Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1237
"In your example, a weird life form, which is a hundred times more powerful than the civilization of mankind and utterly irresistible for us, has only one 'maternal brain' as the highest commanding core, and the 'maternal brain' is idiotic enough to land on a hostile planet that contains abundant explosives without any protection. When the planet is finally detonated, it cannot even release part of the remaining soul or find a successor? That is the most stupid thing I have never heard!
"If you ask me, even if such a weird life form that is a hundred times more powerful than the civilization of mankind does exist, it is impossible that they have only one 'maternal brain'. It is very possible that they have thousands of 'maternal brains' like synapses.
"Even if they do have only one 'maternal brain', after the 'maternal brain' dies, some other replacements similar to the synapses can spontaneously grow into a new maternal brain.
"Otherwise, the universe is too dangerous a place for such an idiotic species to develop to be a hundred times more powerful than the civilization of mankind, right?
"Therefore, even if detonating Karan can annihilate one maternal brain, it will be utterly meaningless because thousands of maternal brains will show up later, and we cannot detonate thousands of habitable planets!"
Chapter 1922: The Motives to Destroy the Earth |
"Why not?" the mental devil asked back. "Not just detonating thousands of habitable planets, even if we destroy the three thousand Sectors and even the entire civilization of mankind, it might not necessarily be 'immoral'!"
Li Yao was dumbfounded for a long time. "What do you mean?"
"Since this is a brainstorm, we must open our minds and not restrain our imagination with any biased, parochial rules," the mental devil said carefully with a smile. "You know that 'suicide' exists in every human society, right? Even in the Star Glory Federation, which claims to be bright and ethical, there is a rather stable 'suicide rate'.
"Do the people who choose to commit suicide not love their life? That is not necessarily the case. Most people simply cannot shoulder the endless pain in life. Death is not the most horrible thing in the world; living can be ten thousand times more horrible than death, in which case one will often beg to die.
"The ignorant never understand the logic. They always say cr*p like life is better than anything and even an ant cherishes its life. Is it of any use? Those who want to kill themselves will still kill themselves. Even if some people lack determination and courage and are pulled back from the verge of death, is there any significance in their life when they live meaninglessly like ants?
"The wise are able to view the problem from a higher level. They at least partly admit that an adult with sufficient intellectual faculties has part of the right to decide how to deal with or end their life, especially when they are experiencing insufferable and irresolvable agony.
"Although euthanasia is not entirely legal in the Star Glory Federation, if somebody truly chooses to end their life, other people often more or less understand their decision. In other words, modern citizens' view of life is more mature and advanced.
"Then, just as a man can choose suicide, is it possible for a civilization to make such a decision?
"If a civilization foresees that it will bear excruciating pain that far exceeds its limits in the future, that life will be more miserable than death, and the situation can in no way be changed, is it immoral for the civilization to choose to terminate itself voluntarily in 'suicide'?
"Get back to the example just now. If what you said is true, the alien species that invades the three thousand Sectors truly has thousands of maternal brains, and the civilization of mankind is absolutely unable to resist them. Once conquered, human beings will be caged as their food and pets. In the millions of years that follow, human beings will forget their history and honor of the past and degrade into beings like pigs or dogs. Even our 'training' will be focused on making ourselves more delectable and delicious so that our masters will be more comfortable and have more fun.
"Let me ask you, if 'Wuying Qing' foresaw such a future, or the 'maternal brain' displayed such a picture to him while convincing him of the veracity and inevitability of such a future, and 'Wuying Qi' had a way to destroy the entire civilization of mankind and he did put it into action, would his act be 'moral' or 'immoral'?"
After staring at the mental devil for a long time, Li Yao shuddered coldly and mumbled, "Are you really the dark side of my soul? Why does the dark side of my soul have so many peculiar thoughts?"
The mental devil smirked. "Justice is always the same, but evil has a myriad of faces. What, you cannot answer the question?"
