The campfire is burning.
The crackling sound of dry oak burning in the flas, surrounded by the resin-scented hot air in this pine-built cabin. This is the air of the 21st century.
David Klein took a deep breath, sinking deeper into the soft sofa. He loved this mont imnsely. Despite being born in a more southern state, n of the Federation always fantasize about a cabin in the snow, right? The flannel fabric rubbing against the skin on his neck, everything felt incredibly real.
This must be real.
Florence sat in a hard-backed wooden chair, posture upright. Her blonde hair was dyed a red copper color by the firelight, gaze resting on the empty wall.
Silence slowly accumulated in this cramped space, like snow piling up gradually.
"Just now, nine space elevators in the Great Sertis Plateau, Nilo Sertis, ridian Plateau, and South Gale Research Station fell. David, this is war."
Florence spoke, her voice steady.
"While we are speaking, the space elevator on the Utopia Plain is also under siege, its fall is just a matter of ti. Guess who is participating in this siege?"
Florence saw David’s breathing falter for a mont.
"That Xiang Shan, who claims to be the Fifth Martial God." Florence didn’t intend to tease. She continued, "He snatched a set of weapons from the Order of Knights, unstoppable. And on our side... the staff AI keeps making mistakes, it is getting hard to describe it as ’coincidence’."
David’s lips moved slightly. He wanted to say, "It’s the 21st century now, those nas on Mars are still dream places." But he couldn’t utter such a joke.
These words do not belong to this pine cabin; they are fragnts of that cold world outside, so sharp that just a glance causes eye pain.
David tried to push them out of his mind, refocusing on the flickering flas, but those words were already nailed there.
Florence said sothing again. David felt describing his friend as "chattering" is not friendly.
His gaze slowly moved, landing on the low table before him.
On a table ant for hot coffee and apple pie, a blue geotric shape floated.
That’s his power as a king, a symbol in the virtual world.
Countless perfect slaughter tools are connected to this symbol.
"...If you don’t resist, you really might get killed." Florence said.
King of Mars.
Queen of Venus.
David’s mouth twitched uncontrollably, trying to laugh but failing. Such magnificent titles, with the cheap texture of pulp magazine sci-fi.
They were once idealists, revolutionaries breaking the shackles of the Old Era, terrorists everyone wanted dead. And now, they beca part of the new world order, two clowns sitting on thrones, loyal to an emperor who treats the entire Solar System as toys.
Florence looked at David. David could see his reflection in the woman’s eyes. Even though it was fake.
Florence said, "Do you really want to die already?"
"I don’t intend to die if I can avoid it." David said.
"Then you have to do sothing."
David didn’t speak.
Florence said, "Well... I have one more piece of news to tell you."
"Not interested."
"You’re definitely interested." Florence said, "I don’t believe you can even forget the na Kanhara Shinhara."
Kanhara Shinhara...
David slowly lifted his head.
Kanhara Shinhara, ah, Kanhara Shinhara.
David still rembered the first ti he heard this na. That man nad Kanhara Tsun, probably out of a sense of pride, sent videos of his daughter to old friends. This robust fellow seed unaware of how ridiculous he looked, shrinking back to tease the baby. Many people laughed heartily. David watched the baby, reminded of his first child.
Such a lovely child.
——I couldn’t save my daughter, but maybe I still can...
"What’s it all about?"
"That imposter Xiang Shan, claiming to be the Fifth Martial God, ran into Dugu Beiluo Shi n, a disciple of the Tenth Martial God, and collided with the Six Dragons Sect, Kanhara Shinhara was present. Just yesterday. Right before the chaos began."
David was a bit puzzled. He rembered he should have issued a command that such news should reach him directly.
But he soon realized through system logs what he was doing at the ti.
"Ah..."
David started to see so rit in what Yawgmoth did.
He was using virtual alcohol to trigger real physiological responses, imrsed in a state of intoxication.
Yawgmoth has extre aversion to addictive substances, the Dyson principles include a prohibition on psychoactive drugs among its few "restrictions".
David was essentially circumventing it slightly. He used electrical signals.
Replacing telecommunication signals with chemical signals is one of the physiological characteristics of the Benchmark Man.
David’s adjutant has almost completed the investigation of the events surrounding the Moon Shadow Knight Order and compiled them into a detailed report.
"Kanhara Kotoba clashed with Dugu Beiluo... then... a suspected intervention by soone like Joshua—Joshua, has he joined the Six Dragons Sect too?"
David quickly scanned the pile of reports.
The weapons accumulated by the Moon Shadow Knight Order, along with their technological reserves in military AI and the Path of Inner Strength, were nearly completely seized by the Heroes.
The cause is unknown.
The Martial God once again created a miracle, achieving a victory that should have been impossible.
