Chapter 1175: Chapter 8: Memes, Choices, and the Traitorous Disciple

“Ah, Dugu the Hero, not easy, not easy, finally meet in reality.” Mars’s famed hero Enlil extended a hand and touched Dugu Beiluo.

Enlil is a well-known hero from Old Klein Village on Mars.

Like many large cities on Earth, Old Klein Village was abandoned during the era of the Fifth Martial God. Yawgmoth’s increasingly frequent regional purges compelled communities to deliberately disperse and reduce settlement scales. This meme has persisted until now.

Many people were taught by their parents to leave the cities and form settlements in the wilderness.

In the era of the Ninth Martial God, Old Klein Village became known as a “chivalrous zone.”

Later, the heroes deliberately reduced their activities in this area to avoid being bombed.

New Klein City is just forty kilometers away from here. Heading further north, you can reach the stronghold of the Moon Shadow Holy Knights Order.

Recently, the “Hero Conference” is being organized here.

This kind of chivalrous activity is common on Mars and Venus (indeed, Earth does not have the conditions to host it). Its purpose is to facilitate mutual understanding and friendship among heroes, and also includes martial studies and academic exchanges.

“This Hero Conference, we’ve decided the theme is to commemorate Hero Tuoba and respond to the Twelfth Martial God.” Enlil was very excited, “Having the disciple of the Tenth Martial God appear is the best encouragement for our heroes!”

“After all, I’m just the disciple of the master, a fellow sect member of the brother. It was my second brother who sacrificed, he is the one worthy of commemoration.” Dugu Beiluo shook her head, “Lingering till now, I haven’t accomplished anything significant to comfort the master and other sect members…”

“Alas, others may not know, but we Martians do, right?” Enlil said, “Are you not aware of your reputation among the heroes?”

Dugu Beiluo is well-known on Mars. Her fighting style is quite firm and fierce, with decisive actions. Most disciples of the Tenth Martial God are known for astronomical heroism, and Dugu Beiluo was early on nicknamed “Southern Fish” because of her name. Recently, this title was replaced by a planet’s name in the Southern Fish constellation – alias Beiluo Shimen b.

On one hand, Beiluo Shimen b Dagon is a gas giant similar to Jupiter, which is also how the community of Mars heroes refers to this hero from Jupiter. On the other hand, Dagon was a deity born in the early human civilization, the father of the storm god, having a bloody and barbaric religion, which is the first impression of Dugu Beiluo’s fighting style.

“‘Dagon’—sounds like a name of someone who’s not good. What good person has such a nickname?” Dugu Beiluo mocked herself with a smile.

She once drifted without power in deep space for years. During that time, she only dared to passively receive signals, not send them. A martial artist drifting without power in space is truly a sitting duck. And after being rescued by heroes, she chose to transform that ordeal into anger and vent it on the enemy.

When she first came to Mars, she really didn’t care about her life.

Her fellow hero comrades were probably quite frightened.

“I haven’t prepared any speeches or anything. Using a speech from a previous occasion in this one would be easily exposed and might negatively affect morale, so I must decline.”

“Ha, I didn’t plan to have you give a speech anyway. Later, when they select an outstanding young hero representative, we’ll suddenly jump out, shake hands, say a few words, and share a little Martial Arts Algorithm Experience Accumulation or something, let me tell you, the young heroes really go for it.”

At that moment, both were wearing dust-proof cloaks sitting near the vehicle area.

The prosthetic specifications of First Heavenly Layer martial artists exceed conventional prosthetics, apart from a few military martial-specialized prosthetics, the heavy conventional prosthetics correspond to the average size of First Heavenly Layer. Most heroes are scarce resources, valuing concealment and transfer capabilities in tactics, they mostly have lightweight prosthetics, the First Heavenly Layer martial artist here is still too conspicuous.

The two were sitting at the vehicle parking area, appearing less conspicuous.

“Speaking of which…” Enlil said: “You’ve been working with the Fifth Martial God recently, haven’t you? How was it? That person…”

“He is definitely Xiang Shan.” Dugu Beiluo answered seriously, nodding, then asked: “Isn’t Yinghuo Bird also a disciple of Martial God? Moreover, a disciple passed down from the Fifth Martial God…”

“Because he’s a ‘descendant disciple’.” Enlil shook his head, “If it were his master rallying everyone, no one would be so confused—the heroes of Mars are well aware, Yinghuo Bird never even met the Fifth Martial God. He never met the Ninth Martial God either.”

