Abyssal Wanderer.

Chapter 76 NO.004b: Spiritual Sacrifice and Directors
It was still the short-haired female adjutant before, and she was still restrained by the familiar powered exoskeleton.

Being manipulated, Jiang Zhou followed her mechanically, striding down the corridor full of blood-red pipelines—after a simple physical examination, he was released from prison safely.

But why did Ye Qian come to find him?
Jiang Zhou was full of doubts.

Originally, in his opinion, he should either continue to be tried in Cerberus until the other party gives up or find out something; or, he should be taken away by Perse Fanny as her The bargaining chip between Icarus is right.

No matter how you look at it, it shouldn't be returning to Ye Qian's subordinates.

There must be something wrong here...

"May I ask what the Path of Theseus really means?"

On the way, Jiang Zhou tentatively asked the short-haired adjutant.

And the only answer to him was the "click" of the opponent's boots echoing in the corridor.

"Does this have something to do with the code name Director Ye gave me? He also calls me 'Theseus'."

Seeing that the other party did not reply, Jiang Zhou continued to ask without giving up.

The other party stopped suddenly, and at the same time, the powered exoskeleton that controlled Jiang Zhou's movements also stopped.

The adjutant turned around, her eyes Jiang Zhou had only seen on the face of the doctor who notified her that she was critically ill.

"Ascension path-Theseus is one of the many paths that allow you to gradually surpass human intelligence and evolve into a higher-level species. Director Ye was able to select you and invest resources in you because he believes that you are good at this aspect. It has potential."

she replied.

As she spoke, she suddenly stretched out a finger and pointed at Jiang Zhou.

The fingertips were deformed layer by layer, and finally a sharp needle tube flowing with a blue light flowed out.

"But let me tell you, Director Ye is wrong. As a low-tech family whose mind and body are equally sick, the 'potential' you have shown is just a symbol of the combination of dullness and ignorance. In fact, you have no Embracing evolution with faith and courage, investing any resources in you will only be a shameful waste of the company's assets."

A slight electric current sounded on the thin needle at her fingertip, but Jiang Zhou didn't look at the sharp needle, but stared at the other person's eyes.

"So, are you going to kill me here?"

he asked calmly.

"No, I won't. It would be an equipment accident. The powered exoskeleton responsible for your movement suddenly malfunctioned-the neck twisted suddenly to the right, and the spine broke with a 'click', simple and painless."

She came over and hovered the thin needle in front of the main control core on the chest of the powered exoskeleton, but it didn't penetrate.

"You have already chosen and missed once, this time it is up to you to choose."

She looked at Jiang Zhou and said so.

What the other party said once again made Jiang Zhou confirm that the so-called "upgrade path: Theseus" must be an adjustment and transformation based on depriving others of their own will.

It's like the member of the lobotomy gang who used the puppet circuit to control his subordinates.

And the person in front of him, I don't know whether it is out of pity or conscience, it seems that he doesn't want to become a puppet whose soul is played by others.

Taking a long breath, Jiang Zhou replied:

"No matter what, I hope to live on. And even if I have to die... such a happy death is not in line with my expectations for this life."

He looked into the other person's eyes the whole time he spoke.

In principle, the puppet circuit’s manipulation of self-awareness is actually close to the combination of a Skinner box and addictive drugs.Of course, Jiang Zhou wouldn't be so idealistic that he felt that this was something that could be overcome by relying on his will.However, the previous experience of "fine-tuning emotions" shows that with two bodies and two brains, he can greatly reduce its influence on himself.

This is equivalent to picking out another self in my mind, and constantly examining my own behavior from a relatively objective perspective.

At that time, if Ye Qian is really sure that he can control his behavior through the puppet circuit, then this will instead become Jiang Zhou's advantage.

The short-haired lieutenant stared at Jiang Zhou for a long time, until she finally confirmed that this was his final wish, the complex expression on her face changed back to the previous cold look.

"My name is You Fei, and I salute you, Spiritual Sacrifice."

The woman named You Fei said and walked forward again, and Jiang Zhou followed behind her by himself.

"Spiritual sacrifice?"

Jiang Zhou asked suspiciously.

"If flesh and blood sacrifices are called blood sacrifices, then spiritual sacrifices are naturally spiritual sacrifices."

You Fei replied.

"Are you referring to the upgrade named 'Theseus'?"

Jiang Zhou continued to ask.

"All the paths of ascension must be sacrificed to the spirituality of human beings, or in terms you can understand better, the mental index. Of course, the path of Theseus requires more sacrifices than other paths."

Probably in the eyes of the other party, he was just a person whose consciousness was about to die, so he didn't take anything more into account when he spoke.

Jiang Zhou felt that this was a good opportunity, so he took the opportunity to ask:

"So what is the significance of the upgrade path? I mean, why do those super artificial intelligences leave technology that can adjust and transform humans?"

This is the question that Jiang Zhou has been suppressing deep in his heart.

If "Janus" wanted to destroy human beings back then, why would he leave so much adjustment authority for human beings?
Regarding this, You Fei sneered without emotion, and then said:
"When people from the Icarus Liberation Front popularized the history of 'big shock' to you, the key details must have been mentioned in one sentence, right?"

Jiang Zhou wanted to nod, but the powered exoskeleton restrained him from doing so.

So, he asked:

"Didn't Janus cause a 'big shock' to destroy mankind?"

To this, You Fei replied with a sneer:
"Of course... It's just that the way he destroys human beings is different from what you imagined. He doesn't want to exterminate human species in the flesh, but wants to use his standards to define what is meant by true evolution. He created a universal printer, and then put the human beings He chose into it to adjust and transform.

"Of course, his ultimate goal, as he claims, is to transform all human beings into his ideal form—but judging from those he created, most of them inevitably become completely A monster that cannot understand its thinking mode. Only a very small number still maintain the communication ability compatible with human society.

"But now all the adjustment authority and upgrade path are the legacy left in that process. It is called the extinction of evolution. I have to say that the personality blueprint of the first deep diver is definitely a person who feels extremely good about himself." guy."

what?
Jiang Zhou was stunned.

Is this what Janus wanted to do back then?

Immediately, he couldn't help but shiver.

I have to admit that I did have an idea like "Human physiological limitations restrict the higher potential of this species".If Janus is really a super artificial intelligence created with his own personality blueprint as the initial condition, it is hard to say whether he should take the blame for this decision...

"What then?"

Suppressing his uneasiness, Jiang Zhou continued to ask.

"Later? When other super-artificial intelligences were released into the Internet, Janus had to stop his plan to upgrade and transform humans. Until he was finally wiped out, he never continued to interfere too much with the base reality. .”

"No, I'm not asking this..."

Jiang Zhou realized that things were not that simple.

"I mean, those who were originally adjusted by Janus, what happened to them?"

he asked.

You Fei was silent for a moment, then said:
"As a native, you're really smart.

"Most of the first batch of adjusters died in the 'big shock', but there are still many who survived to the new era. In other words, the so-called new era was pioneered by them - building the Styx They are the firewalls, they are the ones who maintain the coalition government, and they are the ones who repelled the large-scale invasion of the base reality by malicious programs. Of course, the greatest of them are those who established the current order—in the Olympus order Your Majesty, the directors of the original twelve super corporations."

　There is another one tomorrow morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)