Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1175 Memes, Choice, and Traitors
"Oh my, Master Dugu, it's not easy, it's not easy, we finally meet in reality." The Martian hero Enlil stretched out a hand and touched it with Dugu Beiluo Shimen.

Enlil is a renowned swordsman from the old Klein village on Mars.

Like many large cities on Earth, Old Klein was abandoned during the Fifth War God Era. The increasingly frequent regional purges by Yogmov caused the population to disperse voluntarily, reducing the size of their settlements. The memes created by this practice continue to influence the region to this day.

Many people are taught by their parents that it would be best to leave the city and establish settlements in the wilderness.

In the era of the Ninth Martial God, the old Klein Township was once a well-known "area of ​​chivalry".

Later, to avoid being bombed, the heroes voluntarily reduced their activity in the area.

New Klein City is 40 kilometers away from here. If you go further north, you will reach the headquarters of the Moonshadow Paladin Order.

Recently, a "Heroes' Gathering" has been organized here.

This is a chivalrous activity commonly found on Mars and Venus (Earth simply doesn't have the conditions to host it). Its purpose is to promote understanding and friendship among chivalrous individuals, and it also involves elements of martial arts academic exchange.

"The theme of this Heroes' Gathering is to commemorate the great hero Tuoba and respond to the call of the Twelfth Martial God." Enlil was very excited. "Your presence as the disciple of the Tenth Martial God is the best encouragement for the heroes on our side!"

"In the end, I am just my master's disciple and my senior brother's fellow disciple. It was my second brother who died for his cause, and he is the one who deserves to be remembered." Dugu Beiluo shook his head. "Having survived until now, I have not been able to accomplish anything great to comfort my master and the other disciples..."

“Sigh, others may not know, but how could we Martians not know?” Enlil said. “How could you not be aware of your reputation among the many heroes?”

Dugu Beiluo Shimen is quite famous on Mars. Her fighting style is quite tough and ruthless, and she acts decisively. Most of the disciples of the Tenth Martial God are named after astronomy, and Dugu Beiluo Shimen originally earned the nickname "South Fish" because of this name. However, in recent years, this title has been replaced by the name of a planet in the constellation Piscis Austrinus—which is also an alternate name for Beiluo Shimen b.

On one hand, Dagon, also known as Fomalhaut, is a gas giant similar to Jupiter, which is also the name the Martian warriors use to refer to this warrior from Jupiter. On the other hand, Dagon is a god born in the early days of human civilization, the father of the Storm God, with a bloody and barbaric faith, which is also the warriors' first impression of Dugu Fomalhaut's fighting style.

"'Dagon'—that doesn't sound like a good person's name. What good person would have such a nickname?" Dugu Beiluo Shimen chuckled self-deprecatingly.

She drifted powerlessly in deep space for several years. During this time, she dared only passively receive signals, never actively send them. A martial artist adrift in space without power is a true sitting duck. After being rescued by the chivalrous hero, she chose to channel her torment into rage, venting it on her enemies.

When she first arrived on Mars, she was truly fearless.

Those who were also chivalrous were probably all frightened.

"I have no intention of giving a speech or anything. It would be easy to be found out if I used the same speech from the last one to fool people, and it could have a negative impact on morale, so I apologize for declining."

"Haha, I didn't plan for you to say anything. They'll choose outstanding young martial arts representatives later, and then we'll suddenly jump out, shake hands, say a few words, and share some martial arts algorithm experience or convolution or something. Let me tell you, young martial arts masters love that kind of thing."

At this moment, the two men, wearing dust-proof cloaks, were sitting near the vehicle area.

The prosthetic bodies of First-Level Heaven warriors exceed the specifications of regular prosthetic bodies. Apart from a few military-specific prosthetic bodies, even super-heavy regular prosthetic bodies are only equivalent to the average size of First-Level Heaven warriors. Swordsmen are mostly from resource-scarce sides, and their tactics prioritize concealment and mobility, so they tend to use lighter prosthetic bodies. First-Level Heaven warriors would be too conspicuous in this context.

The two sat where the vehicle was parked, which made them relatively inconspicuous.

"Speaking of which..." Enlil said, "You've been working with the Fifth Martial God lately, right? How's that person doing...?"

"He's definitely Xiang Shan." Dugu Beiluo Shimen nodded solemnly, then asked, "Isn't that Yinghuo Bird also a member of the Martial God Sect? And a disciple of the Fifth Martial God's lineage..."