“Can’t help his young age. But I’m not much older than him either.”

Enlil looked up at the sky: “He doesn’t know about another thing… Tsk, it seems Old Qi didn’t have time to tell you that thing before he sacrificed.”

“Should Old Qi have told me something?”

“Old Qi,” a hero with the nickname “Exorcism God Saint,” was formerly the martial chief of the Great Sertis District for Dugu Beiluo.

“I have a dilemma. Considering the bigger picture… I’m not sure whether I should tell you this thing.” Enlil’s eyes reflected the streaks of red sand dust passing in the sky. Not far away, the young heroes erupted in cheers again, “Personally, I want to control the range of this information’s spread.”

“I want to listen.”

Enlil said: “I, Old Qi, and a few others fought alongside Apricot Forest Duke Tao Enhai fifty-five years ago, cleaning up the aftermath of the Mars Chivalrous Organization collapse following the defeat of the Ninth Martial God.”

“Wow, that’s truly remarkable.”

“At that time, we learned an important piece of information from the Apricot Forest Duke… Apricot Forest Duke was also very conflicted, unsure whether to spread this news. He was severely injured once, and we received a string of codes from a reserved mailbox… used to unlock an offline storage device he left. As a result, Old Qi forcibly brought a Scientific Knight to save the Apricot Forest Duke. Apricot Forest Duke was really in agony then. I saw him hit his head against the wall, saying, ‘I just want to be a good doctor, why do I have to make such decisions…'”

Dugu Beiluo said: “Can we get to the main point directly?”

Enlil was speechless: “I have to first explain the nature of this matter to you… Moreover, Apricot Forest Duke is also a friend of your master, right? Shouldn’t you show some concern?”

“When my master was alive, I never saw this senior.” Dugu Beiluo said: “I only communicated online a few times after coming to Mars.”

“Anyway… ultimately, Apricot Forest Duke didn’t have the will to make the final decision and left it to us—he asked us to forgive him, an old man without courage. But we were also very conflicted… In the end, we decided to conceal some details.”

Dugu Beiluo said: “Did I mention before? When I still had a physical body, I could roll my eyes very cutely.”

“‘The Martial God might be fake’.” Enlil directly stated, “‘Have him verify Inner Strength while offline’. We’re not disclosing any other information.”

Dugu Beiluo’s tone changed: “You mean, when the Ninth Martial God stormed the throne back then, it was actually…”

“You can say that, a trap.”

“The Ninth Martial God began in the lab of the Scientific Knight Order… being manipulated is indeed possible…” Dugu Beiluo thought, “Does this matter have nothing to do with the Ninth Martial God’s personal will?”

“It truly has no relation. You can consider… he was initially implanted with an internal surveillance program and bypassed all Inner Strength checks, like that.” Enlil said, “He went to fight a battle that never had a chance of winning and dragged many heroes into it at that time, including my uncle.”

Dugu Beiluo said: “Do you hate him?”

“Your tone is a bit too straightforward… really don’t know how to speak.” Enlil said, “I’ve said it, it has nothing to do with the Martial God’s subjective will, and our generation indeed felt the impact of the Ninth Martial God on Mars—I dare say this, the chivalrous spirit on Mars is so fervent, Conquest Heavenly King’s disregard and the Ninth Martial God’s efforts back then are equally important.”

“The Ninth Martial God truly changed Mars. I and even my disciples of this generation were greatly inspired by the Ninth Martial God. I really don’t want to negate the era of Mars transformed together with the Ninth Martial God.” Enlil rubbed the sand under him: “Many heroes back then joined the Planetary Defense Forces and left, reorganized into the Red Star Prosthetics Followers. We stayed to preserve the spark of chivalry. But we found that the traces left by the Ninth Martial God allowed the fire to spontaneously reignite countless times.”

“I understand.” Dugu Beiluo nodded, “No wonder Mars heroes mostly didn’t respond to the Lonely Prison Knight Order… so they were genuinely scared.”

“Another Martial God from the Scientific Knight Order, we are indeed quite scared.” Enlil nodded, “Yinghuo Bird belongs to can’t hold back, and regardless of truth or falsehood, we have to contact anyway, just in case of a genuine uprising, it wouldn’t hurt Captain Yongren’s devoted heart. For that fellow, we’ll watch and let be, but most others were persuaded by us old folks.”

