Dow and Carbon-Based Monkey Breeding Guidelines

Chapter 1017 Beautiful Scenery (Part )

The cool breeze from the wetlands blew continuously, making the corn bushes rustle, as if someone was still moving inside. Luo Binhan looked back at the field again. "I rented this place for a few days," he said. "The owner of the house went to the city to visit his son. I promised to help him take care of the farm and water it when I have time."

“You seem to be doing more than you promised.”

"I am also puzzled. These farmlands seem to have magic. Once people walk in, they can't help but want to work. They can't stop until their backs and waists ache. In fact, it doesn't matter if these weeds are not pulled out. In the end, these crops can't be eaten or sold. But people just can't bear to see the fields go barren. They feel sad if they lose anything they grow. Don't you think this mentality is strange?"

He didn't get a response, but he didn't care much. He just reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette and lit it. He used the disposable lighter left by his master to light the cigarette. The remaining liquefied ethane was slightly rippling in the translucent gas box, like a small lake that was about to dry up. Li Li calmly observed his actions. "This is not the lighter you usually use."

"The one you're talking about... I left it at home and forgot to take it with me when I went out."

"I heard it was a memorial gift."

"Yes." Luo Binhan said in a normal tone, "Birthday present, it's a bit old now."

"I have a new gift for you."

Luo Binhan raised his eyelids slightly to show surprise. He held a cigarette between his hands and tilted his head to watch Li Li take out a small maple red package from his pocket. "Ah." He said softly, as if seeing the gift packaging was enough to make him understand the inside story; so he put the cigarette in his mouth, reached out to take the small package, and opened it as carefully as possible without tearing the paper. Under the colorful paper package was a small black sandalwood box. He opened the box and took a look inside, then smiled while biting the cigarette butt.

He closed the box again, took the cigarette out of his mouth, and said, "His taste is not as good as Zhou Yu's."

Li Li did not look at the box. As soon as she handed the item over, she stared at the other person's face, not missing any clues that might reveal her feelings. However, Luo Binhan just rewrapped the box and handed it back to her in a calm manner.

She didn't take it. "Here are your belongings."

"Then you can keep it for me," Luo Binhan said, "I don't have any room to put it here."

Li Li waited for a moment, but the other party still didn't take her hand away. Finally, she calmly took the gift back. "I will put it back at your house when I'm free."

Luo Binhan did not object, but took a puff of his cigarette with a knowing look on his face. "This trick doesn't work."

"I didn't think it would be so easy." Li Li said, "Since you don't even want to listen to your friend's dying request, it may be difficult to add some weight to this last wish..."

"Anything else?" Luo Binhan interrupted her, "Li Li, this isn't the only trick you have prepared? This will ruin your reputation."

"A last wish - this is my first bargaining chip. Since you don't accept it, I still have two chances."

"What's next?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Li asked, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

"Not really. I don't have anything special to say."

"You're not angry with me anymore?"

"Why should I be angry with you?" Luo Binhan asked in confusion, "Because you didn't let me go to see Feng Chuxing? Well, now it seems that you were right to think so at that time, but you were not on guard against me enough."

“I admit that I often think too highly of myself.”

"Arrogant." Robin Han said leisurely, "Always deliberately mysterious, unwilling to be honest -"

"In fact, you often keep people at a distance."

"Have you ever really believed that anyone could understand you?" Robinson asked, "even after they've come this far with you? After all they've done for you? Was there ever a moment when their expectations and imaginations of you only made you feel bored?"

"Your requirements for purity are too high," Li Li said. "If you can't reach the extreme, you will discard it like a worn-out shoe. Such sincerity is too heartless. People cannot reach the level you demand for each other. Why can't you accept that this is real life?"

"Autocratic." said Luo Binhan.

"It's hard to let go of the resentment," said Li Li.

Luo Binhan exhaled smoke and laughed, nodding twice. "Now we know each other." He said, "We should have known each other eight hundred years ago... Although it's a little late, we finally know each other. You know what kind of person I am."

“We’ve come a long way together.”

"Yeah. It doesn't feel like two years. It feels like almost twenty years."

Luo Binhan took a puff of his cigarette and smiled silently. When he looked at the guest again, his eyes showed warmth. He said, "Li Li, I think we are indeed friends."

"I have no objection."

