Long Yangjun seemed to have foreseen that Li Yao would ask the question. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, she finished the apple unhurriedly and said, "I don't know more about the question than you do. In fact, I know even less than you do.
"You are a member of the Federation who was born in the modern Cultivation civilization, who has been to Kunlun, and who has studied the war between the Pangu and the Nuwa Clan deeply after all.
"But before I went to the depths of the Nuwa warship, I was just a common … ancient Cultivator and a wretched eunuch who was stirring up trouble in the court.
"It was not until I stood in front of the mainframe crystal processor of the Nuwa warship, and it was not until you said something that the dream in my head became more real. It was as if … as if I had just been born as' Long Yangjun 'at that moment.
"It is safe to say that my 'rebirth' has been less than a year so far. Maybe I will remember more things in the near future, including my real identity and destiny, but right now, I really don't know the first thing about it.
"Perhaps it was exactly for that purpose that I followed you to the Xing Yao Federation to get in touch with the world, observe the civilization, and recall more things."
Her eyes glittering, Long Yangjun looked at Li Yao frankly.
Li Yao wiped the apple that Long Yangjun threw to him on his clothes. He knew that Long Yangjun was partly telling the truth, but there was no way that she would tell him more. Thinking for a moment, he changed his perspective. "Alright. Let's not talk about the 'parent civilization'. Let's talk about the 'child civilization'. What do you think about the theories of civilization inheritance, virtual life, rebellions of naughty children …? Do you really think that the Spiritual Nexus will grow into a monster and rule over mankind? "
After finishing the apple, Long Yangjun manipulated the core of the apple to rotate slowly above her palm with her spiritual energy. She said casually, "Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the laws of nature. If we consider it on the scale of billions of years, or even longer, any civilization will perish eventually. Even the universe itself will perish and be reborn. Since the civilization of mankind is just a grain of dust in the universe, it is only natural that it will perish, too. Being killed by its own child civilization is one of the possibilities.
"But such a conclusion is as meaningless as saying that 'human beings are destined to die'. Nobody will stop trying their best to live on just because they are destined to die, right?
"Therefore, a more meaningful topic is whether or not the Spiritual Nexus will develop into a species of virtual intelligent life that is better than human beings in all aspects and malicious toward human beings in the future. That's what you're worried about, isn't it? Let's say that the Spiritual Nexus will not become intelligent until a hundred thousand years after the civilization of mankind develops. It's not something that we should worry about at all. Our children and grandchildren will have their own lives. We can't care about what will happen in a hundred thousand years, can we? "
Li Yao pondered for a moment and nodded heavily. "Yes. Let the people in the future worry about the things that will happen in a hundred thousand years. We don't have enough magical power to take care of the world. If we can arrange the things that will happen in a hundred thousand years, we won't be gods, we will be lunatics. I'm talking about the next few decades, hundreds of years, or even a thousand years."
Long Yangjun smiled and said, "Then, my answer is the same as Professor Mo Xuan's after the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector. It's impossible. It's absolutely impossible!"
Li Yao's eyes were glittering. "Is there any proof?"
"Yes."
Long Yangjun said unhurriedly, "Professor Mo Xuan himself is a 'star spirit', an amazing form between a real life and a virtual life. Speaking of which, you came up with the name 'star spirit' together with him, didn't you? His research on virtual life could be said to be second to none in the entire Federation.
"Even after the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector, he asserted that it was impossible for a real virtual intelligent life that boasted independent will to be born in the next five hundred years without the intervention of higher levels. He was so frustrated that he moved on to other research projects …"
Li Yao frowned. "If it's only because of Professor Mo Xuan's judgment …"
"No. What I'm really going to say has nothing to do with Professor Mo Xuan."
Long Yangjun smiled. "I didn't know that you would be so worried about nothing. Perhaps this is what they mean by 'those who are closely involved cannot see the game clearly'. In my opinion, the problem that you are worried about does not exist at all. At the very least, it won't happen in the next thousand years. The reason is very simple. The Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan have crystal processors, too."
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "So what?"
"Also, their crystal processors are more advanced than yours," Long Yangjun said.
"You've seen the effect of the array of columnar crystal processors on the Nuwa warship in person. I have to admit that their computational ability must be much higher than any of the super crystal processors that the Federation has right now, right? There are also the Colossi. Every Colossus contains a tactical crystal processor left from the primeval era. You can't even replicate them. As a result, the Federation, the Imperium, and the Holy League can only assemble and modify the Colossi but cannot produce new Colossi, right? "
Li Yao frowned hard. He had to admit that Long Yangjun did have a point.
