A familiar face, a slightly familiar voice, and a completely unfamiliar body. This was the first impression that Timlad gave me.
"The letter was directly sent to you? You didn't tell anyone that I was here, did you? "
"Of course, I came here immediately after receiving the letter. Is there really a Ham — er, a ruin from the Haletdam generation?"
"Of course. Otherwise, why would I ask you to come here? That maid who's with me should be a pure artificial soul. Didn't you notice? "
"Is that for real? Back then … now, that wasn't the direction of my research. I heard that my research on pure artificial souls hasn't been going well. You've already achieved some results?"
"Not going well?"
It would be strange if little Timlad didn't have any secrets at all since he was able to reach his current level. It would be impossible to hide the mysteries of his soul from him. However, there was no need to worry about certain things, especially after I made a contract with the God of Wisdom. Our cooperation had reached a whole new level.
Now that some things were laid out on the table, little Timlad's identity wasn't a big deal anymore. But after I learned about his identity, I found it rather strange that he didn't know anything about artificial souls.
According to what I knew, in the largest ruin of the Haletdam generation, there was a tombstone with the three major "crimes" of the Haletdam generation inscribed on it. Of course, it wouldn't be wrong to call them results — "The Haletdam generation's immortality, artificial souls, and the creation of life."
But now, little Timlad actually told me that their research on artificial souls hadn't been going well. This undoubtedly piqued my curiosity.
"Yep, it hasn't been going well. Actually, it's still a problem with the foundational nature of the soul. Apart from the Creator Goddesses, nobody is capable of creating the foundational nature of the soul. It's impossible to create a soul through pure calculation. If you want to create an artificial soul, activate it, and make it a living soul with all sorts of emotions and the possibility of evolution, you'll need to fuse more natural souls into it. That's obviously an evil idea. "
"… Isn't that the same as undead mages?"
Using souls as materials to create new soul creations, playing around with souls and physical bodies, wasn't that something only undead mages could do in the past?
"That's right. We worked so hard to create innovative technology, but it was actually left behind by someone else? That's basically an insult to the Haletdam generation's technicians. But as far as I know, at least before the end of the Haletdam generation, there shouldn't be any major improvements in this area."
I nodded. I could barely count as an expert when it came to researching souls. I could also make some guesses about how the Haletdam generation created artificial souls. From Timmy's words, it was obvious that their artificial souls used pure computing power to form logical abilities. But, just like the computers in other worlds, no matter how much computing power they accumulated, they still wouldn't be able to be called a complete "human" without a qualitative change.
"Now that you mention it, it's somewhat similar to the Tower Spirit. It can make logical deductions, but it doesn't have a sense of self or emotions."
"What do you mean similar? It's all a set of techniques. Do you think those mages don't know how to rob graves? "
"Pu."
I instantly laughed out loud. The image of a mage wearing a gold-rimmed monocle and wearing mage robes was instantly replaced by a simple and strong man carrying a shovel.
Actually, many ancient techniques and magic spells were created in such a way. It wasn't wrong to say that mages were skilled at being unlucky. Some lucky thief, mountain dweller, or farmer would accidentally discover a ruin, and then the news would spread, causing the mages to flee faster than anything else. By the way, this place wasn't too far away from the Mage Country. Could it be that a mage organization had joined in as well?
"If that's all, it shouldn't be considered a taboo, right?"
As far as I could recall, the Haletdam generation had been destroyed by a divine punishment. Since the Holy War was a periodic cleansing system, the Gods were quite displeased with mortals. Normal suicidal behavior wouldn't be punished by a divine punishment.
"It's fine if it's just this technique, but the Haletdam generation just happens to have invented artificial physical bodies and soul preservation techniques. You know about the Sky Tower, right? Yep, the Sky Tower in the sea or something, right? That's actually a soul preservation center. There are countless small rooms in the tower that contain the brains and souls of the Haletdam generation. The Haletdam generation can still be researched there. It's just that they're waiting to be reborn."
Reborn? I seemed to have heard an interesting term. Timlad's explanation helped me understand just what the Haletdam generation's great engineers had done back in the day.
Unlike the mages' archeological analysis of the Haletdam generation, the Haletdam generation's great engineers weren't idiots with no foresight. It was impossible for them to do something as foolish as make their entire population immortal. After all, anyone with even the slightest bit of foresight would know that there was a limit to how much the world could contain.
However, the Haletdam generation's actions were still quite excessive. They would evaluate the value of "humans", and anyone who reached a certain threshold would be directly immortal. Everyone else would have to wait in line in the Sky Tower to be reborn. Their value would determine how long they could live and how long they could be reborn. The Haletdam generation's population would increase or decrease based on society's needs. With this method, the Haletdam generation's expansion speed was indeed the same as the Haletdam generation's population. However, there was something that the Haletdam generation hadn't thought about.