"Then let's forget all the conflicts and unhappiness in the past," said Robinson. "Let's leave all the arrogance, alienation, dictatorship, and harshness behind. Look at the scenery here. In comparison, what is there to worry about in human affairs?"

Li Li's dark eyes observed him intently. After a moment, she replied, "As long as it can bring you peace, I would like you to stay here forever. No outsiders will come to disturb you unless you change your mind."

Luo Binhan did not comment, but just asked: "Do you want to come in and sit down?"

"Let's talk outside."

"That's good. The air outside is fresher." He pointed to the end of the ridge. "I built a few wooden boxes over there. I wanted to use them for composting, but I didn't have time to put anything in them. Let's go there and rest."

Li Li did not object. The direction they were heading was far from the fields, with fewer shelters, enough to overlook the open wetlands and the woods on the high slopes. The compost boxes were made of hardwood strips, and the tops were covered with waterproof woven cloth. Luo Binhan lifted the cover and showed her one of the boxes. Through the gaps in the wood strips, she could see that the box was empty, and there was no time to pile up fertilizer.

"Did you see that?" Luo Binhan looked at her jokingly, "I won't trick you into sitting in a cesspool."

"Did you make this box yourself?"

"Yeah. It's not detailed enough, but it's just to kill time anyway."

Li Li lowered his head to examine the details of the box. "You used a lot of mortise and tenon joints."

"We're running low on nails. I used the materials left over by my master, and I just happened to be short of nails. I did think about buying some online... but there's no need. You should know that I haven't been online much this month."

"Where did you learn such professional mortise and tenon jointing techniques?"

Robin whistled and put the woven cloth back in place. "This is the strongest one." He gestured, "Please sit down - I never thought that one day I would be able to say these two words to you."

Li Li sat down in the VIP seat. Luo Binhan dragged another wooden box covered with woven cloth next to him and sat half a meter away from her. He smoked slowly and looked at the white waves gently rolling on the wetland.

"How's that Cid guy doing?" he said suddenly. "He wasn't acting right when I left last time."

"The particular substance you used on him caused a toxic reaction to the sedative he had taken beforehand for the shooting."

"That……"

"He is alive and will recover after rest. He also conveyed to me your parting words."

"Which one?" Luo Binhan asked. Then he remembered it. "Oh, that one." He said nonchalantly, "It was just a rant. In fact, people who don't stick to principles can't win either; even if they can win for a while, they will always be defeated by worse guys. There is no end to this."

"Would you like to hear another little story from me?"

Luo Binhan looked at her through the smoke. Li Li said, "That day you left our temporary workshop and went to No. 206 Dongyun Road with the micro radio signal filter. Later, Radumos conducted a simple interview with the staff there and found that only five of them, except for the security guard, had actually seen you, and only one of them had spoken to you. That person's code name was Hermaco."

“It seems there is such a person.”

"This person's code name seems to be given by Mr. Zhou Yu himself. If I am not mistaken, this name should be derived from a leader of the Epicurean school in ancient Greece. Philosophers of this school are also called 'garden philosophers' because of the characteristics of their school environment. They advocate that the value of life should be to pursue happiness and avoid pain."

"Hedonism," said Robinson.

"Yes. But later generations have misunderstood this word, dismissing it as absurd and excessive hedonism; in fact, it is just the opposite. Epicurus wanted to emphasize the longer-lasting happiness after rational calculation. Although he acknowledged the pleasure of the senses, he also valued the spiritual pleasure after self-control, and advocated avoiding pain with a peaceful state of mind. He set up the academy in his own garden to welcome all those who came to seek advice because of fear of death and the underworld. People often think that he was the number one atheist in ancient Greece, because he advocated that there is no life after death, there is no need to worry about death during life, and after death, people will not know what death is. In this way, people can obtain the highest spiritual happiness: God is not to be feared, death is not to be worried, disasters and sufferings are easy to endure, and happiness is easy to seek."

Luo Binhan smiled slightly: "You want to say, this is what Zhou Yu thinks?"

"I can't say that. If we admit that it is wrong to say that the soul disappears when a person dies in some cases, then the view of life and death based on atomic theory cannot be completely established. Mr. Zhou Yu himself should also understand that his situation needs to be discussed separately."

"Do you think Zhou Yu is still there?"

"I can not confirm."

"Then let's just leave him there. Cai Ji said that place is pretty good, and with Zhou Yu, he can be considered satisfied."

