In order to study the Relic Chip, Mercer had to use old-fashioned methods.
He first found a universal card reader used for programming chips and a miniature computer specifically for reading and modifying chip programs.
Then, Mercer retrieved a Relic Chip kept in an incubator in the server room, which still contained the Soulkiller Program.
He first tried using the universal card reader to read the chip data, then attempted to manually copy the program using the offline miniature computer with a keyboard.
The result was a failure, and it was evident from the data read that the Soulkiller Program in the Relic Chip had triggered its automatic enemy-targeting attack mode.
However, since Mercer was operating offline, using an outdated keyboard code-entering method, the Relic Chip couldn't find the enemy's consciousness data entity, so the automatic counterattack program was futile.
Seeing this, Mercer realized that copying it was hopeless. Just like with his Network Access Vault, even without AI, the programs here were set to automatically activate the Soulkiller Program upon encountering abnormal data.
He certainly didn't dare to plug his data line into a device related to the Soulkiller Program.
So, he could only use the old-fashioned way—utilizing the card reader to read out the data and continuously trigger the Soulkiller Program within.
In the vast amounts of data running during the chip's operation, much like a struggling programmer from a previous era, he scrutinized the data line by line with the naked eye on the computer screen.
And how much code was there for this Soulkiller Program?
Mercer looked at the 9999+ page notification displayed on the card reader and gave a relieved smile.
The 9999+ didn't represent the number of program code pages but rather the display limit of this miniature computer.
How much junk data did these fools stuff into the Soulkiller Program?
If it were an ordinary person, they would have likely given up by now, because amidst the countless data codes, it's nearly impossible to discern which belong to the Relic Chip itself and which to the Soulkiller Program.
Because all this code is encrypted, and there can't be any annotations, there's even a lot of disguise and dummy data specialized for anti-theft.
Mercer also tried using server computing power with non-AI programs to automatically filter and parse, but quickly discovered that this Relic had dedicated anti-theft programs. Unless he wanted to burn out the chip, he could only stop.
After rigorous attempts for two hours, even until Lucy and the others returned to the base, Mercer hadn't found any breakthrough momentarily.
Everyone stayed outside for a few days, exhausted and camping out. Even if they weren't sleepy, they wanted something good to eat and a bath.
So they just exchanged pleasantries and went to their respective rooms, but Lucy paused, watching Mercer in the server room, and walked in, seeing his brow-furrowing expression at the Relic Chip.
"What's wrong?"
After Lucy asked, she saw Mercer, who had a Zen-like smile on his face, saying in a calm tone: "I've hit a snag."
Is there something that could stump you?
She peeked at the code displayed on the screen and showed a slightly disgusted expression.
"To find the real Soulkiller Program by yourself from this pile of crap... are you serious, Mercer?"
Lucy bluntly commented, "Maybe you need a team of thirty professional hackers working around the clock at the computer for half a year.
Then spend another ten years trying to piece that possibly useful code together, and maybe, just maybe, you'll get the actual Soulkiller.
Of course, it's more likely that after piecing together what seems like a runnable program, it automatically connects to the network secretly sending signal data, and then Arasaka agents show up the next day."
Mercer rolled his eyes: "I know."
Then he showed a contemplative expression: "...do you think the Soulkiller Program could work unconditionally on ordinary AI as well?"
His words momentarily stunned Lucy: "Are you suggesting using Venus?"
"Specifically, let Venus create a sub-AI first, let its sub-AI go in and see if it triggers the Soulkiller, then see if we can pinpoint its core through the data changes during an attack."
As Mercer spoke, he discussed with Venus, letting it split off a low-grade sub-AI and inserted it into the Relic Chip.
Then Mercer and Lucy both watched the data operation on the miniature computer connected to the chip.
A few minutes later, Lucy said again, "It seems it won't work. The program is set to attack AI too, but finding core data from so much code this way is too difficult, Mercer."
"I actually think it's possible."
Mercer, however, offered a completely different answer, speaking with some excitement: "I can see it! As the Soulkiller Program hunts this sub-AI, I can see valid data from this pile of crap code!"
"Huh?" Lucy made a sound that was either exclamation or helplessness: "How did you see that..."
"A feeling?"
After saying that, Mercer excitedly backed up important data on his laptop, then set aside the miniature computer, intending to start the formal attempt with his laptop.
He had Venus continuously create sub-AI programs, simulating active AI signals, then transferred via offline hard drive, and put them into the Relic Chip.
Through a computer connected with a card reader, monitoring the code during program operation.