Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1202 Even Unreliable Wings...

Sailor Valley is 4,000 kilometers long and about 7,000 meters deep. The Yellow River flows through roughly this length from its source in Qinghai to the Central Plains.

The first generation of Martian colonists established a permanent base near Mount Olympus and developed a space elevator. Early research and development then began exploring the Valles Marineris region.

There is so much to study in Valles Marineris. It is a magnificent creation of planetary stress fields, through which humanity can glimpse a corner of the mysteries of celestial evolution. It also preserves a large amount of traces of the existence of liquid water, precisely recording the periods, durations, and chemical environments of liquid water activity in Martian history.

If asked where the most likely place to find remnants of Martian native microbes, the area beneath Valles Marineris would likely be the top choice for many scholars. The bottom of Valles Marineris has a remarkably high water content—this water typically exists in the form of ice or hydrated minerals. This area was once extremely humid.

Early research teams were dedicated to finding the remains of extraterrestrial microorganisms—in fact, some scientific knights still use this as their primary objective today.

David, too, once had a special fondness for this place. He was a chivalrous knight-errant when he first arrived on Mars. At that time, the War of the Knights had only recently ended, and the War of Ascension was still ongoing.

At that time, Earth's inhabitants viewed the "Heroic Wars" as the entirety of history. Meanwhile, extraterrestrial inhabitants had begun to develop their own collective consciousness, seeing the "Heroic Wars" as a "struggle among Earth's elite." The vast majority of the Heroic Wars' events occurred within the Earth-Moon system, and the Big Boss was ultimately defeated on the Moon.

When Yogemov declared his dominion over the entire solar system, the extraterrestrial inhabitants were fully drawn into the war.

David came to Mars to establish a force of chivalry and to help the Martian people resist the rule of Yogmov.

In an email to Xiang Shan, David, who was visiting Mars for the first time, said that he had made friends with some young students and joked that he planned to find a good place in Mariner Valley to set up a Mech Fist training camp to train the next generation of knights.

Later, this region received many scholars who came from Earth seeking refuge. After establishing his rule, Yogemov, for the sake of easier management, simply made this area the central hub of the Knights of the Scientific Research system.

After David abandoned his chivalrous stance, Yogmov assigned this area to him. David himself probably didn't even remember. The location of the palace of the protector, King David of Mars, was precisely the area where the chivalrous David had been active during his first visit to Mars.

The Temple Zone and the Palace of the King of Conquering Heaven are located near this huge canyon.

Naturally, a series of factories were also built along the Valley of the Mariners to serve the Knights of the Sciences and the King of Mars.

Below Mariner Valley lies a wealth of hydrous minerals, a significant portion of which is hydrated silica. Industrial water and mineral silicon are readily available here. Several monocrystalline silicon production plants and photolithography facilities are located in this area.

Under David's instructions, these factories are now operating at full capacity. Large quantities of minerals are being processed into electronic components. Xiang Wu has modified the template data for the lithography machine.

The servers produced in the factory now have a portion of the Ascend to the Mountain protocol stack pre-written into them.

The protocol stack is closer to the essence of an Ascended Being than "memory," "personality," and "abilities." Among the "Tao Fruits" that converge from the many paths leading to the mountain, all traditional individual characteristics such as memory, personality, and abilities can be freely customized modules. The internal protocol stack is closer to the fundamental nature of an Ascended Being.

A host computer with part of the protocol stack pre-installed in its hardware is naturally better suited to the will to ascend to the mountain.

For components that require software support, the chip incorporates part of the protocol stack into hardware logic during the manufacturing stage.

The Ascended exist within the vast ocean of the network, with the physical fiber optic cables serving as their foundation. The high-concurrency data streams are both their consciousness and their physical body.

The mindset of soaring towards the mountains can gain a greater advantage in these customized devices.

Of course, such a device also has its shortcomings. The Ascended's protocol stack also updates automatically. Once the updated parts overwrite the content etched into the hardware, the compatibility between this "dedicated device" and the Ascended will also decrease significantly.

But this timeframe is still longer than the lifespan of these devices—what's embedded in the hardware is the core of the protocol stack, which changes much less frequently than the upper-layer application logic.