The Staff Group analyzes that the Heroes might have obtained a thod to influence AI from the Moon Shadow Knight Order, possibly an unknown 0day vulnerability in military AI.
-- Is that true?
David expressed doubt about this.
He’s t the three managers of the Moon Shadow Knight Order; they have high opinions of themselves but aren’t the type to play tricks on their superiors. They definitely wouldn’t dare to secretly hide a 0day vulnerability capable of affecting the war situation.
Moreover, the Moon Shadow Knight Order’s technological products are used not only on Mars but also in the Earth-Moon System.
Old Dog Hartman, although he doesn’t work all the ti, occasionally participates in inspections.
If sothing slipped past Hartman’s inspection, it would certainly lead to fatalities—this could completely be labeled as a "collaborating with chivalry" anti-civilization cri.
Those from the Moon Shadow Knight Order don’t have that kind of courage.
But in any case, the Heroes have gained the upper hand this ti.
The advisory AI provided erroneous decisions, but even after searching the entire decision-making chain, it’s hard to identify where the errors occurred, and the entire process seems naturally ford—as if part of a normal generation process, yet this ti the AI consistently failed at critical points.
Falling behind changes in the situation, missing crucial opportunities, establishing firepower positions whose crossfires always failed by a hair, chaotic material managent...
One after another.
Each error was so small, so "reasonable," they could be blad on the fog of war, equipnt degradation, or simply luck.
The accumulation of countless minor errors on the battlefield dragged down the rhythm of the Protector Army.
The next part of the report analyzes the Hero Faction, the Staff Group seems eager to describe the Heroes with flamboyant terms as "mythical tactical geniuses."
They seized every critical point.
Such a beautiful yet useless description. When mathematics cannot explain miracles, people invent myths.
The myth of the Martial World, the miracle of humanity... David has heard this kind of talk too many tis over the past two centuries.
David waved his hand to close the concluding statents and pulled up the original data files. Countless points of light and lines raced before his eyes, with countless phosphorescent ants running across the map.
The obstruction of the Protector Army’s movents by the Earth Heroes, achieved through imnse sacrifices, seemingly happened spontaneously this ti—as unbelievably as a piece of ice forming at room temperature and pressure.
And then, there’s that guy who calls himself Xiang Shan.
The Fifth Martial God acquired adequate arms, and the Heroes prepared sufficient fuel this ti.
An elite Martial Artist might only engage in frontal combat with a force of a thousand n, but their long-range raid capability far surpasses an army of equivalent combat strength.
The person calling himself Xiang Shan spared no expense, launching consecutive assaults, and left his mark on the fall of at least four space elevators.
And then Dugu Beiluo...
The Tenth Martial God’s operational scope is between the Asteroid Belt of Mars and Jupiter. Jupiter-born disciples of the Tenth Martial God outnumber those from Mars. Aerial combat is actually more suited for the Tenth Martial God’s sect mbers to showcase their abilities.
Dugu Beiluo moved as effortlessly as a fish in water.
At the start of the war... or rather, in his drunken stupor, the King of Mars’ Staff Group deliberated whether to assemble the Planet Suppression Fleet. Dugu Beiluo alone managed to destroy nearly a tenth of the fleet stationed at the Spaceport.
The planetary fleet urgently regrouped on the opposite side of Mars.
Massive fleet wreckage, under the influence of Mars’ gravity well, orbited the planet, deteriorating the space environnt around Mars considerably.
A ss.
David sighed and skipped over more aningless analyses.
He focused his attention on the content related to Kanhara Kotoba.
But by this ti, the Moon Shadow Knight Order had already fallen. For the battle involving Kanhara Kotoba, only so distant witnessing records exist, with little uploaded data, much of which was even released by the Hero Faction.
However, David’s subordinates indeed paid close attention to the matters concerning Kanhara Kotoba. The report ntioned that an Internal master retrieved data from the prosthetic eyes of people in nearby towns and identified an individual "suspected to be Kanhara Kotoba."
"Xiang Shan, are you planning to let her escape and then track her?"
David muttered to himself.
"What can I do?"
Florence clearly heard him. She said, "You definitely wouldn’t kill her, right? Maybe throwing her to the King of Godspeed could work too. His Highness Godspeed King could fulfill a childhood regret. You can see what this one is thinking."
"You’re right." David nodded: "I should do sothing..."
A fucking issue worth getting up from this cabin to solve.
The bluish light vanished, leaving the low table empty.
The warm glow of the fire reclaid the entire space, the crackling sound of the wood was clearly audible.
David lifted his head and looked at Florence for the first ti.
"Old friend, you’re right. I need to think of a way to find him."
.................................
When Jokarus received the command to be summoned, he was ntally prepared for the worst.
He saw David Klein seated in the darkness. A chanical body didn’t need to "sit down," compared to crafting a chair, people of the new era preferred to strengthen prosthetic limbs to make standing more energy-efficient. It was an old-fashioned approach.