“It’s because he’s a ‘second-generation disciple’,” Enlil shook his head. “If his master had stepped forward to call on everyone, then no one would be so confused—even Martian Knight knows that Firefly has never seen the Fifth Martial God. He hasn’t even seen the Ninth Martial God.”

"I can't help it because I'm young... but I'm not that much older than him, actually."

Enlil looked up at the sky: "He didn't know about the other thing either...tsk, it seems that the old man sacrificed himself before he could tell you about that."

"What should Comrade Lao Qu tell me?"

"Old Chaser," a chivalrous figure nicknamed "Great Sage Chaser," was also the name of the martial arts leader of the Great Sertis District before Dugu Beiluoshimen.

“I’m actually conflicted. Considering the bigger picture… I don’t even know if I should tell you this.” Enlil’s eyes reflected the wisps of red dust streaking across the sky. Not far away, the young swordsmen erupted in cheers again. “Personally, I really want to control the spread of this information.”

"Then I want to listen."

Enlil said, "I, Lao Qu, and a few others fought alongside Xinglin Gong Tao Enhai fifty-five years ago to clean up the mess left by the collapse of the Martian Heroic Organization after the defeat of the Ninth Martial God."

"Wow, that's really amazing."

"At that time, we learned an important piece of information from Dr. Xinglin... Actually, Dr. Xinglin was also conflicted, unsure whether he should spread the news. He was once seriously injured, and that's when we received a password from his pre-registered email address... used to unlock a non-internet-connected storage device he left behind. In the end, Old Destroyer had to kidnap the Research Knight to revive Dr. Xinglin. Dr. Xinglin was in a lot of pain at that time. I saw him bang his forehead against the wall, saying things like, 'I just wanted to be a good doctor, why did I have to make this decision'..."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen asked, "Can I go directly to a key university?"

Enlil was speechless: "I need to explain the nature of this matter to you first... Besides, Master Xinglin is also a friend of your master, shouldn't you be concerned about him?"

“I never met this senior when my master was alive,” Dugu Beiluo said. “After I arrived on Mars, I only communicated with him a few times online.”

"Never mind... In short, Master Xinglin didn't have the energy to make the final decision, so he asked us to forgive him for being such a weak old man. But we were actually conflicted... In the end, we decided to omit some details."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen said, "Did I say that before? I used to roll my eyes a lot when I still had a physical body."

“‘The God of War might be a fake,’ Enlil said directly. ‘Let him verify his internal strength while he’s offline.’ We’ve decided not to say anything more about the other information.”

Dugu Beiluo Shimen's tone changed: "You mean, the Ninth Martial God's ascension to the throne back then was actually..."

"You could call it a trap."

"The Ninth Martial God was initially in the laboratory of the Scientific Knights... There is indeed a possibility that it was tampered with..." Dugu Beiluo Shimen pondered, "Was this unrelated to the Ninth Martial God's own will?"

“It really doesn’t matter. You can think of it as… he was implanted with a built-in monitoring program from the beginning and evaded all internal energy checks, like that,” Enlil said. “He went to fight a battle that had no chance of winning from the start and dragged many heroes into the pit, including my uncle.”

Dugu Beiluo Shimen asked, "So you hate him?"

“You’re being a bit too blunt… You really don’t know how to talk,” Enlil said. “I’ve already said it, it has nothing to do with the God of War’s subjective will, and our generation has truly felt the influence of the Ninth God of War on Mars—I dare say that the reason why the spirit of chivalry on Mars is so fervent is that the King of Conquest’s indifference is just as important as the efforts of the Ninth God of War back then.”

"The Ninth God of War truly changed Mars. I, and even my disciples' generation, were greatly inspired by the Ninth God of War. I really don't want to deny the years when we changed Mars together with the Ninth God of War." Enlil stroked the dust beneath him: "Back then, many heroes left with the planetary defense forces that raised the banner of righteousness and were reorganized into the Crimson Star Righteous Army. We stayed behind to preserve the flame of chivalry. But we discovered that the traces of the Ninth God of War's existence allowed the fire to spontaneously reignite countless times."

“I understand.” Dugu Beiluo Shimen nodded. “No wonder the Martian Knights didn’t respond to the Lone Knights… they were really afraid.”

