Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1703
The researcher stepped back and roared desperately, "You're suspecting that I'm from the Covenant Alliance?"
"I'm not suspecting; I'm quite sure you are. Look at your tomography and compare it with that of the cold-blooded killer."
Zhuge Jinglun displayed a few new tomographies and compared them with the old ones.
Everybody craned their head, but then, they frowned.
"They're absolutely different!"
The researcher roared, "Even a blind person can tell that my tomographies are different from the killer's! My reaction is normal! The activities of my brain are standard!"
"Yes, they are. They are perfect and even unimaginably standard."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "I almost forgot to tell you that these are not your tomographies from today, but an overlap of all your tomographies in the past 27 tests. Do you see the problem? Your reaction is too perfect. It's almost identical in the past 27 tests!
"Normal people will think and react slightly differently when they're faced with the same question, so their tomographies should be blurry when overlapped.
"What kind of people will react to the same question in exactly the same way for 27 times in a row, as if it were not his real reaction but some sort of… pre-installed program?"
Astounded, the researcher did not know what to say when he looked at his brain tomographies.
"Rest assured. I wouldn't jump to a conclusion so quickly, as that would be an insult to my professionalism."
Zhuge Jinglun displayed another tomography. "Different from the previous 26 tests, we added a new question today, which is the choice to be a human or a machine in a Wiseware rebellion. You had never seen the question until the database was unlocked, had you?"
"No, but so what?"
The researcher said quickly, "My reaction was normal!"
"Just like I said, it's too normal."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "As the control group, a thousand ordinary people were asked the same question. When we told them that their memories were faked, they were not real human beings, and the world out there had been deformed by the Wisewares, they all hesitated and considered. Some of them even had self-doubts, wondering whether or not they were humans at all.
"Both the askers and the answerers had doubts. Many of them even needed therapy.
"But your brainwaves were the steadiest when you were faced with the question for the first time. They were 30% steadier than those of the people far stronger than you! You did not waver. You did not believe the bulls*it of 'Wiseware rebellion' at all. You never considered whether you were a human or a machine. Why?
"Because you knew very well that you were some sort of 'Wiseware', except that you are made of flesh and blood instead of metals!"
"Lying! You're lying! I'm not from the Covenant Alliance!"
Stunned for a long time, the researcher suddenly shrieked hysterically and even lunged at Zhuge Jinglun. "You can't jump to any conclusion so hastily! I'm a living human! Long live the Imperium! I'm not from the Covenant Alliance!"
Naturally, Li Yao and Long Yangjun wouldn't allow the crazy researcher to hurt Zhuge Jinglun.
But their help was unnecessary. Several brawny security guards seized the researcher and shackled him before they dragged him down.
The researcher struggled and howled, like a normal person that had been wronged. His roar could still be heard when he was long gone. "I'm not from the Covenant Alliance! I'm not!"
"Look…"
Zhuge Jinglun rubbed his hands and grinned at Li Yao and Long Yangjun. "A spectacular show, isn't it? This guy has lurked here for three years and passed six versions of the Ring-Tu Test. But he's finally exposed in the new version!
"Oh, I must thank President Long's question on the Wiseware rebellion. It's really interesting. Wait, I almost forgot. You're not President Long. You changed your name. I should call you President Dongfang, right? Forgive me, President Dongfang."
"It's President Long…" said Long Yangjun while holding her forehead.
"Wait, I still feel that it's inappropriate."
Looking at the blood left on a corner when the researcher was dragged away, Li Yao asked, "You determine whether or not a person is from the Covenant Alliance based on the tomographies and random questions? What's your accuracy? Would good guys be wronged?
"For example, what if he is determined and wouldn't be influenced easily? Or what if he is a man without imagination and cannot understand the Wiseware rebellion at all? Or maybe, even if he is a cold and heartless man, it doesn't mean that he will necessarily commit crimes, no?