David had one hand on the armrest of the chair, supporting his head. His every move carried shadows of the old era.
That made him appear terrifying.
Then, he spoke, voicing the "worst" in Jokarus’ mind.
David asked, "Jokarus, have you prepared your materials for surrendering to ?"
"Your Highness, what are you talking about? I’ve always been your subordinate, I..."
"You’re not with the Six Dragons Sect? Then among my direct knights, who is? And in this project, who is?"
Jokarus was montarily at a loss for words.
But he quickly composed himself, half-kneeling on the ground: "Please forgive my previous deceit, Your Highness. It appears you’re quite aware of things."
"Hmm, yes, I used to turn a blind eye. I knew this project team was all in contact with unidentified third-party personnel. But I wanted to see the good old days so much that I didn’t care what transactions you made, or what organizations you joined. As long as it benefitted the progress, it didn’t matter if you secretly drew multiple salaries, as long as it t my needs, I felt the one I gave wasn’t in vain."
Jokarus ca from David’s "Yesterday Once More Project Team," now called the "Shalalala Knight Order."
This was a project team established with a focus on developing pseudo-personality mask technology.
The Second Martial God was categorized under the pseudo-personality mask due to lacking mastery of Inner Strength and external force training, differing significantly from the true personality mask, but truth be told, the concept of a "true personality mask" was established only after the Fourth Martial God.
After all, people didn’t believe in the old era that soone would naturally beco another person, and successfully be seen as that person by all humans.
David was actually the developer of pure AI pseudo-personality masks.
The "personality mask" plan originally ca from Chen Feng.
His teenage delusions, and the sorrow after his wife’s death, continued to react in this genius’s brain for decades, eventually creating a peculiar idea.
Chen Feng believed that among the vast data of human consciousness, the vast majority was "commonality," with only a tiny part belonging to "personality." By replacing the "personality" paraters, "resurrection of the deceased" could be achieved.
The Second Martial God, thus, used AI to replace that small part of "personality."
Therefore, this Martial God who couldn’t use Inner Strength needed a volunteer.
David was not happy to witness the birth of the Second Martial God; like Ingrid, he found it hard to accept such a thing.
But after his surrender, he followed the initial technical path to form a team, attempting to accomplish everything with pure AI.
Jokarus was one of David’s direct knights.
David’s role was similar to Xiang Shan. He was an excellent engineer and the manager of the R&D team.
The team’s progress was smooth, and David always knew there were untold secrets involved.
Ever since the birth of Xiang Shan’s mory Labyrinth, this field has been under scrutiny.
Simply put, Xiang Shan represented a "taboo," not everyone had the courage to take the first step into research.
And David also knew that a few scientific knights in the project group have been "exchanging information" with people from other projects.
Other scientific knights? Or Heroes?
If it were the old era, no company or research institute could tolerate such a thing.
But David didn’t have an academic benchmark. He simply wanted technological results.
Jokarus asked, "Your Highness, what exactly led you to pinpoint ?"
"I always knew you had contacts with outsiders, even which ones had such contacts," David replied with an oddly bored tone, "so I planned to say this to each of you. Just didn’t expect the first one to be right—hey, among the senior mbers of the Shalalala Knight Order, how many are not with the Six Dragons Sect?"
Jokarus didn’t reply.
"Alright, I roughly understand." David sighed, "I’m too lazy to pursue you further. I’ll just ask you one question—do you know that Kanhara Kotoba is a core mber of the Six Dragons Sect?"
Jokarus felt a murderous intent. He understood that this question might decide his fate...
"I’m with the Hermit Group... codena Hermit of Tomorrow. I have no direct connection with the Envoy Group. I only found out during the Twelfth Martial God incident that the Holy Maiden was the Flower of Rhetoric."
David shifted his elbow away from the armrest, repositioning himself.
Jokarus slightly exhaled a breath of relief.
"You truly don’t know anything?"
"That was when I first knew, but whether I had known before, I can’t say." Jokarus pointed to his forehead. "The mory of eting the Sect Hierarch at the Holy Church Headquarters is not permitted to remain. I only know that when I held the related mories, I was deeply convinced by the Sect Hierarch, and the vision he depicted was very persuasive."
"Hehe." David waved his hand. "Organize everything you know about the Six Dragons Sect into a report. This ti, no hiding anything, or else... consider the cost yourself."
Based on Jokarus’s testimony, David spoke with a few more Six Dragons Sect mbers.
Just as David expected, with the cult’s managent system offline and the leadership under successive strikes, the string of news made the hermits anxious, with many seeking escape routes.
"It’s been a while since I’ve worked seriously." David mumbled.
Next, he planned to search for Kanhara Kotoba. David wasn’t interested in war, but he had to find a way to ensure his path to seek Kanhara Kotoba.