"Therefore …"
Long Yangjun said slowly, "If the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan failed to create a brand-new virtual intelligent life with their unparalleled crystal processors hundreds of thousands of years ago, what makes you so confident that human beings can create such an unbelievable 'naughty child' in the next thousand years?
"Besides, the process of the birth and evolution of life is extremely long. The carbon-based lives represented by the Pangu Clan, the Nuwa Clan, and human beings all took billions of years to evolve to the peak step by step. However fast the virtual intelligent life is, how fast can it be? If you are really worried, you can always worry about it when the most primitive virtual life is discovered!"
Li Yao blinked, feeling rather enlightened. But on second thought, he raised a new question. "You do have a point. Why didn't I think of it at the beginning? It's true that the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan's crystal processor technology is far more advanced than that of human beings. If even they haven't created a virtual intelligent life, it doesn't seem like we need to worry about it for at least ten thousand years … Wait, there's another possibility. What if the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan have already created a virtual intelligent life but we don't know about it? It means that it is not our 'child civilization' but our 'brother civilization', which is in a parallel relationship with human beings!
Long Yangjun rolled her eyes. "Oh? Then, where is the virtual intelligent life created by the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan, the 'brother civilization' of human beings? Why have we never heard of them in the past hundred thousand years? "
Li Yao: "Well, they are hiding and accumulating strength. When the time is right, they will jump out and conquer the three thousand Sectors?"
"Fair enough," Long Yangjun: "as expected of the dominator of three Sectors. Your imagination is truly vivid! You have seen through such a great scheme as a 'brother civilization' of a virtual intelligent life. That is truly impressive! So, what are you going to do now that you have seen through their great scheme? "
Li Yao: "… I don't think I can do anything, either."
"Don't underestimate yourself," Long Yangjun said. "You can do it. With your identity and position today, as long as you reveal your true self and make a speech, it will be a piece of cake for you to persuade everybody in the Xing Yao Federation to give up the crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus with your prestige as the 'dominator of three Sectors'. Rest assured. I will definitely support you. After all, the people of the Ancient Sages Sector do not play with crystal processors or surf the Spiritual Nexus in the first place. "
"I'm sorry," Li Yao: "I was wrong. Please show some respect for the dominator of three Sectors and don't take my nonsense seriously."
"That's right," Long Yangjun said. "Let's not talk about Yuanying. We are all adults anyway, and we should talk about more feasible, constructive, and practical topics. Let's leave such metaphysical questions to the middle school students of the Federation to consider! Right now, the situation is so urgent that your eyebrows are on fire, and you are still thinking about what will happen tens of thousands of years later. That's really … "
"Eyebrows on fire?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. "What have you found out?"
"I didn't find anything."
Long Yangjun jumped up from the bed and opened the window to let in some fresh air. Narrowing her eyes, she sniffed hard and said, "I just smelled something."
Li Yao's eyes were glittering. "What is it?"
Without looking back, Long Yangjun said, one word after another, "A storm is coming. The Black Wind Fleet is about to show up."
"What do you mean?" Li Yao asked.
Long Yangjun extended two long fingers and said, "Two aspects.
"Firstly, the Xing Yao Federation is having the fiercest election for the Supreme Speaker in recent decades. The two parties are at loggerheads, and their supporters are not giving in to each other. The situation is rather intense.
"According to the confessions of the Immortal Cultivators such as Ding Zhengyang, the Black Wind Fleet has sent a lot of spies into the Federation. It means that the Black Wind Fleet is fully aware of it and that it is the most unstable moment in the politics of the Federation right now.
"After the dust settles, and a new Supreme Speaker is elected, both Ding Ling Dong's prestige and Jin Xinyue's methods will likely stabilize the situation in only a couple of months to half a year. The Federation will be united and enter the highest war state. The military strength will be greatly improved!
"Come on, Monster Li, if you are the commander of the Black Wind Fleet and you know the situation clearly, when will you choose to launch an attack?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes, with sharpness beaming out of his dark eyes. "Now is the time. Even if my fleet is not fully prepared, I cannot let the new Speaker of the Federation stabilize her position and let the Federation enter the highest war state comfortably!
"Now is the best opportunity. If we miss it, the Federation's capability and the prestige of its leader will only rise in the years to come. It will be more and more difficult to fight!
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