it into a brick.

"If she asks," Kanako giggled, a trace of uninhibitedness in her voice, "...I’ll just say the signal was bad because of a cyber specter."

"You did encounter one," Xu Yang said, looking into her eyes, which were cuter than usual after she had drunk.

"Is there a way to work while having fun?" Kanako asked.

"You can create a game company," Xu Yang said. "The gaming industry is currently the perfect sector, situated in the forefront of the service industry, pollution-free, environmentally friendly, allowing remote work, surprisingly profitable, without need for physical space, possessing cultural influence, facing the world, and even impacting chip manufacturing and smart development technology..."

"I’ll listen to you," Kanako lay down. "You haven’t made a mistake yet. Kiss me, Xu Yang."

Kanako liked this hazy feeling, resolute, unstoppable, and she had never regretted it. She knew she was doing dangerous things amidst the turbulence, but she wasn’t afraid.

"One day, your mother’s reign will come to an end," Xu Yang whispered as he kissed her.

Her dress straps slipped from her shoulder.

The next day, they visited the newly completed industrial park.

Three-quarters of the production lines were originally scrapped, but later were restored by Farosa using the Law of Recovery. The rest were brand new and capable of manufacturing key components of Synthetic Humans. A dizzying number of eye robots worked here.

Currently, the enterprise had 30 senior engineers, all seasoned veterans in the Synthetic Human industry, who had served in other large and small factories before. They had entered the labor market following business closures and layoffs, ultimately being recruited by Nestor-Tanaka Company. They were well compensated and responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the factory, developing software, maintaining hardware, and sustaining automated production with a systematic and efficient hardware-software combination.

In the bright, translucent white giant workshop, rows of large robotic arms were neatly aligned, dazzling in variety and ceaseless motion. The eye robots loyally delivered raw materials to the lathes for polishing and molding, then handed the delicate parts over to these giant steel giants for processing.

Traditional manual labor was very scarce in modern production, with human roles increasingly diminished. Even in such a large factory, only 100 people were employed to complete the finer details unmanageable by machines, along with a housekeeping and logistics team of 50 people.

The compensation was good, with three meals provided, pollution-free organic food, private dormitories, transportation and communication subsidies, operating on a 10-hour work shift. Everyone was in high spirits, except for those working the night shift, as their hours were even longer.

With the aid of advanced technology, personnel, and machines, Type-A Synthetic Humans were being created. Materials were rapidly consumed and they had already produced up to A400, which was being processed in the workshop, forged and pieced together by dozens of robotic arms, gradually taking on a human form, just as a fetus grows in the womb of a mother.

"Where is the enemy!" The base components of A400 lit up and it laid on the conveyor belt, very excited, although it was still missing its limbs.

"Only A1 to A100 were slowly handcrafted by me at Tanaka Intelligence in Aizu City, and they’re of excellent quality, able to sell for about 6 to 10 million," Taro Tanaka said. "Whereas A101 to A400 are somewhat inferior, with a market price around 3.5 to 4 million."

"If we find the right marketing team, we’ll have to promote you as the Synthetic Human sage," Kanako said lightly.

"I will not appear in any advertisement," Taro Tanaka floated and glided through the factory.

The Chief Engineering Officer of Nestor-Tanaka Company was named Garol Talas, a doctor of Synthetic Human manufacture, currently in Italia on the Taixi Continent.

Present on-site was a robot with projection capabilities, moving about so that Garol could use the robot’s cameras to observe the situation in the workshop, almost as if he were physically present. At the moment, he was jogging in his home thousands of kilometers away, a particularly robust bald man with a beard, around 40 years old.

"Type-A Synthetic Humans are the best technology I’ve seen," he said. "Synthetic Humans that can learn on their own, that’s what you call artificial intelligence. Compared to First and Second Generation AI, those are merely parroting parrots! I’m thrilled to be part of this team."

"The differences between AI generations..." Kanako still harbored a slight doubt, "Are they really that significant?"

"Mr. Garol Talas," Xu Yang inquired, "could you explain the differences between the AI generations for us?"

"Ha, in the Synthetic Human companies of the Taixi Continent, there circulates this concise and clear story," Garol began—

In a burger shop, a chicken frying machine broke down on the assembly line in the kitchen, and four different robots came to investigate.

The First Generation AI stayed there motionless.

The Second Generation AI found another chicken fryer and continued working.

The Third Generation AI downloaded a straightforward repair manual, assessed the repair time and cost, and decided to fix the chicken fryer on its own.

The Fourth Generation AI believed they should not work in such a harsh and dangerous environment, rallied other robots, took up arms, started an uprising, and ended the greedy burger shop’s business operations.

"Thank you for the explanation," Kanako smiled.

"Thank you for listening, Miss," Garol said.

The biggest problem with Garol was his laziness, working only 33 hours a week and refusing to spend an extra hour there. In fact, he was also an entrepreneur, owning his own Synthetic Human company, currently collaborating with Nestor-Tanaka Company mainly because he had heard of the esteemed Professor Taro Tanaka and wanted to help.

Indeed, he was a genius. Over half of the Synthetic Human factories in the Taixi Continent were operated under his management and design. He immediately resolved 40 process design and machine layout issues for the new factory area, increasing production efficiency by 80% upon his arrival.

"You seem very leisurely," Kanako commented through the projection screen on the robot’s chest, viewing Garol’s luxurious home and the bunch of Synthetic Maids busily cleaning up the mess from a party the night before.

"Yes, I only get work inspiration when I’m fully relaxed," Garol said. "Ah, great inspiration, how much we praise it! Most of the inventions that change the world don’t come from laborious thinking, but require long-term accumulation and a moment of epiphany. That moment’s inspiration is worth its weight in gold."

"Working with you, our industry is truly on the right track. I truly hope that one day we can see the practical application of Fourth Generation AI," Taro Tanaka said. "That’s when we humans can really claim to be true creators."

Maybe they had already been practically applied. Xu Yang thought to himself.

Giant enterprises, more than any other large or small company, progress faster in this area. Xu Yang had seen Fourth Generation AI, Matteo, possessing perfect empathy and emotional modeling capabilities, indistinguishable by others from real humans. Currently, it was rumored that some Synthetic Humans had successfully replaced key members of rival companies under the lead of Black Fire Innovation, though this hadn’t been confirmed.

"Let’s get ready for the design of Type-B Synthetic Humans." Taro Tanaka led them to the R&D department where other engineers employed by Nestor-Tanaka Company and Witch Researchers were present.