"A very bold guess." Ji Xun said, "Your new ally did investigate very carefully. However, without stronger evidence, I don't think it can be used as a conclusion."
"Don't you have supporting details in your memory?" Jules asked, "Why did your predecessors abandon their hometown and wander for so long? Where did their technology come from? Why did they abandon their hometown? Don't you have any idea about this? Any original records left?”
"It's not important." Ji Xun said.
"That sounds like a cop-out."
"This is not true." Ji Xun still said, "I am still discussing the conjecture you raised. But the origin of the expedition team is not important on this issue."
Jules raised her chin slightly to express her disdain for this ridiculous answer. She didn't even want to say another word in defense.
"In the place where I was born," Ji Xun said, "the obsession with historical glory and the power advantage of those born first are very unreasonable from the perspective of optimization logic. That is only very important when imparting information. It can only be established where there is inefficiency. I noticed that in your past system, kinship and ancestor worship were not completely eliminated."
"That is the normal state of a natural civilization, Mr. Ji Xun. We were once the masters of the universe, not a wandering army. But that does not mean that there are no opponents within us. I have no doubt that those who left will use More radical organizational structures. Here's another thing you might be interested in, about the kind of tiny calculators you use that we tried to develop before the Big Crunch destroyed most of us. In front of precision instruments, we're trying to make something that challenges the microscopic scale. Interestingly, that's exactly what we draw inspiration from the history of the culture you disdain. A mythical story that we call the 'Stardust Machine'. Among those who left were one who was addicted to it."
"Very interesting information." Ji Xun said, "Maybe there is some arrangement for our meeting."
"Are you beginning to agree with my suspicion?"
"I didn't say that. But it was fun. Yes, Jules."
Ji Xun suddenly called her. It seemed very abrupt, as if he was debating whether to reveal something. But when Jules looked at him, he just said: "I'm curious if your name has some meaning. Of all the original names I collected here, your name has never been repeated to anyone else. Given the nature of your language system, It's not natural that it's pronounced so simply. I guess that means it has a special meaning."
"Yes. I'm not surprised you didn't know that from other people's memories. My name comes from a rare language. It represents an ancient and angry primordial god. A great spiritual will. The entire universe is in it. It is a painful and small cage, so it keeps struggling, expanding the boundaries of its cage. When it succeeds, it creates sparks and light to celebrate, and when it fails, it crushes some of them... When I was born, The Big Crunch has just been confirmed as a fact. It is not difficult to see how my parents connected the greatest crisis of the era with this ancient myth, and their hope. For this reason, they named their child after an evil god. .”
"This is also very interesting." Ji Xun said, "About the god trapped in the cage..."
"That's just a myth, Mr. Ji Xun." Zhu Er interrupted him, "We have lingered on unnecessary topics for too long. As for the possible relationship between us, if you are not willing to discuss it, we can forget it for the time being. , leave it for later. I am not a person who likes to dwell on the past..."
"But I am very interested in the past." Ji Xun said, "Please allow me to spend a little more time sorting out these things. A very simple sorting. If I made any mistakes in it, maybe you can remind me."
"I don't like to get stuck in minutiae," Jules said. "I want this part to be as short as possible, Mr. Ji Xun. I show you that moment to gain your trust so that we can strive for a common future. I don't Don't want any special benefit from our association."
Ji Xun smiled uncertainly. He avoided Jules's gaze and quickly took two steps forward.
"The activation of the separator was an accident." He said, "During one of your sacrifices...the nerve conduction simulation test, it was activated directly, but it failed to fully perform the task you assigned it. As The cost of a false start is that it directly destroyed your civilization and created another world that was not threatened by the Big Crunch. As a result, it accelerated away from its own universe - a cosmic review of the anti-infinity phenomenon, which is a common phenomenon in most areas. was established—and you fled the city before it was built. I assume you don’t know the details of its construction?”
"Wes said that this place has become an independent country, with our original institution as the boundary. A city of miracles will always be isolated from the outside universe and run according to its own rules. He also thinks that we should not get close, because we There is no way to break away from it - I must remind you that this is right, Mr. Ji Xun, you must have discovered that people are prohibited from thinking about leaving here."
"Is this related to the initial startup state of the slicer?"
"We will not deliberately set a suicide rule for ourselves, Mr. Ji Xun. But this may be related to the confidentiality agreement of the original computing center. Anyone who enters the institution cannot leave without applying. Or maybe this is a protection mechanism - —The Slicer believes that leaving here is harmful, so it will try to change people's minds. After all, we are here to keep everyone safe."
"This is all claimed by Weiss." Ji Xun confirmed, "You have never sent anyone in to confirm, but you believe these things that you have never witnessed before?"