“‘You old fellows’…” Dugu Beiluo was shocked, “Am I being ostracized? Are you excluding me? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?”

“Ha, this news, no one dares to chat about it online,” Enlil said. “Back then, when the Apricot Forest Duke was seriously injured and on the brink of death, he thought he couldn’t survive, so he sent the unlocking password to us. Later, we also agreed that this message must be passed down, but not casually disseminated. We only communicate face-to-face. We don’t know if Old Qu told you before he left, and it’s hard to confirm.”

“Speaking of Old Qu… sigh, don’t even know who he’s helping, just revolving around the Scientific Knight Order, stealing research data, and circling some places that inexplicably seem crucial—according to what I know, all the Eighth Martial Gods died because of this.”

“Exorcism God Saint” was said to be dug up by King Aqini before being besieged.

Dugu Beiluo nodded: “I understand. Next, I’ll verify it. By the way, Brother Fengbao, do you know…”

At this moment, a commotion came from the young heroes. “Kill them!” “Destroy them!” The shouting was relentless.

“What’s going on?” Enlil couldn’t sit still, stood up.

The hero conference naturally had martial arts exchanges, and though clashes between heroes rarely reached true animosity, there were cases. Records of accidental weapon discharge leading to conflict exist—everyone is equipped with highly intelligent weapons, and naturally, there is such a risk.

At such times, the role of the leader becomes crucial.

Dugu Beiluo pulled off the dust cloak and jumped on his vehicle. The task of the Martial Chief also included mediating hero disputes.

But he quickly discovered that those surrounded by a group of heroes were not heroes, but…

Two individuals whose upper bodies were bound with carbon fiber chains…

Scientific knights?

“Make way, make way…” At this moment, another voice reached the center of events. Xiang Shan, who had switched to a conventional prosthetic, squeezed through the crowd, cupped his fists towards everyone, “Fellow comrades, these just these two idiots, it’s too normal for the Scientific Knights to have failures. But these two are still useful to us—indeed, they’ll be very useful soon! How about letting me handle this? I’ll ensure to extract every bit of remaining value!”

When Xiang Shan said this, his tone was oddly confident.

But other young heroes didn’t see it that way. They loudly questioned “Who are you,” while some impatient ones rushed forward and said: “Do you know how despicable things they’ve done?”

“Exactly, so despicable that if this got out, they’d be finished—this is leverage indeed! They’re identities are undoubtedly useful…”

“Why should we trust you?”

“Ahem, well, actually I am…”

Enlil jumped in, landing next to Xiang Shan: “I’ll vouch for him, Ma Junwu, I can guarantee that I and this esteemed hero will handle this matter properly.”

The crowd then slowly dispersed, leaving only Xiang Shan and Enlil holding the carbon fiber cables.

“Brother, thank you,” Xiang Shan said.

Dugu Beiluo was a bit surprised: “What have these two done?”

“Regardless of what they’ve done, we should walk a bit; otherwise, we’ll soon become the spectacle,” Enlil quickened his pace.

Most of Old Klein Village’s buildings had already collapsed, the rest mostly threats, and the main parts were buried by sandstorms. But even so, some intact buildings remained.

Enlil directly led Xiang Shan and the others to a restored building—it looked like it was some hotel’s lobby.

And along the way, Enlil and Dugu Beiluo learned what these two clearly scientific knights had done.

“You’re saying…” Enlil said suspiciously, “These two were digging up time capsules everywhere, reading and mocking past people’s wrong predictions of the future, and then filming it as videos?”

The two scientific knights trembled. Although they didn’t recognize Dugu Beiluo and Enlil, they could at least see that these were heroes of the First Heavenly Layer—not First Heavenly Layer, even heavy prostheses can’t handle those many energy-consuming external weapons.

They knew they surely couldn’t escape, so they shivered all over and couldn’t say a word.

Enlil raised his head again: “Is this still Mars… Mars’s Knight Lords would indeed do such stupid things?”

Feeling the disdain for their intelligence in Enlil’s tone, the two scientific knights seemed to want to get angry, and then got angry for a tiny bit, and continued with fear.

Dugu Beiluo laughed: “Still not resigned?”

