Under the lead of Professor Mo Xuan, Li Yao and Ling Xiaole passed the double tests of the Union Army and the Secret Sword Agents. They were each assigned to an immersive virtual cabin.
Li Yao slowly sank into the intense and thick, scarlet liquids.
The special 'neural interaction liquids' contained abundant artificial neurons as well as countless brainwave feedback patches in the mustard-seed level. They could both stimulate all the nerve endings on the body and conduct special simulated brainwaves, connecting the brain to the crystal processor. Or rather, connecting the soul to the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus.
The main difference between the low-level and the high-level virtual cabins was the 'neural interaction liquids'. The one that Professor Mo Xuan used was obviously the most cutting-edge neural interaction liquids developed by the Federation. It could make one fully immersed in the virtual world, the Spiriters' Realm.
Before he was completely swallowed by the 'neural interaction liquids', Li Yao glanced at the big shots from the military, the Secret Sword Bureau, the government, and the research institutions that were stationed in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone in the rows of virtual cabins next to him.
They were all there to attend the launch ceremony of the 'Tinder Plan' tomorrow. At this moment, their souls had all entered the Spiriters' Realm for a visit.
Looking at the bodies that seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, Li Yao felt rather creepy.
Thankfully, Long Yangjun was there to protect him.
Well, although the guy, who he did not know whether to call a eunuch or a transvestite, was not 100% reliable, Li Yao somehow felt that she was more trustworthy than his own teacher, Professor Mo Xuan!
"Rest assured!"
The moment before Li Yao was completely swallowed, he saw that Long Yangjun winked at him, as if she were telling him that with her eyes.
"Shua!"
Light and shadow changed in front of Li Yao's eyes, and he found himself on a small hill on a tranquil prairie in the blink of an eye.
The sky was high and the clouds were thin. The breeze was filled with the fragrance of flowers. The mirror-like lake was rippling slightly. A zigzagging silver river was passing through the quaint town.
Almost every household in the small town had colorful wind chimes hanging from their windows. The tinkling of wind chimes created an indescribable sense of tranquility.
Someone was singing at the top of a mountain in the distance. It was a mountain song with nine bends and eighteen bends.
Some of the children were flying in the sky as if they were carrying enormous kites on their backs. This was an illusionary world, and they did not have to abide by the rules of reality in the first place. As long as the computational ability and the soul were strong enough, anything beautiful could happen.
"Most virtual worlds cannot be 100% realistic, either because there are too many participants and the computational ability of the crystal processors is insufficient, or because the remote communication across Sectors is too unstable and the delay rate is too high, resulting in the incompatibility of people from different worlds. Or because 100% realism is too painful and can easily cause accidents. But the most important thing is the mentality."
Professor Mo Xuan's deep and passionate voice rang out from behind Li Yao. "Even if the simulation is 100% real, if the people who enter it only treat it as a game and themselves as players, how can they treat everything seriously?
"After all, everything is fake, and they can start over at any time. Even if they do not abide by the rules, they will not be punished severely. The worst that can happen is that they will be kicked out.
"When countless false mentalities are superimposed, a gigantic, weird, and false world will be created. Therefore, it is not strange at all that the DLCs of 'Civilization' that are for the ordinary players to play are called 'virtual worlds'.
"But that is not the case here. I assure you that this is the Spiriters' Realm, the home of the Spiriters, a place that we live and defend with our lives. This place has its own rules and laws, even though I am the creator."
When Li Yao turned around, he saw the real face of Professor Mo Xuan that he had only seen in pictures before.
It was the image of a tall, muscular man with broad shoulders, bronze skin, a beard, and a pair of determined eyes.
He looked like some sort of … hybrid of a camel and a bull. As long as he had a goal, no matter how harsh the environment was, he would stick to it unwaveringly until the end. Even if he fell, died, or turned into piles of bones, it would still take thousands of years for his bones to be worn away slowly.
Professor Mo Xuan was wearing a brown suit. Squatting on the ground, he narrowed his eyes and touched the smooth and moist grass on the ground softly. Suddenly, a tiny sapling grew out of the place where he touched. The sapling grew in the wind and grew into an apple tree more than three meters tall. Three heavy red apples dangled from the top of the tree. They were so plump that sweet water was flowing out of them, and they were so plump that they looked like they were about to explode. They were so clean and lovely that they seemed to have been carved out of crystals.
Professor Mo Xuan picked the three red apples and took a bite of them. While chewing, he tossed the remaining two apples to Li Yao and Ling Xiaole. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he continued, "We have to abide by the rules of this place. The most we can do is to treat our distinguished guests who have come from afar to eat two apples."
