As he mumbled, the fog that surrounded Black Dream Yun Haixin's face slowly melted and flowed down. Like two murky streams, they intersected with each other on his trembling face.
His eyes, which had been hidden behind the black mist the whole time, were finally revealed to Li Yao and Chu Zhixiao.
Neither Li Yao nor Chu Zhixiao had ever seen such clear, affectionate, and painful eyes before.
Just the thought of how much pain and torment the soul behind the pair of eyes had to endure made them feel bitter.
"The only reason that supported me to struggle in hell to this day was that my family could spend the rest of their lives in a sweet dream."
Yun Haixin let the tears that were melted by the black mist run freely. He said, "But now that Eternal Light has been reduced to such a state, my family's dreams have all been shattered. Maybe they will remember everything in the past. Maybe they will turn into ferocious beasts. Maybe they will be killed by the guards when they charge at the bridge. Maybe they will be blown into pieces in the self-detonation of Eternal Light.
"Hehe. Hehehehe. In that case, what's the point of everything I've done? Why should I continue to bow to the Ultimate Benevolence Masters and beg like a dog? "
He walked toward Chu Zhixiao step by step.
"Calm down, Black Dream."
Chu Zhixiao was unwilling to be the enemy of such a troublesome teammate. He said in a hurry, "You don't think that we caused all this, do you?"
"Rest assured. I won't vent my anger on anyone. I know that it has nothing to do with you. You are nothing more than a pitiful tool."
Yun Haixin paused for a moment, and the sorrow on his face was even more intense. "However, the King of Puppets promised me that as long as I listened to his order and helped him accomplish a minor task, which was to stall you and help him break the mental wall so that your brain could be completely opened, he would save my wife and my children and let them continue to live an ignorant and happy life."
"How is it possible?"
Chu Zhixiao shrieked. "You believe such a clumsy lie? The Eternal Light has already collapsed. Even the Ultimate Benevolence Masters might not be able to duplicate a new Eternal Light at such a critical moment with all the resources of the Holy League. How can the King of Puppets, who is a public enemy of the universe, ensure the safety of your wife and your children and give them an illusionary happiness? It's impossible. He can't control such a large-scale experimental starship like the Eternal Light, nor does he have enough resources to maintain an illusionary paradise! You can't have missed such a simple logic. Wake up, Black Dream! "
Yun Haixin laughed. She laughed so hard that she bared her teeth. She laughed silently, and her laughter was even uglier than the wailing of a ghost in the underworld.
"That's right. Of course I can think of such a simple logic. However, the Puppet King still managed to convince me."
........... the Dream land... Who said said that the Dream land land of Eternal Light, had to be built in the real world? Since it is a Dream Land, wouldn't it be better to build it in a dream?
"Yes. Compared to the resources of the entire Holy League under the Ultimate Benevolence Masters' control, the King of Puppets certainly has very few resources under his control. It is impossible for him to maintain such an enormous' Eternal Light Project '. However, it is still possible for him to hijack a mid-sized starship and wander in the depths of the sea of stars with the resources that could last him for a hundred years, right?
"The universe is too vast. Looking for a starship is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The Imperium of True Human Beings spent a lot of soldiers searching for 'Firefly', the last starship of the Star Ocean Republic, for a thousand years in vain.
"The starship controlled by the King of Puppets, on the other hand, is highly automated and does not require many crew members. It is carrying a batch of special goods — brains of human beings."
"… Brains of human beings?"
Chu Zhixiao found it hard to believe. "What do you mean?"
"It's very simple. The King of Puppets cannot save the fleshly bodies of my wife and children. Those things consume too many resources and are unnecessary," Yun Haixin explained.
Yun Haixin explained, "But at the very least, he can save the brains of my wife and my children. He can place their brains in special biochemical cabins and inject them with high-energy nutrition liquids and nerval interaction liquids. Then, he can connect all kinds of crystal wires to give them different stimuli. In such a way, the souls of my wife and my children will be 'uploaded' to a certain virtual world that the Puppet King calls the Spiriters' Realm.
"The Spiriters' Realm is like a colorful, splendid, and luxurious virtual game. It does not consume many resources at all. As long as the tiny bit of computational ability is consumed, it will be enough to maintain their happiness. They will be ten times happier than on 'Eternal Light'!
"The King of Puppets can even scan the structure of my brain and simulate the features of my soul with his computational ability. Then, he will create another me in the virtual world so that the virtual me and my wife can meet and fall in love. Our family will live happily together."
"Well —"
Chu Zhixiao's face was pale, and he was lost for words for a long time.
Li Yao felt that his head was dizzy, too. Lu Qingchen, the King of Puppets, was indeed as stubborn as ever. He would implement his' Virtualization Plan 'wherever he went!
"There's no need to be so surprised. You should know that the technology of 'brain in a vat' is quite mature even in the Holy League," Yun Haixin said casually.
