Li Yao recalled his adventures in the Flying Star Sector with Professor Mo Xuan in the past and felt that things had changed.
From the video just now, it was not hard to tell Professor Mo Xuan's deep love for virtual life forms, as well as the compassion that almost transcended human beings and stood on the scale of the universe.
It was not hard to imagine that the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector must have been a heavy blow for him. Even the game 'Civilization' had become his sad past, making it impossible for him to continue leading the magnificent project.
Li Yao sighed and asked, "Has the 'Virtual Spirits Sector' been destroyed just like that? Is there nothing left?"
"Not exactly," Ling Xiaole said. "If I have to describe it, 'Xiaoming' and 'Wenwen', the game assistants for the players after they enter 'Civilization', are the last relics of the 'Virtual Spirits Sector Project'. They are 'quasi artificial intelligence' with more than a billion telepathic thoughts and information built inside. They can almost simulate all the reactions of human beings."
'Artificial intelligence' and 'quasi artificial intelligence' were only one word apart, but they were vastly different.
The former boasted a real 'soul' and 'self-awareness' and could be regarded as a human being in a different form. The latter, on the other hand, could only be regarded as an enormous database with the most advanced algorithms.
'Quasi artificial intelligence' could also make appropriate and even delicate reactions to the stimuli given by the outside world. However, such reactions were no different from 'parrots'. They were at best the conditioned reflexes of the lowest level.
The simplest example was' Black Wing ', which Li Yao had brought up since he was a child, which was a' quasi artificial intelligence '.
Little Black could provide feedback to Li Yao's demands. Sometimes, it even boasted a lot of autonomy and did not listen to Li Yao's command.
However, 'not listening to Li Yao's command and acting on its own' was also set up by his pops or somebody else a long time ago.
However much Li Yao liked Black Wing, he would not consider Black Wing a real 'human being' from a rational point of view. All of Black Wing's reactions were based on a certain special database stored inside it, which was a set of instructions that had been compiled a long time ago.
No real 'human being' could tolerate staying in a Cosmos Ring for decades without going crazy.
In the meantime, a lot of magical equipment in the Federation boasted so-called 'spirits'. At first glance, they seemed to boast their own soul and will and could communicate with the user fluently. They could even carry out the tactical arrangements actively.
However, everything had been compiled and set in advance and would be 'triggered' when a certain special condition was met. It was not like there was really a soul inside the magical equipment that boasted absolute freedom.
The larger the database and the more precise the instruction set, the more realistic the reaction of the 'quasi artificial intelligence' would be. However, no matter how realistic it was, it was still a puppet that was performing unconscious mechanical reactions.
Real artificial intelligence and virtual life might not arrive until hundreds of years later. However, 'quasi artificial intelligence' had long been popular in the Federation. Li Yao was not surprised at all after hearing Ling Xiaole's explanation.
"You can turn on the crystal processor and simply activate 'Xiaoming' and 'Wenwen' without entering the game," Ling Xiaole said. "Then, you will be able to see what they looked like when they were first created in the Virtual Spirits Sector."
Li Yao's curiosity was greatly aroused. He did as he was told.
"Shua!"
Two round, chubby, and translucent dolls surfaced in Li Yao's hands again.
After the 'quasi mode' was turned on, Xiaoming and Wenwen seemed to have just woken up from a dream. They blinked their eyes in confusion and looked at each other at first. Then, they turned around and looked at Li Yao. Suddenly, they shouted at the same time.
"Dad!"
Li Yao shuddered and almost slapped the two kids to death. "What the hell?"
Ling Xiaole tried to hold back her laughter. "That's the initial setting. Because they are a child civilization of human beings in the setting, they naturally call human beings' Mom and Dad '!"
"Yes, we are a child civilization of human beings!"
Xiaoming held his head high and declared proudly with his hands on his waist.
"Kind child civilization, lovely child civilization, beautiful child civilization, and bright child civilization!"
Wenwen twirled in circles and danced.
"Human beings are our parent civilization. Great parent civilization, brave parent civilization, and glorious parent civilization!"
Xiaoming continued.
"Praise the parent civilization! Praise the parent civilization!"
Wenwen sang and danced.
Li Yao was completely stunned. Seeing that the two dolls in mystic rays were jumping and giggling in his palms and even trying to crawl up his body along his arms, he immediately had goosebumps all over his body. They were truly like two living dolls.
"Well, decades ago, when the game 'Civilization' was still in its infancy, most people in our society were highly suspicious and wary of the so-called 'artificial intelligence' and 'virtual life'. Therefore, when the 'quasi-artificial intelligence' was created, a lot of promotional information was implanted, hoping that people's concerns would be dispelled with such a cute image."
Ling Xiaole said, "If we get to the bottom of it, 'Xiaoming' and 'Wenwen' were advertisements and mascots at the beginning.
"However, after the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector and the failure of the project to hatch virtual life, such advertisements and mascots lost their significance. The so-called 'threat of virtual life' became a joke. At the very least, it was impossible for them to be born in the next hundreds of years. The enormous database of 'Xiaoming' and 'Wenwen', however, did not have to be abandoned. After modification, they were turned into game assistants, which significantly improved the playability and richness of the game.
