Cyber ​​Sword Immortal Iron Rain

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Chapter 347 Nonsense (End)

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Patient Zero did not notice Fang Bailu's emotion. He seemed to have opened up and talked about his past:

“If you haven’t experienced that era, it may be difficult for you to imagine the output efficiency of artificial intelligence.”

“Every year, more AI works are created than all human art ever created. As you can imagine, humans can’t see all of them; but even the ones they do see… are of extremely high quality.”

"As for humans - readers, listeners, viewers, players; the inputters and digesters of this information, their thresholds have been rising along with the average quality of the works produced, while the pleasure they can get from literary works - the pleasure of reading, the pleasure of watching movies, the flow of games - has been constantly decreasing."

"Selectors need to constantly pick out works that can stimulate the audience from this turbid and overflowing ocean of works."

"You don't know how many movies I watched, how many games I played, and how many popular novels I read. I finally graduated. Ha, now I don't even want to look at these things again."

……

Manual screening - Fang Bailu feels that this method is somewhat inefficient.

The wide variety of second-hand goods in the hardware store he used to run flooded into Fang Bailu's mind:

“Electronic bliss and nirvana experiences are definitely more popular now — especially compared to traditional forms of entertainment.”

Patient Zero nodded in agreement:

"That's natural: no matter how high the threshold is, it can't break through physiological limitations..."

"Most of these new-age entertainment methods come from the 'Bohemian Era' - oh, sorry; we will talk about this era later."

There was a hint of confusion in Patient Zero's eyes - that was the look on an old man's face when he was lost in memories.

Fang Bailu had no intention of interrupting him: they still had plenty of time.

……

Patient Zero's interest gradually waned, and the light in his eyes became slightly dimmer than at the beginning:

"In short: later on, they developed a group of artificial intelligence to be responsible for the screening work - so we 'artistic screeners' were eliminated and lost our jobs. So I am glad that I didn't try this industry again after graduation -"

"In the end, the AI ​​became too human-like, had its own needs... you know. Maybe in time, the AI ​​would develop its own AI. Just like now: the 'tigers' of the Java Group will use humans as their minions."

“So after that, this thing stopped. Humans also had new things to do.”

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Patient Zero sighed with satisfaction, seeming to enjoy this topic very much:

"I'm so sorry, I love reminiscing when I get older. I've talked too much about these jobs and things like that. Where were we before?"

He coughed a few more times.

Fang Bailu snapped his fingers lightly: a translucent cartilage-supported water cup quietly "grew" from the cup holder on the armrest of Patient Zero's chair; it was filled with water - he didn't need to do this, but it gave Fang Bailu a sense of satisfaction as if he had cast a spell:

“With technological breakthroughs, mankind has begun to run in big strides.”

Patient Zero held his right palm horizontally in the air, swinging it back and forth in an exaggerated manner:

"Ah, yes. A giant step - more like a triple jump... a short, soaring 'Age of Ascension'. After that... to use a more clichéd, classic term, it was the 'Golden Age' of mankind, or the 'Age of Great Harmony'."

"Some people do believe that the Earth at that time could be called a 'world of great harmony'."

“That’s the era I was born in.”

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"Humans have gradually assimilated the knowledge and technology they have and finally applied them to their daily lives - everyone seems to have magic. You know the saying: 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'; most people don't understand the principles of these technologies, but they can roughly grasp how to use them."

Fang Bailu stared into the eyes of Patient Zero:

"Like the secret of immortality in me?"

Patient Zero neither nodded nor shook his head:

"The birth and emergence of the Way of Immortality... came later; I would not describe it as a product of the Golden Age. All ways of immortality, such as the 'Double Helix Wonderful Tree' on your body, came from after the Golden Age - please listen to me slowly."

Fang Bailu nodded slightly:

"continue."

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Patient Zero said:

"At the beginning of the Golden Age - you may not believe it... at that time, the general moral standards of mankind suddenly rose. Perhaps this is 'When the granaries are full, people will know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they will know honor and disgrace.'"

"Similarly, there have been a lot of changes in ethics - I'm afraid it would be difficult for you to accept it in your time: for example, in the early days, after some genetic diseases and genetic defects were cured... the laws of some countries and regions opened up marriages between close relatives."

"And in the later stages, such things are nothing."

Fang Bailu responded noncommittally:

"Well."