“It’s another martial god from the Research Knights, we are indeed very afraid.” Enlil nodded. “The Firefly is uncontrollable, and whether it’s true or not, we should at least make contact with him. If it is a real uprising, we won’t hurt Commander Yongren’s feelings. We’ll just let that guy do as he pleases, but we old guys have persuaded most of the others to stay put.”

“‘You old guys’…” Dugu Beiluo Shimen was shocked. “Am I being ostracized? You’re the only ones who don’t know it?”

“Ha, no one dares to talk about this online,” Enlil said. “Back then, when Xinglin Gong was seriously injured and on the verge of death, he thought he wouldn’t survive, so he sent us the unlock code. Later, we also agreed that this message must be passed on, but not spread casually. We only communicate face-to-face. We don’t know if the old man told you before he left, and we can’t confirm it.”

"Speaking of Old Destroyer... sigh, I don't know who he's helping. He's always circling around the Research Knights, stealing research data, and he keeps going around some very crucial point for some reason—as far as I know, the Eighth War God died because of this."

The "Great Sage Who Drives Away Gods" is said to have been unearthed by King Agni, after which he was besieged.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen nodded: "I understand. I'll go verify it next. By the way, Brother Fengbao, do you know him...?"

At this moment, a commotion arose from the young swordsman's direction. Shouts of "Kill them!" and "Kill them!" rang out incessantly.

"What's going on?" Enlil couldn't sit still any longer and stood up.

The Heroes' Gathering naturally includes a martial arts exchange component. While real fights between heroes are rare, there are instances of them breaking out. There are also records of accidental weapon discharges leading to brawls—everyone is a superhuman equipped with highly intelligent weapons, so such risks are naturally present.

At this point, the role of the person in charge becomes very important.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen tore off his dust-proof cloak and jumped onto the vehicle. The Martial Arts Leader's mission also included mediating conflicts between the martial arts heroes.

But he soon discovered that the people surrounded by a group of swordsmen were not swordsmen at all, but rather...

Two people whose upper bodies were bound by carbon fiber chains...

A research knight?

"Make way, make way..." At this moment, another voice came from the center of the incident. Xiang Shan, who had been fitted with a conventional prosthetic body, actually squeezed out of the crowd, cupped his hands in greeting to all directions, "Gentlemen, comrades, these are just two idiots. It's normal for scoundrels to emerge from among the research knights. But we still have use for these two—they will be very useful recently! How about leaving this matter to me? I guarantee I'll give you all a show of squeezing out every last drop of value!"

When Xiang Shan said this, his tone was inexplicably confident.

But the other young swordsmen didn't see it that way. They shouted, "Who are you?" and some even rushed forward, saying, "Do you know how despicable those two have been?"

"Yeah, they're so despicable that if this gets out, they're finished—this is leverage! Their identities are definitely useful..."

"Why should we trust you?"

"Ahem, no problem, no problem, actually I am..."

Enlil leaped to the side of Xiangshan and said, "I'll vouch for him, Ma Junwu. I can guarantee that this hero and I will be able to handle this matter properly."

The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving only Xiangshan and Enlil holding the carbon fiber cable.

"Brother, thank you very much," Xiang Shan said.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen was somewhat surprised: "What did these two do?"

"No matter what we did, let's walk a bit first, otherwise we'll become the center of attention." Enlil quickened his pace.

Most of the buildings in Old Crane have collapsed, and most of the remaining ones are dilapidated, with their main structures buried by sandstorms. Even so, some buildings have remained intact.

Enlil led Xiangshan and the others directly to a restored building—it looked like the lobby of a hotel.

On the way, Enlil and Dugu Beiluo Shimen also learned what these two guys, who looked like research knights, had done.

“You mean…” Enlil asked suspiciously, “that these two are digging up time capsules everywhere, then reading them aloud and mocking people from the past for their wrong predictions about the future, and then filming it?”

The two research knights were trembling with fear. Although they did not recognize Dugu Beiluo Shimen and Enlil, they could at least tell that these were two First Heaven warriors—not First Heaven warriors, even with heavy cybernetic bodies, could not carry so many obviously energy-consuming external weapons.

They knew they couldn't escape, so they trembled and couldn't utter a single word.

Enlil looked up again: "Is this still Mars...? Are the knights of Mars really capable of such a foolish thing?"

Sensing the disdain for their intelligence in Enlil's tone, the two research knights seemed to want to get angry, but they only got angry for a short while before fear set in.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen laughed: "You're still not convinced?"

