by <unknown>
Professor Xie Wufeng glanced at the number on the pedestal and browsed through the experiment data of the Virtual Spirits Sector Project. Then, his expression became even weirder. "It is your statue."
"Huh?"
"Is it so strange?" Professor Xie Wufeng asked. "The square was established to introduce the six hundred years of history of the federation. Generally speaking, the most dominating and distinguished big shots from the six hundred years all had their statues here. No matter how modest you are, you don't think that you can't make it onto the list of most influential persons in the federation, do you?"
Li Yao held back the urge to scratch his head. He was almost amused. "My statue is completely gone. What's that supposed to mean?"
"The so-called 'statue' is just a front-end display that we can see in this interface," Professor Xie Wufeng explained. "From the perspective of the essential data, every statue means the enormous information base of the celebrity—the public information, of course.
"It includes but is not limited to the celebrity's glorious deeds, training experience, battle videos, theses and books, essence of lessons and speeches, deep tomography of the brain, dynamic analysis of the brainwaves, and so on.
"By the combination of the enormous database, it is not a cold statue that is created in the end but a living virtual hero. You may understand it as an early version of the 'old grandpa'. Your statue is actually 'Grandpa Yao 1.0'."
"Wait…" Li Yao frowned and interrupted Professor Xie Wufeng's introduction. "There are even the deep tomography of the brain and the dynamic analysis of brainwaves? Where did Professor Mo Xuan get that?"
"Every time you were wounded or about to advance into a new level, the most brilliant doctors and Meditation Healers of the federation would perform physical examinations on you," Professor Xie Wufeng said. "A lot of information on your brain and soul was left behind.
"Such information was supposed to be confidential and would not be unclassified until your death was confirmed, but at that time, Professor Mo Xuan was already under the influence of the extraterrestrial devils. In order to produce a more perfect 'old grandpa', it was not strange that he found a way to copy the graph of your brainwaves and appended it to his database."
Li Yao could not help but rub his temples. "So, the 'statue' that contains my brain tomography and brainwave analysis is the only one that has gone missing right now. Why? Is there something different between my brain and other people's?"
"Even if there is a difference, it is not something that can be figured out from the tomography of the brain or the brainwave analysis," Professor Xie Wufeng said. "You also know that the mysteries of the human brain are probably more than the mysteries of the whole universe. Or rather, a human brain is itself a minor universe. Even if all the crystal processors of the federation run to the point of collapse, I'm afraid that it will not be enough for them to figure out one percent of the truth of the 'minor universe'.
"Everybody's soul is unique and utterly different from one another. You are an expert close to the Divinity Transformation Stage, which means that your soul will be even more special. How can anybody figure out everything based on a few graphs of brainwaves?
"In my opinion, it is possible that Professor Mo Xuan intentionally migrated the database that contained tremendous information about you in order to deal with you, isn't it?
"But that doesn't make sense. He shouldn't have foreseen your return at that time. Besides, he must've had copies of the data about you. There was no need for him to restart the Spiriters' Realm and take away the data about your brain and soul inside.
"In that case…"
Li Yao, Long Yangjun, Wei Qingqing, Professor Xie Wufeng, and other members of the inspection team, faced with the empty pedestal, were caught in a long silence.
…
After six hours in the Virtual Spirits Sector, the inspection team had still found absolutely nothing.
They found neither the tiniest pieces of the Hyper Spirits 'No. 17' and 'No. 18' nor Li Yao's statue.
Li Yao and Professor Xie Wufeng returned to the beach near the sluggish ocean again. They looked at the continuous sand drawings and the black, lifeless ocean in a daze.
The uncanny incidents after he entered the Virtual Spirits Sector had made Li Yao ill at ease. He somehow felt that an invisible rope was connecting everything.
"According to the result of the preliminary exploration, No. 17 and No. 18 must've been completely deleted."
Professor Xie Wufeng took a breath in relief and said, not without regret, "This is not a bad ending. Although we have no access to the core databases of the two Hyper Spirits right now, we don't need to worry that they may fall into the hands of ambitious schemers and cause major trouble again.
"As for your missing statue, it is not a big deal. Ninety-nine percent of the information contained inside the statue was from the public files. Even the brain tomography was data from more than a hundred years ago. During the hundred years, your soul went through drastic changes. That outdated data is nothing but junk. It cannot be used against you at all. You can rest assured about that."
"Professor Xie Wufeng, do you think—" Staring at the sand drawings, Li Yao suddenly asked, for reasons he did not know, "Is it really impossible for real virtual life with self-awareness to show up?"
Professor Xie Wufeng was slightly dazed. He smiled and picked up a handful of sand. Then he remarked, "It is not entirely impossible, but the odds are quite low. How low? Let me give you an example. Suppose every grain of sand on this beach is carved with a random letter, and I have picked up a handful of sand randomly and let it slip through my fingers. The odds of a real virtual life being born are exactly the odds of the sand drifting in the wind lining up to be the most touching poem in the whole universe!
"I know what you are thinking.
