Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1125
"Why?" Li Yao asked.
Liu Wenshan smiled miserably. "It is very easy to be lost in the Spiriters' Realm after forgetting the boundary between 'reality' and 'illusion'. I haven't been trapped here for long. Although Lei Yuqin simulated my family members, I knew that they were false and that my real family members were still out there waiting for me. I still wanted to get out.
"However, many of the seniors have been trapped here for decades. They've spent decades with their illusionary family members that are simulated by artificial intelligence. They've been working hard to build the Spiriters' Realm for decades. The flowers and trees of this place are perhaps calculated, modeled, and rendered by them personally. They've long been melded into the Spiriters' Realm and became part of it. For them, the Spiriters' Realm and the family members simulated by artificial intelligence are the only reality. The world outside no longer matters!"
Li Yao was silent. He could not help but recall the vivid Wei Qingqing, Long Yangjun, and Ling Xiaole in the second Spiriters' Realm constructed by Professor Mo Xuan.
It was quite true. If he was caught in a Spiriters' Realm and faced with artificial intelligence that looked exactly the same as Ding Lingdang, Jin Xinyue, and the rest of his family and friends, unable to free himself, for a year and a half, he might have been able to clearly recognize that they were just illusions.
But what about ten years? Thirty? Fifty? Forever?
Could the artificial intelligence that he had spent decades with, which looked exactly like his family and friends and talked and acted accordingly, really be called 'illusionary'?
Li Yao took a deep breath before changing the topic. "What have you been studying?"
"The experts in the Spiriters' Realm are divided into different research groups," Liu Wenshan replied. "Their main focuses are the Spiritual Nexus, crystal processors, and artificial intelligence.
"Some of the groups study the battle network of the federation and the Imperium, trying to figure out how to hack and even paralyze the network. Some groups try to create more magnificent crystal processors that will further improve our own computational ability and deduction ability. As for the research group I am in, we focus on artificial intelligence. We are developing the most powerful artificial intelligence so far in the entire federation. It is even more advanced than the artificial intelligence in the Imperium!"
Li Yao slightly frowned. "More advanced than the Imperium? How is it possible?"
"I didn't think it was possible at the beginning, either," Liu Wenshan said. "After all, the Imperium is a superpower at the center of the cosmos, with tremendous technological reserve and experience. The gap is not something that we can cover so soon.
"However, Lei Yuqin brought abundant files to us. A lot of technological barriers had already been overcome by her. I've seen the artificial intelligence on the starships of the Imperium that we captured ten years ago. It was nothing worth mentioning at all compared with what Lei Yuqin offered us.
"The federation and the Imperium are both civilizations of human beings. We also have the gifts from Kunlun. The technological gap between the two parties is not uncoverable after all. Naturally, we made significant progress very quickly based on the latest files that Lei Yuqin provided for us!"
Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other, both greatly astonished.
That did not make any sense!
Even if Professor Mo Xuan was truly up to something, Professor Mo Xuan's technological limits were also the federation's technological limits. How on earth could he grasp crystal processor, Spiritual Nexus, and artificial intelligence technology that was even more advanced than the Imperium's?
"When I joined the 'virtual research team'," Liu Wenshan said, "they had already developed quite a few brand-new super artificial intelligences, which were officially known as Half Intelligent Virtual Educational Telepathic Thought Amalgamations."
Li Yao widened his eyes. "I've heard the name before. They're also called 'old grandpa' in the outside world and seem to be designed for educational purposes."
Liu Wenshan smiled. "Right. Somebody calls it 'old grandpa'. However, education purposes? Hehe. Every brand-new technique and technology will be applied to the military field first when they are just invented before they are slowly spread to other fields.
"If an 'old grandpa' can automatically search and analyze the environment and perform the complicated task of passing on knowledge, why can't it be applied to battle?
"Therefore, in the Spiriters' Realm, the code name for such artificial intelligence is not 'old grandpa' but Deviant Spirit!"