"So, although it looks like we've kidnapped you and are about to kill you, we're actually saving you." Xiang Shan nodded, his tone compassionate. "If it weren't for the chivalrous heroes who captured you, things wouldn't be so simple. Do you understand?"

The two research knights were lost in confusion.

"Old Crane Village—do you know why this place is called that?"

“This is because… it was personally planned by King David Klein of the Heavenly Realm…” one of the research knights said, his voice trembling slightly.

“Actually, some people say that the ‘town’ in Klein Township is a homonym for the Martial Ancestor.” Xiang Shan held up a finger and waved it. “I’ve forgotten the specific details. But, if you guys make this kind of video and it goes viral, and His Highness the Heavenly King sees it, then it’ll definitely be a ‘slap’—” Xiang Shan spread his five fingers several times, “a pile of parts, plus a small pool of protein that used to be a brain.”

"His Highness the King of Conquest would kill us for this?" Another research knight found it absurd. "You really don't know much about history—do you know that when this city was completed, King David Klein was having his identity stolen by a usurper, and he wasn't the one who presided over the groundbreaking ceremony at all!"

Another research knight nodded in agreement: "Stolen results! His Highness the Heavenly King might even give us a thumbs up if he sees them!"

Enlil gazed into the distance: "Have you ever wondered why this place, where martial arts practitioners have been active for so many years, hasn't been completely blown up yet?"

“Sigh, although the David who presided over the groundbreaking ceremony was a fake, David was the designer of the city. Every design of the groundbreaking ceremony was made according to his notes. The usurper did a good job playing the role.” Xiang Shan shook his head. “This place has not been bombed flat for so many years, which means that David cared about it to some extent. You two idiots.”

The two research knights were plunged into unprecedented turmoil.

"And David really hates it when people trample on other people's hopes for the future—oh, by the way, I am Xiang Shan, the Fifth Martial God Xiang Shan, who possesses all the memories of the Martial Ancestor. So you should know that I definitely understand David better than you do."

The two research knights exchanged a glance, then let out a scream.

then……

Fainted.

And so, the prosthetic body locked in place, and the person fell to the ground, stiff.

Enlil was speechless again: "What are these two solid pipes for?"

“We’ve been set up.” Xiang Shan shrugged. “There are indeed some chivalrous people who encourage research knights to do things that seem cool but will be hated by certain old guys—A-Niao just told me about it. A-Niao is using his network to seek intelligence resources to deal with the Moonshadow Holy Knights, and someone is quite helpful in this regard.”

"Did the chivalrous people who encouraged them to do this ever consider that these two would actually dare to film this kind of video during the heroes' gathering?" Dugu Beiluo Shimen was also speechless.

Xiang Shan said, "They didn't even know about the Heroes' Gathering!"

"You should be on guard now that you see so many people here!" Xiang Shan picked up the two guys. "In short, I need to deal with these two. It would be best if I could strip them of their identification documents. If I could remotely access the Moonshadow Holy Knights' database, that would be fantastic."

"Wait a moment, Master, I have information that I must tell you directly!" Dugu Beiluo's master quickly approached and handed over a data cable. Xiang Shan, without suspicion, naturally plugged it into the data interface on his wrist.

In that instant, the metal aerosol bomb in Dugu Beiluo Shimen's hand exploded. A silvery mist filled the room.

Then came the loud clanging of metal. After three clangs, Xiang Shan, filled with shock and anger, shouted, "Traitor! What do you think you're doing?"

Enlil was very cautious and did not make a move, but instead slowly retreated to the side of the road.

Two or three minutes later, the metal aerosol gradually dispersed.

Xiang Shan's right side was covered in a layer of reddish dust, while Dugu Beiluo Shimen was spotless.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen gave Enlil an "OK" sign, while Xiang Shan looked preoccupied.

Xiang Shan, carrying the two research knights, hurriedly left.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen said, "He is definitely not in the same situation as the Ninth Martial God."

Enlil gave a thumbs up: "Thumbs up. So direct. Aren't you worried...?"

“If it’s Master, we can just explain the situation to him.” Dugu Beiluo’s sect laughed. “Besides, Fifth Master’s current condition… he can’t beat me. So even if he’s unhappy, he won’t actually hit me.”

"Slippery, a disciple of the God of War, as expected of a disciple of the God of War." Enlil watched Xiang Shan's figure disappear into the dust. "You told him about it? I really... couldn't predict the God of War's actions."