This is something only Xiang Wu, who was once Xiang Shan, could do. As a half-step immortal who failed to ascend, Xiang Wu also grasped the secret of ascension through his interactions with Xiang Shan. Although he claims to no longer be Xiang Shan and will gradually drift apart from Xiang Shan in the future, Xiang Wu and Xiang Shan still share most of their consciousness.

Xiang Wu extracted the protocol stack shared with Xiang Shan from his own consciousness and used it to modify the factory's data template.

These devices, which are unilaterally advantageous to Xiangshan, are laid out in a newly built dedicated park. The park's ground is made of a new type of thermosetting cement, which uses an electric heating system to form a solid structure within one hour in a Martian environment.

As David and his team departed from the Olympus space elevator, the command was transmitted to Mars' network-based planetary governance system. Although the entire network was in complete disarray, this command was executed precisely by the AI, generating a construction plan almost instantly.

The marvelous technological reserves of the King of Mars were developed.

Forty-five minutes after David issued the command, the constellation of satellites in low orbit moved to the correct position. Dozens of metal structural components were dropped from space, drilling through the soil and embedding themselves directly into the rock.

On Earth, King Jaqqab Hartman of Agni built a proud space-based weapon system to suppress the entire planet. David's infrastructure system actually used several identical technologies, enabling the installation of metal structures into any part of the Martian surface in a very short time.

Because Mars' gravity is much weaker than Earth's, a space-based launch site would be needed to provide additional power for the metal cone to penetrate the rock layer without damaging the structure. Xiang Wu only estimated the energy cost of returning the space-based launcher to its position and thought the inventor of this technology was truly insane.

After that, the ground construction team can quickly pour the mixed high-tech cement slurry into the ground to quickly form a reliable foundation.

One-third of these ground engineering units were composed of demobilized and wounded soldiers. For mid-level military officers who were no longer capable of fighting and hadn't accumulated enough merit, this was their final destination. The remaining group consisted of those who were loyal to certain individuals and were essentially dependents on them. The engineering equipment they used was outdated military weaponry from a century ago.

The laying of water cooling system pipes was carried out almost simultaneously.

After undergoing six hours of aging and stress testing, the server hosts are transported to this newly built campus. Rows of servers are neatly arranged in a minimalist factory building constructed from prefabricated components. Once connected to power, cooling systems, and network cables, the servers are officially integrated into the Mars Internet network.

Xiang Shan could feel his power growing stronger.

This new batch of specialized servers has been connected to the network. The hardware is altering the power gap between the two Ascended.

Zhu Xinyu's first-mover advantage in the path to ascension can also be offset by the construction of hardware.

Xiang Shan was aware of the changes in the outside world. He even knew that his subprocess had arrived at another battlefield, but the interplanetary network on Mars was in poor condition, with slow upload and download speeds. Xiang Shan couldn't devote much attention to it.

Do not……

Revised description. Xiang Shan realized that he was actually in a dangerous situation.

He was being drawn into the abyss within Zhu Xinyu's heart.

Billions of child processes are battling it out. Billions of child processes are entangled in a web of interactions. The interactions between child processes are accumulating memories.

This level of communication is unattainable for Homo sapiens. Memory is being generated and accumulated at an extraordinary speed.

Those are files containing far more data than those recorded at the physical layer/generated by the biological brain.

Zhu Xinyu's negative emotions, accumulated over two hundred years, are pouring into Xiangshan's consciousness like a sacred mountain collapsing and the world turning upside down.

A person can fall into similar emotions because of another person's confiding.

Psychologists who continuously empathize with and accept the trauma, anxiety, and despair of their clients may also experience occupational trauma.

Or, to use a more intuitive analogy...

Two unhappy lovers share their suffering, ultimately both sinking into an emotional quagmire.

“Oh dear, ‘poverty-stricken couples face a hundred sorrows’… I never thought that someone as wealthy as me would have to deal with such a wretched situation.” Xiang Shan muttered to himself.

He had already sensed something amiss with some of his child processes. After communicating with Zhu Xinyu's child processes, a small subset of these child processes began to contradict and deny the existence of their own other child processes.

Xiangshan had to re-manage the weight of memory and proactively kill some of its child processes.

Wearing the little green hat, Zhu Xinyu smiled wryly: "You understand now, right?"

"It's alright, I haven't reached the limit of my self-regulation ability yet," Xiang Shan said.

