February 4th, Saturday.
At his hotel, Lu Zhiyao had just finished the takeout from Slackin’ Network Café.
Today was the weekend, and the film crew was taking a break.
Typically, film crews don’t take weekends off—most film schedules are tight, and shooting tasks are particularly compact. Not only do they skip weekends and holidays, they often work late into the night to meet deadlines.
But since this was Tenda’s crew, they naturally followed Tenda’s principles, taking weekends off.
Fortunately, both Director Huang Sibo and Director Zhu Xiaocai were masters of time management, arranging shooting work perfectly even while maintaining regular holidays.
Of course, this film was essentially Lu Zhiyao’s solo performance, with mostly special effects rather than location shoots or coordinating multiple actors’ schedules and props, making time management more flexible.
So far, filming for “Mission and Choice” had reached its final phase.
After completing earlier portions, editing and special effects production had already begun. Waiting until the entire film finished shooting before editing and adding effects would be too tight on time.
The film’s plot was segmented, with loose connections between stages, making separate editing and effects work perfectly feasible.
Once the final portion finished shooting, the earlier parts’ rough cuts and effects would be nearly complete. After two to three months of fine editing and effect refinement, the film could be scheduled for release.
Currently, Lu Zhiyao’s main task was studying the final stage’s script, performing the concluding plot perfectly for a flawless finish.
He’d just received the final stage script last night but was too tired to study it carefully before sleeping.
After a good sleep and breakfast today, Lu Zhiyao retrieved the script again, preparing to read the conclusion.
The previous plot ended at a deeply despairing point.
Qin Yi faced the “final battle,” commanding with everything on the line, thinking he could finally die meaningfully and escape his difficult fate.
However, after the battle, he learned it was merely AEEIS’s final trial simulation.
Good news: everything before was fake, no one died.
Bad news: AEEIS simulated humanity’s final battle against the Zerg with zero victory probability. At best, the commander would perish alongside the Zerg Queen, leading to selecting the next commander for another battle.
But subsequent battles would become increasingly difficult, humanity’s odds growing slimmer. With the hive consciousness, the Zerg Queen’s intelligence would continually improve, and their replenishment capability exceeded humanity’s.
Without overwhelming victory in this critical battle and immediately deploying all forces to eliminate remaining Zerg, humanity would have fewer chances in the future.
What drove Qin Yi to deeper despair was re-examining every decision he’d made. No matter how hard he analyzed or strategized, he couldn’t change the final battle’s devastating defeat.
Qin Yi bore humanity’s fate—a fate of extinction.
He didn’t know when that day would come, nor whether his persistence held meaning. Even battle-hardened warriors like him couldn’t bear this burden, sinking deeper into despair…
Lu Zhiyao grew more curious about the story’s ending, quickly opening the final script to study carefully.
…
In the hibernation pod, a close-up of Qin Yi.
Though similar to the film’s opening close-up, these shots differed markedly.
This time, Qin Yi had disheveled hair, stubble, vacant eyes, and expressionless face. His haggard appearance and severe dark circles showed his extremely poor mental state.
Though in the hibernation pod, his eyes stared blankly above, blinking rarely, showing he wasn’t dead.
Unable to sleep even in the hibernation pod clearly indicated his mental pressure nearing limits.
The angular pod, perfectly shaped for one person, increasingly resembled a coffin.
AEEIS’s voice: “Commander, your mental state is extremely unstable, your physical condition poor. You need rest.”
“I’ve arranged two extra hours of rest for you. Please sleep quickly.”
“Your body doesn’t belong only to you—it belongs to all humanity. If you die before the final battle, humanity will completely lose their last hope.”
Qin Yi didn’t respond, extending trembling hands to grasp the pod walls, standing and sitting against it.
He gently closed his eyes, resting briefly.
Deep down, he knew humanity’s final battle could arrive anytime, depending not on humans but the Zerg.
Qin Yi chuckled self-deprecatingly: “An inevitable extinction—earlier or later, what difference does it make?”
“Oh, there is a difference. Later means enduring more days of torment.”
AEEIS: “Commander, your mental state severely hinders upcoming combat.”
“With your permission, I’ll administer sedatives and nutrients, allowing proper rest before the final battle and maintaining calm.”
“After sufficient rest, please resume training. You haven’t conducted simulation training for 53 consecutive hours, potentially increasing casualties in the battle…”
Before AEEIS finished, the entire space flashed red warnings again!
“Commander, massive Zerg forces gather underground. The Zerg offensive begins now!”
“Whatever happens, please return to the command console immediately!”
Qin Yi kept his eyes half-closed, ignoring AEEIS, remaining silent before saying coldly: “I need to address the entire United Fleet.”
Though commander, Qin Yi’s commands only involved giving attack orders to squadrons, with AEEIS handling specific direction.
AEEIS paused two seconds, seemingly analyzing Qin Yi’s true intention behind this statement, clearly failing.
“Sorry, Commander, you lack such authority.”
“Please return to the command console immediately and begin directing combat, or AEEIS will assume United Fleet command.”
Qin Yi remained unmoved, expression cold: “If you think humanity’s survival matters more than this address, then suit yourself.”
“I need only five minutes.”