“So you see, although it looks like we tied you up and are about to kill you, in truth, we’re saving you,” Xiang Shan nodded sympathetically. “If those who caught you weren’t heroes, things wouldn’t be so simple. You know that, right?”

The two scientific knights fell into confusion.

“Old Klein Village—do you know why this place is called by this name?”

“Isn’t it just…because Conquering Heaven King David Klein personally planned it…” one scientific knight said, his voice trembling.

“Actually, some say Klein Town’s ‘town’ is a homophonic form of Martial Ancestor,” Xiang Shan held up a finger and waved, “I forgot the specific details. But if these videos go viral and His Highness sees them, it would definitely be ‘pop’—” Xiang Shan spread his fingers several times, “pieces all over, plus a small puddle of what was a brain protein.”

“His Highness would kill us for this?” Another knight felt absurd, “Your understanding of history is shallow—you know the city was completed when Conquering Heaven King David Klein was being usurped, wasn’t he? The one hosting the groundbreaking ceremony wasn’t him at all!”

The other knight nodded: “Usurped results! His Highness might praise us if he sees it?”

Enlil gazed into the distance: “Haven’t you thought why the heroes have been active here for so many years without being thoroughly blown up?”

“Sigh, although the David who hosted the ceremony was fake, the city’s designer was David, and every aspect of the ceremony was done according to his notes. The Usurper still acted his part well.” Xiang Shan shook his head, “The fact that it hasn’t been bombed shows David cared, you two idiots.”

Two knights fell into unprecedented agitation.

“Besides, David really hated people trampling on hopes for the future—oh, by the way, I’m Xiang Shan, the Fifth Martial God Xiang Shan, possessing all of the Martial Ancestor’s memories. Therefore you should know, I surely understand David better than you.”

The two scientific knights glanced at each other, then screamed.

And then…

Passed out.

Just like that, the prosthetics locked up, stiffening and collapsing.

Enlil was speechless again: “What were these solid materials (note: implying both ‘blockheads’ and ‘waste’) here to do?”

“Set up,” Xiang Shan shrugged, “Indeed, some heroes might egg scientific knights on to do seemingly cool things but will be resented by certain old fellows—Ah Niao just told me. Through his connections, Ah Niao sought intelligence resources against the Moon Shadow Holy Knight Order, and was provided this.”

“The heroes behind this egging them on didn’t consider these two would actually dare shoot videos at the hero conference?” Dugu Beiluo was also speechless.

Xiang Shan said, “They don’t know about the Hero Conference either!”

“Seeing so many people here should make them alert!” Xiang Shan picked up these two guys, “Anyway, I need to handle these two pieces of trash and ideally strip their identity authentication, and if I can remotely access the Moon Shadow Holy Knights Order’s database, that would be fantastic.”

“Wait a moment, Master, I have intelligence that I must tell you directly!” Dugu Beiluo quickly approached and handed over a data cable.

Xiang Shan, without suspicion, naturally inserted it into the data interface on his wrist.

At that instant, the metal aerosol bomb in Dugu Beiluo’s hand exploded. Silver mist filled the room.

Then there was a fierce sound of metal clashing. After three consecutive loud bangs, Xiang Shan was both shocked and furious: “You traitor! What are you trying to do?”

Enlil cautiously didn’t act but slowly retreated to the roadside.

After another two or three minutes, the metal aerosol gradually dispersed.

Xiang Shan’s right side was covered in a faint red dust, while Dugu Beiluo was spotlessly clean.

Dugu Beiluo made an “OK” gesture towards Enlil, while Xiang Shan appeared preoccupied.

Xiang Shan quickly left, carrying the two Scientific Knights.

Dugu Beiluo said, “He’s definitely not in the same situation as the Ninth Martial God.”

Enlil gave a thumbs-up, “Thumbs up for you. That’s straight to the point. Aren’t you worried…”

“If it’s Master, we can just explain the situation to him.” Dugu Beiluo smiled, “Besides, the Fifth Master’s current state… can’t beat me. So even if he’s dissatisfied, he won’t lash out.”

“Sly, a disciple of the Martial God, truly worthy of being a disciple of the Martial God.” Enlil looked at Xiang Shan’s disappearing silhouette in the dust storm, “Did you tell him everything? I honestly can’t predict the actions of the Martial God.”