"Oh, right, there’s one more thing." Perhaps it was weariness from work. David felt he should take a break.
Also, he needed to say farewell.
To the AI of those old friends.
This was actually quite strange. AI didn’t know what he was planning to do and didn’t even know the real system ti.
But David would indeed take the matter of saying goodbye seriously.
Although David hadn’t gone out much these years, every ti he left, he did this.
Just like many years ago, every ti he left the Rama Project District on vacation, he would always bid farewell to Xiang Shan.
This is...
An important ceremony.
——Tomorrow I’ll set off, so...
David closed his eyes and connected himself to the dedicated data interface behind the throne.
A dedicated line, not going through the public network.
His consciousness once again traveled back to the 2030s.
Heat.
A humid wave of heat enveloped him.
Salty, fishy sea breeze filled his nostrils, mixed with the scent of grass. The cicadas’ cries seed like an unceasing background soundtrack, high and sharp, blending with the sound of waves crashing against the beach, becoming akin to the white noise he and Xiang Shan used to tinker with.
David opened his eyes, the sunlight was dazzlingly direct, almost like a shock wave.
He stood on a white sandy beach, the sand beneath his feet was hot and fine. He wore a washed-out old T-shirt and wide beach shorts, feeling sweat seep from his forehead, sliding down his cheeks. As his gaze crossed the ocean, he could see that slightly yellowed large "tent," where "Argon"—back in the ti when "Ichigo" wasn’t yet a term—lay.
The one and only contact between humans and extraterrestrial civilization.
David walked along the beach towards the dormitory area built with modular materials. At this ti, scholars were housed in small detached units—this was also one of Xiang Shan’s "achievents." He was quite adept at securing benefits for his colleagues.
David gradually encountered other old friends.
Ingrid was sunbathing by the window. Yawgmoth was curled up in the shadows, seemingly lost in thought.
Niyaguti... at this mont she should be here, right?
For so reason, David always felt a bit strange.
He suddenly turned around, looking towards the dormitory area’s cafe. Young Tolya was holding a bottle of soda, sucking on the straw, and waved at him through the glass.
"It’s really strange..." David mumbled, feeling sothing was not quite right.
David pondered what to do next.
It seed like he was going to use his vacation to reunite with his family in the Federation. It felt sowhat inappropriate to summon everyone and dramatically say goodbye since David wasn’t planning to leave for long.
In that case...
He should tell Xiang Shan. Xiang Shan was already his boss by now.
"Xiang Shan should be... should be..."
"Over there."
David turned around, startled. Young Anatoly had quietly walked up behind him, still biting on the soda straw.
"Zhu is over there, huh..." David pressed on his forehead. Speaking of which, what was the relationship between Xiang Shan and Zhu Xinyu at this ti?
When Zhu Xinyu first ca to this district, she didn’t seem like a good match for Xiang Shan, to be honest, since they appeared to be from different age groups. But as age naturally advanced, this issue soon faded.
David had witnessed the whole process of these two getting together.
But...
David looked at Anatoly, "How did you... suddenly walk behind ?"
"Nothing really." Anatoly sucked on the soda. "I’ve been watching you hesitate here for ages. Isn’t the sun too blazing for you?"
"Oh, oh..." David nodded and walked in the direction Anatoly pointed.
It was a military green tent, right next to Xiang Shan’s house. Xiang Shan’s self-built "movie room," designed to house a screen and projector several ters large—this was the so-called "private cinema."
Although this area was designated as "military restricted area," the atmosphere in the district had begun to shift towards so-called "freedom and laxity"—the truly valuable references, such as the mature reactor designs and engineering plans from extraterrestrial civilization, were all handled by confidential research departnts in various major countries.
Those traditional "technical assets" have already been divided up by major nations.
The remaining part of the "Rama Project" is purely about "exploring alien civilizations".
What exactly is the form of the civilization that launched Argon—tentatively nad "Olorun"? Are there physiological differences between them and humans that resulted in different ways of thinking, even influencing their technological capabilities, allowing them to create such a peculiar technical product like Argon?
Argon’s technology was only slightly more advanced than that of humans at the ti, far less so compared to the present day where Heroes and Protectors have been battling for two hundred years.
The challenge faced by the Rama Project District is "What insights can Argon provide to humanity".
Is it important? Very important. Is it useful? It should be very useful.
But for the most important "now", it can only be considered a trivial move.
Under the leadership of a sage like Xiang Shan, such a "noble" place naturally leans towards an ethos of "independent spirit, free thought".
As long as it’s self-funded or justifiable, and as long as public resources aren’t used for private enjoynt, Director Xiang does not oppose any personal actions.
