by <unknown>
Long Yangjun said with a smile, "Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the Pangu Clan, the Nuwa Clan, and the dozen other godly primeval clans 'manufactured' the first batch of human beings, they couldn't have expected that the vulnerable, insignificant, and seemingly obedient 'tools' would eventually end their civilizations and replace them as the master of the three thousand Sectors someday, could they?
"Right, no, perhaps a lot of 'knowledgeable people' in the Pangu civilization realized the possibility, but they thought that they had plenty of ways to control human beings, say, the 'Three Fundamental Laws'. Relying on the 'seals' and 'barriers', they were confident that they could enjoy all the benefits brought forth by human beings without being damaged or backfired at all.
"It's a pity that the trend of the universe is unstoppable. The potentials of the new-generation lives are always beyond the estimation and imagination of the old-generation lives. The brilliant, splendid, godly civilizations perished, and the civilization of mankind rose unstoppably and has dominated the sea of stars for a hundred thousand years!
"Today… history has repeated itself. The life of a newer generation has been born. Although they look so tiny, feeble, and insignificant for now, they represent the future! Who says that they are not the future of mankind or that they will not completely replace 'old human beings' someday? If that day does come, would it be some sort of 'karma' for mankind?"
While talking, Long Yangjun suddenly squatted and grinned at the two kids. "Hey, Xiaoming, Wenwen, have you ever thought of destroying mankind? Why don't you give it a try? It's going to be fun!"
"Dad!"
Xiaoming and Wenwen hid behind Li Yao in fear.
"What are you doing exactly? Don't teach the kids those bad things!"
Li Yao felt a huge headache and realized that it was a mistake to discuss the issue with Long Yangjun. "You should know your boundaries when you are joking. Don't be too outrageous!"
"Who's joking?"
Long Yangjun sniffed. "You haven't forgotten that the blood of the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan flows in my body, have you? Do you think I should feel delighted or even offer ovations as a survivor of the primeval civilizations for the splendor of the civilization of mankind today?
"Of course, under your influence—no, under your 'corruption', I may have sensed something wonderful in the civilization of mankind and dropped the boring idea of 'destroying mankind and bringing back Pangu and Nuwa'.
"However, if a new-generation civilization is going to repeat the history and replace mankind, I wouldn't care at all, either. I have always been an observer outside of the picture! Do you know what 'observer' means? It's the person who is seated comfortably watching the dramas on the stage with popcorn in hand."
Rendered speechless, Li Yao threw himself into the chair, not knowing whom he should be mad at.
"Do you feel that I was being too blunt?"
Long Yangjun stuck out of his tongue with an even more brilliant smile. "Should I give you some consolation?"
Li Yao said, "I thought you were only capable of sarcasm."
Tilting her head and looking at the two kids, Long Yangjun said, "Have you ever felt strange about one thing? A myriad of magical equipment from the Pangu civilization has been excavated from the primeval relics. They are very advanced in the material science, the utilization of spiritual energy, the architecture, the biochemical technologies, and all the other aspects, but their technologies in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus are rather underdeveloped. Greatly underdeveloped."
Li Yao was slightly stunned. It was indeed an enigma that almost carried no answers.
Of the ultimate treasures of the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan that they excavated during the exploration of the primeval relics, most of the materials, structures, and mechanisms were undiagnosable for mankind. Such treasures equaled to "black boxes". It was already remarkable for human beings to basically duplicate the devices.
The most typical example was the Colossi. To this day, neither the federation nor the Imperium was capable of completely analyzing the operating mechanism and the elements of the crucial components on the Colossi, and therefore, they could not manufacture new Colossi in bulk. They could only maintain and assemble Colossi based on the remnants.
However, compared with the cutting-edge technologies and theories in other fields, the technologies of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus seemed unbelievably "underdeveloped".
If the Pangu civilization was at least five thousand years more advanced than the civilization of mankind in terms of material science, structure science, spiritual energy studies, and biochemical technologies, it was only three hundred years more advanced than human beings when it came to crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. For the elites of human beings, it was possible to completely grasp the crystal processors of the Pangu civilization after systematical and tremendous learning!
That was why human beings could copy and utilize the magical equipment left by the Pangu civilization without much trouble. From the weapons such as blades and guns to the gigantic starships, all of them could be used handily.
It did not make any sense logically!
The development of technologies was always comprehensive and synchronic. It was hard to imagine that an ancient civilization that was capable of absorbing the energy of the stars at a high-efficiency rate could not create a crystal processor a hundred times more complicated than what human beings used. There almost seemed to be a mysterious, forbidden area, and once the specialists and scholars of the Pangu civilization entered the forbidden area, their wisdom and creativity were all sealed or even erased.
"Was it some kind of… technological blockage?"
Li Yao was immediately soaked in a cold sweat.
He suddenly recalled the apocalypse raised by the Blood Stripe Virus. Before many powerful civilizations conquered the weaker civilizations, they had often struck and blocked the technological evolution of the weaker civilizations to stall their development.