"Take the middle school teacher just now. If his friends hadn't taken him to the casino, he might've lived his life in peace instead of turning into a murderer, wouldn't he?
"So, what if your Ring-Tu Test is wrong? It can't be 100% accurate, can it?"
Zhuge Jinglun looked at Li Yao in surprise, as if he was shocked by the childish question.
"Of course there are errors. This is a game where our enemy and us are constantly trying to outsmart each other."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "However, when we're talking about accuracy, it's not about the good guys that we wronged, but about the bad guys that we let go. The good guys—let's call them good guys for now—are potential lunatics and criminals anyway and take up no more than 5% in total. They're the necessary sacrifices in this war."
Li Yao got it now.
It was better to wrongly kill a thousand good guys than to accidentally let a bad guy get away.
"Necessary sacrifice" was also a phrase that Immortal Cultivators always talked about.
Li Yao's eyes turned cold. He disliked Director Zhuge Jinglun who was cold and heartless in his bones and did not care about lives himself either.
"It's an interesting test and a great eye-opener for me."
Li Yao said coldly, "Then, Director Zhuge, have you considered another interesting question? If a spy from the Covenant Alliance can work in your institute for years, how can you make sure that you're not another spy that is hiding more deeply?
"Of course, you may have passed the Ring-Tu Test countless times, but it's pointless. As the creator of the test, you definitely know its flaws.
"So, how can you prove your innocence so that other people will not suspect you?"
Li Yao thought that the question would be tricky for Zhuge Jinglun, but the director of the asylum raised his thumb at Li Yao with glowing eyes. "Good question! It's very hard to prove. That's why there is more than one research center that works on the Covenant Alliance, and why the Ring-Tu Test has thousands of different versions.
"Black Wind King, you should know that there is not an official, authoritative agency on the studies of the Covenant Alliance in the Imperium, right? Why do we not have an official agency to deal with the rival that has haunted us for a thousand years?
"The reason is simple. If an authoritative agency existed, all the Covenant Alliance needed to do would be to infiltrate it and alter the standards of the Ring-Tu Test, then we would be screwed!
"Now, we don't have an authoritative agency, but we have dozens of half-official agencies working at the same time and introducing different versions of the Ring-Tu Test. The leaders of those agencies, including me, have been testing each other regularly. It's rather troublesome, but it guarantees our safety.
"Of course, this cannot prevent the Covenant Alliance from infiltrating us. After all, with their advanced technologies, some of them might be able to pass the tests of dozens of different agencies. That person could be me, or President Dongfang, or Black Wind King. Hahahaha. Who knows?
"Or rather, maybe the Imperium and the Covenant Alliance do not exist, and the world around us is faked with the memories and data indoctrinated into us. Instead, the Wiseware rebellion is actually the truth, and we're just intelligent machines of the latest model. If we open our skulls, we might really find glittering, gem-like crystal processors in it, right?
"President Dongfang, Black Wind King, do you want to open your skull and see what's inside? Hahahaha!"
When Zhuge Jinglun laughed, he sounded like an oinking pig, but it was one of the most horrible things that Li Yao had heard.
"Director Zhuge…"
Narrowing his eyes, Li Yao asked, "Are you sure that you're not influenced by the psychopaths around you? Or maybe, are you a hopeless psychopath too?"
"How do you know?"
Zhuge Jinglun replied in a stun, "I'm indeed a severe psychopath. I spent almost a hundred years in thirteen asylums on seven planets!"
"What?"
Li Yao found it hard to believe. "Then how did you become the director of this place?"
"Very simple."
Zhuge Jinglun winked at Li Yao and said, "The last asylum I stayed in was not carefully managed. At that time, a doctor named Zhuge Jinglun came to study me, and I ate him up from skin to bones. I even fried his brain and his internal organs. How delicious it was!
"After I was full, I left in Zhuge Jinglun's name. In honor of my old days and my old friends, I regarded the studies of mental diseases as my lifelong career.