"In the Devil Child Project where you were born, a lot of Devil Children lost their bodies and were still alive with only their brains left. However, they suffered endless pain, while my wife and children enjoyed eternal happiness. That's all.
"Let's be more open-minded. Today, when artificial limbs and artificial bodies are popular, many people who are heavily wounded will replace their body organs. Isn't it perfectly normal for certain patients who are seriously wounded to lose ninety-nine percent of their fleshly body and have only their brains carried by artificial bodies?" "That's right.
"However, even if someone loses ninety-nine percent of their fleshly body and even their brains and becomes a spectral Cultivator, they can only travel in the human world with artificial bodies. At the very least, everything they feel is real!"
Chu Zhixiao gnashed his teeth. "You, on the other hand, are turning your wife and children into 'brain in a vat' and living in a false world forever. Do you really have a clear head and know what you are doing?"
"Hehe. Haha. Hahahahaha!"
Yun Haixin was dazed for a long time. Then, he suddenly laughed crazily, holding his stomach.
Black tears slid down from the corner of his mouth and dripped to the ground beside his feet like black blood droplets.
"What is real and what is false? Where is the boundary between the real and the false?"
Yun Haixin raised his head in his crazy laughter. His eyes were so clear that Li Yao and Chu Zhixiao could not look at them directly. "The Eternal Light is made of materials and real. But is the life of the people on the Eternal Light 'real'?
"The Holy League is real, too, but are the lies of the Ultimate Benevolence Masters enough to convince everybody? Is everything that has been brainwashed the 'real' that you are pursuing and defending?
"Right. The Imperium of True Human Beings, my hometown, is real. But what's the point of the bloody, cruel reality where the strong prey on the weak? Who would like their family and their offspring to live in such a 'reality' forever?
"If there are only two paths, the illusionary paradise and the real hell, Major, you can tell me which one I should choose. I don't think it's difficult, right?
"Or, you can teach me how to save my wife and children if I don't listen to the Puppet King's persuasion. Should I beg the Ultimate Benevolence Masters to arrange my wife and children on another experiment starship? Even if the Holy League has a second 'Eternal Light', it will still be a false dream even if it does. Will it be any different from the Puppet King's brain in a vat?
"How to choose? How to go? How to save them? Teach me. Teach me!"
"But —"
Chu Zhixiao's eyes and mind were both in a mess. He struggled to say, "Stop lying to yourself. The Puppet King is only using you. His purpose is to make the two of us fight each other so that our mental defenses will be broken at the same time. Then, his strength will be able to invade our brains and analyze our souls!
"When he does achieve his purpose, who can guarantee that he will fulfill his promise? Even if he does fulfill his promise, how long can your wife and children last on a starship alone as a brain in a vat?
"The concept of time in the virtual world is different from that in reality. In their perception, it shouldn't be a problem for them to live a carefree and comfortable life for hundreds of years, right? What happens hundreds of years later is not something that I can worry about. Maybe the virtual world will collapse in the blink of an eye, and they will die painlessly as dust among the stars, reuniting with me in another dimension after I've perished a long time ago. Can there be a better arrangement for a husband and a father? "
Yun Haixin put on a rigid smile again. "As for self-deception, it's true that I can't guarantee that the Puppet King will fulfill his promise. It's not a problem to say that I'm lying to myself.
"But what about you, Major?
"I'm lying to myself. What about you?
"Is the Puppet King's lie any different from the Ultimate Benevolence Masters'? I can't guarantee that the Puppet King will fulfill his promise, but can you guarantee that the Ultimate Benevolence Masters are telling the truth and that the wretched 'gods' will really wake up and lead us to eternal light?
"Bullsh * t! It's all bullsh * t! The gods and buddhas in the sky are all dead. Right now, I am the only one left in this boundless universe, the weak, confused, blind, bloodthirsty, crazy, and greedy human beings!
"In fact, you know very well, as well as I do, that everything that enshrouds us is a lie. However, in the Infernal Hell, as long as there is a glimmer of light in front of us, no matter how remote and insignificant it is, even if we know that it is not real, even if it is just our own illusion, we will still pursue, seize, and protect it without caring about anything. That is human beings.
"Getting to the bottom of it, Yuanying, the Divinity Transformation Stage, the Devil's Child, the Major, the Black Dream, and the Goddess of Slaughter, we are all the same. We are all insignificant people who play tricks. It's our destiny to be deceived and manipulated. What else can we do?
"Even if I am deceiving myself, please don't expose me. Let me keep a slim hope. As long as I can break the wall of defense in your mind with everything I have and allow the Puppet King to reach the deepest part of your soul, my family will be able to enjoy three to five hundred years of happiness. This is … the last thing I can do for them!"
Yun Haixin's eyes were covered in the black mist again.
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