Chapter 190: Office Smashed, What Piece of Junk

The dust settled on the Xiao Family affair like brushing a speck from one's shoulder, failing to stir even the slightest ripple in Qin Feng's heart. His entire focus was already bound to the imminent Deep Sea expedition and that first, mysterious touch upon the World Rules.

The "Abyss Walker" submersible had completed its final ground tests, with every metric meeting or exceeding design expectations. The exploration team had also assembled, ready to depart at any moment.

However, on the eve of departure, Qin Feng decided to personally inspect the submersible's core control system one last time—a complex module integrating artificial intelligence, environmental sensing, and emergency decision-making from 【Super Technology】. This system was the critical safeguard for the "Abyss Walker" to operate safely in the extreme environment of the deep sea ten thousand meters down.

He notified no one, coming alone to the final assembly workshop deep underground at the "Wind Rises Future Technology Research Institute."

The enormous workshop was brightly lit. The streamlined, metallic-cold-gleaming hull of the "Abyss Walker" rested quietly on the central platform, like a deep-sea behemoth poised to strike.

Qin Feng donned a dustproof suit, passed through the airlock, and entered the submersible's cramped yet tech-saturated cockpit.

He sat in the main control seat, his fingers sliding rapidly across the virtual interface, pulling up the core control system's underlying code and logical architecture to begin a deep self-check.

At first, everything was normal. The system responded swiftly, each subsystem fed back precise data, and the AI-assisted decision module ran smoothly.

But when he attempted to simulate an extreme scenario—a multi-layered crisis of simultaneous strong electromagnetic interference, a jammed mechanical arm, and a micro-fracture in the outer hull causing pressure imbalance—the system's response strategy made him frown.

On the screen, the green light band representing AI decision-making showed obvious lag and flickering. The solution it offered was logically correct, yet filled with a certain... rigid "optimal solution" thinking, lacking the flexibility and... near-instinctive "creativity" one should have when facing unknown crises.

It would prioritize injecting nano-repair gel at the fracture, yet overlook that the simultaneously erupting strong electromagnetic interference might disable the injection system. It would calculate the minimum torque needed for the mechanical arm to break free of the jam, yet never attempt to use water pressure differentials or hull swaying to assist in escaping.

In short, this system was "smart" enough, "precise" enough, but lacked that trace of "spirit" needed to find a way out in a desperate situation.

It was like a top student who strictly followed the textbook, not a veteran who could adapt on the fly in a hail of bullets.

For the unknown environment ten thousand meters down, especially when facing a relic like the "Civilization Tombstone" that might contain risks beyond imagination, this lack of "spirit" in its rigidity could be fatal.

Qin Feng attempted to mobilize his Spiritual Attribute of up to 35 points, to sense and guide that missing trace of "spirit" within the system logic, trying to inject it in.

However, what he felt was a deeper "stagnation" and "rejection." Not merely the rigidity of the system's own logic, but as if an invisible Barrier existed, blocking his will from deeper fusion with this technological creation evolved from the current World Rules.

The rejection of the World Rules again!

Even creating a tool that surpassed the current technological "paradigm," carrying a trace of "extra-rule" spirit, was this difficult!

A nameless fury quietly flared in Qin Feng's heart.

He had invested massive resources and mobilized the top technology for this expedition, only to be stuck at this final, most critical link!

Was he supposed to take a "rigid" system to explore a relic that might hold the key to breaking through limitations, just because of these damned World Rules?

This was simply an irony!

Irritation crept up like coiling vines.

He slammed his fist hard on the solid alloy control console!

Boom!!

A muffled, enormous crash echoed in the cramped cockpit! The entire submersible seemed to tremble slightly with it!

On the control console, where his fist had struck, a clear dent appeared. The virtual screen at the edge flickered several times, nearly going black.

"What piece of junk!"

Qin Feng growled lowly, his voice carrying suppressed fury and disappointment.