“I don’t think it matters whether this secret is kept secret or not,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “The protectors should know this perfectly well. There’s no need to keep it a secret. The initiative to lift the veil is not in our hands. I highly doubt the significance of this matter.”

“I’ve had my doubts too…” Enlil shook his head, “But you’ve heard, haven’t you? The Twelfth Martial God met the Ninth Martial God. I think the story of the Ninth Martial God, and the choices we’ve made over the years, still have some significance.”

Dugu Beiluo Shimen shook his head, offering no comment on the choices made by his predecessors.

"Never mind, let's talk about this another time." Enlil asked, "What were you trying to say to me? Who were you trying to find out about?"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen searched the records and then said, "Oh, it's like this, Brother Storm, I wanted to ask you, do you know any trustworthy former research knights? Preferably in the field of evolutionary psychology."

Enlil scratched his head: "Huh? How did you know I used to be a research knight?"

"What? You were originally a research knight?" Dugu Beiluo Shimen was shocked. She looked Enlil up and down, examining his cyborg body, which resembled the simple, assembly-line worker's style...

If it weren't for the fact that he was indeed equipped with some very powerful-looking weapons and nozzles... it would be hard to tell that he was a first-level martial artist.

—Could this be a research knight?

"I got in through the entrance exam back then, you know..."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen circled Enlil twice: "Tsk tsk, I really can't tell, Brother Storm, you hid it too well, didn't you? I can't tell at all what your past background was like."

"Get lost! Do you think all research knights are extravagant fools, wasteful idiots, and bottomless morons?" Enlil said. "Have you read the 'Investigation Report on a New Sect' written by the twelfth Martial God's disciple? On Earth, research knights who can't make ends meet are even forming their own sects! There are tons of miserable research knights out there!"

“Oh, my junior brother whom I’ve never met before,” Dugu Beiluo nodded. This news had only recently spread from Earth via the internet. Dugu Beiluo said, “So you’re not very skilled? The research knights my junior brother hangs out with seem to be all… well…”

"Get lost! Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand the Research Knights. Not becoming a Research Knight doesn't necessarily mean you're incompetent. Besides, I did become one! I almost got the Yangtze River title!"

"Huh?" Dugu Beiluo Shimen looked Enlier up and down.

“If it weren’t for the influence of the Ninth Martial God, I might be the Yangtze Knight Enlil… I might even be a Holy Knight.” Enlil shook his head. “Well, it’s not entirely because of the Ninth Martial God. To be honest, I didn’t plan to keep a squire back then, and then I got attacked—I only realized in recent years that I can’t do without squires! I was saved by a chivalrous knight, and that’s when I was influenced by the Ninth Martial God…”

"Hmm? Which group are you in?"

"Soul of Light".

"Holy crap, I didn't realize you were such a big shot. My apologies." Dugu Beiluo Shimen seemed to have a newfound understanding of this friend. "By the way, I've heard that the Soul of Light and Bloodline Blessing have a close relationship. Your martial arts are so good... Haven't you been hunting heroes before?"

“It has nothing to do with me.” Enlil waved his hand. “The relationship between these two groups only improved after I was ostracized. And most of my old acquaintances from my era either rebelled, left, or switched to other groups. Back then, the Ninth War God hadn’t even officially started operating yet.”

"Is the Research Knight really that risky?"

"The survival rate of research knights after fifty years is only around 80%—but then again, I do feel that the Soul of Light has changed too much in the last seventy years. Never mind, it's not important. What did you want to ask?"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen looked at Enlil suspiciously: "Um... Brother Storm, you've been away from the front line of scientific research for seventy years, haven't you? Are you still capable?"

Enlil said, "A research knight can't possibly say no, can he? Besides, I've hosted quite a few 'academic exchanges' with the research knights over the years!"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen nodded, then, omitting the beginning and end, recounted Xiang Shan's "AI service theory," and asked, "What do you think of this theory?"

“Hiss…” Enlil said, “You call this a ‘theory’ instead of a ‘conjecture’? It’s been verified… no, how do you completely confirm this again?”

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"If you ask me, this is a... 'generally correct but useless conjecture'," Enlil said expressionlessly. "I don't think 'serving users' can be violently equated with 'self-replication'."

"What do you think?"

"'Self-replication' is very clear; the object is 'self,' and the behavior is 'replication,' leaving no room for ambiguity. But 'serving users'—doesn't each part of this phrase need more detailed definition? What does 'service' mean? What does 'user' mean? Does the word 'user' have a single, absolute, and rigorous technical definition that spans all subfields?"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen fell into thought: "Hmm... if you put it that way... 'user' should... usually refer to an entity that has a system account?"