Zhu Xinyu could no longer proactively kill abnormal child processes like Xiang Shan could, because the "whole" of the Ascended could no longer concentrate on summarizing and defining the collection called "abnormal".

Xiang Shan can still do it.

It's still possible to do so at present.

However, the appearance of this self-criticism symptom means that he has already been influenced by Zhu Xinyu.

The chain of Xiangshan consciousness is connecting the negative soul accumulated by Zhu Xinyu over three hundred years, and a brand new unified framework is being generated.

Xiang Shan's attention was also wandering.

"Cognition can be contaminated. If your mental capacity wears down faster than it can repair itself..."

Xiang Shan chuckled: "I have accumulated seven lifetimes of good karma, how could I let a demoness like you cloud my judgment?"

Zhu Xinyu rolled her eyes: "Good karma? Good? If we consider all martial gods as reincarnations, then in which life haven't you died a violent death?"

"Because I am kind."

Consciousness pierced through layers of memories like a bullet.

The only memory after the defeat, two hundred years apart.

Dark, thorny, and cold...

In the frigid alien winds where even Earth's atmosphere can freeze, Zhu Xinyu waited silently.

The unwavering determination to not give up and the despair pulled back and forth, along with the last glimmer of hope deep within, ravaging the soul awaiting death.

This happened more than a hundred years ago.

When the Sixth War God's fleet was at a disadvantage, Zhu Xinyu launched a long-range attack through the military channel, disrupting the Protector fleet's commands. However, Hartman traced the source of the attack.

Just like when she made her first mistake as a teenager. Zhu Xinyu's internal strength was higher than Hartman's, but King Agni's resources were enough to erase all of Zhu Xinyu's advantages.

Zhu Xinyu and Berry had no choice but to flee. However, the small spaceship could only carry a limited amount of propellant, and they would inevitably be overtaken by larger ships during their long journey. The master and apprentice had no choice but to abandon the spaceship and risk drifting in space using their prosthetic bodies.

Fortunately, the intelligence they had gathered was correct. After drifting without power for more than 500 hours, they approached the transport ship bound for Europa.

Unfortunately, Zhu Xinyu had exhausted her supply of psychotropic medications. The aftereffects of the radical brain modification haunted her, and she even began experiencing delirium. Meanwhile, the still-developing Berry dared not hijack a government vessel of this caliber. The two simply slipped into the transport ship through a maintenance hatch and remained hidden.

That was the time when Europa's computing hub was being built.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely clear about this memory myself," Zhu Xinyu sighed as she played this memory.

Xiang Shanzi was sitting next to him, holding a bucket of popcorn.

The scene in the mind image is a "movie theater", but the areas further away are hidden in darkness, with only two seats, a screen and the place where the two people are.

Zhu Xinyu said in a low voice, "I managed to tamper with part of the internal construction plan of the engineering robots."

Xiang Shan glanced sideways: "They didn't even notice? No, for such a big project, the process management is so... um... how should I describe it?"

"Actually, we were discovered." Zhu Xinyu shook her head.

A few workers noticed something amiss, but fearing punishment from their superiors, they didn't report it to the system; instead, they reported it to the foreman. The foreman saw Berry during his inspection.

“Berry did all of this by herself,” Zhu Xinyu sighed. “I’m just a complete burden.”

"Brother Li used to be a supporter of the Fourth Martial God. After the Fourth Martial God's defeat, everyone within Jupiter's gravitational sphere who had expressed support was stripped of their protection and treated like tools—slaves? Probably. Families and organizations were scattered to different camps, each holding the other hostage. If anyone showed any intention of resistance, everyone around them, including their relatives and friends in other camps, would be executed. The first thing Old Li asked Berry after meeting him was, 'Is there a way to block those bastards from checking my memories?'"

"With the help of several righteous people, I successfully modified the cooling system of the supercomputing array, creating a redundant area. Berry and I hid there. Brother Li persuaded a doctor to expend resources to synthesize the necessary drugs for me."

Xiang Shan couldn't help but applaud: "Incredible. If we can reach Europa in a few days, we must get to know them at the victory celebration ceremony."

Considering that not everyone can accept the life form of an ascendant, (we/they) naturally use a physical terminal to do so.