"Deviant Spirit…" Li Yao chewed on the name and could not help but feel creeped out.
Liu Wenshan went on. "The Deviant Spirits are further classified into 'Intelligent Spirits' and 'Fighting Spirits'. The Intelligent Spirits can hack and control the Spiritual Nexus without alerting anyone. They can also simulate the images and even habits of many people in cyberspace. If an Intelligent Spirit takes over the Spiritual Nexus and sends someone a message, it would be impossible for the receiver of the message to distinguish whether he is speaking to a real person or a fake one. The Fighting Spirits are the purest battle-type artificial intelligences. There will be dire consequences if they control war puppets, starships, and even mainframe crystal processors of star fortresses!"
Li Yao's eyelids bounced quickly. "How many… Deviant Spirits have you produced?"
Liu Wenshan shook his head and said, "I came to this place too late and was not involved in the production of most of the Deviant Spirits. So, I don't know their total number. The common Deviant Spirits that can run real-time calculations are too many to be counted. There is also a type of super Deviant Spirit, which seems to have been designed to take over the control of main-force warships. I think there are seventeen of them. Yes. That's the number. There used to be nineteen of them, but two collapsed in an accident during the test."
To take over the control of the main-force warships… Li Yao swallowed and asked, "Then, where are your companions and the Deviant Spirits?"
"I don't know," Liu Wenshan said dutifully. "Last night, most of the people and the Deviant Spirits being tested were moved in different batches. Only a few people were left behind to continue their work. They are all newcomers who haven't been trapped in the Spiriters' Realm for long and still prefer the real world to the Spiriters' Realm."
Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other in bewilderment. Both of them felt that their heart was heavier than ever.
The most terrible thing had happened.
This place was indeed Professor Mo Xuan's nest. It was also a base where his secret weapons were produced.
However, they were a step late.
The 'battle shells' modified on the basis of the bodies of a thousand battle-type Cultivators, the souls of countless experts who were adept at the technology of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, and the mysterious and unpredictable Deviant Spirits were already on their way!
No wonder they did not encounter much resistance when they marched all the way into the hospital. As it turned out, the criminals and the mastermind had long left the place.
What was the target of Professor Mo Xuan and his army of Deviant Spirits?
Why did the professor have technology that was even more advanced than the federation and the expedition army from the Imperium's knowledge?
Chapter 1741: Save Mankind |
Liu Wenshan was unable to give them the answers to the questions.
But somebody else could.
Lei Yuqin floated in midair. Her brainwaves, which had fallen silent, were spreading out again, triggering feeble flames like the dying light.
Her white hair stood up like a waterfall that was running reversely. Even the air was rippling under her laughter.
Her satisfied laughter seemed to imply that her destiny had been accomplished and that she was now able to return the embrace of the eternal universe without any regret!
"You—"
Flames of spiritual energy surged out of Li Yao's and Long Yangjun's bodies, turning into shackles that confined Lei Yuqin tightly. It was even condensed into thorns that crawled into her brain and prevented her from going on a rampage with the last bit of her vitality.
"Lei Yuqin," Li Yao scolded, "is this the way that you and Professor Mo Xuan save people? Where did Professor Mo Xuan go?"
"To save people. To save everyone!" Lei Yuqin's aged skin that was full of wrinkles and spots was emitting gentle brilliance. Her voice regained some stubborn vigor, too. "What's wrong about the way I save people? I am a doctor. I've treated all my patients with my best. I never did harm to any of them!
"The patients whose brains were not seriously damaged and whose souls were mostly intact have long woken up and gone back home under my careful treatment!
"The rest of them all suffer too severe brain lesions to be woken up with their broken soul. Activating their souls by brute force and releasing them to live in the world outside will only make them age and perish under the corruption of the all-pervasive radiation. Even a tiny sunspot outbreak is enough to rip them apart completely!