Li Li observed his expression closely. Finally, she asked without showing any emotion: "Are you willing to believe this possibility now?"

"Why not believe it? He is a supreme ruler in life and a king of hell in death. From this point of view, it is true. And what is the saying?" He thought for a while while smoking, "- According to the rules, such a person is immortal even though he is dead."

"I thought you wouldn't accept it."

Robinson bent down and picked up a small inula flower at his feet. He held it in the air and looked at it, as if he was observing a brilliant, rotating miniature celestial body. "What I can't accept is," he said slowly, "is that in the end, we are still making the same old mistakes, and no one is doing things right." "What are you referring to?"

"Feng Chuxing is a very boring person, Li Li. He is different from what I thought, and he is also different from what you thought. He is like corn that has been treated with ripening agents. It grows fast and tall, but when it is harvested, it is found that the fruits inside are dead. He has a good memory and can calculate numbers as fast as a computer, but he seems to be completely ignorant of other aspects. What is going on? What did 0206 do to him?"

"This is just my guess," Li Li said, "0206 may have used some simplified general education equipment on him. This equipment is widely used in Wuyuan's primary education stage. It quickly transmits information through data transmission with neutrinos and memory microsurgery to form pre-set declarative memory - usually the basic common sense in the course and the operating details of various facilities in the base."

"But Fengchu star has no neutrinos."

"Yes. So 0206 had to perform microsurgery directly on his brain. Perhaps he strengthened Feng's logical calculation ability to help him understand Wuyuan's basic courses, but without the neutrino as a functional regulation and calculation center, this over-enhancement of a single function accidentally inhibited the development of other areas of the brain."

"It destroyed his... I don't know how to put it, his perception?"

"It's possible."

"Can't 0206 do things a little more beautifully?"

"Maybe 0206 thinks this is the most suitable model for him." Li Li said, "But, another possibility..."

"Another possibility is that 0206 is not to blame for this," Luo Binhan said. "Feng Chuxing was born to be like this. He is a product of our place, and we are the ones who made the mistake. Long before he met 0206, something in his heart had been destroyed, and maybe it never grew."

"I have to examine Feng in detail before I can answer you."

Luo Binhan casually threw the wildflowers between his fingers away. "It's a very interesting thing, Li Li," he said, "when I first saw that boy, guess who I thought of?"

"I don't think you've seen 0206. I'm afraid he doesn't look exactly like Feng."

"No, actually I was thinking of Zhou Yu," said Luo Binhan. "That nerdy temperament that didn't understand the situation, that look of not caring what others thought of him... To be honest, I have always thought that if he had a different family background, or hadn't met the person who showed him the way, maybe he would be more like Zhou Yu."

"Does that make you pity him?"

Robin Han stared into the distance. "No," he said slowly, "I just feel unsatisfied. Killing such a person cannot satisfy me."

"Then I assume he is still alive." Li Li asked calmly and naturally, "Sir, where is Feng Chuxing now?"

Robin Han seemed not to hear her question. "We," he said to himself, "we are people - not to mention the things beyond the sky, but only the people on our small planet - we are overjoyed when things go well, and we are discouraged when things go badly. We are humble when we are humble, and arrogant when we are successful. If we don't worship God, we will think of ourselves as God. If we are not controlled, we will think of controlling others. We will always flip between inferiority and narcissism, and will never have true dignity and respect. Our perception can only distinguish between relative good and bad, and cannot maintain an objective standard. As a result, we are either too cold or too hot, and we can never get it just right. Even if we happen to be right for a while, our perception will soon get bored and cannot remain sharp for a long time... Eternity is not prepared for a species like us who have no impermanence. We are only suitable for birth, aging, sickness, death, birth, existence, decay and emptiness."

"Your accusation is too harsh and extreme."

"What does this have to do with you, Li Li? You have already ascended from a mortal. Your nature has been proven, your will is immortal, and you have been sublimated into a spirit of the atmosphere and the sky..."

Li Li's voice suddenly dropped, and there was a deliberate alertness in her tone.

"I remember you used to think," she reminded me, "that I was not the same person as my prototype. I was not her continuation of life, but only the successor of her mental model."

