This villain is too popular.

Chapter 428 'Memory'. The unique 'rings' of time [Two-in-one]

'Knowledge' is also a 'valuable equivalent'.

Although they had considered that Changsheng County was very strange, before coming here, Chen Kong and the others mainly speculated about the rules here in terms of 'lifespan'.

However, once they arrived, they discovered that the situation here seemed to be much more complicated than they had imagined.

Because, apart from lifespan, the citizens of the county town on this island also seem to value so-called 'memory'.

As for why the creatures on Changsheng Island are so obsessed with 'memory' and 'lifespan', Chen Kong and the others have no clue yet.

A similar problem occurred in the room at the top of the guesthouse where the Heavenly Path was located.

Changsheng County Guesthouse, Room 601

As one of the two best rooms in the guesthouse, room 601 is not only larger than the other rooms, but its interior decoration is also much better than other rooms.

Beside a peeling mahogany desk against the wall, Tiandao sat quietly on the sofa, playing with the 'silver coin' in his hand.

The dim lamplight cast a shadow on Tiandao's profile, while the patterns on the silver coin reflected a unique shimmering light in the lamplight.

On the other side of the room, Jing Liuli was half-reclining on the sofa, with a cute pink teddy bear on her lap.

She poked the teddy bear's ear, looked up at Tiandao by the window, and said in a soft voice, "Brother Tiandao, why do the banks here insist on 'lifespan' and 'memory'? You can't eat those things."

Upon hearing this, Tiandao suddenly stopped spinning the silver coin and then flicked it lightly.

The silver coin traced a beautiful arc between his fingers before finally settling steadily in his palm.

After doing all this, Tiandao did not answer Jing Liuli's question immediately, but instead turned his head to look at Caroline, who was organizing the 'data' at the desk.

Sensing the gaze of the Heavenly Dao, Caroline instantly understood and answered Jing Liuli's question on his behalf.

"Liuli, what do you think is the proof that a person is 'alive'?"

Jing Liuli answered instinctively, "It means... being able to breathe, eat, and walk!"

"Just like the people in the county town, they may be a bit strange, but they are all living their lives well."

After saying all that, Jing Liuli noticed Caroline's meaningful look.

To this, Jing Liuli said somewhat uncertainly, "Am I wrong?"

After thinking for a moment, Caroline first shook her head, then nodded.

This move left Jing Liuli completely bewildered.

"Liuli, what you said isn't exactly right, but it's not entirely wrong either."

"Because physiologically speaking, the creatures in the county on this island can indeed be considered to be still alive."

"But from another perspective, they are just moving 'puppets'."

"And if I'm not mistaken, the reason they are so obsessed with gaining 'lifespan' and 'memory' is that they want to have the right to 'live'."

"The right to live?"

Jing Liuli was puzzled by Caroline's statement.

In her view, since the citizens of the county town on Changsheng Island are still 'alive,' why do they need anything to prove that they are 'alive'?
This clearly doesn't make sense!

Looking at Jing Liuli's puzzled expression, Caroline knew that she hadn't understood what she meant.

After some thought, Caroline offered a relatively easy-to-understand explanation.

"Liuli, the so-called living is a very broad concept, and its characteristics are never limited to 'physiology'."

"Imagine a person whose body is perfectly healthy and whose vital signs are all normal, but whose consciousness is in a deep sleep, never to wake up, and who can't remember anything. Would such a person still be considered alive?"

Upon hearing this, a burst of light suddenly exploded in Jing Liuli's mind.

"Caroline, do you mean brain death?"

"Ah."

Caroline nodded, indicating that this was the example she had given.

However, although Jing Liuli had already understood the meaning of 'living' that Caroline wanted to convey, a new question arose.

“That doesn’t make sense, Caroline. Those people in the county don’t seem brain dead to me, so why are they so obsessed with gaining other people’s lifespans and memories?”

Upon hearing this, Caroline's gaze deepened.

Then, she picked up her tactical tablet, tapped the screen with her fingertip, and handed the tablet to her.

What appeared on that tablet screen was none other than the data of all the citizens of Changsheng County they had encountered that morning, including bank staff and guesthouse owners.

Under Caroline's almost terrifying 'data collection', these people's bodies were replaced by blue bio-energy lines, turning them into special holographic projections.

In this projection, these people's bodies are no different from ordinary people, except that their head area is a blank, as if it has been completely erased with an eraser.

In other words, those were just ordinary 'people' in Jing Liuli's eyes.

In fact, from a biological perspective, they are quite different from normal people.

Looking at the 'brainless' figures on the tactical tablet, Jing Liuli's eyes widened instantly, not even noticing the teddy bear slipping off her knees.

She reached out and subconsciously tapped the head area of ​​the Changsheng County citizen analysis chart on the tactical tablet, whispering, "Are their brains empty?"

Caroline nodded, then reached out and began swiping the screen of the tactical tablet.

The next second, a large amount of information about the citizens of Changsheng Island, recorded by Caroline, appeared in front of Jing Liuli.

Without exception, the head area in the analytical diagrams of these individuals is entirely blank.

Besides this obvious characteristic, these people have another aspect that is equally unusual.

That is their vigorous 'life force', comparable to that of star beasts.

"Liuli, they not only lack the brains of normal people, but their physical functions far surpass those of ordinary people, even surpassing many star beasts."

"Many of them can even reach a level comparable to a first or second-level Star Envoy without the aid of Star Energy."

Among these 'people', there is one 'person' who is very special.

That was the guesthouse owner they had met not long ago.

He is the only one among the citizens that Caroline has collected so far who is almost like a normal person.

The fact that a 'normal person' can blend into a group of monsters is itself abnormal.