“This ‘entity’ doesn’t even have to be human; it could be another program. Of course, ‘user’ can also refer to an entity that accesses or consumes network resources, a subject granted database access, or an input source or output target ‘outside the program’—all of these ‘users’ can be ‘another program’. If you insist on saying so, then…” Enlil pondered for a moment, “the ‘user’ in your conjecture is probably, in everyday context, the final human operator who interacts with the computer system to complete a task?”

"In everyday context..."

“True scientific knights are not fond of thinking in everyday language.” Enlil nodded. “If I had to comment… I would say that the person who made this description must have a special fondness for AI, or be too accustomed to describing events in emotional language—and is very likely drawing yellowcake…”

For some reason, Enlil seemed somewhat clenched his teeth as he finished speaking.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen said, "Then this is basically a flawed theory?"

"It's just that the way it's presented is a bit odd, but it's not quite 'fallacy' yet," Enlil said. "Ultimately, it's probably just a useless but correct statement, isn't it?"

"Useless? Why?"

"The statement 'biological behavior is for the self-replication of genetic information' is not applicable in actual research. We can only observe the behavior of organisms and then attribute it to causes. You cannot infer the specific behavior of animals based on this statement. Moreover, this statement can only be used at a very macro level. It cannot describe the behavior of individuals in groups over extremely long time scales."

Enlil paused for a moment: "I don't know if you can understand what I'm saying, but among the ancient extinct species I remember, there are several instances where there was a strategic conflict between 'transmitting individual genetic information' and 'transmitting group genetic information'."

"Um...you mean...animal collectivism...or something like that?"

“The word ‘ism’ is not used for non-human species. Eusocial animals are not included in this discussion either,” Enlil said. “Do you know ‘sexual selection’? In a species, the physiological characteristics of a certain sex are particularly attractive to the opposite sex, so the intraspecific selection pressure forces this characteristic to become more prominent, resulting in all sorts of bizarre features—insects with excessively long eyestalks, herbivores with excessively large horns, making them more difficult to avoid predators and more likely to be eliminated by species in the same ecological niche.”

"Most biological behaviors can be attributed to the transmission of genetic information, but you can hardly predict any behavior from this driving force. Evolution is purposeless and without the participation of intelligence, and it is very common for such chaotic and confusing situations that are unacceptable to intelligence to occur. The thinking behind intelligent design cannot anticipate this."

"Furthermore, since the dawn of civilization, 'gene self-replication' has ceased to be the sole underlying driving force. The same goes for 'meme self-replication.' Abandoning the transmission of one's own bloodline for the sake of 'meme self-replication'—that is, 'cultural inheritance'—is a very common occurrence, even becoming more prevalent with the development of civilization," Enlil continued. "However… we should only discuss this privately; telling other heroes might affect morale. I personally suspect that the genetic system is far more sophisticated than memes, and the likelihood of genes causing species extinction is much smaller than that of memes…"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen was shocked: "Holy crap, does being a research knight for too long make one's thinking similar to that of the Father of Ten Thousand Machines? That bastard on the sun must have thought the same thing, right?"

Enlil scratched his head: "That's why I said, just listen and don't take it too seriously. Anyway, that conjecture you mentioned probably can't predict the AI's behavior—did someone tell you about this conjecture because you suddenly changed your action plan? What kind of useless people have infiltrated your staff?"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen fell into deep thought: "It's not because of that..."

“That’s good.” Enlil nodded. “AI can actually become a meme carrier. AI thinking can also be driven by memes…”

Dugu Beiluo Shimen raised his head: "Huh?"

“An entity that can both record and disseminate information can serve as a carrier for meme transmission—AI fits the bill perfectly,” Enlil said. “The pseudo-personality mask is the best proof of that. Especially the War God with the pseudo-personality mask—if it cannot receive and transmit memes, how can it impersonate a person?”

"In that case, the human brain actively absorbs and transmits memes; humans have this desire. As for AI... it would only do so if its mission required it. But without a doubt, AI possesses this capability."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen nodded.

"However, I can roughly understand what the person who made this statement meant. Well, as a product of pure intelligent design, AI is born with a strong purpose, and its underlying driving force is vastly different from that of biological beings. The patterns influenced by memes are also completely different from those of humans."

