Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Wait, a green wasp? How can a wasp be green? Should it be yellow?”

The test-taker frowned. “If it’s green, it can’t be a wasp. What’s this question? A linguistic trap?”

“No, no, no. Don’t be anxious. Relax. It’s just a common question. Nobody cares whether a wasp is yellow or green. It could’ve been a typo.”

The researcher waved his hands and said, “Don’t care about the details. Just follow your guts and tell me your first reaction.”

“I will… slap it and kill it.”

The test-taker craned his head and stared at the researcher. “Is it the correct answer?”

The researcher smiled.

“There is no correct answer in this place. You can answer however you want to.”

The researcher said, “It’s just a routine personality test so that the doctors and nurses will know what kind of person you are, how to take care of you, and what roommates you should have.

“Alright. The second question. Imagine that you find yourself on a desolate and deserted planet after you wake up, what tool do you hope you will be holding in your hand? A weapon, a spade, a piece of magic equipment that can detect water sources, or…”

“Which deserted planet?” the test-taker interrupted the researcher and asked back with his swollen eyes.

“What?”

The researcher was more or less stunned.

“You said that I found myself on a deserted planet after I woke up, so I’m asking you which deserted planet it is.”

The test-taker asked, “There are a hundred deserted planets in the Imperium. Which one are you talking about?”

“It’s just a… hypothetical question.”

The researcher said with a rigid smile, “Does it matter which deserted planet it is?”

“Of course. If I’m dying on one of those bloody deserted planets, I should at least know its name!”

Narrowing his eyes, the test-taker suddenly changed the topic. “Your hand. What’s your hand doing? Why have you been knocking on the desk since the beginning? Is it part of the test? Do I have to properly react to that?”

“No, no, no.”

The researcher stopped his unconscious knocking and managed a smile. “Don’t be nervous. Don’t be nervous.”

“F*ck. I’m not nervous! I’m not nervous at all!”

The test-taker grew furious. “As long as you stop knocking that stupid desk with your goddamn finger!”

In the test room, their conversation went on in a weird atmosphere.

The topics went deeper and deeper, changing from the instinctive reactions to the dilemmas that did not carry answers.

Outside of the room, Li Yao observed it with great interest and asked, “Director Zhuge, what’s the point of those questions? Can you identify a person of the Covenant Alliance with those questions?”

“Exactly.”

Zhuge Jinglun pointed at his head and said, “I divide the mind of human beings into rational thinking and emotional thinking. For example, children love their mothers, which is emotional thinking. That’s natural-born, instinctive, and unconditional.

“So, when asked about their mothers, the children would react with their emotional thinking ability instinctively without any consideration, like a conditional reflex.

“However, for some of the heartless criminals and the people of the Covenant Alliance, their rational thinking and their emotional thinking are cut apart, if they have emotional thinking at all. Maybe, they love their mothers, but their logic is that they have to love their mothers because their mothers bring food and warmth and resist enemies for them.

“Do you see what I mean? The love of normal people is direct and unconditional, but their love is indirect and the result of rational thinking.

“So, faced with carefully-devised questions, those inhumane criminals or people of the Covenant Alliance have to simulate emotional thinking with rational thinking, which will result in a tiny lag.

“After hundreds of years, we’ve stacked the data and the tomography of the normal people answering the same questions. By comparing them with the reaction of the test-takers, we’ll be able to tell if the test-takers’ reactions are slow and if the active areas of their brains are different.”

“That explains a lot.”

Li Yao was deep in thought. “But what if the test-taker is an expert who has remarkable computation ability? Couldn’t they finish the simulation of emotional thinking with rational thinking instantly?”

“That’s indeed possible. This is where Ring-Tu becomes useful.”

Zhuge Jinglun explained proudly, “Black Wind King, please focus your attention on Ring-Tu in the test room. Do you find it capricious as if it contains infinite information? That’s right. Those patterns have been illustrated with the computational ability of ten super crystal processors. Not only do they boast astronomical information, but they could also attract the observers’ attention without them realizing it.