"I have changed my mind." Luo Binhan said lightly, "I didn't think about this matter thoroughly before - just because you abandon the carrier of flesh and blood, you are no longer you? But our mortal bodies are no longer the same as when we were born. Don't cells also need metabolism? This is just a typical Theseus paradox. I denied digital life before, but it was just because I was afraid that the remaining physical life would have nowhere to stand and would eventually be abandoned after time like metabolic residues. I had to find some moral excuses for myself. In short, just think that I was jealous before."

"So what are your criteria for determining individual identity now?"

Robin thought for a while. "The continuity of consciousness." He said, "If you are a clone without memory, I don't think it counts. You can't say that the baby clone of a murderer is also guilty. What matters is the choices you have accumulated. If there is really a unique soul entity in this world that can completely distinguish us from other things... Li Li, the model structure accumulated by all these choices is our soul."

"Then our souls are inherently changing all the time," Li Li said. "Since every choice will change the structure, you can't accuse a dynamic system of not having constancy."

"But there must be a general framework, right?" Luo Binhan asked, "No matter how a system changes, doesn't it have its boundaries? Isn't there an underlying rule that cannot be changed?"

"Are you considering the 'idea' of a single thing?"

"I was thinking, if the Wuyuan people came now, and they turned us all into Feng Chuxing, or into you, it would be like us turning a nest of ants into humans, turning them from insects of one season into the top species of this ecosystem. This would surely be a great blessing for the ants, right?"

“It certainly seems to us.”

"But are those ants still alive?" Robin Han asked, "Without any accumulation or evolution, they have transformed into another structure out of thin air. Not only their appearance and environment, but also their thinking structure has been turned upside down, and the metabolic process has been completely omitted... Is this advancement or death? Isn't this another form of possession? Or, what's the point of raising these ants and letting them live in peace and prosperity forever? Their life and death are completely dependent on humans, and they themselves know nothing."

"I'll answer you honestly: this is not a bad thing for ants, as long as their keepers are reliable. Ants probably don't want to be humans, and they don't want to be the center of the universe. We know they don't have that potential."

"Just reproduce," Robinham said, "and reproduce on the land from generation to generation. This is also a way out... But I don't think they have reliable owners."

"Are you dissatisfied with what you see out there, sir?"

Robin Han smiled again. "They are not smarter," he said straightforwardly, "at least not so smart that I have nothing to say, right? Although they have such endless power - just like we think we have nuclear energy - but in the end they haven't done anything new, just like we haven't completely eliminated famine. They make all the same mistakes we make, just like all the myths we make and the beliefs we tout are full of loopholes. The best they can do is to show kindness occasionally, help one or two unfortunate people during their travels, and then throw their garbage all over the ground... I know this is not a very considerate suggestion, but don't let us come into contact with the Wuyuan people too quickly, okay? Don't throw ants into pet boxes all at once, otherwise things will not end well... Feng Chuxing is an example. Let our species maintain its own development continuity, at least don't destroy it all at once, this is my personal opinion."

"I don't want to do that either, sir." Li Li said, "Wuyuan's route is not replicable for us, and becoming their subsidiary also carries risks - but for now, we must rely on them to get through the difficult times."

"Then do you think we will succeed?" Luo Binhan asked suddenly, "Will one day we become a more noble species, more worthy of eternity, and there will no longer be people like Feng Chuxing, and there will be no people like me?"

“Your description is disturbing.”

"Oh, I'm not talking about the Last Judgment Day or anything like that, and I'm certainly not asking all souls to gather into a sea or something like that. What I'm asking is completely literal: just as we evolved from apes to humans, maybe one day we can rely on technology to undergo some kind of physiological or psychological qualitative change and completely get rid of those relatively inferior qualities in our nature. We must first truly become decent people, and then it will be possible to establish a more progressive social model for a long time, rather than repeating the same trick over and over again - so, do you think technology will be our way out?"

"Let's wait and see." Li Li said, "Since you are looking forward to it so much..."

"Oh, I'm not looking forward to it that much." Luo Binhan said immediately, "I was just thinking about it while doing farm work to kill time. As for the final verification results, I can only ask you to keep an eye on it for me. Since you have chosen to move forward, you will eventually know the final result."

"Don't you want to see the results with your own eyes?"

"I have no chance anymore," said Luo Binhan. "Li Li, let's do this. You move up, and I... I have no choice but to move down. We will part ways here."

Li Li stared at his profile. Her attitude became increasingly stern as she remained silent. Luo Binhan looked at her curiously: "Could this be your second bargaining chip?"

"Don't you care about the fate of your people at all?"