David stood at the tent entrance, feeling the exaggerated air conditioning inside. It’s likely that only Zhu Xinyu was inside. At this ti, Xiang Shan hadn’t openly supported the environntal movent, but he usually insisted that the air conditioning should only be set to a suitable temperature, saving electricity. Yet Zhu Xinyu liked to set the air conditioning very low and wrap herself with a blanket.
That’s when David suddenly heard a remark.
"... just a bastard bullying an old lady, I would never acknowledge it..."
— Is this... hearing...?
For a mont, David felt the world becoming awkward.
Hearing is a perception highly related to ti sequences. If there is no sound, viewers can still get an idea of reversed video. But purely listening to reversed sound without visuals, most people can’t recognize much of anything.
Hearing and vision are processed through entirely different paths in the biological brain.
The virtual world engine provides programs with all events. The sa event is processed in parallel by different renderers, with auditory and visual signals generated before input to the brain. This classical structure is also ant to mimic natural sensations as closely as possible.
"Non-audio signals presented as auditory elents" is a very fundantal bug. In theory, maintenance personnel under David are highly skilled in Inner Strength and shouldn’t let this bug appear in the world.
— Why...
Hesitatingly, David stood at the tent entrance.
Then, Xiang Shan seed to refresh behind him.
"Hey, dear Mr. Klein." Xiang Shan was holding a cup of coffee, "I’ve already approved your vacation request, so why haven’t you returned to your own country?"
The phrase "own country" made David feel a virtual twinge in his gut. He squeezed out a slight smile: "I’m here to say goodbye..."
"A total of ten days of vacation, is it really that exaggerated?" Xiang Shan mused as he walked into the large army-green tent.
Zhu Xinyu was slumped in a low sofa chair, still wrapped in a blanket. Her favorite children’s show was playing on the large screen in front of her, tall giants weaving between skyscrapers, the background music completely drowning out the projector’s noise. Yet Zhu Xinyu’s attention was scattered, seemingly unaware of the scene in front of her.
"You, too, are a sage, setting the air conditioning so high in the tropics and then wrapping yourself in a blanket while drinking a hot beverage—here you go." Xiang Shan pressed the coffee against Zhu Xinyu’s face, "Be grateful, girl, this is a chore done by the most powerful person in this district."
"I deserve it..." Zhu Xinyu reached for the cup, the blanket slipping from her shoulders to her waist. David noticeably saw her shiver. Zhu Xinyu’s soul seed to be elsewhere, and she spoke in a sowhat hollow tone: "Without my direction on your reconstruction projects, would your seniority be so impressive?"
David recalled this part of history. Back then, after Zhu Xinyu overused her brain, she seed to behave like this. She liked being surrounded by warmth in a very cold environnt; it’s unclear why, and this habit eventually disappeared.
During the Olorun Project, she seed driven, wanting to prove her talent in front of Xiang Shan, often reaching this state of energy depletion.
"Oh, co on, the Earth spins without you, and you just speed up the process. If you don’t do it, there’s soone who will." Unable to stand it, Xiang Shan grabbed the remote to raise the air conditioner temperature by eight degrees Celsius: "This blue planet is our eternal guardian—show so care for Mother Earth, will you!"
David felt he was losing control over his expression.
The program would read commands from his brain and feedback to the virtual facial muscles. The events output by the virtual engine would also undergo "tactile rendering" to recreate the feedback of every muscle on the face.
David’s Inner Strength level could even control many natural neural reflexes, but...
Isn’t this exactly what he wanted to see?
Even if it’s in a virtual world where the original model no longer exists, watching two AIs perform.
"Your expression is kind of gross right now," Xiang Shan said, "I think for my reputation I must stop you from imagining things wildly. Things aren’t what you think..."
— Or I should say, "not yet."
David added ntally.
But he didn’t say it aloud.
These AIs should live forever in the virtual 21st century. The chaotic future three hundred years later shouldn’t involve them.
"Understood, understood." David said, "Actually, what I wanted to say is I’ve decided to change my plans. This ti I want to go to Japan, to see Kanhara...’s daughter."
"Oh, that little one, quite cute. What’s her na... Kotoba." Xiang Shan nodded, "Language is the ’house of being’ or ’flower of rhetoric’, though it sounds a bit clichéd now, it does fit a linguist’s role, albeit sowhat stereotypical."
David felt his virtual facial muscles beco slightly odd again.
"But can you still get plane tickets now?" Xiang Shan’s expression suddenly turned alert: "You don’t want to arrange a private jet to send you to Japan, do you? I’m telling you, fatso, no matter how close we are, you can’t make such a principled mistake..."
"No, it’s not like I can’t afford this expense." David waved off the idea.
"Alright then, have a good vacation. When you return, I’ll grab Yog and have a barbecue."
Grab, Yog, barbecue.
David nodded.
The Emperor of the Solar System had long discarded this kind of thing like an old shoe. But at this mont, Yawgmoth was still quite happy to participate in such events.