Thinking carefully for a moment, Li Yao replied firmly, "I am not qualified to decide if such a 'Wuying Qi' is moral, but if I were him, I definitely would not make such a choice. I would report the issue to the parliament exactly as it is. Then, I would fight side by side with all other human beings to resist the foul 'maternal brain civilization' together!
"Even if we are indeed destroyed in the end, it will be a valiant death where everybody is killed in a battle, instead of a decision made by someone or some representatives that the entire civilization should terminate itself."
"Dying valiantly in a battle or being terminated without knowing is just a minor detail," the mental devil said with a smile. "The bottom line is, you also admit that it might not necessarily be an evil move to destroy the civilization of mankind. In that case, what is the big deal about destroying a tiny Earth?
"Consider such a scenario. In a higher dimension above the three-dimensional universe exists an almighty being that can destroy the three thousand Sectors and the civilization of mankind, naturally, Earth included, whenever it wants. However, if we choose to 'sacrifice' Earth, it guarantees that it will not destroy us but will help the civilization of mankind grow stronger. Our civilization will make a giant leap forward by a thousand or ten thousand years.
"Look. You can either sacrifice Earth to save and improve the entire civilization of mankind, or you can watch the civilization of mankind get destroyed as a whole, and Earth will not be a survivor.
"In such a scenario, the option to 'destroy Earth' is no longer that hard to accept, is it?"
"This is bullsh*t." This time, Li Yao shook his legs hard without one second of hesitation. "We discussed this a long time ago when we heard the propaganda of the Immortal Cultivators for the first time. Any responsible government would not negotiate with kidnappers and terrorists. Besides, if such a godly being beyond the three-dimensional universe does exist, we have no ability to make it keep its promise at all.
"Since we do not have the ability to force it to honor its words, its promise is nothing more than a fart that does not even smell. Today, it can threaten us to sacrifice Earth to save the entire universe, but if we do sacrifice Earth, it can also ask us to sacrifice the Heaven's Origin Sector to save the remainder of the universe. The day after that, the Flying Star Sector; following that, the Blood Demon Sector… Eventually, like cutting a sausage, we would slice ourselves into pieces and deliver them to its mouth, and it would devour everything with the least effort. Its greed would never be satisfied. This is exactly what it would do.
"More critically, if it is indeed an omnipotent, omniscient, and invincible being beyond the three-dimensional universe who can destroy the civilization of mankind while yawning, what does a tiny Earth mean for it? Why does it ask us to sacrifice Earth of all planets? If Earth must be destroyed, couldn't the being do it by itself instead of relying on insignificant mortals like us?
"If it insists that we destroy Earth, 'Earth' is of paramount significance and might be a threat and a key to destroy the being. In this case, we will have even less reason to destroy Earth.
"I stand by what I said. If this is the entirety of the scenario, I will never destroy Earth. I will only stand side by side with the six billion earthlings and make the six billion earthlings stay together with all the human beings in the three thousand Sectors. We will fight together against the being of a higher level.
"We may be destroyed, but we will never be defeated. The civilization of mankind including Earth will never bend or compromise but will fight until the last breath!"
"Aya. As expected of a man who is about to enter the Divinity Transformation Stage. Your mind is much more sophisticated than when you were on Kunlun!" the mental devil shrieked in exclamation. Then it chuckled and said, "In that case, we will have to change our hypothesis. What if Earth is itself the darkest, most evil being that contains tremendous secrets, and all the earthlings are reincarnations of fiends and threats to the entire civilization of mankind or the universe?
"Destroying Earth will be demolishing the den of fiends, and killing the earthlings will be killing evil beings. That will not conflict with your belief, will it?"
Li Yao thought carefully again. In the end, he shook his head and said, "In my uncanny dreams, despite all the internal conflicts on Earth, and although there were a lot of tyrants and dictators, it seemed a rather peaceful world from the perspective of the entire universe. It was even incapable of migrating to the Moon or Mars, which were right next to it, much less launching an expedition to the land further away. It is almost 'harmless'. How can it be a threat to the entire universe?"