“The stronger an observer is, the more likely they will notice the information it contains, and the more distracted they will be from dealing with the questions.

“If the observer is an ordinary person who cannot sense the charm of Ring-Tu, they will not be affected by it.

“In other words, Ring-Tu is a special device that can significantly reduce the computational abilities of the experts so that the experts and the ordinary people can receive the test from the same starting point. As more and more data have been accumulated over the past hundred years, the accuracy of this test is higher and higher.”

Li Yao nodded his head.

In the test room, the researcher, enshrouded by the glamorous colors, continued asking questions unhurriedly, “Imagine that you find your mother lying in a pool of blood when you’re back home, and a suspicious person is jumping out through the window. Will you save your mother or chase after her murderer?”

“My mother?”

Tiny red spots popped up in the test-taker’s eyes. Laughing like a wolf, he said, “Then I’ll probably chase the murderer and see who he is exactly. What’s this? A lousy joke? How many more stupid questions do I have to answer?”

“We’re almost there. There are only the last few questions to go. Ah. This is my favorite question.”

Smiling warmly, the researcher crossed his fingers and said, “Do you remember how you got in here? Do you feel that your memory is blurry, and the past decades are like a dream?

“What if I tell you that your memories are fake, the world you’re familiar with does not exist, and you were not a human but a Wiseware three years ago? How would you feel?”

“A Wiseware?”

The test-taker blinked his eyes, trying to show confusion and anger. “What’s that? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Wiseware—intelligent machines, and a civilization of crystal processors.”

The researcher said coldly, “Do you recall your real identity and the truth of the world? That’s right. Crystal processors grew self-conscious, machines became lives, and puppets rose against mankind. Only a few human beings survived, but you’re not one of them. Instead, you are but a Wiseware. If I cut your skull right now, you’ll see a glittering crystal processor.

“So, what’s your choice? With all the fake memories and simulated personalities in you, what do you regard yourself as, a human being or a Wiseware? Will you take our side or theirs?”

“This is…”

The test-taker burst into rage. “What kind of question is that? I refuse to answer such a boring question!”

Dumbfounded, Li Yao moved his eyes from Zhuge Jinglun to Long Yangjun.

“It’s a coincidence.”

Long Yangjun said in a low voice, but she laughed and raised her hands in the next second. “Fine, it’s not a coincidence. I devised the question when I was bored, and Director Zhuge found it interesting and added it to the database of questions. Do you not find it intriguing?”

Li Yao glared at her.

In the test room, the last question was asked.

“Alright, that’s about all of our questions. My last question is—do you want us to get you out of here?”

The researcher knocked on the desk and asked with a smile, “Before you answer the question, let me explain your situation first. Yes, the world around you is fake, and you’re not the person you think you are. However, you aren’t really a Wiseware either.

“Actually, this is just your subconsciousness, and both yourself and I are just part of you.

“I’m sorry, but in the real world, you are a poor little girl who was sold to a brothel when you were little. You were tortured and abused by those animals, to the point that you created such a world of subconsciousness as a sanctuary for your mind.

“Yes, your real self is a suffering little girl, and your brawny look right now is just a disguise and a fake guardian god that you’ve imagined.

“I am imagined by you too. I’m just a trigger that can wake you up and help you go back to reality. The questions I asked were the preparations for your return.

“Now, tell me, would you rather stay forever in this world of subconsciousness and live a carefree life on this peaceful, sunny island, even though it’s fake and only your imagination, or would you return to reality and face your rotting body?”

The question struck the test-taker like a bolt of lightning, and he was stunned for a long time.

Then, he burst out like a crystal bomb and dashed, pulling the whole metal seat.

“I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’ll kill you!”

Changing into a different person, he lunged at the researcher like a crazy fiend.

“Ha!”

Outside of the room, Zhuge Jinglun snapped his fingers proudly. Pointing at the data and the tomography on the light beam, he hooted and said, “Gotcha!”