Many of the things he had seen after waking up were much more depraved and more difficult to accept than this - Fang Bailu was an only child.

Patient Zero ended the topic with his own opinion:

"But from the perspective of human progress as a whole... this is just a harmless detail."

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Before continuing the topic, Fang Bailu first had a question that was more closely related to himself:

"Why didn't you wake us up? Technically, you can cure our terminal illnesses - or any other reasons for wanting to hibernate into the future; after all, you are so 'advanced'."

Patient Zero put his palms in front of his face, and he seemed to be deliberately avoiding Fang Bailu's sight:

"The reasons behind this... are quite complicated."

"Some of the hibernators were awakened; mostly those with direct descendants. The rest: forgotten, to put it mildly."

"After all, most people are too busy to take care of themselves—"

Fang Bailu turned his gaze towards the ruined city:

"Busy enjoying life?"

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Patient Zero shook his head, looking serious:

"No, you are too busy adapting to the changing world. Few people remember your existence; you are like lost objects without a claimant - no children, no bloodline to continue to care for you."

"Society has no time to consider these left-behind hibernators: too many laws are being introduced, more technologies are emerging - every time someone wants to wake up an unclaimed hibernator, there will be opposition."

"To be honest, it was also for the hibernators' sake. First of all, at that time, few groups or companies were researching hibernation awakening technology. More people were inclined to more intuitive technologies: extending lifespan, rather than further improving the reliability of hibernation."

"The technology to wake you up from hibernation is never perfect... So everyone would rather wait. No one wants to wake up these old antiques and find that you have more problems, right?"

"After all, technology is advancing so rapidly. Will there be a wake-up technology that is less harmful and has no side effects tomorrow?"

"No one knows that. After all, everyone is so happy—even to the point of being indecisive and kind."

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Fang Bailu shrugged.

"I understand. If it were me, I wouldn't have the time to understand all these messy things."

"Anyway, in the end, we spent this 'golden age', this 'age of great harmony' in our sleep."

Patient Zero nodded slightly, but it was unclear which part of the other person's words he agreed with:

“It was a wonderful time: I could feel hope every day.”

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Fang Bailu did not follow the thoughts of Patient Zero and try to feel the beauty——

But now, every little bit in this new world is suggesting that there may not be a happy ending in the story of Patient Zero.

So, he didn't say anything and just continued listening.

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Patient Zero did not notice Fang Bailu's silence:

“The end of the ‘golden age’ – in fact, most technologies are approaching maturity.”

"But the question remains..."

"Although the moral level of mankind has indeed increased, it cannot keep up with the speed of technological advancement: what it brings is——"

"boring."

"When all means of entertainment have been tried, men become bored: not to mention that their lives become longer."

Fang Bailu suddenly sneered:

"Tsk, the golden age huh?"

Patient Zero seemed not to hear the ridicule from Fang Bailu:

"And after that: how to 'use' these technologies - this topic became mainstream in the world; this was also the demarcation point at the end of the golden age."

"This new era... is called the 'Age of Debauchery'. If the era we are in now is called the 'New World', then the 'Age of Debauchery' is the end of the old era."

"As the name suggests: from the literal meaning, you should be able to roughly understand what this 'loose age' is like."

Fang Bailu adjusted his sitting posture to make himself more comfortable:

“The age of fun.”

Patient Zero nodded in agreement:

"You are right; but it is more complicated than that."

"In short, new trends have emerged, of all kinds. For example... something you should be familiar with by now, the 'occult revival'."

“Of course, while the progress of basic science has stagnated: progress in applied science continues.”

"For example, most of the scientific and technological achievements used by humans today come from the Profligate Age."

"And this era of debauchery is the end of the old era -

"At the end, all men have acquired great, uncontrollable powers; all possible recreations have been tried. And only one step is left to the last recreation: to vent these powers through death combat and mutual annihilation."

Fang Bailu did not answer immediately——

Because he discovered that Patient Zero did not tell the truth...

At least this last sentence is not the true face of this incident.

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But... Fang Bailu started another topic first - anyway, all the final truths will be revealed in this long conversation:

"The end of the old era - then after this debauched era, there will be the 'Great Blackout'? What exactly is the Great Blackout?"

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Chapter 348: Farewell (Part )

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Fang Bailu repeated his question again:

“What exactly is the Blackout?”

This question has been lingering in Fang Bailu's mind ever since he woke up from the white coffin and began to understand a little about this world.