Ripples spread out on the surface of Professor Mo Xuan's silver metal body. The ripples soon broke the boundary of his body and spread to every corner of the auditorium.
Both the students of the Sky Fantasia Academy in the video and Li Yao, who was watching the video in a shuttle decades later, were deeply awed by the grandeur, foresight, and infinite possibilities contained in Professor Mo Xuan's brief speech.
Even Xie Wufeng, the representative of the 'alarmists', was deep in thought with a pale face. A moment later, he began to argue with difficulty. "… I still feel that you are too optimistic and idealistic about the 'child civilization'. As I said just now, I have two sons and a daughter, and I watched them grow up bit by bit. So, I know very well the nature of babies and children. Even if they are not 'evil', they are at least full of unbridled destruction driven by their unconscious curiosity!
"Babies and children can burn ants with magnifying glasses with great interest and laugh in delight. They can break the wings of dragonflies with great interest just to observe the wriggling and twisting of the insects. They can also spend an hour or two building a tower of blocks painstakingly just to enjoy the pleasure of completely destroying them in one second!
"That is what children are. That is the undisguised evilness of human nature!
"To deal with the common 'naughty children', the strong 'adults' like us may be able to raise and educate them well, but we have no idea what a virtual child civilization, or a 'naughty child civilization', born based on crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, will look like and how much power it will boast!
"I would like to remind Professor Mo, as well as all the students here, that even we are, to some extent, a 'naughty child civilization'! Think about it. Our strict 'father', the Pangu civilization that exploited and enslaved us blatantly, was swallowed, suppressed, and destroyed by us! But what about our kind 'mother', the 'Nuwa civilization' that helped us selflessly and completely awakened us? Where did they go? Were they swallowed, suppressed, or even completely destroyed by us, too?
"This is exactly what I want to say. Do not underestimate the damage of the naughty children, and do not avoid their evilness. In the dark, cold universe, there is no such thing as' human nature is born good '!"
These words caused the extremely hot atmosphere to turn cold again. Many students once again fell into deep thought, and discussions rose one after another in the surroundings.
"Your concerns are very valid. I agree with you very much, Professor Xie."
To everyone's surprise, Professor Mo Xuan actually said such a sentence. Then, amidst the students' astonishment, he changed the topic and said, "In that case, there are only two paths in front of you and all the 'vigilant faction'.
"The first path, Professor Xie, and all the students here who agree with Professor Xie and believe that the development of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus will eventually give birth to a terrible 'virtual child civilization' that will eventually destroy mankind, please remove your portable crystal processors immediately and smash them into pieces. From today on, you will never touch crystal processors or the Spiritual Nexus again. You will not shop online, order takeaways through the Spiritual Nexus, play online games, accept remote education on the Spiritual Nexus, make friends online, book shuttles, or use online financial services … You will return to the age of self-sufficiency and slash-and-burn farming.
"Not only do you have to do that yourself, you will also have to find a way to persuade the authorities of the Federation to do so and ban the existence of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus in the entire Federation.
"No, it is not enough for the Xing Yao Federation to ban the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. The Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant both have mainframe crystal processors that are more powerful than the Federation's. Their Spiritual Nexus is at least as developed as ours. Therefore, you must also persuade the authorities of the Imperium and the Holy League, as well as all the unknown human civilizations in the three thousand Sectors and all the unknown non-human civilizations beyond the three thousand Sectors, to abandon technologies similar to crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus.
"If you cannot 'persuade' the Imperium and the Holy League, you will have to find a way to expand the strength of the Federation to the point that it can completely destroy the Imperium and the Holy League without relying on crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus.
"Come on. Who wants to give it a try first? I'm not saying forever, and I'm not asking you not to use crystal processors or touch the Spiritual Nexus for the rest of your life, even if it is just a small experiment first. One year! Who can swear that they will not surf the Spiritual Nexus for a year? Do any of you raise your hands? The other students can supervise him and testify for him! "
Meaningless chuckles echoed in the auditorium. Nobody dared to raise their hands for a whole minute.