Zhu Xinyu sighed, “You’re too late again… at least seventy years. Originally, those who lost their protection were still alive, but Yogmov got tired of killing them and didn’t want to let them go, so he just let them slowly die on Europa. Geological disasters, climate disasters, engineering accidents… every year some unprotected people are taken away like this.”

Xiangshan was speechless.

"Brother Li died in an accident during the third phase of the project... Dr. Gehrman was searching for lost workers in the storm and never returned. Hopefully, he was just frozen. Before he left, he told Berry not to contact their camp casually anymore. Those of them who know what the old days were like feel that Yogmov has taken away what humanity should have, so they are willing to help us. But the newborn children in the camp see those days as 'normal,' and see 'the protection of civilization' as a blessing from the Father of All Machines. They don't have any deep-seated hatred, so they may not be reliable."

Xiang Shan fell silent.

The images playing on the screen were likely products of Zhu Xinyu's imagination. Her memory was quite fragmented, and she could only conjure up a virtual scene afterward.

That's how Berry led her to blend into the engineering robot team in the cold winds of Europa.

Zhu Xinyu silently wept: "She's such a good child."

"Yes, I can tell."

"Becoming my disciple meant she was trapped in this icy wasteland for over a hundred years," Zhu Xinyu sighed. "She once met a fine young man, but because she was trapped by my side, so... alas. If she were just an ordinary swordsman..."

“If the young man you’re talking about is the same person I’m thinking of, then I think that young man himself has a lot of problems,” Xiang Shan couldn’t help but say.

"She suffered all this because of her talent, and it was because of this talent that I sought her out. If she were just an ordinary swordsman..."

"There are countless daughters who missed out on a relationship because they wanted to take care of their seriously ill mothers. Are you going to negate the choices these people made for their entire lives?"

Zhu Xinyu rolled her eyes: "This is just an example...sigh. Everyone's like this, all these years, I..."

At that moment, a sentence floated across the screen: "If the children unfortunately encounter the worst situation... a true hero should be prepared for that."

Xiang Shan asked in surprise, "There's actually nothing wrong with what you're saying, is there?"

Becoming a knight-errant means becoming a guerrilla fighter, a member of the military, and must be prepared to face death when facing combat missions.

“I’m not just their superior…” Zhu Xinyu said, “They were all children when they came to me. I can’t simply see them as…”

Overcoming pain does not mean the wound has disappeared.

Xiang Shan silently grasped Zhu Xinyu's hand: "I understand."

This is Zhu Xinyu's subprocess, representing one of countless pains, something that Zhu Xinyu, a human being, once overcame but kept buried deep in her heart.

After ascension, due to the flaws in the underlying architecture, even these minor mental demons will be amplified by AI and become problems that hinder the ascendant.

Zicheng sighed towards the mountain: "It's never pleasant to fight with the children you've taught. It's the same with Kotoha and Hayabusa."

"Fifth Brother was lucky. When he was hinting to Dugu to kill Yan Ye, he didn't have the memory of Tenth Brother. But I learned what they looked like as children from the memory files of the others."

"Although there's been a two-hundred-year gap between the two groups of 'children'... they're no longer children. But..."

He sighed, "As an elder, what am I really..."

There was clearly something left unsaid in his words.

Zhu Xinyu curled up in her seat, glancing sideways at Xiang Shan: "You really came here to save me? Or are you here to compete with me in misery?"

“Everyone thinks I shouldn’t have blinked an eye if I chopped up Kotoha, even Kotoha herself thinks so.” Xiangshan punched the armrest of the chair. “But if I had a choice, who wouldn’t want to be a family-loving hero like Xiangshan, the leader of the Six Dragons Cult, who keeps his family close to him… Well, okay, the leader of the Six Dragons Cult is indeed a bit low. But I also admit that if I grow up to be crooked, I’ll be no different from him.”

“I have a heart too, I have feelings too. How should I put it? You know, if a swordsman I don’t know killed Yan Ye… ideally it would have happened ten years ago, that would be so much better. Because I’ve acquired the memories of Lao Shi and Tuoba, I don’t want Dugu to do it all over again.”

"Is she truly a fanatical believer in ascension? Can she really dedicate herself to the final task of the Six Dragons Cult? Why would I do such a thing?"

Zhu Xinyu patted his back: "Okay, okay, how should I put it... the times have pushed you to this position. You've benefited from it, right? You also have to do what you're supposed to do."