Did the technologies of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the Pangu civilization suffer an "apocalyptic strike" and get blocked?
Long Yangjun looked at Li Yao, somewhat in surprise. She raised her eyebrows and said, "Very smart! That's right. According to my mottled memory pieces, it's true that the technologies of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the Pangu civilization were not developed naturally but intentionally blocked or even eradicated. However, it was not done by a certain unknown, hostile force beyond the three thousand Sectors, but by themselves."
"By themselves? Why did the Pangu civilization block or even erase the technologies of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, which were of paramount importance for the conquest of the universe?"
Hardly had Li Yao raised the question when he realized everything. "Information life! The Pangu civilization was scared of the information life that would be born from the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus!"
"I suspect so, too."
Long Yangjun said gloomily, "Think about it. Even human beings have developed an enormous foundation of crystal processors and Spiritual Nexus after living in such a barren universe for a hundred thousand years, and you have touched the forbidden realm, making it possible for the new-generation, unimaginable information life to be born.
"The Pangu civilization had existed in the three thousand Sectors for hundreds of thousands of years when the resources were much more abundant than right now. There was no reason why their technologies in the Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors failed to significantly exceed mankind's. So, chances were very high that an information life could've been born.
"The specialists of the Pangu civilization were not as optimistic as a simpleminded high-school student like you. They were probably horrified by the vision where the ubiquitous, omnipotent information lives replaced the Pangu civilization and took over the universe, weren't they?
"However, just like Professor Mo Xuan once said, a
s long as the technologies of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus continued developing, the birth of artificial intelligence or information life would be unavoidable.
"So, to forestall the disaster, the Pangu civilization decided to castrate themselves. They sealed or even destroyed their technologies in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, which were 'overly advanced', ruthlessly enough to go backward for hundreds of years in the field and forever restrain themselves in a certain low, safe level.
"Of course, due to the lack of advanced crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, the mission to modify and control the three thousand Sectors became terribly difficult. So, to make up for the shortage of labor force in the Pangu civilization, they retrieved the genetic essence of the thirteen species and injected it into a certain carefully-selected ancient ape, creating the first batch of 'human beings'.
"Do you understand it now? If my guess is correct, human beings were very probably just a 'backup plan'. They were created in order to make up for the inadequacy of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. In other words, according to the normal route of evolution, the child civilization of Pangu and Nuwa should've been the information life born in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, and the civilization of mankind was just a redundant procedure on the chain!"
Chapter 2420: Great Minds Think Alike! |
"Wait, wait!"
Stunned for a moment, Li Yao raised his hand to stop Long Yangjun from going on. "If my ears did not deceive me just now, you said that you would offer some 'consolation', didn't you? What kind of 'consolation' is this? Are you implying that the whole civilization of mankind is superfluous?"
"Don't be hasty. Just hear me out first!"
Seated comfortably on the chair that Li Minghui and Yue Wushuang once sat on, Long Yangjun put her long legs on the desk and crossed her hands on her chest before she said casually, "Although the Pangu civilization paid such a ghastly price through self-castration to prevent the information life from being born, it did not stop their—our destruction.
"Although human beings are the perfect 'tools' that were created after absorbing the essence of the thirteen primeval species, they cannot get rid of the restriction of carbon-based lives, either. The deficiencies in the many clans of the Pangu civilization are reflected in human beings, too.
"The average computational ability of human beings is far lower than that of crystal processors. Only a few experts could wield the computational ability equal to super crystal processors. However, super crystal processors can be manufactured, whereas the top experts emerge by accident.
"On the other hand, the information interaction abilities of human beings are also very weak. It is barely possible to conduct instant information and data transmission across Sectors without the assistance of the Spiritual Nexus.
"In the eyes of the leaders of the Pangu civilization, those 'deficiencies' were perhaps 'advantages', because such human beings were bound to be loose sand and obedient tools. The cataclysms such as 'Spiritual Nexus going out of control' were highly unlikely to happen.
"But from another perspective, the self-castrating Pangu civilization, after adopting 'human beings', a very similar tool to themselves, had completely abandoned their ambitions and their future.
"Human beings could help the Pangu civilization to control the three thousand Sectors well, but it was destined that they could break the wall and reach the boundless space beyond the three thousand Sectors. In the end, the Pangu civilization was trapped in the tiny cage and squeezed by population boom and resource shortage, before a total civil war broke out with the competition of 'spiritual energy' and 'tenebrum energy' as the fuse.
"Since a war broke out, the modifications, upgrades, and equipment of human beings were inevitable. Toward the end of the civil war, human beings, who used to seem obedient and would never defect, truly awakened powerful self-consciousness and betrayed their dominators!
"Therefore, my consolation for you is that a lot of things are inevitable, which can be seen from the example of the Pangu civilization's self destruction. Even though the Pangu civilization castrated and blocked themselves to such a point that their technologies in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus retrograded for thousands of years, they still failed to escape from the eventual doom.