He stood up, looking at the dented control console and the system interface on the screen that continued running according to its established logic, utterly unresponsive to the "violence" just now, his gaze icy.

He knew the problem lay not with the engineers, not with the technical team, and not even entirely with the system itself.

The root of the problem lay in those omnipresent World Rules that bound everything!

Without breaking this shackle, any tool he created could only be an "excellent product" within the rules, never a "miracle" beyond them!

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the agitation in his heart.

Anger solved no problems.

He needed a more fundamental solution.

Should he continue optimizing this system, pushing it to the extreme within the rules' framework? Or... find another way?

His gaze turned once more to the 【Replacement Key】 glowing faintly in the system.

Could he use replacement to directly obtain an intelligent control system from a higher technological plane, one that inherently contained "spirit"?

But this thought flashed and was dismissed. The 【Replacement Key】 consumed enormously, and its results were uncertain. Using it on an exploration mission had too poor a cost-performance ratio, and would make him seem overly dependent on the system rather than his own abilities.

Then, the remaining choice was clear.

He took out his communicator and connected to the exploration team channel.

"This is Qin Feng."

"Plan change. The 'Abyss Walker' first exploration mission cancels the highest authority of the AI-assisted decision system. Changed to... me, manually leading the entire process."

The channel was silent for a moment, then Gao Yuan's steady, slightly worried response came through: "Leader, the ten-thousand-meter deep sea environment is complex. Manual operation carries extremely high risk, especially when facing unknown situations..."

"Execute the order." Qin Feng cut him off, his tone brooking no argument. "The system backup can be retained, but without my command, it must not actively intervene."

"... Understood!" Gao Yuan said no more.

Hanging up the communicator, Qin Feng took one last look at the dented control console, then turned and walked out of the cockpit.

Since existing tools could not meet his requirements, then he would use his own hands and brain to make up for that missing "spirit"!

He would use this expedition not only to explore the ancient "Civilization Tombstone," but also to temper his own will and ability to fight against the World Rules in an extreme environment!

Leaving the final assembly workshop, Qin Feng did not return to Yunding Mansion, but went directly to the laboratory where the "Rule Analysis" team was located.

The atmosphere here was starkly different from the rigorous, orderly other areas of the research institute. The whiteboard was covered in complex formulas and mind maps incomprehensible to ordinary people, and the air was thick with caffeine and... a certain whiff of wild delusion.

Several young researchers were gathered around a quantum computer, fiercely debating something. Seeing Qin Feng enter, they merely nodded hastily and dove back into their argument.

Qin Feng did not disturb them. He walked to a whiteboard covered in derivational formulas about "the possibility of the Observer Effect at macroscopic scales," and looked at it quietly.

These crazy, commonsense-defying ideas were exactly what he needed.

Perhaps the road to analyzing and breaking through the rules should be pioneered by these unfettered minds.

He picked up a pen and wrote a question in the corner of the whiteboard:

"How to make a dead thing possess the 'spirit' to cope with the unknown?"

After writing, he put down the pen and turned to leave.

He left behind that question, like a stone thrown into a pond, sending ripples of thought through these smartest and most crazy minds.

Back at Yunding Mansion, the study was still brightly lit.

Su Wenqian looked at the lingering trace of irritation between Qin Feng's brows, and at the way he tossed his coat onto the sofa as he came in, and asked carefully, "Sir, the submersible… did the inspection not go smoothly?"

Qin Feng walked to the liquor cabinet, poured himself a glass of hard liquor, and downed it in one gulp.

The fiery liquor slid down his throat, seeming to suppress that nameless fury just a little.

He set down the glass, looked out at the heavy night beyond the window, and his tone returned to its usual calm:

"Smashed up the office."

Su Wenqian: "…Huh?"

Qin Feng turned his head, saw her stunned expression, and suddenly found it a little amusing; the corner of his mouth curved into a faint smile:

"It's nothing, just some disobedient piece of junk."

"Smashed it, and it's quiet now."