“I actually think whether this secret remains sealed is irrelevant.” Dugu Beiluo said, “The Protector should be aware of this matter; keeping it secret is unnecessary, and we don’t have control over revealing it. I’m skeptical about the significance of this issue.”

“I also had doubts…” Enlil shook his head, “But you’ve heard yourself, the Twelfth Martial God has met the Ninth Martial God. I think the Ninth Martial God’s story and the choices we’ve made over the years still have some meaning.”

Dugu Beiluo shook his head, refusing to comment on the choices of those before.

“Let’s leave it for now and chat later.” Enlil asked, “What were you trying to tell me earlier? Who were you asking about?”

Dugu Beiluo searched her records, then said, “Oh, this is it, Brother Fengbao, I was wondering if you knew any trustworthy former Scientific Knights? Preferably in the evolutionary psychology field.”

Enlil scratched his head, “Huh? How did you know I used to be a Scientific Knight?”

“What? You originally were a Scientific Knight?” Dugu Beiluo was shocked. She looked up and down at Enlil’s prosthetic body styled like a factory worker…

If it weren’t for the seemingly powerful weapons and nozzles attached… you really couldn’t tell it was a First Heavenly Layer Warrior.

—Could this really be a Scientific Knight?

“Back in the day, I entered through exams…”

Dugu Beiluo circled around Enlil for a couple of laps, “Tut tut, you really can’t tell, Brother Fengbao. You hide it too well, can’t see your past at all.”

“Get lost! Do you think all Scientific Knights are extravagant idiots, wasteful morons, mindless fools?” Enlil said, “Have you read ‘A Report on a New Sect Investigation’ written by the disciple of the Twelfth Martial God? On Earth, the down-and-out Scientific Knights have even formed sects! Hard-up Scientific Knights are everywhere!”

“Oh, my fellow disciple I’ve never met.” Dugu Beiluo nodded. This information had just recently spread from Earth via the internet. Dugu Beiluo said, “So you’re not very skilled then? My fellow disciple hangs out with Scientific Knights who seem very… well.”

“Get out of here, don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand the Scientific Knights Order. A failed Scientific Knight doesn’t necessarily mean they’re incompetent, and I’m one that succeeded! I was close to earning the Yangtze title!”

“Ah?” Dugu Beiluo examined Enlil up and down.

“If not for the influence of the Ninth Martial God, I might be Yangtze Knight Enlil now… might even earn the title of Holy Knight.” Enlil shook his head, “Well, it’s not just the Ninth Martial God. Honestly, I didn’t plan on raising Squires, then I was betrayed—recently, I realized not raising Squires isn’t viable! I was saved by a Hero, and that’s when I was influenced by the Ninth Martial God…”

“Hmm? Which Order were you part of then?”

“Soul of Light.”

“Wow, can’t tell, that’s a big Order. My respects.” Dugu Beiluo seemed to reevaluate this friend, “By the way, I heard the Soul of Light and Bloodline Blessing have a good relationship, you’re so skilled… never went out hunting for Heroes?”

“Nothing to do with me.” Enlil waved his hand, “After I was cast out, those two Orders formed a good relationship, and most of my contemporaries have either rebelled or retired, or moved to other Orders. Back then, the Ninth Martial God hadn’t officially started activities yet.”

“Is being a Scientific Knight risky?”

“The fifty-year survival rate of Scientific Knights is only eighty-some percent—besides, I do feel like there’s a lot of change in the Soul of Light these seventy years. Anyway, it’s not important, what were you asking again?”

Dugu Beiluo gave a skeptical look at Enlil, “Um… Brother Fengbao, you’ve been away from the scientific frontline for seventy years, are you up to it?”

Enlil said, “A Scientific Knight absolutely shouldn’t be thought of as incompetent, right—and I’ve hosted ‘academic exchanges’ with the Scientific Knights Order quite frequently over the years!”

Dugu Beiluo nodded, summarized Xiang Shan’s “AI Service Theory” and said, “What do you think of this theory?”

“Hiss…” Enlil said, “You call this a ‘theory’ and not a ‘hypothesis’? Already verified… no, how would one fully confirm this?”

“What’s wrong? Any issues?”

“If you want my opinion, this is a… ‘Generally correct but useless hypothesis’.” Enlil said without expression, “I think equating ‘serving users’ with ‘self-replication’ is difficult.”

“Any insights?”

