Chapter 133 Why Do You Not Bow

What is the duration of a single loop in Artificial Divine Realm 2055?

There is no exact figure.

However, a rough estimate can be made.

Approximately ten to twenty years.

This span is quite large because various unexpected contingencies must be factored in, which can cause the apocalypse to erupt prematurely. In other words, even if people were sent to the moon in the previous cycle, at least ten years must have passed. Over these ten years, is it possible that he survived until now by relying on the resources of the far-side lunar base, much like the protagonist in The Martian?

Even assuming abundant resources.

How did he manage to evade the ghosts dwelling on the moon?

"People?"

The dispatcher on the side was perplexed. Logically speaking, apart from astronauts who might have been sent up during the Grand Coalition era on a one-way trip, no one else could possibly exist there. As for other people—

At this moment, Dr. Chen experienced a sudden epiphany.

"Transmit the order. Request the two volunteers not to destroy the far-side base. Try to enter in a gentle manner, and if you encounter humans, simply subdue them."

"So, there really are people at the far-side base?" Juno caught the subtext.

"Aside from the Yugong Project, we established another initiative known as the Coexistence Project." Dr. Chen's expression remained devoid of any distinct emotion, though his pace of speech quickened slightly.

"Coexistence with ghosts?"

"Yes, ghosts."

Dr. Chen began to recount the Coexistence Project in detail.

Ghosts possess a very distinct characteristic: they are extremely emotional, even more so and more extreme than the Bogangs. If one of them takes a dislike to you, it will pursue you across the entire globe. Should you injure it, you are finished; you had better sleep with one eye open, not to mention thoseobsessive entities brimming with negative energy who take pleasure in trampling upon and ravaging other emotions.

Without this kind of joy,

the ghosts might simply drift away and dissipate on their own.

In other words, ghosts can actually only survive by taking humans as their foundation. This is evident from the fact that they show no torture when dealing with animals, but rather slaughter them swiftly and directly.

Regarding this,

the Canglong Federation once proposed a hypothesis:

What if humans lost their emotions?

Would ghosts likewise lose their foundation? Even if they were not completely eradicated, they would at least cease targeting humanity.

Making humanity lose emotion is no easy task.

After all, this is a mechanism that has evolved and been perfected in the human body over tens of millions of years. A human without emotions might find life devoid of meaning, and humanity would become extinct by its own hand without needing the ghosts to act. Yet, difficult as it is, it had to be tried, for the apocalyptic loop has been continuously ongoing, and not trying means sinking into eternal perdition!

Two proposals emerged from this.

Mechanical Ascension and Transhumanism.

Mechanical Ascension involved accelerating consciousness through artificial intelligence computers, thereby aging the conscious mind and ultimately transforming it into an artificial intelligence that endures forever. This could be considered a precursor technology to the brain capacity expansion in the primary world's future. However, driven by the pressure of the apocalypse, it took a dark turn. If allowed to develop in this direction, the future of Artificial Divine Realm 2055 would most likely be a world entangled by digital ghosts.

Transhumans were a new breed of humans—more perfect humans capable of freely switching their emotions on and off. Through special modifications to their nerve plexuses and spinal cords, they could divest themselves of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, thereby failing to become carriers for ghosts and causing ghosts to lose interest in them. Both Dr. Chen and the rugged-faced man had undergone modification surgery.

Both branches of the Coexistence Project evidently failed.

The experimental site for Mechanical Ascension was arranged within the Underground City.

This was because only the Underground City could satisfy the demands for both electricity and computing power. Furthermore, once the loop restarted, Mechanical Ascension would still prove useless.

As for the deployment of transhumans, a portion of them was placed at the far-side lunar base.

To be precise, seed embryos had merely been tossed there during past reincarnations, and engineering drones were configured with an option to activate once survival conditions were met. It was an attempt made amidst a sea of hopeless despair; none of the people involved, including Dr. Chen, believed that these seeds would ever see a day of sprouting.

But now...

The seeds seemed to have genuinely sprouted.

New humans had been successfully modified.

"New humans? Merely defective products under the oppression of the apocalypse. Allow me, King Aojia, to save them."

Upon receiving the message, King Aojia let out a disdainful, cold snort.

Facing the heavy base doors within the lunar far-side karst cave, the psychic cultivator simply pointed the ten fingers of his hands directly at the alloy steel airtight door and gently thrust them forward. His hands penetrated the seams as easily as sinking into butter. Accompanied by his slight exertion, a screeching sound rang out. Without needing any password, the heavy door was forcefully and crudely pried open!

The three figures instantly surged inside.

They had a clear division of labor.

Li Yang turned around to straighten the damaged door, using scorching rays emitted from his eyes to weld and lock it shut. Lin Cheng and King Aojia immediately rushed toward the opposite side of the corridor, violently shattering the inner door and charging deeper inside toward the signals flickering within their psychic vision!

The entire process was as swift as lightning!

Psychic cultivators and mortals were simply like two entirely different species.

Had any ordinary person been monitoring them,

they would have discovered in despair that they could neither clearly see nor comprehend the actions of the psychic cultivators, and could only watch helplessly as three tyrannosaurs rampaged toward their sector at a grotesque, breakneck speed.

Inside the far-side lunar base,

certain ghosts that had nearly ceased functioning out of sheer boredom were awakened.

They were awakened by the scorching and uninhibited externalized emotions of the psychic cultivators. Like starving refugees who had gone without food for seven days and seven nights, their eyes turned green the instant they awoke, and with ghostly, flickering speed, they actively and enthusiastically rushed forward.

Delicious humans! Delicious humans!!

Eat! Live!

The ghost in the absolute lead could barely maintain a humanoid shape.

Driven by the enthusiastic momentum of a hundred-meter dash, this lucky individual impatiently slammed headfirst into King Aojia's pectoral muscles. The moment of impact triggered the ghost's invasion of negative emotions and the spiritual body's devastation of the flesh. According to its experience, this person would immediately be torn apart, erupting with fresh, hot, delicious blood laden with rich, savory emotions!

And then it died.

It was smashed to death by King Aojia himself.

Just like a roaring steamroller crushing a toy tricycle, there was barely any sensation at all. The fragile spiritual body was shattered by King Aojia, whose mind was simple, chuunibyou, and filled with burning passion. It was only several seconds later, when King Aojia subconsciously rubbed his pectoral muscle, that it dawned on him.

Did he just smash a ghost to death?

Never mind, that wasn't important.

They were all meant to be killed anyway; the ghosts here were merely a matter of dying sooner or later.

"Where are the ghosts?! Come on out! I see you! Having beheld Aojia, why do you not bow? Quit dilly-dallying, damn it!!"

Even though they had tried their best to control the aftermath of their movements, the three psychic cultivators—each highly accomplished in martial arts realms—still moved with the roaring tremors of a shield tunneling machine tearing down a building. Their commotion caused the entire far-side lunar base to shake violently.

Deep within the far-side lunar base,

certain humans and ghosts were startled, immediately arming themselves and rushing toward the source of the roar!