“If there were many ascendants like me, I wouldn’t have needed to come myself.” Xiang Shan shook his head. “There was an old guy who slandered me, saying I was like an emperor. Look at me, how am I like an emperor? I even hesitate to kill a student. An emperor can kill three of his own sons in a day and still manage to calm himself down.”

"Yes, yes, that's right, that's right." Zhu Xinyu shook her head.

“I still remember the time Kotoha’s mother called me. She kept apologizing and saying she didn’t want to trouble me, but she really didn’t know what to do…” As Xiangshan spoke, his voice gradually faded.

There's really not much to say.

After a while, Zhu Xinyu asked, "Are you sure you're saving me? I feel like we're just resonating with each other's negative emotions. Don't let me drag you down with me." "What are you thinking? We're just one of countless threads, less than one-thousandth of the total number of ascendants." Xiang Shan looked up. "I also need to vent my insignificant negative emotions, right?"

Child Thread Zhu Xinyu leaned against Xiang Shan: "So, in other words, the children's affairs only hold so much weight in our hearts?"

"This weight definitely can't be calculated solely based on the number of child threads involved..."

“Perhaps we should be glad… that we didn’t become parents,” Zhu Xinyu said.

Xiang Shanzi simply stared into the darkness before him. His gaze seemed to pierce through the darkness itself, piercing through the "world line."

He accessed the memory of another child process.

The other mountain seemed to see him as well.

This subprocess is exploring another related issue.

The scene takes place in a high-end restaurant. Two people are dressed in brand-new, expensive formal attire: a young man in a suit and tie, Zhu Xinyu's father and stepmother, and her younger brother. There is also a woman, dressed simply but neatly, clearly trying to appear as formal as possible. This is Zhu Xinyu's biological mother.

Xiang Shan and Zhu Xinyu were actually the two dressed the most casually.

Xiang Shan rarely visits Zhu Xinyu's hometown, so Zhu Xinyu's father naturally wanted to get closer to his daughter and son-in-law. Zhu Xinyu didn't want to be with her father and stepmother, so she brought her mother along as well.

Originally, Xiang Shan's assistant had only booked a dinner for five people. However, given Xiang Shan's status and position, "size" was insignificant.

The child thread stared blankly at the ambient lights as he looked towards the mountain.

"Say something." Zhu Xinyu kicked him under the table.

"say what?"

"They're mocking me for having a part of me trapped in such a trivial and awkward place." Zhu Xinyu propped her elbows on the table and covered her eyes. "I am that ridiculous part that's trapped."

He looked around at the mountain, then bowed his head calmly: "I'm sorry."

"Hmm? What have you done to apologize for?"

“In my opinion, your family is quite well-behaved and sensible, so this is just a trivial matter to me,” Xiang Shan said. “I didn’t realize that you were so slow to get along, that even two hundred years later, there is still a part of you that is still holding a grudge.”

"No, it's nothing. It's just a small matter." Zhu Xinyu remained in the same posture, seemingly trying to cover her eyes. "This sub-thread of mine is just the part I'm unwilling to let go of, that's all."

Xiang Shan glanced at Zhu Xinyu's birth mother. Although she was brought by Zhu Xinyu, she was probably the most uncomfortable person at the whole table.

"I should have had my assistant arrange things separately beforehand..."

“It’s pointless.” Zhu Xinyu lowered her head. “Don’t let her current discomfort fool you; she’ll be incredibly smug once she leaves here. At least she’ll have plenty of fodder to brag about for the next month or two. My daughter is filial, my son-in-law is amazing, and they’ll help me slap that clueless ex-husband in the face. Oh, I really know…”

Xiang Shan carefully observed the expression for a while, then shook his head with a smile. It was meaningless; this was a world of memories, and the materials that made up the scenery came from his or Zhu Xinyu's memories. Back then, there was no technology to export memory files, and memories that were too old were inevitably modified by the brain.

The skill of reading between the lines is meaningless here; what he is seeing is not the original video recording.

“I absolutely hate my mom,” Zhu Xinyu said. “She’s shallow, mean, and ignorant…”

"Isn't being ignorant and being mean-spirited the same thing?"

Zhu Xinyu stomped her foot under the table, aiming towards the mountain.