"It is possible that everything you saw was just an illusion," the mental devil analyzed solemnly. "Didn't you visit a desolate world in a trance, where a female Cultivator greeted you and said 'welcome to Earth'?
"Didn't you also see that Earth was on furious fire and withered instantly into a rotten apple core?
"Chances are that the blue Earth and peaceful life in your uncanny dreams are just illusions, and the burning, withering, and decaying apple core is the actual Earth!"
"This is a very plausible possibility." Li Yao nodded quickly. "If the blue Earth does exist, it cannot be called 'too dark' and 'too strong' in any way. I don't know anything about whether or not it is dark, but the earthlings have less than thirty groups of aircraft carriers at most and an arsenal of nuclear weapons that can burn the surface of the Earth into wasteland at best and is not even enough to destroy the Moon.
"Not that I'm bragging, but as long as it is localized, the federation today can send an expedition army with dozens of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and a few Colossi. That would be more than enough to suppress Earth. Nothing could possibly go wrong!
"Is it necessary to describe such an Earth in such a horrifying and unbelievable way?"
"In that case, we will have to discuss the concepts of exterior and interior worlds," the mental devil said. "There are two Earths. The Earth on the surface is the blue planet where countless creatures and six billion people live. Their life is peaceful, unattractive, and they are not in conflict with the rest of the universe, if they can see the rest of the universe at all.
"But in fact, there also exists an 'interior Earth', which is the real Earth. That place is likely a den of fiends who are most foul, dark, and powerful. They are probably great threats to the entire universe and will destroy the civilization of mankind.
"Therefore, when part of the people on 'exterior Earth' found out the truth, they came up with the Vulture Plan and decided to destroy it no matter the cost!"
Chapter 1923: Six Billion Virtual People |
"An interior world and an exterior one, two different Earths?" Li Yao replied. "It does make some sense. Then, what kind of being created such a strange world, and for what purpose?"
"We will have to take our time to explore to find out the answer." The mental devil smiled. "Maybe the blue planet on the surface, the Earth that has developed a brilliant, glorious civilization, with skyscrapers, streams of cars, and infinite exuberance, is nothing more than the Spiriters' Realm, the virtual world that Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan established. It is just a game, an illusion, and a ridiculous joke.
"If by 'destroy Earth' it means deleting a game, formatting a crystal processor, or shattering a virtual world, you did a lot of such things during the fierce fight against Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan, didn't you? However strong one's sense of justice and integrity might be, they wouldn't think that deleting a game is an unpardonable crime, right?"
"Seems so." Li Yao thought for a moment. "If the blue Earth is just a virtual world and a joke full of malevolence and schemes, it will be easier to understand why we must 'destroy Earth'. But what about the six billion earthlings? I vaguely recall that the earthlings have their feelings, emotions, and independent will, too. They are all real people!"
"Who told you that?" the mental devil argued, not thinking that it was a big deal. "When you play the game 'Civilization' and enter a new DLC, is every individual you meet—including the dealers on the street, the waiters in the restaurants, or the enemy's minions—a real player? Of course not. A lot of them are 'virtual people' that are randomly generated. To quote Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan, they are 'Deviant Spirits'!
"The 'Deviant Spirits', under the support of an enormous database, function according to all kinds of sophisticated rules and can vividly simulate all the feelings and operations of human beings, as if they were exactly real persons. But they are still fake nonetheless!
"When you were lost in the Spiriters' Realm, were you not trapped in a virtual village named 'Peach Blossom Village' where you met Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan's virtual granddaughter 'Ah Luo'? When you broke 'Peach Blossom Village' in the end, that 'Ah Luo' was naturally disintegrated into the most basic data. Does that mean you killed an innocent woman?"
"Nonsense," Li Yao replied immediately. "Of course I didn't!"