“‘Self-replication’ is very clear; the object is ‘self,’ the action is ‘replication,’ without any ambiguities. But ‘serving users’—every part of this phrase requires a more detailed definition, right? What constitutes ‘service’? What defines ‘users’? ‘Users’—is there a single, absolute, strict technical definition that spans all subfields?”

Dugu Beiluo fell into thought, “Hmm… if you put it that way…’User’ should be… usually referring to an entity with a system account?”

“This ‘entity’ might not even be a human, but another program. Of course, ‘users’ could refer to entities accessing or consuming network resources, subjects granted database access rights, input sources or output targets ‘external to the program,’ and these ‘users’ could be ‘another program.’ If you have to say it, then…” Enlil pondered for a moment, “In this hypothesis, ‘user’ should mean the final human operator interacting with the computer system in a day-to-day context?”

“Day-to-day context…

“True Scientific Knights don’t like thinking in everyday language.” Enlil nodded, “If I had to evaluate it… I’d say the person who made this description must have a particular affinity for AI or be too accustomed to using emotive language to describe things—very likely just sugar-coating… ”

For some reason, by the end, Enlil seemed somewhat bitter.

Dugu Beiluo said, “So this is generally an incorrect theory?”

“It’s just that the way it’s presented is a bit peculiar, but it’s not entirely ‘erroneous.'” Enlil said, “Ultimately, it’s likely a useless but correct statement?”

“Useless? Why?”

“‘Biological behavior is for the self-replication of genetic information,’ but in actual research, we can only observe the behavior of organisms and then attribute causes. You can’t predict an animal’s specific behavior based on this statement. Moreover, this phrase can only be applied on a very macro level, to group behaviors over a long time scale, and cannot describe the individual.”

Enlil paused: “I don’t know if this is understandable, but from the extinct species I remember, several strategic conflicts existed between ‘transmitting individual genetic information’ and ‘transmitting group genetic information’.

“Uh… are you talking about… animals’ collectivism… or something?”

“The term ‘ism’ isn’t used for non-human species. Eusocial animals aren’t within the scope of this discussion.” Enlil said, “Do you know about ‘sexual selection’? In a species, certain physiological traits of one gender can significantly attract the opposite sex, resulting in intra-species selection pressure that forces these traits to continue to highlight, leading to bizarre features — insects with overly long eyestalks, large horns in herbivores, making them harder to evade predators and more likely to be eliminated by species in the same niche.”

“The majority of biological behaviors can be attributed to ‘transmitting genetic information,’ but you can hardly predict any behavior based on this driving force. Evolution is purposeless and without intelligence participation, situations that are chaotic, hard to understand, and ambidextrous combat as wisdom hardly accept are very common. The thought process of intelligent design can’t foresee this.”

“And then, since humans developed civilization, ‘gene self-replication’ is no longer the only underlying driving force. ‘Meme self-replication’ is as well. It is very common to give up the transmission of one’s own bloodline for ‘meme self-replication’—that is, the so-called ‘cultural heritage,’ and it has become increasingly common with the development of civilization.” Enlil continued, “However… we also just discuss this privately, saying it to other Heroes might affect morale somewhat. Personally, I suspect that the genetic system might be much more mature than the meme, and the likelihood of species extinction due to genes might be smaller than that caused by memes…”

Dugu Beiluo was shocked: “Damn, after being a Scientific Knight for long enough, will thoughts resemble Yawgmoth? That bastard on the sun thinks like this, right?”

Enlil scratched his head: “That’s why I said, just listen to it. Overall, what you mentioned as a guess isn’t likely to predict AI behavior—you’re not suddenly changing your action plan because someone told you this guess, right? What kind of useless member has your Staff Group mixed in?”

Dugu Beiluo fell into contemplation: “Not because of this…”

“That’s good.” Enlil nodded, “AI can also become a meme carrier. AI thinking can also be driven by memes…”

Dugu Beiluo looked up: “Huh?”

“A subject that can record information and has the ability to disseminate, it can serve as a meme transmission carrier — AI fits perfectly.” Enlil said, “Pseudo-personality Masks are the best proof of this, especially the Martial Gods of the Pseudo-personality Mask—if it can’t accept and transmit memes, how can it play a human role?”

“Since that’s the case, however, the human brain will actively absorb and transmit memes, humans have this desire. As for AI… it would need to do so only if its tasks require it. But without a doubt, AI has this capability.”