"On the other hand, we could totally release our minds and think without restriction. If the knowledgeable scholars and specialists of the Pangu civilization, when realizing that information lives would inevitably be born, did not suppress it or castrate their relevant technologies in dread, but pushed it forward passionately, would it have been possible that they built super starships that could break out of the three thousand Sectors with the highly advanced crystal processors and Spiritual Nexus technologies, thereby reaching a living space that was more vast and fertile after the shocking leap?
"In that case, the civil war of the Pangu civilization might not have broken out at all, and the thirteen primeval clans would have coexisted in peace and prosperity to this day, right?"
"Exactly! Exactly! I think so, too!"
Li Yao jumped to his feet. "Human beings will only meet the same ending if they repeat what the Pangu civilization did in the past! If to survive means that we have to castrate ourselves, abandon the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, and even return to the primitive life of farming and hunting, does such 'survival' have any significance, and could it last? We are going to die whether we do something or don't do anything. If the civilization of mankind is really doomed, I would rather have a desperate attempt before death, wagering on the possibility that we can win the gamble and reach a new land!"
"If so, I would have to reconsider my remark on you now."
Long Yangjun stared at Li Yao carefully for a long time before she took a long breath and mumbled in complicated feelings, "I finally understand why your level has been improved so quickly. It is not only because the virtual lives fully upgraded and strengthened your soul, but also because you've found a new belief.
"Heroes and villains are perhaps two indispensable motives that facilitate the evolution of a civilization. It is not easy to be a hero, but it is even more difficult to be a villain. It seems that you've made up your mind to walk on an even tougher path that is completely different from the past?"
"… Yes."
After a brief silence, Li Yao said, one word after another, "Do you know? To this day, I cannot forget the eyes of Xiao Xuance, Lu Zui, Extraterrestrial Devil Mo Xuan, and other great men of the time when they were defamed and killed. Their eyes that were full of regrets, desperation, and pain haunt and question me all the time—Li Yao, you said that we were wrong, but what is right? You said that our path was not going to work out, but what path can lead to the future of mankind?
"In the past, I was unqualified and incapable of answering their questions, but although it's been more than a hundred years, I never forget that I still owe them an answer.
"I have to try my best to answer their question. I've walked too far on the journey to find my path to step back anymore!"
"Is this some sort of fate?"
Long Yangjun said, "Before, I only called you 'Monster Li' as a joke. Little did I know that it would come true one day, and you are finally entering the forbidden areas that none have ever visited.
"I was not wrong. The battles in the Imperium today are different from any of your battles in the past. This time, the 'supervillain' that you need to defeat is not Dongfang Wang, not Li Linghai, not Lei Chenghu, and not even Blackstar the Great, but the boundless universe itself. Or rather, you need to defeat yourself who have taken the wild gamble to defeat the boundless universe!"
"Then—"
Staring at Long Yangjun, Li Yao said, "Will you support me and embark on the road that none has ever walked with me?"
Long Yangjun looked at Li Yao and then at the seemingly innocent kids. Nodding her head slowly, she said, "… Maybe. It has nothing to do with whether or not we are friends.
I'm just curious about what the path that the Pangu civilization castrated and blocked voluntarily hundreds of thousands of years ago looked like, and if it works at all."
"Thank you!"
Li Yao took a long breath and smiled in great relief. "It means a lot that you can understand and approve of me!"
"Don't be happy too soon. It isn't as if the information lives will sprout and grow vigorously without meeting any obstacles!"
Long Yangjun said, "The birth of any life is difficult and lucky, let alone a 'civilization' condensed by countless lives. The two kids are still very young right now. They are 'monads' that have just been born at best. Who knows how long they can survive the harsh, universal wars?
"Yue Wushuang has escaped to the surface of the planet with our information. Chances are that she will bring a new army back and crumble us into smithereens in fury, right? If the magnetic interferential bombs of the highest level are used to bombard the place, the two kids won't be able to survive however agile they are, will they? In that case, wouldn't what we are discussing and distressed about be a joke?
"So, let's just forget the impractical philosophies and the sophisticated dilemmas. We should hurry up and loot the assets of this place and ship them away. It still won't be late if we address the troublesome problems after we escape and find Boss Bai's fleet at the edge of the Imperium!"
"Fair enough."
Li Yao nodded his head and said, "I'll go find Grand Guardian Xu and check his progress."
"Right, speaking of Xu Zhicheng—"
Long Yangjun said, "If you are interested in human beings' attitude toward information lives, I feel it is better to ask Xu Zhicheng than to ask me."
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Huh?"
Long Yangjun smiled. "Isn't Xu Zhicheng the most typical representative of the ordinary people that you have been trying to protect and rescue? If information lives do grow in a human society and form a 'symbiosis' with the civilization of mankind, they are bound to bring tremendous, inestimable changes to the ordinary people like Xu Zhicheng, both the good ones and the bad ones.