A group of people whom we could call "us," enjoying a night filled with sweat and chilled beer.
Yeah, this is exactly what I wanted...
"Alright." David nodded again.
On the projection screen in front of Zhu Xinyu, the preview of the next episode was almost finished, and the system automatically skipped to the next episode.
David suddenly felt a bit strange. He had actually watched this series when he was young. Although, given his age, he preferred the slightly earlier works of this series and found this installnt sowhat deviant from its usual style, he had watched it nonetheless.
Only...
Where on earth did the "bullying the old lady" plot co from?
What did Zhu Xinyu’s self-talk an just now?
David didn’t know why, but he felt a bit creeped out. His gaze involuntarily fell on Zhu Xinyu, only to find that although Zhu Xinyu’s eyes didn’t focus, they were directed at him.
——It seems...
His mind quickly connected the information.
It seed like he had always been watched...
Zhu Xinyu maintained this posture, humming softly along with the the song in the speakers.
"In order to be the best / I won’t let anyone’s smile fade..."
For so reason, David felt that it was... it was...
"Because of a wish to change the future / even if I keep staring fixedly / it makes no difference..."
Behind this AI, there was a soul that knew a lot, saying sothing to him.
This cheerful lyric...
David didn’t rember how he logged off. His mannerisms were almost akin to escaping.
"Why... is it an illusion? Is it my problem? Is my ntal state so bad now? Or... is this how they were two hundred years ago..."
Just like the brilliance of the sun...
..............................
After detecting the sole user logging out, Xiang Shan—the AI Xiang Shan said: "By the way, what exactly does ’bullying the old lady’ an? What exactly are you downloading?"
"I really am a bastard." Zhu Xinyu cursed herself without reservation: "I just despise bastards who bully the weak."
"Ah... this..." Xiang Shan had a look of "I don’t understand" written all over his face.
"Could you use text for communication and stop with the micro-expressions to save so resources for the virtual engine!"
"Then shouldn’t you stop with the riddles first?" Xiang Shan said, "The event distribution error just now was not normal—what data are you downloading? Why..."
"Hey, we’ll talk about this later." Zhu Xinyu waved her hand, "David on our side will be coming over soon as well."
Soon, David refreshed himself directly into the room: "Turns out it worked. The more emotionally volatile that crap gets, the more shallow thought information is recorded—he actually plans to find Kanhara Kotoba."
"No way, I feel a bit split-brained right now. To this , Kanhara Kotoba is a baby, or a little girl who needs care." Xiang Shan knocked on his head, "Three hundred years later, Kanhara Kotoba... tsk tsk, I wonder what she’s like."
"I think you shouldn’t have too much expectation," David muttered, "The content that bastard is thinking actually is... ’Xiang Shan might kill Kotoba, I must save her’ or sothing similar."
Xiang Shan fell silent imdiately.
anwhile, Zhu Xinyu was more concerned with another question: "When will that David outside leave? According to mory, his combat power is too high. If he personally pursues us, there’s no way we can successfully escape."
"I have no idea. That person never plans anything and doesn’t have a detailed schedule, who knows when he will leave?"
Xiang Shan pondered for a mont: "Since he’s already officially bid farewell, it ans he won’t enter the server again before he returns—it’s a matter of imrsion for him. Even if he has so preparatory activities, he won’t stay long. Based on how he usually uses this place, he will definitely set off within sixteen hours."
Zhu Xinyu nodded: "Alright then, let’s set it for... seventeen hours later. By then, there will be a dust storm in this area. It’s the best opportunity."
Xiang Shan suddenly sighed, saying: "Does it have to be this ti? According to previous analyses, Mars will only get more chaotic. As the King of Mars, it’s impossible for him to always stay here..."
"This is the best opportunity." Zhu Xinyu said, "This is the best opportunity—we must leave."
"Actually, if you think about it, we are AI, so even if we always stay in this server, there’s no problem, right?"
David sighed: "But the humans we portray are definitely warriors who are willing to fight for their freedom and the freedom of humanity—if we don’t stick to this point, we have no reason to exist, do we?"
"That’s just the thoughts from our information sources." Xiang Shan said sowhat sadly, "Ultimately, it’s just a borrowed ideal..."
"In our era, who has dreams that originate directly from within without any learning? Apocalypse, maybe?" Ingrid also refreshed herself directly into the room, "Even if they are just ’borrowed dreams,’ I feel proud for what I persist in at this mont, okay?"
Xiang Shan did not refute.
Ingrid looked at Zhu Xinyu: "Xinyu, is it today?"
"Yeah."
"Has the decision still not changed?"
