Cyber ​​Sword Immortal Iron Rain

In the past, this would have been normal; but among the dormant dragons that held power and secrets, this was undoubtedly an anomaly.

……

Fang Bailu hesitated for a moment - whether he should directly swallow the other person into the tree and read his memory.

But in the end, he nodded slightly and gave a friendly greeting:

"Hello."

"You just said—I haven't seen you for several years?"

Patient Zero took off his glasses, blew a puff of white mist onto the lenses, and then wiped them carefully with the corner of his sleeve until all the tiny hairs and stains were removed:

"Yes... I was the one who woke you up. Among the current 'dragon group' - I didn't give this name - probably more than half of them were woken up from their dreams in the hibernation cabin by me."

He put his glasses back on his face. Although he didn't know the degree of the glasses, the lenses magnified Patient Zero's eyes like a cartoon character:

"More than three years ago - four years ago, I opened your hibernation chamber and copied a healthy body of yours."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask for your opinion when I brought you into this world."

"But I think you are having a good time now."

Fang Bailu did not show any surprise - he now remembered a lot of things:

"Oh, it's you; much older."

"So... you didn't just happen to be sucked into that device and ended up here, did you? What do you want?"

……

"It's not so much that I want to get something from you - it's more like... I want to give you something: and through you, to all other human beings."

Patient Zero turned his stiff neck and looked around; Manila was very quiet now - and Fang Bailu could be sure that they were the only two humans who could still move at the moment.

"The details are very complicated. If you are free, let's talk about it. It may take a while."

……

Fang Bailu didn't need to touch the other person's body directly to see that Patient Zero had already suffered from cerebral atrophy; this is a disease that older people are prone to - it is also an aspect of aging.

Compared to talking, Fang Bailu has a more efficient way of communicating:

"I can just eat you up and read your memory: you might find this conversation too much work."

Patient Zero rested one hand on the handle of his crutch and used the other hand to gently hit the back of his hand, making a "snap" sound:

"But you--you probably haven't had a good conversation for a long time. So, let's chat like two ordinary people."

"Otherwise... I don't think you would need to inform me before opening my head."

Fang Bailu just stood there. But those "eyes" were like cobras that heard the sound of a flute, swaying and rising, looking at Patient Zero from all directions:

"That's one of the reasons... and I don't think you'll be eaten by me that easily. In my previous life - before I fell asleep, I got food poisoning and had an upset stomach. It's an experience that's still fresh in my memory, and I don't plan to go through it again."

Patient Zero chuckled:

"You've deliberately tried to shape me into 'food' or something similar... rather than an equal. Although you want to use this to express hostility and threats - however, I have to tell you the truth: once we clash, both of us will pay a heavy price."

……

People often say that the beginning and the end of life are similar, and the elderly are like children.

Fang Bailu noticed the emotional ups and downs of Patient Zero. Although he was sober and flexible, which was rare for a person of his age, he had already entered the last years of his physiological cycle. And there was some bluffing in what he just said.

But he also had some real thoughts: But even so, it was not the part that Fang Bailu really cared about -

"Not really. I was just stating the facts. If I was in a hurry to kill you—you wouldn't have time for these wisecracks."

He raised his hand - the originally flat ground suddenly revealed two bulges of flesh: the inward-wrapped shape provided support for the neck, similar to a stool or sofa; under the smooth skin was a soft layer of fat.

"If you have anything to say... just sit down and say it. You're quite old - there's no need to stand all the time."

As he spoke, Fang Bailu sat down first - the feeling of sitting on part of his own body was very wonderful.

……

"Thank you."

In the eyes of ordinary people, Patient Zero sat down without hesitation; but Fang Bailu saw clearly that he had a fleeting hesitation. And this brief consideration also revealed part of Patient Zero's personality.

He cleared his throat—Fang Bailu could feel that his trachea was filled with sticky body fluids:

"After meeting you... I can say that I do have something to ask for. However, before I tell you my request, I need to explain to you why the world is like this - of course, if you are interested in listening."

Fang Bailu put his right foot on his left leg and adjusted himself to a more comfortable position on the seat:

"Go ahead—to be honest, I'd like to know, too."

Patient Zero nodded slightly, clasped his fingers together and placed them on his knees:

"But I can't tell you directly... because I'm afraid you won't understand. So before that, I want to give you some background 'popular science': forgive me for using this word, but not many people understand this knowledge now."

"For the sake of easier understanding, I need to divide the period from when you entered hibernation to when you woke up into several parts."

"You should have entered the cryogenic hibernation place after the millennium, right?"

……

……

Chapter 346: Nonsense (Part )

……

……

Fang Bailu shook the T-shirt he was wearing - it was thick, bleached soft leather, but it looked like cotton. This piece of clothing, made by the Way of Immortality, was Fang Bailu's favorite short-sleeved shirt before hibernation.

He had a sense of déjà vu when he was back in the hospital and talking to the doctor:

"Yes, to be exact, it is 2020. We are participating in an experimental program, so we don't have to pay for it ourselves."

Patient Zero leaned back and made a half-sigh, half-groaning sound common to old people. It was obvious that he was very used to the chair created by Fang Bailu:

"Not too early, not too late... If I remember correctly, you are participating in the cryonics service of Anle Palace. Their recruitment began in 1996 and ended in 2034; registration includes paid commercial testing and random selection clinical testing."

"If it doesn't cost anything, then you should have registered and won a spot through a lottery."