AEEIS fell silent again.
Qin Yi didn’t urge, continuing to stare ahead vacantly.
Red alarms continued flashing. Through Anseibo communication, Qin Yi clearly saw dense Zerg swarms gathering on the planet’s surface. War was imminent!
Moments later, AEEIS’s emotionless voice returned: “Commander, your action is meaningless. AEEIS’s real-time communication transmits information thousands of times more efficiently than human language.”
“Humanity’s inefficient information transfer and emotional expression might backfire. When certain truths become known to all, humanity will descend into chaos and infighting. The United Fleet Executive Committee won’t risk this.”
“Commander, please remain rational. Don’t make futile attempts.”
Qin Yi said coldly: “AEEIS, for the last time, I need to address all United Fleet soldiers through the console and Anseibo communication. If you obstruct me, then you, I, and all humanity can perish together.”
“You’re just a foolish machine trying to solve everything with data. If you could solve the Zerg problem, the United Fleet wouldn’t have chosen me as commander.”
“Once more: I am the commander. Fulfill my request!”
Amidst flashing red alarms, nearly a minute passed before AEEIS spoke again: “Commander, you may now address all United Fleet soldiers through the console.”
“Humanity’s fate rests in your hands. I hope your speech was thoroughly considered.”
Qin Yi supported himself, slowly standing and walking to the command console, sitting in his position.
Here, he could view all United Fleet force deployments.
Through Anseibo communication, Qin Yi randomly observed personnel inside several starships, confirming his words reached everyone.
On soldiers’ faces, he saw confusion, apprehension, fear, and bewilderment, indicating these were real-time images—AEEIS couldn’t simulate such realistic expressions.
This also showed soldiers’ surprise at the commander’s sudden address to all personnel.
Since the war began, commanders directed forces through AEEIS artificial intelligence. Soldiers only communicated with AEEIS, knowing neither the commander’s identity, appearance, nor location.
Yet now, they heard the commander’s voice and saw his face.
Only rare individuals in the Asian Fleet recognized Qin Yi.
Most United Fleet soldiers saw merely a scruffy man with severe dark circles and poor mental state—vastly different from their imagined commander.
Qin Yi’s gaze swept over numerous soldiers’ faces again.
He knew each person he controlled in battle represented a living life.
In the future decisive battle against the Zerg, surely some would disobey orders, flee in terror, or make mistakes. Those individuals might be among those awaiting his speech, perhaps these young faces.
Qin Yi’s opening words stunned everyone.
“I was formerly Captain Qin Yi of the successful AS-371-45 squad, and current commander of the United Fleet.”
“Before humanity’s extinction, I want to tell you some truths.”
“The Zerg are preparing their final assault.”
“According to AEEIS projections, humanity’s victory probability in the final battle is zero. At best, I’ll perish with the Zerg Queen, with humanity facing eventual extinction in prolonged warfare.”
“In the past fifty-plus hours, I’ve tried countless approaches, but regardless of attempts, the final outcome remains unchanged.”
“I believe you all, like me, have grown weary of concealment and deception.”
“To fight the Zerg, every commander worked to turn humans into Zerg, using various methods to trick humanity into dying for false beliefs, Zerg-like.”
“Perhaps we achieved victories this way, but this isn’t humanity’s faith or path to triumph!”
“Therefore, even if we all die, I hope you die with conviction!”
Qin Yi’s eyes suddenly widened, his earlier despondency transformed into intense radiance: “You may choose to flee or disobey orders, surviving a few extra hours; you have countless reasons to convince yourselves that facing billions of Zerg, your death means nothing; you can blame failures on the Executive Committee, the commander, or anyone.”
“But the final result remains the same.”
“Azure Star will be devoured by the swarm. You’ll witness your homeland destroyed by war, becoming Zerg fodder! Some of you will escape in starships, drifting through space like homeless dogs! Looking back at Azure Star, that once-beautiful blue planet will be devastated and ruined. Every trace of human existence will be completely erased by Zerg claws and fangs!”
Qin Yi’s voice rose, almost roaring: “Then you’ll regret not dying at the front, not dying on the battlefield against the Zerg! Those choosing survival will live with eternal remorse and regret, even while alive!”
“You’ll regret not trading those survival hours for a chance—a chance to prove human conviction!”
“Yes, for individuals, post-death events are meaningless, facing eternal nothingness. But our deaths have meaning for survivors, for our loved ones, friends, and fellow humans!”
“AEEIS calculated zero final victory probability, but I absolutely reject this result. Because AI can never calculate human faith’s value!”
“If we lose this battle, humanity will perish. Our civilization will vanish forever from this universe. All evidence of our existence will be completely erased!”
“But if we win, your deaths will be remembered by civilization, by history!”
“Behind us stands Azure Star!”
“In this final battle, we’ll give meaning to all previous human sacrifices! We’ll die gloriously! We’ll drown in endless Zerg seas! We’ll be annihilated in explosions, leaving no remains under Zerg claws!”
“But our faith will remain eternally in these stars, immortal like the ancient celestial bodies!”
“Human conviction never fades!”
“Warriors, with me, stake everything for humanity’s fate and meet death bravely!!”