"We have known for a long time that the Slicer will bring about unprecedented changes, Mr. Ji Xun. Weiss may be stupid in some ways, but he did point out the correct escape route. My theory is: he and the Slicer have some kind of connection. A connection. When the mentalist happened to fix the Slicer's flaw, he was the last person to talk to the madman. The impression of Wes stayed in the madman's mind, and then affected the Slicer. operation. This makes Wes what we call a 'prophet' - the last thought the Slicer got favored him, gave him a wide berth, and even specially opened an escape channel for him!"
Zhu Er's sharp voice made Ji Xun smile again.
"It sounds like you're acknowledging his specialness."
"I have never denied it, but it is not what he claimed. There is no devil's deal here, Mr. Ji Xun. He did not exchange his own misfortune for a way out, but gave an order to the slicer. Because he flinched ! Full of fear of the unknown! He just wanted to escape, and the Slicer weaved an escape story for him, an illusion about the devil and the price. And if, at that time, after I explained the situation to him, If he had any courage and responsibility, he would have given the correct instruction! He should have ordered the slicer to stop running, but it was too late. We were out of the field of slicer manufacturing, and he had no control over the slicer. The priority of instructions also disappeared. After that, the state of the new universe was completely different from what we thought... The rules of physics have changed beyond our original expectations, and we are not willing to discard the slicer easily. We, at least It's me and my colleagues who are still trying to take it back."
"But that's difficult." Ji Xun agreed, "Wes does not support taking back the Slicer. A considerable number of people who support him are already satisfied - satisfied with your rule over the descendants of the gene pool. I I have paid special attention to your research on automated weapons, which is obviously not enough to support an exploration operation. You have no resources and have lost the technical systems of the old era. Especially after the fine constants became unstable, you must have made little progress. In my opinion, You never intended to fully restore the society of the past, even though you had created a significant population."
"That's a lot of concerns."
"Or maybe the life of the ruler is too convenient." Ji Xun said, "Have you ever been afraid of those people who were created later? Worried that they would no longer listen to you? Or even accidentally discovered the secret you were guarding? What if someone was behind you? Having entered this place before and accidentally recovered it, all your efforts have become the greatest danger. Is this the reason why you stick to this place? When you find that your heir is trying to share this secret with everyone, you Are you afraid? So you are eager to punish him, not to make his life worse than death, but to let anyone, anyone who thinks like him, see his end."
"You are trying to anger me, Mr. Ji Xun."
"Yes. Because I don't believe you, Jul. For years you were tethered to your kind, and now you are free of them. Is Weiss dead? I was planning to restore your minds when I got out, But I think you will not leave this risk. But you are still limited by technology. I found that you lack experience in dealing with infinite phenomena, but you still came, not only entered here, but also found me. You are not worried about me Has some kind of technical advantage been accumulated here? Or are we just dueling fairly, with our respective knowledge and computing power... That would be very dangerous for you. I guess you wouldn't want to fall into the hands of your former heir. .”
"Why did you do that?"
"As you can see, we have reached a cooperation. Regarding the method of entering here, your heir gave me the final confirmation." Ji Xun said, "Other than that, he did show some creative talent. To be honest, I Curious how he will face you a second time. I won’t stop him from doing anything this time.”
"Are you sympathizing with him, Mr. Ji Xun? Because you were punished by your own people like him?"
Ji Xun paused. Zhuer said: "You should not be a coward, Mr. Ji Xun. You and your companions do not steal anything, but give and develop. For this reason, you have to clear away the fallen previous generations. This is very important." Bold action is one of the reasons why I found you now."
She saw with satisfaction that Ji Xun no longer smiled. She knew more about the matter than the latter expected. But she doesn't plan to stop there. She didn't bring it up to humiliate the other person.
"I know more than you think," she said bluntly, "your story, and everything about this new universe. I know there are other slicers here, or, more than just slicers. From I've also heard about your interesting alliance system from our furry friends - the ability to explore the infinite is a qualification for October, isn't it? Yes, I am very interested in everything you do, I Mentioning our possible origins is not to emphasize the past, but to hope that we can face the future together. For me, I never think that the slicer can operate independently. It is too emotional to regard a tool that needs instructions as a new life. The result. No, I have no interest in Bei's romance and fantasy. What life requires is pragmatism and courage, as well as the determination to grasp power. The future must be in our own hands, not entrusted to perfect creatures in fantasy. As for you , you have the opportunity to transcend your homeland, both in wisdom and power. Isn't that enough for you to make a choice? Prove that you are right, and that the people who expelled you are full of conservative prejudices, we can Let’s do this together.”
"By what?" Ji Xun asked gently.
Jules raised a hand. She claws upward into the void, arrogant, but certainly eye-catching.
"I propose that we form an alliance," she said, "to obtain the Slicer, which requires our cooperation. But this is not the end of our cooperation, but the beginning of it. We return this place to the order of the universe, to your place. Familiar place. I am willing to join this new era, this is the path to the future that we have been looking for in the past, and we will extend the invitation to other slicer owners and integrate with them. Follow the system you currently have in place , there’s an opening that fits our needs perfectly – we can be the 10th.”