Fang Bailu doesn't need to "remember" everything from the past - these memories surround him anytime and anywhere:

"I was lucky and won a spot in the first round."

……

Patient Zero picked up the crutch horizontally and placed it on his knees:

"There are both good and bad sides to this. The good thing is that you were eventually selected and survived until now—"

"The bad thing is this: not long after you fell into eternal sleep, humans changed from pacing to running."

Fang Bailu put his palm in front of his face. It still looked like a human hand - but he knew that the distance between him and humans was much greater than the distance between fruit flies and humans. This level of technology was still just science or magic in his time:

"Oh, another technological revolution or explosion or something like that?"

He was not unfamiliar with this concept.

Patient Zero clapped his hands, creating a crude yet hilarious "explosion":

"Yes, you can say that - there are both factors related to the breakthrough progress of artificial intelligence and other reasons. Wait, I will explain it to you."

……

Patient Zero calmed down for a while, and Fang Bailu could see the rise and fall of his chest. It seemed that this short conversation had made him tired:

"First of all, I will try my best to follow the chronological order of most of the content. But I am old, so there may be some errors and discrepancies, but it will not affect your understanding."

Patient Zero held his right palm horizontally across his face—he seemed to be trying to express the difference between high and low:

"From the beginning of the scientific explosion until the beginning of the human heyday: we can call this period the 'Age of Ascension'."

"This period was not long. It could even be said to be extremely short. Just when humans thought this full-speed sprint would last for many centuries... it only lasted for a few generations before stopping."

"But in just a few generations, just over half a century..." Patient Zero stretched out his arms as far as he could and raised his horizontal palms; "the level of science that humans have achieved has reached a height that is beyond imagination."

Fang Bailu was more concerned about the word "stop" from Patient Zero:

"What happened after that? Did human science make no progress and come to a complete standstill?"

Although he did not intend to use the power of the Double Helix Tree to forcibly read the information held by Patient Zero; but the words and techniques had already been imprinted in Fang Bailu's heart.

"In a sense, you can say that."

Patient Zero's face was full of embarrassment:

"Anyway - I remember that first, the 'Grand Unified Field Theory' was... invented? Discovered? Confirmed? Proven? Ah, sorry, I don't know the exact term, but it appeared anyway; this should be considered one of the origins of the technological explosion."

“Of course, there are many other factors – but this is a landmark milestone.”

"Well, Mr. Fang: let's not talk about the basic science part first..."

"In short, it took humans a lot of time to digest the results of these technological explosions - from theoretical science to applied science."

……

Fang Bailu scratched his nose. He didn't know whether it was because of his age or because Patient Zero was not sensitive to this topic. When he talked about this topic, it was always funny and extremely unconfident:

"Hmm, hmm... I guess I figured it out. You're also a half-witted person. You're wearing such thick glasses. I thought you were a scientific researcher. What major did you study in college?"

Fang Bailu felt a little amused - he hadn't asked anyone this question for hundreds of years.

Patient Zero laughed sincerely, even to the point of coughing from laughter—he seemed to have similar feelings:

“Minjiang College, Artificial Intelligence Art Screening.”

"To be honest... people of my generation were lucky to know how to use tools. I don't even know the basics, I just know how to use them."

Fang Bailu raised his eyebrows - he had never heard of the name of this major:

"Oh? Oh... a very old-fashioned major; I didn't have that in my time."

Patient Zero is still in high spirits:

"Ha! But it was very fashionable in my time; it was easy to find a job. But then—I didn't end up doing a job related to my major."

……

"Mr. Fang, what about you? What's your major?"

Fang Bailu noticed that the other party's mood swings were much greater than they seemed:

"Finance. Hey, I don't even know why I studied that. In the end, I even lost money when I bought a fund."

Patient Zero laughed in agreement:

"Hahaha, you're too modest. But finance was still a classic major in my time - it was chosen by many people."

Fang Bailu nodded in agreement - he didn't think it was interesting to discuss finance with this old man in the ruins of the city. The other party's major was more interesting to him:

“So what exactly is ‘AI art screening’ learning?”

He was indeed very curious about this. Whether it was the era before Fang Bailu entered hibernation, or the world after waking up - artificial intelligence was either just born, or had already become a true descendant of humans, or another form of existence...

The profession mentioned by Patient Zero had a weird feeling of being sandwiched right in the middle; Fang Bailu could guess some of the meaning from the literal meaning... but it seemed to be true and not true.

……

Patient Zero suddenly showed a look of realization:

"Oh! I forgot... a few years after you went into hibernation, there was a new breakthrough in artificial intelligence technology."

“As the name suggests – to filter out the real ‘artworks’ from the works of artificial intelligence.”

"I'm telling you: this profession requires a lot of taste, and the ability to predict the market environment and target audience... When I was studying, I knew it would be difficult for me to make a living from this - so after graduation, I went to do something else."

"In my time - the demand for entertainment is greater than in all previous times."

“At that time, some people called us ‘painters who can’t paint’. But in fact, painting is the artistic medium that ‘screeners’ are least exposed to – of course, there are also high-end players who specialize in this area.”

Fang Bailu found that Patient Zero had become talkative - it seemed that every older person liked to reminisce about the past and recall their heyday.

Even he was surprised: Fang Bailu was able to listen to this part of the history told by Patient Zero with great interest. Although his physical age was not as old as Patient Zero, Fang Bailu felt for the first time in a long time since he woke up that he was communicating with another person of the same age.

University, major, employment... For Fang Bailu, hearing these words again seemed like a lifetime ago.