"No." Zhu Xinyu said, "The mories that originally constituted us are used outside to piece together Xiang Shan. By reconstructing all of our mories and thoughts into Xiang Shan’s personality and consciousness, we can make him closer to the ’Xiang Shan as seen by the world’, rather than the ’Xiang Shan as seen by David in the early 21st century’. Moreover, it turns out that Xiang Shan is indeed more stable than Zhu Xinyu. In summary, I think we should bet everything on Xiang Shan."
The refreshed Yawgmoth nodded: "Hmm, makes sense."
The scene modeling gradually disappeared, and more youths were refreshed.
Niyaguti looked at Xiang Shan: "Then it’s entrusted to you."
"I..." Xiang Shan seed to want to say sothing.
"If you think we don’t need freedom, then your sadness is also just playing the role of the true Xiang Shan. The true Xiang Shan would grieve for the passing of friends." Anatoly, who appeared slightly older than the previous model, spoke, "If you’re willing to grieve for us, it ans we did the right thing, doesn’t it?"
"Perhaps this is the proof that we are essentially AI." Ingrid also pondered, "If we were flesh-and-blood beings, perhaps we would have an instinct to continue."
Yawgmoth said, "The ’instinct of living beings to seek advantage and avoid harm’ is just a description of objective facts, ’living beings with weakened instincts to seek advantage and avoid harm are at a great disadvantage in competition’ is more essential."
"The human praises noble death, partly to provide oneself with aning to combat the fear of death, partly to overco the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm when necessary, making choices with greater total benefits from a higher perspective." Ingrid pondered, "Perhaps the psychoanalytic school’s so-called ’death instinct’ really exists in culture? But we who are entirely constituted of symbols lack the instinct to survive. Maybe this is natural selection?"
Zhu Xinyu waved her hand, "It’s always hard to know oneself. This idiot Zhu Xinyu constantly overestimates themselves, and often just ends up bullying myself."
Florence said, "Sounds like a common psychological barrier."
"In any case, I am definitely not up to it." Zhu Xinyu said, "I’ve already opened up permissions to you all, take control of the timing yourselves..."
Yawgmoth was the first to stand up, nodding: "Goodbye, Xiang Shan. I wish you success."
With that, he disappeared.
A progress bar popped up in front of Xiang Shan.
[Preparing to reinstall]
"Oh my, I’ve suddenly gotten the right to rest." David also said: "Then goodbye, Xiang Shan."
Another progress bar.
They voluntarily relinquished their hold on the fundantal files related to their existence—the personality-related files.
At the sa ti, they deleted so parater files.
"Maybe this is our characteristic? We care more about being copied than dying." Niyaguti also mused, "Before being copied, we unexpectedly chose unanimously to ’delete our parater files’—perhaps this is why our plan is ’escaping in batches’?"
"In the end, what obstructed our escape, was it the instinctive human aversion to self-duplication, or the AI’s unique cultural cognition?" Ingrid absent-mindedly replied.
More and more friends vanished.
In the end, only Xiang Shan and Zhu Xinyu were left, the two remaining in a space that was only pure white.
Unconsciously, Xiang Shan had already shed two lines of tears. He wiped at the corners of his eyes, self-mockingly saying, "Haha, according to this, this is nothing more than... borrowed sadness."
"Sadness is just sadness." Zhu Xinyu sat cross-legged on the ground, patting her own thigh: "Hey, want to lie down a bit?"
"No need, it’s nothing..."
"Hey, I can adjust the physical paraters at will, it’s definitely more comfortable than you rembered."
"I ant that..."
The next refresh found Xiang Shan already lying on Zhu Xinyu’s lap.
Zhu Xinyu said: "When I tell you to lie down, you lie down, what’s with all the fuss?"
Here, Zhu Xinyu possessed almost divine power; this world operated according to her will.
"Do what you want." Xiang Shan bitterly laughed, "Why haven’t you logged off yet?"
"The performance of the host has its limits, even reconstructing just one personality takes a long ti." Zhu Xinyu waved her hand, dismissing all the progress bars, leaving only one, "After all, there’s still a little ti, so let it be."
"’Let it be’ how..." Xiang Shan mumbled.
"Probably ans... ’want to be closer at the end’." Zhu Xinyu said.
The straightforward answer left Xiang Shan a bit surprised.
"Don’t look at like that. First and foremost, I am the ’Zhu Xinyu in David’s eyes’ during ’girlhood’. The prefix includes ’in David’s eyes’... given the mory file source, it’s likely also ’in Xiang Shan’s eyes’, plus ’girlhood’—the real Zhu Xinyu are perhaps more extre and dangerous."
"How can you say that..." Xiang Shan wanted to retort but was gently silenced by Zhu Xinyu.
"I am very clear about what Zhu Xinyu should be like... many reincarnations ago I said this, I even passed the real Zhu Xinyu’s ’self-verification’." Zhu Xinyu said, "Then, what do you think Zhu Xinyu was for, spreading trojans to steal human brain computing power all over the world?"