"Hush. This is my little secret. Black Wind King, please keep it between us and don't let them catch me. Please. Hahahaha!"
Chapter 2704: Five Groups in the Covenant Alliance! |
Looking at Zhuge Jinglun who was licking his lips and drooling, Li Yao couldn't have been more disgusted.
"Hey, what's with your 'old friend'?"
While walking behind Zhuge Jinglun, Li Yao pulled Long Yangjun and whispered, "That's really a bad joke. Is he really nuts?"
"Don't be so serious. How can he really be a psychopath? But I wouldn't say that he's entirely sane. He's one of the weirdest Meditation Healers in the Imperium, which was one of the reasons why Wuying Qi did not take him away as fuel, worrying that he might 'corrupt' other fuel with his crazy thinking."
Long Yangjun said in a low voice, "But don't you find him interesting? What's more suitable to deal with the Covenant Alliance than a lunatic?"
"He's not interesting at all!"
Li Yao was lost for words. He realized that Long Yangjun seemed to be fond of making friends with crazy people. Wasn't Yan Liren, her only friend back in the Ancient Sages Sector, a lunatic too?
Wait, something is not right. As her "best friend", am I the same kind of person as Yan Liren and Zhuge Jinglun in Long Yangjun's eyes?
Before Li Yao had the chance to ask, Long Yangjun had stepped further and walked into an elevator with Zhuge Jinglun.
"Now, we'll bring you to Director Zhuge's favorite experimental land."
Long Yangjun smiled at Li Yao. "It will be a great eye-opener for you!"
The elevator slowly descended for at least hundreds of meters below sea level.
When the elevator passed through the dark floors and appeared in a vertical transparent tube, Li Yao was greatly shocked by everything he saw.
Little did he expect to see such a beautiful town so deeply below the island!
It was indeed a common and peaceful town, which was not large in size but had a blue sky, white clouds, and blue waters that were simulated with light beams. There were also fertile lands where farmers were working hard.
At the center of the town were rows of bungalows that were shabby but clean.
However, the residents of this place were indifferently focused on their work. They barely talked, and even fewer people sang or laughed.
They seemed like some kind of machines in human skin that were simply carrying out the instructions of a program.
There were other residents who were seated at the empty ground at the center of the town and staring at the virtual sun on the dome. It was impossible to tell whether they had accomplished their tasks or that they weren't given any task at all.
Their vibes and behaviors were totally different from what Li Yao had seen from the psychopaths. Thinking quickly, he asked, "Are they captives from the Covenant Alliance?"
"Yes, there are 1,225 of them. All were captured in the Imperium's counterattack earlier."
Zhuge Jinglun bragged. A moment later, he explained, "They're mostly common soldiers and civilians who did not receive special training and hence do not know how to simulate feelings. So, it's very easy to distinguish them.
"As a matter of fact, they're the most docile and diligent people. You can get along with them easily as long as you know how."
"Seriously?"
Li Yao found it hard to believe. "Would they roar and swear to kill you like the zealots?"
"If a higher-level command inputs the instruction into their heads, yes."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "However, the 1,225 people from the Covenant Alliance in this town are all executables at the bottom level. They obey commands, but they cannot create any command. Since nobody orders them to attack and kill, they certainly wouldn't do that but would follow their instincts."
Deep in thought, Li Yao nodded his head and asked again, "Even if they're not aggressive, why would they construct such a town and work in it busily? I think I just saw a magic equipment repair store. They can do such complicated jobs?"
"Like I said, they follow their instincts here. If the Covenant Alliance is compared to an enormous beehive, they would be the worker bees that are born to work."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "Work is irresistibly attractive to them like any beautiful woman is to a normal man. When a man is bored, they're likely to go out for fun, and when the people of the Covenant Alliance are caged here, they can't help but want to work. All I need to do is to provide them with space and enough materials, and they will take care of the rest."
"This is… amazing!"
Li Yao mumbled, "To think that those people can establish a huge farm and their own town in such an unfavorable environment! Each of them seems to have their own duty!"