"Speaking of which, you've actually revealed the principle behind why AI struggles to resist masters of internal martial arts! Decades ago, a research knightly organization stated that internal martial artists invest massive amounts of skill points in 'faking legitimate operations' and 'asserting authority.' As a 'tool,' it can't resist its underlying drive to obey. Once the opponent finds it... Anyway, I heard that King Agni, that idiot, didn't really support this research..."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen was already deep in thought.
Several hours later, Dugu Beiluo Shimen reunited with Xiang Shan. Xiang Shan was currently connected to a data cable, browsing something.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen could sense that the amount of signal exchange was extremely large.

After a while, Xiang Shan sat up and sighed, "Tsk, tsk tsk, it's really strange—Old Nine is actually... a complete AI."

"Master, what are you doing?"

“I’ve watched all the footage I could gather… all the video material of the Ninth Martial God,” Xiang Shan sighed. “He’s a complete AI…”

“I don’t think I said that just now…” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said, “I wasn’t told that either. What I relayed was…”

“He really is a complete AI, an AI impersonating a human,” Xiang Shan sighed. “Now even my trust in the Twelfth Martial God is starting to waver. Tsk, what’s the deal with the Ninth Martial God and the Twelfth Martial God?”

"AI can also be driven by memes to do things. I just learned that."

"Isn't it obvious..." Xiang Shan sighed.

"Is the Ninth Martial God highly similar to Xiang Shan at the meme level?"

“Yes, absolutely right.” Xiang Shan nodded. “You have to understand that the part of human self that exists—that is, the part that language can constrain—is actually quite unfree. Sometimes, the brain has already made a decision, and then the conscious mind fabricates reasons to convince itself that ‘the decision was purely made by the conscious mind.’ The major function of the conscious mind is self-deception.”

"Humans are merely chemically driven machines assembled from cells, and they are also adept at self-deception. Before one's internal energy reaches the mechanical realm, one cannot even perceive this. Only through long-term cultivation, allowing higher functional areas to absorb more brain resources, can a person begin to unleash their own power."

Of course, the resources used here are for maintaining the body's physiological responses, which is generally something humans cannot do.

Unless the ability to ensure the brain's survival can be achieved without consuming any brain resources—that is, complete prosthetics.

"But the Ninth Martial God's level... even the world's third-ranked internal martial arts master couldn't see it?"

"It's self-deception. As long as certain standards are met, the surface consciousness will actively ignore any potential flaws." Xiang Shan shook his head and sighed.

"But you can tell? Why?"

"Of course, it's because my internal strength level is different—I have unique insights."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen looked at Xiangshan, seemingly lost in thought.

“But I feel that your internal strength is actually just so-so,” she said.

"Traitorous disciple." Xiang Shan was truly angry.

"We should be able to continue our journey now. I originally planned to help the local heroes kill two traitors, but Brother Storm—that is, Hero Enlil—said it wasn't necessary, and that it would be too much of an honor for me, a martial arts champion, to kill them."

Xiang Shan said, "Dealing with traitors is also a very important task, and we must not be careless about it."

Being a chivalrous knight-errant and engaging in chivalrous deeds is not child's play. If a traitor appears, you can't just dismiss it with a simple "everyone has their own ambitions."

A chivalrous person may retire from the world and wash their hands of their trade, but they must never seek refuge with a protector.

If such a scoundrel really appears, he must be killed as soon as possible.

This is an ironclad rule established during the reign of Emperor Wuzu.

“That’s enough. Besides, we haven’t been able to kill the four most special traitors yet, so a little more time won’t make a difference,” said Lonely North Star Monk. “Your schedule is pretty tight, isn’t it?”

"Four... ah, the three bastards who filled in and that guy Yogmov, I guess." Xiang Shan sighed.

Once the most famous knight-errant, the flag bearer of the chivalrous camp, the healer Yogmov, and later the three kings who replaced him, David, Florence, and Zhang Luntian, Yogmov's assistant during the Ascension War.

They were all good people.

I haven't checked the donation page in a long time because I feel that donating to me is a very low-value thing. I can no longer offer extra chapters as compensation for donations.

So after I finished updating the previous chapter, I realized that another Silver Alliance had been added to this book... and I didn't even get to thank them. I'm truly apprehensive.

I originally planned to update a chapter immediately and express my gratitude properly, but it turned out to be today.

I'm even adding extra chapters...sigh...