808 Wait and Hope (1/2)
The seawater soared.
The huge pieces of sea ice collided with each other, producing deep and flat roars. The sounds were transmitted through the water and the wind to distant places.
The biting cold wind shrouded the sea, sucking up the waves, then tossing them back on the surface of the sea. A large amount of ice crystals bobbed up and down in the sea, producing crisp chimes that complemented the countless roars from the colliding sea ice.
Above the sky covered in dark clouds, faint streaks of electricity could be seen, indicating the advancement of the storm.
And on the surface of the sea, in the cold wind, a layer of ghastly whiteness had covered the surface without anyone realizing it.
Frozen seawater became firm ice, covered in white snow and embellished with innumerable crisscrossed cracks, revealing the deep seawater below, and stretched all the way to the end of the heavens and the earth.
And just above the sea of ice, two straight lines of footsteps extended forward. They continued all the way to a spot where the land was near enough for one to see its contours.
They stopped abruptly.
Ye Qingxuan looked up and gazed at the land covered by gray fog in the distance. ”The place in front, is it the Caucasus...”
”That's right.” Shards of frost condensed on Bach's beard, and he exhaled a fiery breath. ”The place where the god is.”
”Leave the rest to me.” Ye Qingxuan turned back and cast him a look. ”You have already 'escorted' me here, surely you aren't worried that I will now regret my decision and leave?”
”No, I have yet to complete my duties.” Bach shook his head, knocking his pipe on the sharp icicle beside him, causing the frozen tobacco and ashes to fall out, then refilled the pipe. ”Before you leave, someone wants to see you.”
”Someone? Where?” Bach lowered his head and lit the pipe. ”According to the time, you'll probably meet him very soon.”
At the moment, Ye Qingxuan turned back.
A crack leading to somewhere distant opened from behind him.
In the forlorn whistle of a hurricane, a black spot emerged from the air, then expanded rapidly, swallowing the frosty wind, forming a tunnel of wind leading to another world.
A wind tunnel? Just as Ye Qingxuan was stunned, a hand slowly extended from the wind tunnel.
Then, a thin figure emerged. As if there had been a breakthrough regarding the proposition of ”long-distance human transmission,” which had been proven to be unsolvable, someone crossed thousands of miles via the wind tunnel. Finally, he set foot on the sea of ice, old decaying robes emerging from the hurricane.
As the hurricane dissipated, the aging, peeling skin made of silicone was revealed, as well as the broken circuits and mechanical parts behind the peeling skin, making him appear as grotesque as an evil spirit.
”Nice to meet you, Dr. Ye's successor.” The only ”human” in the history of the world to have achieved long-distance transmission stood in front of Ye Qingxuan, speaking with a weird tone, producing static noise at the same time.
The original colors of the robe on him could no longer be identified. Blown by the wind, the sleeves of the robe rolled back, revealing the sign inscribed by the manufacturer on the back of his hand, indicating his non-human nature.
Ye Qingxuan came to a realization. ”Peter?”
”Yes.” The first-generation King of Red, the only non-human on board the East Asian colony ship back then, the smart observation machinery, ”Peter,” nodded.
In the brief silence, he gazed at Ye Qingxuan's face. Behind the aged and faded colloidal eyeballs, traces of the old observing equipment were revealed, and a monotonous iridescent light was still blinking.
It made one uncomfortable to be directly stared upon by him.
Ye Qingxuan frowned. ”Is anything the matter?”
”The look in your eyes is exactly the same as that of your ancestor, a look truly unique to humans.” Peter replied, ”Before killing Xiao Huan, the look in his eyes was the same as that of yours now.”
Ye Qingxuan's gaze became cold, and he looked at Peter silently.
Peter also looked at him. His broken face had no expression on it.
”Explain your purpose in coming, Peter.” Ye Qingxuan said coldly, ”If your goal is to upset me, congratulations, you have succeeded.”
”Actually, it is not the case, Mr. Ye.” Peter finally stopped staring at him and lowered his non-human eyes. One couldn't really see any expression on the aged and ruptured face.
”So, allow me to explain my intentions.” He unfolded his arms, acting in a manner that had just the right amount of friendliness, one so perfect that it could be included in human textbooks. ”16 micro central processors are located over my body. After a few centuries, seven are still working.
”For the past few centuries, I have followed my mission, trying all the time to understand humans, even when I was slumbering. 41 times, I almost thought that I have understood you all. However, it turns out that I still haven't.
”It continued until I came to the understanding that perhaps the line in between is one that an old model like me can never ever cross successfully.” He looked at Ye Qingxuan and told him, ”But it is not the same for Charles.”
Ye Qingxuan's gaze became more and more indifferent. ”What are you trying to say?”
”I am trying to explain Charles' nature to you—how Charles became the Charles you know.” Peter's tone was still calm. Perhaps, for something like him, emotions like hesitation or a willingness to concede did not exist. ”Do you know how machines like me carry out activities similar to the process of thinking humans go through? Humans termed the process 'computation'.
”In the beginning, everything stems from the two definitions of 'False' and 'True,' that is, zero and one. In my crystal oscillator circuits, the two definitions form the 'AND gate,' 'NOT gate,' 'OR door,' and so on.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
”Hundreds of millions of the smallest units like them form a 'logic valve,' and then an equal number of 'logic valves' form the structure of a central processor.
”Finally, the 16 processors mobilize the Central I, II, and III databases according to the preset logic chain, forming 'me,' what you refer to as 'Peter,' that is, the 'model Ω4 seventh-generation humanoid observer and collector' standing in front of you.
