"It's certainly great to have real chocolate, but in many cases, you can't have your cake and eat it too," the mental devil said.
"It's already good enough to have chocolate that tastes like sh * t. At the very least, you can survive."
"Still, you can't force them to do it without respecting their feelings at all. You should at least show them the menu and the ingredients first!"
Li Yao shrieked, "It's exactly like how Yun Haixin treats his wife and children. He thinks that he is affectionate, responsible, and even self-sacrificing, and that he has arranged a 'seemingly bright' future for his family. But in fact, has he ever asked his family if they are willing to live such a life?
"No, he has never asked them at all. He only considers his family to be … soulless, emotionless, and undignified objects that he can move around freely. At first, he moved them to the Eternal Light, where his memories of the past were erased and he lived like a pig for twenty years. Now, it's even better. He is going to turn his family into 'brains in a vat' so that they can continue dwelling in the virtual game!
"Do you really think that 'memory' and 'self' can be completely separated?
"Do you really think that somebody is willing to abandon everything in the past and even be implanted with false memories and condense into a false self so that they can live a happy life as a 'brain in a vat'?
"No, it's impossible. Even if Yun Haixin's family seems happy, it is only Yun Haixin's self-righteous happiness. They have been deprived of the right to choose, the right to think, the right to fight for themselves, and the right to control their own lives. Everything is under Yun Haixin's control!
"Both the Ultimate Benevolence Masters and the Puppet King are just Yun Haixin in a larger version. They have designed magnificent blueprints that seem to be bright. Under the pretext that it is' for your own good ', they have covered and controlled everybody through deception and coercion. They have deprived human beings of their birthright and turned everybody into their playthings! Without choice, there is no freedom, and without freedom, there is no self. When there is no choice but to go to heaven, heaven equals hell. That is why I am so angry! "
"Okay …"
The mental devil said, "So, you are actually not against the 'Virtualization Plan'?"
"I don't object to Lu Qingchen's idea, but I strongly object to his method."
Li Yao said, "If Lu Qingchen, the King of Puppets, can propose his ideology openly, disclose all the details, and even recruit a bunch of volunteers to tell them all the details of the 'brain in a vat' and the 'Virtualization Plan', and build a Spiriters' Realm as the settlement of the Spiriters, why would I object to it?
"Not only am I not against it, but I'm also very interested in traveling to such a Spirit Realm. I'll even contribute my wisdom and resources to enrich such a Spirit Realm!
"But look around. Look at the explosions, the flames, the slaughter, and the screams. Do you think that Lu Qingchen, the King of Puppets, has any respect for the people whom he calls' compatriots'? Does he care about the dignity, freedom, and right of choice of those people?
"This is the biggest difference between Lu Qingchen and me.
"Lu Qingchen is too arrogant. He thinks that he has grasped the ultimate development of the civilization of mankind and that he can draw the blueprint of the future of mankind freely. Also, in the process, he considers the lives, dignity, and freedom of thousands of people as the 'paint' on his great painting.
"But I don't know. I really don't know what the future of mankind will be or what 'should' be. I only know that I am just a mortal whose wisdom and abilities are rather limited. I shouldn't, and I am not interested in, planning and restricting the future of mankind!
"I only want to do my best to wake up my compatriots and help them take back the right of choice, the wisdom to think, and the courage to fight. Then, I deeply believe that the thousands of compatriots of mankind will create the most beautiful future on their own. There will be no need for any gods, saints, prophets, emperors, or fathers to create it for them!"
"Then, you have chosen the most tortuous and difficult path," the mental devil said.
The mental devil said, "In many cases, it should be the case theoretically, but there are always unexpected problems in reality. We have to compromise and choose … a more straightforward and convenient approach, just like what Lu Qingchen is doing right now."
"Certain things can be compromised, but boundaries must not be crossed! For example, if you want me to crawl into the shell of the spider tank, dress up, and talk like a primary school girl, I'm fine with it even if I have to do a circle dance, but to sleep in Chu Zhixiao's arms, that's absolutely unacceptable! "
Li Yao declared resolutely. "This is the boundary. The boundary. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
The mental devil was considerate. "Once the boundary is crossed, you will die a horrible death."
"… More or less."
Li Yao said, "All in all, it is absolutely impossible for me to watch so many innocent people's lives and humanity being trampled on without doing anything, or even to cooperate with the trampler!"
"Wow!"
The mental devil said, "Why do I suddenly feel that you are so awesome, dominating, and manly? Even my soul power is surging and being absorbed by you all of a sudden?"
"Because I, 'Vulture Li Yao', am truly infuriated today!"