The mental devil grinned hideously. "Therefore, even if your memories in the virtual Earth are as clear as can be, on what grounds are you certain that the six billion earthlings all exist for real? Have you seen each and every one of the six billion people? The best you could've met and gotten in touch were the several thousand people around you, right?
"No. Even if you have seen them in person, it still does not prove any point. The virtualization technology in the federation is already enough to create 'Deviant Spirits' that can almost deceive people into thinking that they are real. It is needless to mention the powerful being that is capable of creating a virtual Earth!
"Therefore, of the six billion earthlings, it is very possible that 5,999,000,000 are fake. They are all 'Deviant Spirits', and deleting those 'virtual earthlings' does not violate any moral code, does it?"
Li Yao thought carefully for a long time, frowning. He shook his head slowly and said, "In that case, destroying a virtual Earth and deleting 99.99% of the six billion people who are 'virtual humans' indeed do not seem to violate any moral code. However…"
He hesitated for a long time, and his eyes seemed to have pierced through the immeasurable dark nebula and projected to the blue virtual planet. "Even if what you said is true, and 99.99% of the earthlings are false as virtual humans generated by databases and programs, do they realize that they are fake? When the Earth is destroyed and they are truly deleted, will they feel painful or struggle in desperation?
"If the virtual world is advanced enough, there should be some sort of data, program, and rule to make them sense pain and desperation, shouldn't there? It is almost like in some of the war DLCs of 'Civilization', even the randomly generated soldiers on the enemy's side will put on the most miserable expression when they are killed."
The mental devil apparently could not care less. "However, no matter how painful and desperate they are, that is still fake, virtual, and meaningless! I know that you are a hotblooded middle school student whose ignorance borders on idiocy, but you aren't hypocritical enough to care about some virtual humans, right? I didn't see you show any mercy to the Deviant Spirits when you fought Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan's army!"
Li Yao smiled, somewhat in embarrassment. "Seems so. After you point it out, I indeed feel that I am being too naïve."
The mental devil's eyes glowed as it rubbed its fists and declared, "In that case, if the 'blue Earth' is really a virtual game, and 99.99% of the earthlings are virtual, 'destroy Earth' will no longer be unacceptable, right? Then, what are we waiting for? Let's find it and destroy it already. Hehehe!"
Li Yao frowned again and eyed the mental devil carefully up and down. "Wait. Can you please stop laughing creepily like that? Why do I always feel that you have ill intentions and are not a good guy?"
"Oh, how wronged I am!" The mental devil covered its head with both hands and shouted, "From the moment I was born to right now, although I have indeed said some outrageous things, tell me truthfully, have I really done anything wrong?
"Elder Nether Spring had his Spore Stratagem, Jin Tuyi had his Red Tide Plan, Lu Zui had his Patriots Partnership, and even the seemingly frank and dutiful Professor Mo Xuan had one side that was an extraterrestrial devil. Even you, Vulture Li Yao, who have always been an embodiment of integrity and justice, have the mysterious destiny to destroy Earth on your shoulders!
"So many people have exposed their evil ambitions, but I have been staying here dutifully all the time. Why do you call me a 'mental devil'? Tell me honestly, what kind of 'devil' am I?
"Right now, it is you who wants to destroy Earth, but you cannot pass the test of your own heart. You asked me to brainstorm with you, so a storm I have given to you. But after all the possibilities that I help you come up with, you accuse me of having ill intentions again?
"Why is it so difficult to be your mental devil? I'm trying to help you fulfil your destiny and destroy Earth. Why do you not believe me?
"Even if you do not trust me, you should at least trust yourself. Look at you. Dominator of three Sectors, Black Wind King, Vulture Li Yao. What a man of brightness and uprightness you are! You are the epitome of justice! Now that you are a symbol of justice, the things that you destroy are certainly evil. Even if you do not understand it right now, you will soon realize the necessity to destroy Earth during your exploration!"