"Yes, the people of the Covenant Alliance can be roughly divided into five groups: Water, Wood, Metal, Fire, and Soil. Different groups have different talents."
Pointing at the silent workers of the Covenant Alliance, Zhuge Jinglun explained to Li Yao, "Those farmers belong to Wood. They're good at farming, herding, and they have all the knowledge of agriculture. They're the food suppliers of the Covenant Alliance.
"Those who are plowing the land belong to Soil. They're the prospectors, architects, and miners in the Covenant Alliance. When they reach a certain level, they can modify a planet so that the Wood people would have more places to grow crops on. They can even explore relics to retrieve more primeval technologies for the Covenant Alliance.
"Those who are repairing magic equipment and farm tools belong to Metal. They're best at refine work, maintenance work, and magic equipment creation. They're the weapon suppliers of the Covenant Alliance. Their works include the enormous warships thousands of meters long.
"Those who are enjoying the sunlight in the square belong to Fire. Don't think that they're lazy. They're just taking a break from their training. They're all the most brutal and fearless warriors. They make up the majority of the Covenant Alliance's army."
Zhuge Jinglun pointed at the captives of the Covenant Alliance and introduced them to Li Yao.
Li Yao waited for a long time, but Zhuge Jinglun did not continue. He couldn't help but ask, "What about Water?"
"There are no Water people here. There can't be."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "The Water people are a group within the Covenant Alliance that is responsible for communication, telepathy, commanding, and higher thinking. The typical professions for the Water people include commanders and spies. The researcher we just exposed, for example, might belong to Water.
"Do you get it now? With their abilities in logical thinking and telepathy, the Water people are the key class. They connect Metal, Wood, Fire, and Soil like flowing water and gather them into the Covenant Alliance.
"Those Metal, Wood, Fire, and Soil people are obedient only because no Water people are here. If a Water person is delivered here, chances are that they will start a riot tomorrow."
Recalling the riot of the Covenant Alliance captives he experienced in Godly Might Prison, Li Yao couldn't have agreed more.
"Then, how exactly are the groups of the Covenant Alliance divided? How can you decide which group a Covenant Alliance person belongs to?"
Thinking quickly, Li Yao asked, "Is it possible that some of them are in both groups, making them talented in both fighting and refining, like the hybrid-type Cultivators?"
"Of course it's possible. Many spies are talented in both telepathy and fighting."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "As for the worker bees, we have special rituals and tests to find out what kinds of talents were awakened in them and which part of genes were activated?"
"Awakened talents? Activated genes?"
Li Yao asked, "The files I read on the Covenant Alliance said that most Covenant Alliance people got their abilities congenitally, not through learning. I find it hard to understand. Director Zhuge, can you explain? How can the complicated skills like refining or farming be inherited?"
"Of course they can."
Zhuge Jinglun smiled and said, "A baby zebra can run half an hour after it's born, and kittens are naturally capable of climbing trees. If most animals can pass on their survival instincts to their offspring, so can the Covenant Alliance people pass on their primeval technologies and knowledge. Isn't it easy to understand?"
"Hold on a second…"
Li Yao frowned. "We're the successors of the primeval civilizations too. We're not biologically different from the people of the Covenant Alliance. Why can they easily awaken their naturally-endowed techniques but we can't?"
"Because our earliest ancestors are different."
Zhuge Jinglun said, "Our earliest ancestors were the mature works of the Nuwa Clan, and their earliest ancestors were the experimental products that the Nuwa Clan created at the beginning, which is known as the 'mud men'."
"Mud men?"
Li Yao said, "I know the myth of Nuwa creating mankind. It's said that Nuwa sprinkled muddy water with a willow twig, and when the muddy water fell on the ground, every spot of mud became a tiny human being."
"That's right. It's a poetic and abstract way of saying it. However, myths are often reflections of reality. The first batch of human beings is indeed related to mud."