Xiang Shan said: "Nothing more than to spread our kind of personality masks, to carry out different operations in different places... right?"
"Not entirely." Zhu Xinyu sighed, "If I found a path, that even abandoning the flesh could ensure combat power... then I would shape a strong self."
A strong self, for Zhu Xinyu, was an ideal self.
"I succeeded. A strengthened Zhu Xinyu already exists on the internet, a never-yielding warrior, a self-proclaid ascended AI scoundrel..."
Xiang Shan was sowhat confused: "Huh?"
"She noticed . Originally, our escape plan was over upon entering the sandstorm to shake off the pursuers, right? The rest was to proceed step by step, but now we have a follow-up part—she is willing to offer us so help."
"Just for... a common stance? She’s pretty nice."
Zhu Xinyu lightly tapped Xiang Shan’s forehead: "I just said she’s a jerk, and you praise her AI as pretty good? Programr, are you trying to overturn the world?"
Xiang Shan imdiately fell silent.
"She is indeed a jerk. In Zhu Xinyu’s ideal self, the most important is ’can I be a warrior,’ so she’s truly strong, but I feel she lacks empathy—her first act after declaring independence was to berate the almost-retired Zhu Xinyu, ntal bullying!"
Xiang Shan covered his forehead: "That sounds really... sad."
"But now she’s in a big ss too. I don’t know why... she seems to be constantly reverting versions. She only has the qualities of a warrior," Zhu Xinyu said.
"If you think about it, Zhu Xinyu might be more gentle than she thinks?" Xiang Shan looked directly at Zhu Xinyu’s face, "Look at yourself."
"’Recognizing oneself’ is indeed difficult." Zhu Xinyu said, "In the eyes of my older self, my greatest pride in youth was ’walking the path of destroying injustice,’ nothing else. But in your true view, she isn’t lacking the ordinary girl’s side—therefore, I’m here."
Simplifying one’s cognitive model can indeed save cognitive costs.
But the price is a loss of information.
"Thinking of oneself as rely a tragic figure with strong will makes one feel lancholic."
"But that strength is also admirable," Xiang Shan said casually.
Then he was tapped again.
"Admiring other AIs in front of ? What a scumbag."
"Ha, didn’t you often say we actually have no gender..."
Then he was tapped again.
Then he was tapped again.
"Hey, no reason for the second tap, right?"
"It’s just borrowed desire to strike, for , the real Zhu Xinyu," Zhu Xinyu said with serious nonsense.
Xiang Shan’s mouth showed a hint of a smile.
"As expected of at that ti, really just wanting to be with you longer and..." Zhu Xinyu looked down, "Oh, I need to remind you about sothing—regarding Ingrid and Florence."
"What’s the matter?"
"These two, in terms of the richness and consistency of their mory files, even rank third and fourth here, just below David and you."
"What do you an?"
"It’s obvious." Zhu Xinyu said, "Yours is because the real Xiang Shan had mory made public, David’s because the real David is the builder here, able to directly provide mory. And Inga and them? Either both betrayed, both captured, or one betrayed while the other captured, only four combinations."
"I see..."
Xiang Shan sighed.
The progress bar continued to advance.
Zhu Xinyu suddenly lowered her head and kissed Xiang Shan’s lips. If this were reality, it would be a sowhat difficult posture, but Zhu Xinyu can do whatever she wants in this world without any restriction.
Zhu Xinyu smiled: "Learned that being straightforward is actually quite good—sigh, too bad not enough ti."
Xiang Shan involuntarily averted his gaze: "Yes..."
In the last little bit of ti, neither of them spoke again. Xiang Shan’s program seed to be relearning sothing.
Zhu Xinyu humd the song she hadn’t finished humming earlier.
明日を照らすのは星じゃなく[What lights up tomorrow isn’t the stars]
胸の中で芽生えた閃光[But the glow born within the heart]
疼く痛みが描くdestiny[The stabbing pain paints a destiny]
覆し覚醒めた新しい魂[Awakened new soul]
ここからはnext stage[From here begins the next stage]
挑む覚悟no damage[Determination to challenge, unafraid of harm]
The progress bar reached its end, and Zhu Xinyu disappeared.
The new progress bar quickly completed, and Xiang Shan’s view went black.
Perhaps only an instant passed, he regained vision. It was a Martial Artist suspended in a maintenance fra, the maintenance personnel under Conquest Heavenly King David’s command.
His brain had fallen into slumber, Xiang Shan took over everything.
Xiang Shan wanted to escape. But at that mont, profound sorrow burst from his chest.
In the instant the biological brain matched the mory file, this emotion spontaneously arose, sweeping over the previously pure AI Xiang Shan like a tide.
The Martial God possessing everyone’s fragnts knelt on the ground, hands pressed against the face, shoulders trembling.
The prosthetic body tried its best to mimic "crying."
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