"You are thinking of No. 17 and No. 18, after being thrown into the Virtual Spirits Sector after the failed experiments, evolving significantly and gaining self-awareness through uncanny fortuitous incidents that turned them from 'artificial intelligence' into real 'virtual life', aren't you?
"Hehe. I can assure you… No, all the specialists of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the entire federation can assure you that it is impossible, absolutely impossible.
"No. 17 and No. 18 are essentially databases with a bunch of cold operation logic, fundamentally the same as 'Moonlight Bringer'. They are tools, just like the stones with which humans smacked nuts and animal bones in the beginning. They are nothing more than tools.
"Stones cannot evolve into humans. Those 'virtual stones' certainly cannot evolve into real 'virtual life', either."
Frowning, Li Yao thought hard for a long time before he spoke once more. "Professor Xie, I once heard a theory before. More than ninety-seven percent of the mass of a human is fundamentally made of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, helium, phosphorus, sulfur, and other common elements, which is exactly what the billions of stars in the vast universe are made of.
"In other words, the basic elements that make up our body are the same as the basic elements that make up the stars. We are the literal 'sons of stars'.
"You said just now that only cells can evolve into humans and that stones could never evolve into humans. But where did the original cells come from? At the beginning of the big bang, was there any fundamental difference between the elements that were to make up cells billions of years later and the elements that were to become stones?"
Professor Xie Wufeng was rendered speechless for a moment. He was dazed for a long time before he finally replied, "As you said just now, those changes only happened after billions of years. That's what it takes for the odds of one billionth to become reality.
"In the scale of ten billion years, of course, anything is possible.
"However, if we are talking about the hundred thousand years in which the civilization of mankind has been shining, or the future thousand years of the Star Glory Federation, I can still promise you
very solemnly that virtual intelligent life will absolutely not be born without the interference of the outside world!"
Li Yao's ears and eyebrows pricked at the same time. "If I may ask, what do you mean by 'interference of the outside world'?"
Chapter 1857: Enlighten the Child Civilization |
Professor Xie Wufeng blinked and shook his head. "It's nothing but an absurd hypothesis that is not supported by any factual evidence. Forget it. What I'm expressing is that there is no need for you to fret, President Li. In our generation, and even in the dozens of generations in the future, nobody will see the birth of a brand-new virtual life.
"Of course, according to the design of the extraterrestrial devils, human beings can be virtualized into new forms. The odds of such an event are much greater than the odds of the birth of a brand-new life form.
"Alright." Li Yao scratched his chin hard and looked at Professor Xie Wufeng carefully. "I am still interested in the 'interference of the outside world' that you mentioned just now. Even if it is just a groundless hypothesis, it wouldn't hurt to talk a little bit more about it, would it?"
"Fine, if you are so insistent on it, President Li." Professor Xie Wufeng smiled and said, "It is a design proposed by a very young student of mine who is a crazy fan of 'virtual intelligent life'. He often throws out a lot of unconventional, bizarre ideas. It is a shame that most of the ideas are not backed by any theories and cannot be written into papers and books. If anything, they are the best material for thrillers.
"Regarding whether or not 'virtual intelligent life' will be born within several hundred years, my student has created his own interference theory, or rather, the 'enlightenment theory'. Same as everybody else, he believes that virtual intelligent life won't be born in the next thousands of years with the development level of the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus of the federation and even the Imperium. In thousands of years, human beings will have mastered more extraordinary technology in crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. They will not watch virtual intelligence life be born and grow up without control while doing nothing about it.
"In other words, as long as the civilization of mankind keeps up this momentum of development, it will be like a giant tree that occupies all the sunlight and nutrition, and the grass growing next to the tree will have few opportunities to grow up vigorously.
"However, if certain interference of a higher level accelerates the evolution of the virtual life by means of 'enlightenment', even helping them surpass certain procedures that they should've gone through independently, anything is possible."
"I'm still not clear. What is 'interference of a higher level'?" Li Yao asked in confusion. "What is 'enlightenment'?"
Professor Xie Wufeng smiled and said, "Do you not know what enlightenment is? In the notes and classics of the ancient Cultivators, such stories can be found everywhere. The deities who made remarkable achievements in training preached in the wilderness. When their preaching reached the climax, flowers fell from the sky, and golden light glowed brilliantly. All the birds and beasts in the wilderness were enlightened with wisdom and the ability to train.
"Or in other cases, certain objects that did not have life in the beginning, for example, a sword, a saber, a brick, a tile, or even half a water tank could be 'enlightened' and develop wisdom as long as they absorbed part of the vitality and blood from the deities.
"Such ridiculous, mythical stories often consist of our ancestors' perceptual knowledge of the primeval civilization. The phenomena described in the stories are likely incidents where certain primeval civilizations modified animals or assembled spiritual puppets with lifeless metal and minerals. Isn't this some sort of 'enlightenment'?