"Don't be a cruel person," Luo Binhan said leisurely, "it's rare to be a self-righteous person."

Li Li was undoubtedly thinking of a new strategy. She took only a few seconds to organize her words, and then said, "I haven't replied to you about the gift you asked Xi De to give me."

"If you want to say it, just say it."

"I am not as principled as you think. If you remember, when you asked to put an unwitting man in the trap box, I did not insist on it, even though I could have provided several fully willing and informed candidates."

"Because we need genuine pain. At least that's what we felt at the time."

"We were wrong."

"Yeah, in the end it didn't work. You can't kill that thing anyway."

"I don't think so," Li Li said. "The mistake I'm referring to is not fatalism or the power of curse, but our understanding of pain. As I mentioned to you before, Epicurus divided happiness into levels, believing that happiness that is rationally calculated is more worth pursuing than pure material pleasure. But have you ever considered that pain may be the same? When you suggested that the shadow may rely on the emotions emitted by life to identify the target, we rather rashly compared this perception to the sense of taste, thinking that they can distinguish people's joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness just as they distinguish sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy. But if what you relayed to me is true - people's ideals, joys, and pains will become the signposts of the shadow - then this perception may not only recognize emotions, but also will and desire."

Luo Binhan's cheek twitched slightly, as if he already knew what she was going to say. He turned his eyes away calmly, but Li Li continued to speak: "We thought at the time that we needed a person who was truly desperate as bait. This was a choice made entirely based on the assumption that 'shadows can recognize emotions'. But please think carefully again, was this person's mental state at the time really similar to yours? He was told against his will that he would be burned to death, and he had nothing else in his mind except terror and despair. And you were fighting with the determination to die. You knew why you took the risk, and that all this pain must be rewarded; even if you really fell into the sea of ​​fire, did you really have nothing else to think about except the fear of death? The pain and despair you felt were undoubtedly multiple: the torture from the burning flames, the fear of failure, and the despair of the consequences of the failure of this operation; perhaps you would also think about standing up and holding on until you saw the death of your opponent - wouldn't this strong will to win become a signpost for the shadow?"

“So,” Robinham said, “he wasn’t fooled. He knew it wasn’t me in the trap box.”

"If we had used another plan at that time," Li Li said, "if we had chosen someone who understood the ultimate significance of this action and was willing to sacrifice himself for it, sir, even though you might have thought it was a waste of talent at the time, or - excuse me for being more blunt, the real reason was that you didn't like to sacrifice anyone who loved life - only such a person could maintain his will in the midst of pain. He would be as eager to win as you are, and would want to save the situation as much as you do. Only such a person could truly become a bait that could confuse us. I can't say that such a person would definitely help us win, but now it seems that the success rate of this plan is actually higher."

Luo Binhan was silent for a long time. Finally, he laughed dumbly: "All this is in the past, Li Li. Anyway, this trick can't be used a second time."

"This is just my answer to you, sir. You asked Cid to tell me that people who are too principled will have difficulty accomplishing anything. And this is my answer: many times we fail not because we are too principled, but because we are unable to truly and thoroughly implement the principles. It is precisely because we - even if we have some good intentions - want to achieve a short-term victory by breaking the principles to a limited extent, which ultimately leads to a longer-term failure."

"so what?"

"So I ask you to do the right thing. I ask you to accept the impurities of humanity and all the mistakes we have made in the past, even if our nature is not enough to embrace eternity."

"What else can you pursue?"

"Just that one beautiful moment." Li Li said, "Just stay in that moment——"

"After thousands of years," Luo Binhan said, "where will the honor and fame go?"

The conversation stopped. The afternoon sun fell on the colorful fields. The autumn cicadas, not feeling the chill, sipped tree sap in the quiet and elegant atmosphere, their chirping gradually becoming deeper. A bee suddenly flew over the ridge of the field, buzzing around Li Li, as if stimulated by some kind of magnetic field in her body and becoming a little manic. Luo Binhan's eyes fell on it, watching it fall into the shadow of the grass. Suddenly, the flapping of wings stopped, and the bee did not fly out from the grass again.

"Sir?" Li Li said. She had completely failed to conceal the severity in her voice.

Luo Binhan raised his eyes and smiled innocently at her. "What's wrong?" Shadows flowed in the depths of his pupils, "Don't you think it's a bit noisy?"

(End of this chapter)