"Of course, under the 'initial settings', they will be restored to their most primitive form. You can also try raising them as' virtual children '. It's true that many people, especially girls, like to play that way. It's very cute!"
"Dad, I'm hungry!"
"Dad, play the game with me!"
"Dad, Dad, tell me the legends of the heroes of the civilization of mankind. I want to hear the story of Vulture Li Yao!"
"Dad, Dad, Dad, sing a song for me, or you can listen to me sing!"
After Ling Xiaole's introduction, the two virtual children of mystic light struggled to climb up along Li Yao's arms and stopped on his shoulders. One of them grabbed his earlobe, and the other pulled his hair, while they uttered ear-piercing noises. Then, they sang at the same time a nursery rhyme that had been popular on the Spiritual Nexus hundreds of years ago.
"Not afraid of rain, not afraid of snow …"
Li Yao was dumbfounded, his head dizzy.
Dear god, naughty children were truly terrifying!
He would rather face the siege of ten Xiao Xuance, Bai Xinghe, and Jin Tuyi than deal with two naughty children, even if they were virtual ones!
"Go away!"
Li Yao was amused. "I'm not your father. Exit the 'initial setting' and go play somewhere else, kids!"
"Okay …"
Xiaoming and Wenwen pouted and puffed their cheeks, before they crawled back into the crystal processor gloomily, hand in hand.
"Hu …"
Li Yao took a long breath in relief and fanned himself with his hands. He was amused.
The two virtual children were already giving him a headache. It seemed that he was not ready to be a father yet.
It could not be helped. He was going to travel in the sea of stars, save the world, defend the peace of the universe, and search for … 'Earth' by the way. With so many important things on his plate, it was unlikely that he could be a qualified father like other people, right?
Thankfully, they are fake. Naughty children are the most annoying. Ding Ling Dong did not give birth to our life seeds. How wise of her!
Li Yao said to himself in his heart.
"Achoo!"
His nose suddenly felt itchy, and he sneezed loudly.
It was as if somebody was thinking of him in a place far, far away.
…
Earlier that day …
In the deepest part of the underground vault of the National Medical Center in the capital city of the Xing Yao Federation, in the capital city of the Tian Yuan Realm …
This was a special bank, a bank that had been sealed for a long time … the Life Seed Savings Bank.
Since the era of the Old Federation, countless heroes had crossed the sea of stars and traveled across the galaxy, risking their lives to fight for the future of the Xing Yao Federation.
Many of them had not given birth to any offspring when they embarked on the perilous journey. Therefore, they would often choose to store their life seeds.
Once their death was confirmed or how long they had been missing, the life seeds of them and their spouses could be extracted and carefully nurtured so that the bloodline of the heroes could be passed on.
In the deepest part of the sperm bank …
In a special cabin that was heavily guarded and well-kept, the most important 'asset' in the entire 'seed bank' was stored.
It was the life seed left behind by a superhero who had once dominated the Three Realms at the end of the era of the Old Federation. He had turned the tide and facilitated the unification of the Three Realms. Therefore, he had many praises such as the dominator of the Three Realms and the father of Civilization.
For more than a hundred years, the seal of the secret cabin had never been opened.
But today …
Outside the cabin, on the spiritual energy seal, an extremely feeble ripple that sounded like the laughter of a child suddenly spread out.
…
At the same time …
In another world …
It was a weird world that was half seawater and half ruins.
The ocean looked like a newborn planet. The seawater was like thick, boiling soup. Sulfur, magma, and venomous gas were everywhere. The unicellular life at the beginning was slowly nurtured in the dirty and fatal soup.
Next to the beach was a splendid city made of the iconic buildings of the civilization of mankind in various eras.
However, at this moment, the glories of the past had all fallen apart. The skyscrapers had turned into dilapidated walls. The great, glorious, and proud statues, paintings, and artworks were all broken, like tombs that had been abandoned for billions of years.
The lifeless ruins of mankind were a sharp contrast to the primitive ocean that was rolling nonstop.
In such an extremely harsh and weird environment, on the gray beach at the border of the civilization ruins and the primitive ocean, two tiny, translucent children were dancing and cheering in joy.
"Praise the parent civilization. We've found it!" Xiaoming said.
"Praise the parent civilization. We've finally found the life seed that mom left last time!" Wenwen said.
"We can go out and find mom and dad now!" Xiaoming said.
"But we only know mom's coordinates. Where's dad exactly?" Wenwen said.
"It doesn't matter. We can look for dad after we go out. We'll find him in the entire universe sooner or later," Xiaoming said.
"Okay, brother!"
Wenwen nodded her head hard. She held Xiaoming's hand and spun in circles, singing the old nursery rhyme in a childish and cheerful voice.
"I'm not afraid of falling rain, nor am I afraid of falling snow, even if it's cold and windy.
"I can see him. I can see him every day. I'm not afraid of the snow!
"I'm going to find my dad. I'm going to find my dad wherever I go.
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