Chapter 66: Psionic Aborigines
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It seemed that the circular world was not filled with sc.u.m like the Cannibals.
At the very least, the civilization that was destroyed by the Metal-eating Fungi successfully made Li Wenyuan remember them. He created a “believer” file for them in the database.
They didn’t even mention their names. Perhaps they didn’t expect to be remembered. They just hoped that their “G.o.d” would come back to see them.
The Colossus in the sky seemed to have triggered the incomplete memories of the fungi, making them think that their “G.o.d” had returned. They scrambled to emerge from the ground.
Although the detected lifeform signals were weak, they could still carry out simple conversations.
After chatting for a while, Li Wenyuan realized that the collective consciousness formed by those fungi was only at the level of a five or six-year-old child.
Although they carried memories, they did not have intelligence. Other than faith, what drove them to act was their mission to protect the circular world.
…..
The fungi infected the weapons left behind by the civilizations they destroyed and in turn became a “weapon” to protect the circular world.
However, the s.p.a.ceships that lacked maintenance had been reduced to nothing over a long period of time, and the remaining guards had all been exterminated by Li Wenyuan’s s.p.a.ce fleet.
Feeling the happy thoughts transmitted by the fungi through the lifeform signals, Li Wenyuan felt a sense of guilt as if he had smashed someone else’s toy.
However, he still had to take back the control center of the circular world. After some simple communication with those fungi through lifeform signals, the fungi happily evacuated from the control center.
Not only that, but they had also taken the initiative to gather the fungi all over the ground and surrounded themselves in a very small place of the circular world, as if they did not want to occupy the s.p.a.ce there.
If there was a numerical value, the happiness that was transmitted from those fungi would definitely be 1000%.
Presently, it was even difficult to tell the difference between them and that civilization.
Before leaving, Gray Wind asked Li Wenyuan a question, “Do you think that the civilization has been destroyed, or has it achieved ‘eternal life’ in another sense?”
After thinking for a while, Li Wenyuan replied, “They were indeed destroyed. Their history says, ‘destroyed by fungi’. These fungi cannot be called a ‘civilization’. They are more like ‘self-defense robots’ with a certain memory and intelligence.”
He continued, “But it’s hard to say. Memory is an important part of shaping one’s personality. Once these fungi develop intelligence, they might be considered the successors of that civilization, although they have only inherited a fragment of belief…
“The successor who destroyed the previous civilization? It sounds a little ironic…” Gray Wind shook his head, and a model of a stargate appeared in his hand.
The stargate was lifelike and glowing. It looked exactly like the Distant Stargate.
Li Wenyuan glanced at her and changed the topic. “You can try to think about some deeper questions. For example, is the person who came back from the dead still himself? Could memories determine a person’s soul? Is digitizing consciousness equivalent to taking one’s own life?”
“No, no, no. Please don’t talk about these philosophical issues with nan.o.bots.” Gray Wind waved his hand, and the stargate model in his hand disappeared. “Rather than discussing such mind-boggling topics, why don’t we talk about the most fundamental, purest, most primitive, and simplest reproduction problem…”
The research s.p.a.ceship was still rushing toward the control center of the third circular world.
However, currently, something bad was brewing.
The native civilization here seemed to be in a relatively retro era. Steel machinery had just begun to be used, and coal had become a common energy source.
According to human standards, such a place was roughly in the age of steam.
It was hard to understand why they were still in such an era after so long.
One had to know that among the native civilizations of the first two circular worlds, one had extremely advanced genetic technology. If not for the main species’ lack of ambition, it was very likely that they would have become the ruler of this circular world.
The other created a fungus that could parasitize and control machinery. Even their civilization itself was destroyed by that type of fungus.
Compared to the previous two native civilizations, this native civilization that was still in the steam era was too backward. Such circ.u.mstances were unimaginable in a circular world.
A new round of black screen projections began, which also meant that the place had entered the night.
The old kerosene lamps lit up all over the city, and the pedestrians on the streets quickly disappeared.
All of this seemed normal, but not long after, a native “flew” into the sky from somewhere. The native did not wear any mechanical devices or use any tools. He just jumped into the sky.
The native seemed to be a law enforcer in charge of maintaining law and order. He stood high in the night sky and scanned every corner of the city with his sharp eyes, as if he wanted to bring all evil to justice.
Not long after, another native “flew” up and stood beside him, discussing something with him.
“The Prayer Day is about to begin. We can’t make any mistakes during this period of time.”
“Of course, I know that the heretics of the Relief Society love to play tricks on such big matters. 1 won’t let them get what they want.”
“It’s good that you know.”
The two of them only exchanged a few words before they left and began to patrol the city from the sky.
However, as soon as they left, two people sneaked out of a house. Each of them was carrying a baby.
“Hurry up! Hurry up and leave! The Settlement Day is about to arrive! Save as many as you can!”
The two natives looked around nervously. After confirming that there was no one, they pulled open a mysterious s.p.a.ce in front of them that was emitting purple light and rushed in.
It was also the moment they left through this purple s.p.a.ce that the two patrols in the sky teleported there. Then, they said with ugly expressions, “They succeeded again…Why are these d*mn human traffickers targeting children recently?”
“Who knows… If 1 catch them, I’ll definitely burn them to death in the bonfire…”
After discussing for a while, the two of them disappeared from where they were, as if they had never been there.
Such miraculous situations happened in the third circular world from time to time. This native civilization seemed to have embarked on a very special path.
However, Li Wenyuan, who had already arrived at the control center, widened his eyes and looked at the empty s.p.a.ce in front of him in disbelief. “Where is my huge control center?”
The circular world control center that was supposed to be in a fixed position disappeared without a trace, leaving only a patch of gra.s.s that was growing very well.
Li Wenyuan scanned the area back and forth and even used the drone to shuttle back and forth a few times, but he did not find any traces of the control center. “How can these natives live without it? Have humans forgotten about it?”
In the end, it was Gray Wind who noticed some signs and said, “There are very, very thin tracers of Czero molecules here. Although it’s almost negligible, we didn’t detect any Czero molecules in the previous two circular worlds.”
“Czero? That kind of thing is not easy to deal with… In other words, the native civilization here has embarked on the path of ideals? They know how to use psionic technology?” Li Wenyuan thought of the mysterious and magical psionic technology.
He even imagined a group of natives looking at the huge steel control center with disdain, then chanting a few incantations and erasing the control center from the real world on the spot. Afterward, the natives used psionic energy to build something similar to a barrier to maintain the ecology there.
Although his rationality told him that it was impossible, Li Wenyuan still decided to be cautious in case he faced a psionic user for the first time.
“Have they already mastered the use of psionic energy? Those idealistic civilizations in interstellar s.p.a.ce will probably have no choice but to respect you….”