Xiang Shan patted Zhu Xinyu's head: "Don't talk about yourself like that. I can see that you love your mother very much."

"She pressed my head down and made me apologize to my stepmother, and I just felt...sigh."

"To be honest, you yourself think that what you did wasn't quite right, right? The version you told me was that you pushed your little brother, who was still a child, hard."

"Two different things."

"I'm keeping things separate from each other."

"I almost cried when I went to your house for dinner. This is probably what I imagine a 'normal family' to be like. I'm actually quite jealous that you have normal parents..."

“You haven’t seen me arguing with my mom,” Xiang Shan said. “Of course, my mom may not be the perfect mother, but she is definitely an excellent parent.”

Zhu Xinyu raised her head, her eyes a little red: "Shan'er, tell me, how come my dad, that scoundrel, is still so... 'well-behaved and sensible' towards you after realizing that you made him poor?"

Xiang Shan's expression was serious: "I originally intended to keep this secret to my grave. But considering that we're both probably not going to die, and we've already entered the confession phase, I'll just tell you. Actually, a small part of what you heard was a version I embellished to appease my wife."

Zhu Xinyu frowned: "What do you mean?"

"At the banquet hosted for me in the province, I called your dad 'Uncle,' very politely. He was so happy that he drank a few more glasses and put his arm around my shoulder, asking me to give him a good talking-to," Xiang Shan said. "Of course I remembered that. After returning to Beiping, I would casually complain to the right person at the right time, saying that some relatives from my hometown wanted me to lead them on a project, and that I was so apprehensive about the great cause of humanity that I would never dare to do such a thing... or something like that."

"Your dad's crappy company doesn't sell technology, it sells services. It just helps grassroots workers solve simple network problems. Its position depends entirely on your dad's scheming; it's not irreplaceable. And at that point in time, a certain generation had achieved extraordinary longevity, and the situation that the previous generation couldn't enjoy was already established. In countries around the world, there was a division between the 'young and middle-aged' and the 'elderly'. Superman Corporation was naturally very sensitive to this. As soon as I complained, someone went to pass on a message to your dad's friend."

"What really made your dad poor was that the person who fed him thought he was too ambitious, daring to try and get his hands on such a big thing that I had with such a meager connection. His position was fixed here; without this connection, he had never succeeded in starting his own business in the market. If someone like this suddenly develops ambition, what do you think the person behind him who isn't very high-ranking, well, a mid-level figure, would think?"

“I don’t know exactly what your dad was thinking, but I never really targeted him at all. And the person who tipped him off didn’t know what I was saying to someone, let alone record anything. He probably just realized that the project I had was more important than he thought, and then he said something that offended someone when he was drunk, so he didn’t suspect me.”

"Actually, this is my standard procedure for dealing with some relatives and friends. Most of the people who try to pull strings with me end up in a position where they can't do anything with Superman Corporation or generate any revenue. Superman Corporation's most valuable asset is the minds of people like Yorg, and our business is closely related to the immortality dreams of big shots."

In fact, the idea of ​​"seizing Superman Enterprises or its assets" has happened before. Although Xiang Shan hopes to dismantle Superman Enterprises and nationalize it by various countries after his great undertaking is accomplished, he will not allow such a thing to happen before his success.

Xiang Shan's solution was to have the core team adopt the stance that "this matter can only be accomplished under Xiang Shan's leadership."

For Xiang Shan, this kind of thing can also be seen as a way of "accumulating ideological resources" to express his stance.

“For example, my Uncle Jing, a traditional person, would sometimes tell me not to be too harsh on relatives and friends. Relatives and friends can't make things happen, but having no relatives and friends at all might cause problems. If I really said, ‘My father-in-law treated my wife very badly when she was a child, and I’m going to get back at him,’ then there would definitely be a wave of people jumping out to dissuade me.”

"Uncle Jing," more often addressed as "Director Jing," was a "family nephew" introduced to Xiang Shan by Jing Hongtu. Director Jing actually gave his "uncle who didn't do his job" a lot of face, instructing Xiang Shan to call him "Uncle" in private after only a few meetings. This was probably a favor.

However, before he retired, the situation reversed. When Xiang Shan addressed him that way in private, he was so happy that he felt he could work for another ten years.

Zhu Xinyu frowned: "Huh? What about the version I heard?"

