Endless Debt

Chapter 1279: Chapter 84: A Joke

After a brief recap, Bologue roughly explained his wondrous adventure in the Ruins District to Mamo.

In the slightly cramped space, the two sat in silence, with vague noises coming from outside the door, and Furya’s incessant chatter echoing tirelessly.

It was only now that Bologue realized Furya could talk so much. Perhaps years in the Ruins District had stifled her, but listening to that voice for too long inevitably gave one a headache.

Yet, it was inexplicably reassuring.

Bologue slumped in the chair for quite a while before slowly regaining his energy. If it weren’t for the tasks at hand, he really would have liked to go home and sleep.

Mamo slightly lowered his head, closing his eyes in contemplation. Bologue didn’t disturb him, knowing that Mamo would thoroughly explain everything. He just needed some time to accept the current situation.

Apart from the black-and-white photo, Bologue salvaged several experimental logs and notebooks, all extremely valuable knowledge.

Approaching the door, Bologue opened a crack and observed the outside.

The number of staff at the Outpost had increased, mainly field staff sent to maintain order. After some persuasion, even the Furyas stayed obediently within the Outpost, not delving further into the Cultivation Room.

Everything happening here had been reported to the Decision Room, and corresponding handling regulations were being generated at high speed by the Sovereign. Bologue believed the Sovereign would come up with the most perfect solution.

"She is a backup left behind by Furya, a pure, untainted backup, like the original form of a program, without complex redundancy, ready for modification."

Bologue’s gaze wandered over the Furyas through the gap.

"After helping her gain access, much like the original Furya had done, she conducted massive self-replication and proliferation, using these pure Furyas to replace the severely deteriorated ones."

Bologue withdrew his gaze and closed the door tightly. "Now she is gradually taking over the various functions of the Ruins District. With the help of the Order Bureau, it’s estimated that in a while, she should be able to reverse the chaos in the Ruins District, restoring it to rational order, and these fallen Void Realms will return under the control of the Order Bureau."

He paused for a moment and expressed his concern, "But I’m not sure, if the Cultivation Room takes over the Ruins District, what about Furya? After all, this vast Void Realm already has a sovereign consciousness. It doesn’t need another nuisance, as that would only hinder its computational efficiency."

The increasingly heavy topic made the atmosphere in the room somewhat tense and suffocating.

Having just escaped death, Bologue wasn’t very interested in discussing this. Instead, he asked, "What exactly happened back then, Mamo? You didn’t set this up intentionally, did you?"

Mamo slowly opened his eyes, a subtle feeling of being both old and young, strong yet fragile, surrounding him.

"Back then? Back then, it was just curiosity getting the better of me, leading to some less-than-legitimate research," Mamo whispered, "Void Realm intelligence... actually, this research can also be understood in another way."

Bologue guessed at Mamo’s implication and replied.

"Eternal life based on the Void Realm."

"Haha."

Mamo laughed hoarsely, knowing that Bologue could guess his thoughts.

"At that time, I was no longer young. Even after weathering life’s storms, when night fell, the thought of not being able to wake up after falling asleep terrified me," Mamo lamented.

"I thought I was a strong person. Indeed, I had been strong before, but time defeated me, making me afraid of death."

"Then I thought, since we could create such a miraculous entity as the Sovereign, why couldn’t we create another one?

If the purpose of the Sovereign is to rely on countless conscious entities to become nearly infallible decision-makers through continuous learning and evolution, then what I want to create is a utopia.

There, we will have eternal life, eternal time, eternal happiness."

Bologue commented coldly, "You should understand that consciousness can only be copied, not uploaded."

"I know, I’m destined to die, but my copy will survive to enjoy all of this," Mamo looked at Bologue, "Immortality is such a luxurious thing. Even merely at this cost, I think I can accept it."

"But in the end... you seemed to have given up?"

Bologue recalled everything he saw in the secret laboratory. When Void Realm intelligence was still at the theoretical stage, Mamo had given up. It was Furya who continued the research in later times until it succeeded.

"Because I realized it was unachievable," Mamo picked up Furya’s diary, flipping through it briefly, "Conscious entities and real humans are ultimately different. Humans forget, but conscious entities don’t.

As time accumulates, too much thought will only become redundant waste, poisoning the consciousness... Hence, the Sovereign requires an absolutely unified thought, where the integrated consciousness entities merely provide computational power."

Mamo continued, "Besides, sometimes I wonder, is such a linger of life really considered living?"

"Are you no longer afraid?" Bologue asked.

"I’m still a little afraid, but compared to before, I’m undoubtedly much braver," Mamo said, "It’s also a way of reconciling with myself."