Li Yao and Ling Xiaole looked at each other and took a bite of the apple respectively.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. The juice rolled down their virtual throats, esophagus, and stomachs like honey with a touch of pleasant sourness.
Li Yao and Ling Xiaole's nerve endings sent signals of great joy to their brains.
"What do you think?"
Professor Mo Xuan sized them up without batting an eyelid. "Was the moment when you were chewing to your heart's content real or virtual?"
Li Yao pondered for a moment. "You seem to be hinting at something else, professor."
Professor Mo Xuan smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. Look. The town at the foot of the mountain is the home of the 122 Spiriters. In the most extreme and fortunate circumstances, it is very likely to be the last home of the civilization of mankind in billions of years. The heads of the local Union Army, the Secret Sword Bureau, the government department, and the academic institutions are all there. Do you want to go down there with them?"
"That will be unnecessary."
Li Yao thought of something and said, "I'm more interested in you, Professor Mo Xuan yourself. Let's take a walk, take a look, and talk!"
"I can attest to that!"
Ling Xiaole grimaced while holding the big apple. "Special Representative Lin is indeed very interested in Professor Mo Xuan, especially your 'virtual life project'. She asked me for a lot of files!"
"Exactly."
Li Yao opened his arms and enjoyed the breeze that was blowing at his face. He distinguished the seventeen different scents in the wind, only to discover that it was exactly the same as reality without any loopholes. "I didn't understand why Professor Mo Xuan abandoned the research on the 'virtual life project' at first, but after seeing this tiny 'Spiriters' Realm ', I suddenly understand. With such a delicate small world, who cares about' virtual life 'at all?"
Professor Mo Xuan took another bite of the apple and wiped the juice on his lips. He smiled. "Who said that I abandoned the research on the 'virtual life project'? As a matter of fact, the project is already close to success! "
Li Yao was dazed. His body was somewhat rigid. "… What? Professor, you have really created virtual life? Where is it? "
Li Yao's head was in a mess. Countless bizarre thoughts popped up in his head. But out of his expectation, Professor Mo Xuan pointed at the town before the hill and said, "It's right in front of you. Isn't that place full of virtual life?"
Then, he pointed at himself, Li Yao, and Ling Xiaole. "And the three of us. Aren't we virtual life?"
Ling Xiaole was confused, too. "Professor Mo Xuan, what are you talking about? I don't understand!"
Professor Mo Xuan finished the apple quickly. Then, he dug a hole on the prairie and buried the core of the virtual apple. Covering it carefully with soil, he clapped his hands and looked at Li Yao carefully. "Are you really interested in 'virtual life' and have you read a lot of my theories and files?"
Li Yao nodded his head hard.
"Then, you should know that, with the current level of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus of the Federation, it is impossible for us to create a brand-new life from nothing in a thousand years."
Professor Mo Xuan said solemnly, "I've suggested on many occasions that the public should not be misled by the third-rate fantasy novels and the claptrap entertainment products. With the current level of our crystal processors, to create a highly-developed virtual life with intelligence and self-awareness that can threaten the civilization of mankind in a hundred years is like giving you a handful of archaea and a primitive planet and asking you to evolve the archaea into dinosaurs in a thousand years. Is it possible?"
Li Yao had thought about the question a long time ago. He shook his head and said, "No, professor. I think your analogy is wrong. Archaea are far behind dinosaurs in all aspects, but that is not the relationship between crystal processors and human beings. The computational ability of many crystal processors is hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times higher than that of ordinary people. In the collision of computation and data that are as vast as an ocean, who knows whether or not a brand-new life will be born and boast immense destructive ability the moment it is born?
"Think about it. If there is an archaea that is a thousand meters in diameter and boasts an ability of swallowing and moving speed that is even more terrifying than that of dinosaurs, it will be perfectly normal for dinosaurs to fear it instinctively, won't it?"
Professor Mo Xuan was slightly dazed. He eyed Li Yao thoughtfully for a moment and smiled from the bottom of his heart. "Very good. As expected of an expert from the Star Ocean Republic, you have thought of that. Your thoughts right now are exactly the same as mine when I initiated the 'Virtual Spirits Sector Project' decades ago.
"At that time, I thought so, too. Although I said that the birth of virtual life could not be achieved overnight and that the odds of success were one billionth after thousands of years of coincidences, I always felt that it was unfair and wanted to find a way to transform the enormous computational ability of crystal processors into real self-awareness and intelligence.
"I believe that virtual life will be born one day. If so, it must be controlled by us instead of the Imperium and the Holy League. Even if we want to destroy it, we must understand its origin, development, and evolution deeply first.
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