"Part of it is that I think I'm really cool to say 'It's getting cold, let's bankrupt your dad.' On the other hand, I think the way you look at me with admiration while gloating is kind of cute."

Zhu Xinyu stomped angrily at the foot of the mountain: "Does a mature woman in her thirties have to be described as cute?"

Xiang Shan laughed: "AI is amazing! I can now see a 300-year-old mature woman acting cute."

"The person in this thread is a ** desperately needy **, and this is the only way I can express this ** mentality!"

Zhu Xinyu kicked Xiang Shan with all her might.

Zhu Xinyu, in another sub-thread, turned her gaze away from the rearview mirror and stopped accessing that storage file.

She silently rolled down the car window and looked across the street.

At Beijing Capital International Airport, Zhu Xinyu's younger brother waved excitedly, holding the hand of another girl.

Xiang Shan sat in the driver's seat.

“‘Thank you, sister and brother-in-law, for taking time out of your busy schedules to pick me up.’ Hehe.” Zhu Xinyu recalled.

The child thread addressed the mountain interface, saying, "I remember, I remember, this part. The next thing should be... 'What brother-in-law? Who are you calling brother-in-law? We're not married yet?'"

He imitated Zhu Xinyu from his memory in a high-pitched voice.

"You remember it so clearly?"

“After all, I have two memories of this period, yours and mine,” Xiang Shan said. “They called me so affectionately, but I didn’t have the heart to kill them and make them go bankrupt and get out of Beiping. It’s clear that they have some talent. Later, when they started their own company, I never heard of them relying on the fact that they were my brother-in-law—at least it didn’t reach my ears.”

Zhu Xinyu glanced at him sideways: "Still saying you're not the emperor. Look at the way you act, all that life and death."

Xiangshan remained silent.

"This guy is showing off to his girlfriend about his most successful sister and his epic brother-in-law..."

"I think it's possible to have a legendary level."

“…Shut up.” Zhu Xinyu looked up at the car roof. “But I’ve forgotten what the characters in his name are, so I can’t confirm.”

"I see."

"Thinking about it carefully, this kid doesn't really owe me anything," Zhu Xinyu said. "Although I hate his mother, he doesn't seem to owe me anything. Every time he comes to see me, I'm never nice to him."

Xiang Shan nodded: "I understand, I understand. You're the kind of person who knows that harsh words will hurt people, but you can't help but speak with barbs. If you really hurt someone important, you'll shed little pearls. You admit your mistakes but just won't correct them."

Zhu Xinyu glanced at Xiang Shan sideways: "I think your words are much more hurtful than mine."

"But everyone likes me because I'm a lively person."

“Atmosphere destroyer,” Zhu Xinyu sighed. “Are you really here to save me? Are you sure this won’t worsen my overall condition?”

"Uncertain. To be honest, an ascendant who is depressed to the point of your level is a completely unique case, and there is no experience to draw upon."

Zhu Xinyu sighed softly, "Useless man."

"Yes Yes Yes."

Zhu Xinyu glanced across the street again and sighed, "Sigh, the next time we meet will probably be when he gets married."

"Is this the girl?" Xiang Shan glanced out the car window a few times.

“I don’t remember,” Zhu Xinyu said. “When the war of chivalry started, I completely forgot about them. I don’t even know if they are still alive.”

"Oh."

"Thinking about it now, it's really quite a regret." Zhu Xinyu leaned on the passenger seat. "In the first fifty years of my life, I actually accumulated so many small regrets that I can't make up for. And these regrets actually erupted in this form after my ascension, trapped me completely by the power of AI."

"If I'm guessing, these aren't the main body of your inner demons, they just haven't become part of your daily strength," Xiang Shan said.

Humans inevitably draw strength from the little things in life, like collecting countless grains of gold—unconsciously accumulating them for themselves, melting them into an alloy, and then using this alloy to forge their own golden rose, that great soul.

"A strong mind brings unwavering determination; no matter how bad the situation, one will not question the path one has decided to take," Xiang Shan said.

Zhu Xinyu was silent for a moment: "I only saw the things I didn't do well."

“There is only one kind of heroism in the world, my dear, and that is to love life even after knowing its true nature,” Xiang Shan said. “It was only after I met you that Teacher Jing taught me to see the world this way.”

"what."