"That's why I invited them to live in the Spiriters' Realm. That's the only place suitable for them. It is the new home for all the Spiriters!"
Lei Yuqin replied confidently. Her eyes were clearer and clearer. There was not the slightest regret or embarrassment on her face.
Li Yao burst into fury. "How do you explain the bodies of the battle-type Cultivators? To think that you have turned the bodies of the vegetative patients into dreadful weapons! Are you shameless enough to call yourself a doctor after doing such insane things?"
"For a doctor, a body without a soul is just a piece of common flesh," Lei Yuqin said casually. "Tens of thousands of years ago, when everybody considered the bodies of their own kind to be some sacred taboo, doctors were already dissecting and studying them. Some doctors even dug up dead bodies that had just been buried in the cemetery to autopsy. Such behavior that was creepy in the eyes of normal people is the foundation of modern medical science, which has saved millions of people!
"Those battle-type Cultivators were all close to the state of brain death after they fell into deep comas due to mental derangement. After their souls that were still rescuable were transferred to the man-made brains, the bodies left would be nothing more than a cluster of regular meat. They were the same as tumors that are cut away after an operation, medical garbage that must be thrown away. What's wrong about recycling the garbage and using it to defend our cause and the future of mankind?"
Li Yao gnashed his teeth. "You do know how to dress your actions up, but you and Professor Mo Xuan locked them up, forced them to carry out research, and deceived their families, not telling their families where exactly their souls were hidden!"
Lei Yuqin smiled and said, "Yes. That's the only thing that I have done wrong and unqualifies me as a doctor. However, their family will soon learn the truth and meet them. Very soon…"
Li Yao suddenly had an ominous feeling. Increasing the sharpness of the thorns of spiritual energy, he demanded, "What are you up to exactly? Where did Professor Mo Xuan go with the tremendous battle shells and Deviant Spirits?"
Lei Yuqin continued smiling. Her eyes looked past Li Yao and Long Yangjun, as if she could see the depths of the universe through the solid shell of the space city. In an almost melodramatic tone, she said, "A war is about to break between the Star Glory Federation and the expedition army of the Imperium. It is going to be an unprecedented war that will burn up a whole area of the sea of stars. A lot of heroes will present the most soul-stirring stories for future generations to remember, but countless innocent people will die in silence, too, ending up as cold names on a monument. Or maybe they won't even have a chance to leave their names, and they will be gone like grains of cosmic dust that have never been noticed."
Her words were exactly what Professor Mo Xuan said before.
"The rise of a dynasty means the downfall of another one, and it is the common folk who suffer. Even if the Star Glory Federation wins the war after paying gory prices, so what? Is this going to be the last war of the federation?"
Looking at Li Yao, Lei Yuqin shook her head and said, "No. The Star Glory Federation is going to march toward the center of the cosmos one day. The ambitious Jin Xinyue and Ding Lingdang, who talks about liberating all the people in the universe that are oppressed, are both living embodiments of slaughter. They are envoys of destruction. They crave war, war, and more war, like drug addicts!
"War… war never ends. Even if the Star Glory Federation truly marches to the center of the cosmos one day and rises to be on equal terms with the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, after half of the population in all three thousand Sectors are wasted, everyone might finally be united under one of the banners. However, what awaits them is not eternal peace but just a hiatus in war!
"Therefore, is there any meaning if the Star Glory Federation wins the war of self-defense in the traditional way? Is there any meaning to defeating the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance? Is there any meaning to being the greatest superpower in the universe? The federation will eventually perish into the cosmic dust after ten thousand years, just like the Star Ocean Imperium that was once splendid in its heyday. War, resource shortages, and poverty will come back again, turning into a cycle that harasses mankind and can never be resolved!
"What are we up to exactly, you ask?
"Hehe. We are going to break the cycle once and for all! We are going to end the bloody wars! We are going to end mankind's infinite desire for resources! We are going to end the suffering, oppression, and inequality that human beings are born with!