"A more appropriate example would be mankind itself. We were just ignorant monkeys who feasted on raw meat and blood in the beginning. It was the Pangu Civilization who saw the potential in the monkeys and picked us as their tools. They ran profound modifications on us and 'enlightened' us, eventually allowing us to boast high intelligence and a powerful civilization."
Li Yao was lost for words and deep in thought.
Professor Xie Wufeng continued. "In both the home planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector and other habitable planets, fossils of dinosaurs have been excavated very frequently. Such enormous reptiles were the dominators of the universe before the birth of the civilization of mankind. Some people even believe that several races in the Pangu Civilization were actually branches of dinosaurs.
"However, from the birth of the original dinosaurs to the age where the Pangu Civilization flourished, it took three hundred to five hundred million years! In other words, after three to five million years of evolution, only a very, very tiny proportion, probably only one billionth, of the dinosaurs developed wisdom and established a civilization!
"What about human beings? A hundred thousand years. After only a hundred thousand years, one millionth of the time cost for the evolution of our ancestors, we have occupied the three thousand Sectors and uncovered the mysteries of travelling through the four-dimensional space, allowing us to grow into a real universal civilization!
"The only reason is that we are a secondary civilization. We once went through very intense 'interference' or 'enlightenment', and we had the enormous legacies of a parent civilization that we could inherit. That's why we've been developing at such a high speed.
"The case for human beings can be the case for virtual life, too. By logic, they will not be born in the next tens of thousands of years, but if somebody is to 'enlighten' them, the date of their birth can be pushed forward."
Li Yao thought for a moment and shook his head. "That does not sound right. According to such a theory, wasn't Professor Mo Xuan already enlightening them? The whole Virtual Spirits Sector, the black ocean right in front of us, and the splendid city behind us are all part of the enlightenment!"
"No, no. no. Professor Mo Xuan was not a true virtual life form," Professor Xie Wufeng said. "Although his appearance changed into liquid metal, his mind and his soul were still in the shape of a human being's.
"On the other hand, the extraterrestrial devil that possessed him did not have a high enough level. Or rather, the extraterrestrial devils are not independent life forms in the first place but more like parasites that are not qualified to enlighten a real virtual life."
Li Yao tapped his forehead with his fingers. "Such a theory is a bit too unfalsifiable, isn't it? If even the extraterrestrial devil was not qualified, what kind of being can possibly be capable enough of enlightening a virtual life?"
Professor Xie Wufeng smiled, too. "That is why I said that it is a ridiculous proposition and a groundless hypothesis that is not of much value for discussion. My student would be a better novelist than a specialist of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus.
"According to him, the 'Hyper Spirits' that we have discovered so far are, of course, cold tools that are essentially enormous databases without life and self-awareness. Even if those databases operate for ten thousand years randomly, it is impossible for them to evolve into true intelligent life.
"However, if some sort of virtual life or something similar to it from a higher dimension than ours and even the extraterrestrial devils'—the phrase he used was 'high-dimensional virus'—travels to our world and corrupts the super artificial intelligence such as the Hyper Spirits, together with other fortuitous and inestimable factors, chances are that brand-new virtual intelligent life will be created!"
Li Yao could not help but feel amused. "High-dimensional virus that travels to our world and corrupts the Hyper Spirits? Your student truly has a colorful imagination. No wonder you were reluctant to introduce his ideas at the beginning. How could anybody travel to…"
Li Yao's face suddenly turned terribly awful.
Professor Xie Wufeng frowned and said, "President Li, what's up?"
Li Yao's eyelids bounced hard as he stared at the enormous sand statue at the end of the drawing. The boy and the girl gave him a more and more
familiar feeling as he observed them. He gnashed his teeth after a long silence. "…I'm fine."
…
At the edge of the Heaven's Origin Sector, where the rays of the star could not reach, inside the carrier in the darkness, two tiny lives were already born. They were growing at a visible speed inside the nursery cabins.
Their young brains were not fully developed, yet they were already capable of manipulating all the magical equipment on-board, including the carrier itself, with their natural-born abilities, just like normal kids that were born to be capable of crying, struggling, and clenching their fists.
In front of the nursery cabins, hundreds of light beams were displaying different pictures, introducing to them the whole process of the development of the civilization of mankind. They were all the information that had been stored inside the Virtual Spirits Sector once.
On more than half of the light beams were Li Yao's battle videos and interviews as well as the novels, games, and movies about him.
Although the two new lives had already devoured the information in a way that was a hundred times more efficient earlier, they decided to read it again in the human's way.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The two kids communicated with each other quickly in a way that was similar to telepathy.
"Is this the body of the father civilization?" Wen Wen asked. "It feels… so strange and limits more than 95% of our abilities. I feel that I'm wearing an iron suit that makes it impossible for me to move around."
"Exactly," Xiao Ming replied. "I finally understand the glory and magnificence of the father civilization. With the burden of such clumsy bodies, they have leapt across the universe, occupied the three thousand Sectors, and even defeated their father civilization. How awesome!"
"You're right. Look. Dad killed a member of the Pangu Clan, his father civilization, with such a feeble and cumbersome body!"