Professor Mo Xuan smiled, too. "I don't think so. Then, Professor Xie, what about you? Since you are so wary of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus, are you willing to set an example and never touch the Spiritual Nexus or use crystal processors in the future? I've noticed that the mini crystal processor you are wearing on your left wrist is' Swallow IX ', a super advanced mini crystal processor that was just released last month. Also, judging from the spiritual stripes carved on the two sides, you have chosen the configuration with the highest computational ability, haven't you? It seems that you are not worried that the 'Swallow IX' will grow into a demon! "
Laughter echoed in the auditorium again. A cheerful atmosphere was spreading out in the auditorium.
Blushing, Xie Wufeng subconsciously hid his wrist crystal processor that was exposed to the air into his sleeve. He stammered, "Of — of course, we are not denying the significance of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. We're only saying that the development of such technologies should have its limits …"
"Limits? Where are they? How can they be controlled?"
Professor Mo Xuan asked back aggressively. "For example, what if the parliament of the Federation passes a new law that forces all the crystal processors in the territory of the Federation to have a maximum computational ability of one billion thoughts per second? Or maybe it is stipulated that the highest speed of the light path across the universe that passes through the four-dimensional space is limited, and it will be a crime if it is exceeded?
"Face the reality, Professor Xie! The reality is that, once we start using crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, there will be no way to stop their computational ability from getting higher and higher until the so-called 'tipping points' are broken one after another! If a brand-new life form is truly born in such a virtual world, the life will find a way out on its own, too. Nothing can stop it!
"Your wariness is already too late! Perhaps, before human beings invented the first crystal processor or even the first shabby computational magical equipment, such warnings and concerns might have been of some use! But right now, the wings of the butterfly have been flapping. An invisible storm has been born and bred in the depths of the Spiritual Nexus. It will certainly sweep across the entire universe in the near future!
"We cannot enjoy the convenience and progress brought by the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus while refusing to bear the unknown variables and consequences that they may bring. Nothing is so cheap in the world! Your wariness, with all due respect, is of no practical significance except for the pleasure of being the only sober one when everybody else is drunk!
"If you are a real 'wariness' and want to avoid the disasters caused by the 'mischievous child civilization', the path above is not going to work out. There is only a second path that you can take.
"Which is to join us!"
Eight metal tentacles slowly grew out of the surface of Professor Mo Xuan's liquid metal body, making him look even weirder and less like a 'human being' in the traditional sense.
His voice was even more hollow, deep, and calm than before. "Professor Xie, and all the students here, most of you are culture-type Cultivators who can be excellent script architects and content managers. Welcome to the production team of 'Civilization'. Let's create a beautiful new world, a bright future, and a virtual universe that originates from reality but surpasses reality together!
"That way, even if our child, a brand-new virtual life form, is truly born in 'Civilization' one day, when it wakes up its first self-awareness and opens its eyes for the first time, what it sees will be such a warm, kind, and beautiful new world. It will regard the order and the rules of the world as the unquestionable truths and the real 'humanity' that it deserves to inherit and protect!
"Do you understand, everybody? Whether or not it will turn into a 'mischievous child civilization' depends on us. It depends on everything that each of us does in both the real world and the virtual world!
"This is my opinion. From the perspective of thousands of years, a virtual child civilization based on crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus is bound to be born. The only question is whether it will be born in the Federation, the Imperium, or the Holy League! If it is born in the Imperium or the Holy League, it is very likely that it will grow into the 'mischievous child civilization' that Professor Xie is worried about and destroy all of us.
"Since there is no way to stop it, we can only try our best to let it be born in the Federation in advance and enlighten it with the 'belief' of the Federation so that it will become a 'virtual Cultivation civilization' of the next generation!
"We often say that the war of the Federation, the Imperium, and the Holy League is not just about the hegemony of the universe but also about the 'competition of beliefs' about the evolution of human beings.
"Then, who will give birth to the 'virtual child civilization'? Which force will it inherit, and which force will it become the 'Federation', the 'Imperium', or the 'Holy League' of the next generation?
"This is perhaps the ultimate manifestation of the so-called 'competition of beliefs'!
"The birth of a virtual child civilization is not something that can happen overnight. The 'Ultimate Competition of the Great Path' may last hundreds of years or even longer, but the starting point of everything is in your hands right now!
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