Li Yao gnashed his teeth. "You and I have always been in a relationship of mutual attraction. Normally, I merely store my strength and wisdom in your place and keep a low profile. But do you really think I'm a sick cat if I don't go on a rampage? Today, I'm going to beat the sh * t out of Lu Qingchen, the King of Puppets. Nobody is going to stop me!"
"Rest assured. Nobody is going to stop you. Just go on a rampage!"
The mental devil said. "Ah. The abnormal data of the King of Puppets seems to have come from the building in front of us!"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. He hurried to maneuver the spider tank to dodge to the roadside.
The debris of countless shuttles were piled up on the roadside. Many of them were still burning furiously with intense smoke popping up, perfectly covering his existence.
However, the sign of the building in front of him still surprised Li Yao.
"Guang Ming City … General Medical Center."
Li Yao mumbled, "It's a hospital?"
It was somewhat out of his expectation. They had locked onto nine facilities in Guang Ming City that boasted super crystal processors. They had even thought of the mainframe crystal processor on the bridge of Eternal Light. However, there was no hospital on the list.
"I understand it now. No wonder it was so difficult to locate the King of Puppets in person. I'm afraid that he is not relying on any super crystal processor at all!"
The mental devil said. "Do you still remember the tricks that Lu Qingchen and Mo Xuan played in the Federation? One of their nests was established in the 'Blue Sky Super Brain Hospital' in Hundred Flowers City. It was made of the brains of countless human beings and the biochemical brains that were scanned layer by layer by layer as the carriers of the Spiriters' Realm!"
"Exactly!"
Li Yao remembered it, too. "That explains a lot. It's a human brain instead of a crystal processor. No wonder he hid himself so well. However, this is as far as his tricks go!
"Listen. My plan is to go straight to the point and suppress the soul of the King of Puppets, or Lu Qingchen, brutally with my unparalleled soul power and drag his remaining soul into the mainframe crystal processor of the spider tank. Then, we will build an illusion with our extraordinary computational ability and give him a taste of his own medicine. We will let him taste the infinite pain in the illusion. We will beat him up, torture him, humiliate him, and force him to confess everything. If necessary, we can even completely swallow his remaining soul.
"Then, we will inherit his plan and organization. We can even manipulate the Divine Heart Society in his name and reach out to the Imperium and the Federation without alarming anyone. Then, when the Holy League and the Imperium are having a strategic final battle, we will cooperate from the inside and the outside. Hehehehe. All the people of the Holy League will be liberated. How does it sound? Is it perfect? Are there any loopholes?"
"It does sound perfect without any loopholes," the mental devil said.
The mental devil said, "If we ignore the premise that our seemingly perfect and flawless plans in the past were always proven to be full of flaws by the cold reality, we are theoretically perfect and flawless."
"… What do you mean?"
Li Yao's soul frowned. "What else?"
"There is no 'what else'," the mental devil said obediently.
"Just pretend that I didn't say anything. Go ahead. Tie up and imprison the remaining soul of the King of Puppets to your heart's content. Torture and humiliate him!"
"Of course!"
Sensing that the abnormal streams of data in the void were getting more and more intense, Li Yao guessed that the battle between Chu Zhixiao and Yun Haixin not far away must have reached the climax. Their mental defenses were riddled with holes. Lu Qingchen, the King of Puppets, had strengthened his corruption on them, too. Even the vague black traces were much more intense than before. It was almost a clear indication of his real body.
Li Yao rubbed his fists and was about to jump up and lunge at the origin of the King of Puppets.
However, the moment he raised his forelimbs, his soul suddenly 'smelled' a weird air.
Naturally, his soul did not have a sense of smell, but the subtle changes of the temperature around, the subtle disturbances of the streams of information and data, and the intuitions that surpassed his five senses all forced him to stop and crouch.
Huala!
Hardly had he retreated the last bit of his telepathic thoughts when the windows of many skyscrapers nearby suddenly exploded. Dozens of pure white shadows jumped out and floated in midair, locking onto the 'Light City Comprehensive Medical Center'!
"This is —"
Even without releasing his soul to scan, Li Yao could sense the immense mental power of the guys who were wearing white robes and whose every pore seemed to be emitting brilliance.
In the world of information and data, they were like dozens of furiously burning torches that illuminated the entire twisted sky.
Their hair was loose, and their feet were bare. Their faces were solemn. There was not the slightest decoration on their spotless white robes, except for the emblem that represented the arrival of the holy light on their chests. They seemed to be the senior priests of the Holy League.
As for exactly how 'senior' they were, Li Yao did not know. He only knew that the 'holy light' released from the brain of each of the dozens of white-robed priests was enough to illuminate an entire starship.
"King of Puppets —"
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