After learning that these citizens of Changsheng County possessed physical structures drastically different from ordinary people, and an extraordinary 'vitality', Jing Liuli roughly understood why these individuals so desperately desired to gain 'lifespan'.

After all, in a sense, lifespan and vitality have always been synonymous.

just
"But what about memories? Caroline, I feel like memories don't seem to be of much use to them, do they?"

Just as Caroline was about to explain, Tiandao, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up.

"Liuli, longevity can enhance their physiological functions and make their bodies stronger."

"But a physical body alone is not enough; they also need 'memory' to fill the empty brains."

Even if it's just a false memory of someone else, it can still give them the temporary illusion of being alive.

Upon hearing Tiandao's words, Jing Liuli frowned and asked, "What's the point of 'living' like this?"

"For them, it's enough that the glass has meaning."

The Heavenly Dao looked at the mirror and said in an unusually serious tone, "The meaning of life lies not only in its length, but also in its breadth."

"For most people, different and rich experiences are often a symbol of their 'breadth of life'."

"Therefore, if we compare time to a tree, then the so-called 'memory' is the unique 'annual rings' on that tree."

"A tree without growth rings is no different from a dead tree, and naturally cannot be considered alive."

At this point, Tiandao stood up and looked at the sky over Changsheng County, which was beginning to darken.

"Unable to record the years of their lives through their own 'memory,' they can only rely on the memories of others, since their memories are already frozen at a certain point in time."

[Real world, 13 stations, bullet comment section]

'Frozen in time? So, the Island of Immortality is actually a giant time prison?'

"That should be true. Otherwise, why would Lao Tian say that these people don't have their own 'annual rings'?"

"In that case, these citizens are quite pitiful. After all, if a person doesn't even have their own memories, then they are indeed no different from being dead."

'That doesn't make sense. Didn't Rose Knight Wilford, who appeared at the beginning, have his own memories? He even remembers the Grand Master and the Doctor.'

"Isn't it normal for a few isolated cases to appear in a massive sample size?"

Through the dialogue between Tiandao and Jing Liuli, most of the viewers on the 13th station have roughly figured out the underlying logic of Changsheng Island.

First, there's 'equivalent exchange'; second, there's 'time'.

After all, in a sense, both 'lifespan' and 'memory' are concrete manifestations of 'time'.

The former represents length, and the latter represents breadth.

In light of this, it becomes reasonable why 'vitality,' a secondary derivative of lifespan, also has exchange value on the Island of Immortality.

From this perspective, the entire Changsheng Island is like a giant 'time prison,' with everyone trapped in a specific time rift.

Getting out might not be as easy as they imagine.

Shortly after Tiandao finished speaking, the anime's camera panned to Changsheng County at night.

Unlike the hustle and bustle of the daytime, Changsheng County at night finally has a bit of the feel of an 'occupied area'.

The streets here were eerily quiet, and the gray fog that covered the entire county added an eerie atmosphere to the otherwise desolate streets.

boom!
Just as the viewers were wondering what was so strange about the streets of Changsheng County at night, a figure suddenly flew out of the frame and crashed heavily onto the street.

It was a man wearing the uniform of a student from the Tianwu Training Base. He was clutching his chest with both hands, staring in terror at something in the distance, as if he were afraid of something.

As the camera panned, a tall monster with its head split open into countless 'tentacles' came into view.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the so-called 'tentacles' actually resemble the 'vines' of some kind of plant.

The difference is that this so-called 'plant' is actually composed of countless pieces of flesh and blood.

"Damn it, why are there monsters like this here too?"

"And why can't they be killed?!"

Seeing the 'monster' slowly approaching him, the man gritted his teeth, struggled to his feet, and ran towards the direction of leaving the county town.

But just as he made a move, several whooshing sounds came from behind him.

The next second, several thick 'tentacles' tore through the air and lashed the man's back, slamming him against a wall on the side of the street.

"puff!"

Before his old wounds had healed, a new one was inflicted, and the man immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.

Before long, the tall monster walked up to the man.

Then, to the surprise of the dimensional audience, the monster's tentacles began to retract, eventually forming a seemingly ordinary old man with a goatee.

And isn't this guy the stall owner who cooked plain noodles for Chen Kong and Mi Yao during the day?
What surprised the viewers even more was that several blurry figures suddenly appeared in the mist behind the old man with the goatee.

Although the faces of these figures were not clearly visible, when they were combined with the eerie old man with the goatee in front of them, the audience instantly understood just how dangerous Changsheng County was at night.

They also realized just how valuable the 'guesthouse check-in voucher' in Tiandao's hands truly was.

In the dimly lit street, the old man with the goatee looked at the man who was now mostly able to move, a chilling greed flashing in his cold eyes.

The next second, another third of his head split open, transforming into several sharp and eerie tentacles.

Some of these tentacles controlled the man's limbs, while others transformed into 'sharp blades' that slowly pierced towards the man's brow.

Just as the tentacle was about to pierce through the man's brow, a blazing and dazzling flame appeared out of nowhere.

boom!
Amidst the violent explosion, the old man with the goatee retracted his tentacles, turned his head to look in the direction of the firelight, and his expression turned solemn.

A woman, wielding a demonic sword and bathed in flames, slowly emerged from the other end of the street.

In the mist briefly dispelled by the flames, numerous humanoid corpses, charred by the fire, lay haphazardly on the street, motionless.

The old man with the goatee narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the woman.

Immediately afterwards, one after another, citizens of Changsheng County emerged from the mist, their eyes also gleaming with a green light as they looked at the uninvited guest bathed in flames.

After all, they couldn't remember the last time they'd encountered someone like her who dared to cause such a ruckus in Changsheng County.

(End of this chapter)