"I would never let your father, who dares to confuse equity and debt without making things clear, earn a single penny with him. But even so, you and your brother are relatively... at least your brother is a cheerful and normal person with decent morals. He's quite good; it's good that he knows right from wrong."

"When your stepmother first met me, she thought I was seven or eight years older than you and your boss, so she suspected we were having some kind of shady deal. But she only expressed her dislike; she didn't gloat. She definitely doesn't like you, but at least she hasn't actively persecuted you. If you were hit by a car while walking, she might even be willing to seek justice for you, maybe."

Zhu Xinyu really wanted to roll her eyes back, so she simply removed the pupil texture. "Why do you always have to insult me ​​when you talk to me?"

"Your mother, though she is indeed as shallow and harsh as you say, loves you very much. As for understanding... I never told my parents what I really wanted to do until they passed away. My mother always advised me before she died, 'How much money is enough? Now is the time to live a good life.'" Xiang Shan leaned his head back on the chair. "Expecting parents to understand their children is probably a pipe dream."

"Your former master was called the Fire God? Although he backed down later, he at least practiced robbing the rich to help the poor, and at least helped you. At that time, he must have been selfless and idealistic. Taking that step was remarkable enough, wasn't it?"

"You idiot, you always see the good in others but can't see the bad in them."

“Not really. It wasn’t until right before Old Di died that I realized he was actually a good person,” Xiang Shan said. “I subconsciously suspected him because of his background, but I was wary of the wrong person.”

Zhu Xinyu understood what this topic meant to Xiang Shan. She didn't continue speaking.

But Xiang Shan said, "If I had to do it all over again, I might still make the same choice. Because I would have to deal with too many people and the situation would be too complicated. I would also be tempted to simplify the model based on my experience. Of course, this model would deviate from reality. Because of Lao Di's past, I really find it hard to trust him."

"I made a big mistake."

Zhu Xinyu rested her face against the car window.

Xiang Shan said, “But this is the path I came from. So after that, I felt that I should uphold the principle of not killing, unless it is impossible to imprison or control them for a long time, and releasing them would lead to new crimes. Otherwise, no matter who it is, they should at least be given a chance to prove themselves again. Old Di did evil in the past because he could not see the choice not to do evil.”

"But the impression you give to the world is that you deserve to be killed."

“After all, we’re knights-errant, guerrilla forces. The conditions for holding prisoners of war long-term are too harsh.” Xiang Shan shrugged. “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to kill anyone.” He added at the end, “Unless there is a fair trial.”

"Oh."

Zhu Xinyu will stop talking.

Xiang Shan, however, grasped her hand.

"So, have I helped you so far?"

This applies not only to the mountain subprocess.

Numerous child processes, numerous parent processes...

The ascendant, facing the entirety of the mountain, inquired of the entirety of the ascendant, Zhu Xinyu.

We've shared our entire lives. In these seemingly insignificant things that haven't become your strength, have I played a role that replaces those "little things"?

These trivial matters aren't what's truly holding you back.

Let me access your true inner demons, and tell me... things you don't know.

Thus, the progress within the soul finally pierced through the dust mixed with golden sand.

It was as if we had crossed the accretion disk of a black hole, crossed the event horizon, and plunged into the deepest despair.

That is……

Xiang Shan saw a person.

The man was crying out, "Please... let me keep going! Let me continue like this! I have to do something! I have to do something!"

“You’re all no good! You’re all smart people, your brains are more valuable. As for me, I have no advantages other than being an early baseline human. I’ve also helped those bastards do so many things…”

That is……

Lu Xuanyu?
I'm so sorry. I was trying to finish writing quickly, but the closer I got to the end, the more extraneous thoughts popped into my head, messing up my train of thought. The specific timelines of the various plot lines, and those details I'd planned out but couldn't find a place to put…

For example, the scene where Little Zhu's younger brother comes to find Xiang Shan was planned as soon as Zhu Xinyu appeared. It was originally intended to be the opening of a flashback chapter in a certain volume, but a place couldn't be found for it. It's purely from Little Zhu's younger brother's perspective, showing the changes of the times, and incidentally, indirectly portraying Zhu Xinyu's personality. There are too many similar passages; after much editing and rewriting, it took a month to finally produce this little bit.

His health and mental state have also deteriorated slightly.

I really want to escape.

I hope next month will go smoothly.