”My body structure means that I am fated to be completely different from human beings.
”The same is true for Charles. It's just that his logic processor is way beyond that of an outdated model like me.”
Ye Qingxuan did not speak. He merely looked at Peter.
After what was just a brief moment to humans, Peter seemed to have completed a long deduction and thinking process, and he nodded understandingly. ”It seems that in order to facilitate your understanding of what I mean, I still need to reveal the nature of the 'Holy Cauldron' to you.”
Based on Ye Qingxuan's reaction, after realizing that the information he knew was lacking, Peter jumped to another topic. ”Let's start at the very beginning. That would be the very first moment humans set foot on this unfamiliar world.
”90 percent of science and technology, stored food, loved ones, hometowns... After losing everything that they could possibly lose, mankind gained a new life, and the miracle that does not exist on the Earth—Aether; a type of creature that almost completely defied quantum mechanics.”
At the fingertip Peter lifted, a speck of aether crystallized slowly. The aether that was restrained in the force field beat like a heart, revealing a crystal-like texture that Ye Qingxuan had never witnessed before.
Peter went on, ”Although their own structure was so simple that it seemed even less evolved than the 'mycoplasma,' such a being that could hardly be considered as a living thing even has an advantage that living things known to human beings do not have.
”They can observe and interfere with the world across multiple dimensions at the same time, subverting the foundation of thermodynamics by only relying on the energy generated by the vibration of air particles. For humans, no, even for smart machinery, it is a miracle that cannot even happen in a dream.
”Therefore, under such circumstances, the question of how aether can be developed and utilized became a top priority for mankind. Had they been unable to master the power of aether, human beings, who were in a life-or-death situation, would have even faced the risk of extinction.
”In the end, across the Eastern and Western continents, humans came up with the solution, the 'Holy Cauldron.'
”In simple terms, they considered all aether as one, and utilizing the characteristics of aether, they tried to make them into a planet-level computational model. They implanted the operator interface, which is what is known to you as the 'Holy Cauldron.'
”The name of the computational model is 'the Originator'—the huge random-access memory that all the empty consciousness of aether gathered into. Unfortunately, as you know, the results are not as good as they have wanted it to be.”
Ye Qingxuan knew clearly of course regarding what Peter was referring to. Few people knew the consequences of the creation of the Holy Cauldron better than Ye Qingxuan, who saw the big picture and had inherited the memory of House Ye.
But what Peter said next was beyond his expectations. Or rather, it revealed a secret that Ye Qingxuan had never thought about.
”We underestimated the instinct of aether as a creature. It has the ability to balance itself and correct errors. At the very moment the Holy Cauldron was implanted, unexpected changes were produced.” Peter looked at him, his tone remaining calm. ”When humans observe aether, aether is also observing humans.”
”Observe?” Ye Qingxuan asked.
”Yes, observe.” Peter said, ”Everything that has happened is kept in the records of the Originator, including the fights between humans, and the... memory of human beings.
”Countless bits of cluttered data are saved in the Originator. ”
At the moment, a thought flashed across Ye Qingxuan's brain, causing him to blurt out subconsciously, ”Styx!”
”From a certain perspective, such an understanding is not wrong.” Peter projected a three-dimensional simulation from his hand. It was like a closed circular reaction kettle. At the moment, in the calm, stagnant water, a brand new force was added in. Then, it descended into chaos.
”After a positive vector was produced, the negative vector did not begin diffusing like how we expected, but instead it gathered in one place, forming another core with a lot of cluttered data,” Peter said.
In the projection, reactions were taking place amid the chaos in the once-calm reaction kettle. The clear parts rose, and the turbid parts descended. The situation was just like the origin recorded in the Book of the Ultimate.
Ye Qingxuan murmured softly, ”Hyakume...”
”And also the quiet moon.” Peter added, ”It can be said that humans smelted the Holy Cauldron with the hope they have for the future, but human sin and the resentment of the dead formed Hyakume.
”And the struggle between the trio, namely the Holy Cauldron, Hyakume, and the quiet moon, caused the Originator to completely descend into uncontrollable chaos, creating the world today.”
In the long silence, an old and incomplete book appeared in Peter's hand. It seemed to have been kept forever, carefully stored, but it still found it difficult to resist the scouring of time. At the moment, the pages were so loose that it seemed as if it would completely disintegrate at the slightest touch.
It was the ancient book that Ye Xuan had given him, the verses that had created the behemoth known as the Church.
Peter didn't know how many times had he read the book, and he even knew the tears on each page by heart. He stroked its broken cover, his voice calm. ”Humans think that they have found Eden, the paradise, but then they brought along the original sin of human beings with them.”
Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. ”Tell me, what does it have to do with Charles?”
Peter gave him a broken smile. It was as if he had already known the answer in the young man's heart. Then, he hit the mark with a single comment, ”A few millenniums ago, with silicon transistors and circuit boards, humans were already able to create us...
”What makes you think that the same thing will not occur here?”
Ye Qingxuan said nothing.
”For centuries, aether has never stopped making records regarding mankind. Countless people have lived and died, and all their memories have been recorded in it, forming a mass of chaos stirred up by the Holy Cauldron and Hyakume.
”The musical movements created by countless musicians, the sound of heart integrated into them, the aether projections compiled with one's own consciousness. The Symphony of Predestination, the host body of aether created, namely the scepter, all these actions are like throwing firewood constantly into a furnace.