Dugu Beiluo nodded.

“However, I can probably understand what the person proposing this theory wants to express. Hmm, AI as a purely intelligent design product is born with strong intentionality, and its underlying driving force is vastly different from biology. The pattern influenced by memes is also vastly different from that of humans.”

“Speaking of which, you actually revealed the principle why AI can’t resist Inner Martial Artists! Decades ago, some Scientific Knight Orders pointed out that Inner Martial Artists invest massive skill points into ‘disguising legitimate operations’ and ‘privilege upgrades,’ and as ‘tools’ born, they can’t resist the underlying drive they conform to once identified by the other party… Anyway, I’ve heard that that fool King Aqini doesn’t quite support this research…”

Dugu Beiluo had already sunk into deep thought.

Several hours later, Dugu Beiluo reconvened with Xiang Shan. Xiang Shan at that moment was connecting with data lines, browsing something.

Dugu Beiluo could feel the immense signal exchange.

After a moment, Xiang Shan sat up, sighing: “Tsk, tsk tsk tsk, this is really bizarre — Nine is… entirely an AI.”

“Master, what are you doing?”

“I’ve finished watching all the Ninth Martial God’s video materials that could be collected.” Xiang Shan sighed, “He’s an entirely AI, AI playing human.”

“I shouldn’t have said this just now…” Dugu Beiluo said, “I haven’t been informed this way either. What I recounted was…”

“He indeed is entirely AI, AI pretending to be human.” Xiang Shan sighed, “Now my trust in the Twelfth Martial God has been shaken. Tsk, what’s the situation with the Ninth Martial God and the Twelfth Martial God?”

“AI can also be meme-driven to do some things. I just learned that.”

“Isn’t that obvious…” Xiang Shan sighed.

“The Ninth Martial God is highly similar to Xiang Shan on the meme level, huh?”

“Hmm, no doubt.” Xiang Shan nodded, “You must know, the part of human self-existence — which is constrained by language — is actually quite unfree. Sometimes, the brain has already made a decision, then the surface consciousness fabricates reasons to convince the surface consciousness that ‘the decision was purely made by surface consciousness.’ The major function of the surface consciousness is self-deception.”

“Humans are just chemically-driven machines assembled from cells and are good at self-deception. Before Inner Strength reaches the Mechanical Realm, they don’t even notice this point. Only long-term cultivation, after the advanced functions have annexed more brain resources, can people start to liberate their own strength.”

Of course, the resources being occupied here are part of maintaining bodily physiological reactions, which generally humans can’t do.

Unless the capability to ensure brain survival can completely avoid using brain resources — that is, complete prosthetic body transformation.

“But the Ninth Martial God’s level… even the third world Inner Martial Artist can’t see through?”

“Self-deception indeed. As long as certain standards are met, the surface consciousness actively ignores potential flaws.” Xiang Shan shook his head and sighed.

“But can you detect it? Why?”

“Of course, it’s because my Inner Strength realm is different — I have unique insight.”

Dugu Beiluo looked at Xiang Shan thoughtfully.

“But I feel your Inner Strength is actually just like that.” She said.

“Rebellious disciple.” Xiang Shan was truly displeased.

“We should be able to continue to set off. Initially, I planned to help the local Heroes kill two traitors, but Brother Fengbao — that is, Hero Enlil — said it’s unnecessary; as a Martial Chief, my act of killing them would be too face-giving.”

Xiang Shan said: “Dealing with traitors is also an important task; don’t be careless with this.”

Being a Hero, engaging in chivalrous endeavors isn’t child’s play; if a traitor emerges, simply dismissing it with ‘everyone has their own aspirations’ is insufficient.

Heroes can retire or cleanse themselves, but absolutely cannot rely on the Protectors.

If such scum indeed appears, they must be killed as soon as possible.

This iron rule was established in the Martial Ancestor era.

“Enough. Besides, the most unique four traitors are still unkillable, what’s a little wait?” Dugu Beiluo said, “Your schedule is quite tight too, right?”

“Four… ah, those three scoundrels filling the vacancies and Yawgmoth, that thing then.” Xiang Shan sighed.

Once the most famous Heroes, the flag of the Heroic camp, physician Yawgmoth, followed by the three Kings filling places, David, Florence, and Zhang Luntian, Yawgmoth’s assistant during the Ascension War.

Once they were all good people.