"In that case, wouldn't it be the equivalent of all souls being imprisoned in the Sky Tower? The Haletdam generation would only have newborns coming out of the Cycle of Reincarnation, but no dead people returning to the Cycle of Reincarnation. The Haletdam generation's total number of souls would continuously increase, which would definitely destroy the balance of the world. The Chaos Faction would never allow such a unified civilization to appear. The decrease in the number of dead would directly decrease the River Styx's resources, which would directly threaten the cycle of the lower planes. The Order Faction's Gods … "
"How could those who pursued the truth possibly worship the Gods? How could a restricted worldview allow one to discover the truth of the world? That's why the mages and engineers only showed respect to the Gods. Similarly, the Haletdam generation didn't believe in the Gods. In fact, some even began researching the Gods. There were those who captured the Gods. There were those who believed that the Gods died due to lack of belief. There were even quite a few Gods who tried to steal the Divine Seat. Quite a few Gods died because of this. "
I didn't need to say anything else. If people wanted to die, they would die. If they wanted to die to such an extent, they would simultaneously offend two major factions. This directly affected the foundational foundation of the Holy War, which also determined that the Haletdam generation was destined to die.
"Back in the day, all seven Sky Towers were destroyed. All the souls who believed that they had obtained immortality all entered the Cycle of Reincarnation at the same time. All records were lost. Even if the Haletdam generation managed to survive the Divine Punishment, a fatal plague that targeted the entire species took away everyone's lives. The Haletdam generation also met its end."
Timlad's words sounded like he was sighing. However, he didn't feel much sorrow because he had personally experienced it. To him, he had only inherited the Haletdam generation's knowledge and memories, not his own experiences. He was more sighing about how the Haletdam generation's secrets and knowledge had been lost.
There was no need to mention the past. However, if this was related to the future, it would be necessary to ask. Since Catalina had come from the ruins, there was definitely something strange about that place.
"So, you're saying that the artificial souls from back in the day were only similar to the tower spirits' technology, which required a large number of natural souls in order for the artificial souls to obtain a sense of self?"
"Yes, but it's difficult to say for sure. After so many years, perhaps the technology has become even more complete. Right, back in the day, we also had tower spirits. The mage towers' tower spirits were named after our Sky Towers' tower spirits. They were the greatest masterpiece of artificial souls. Their calculation abilities were astonishing, and they were capable of independently managing the countless living creatures within the tower. "
"Did they have a sense of self?"
"No. That was strictly forbidden. First, in order to create an artificial soul with a sense of self and emotions, all other natural souls would have to be destroyed. The stronger the artificial soul, the more natural souls would be needed. That would be the equivalent of mass murder. And once the Seven Star Saints — that's how the seven Sky Towers' tower spirits were called — obtained a sense of self, it would be impossible to say who would be ruling over who."
I couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this. As expected, it wasn't only Earth's humans who were worried about being killed off by their own artificial intelligence. Human nature was truly universal.
"Ha, this plot is so familiar. Is the next scene going to be the Skynet Battle against the Terminators?"
[Beep! The title of Jinxer has been activated.]
My System always made such senseless jokes, and I was getting tired of them. Now that I thought about it, those Jinxers were all my System's fault.
[I'm not joking. Back in the day, the Haletdam generation had more than just the Seven Sky Towers. The eighth … which is the largest Sky Tower, is already quite close to you.]
"What?"
[How do you think Catalina came to be?]
"Damn, why didn't you tell me something so important earlier?"
[You didn't even ask — cough — I should say that you didn't meet the requirements to activate the Quest … Just how many random things do you think I have in my memories?]
…
…
In the deepest part of a mountain valley, the ruins labeled Z8 had already begun operating.
The "Civilization Reconstruction Project" was its name. In order to keep it a secret, those who weren't related to the project had no understanding of this Sky Tower.
The Haletdam generation didn't lack wise individuals. Those who were knowledgeable had already seen their fate of destruction, so of course they would make preparations. This Sky Tower would only be activated on its own two thousand years after the other seven Sky Tower Spirits had all died.
Due to certain reasons, the Sky Tower Z8's first awakening didn't go smoothly, and it soon fell into a deep slumber again. More than ten years ago, a rash adventurer entered the ruins and took away an important component, allowing the entire Sky Tower to begin operating once more.
This Sky Tower even extended underground. Originally, it should have been filled with the souls and brains of great engineers, elite workers, and soldiers. However, more than half of the Sky Tower's rooms were now completely empty.
Meanwhile, in the deepest part of the underground, at the top of the Tower of Babel, in front of Z8's Soul Throne, a few black-robed mages were moaning in pain. Their skulls had been cracked open, and their exposed brains were exposed under the stimulation of electricity, revealing all of their secrets.
However, the master of this Sky Tower ignored them. His gaze was now focused on the void, where a venerated guest was waiting for his invitation.
"Your Majesty Conservation, perhaps we already have a common goal."
After a long while, there was a response from the void.
"At the very least, we now have a common enemy — those arrogant and hypocritical Gods!"
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