Time goes back to a while ago.
Along the misty path, following the hounds whose footsteps were as light as ghosts, Jiang Zhou and Christie walked on the road leaving the Narcissus Plain.
Along the way, probably out of wariness of each other, the two didn't speak much.
Jiang Zhou was actually very conflicted about this.
As an adjuster who has experienced the Cyber War, the degree of transformation has reached the limit of human intelligence, and plans to continue to upgrade; logically speaking, Christie’s true inside story about the “Big Impact” and the relationship between the Olympus gods It's a secret that you should know a lot about.
However, he could not find a suitable opportunity to ask for a while.
After all, asking a question like "Do you know what the thing you saw earlier is?" seems too stupid just to think about it.
Therefore, the two of them remained silent for a long time.
When Jiang Zhou finally thought of a question that could break the awkward silence, the other party spoke first.
"Speaking of which, your upgrade path...is Icarus, right? I just did a rough scan before, but I'm not entirely sure."
Christie asked.
Jiang Zhou could tell that her tone was hesitant when she asked.
"Yes."
So he nodded calmly.
After answering like this, Jiang Zhou could clearly feel the other party's hesitation - she said "uh" first, and then continued to ask like a test:
"Then this promotion path was chosen by 'Paradox' for you?"
This question made Jiang Zhou stunned for a moment. Although he didn't know why the other party suddenly mentioned this, he still answered:
"no."
"Was your contact with 'Paradox' before or after you became an Adjuster?"
After hearing Jiang Zhou's answer, Christie continued to ask.
"Any questions?"
Jiang Zhou was a little wary when he heard the other party ask this.
In response, the other party sighed slightly:
"Forget it if you don't want to say it... No matter what, you are still at depth 2, so there is no big problem for the time being. But believe me, for this upgrade path, after the transformation depth reaches depth 3, you should not continue. Went down.
"Adjusters of Icarus, never cross the photosynthetic zone."
Her tone was very serious.
Christie's words suddenly piqued Jiang Zhou's curiosity.
"why?"
he asked:
"Is there something wrong with Icarus's upgrade path?"
Christie did not immediately answer this question. Her eyes followed the black dog leading the way for a long time, and then she slowly said:
"Not every upgrade path is designed to allow humans to complete evolutionary ascent as a species."
Is there any information about the upgrade path...
Jiang Zhou did not interrupt, but quietly paid attention to what the other party said next.
"Actually, in addition to the upgrade paths obtained by reversely studying the first generation of adjusters in the 'Big Impact' era, many of today's upgrade paths are actually based on tools that were created along with those original adjustment and transformation routes.
"Those paths do not care about the adjuster's original will, and to a large extent, the human body is just another 'material' used to print technological blueprints."
Christie turned to look at Jiang Zhou and said.
"Completely alienated and become a tool..."
The latter murmured in conclusion.
He recalled his (Liao Qi's) father - the worker who was replaced with a robotic arm and used as a "living part" in the water purification plant in the resettlement area. Just because the tool's performance can no longer keep up with the demands of the job, it is replaced like an obsolete part.
Then, he looked at Christie seriously and said:
"So, is the Icarus Path a tool-based path to ascension?"
"No...this path is even worse."
The other party replied:
"Generally speaking, for those upgrade paths that are tools, they will choose the names of some monsters when naming them - this is also a conventional rule, such as the Path of Cerberus, which is used as a self-disciplined high-mobility firepower Designed as a projection platform.
"But the Icarus path is different. Compared to a mature tool, this path is actually closer to...a guinea pig used in experiments."
The leading black dog howled in front, as if to remind them that they were almost there.
"Guinea pig?"
Ignoring Hei Quan's reminder, Jiang Zhou repeated it.
“Tools that validate tools work.”
Christie said:
"The capabilities gained by the Icarus Path after completing the adjustment and transformation of Depth 4 are very simple: almost unlimited compatibility with other path adjustments and transformations - you can crazyly add external prosthetics from other upgrade paths."
In response, Jiang Zhou asked in surprise:
"But if this is the case, not to mention the damage to the mental index... won't there be conflicts between different prosthetics?"
Christie shook his head:
"Don't think of yourself as a person, think of your own body as a docking station. Those adjustments and modifications are just different external devices installed on your body. They do not become your new organs like normal installation, but just connections. The tools that are attached to you... no, they won't even be attached to your body. They will be attached to your external expandable prosthetic 'wings'.
"In fact, the 'drivers' of those prosthetics will not be installed in your biological brain. They will be integrated by the Deep 4 modification called 'Daily Program', allowing you to forcibly drive those prosthetics."
This will affect the adjuster's mental index to rapidly deteriorate.
Day by day program…
Jiang Zhou heard this term again.
That depth 4 adjustment and transformation, Jiang Zhou now has one in his hands - it is something left by the former leader of the organization.
"So, this path..."
Jiang Zhou opened his mouth and planned to ask something else.
However, before he could say anything, the other party interrupted and continued:
"In addition, based on the scalability of the Icarus Path. There are many malicious programs in the Abyss Dark Web, and they will choose to use the adjuster's body of this path to enter the base reality...especially when they just need to carry out Some rough operations without the need for a precision tool like a 'steed'."
After hearing this, Jiang Zhou finally understood why the other party asked whether he became an adjuster before or after being exposed to the "paradox".
She was worried that she would just become a "bomb" thrown into the basic reality by the "paradox".
"I see……"
In the end, Jiang Zhou had no choice but to put on a serious expression and nodded seriously.
After all, only he knows that there is no malicious program named "Paradox" in this world.
Therefore, there is no such thing as entering the basic reality through his body.
Looking at Jiang Zhou's expression, Christie nodded and finally concluded:
"Although this may seem a bit funny to someone like me who has been a 'steed'... But even when we cooperate with those artificial intelligences, even when we face those whose intelligence exceeds our existence, we still cannot You have to have the bottom line as a human being.”
"What's the bottom line?"
Jiang Zhou asked.
"Free will."
Christie replied. (End of chapter)
