Castle, despite his calm demeanor in front of Little Fatty, was far from indifferent. In reality, he was so excited that he almost felt faint. Today, he had essentially changed the world. However, as a seasoned time-traveler, Castle had long since mastered the art of acting, allowing him to suppress his emotions and avoid losing composure in front of Little Fatty.
After all, this was artificial intelligence—something that had only existed in science fiction in both his past and present life. It was no wonder the system had awarded it as a high-level reward; once unleashed, AI would revolutionize the world order. Castle knew that without some self-protection measures in place, he might not have dared to develop such a groundbreaking creation so openly.
Holding back his excitement, Castle participated in the scripted banter arranged by the system with the AI and Little Fatty. Only then did he and Little Fatty begin testing their world-altering invention.
After some testing, Castle confirmed just how powerful his AI butler, JARVIS, truly was. As long as there was an internet connection, there was virtually no system in the world that JARVIS couldn't infiltrate. However, there was one limitation: JARVIS could only respond to and analyze commands given to it—it lacked the ability to create on its own. In other words, it could perfectly execute tasks such as analysis and searches based on Castle's instructions, but it couldn't independently design new projects. For instance, if Castle provided data for a new aircraft model for Northrop Grumman, JARVIS could quickly calculate the best possible plan based on the data. But it couldn't invent a new aircraft by itself. It was an AI designed to complete tasks, not to initiate them. Perhaps, this was the inherent limitation of AI.
Still, despite this limitation, both Castle and Little Fatty were ecstatic. Little Fatty, especially as a hacker, was thrilled when he used his high-level access—second only to Castle's—to discreetly have JARVIS infiltrate NASA's classified database. JARVIS entered the system with ease, like walking into an empty house, without setting off any alarms. The sheer speed and stealth with which it operated nearly made Little Fatty lose his mind. Castle had to warn him against recklessly infiltrating places like the Pentagon or CIA headquarters to avoid unnecessary trouble, even though Castle now felt far less concerned about such risks.
After the tests, Castle was almost certain that the AI rewarded to him by the system was an early version of Tony Stark's JARVIS—likely from before Stark's kidnapping in Afghanistan. He wasn't surprised that the system blocked his access to future technologies like the Iron Man suit and the arc reactor. While AI was still world-shaking, it wasn't as immediately disruptive as Stark's inventions would have been.
Even so, Castle was more than satisfied. With JARVIS in his arsenal, his intelligence-gathering capabilities were about to reach a whole new level. He would no longer have to rely solely on his foreknowledge of events to play the role of a "prophet." The tests showed that JARVIS could seamlessly infiltrate any network without detection, making modern firewalls look like child's play. It was like a higher-dimensional being effortlessly manipulating the lower-dimension systems.
Feeling great, Castle left Little Fatty alone to continue communicating with JARVIS. Knowing that the system-modified JARVIS posed no risk of leaking sensitive information, Castle confidently left him in the control room. He had other matters to attend to, such as using his mechanical expertise inherited from Tony Stark to create communication wristbands that could connect to JARVIS at any time. He also had some ideas for virtual imaging, since with JARVIS, certain advanced technologies from Stark's repertoire could now reasonably exist in this world.
The facility housing the supercomputer was a newly built structure with three underground levels. The first level was dedicated to the supercomputer itself, the second to the server arrays and storage systems, and the third—known only to Castle—was a hidden vault. This vault held the treasures Castle had retrieved on his second visit to the Freemason's secret chamber. To maintain secrecy, Castle had ensured that the vault was built with more security than even a bank's. Instead of a large vault door, the entrance was a small door that only one person could pass through at a time, controlled by a combination of password, fingerprint, and voice recognition. Now, the entire security system was managed by JARVIS, making the vault impenetrable.
Even if someone managed to get inside, it would be nearly impossible to extract the treasures. Castle had deliberately designed the vault with a small door, and while he could use his pocket dimension to transfer items, others wouldn't have that luxury. Removing anything from the third level without his help would be an impossible task.
Castle wasn't heading to the vault today; the treasures stored there were too hot to handle at the moment. Even though he had a reliable outlet through Sean's father to sell off valuable items, he had no intention of liquidating those treasures anytime soon. The stash from Vincent's trove, which he had handed over to Sean's father, hadn't even been fully sold yet, and Castle's offshore accounts were flush with cash. There was no need to touch the treasures currently being watched closely by the Freemasons.
Speaking of which, the reason the Freemasons had been keeping a close eye on New York was because of an incident involving some of the treasure Castle had divided among his bodyguards. After dividing the spoils from the Freemason's secret chamber with Mozzie and Neal (taking a 70-30 split), Castle had decided to give a portion—10% of his share—to Big Ivan and his men as a reward. However, these guys had quickly turned around and sold the items. This coincided with the Freemasons' attention being focused on New York after Gates discovered their treasure. So, when artifacts similar to those from the Freemason's collection began appearing on the market, it naturally raised suspicions among the Freemason leadership.
Fortunately, Big Ivan and his men had been smart enough to avoid exposing their identities during the sale. The buyers only knew the sellers were Russians, which led to a frenzied Freemason search that ultimately failed to track down the culprits. Castle's focus on developing AI during this time had inadvertently helped his men avoid detection.
While Castle had been immersed in his research, others hadn't been so unaware. Gianna, now a blissful new mother, along with Mozzie and Neal—both deeply attuned to the art market—had sensed that the Freemasons were quietly investigating. Thankfully, these old hands were skilled at navigating such dangers, and with Little Fatty holed up in the lab with Castle, the Freemasons' search had hit a dead end.
Though the Freemasons had quickly realized that the items on the market were part of their stolen treasure, they were hesitant to confront Gates or the NYPD. After all, the treasure found by Gates was vast, and stirring up more trouble might uncover something they couldn't control.
In the end, they chose to let things lie. Why dig too deep when Gates had already uncovered such a massive treasure for them?
Castle, once he learned of all this, didn't blame Big Ivan's men for selling the goods. After all, they were mercenaries looking to make money, and he hadn't explicitly instructed them not to sell in New York. He simply explained the complications to Big Ivan and advised him to remind his men to be more careful in the future.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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