"We are going to create a heaven, a new world that is forever peaceful and devoid of contradictions, wars, and suffering, a world where everybody's every demand can be met!
"I don't know who you are exactly and why you boast such high strength, but whoever you are, please join us!"
Lei Yuqin extended her hands toward Li Yao and Long Yangjun. At this moment, the brilliance in her eyes had entirely consumed her eyeballs, as if two orange fireballs were directly blossoming out of her eye sockets. Her voice… did not seem to be uttered by herself but was bursting out of her dry chest as if thousands of men and women, seniors and children, were pleading at the same time.
"Join us. Let's create a new world with infinite beauty!
"Join us. Life is itself just a dream. Illusions are the only reality!
"Join us. In the Spiriters' Realm, there is no distinction between poor and rich, smart and stupid, ordinary people and Cultivators. Everybody's free to establish a world that solely belongs to themself and become the king of the universe!
"Join us. As long as all human beings live in the Spiriters' Realm and all resources are virtualized, we will be able to end the eternal wars and save everyone!"
The cacophony of voices that were highly compressed spread in all directions and shattered into pieces after hitting the cold wall. It could be vaguely distinguished that children were giggling, hotblooded young men were bellowing, women were speaking gently but firmly, and old people were sighing with endless regrets.
The broken pieces of thousands of voices resonated into the same echo:
"Join us… Join us… Join us… Join us…"
Li Yao had seen countless creepy scenes that caused goosebumps all over his body before.
However, at this moment, Lei Yuqin, who was dying and tightly suppressed by two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, made him feel more frightened than he had ever felt before.
"Insane. You are insane!" Li Yao mumbled. "Professor Mo Xuan said himself that evolution cannot be accomplished overnight. Even if you believe that the virtual life form is the future of mankind, you shouldn't try to compress the evolution that is supposed to take billions of years into one single moment. You won't succeed!"
"Yes. It's true that we shouldn't have done that!" Lei Yuqin smiled miserably. "We might be doing the wrong thing that is very likely to fail. There's a ninety-nine percent likelihood that we will be crucified on the pillar of dishonor in history as unpardonable villains.
"However… however, as a doctor, how can I watch so many of my compatriots and their offspring struggle and suffer in the swamp of fire in the real world while doing nothing about it?"
Before Lei Yuqin's sacred face that was mixed with pity and righteousness, Li Yao was completely lost for words.
Long Yangjun, on the other hand, bulged her eyes and shouted, "I've got it. Professor Mo Xuan must've taken his army of ghosts to the Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus Information Processing Center. Hundred Flowers City is a hub of transportation and information in the federation. The information processing center there must be the most important node of the whole Spiritual Nexus in the federation!
"At first, we speculated that Professor Mo Xuan intended to control the three 'Gai'-level super crystal processors, or maybe even more 'Jing'-level ones, but from what we have seen right now, his appetite is apparently much bigger than we anticipated. What he wants to control is the Spiritual Nexus and the network of everybody, including both the Star Glory Federation and the Black Wind Fleet!"
In the middle of Long Yangjun's roar, Lei Yuqin uttered high-pitched laughter. There was no telling when it started, but the white hair all over her head was burning furiously like white fire, illuminating the entire secret chamber.
"You are too late!" Lei Yuqin put on a weird smile. Her voice became both profound and dull, as if it were rumbling thunder that came from the depths of the universe. It felt like a whole different being instead of her was bellowing, "Now that you have come here, do you still think you can leave?"
Every pore on Li Yao's body was restricted to the minimum.
The half-open gate behind them, on the other hand, was shut as fast as lightning before the two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators could take action.
The flames of light flooding out of Lei Yuqin's eye socks enshrouded her entire head. Her skull seemed to have been replaced by a brilliant supernova. Despite the suppression of Li Yao's and Long Yangjun's spiritual energy, it was impossible for them to stop the explosive energy that absolutely did not belong to the training system of human beings from surging out of her brain!
