"Are anomalies inherently chaotic, or do they actually follow some unknowable order? I don’t know, but regardless of the answer, their history will undoubtedly remain without error or fault," No. 7 said. "Because in the end, they have no history at all, or more precisely, no ’accumulation.’ Anomalies from ten thousand years ago are not much different from those today.
"Though there may have been more anomalies in modern times that are spread through media like audio-visual products, telephone, and internet, that doesn’t mean anomalies themselves have changed. It’s merely reflecting the changes in human society and isn’t fundamentally different from ancient anomalies. Even the ’Doomsday anomalies’ of the post-mortem world haven’t broken free from this cycle; their abnormalities merely reflect the properties of the soil from which they were born.
"Most importantly, they act independently, have no communication, no language or culture, and do not act based on ’past experiences.’ Most lack rationality. While there are a few intelligent anomalies that can operate within human society, they usually learn human history and knowledge; and after they die, they are often recorded in the history of humankind, not starting from a foundationless anomaly history.
"The anomalies of the past and those of the present seem similar but are in fact unrelated—doesn’t this state resemble the ’New Human History’ pursued by the Evangelical Institute?"
"I see... Is the Evangelical Institute’s plan inspired by anomalies?" Little Bowl realized. "But what happens if, after the propagation of New Human History, humans, using archaeological techniques, rediscover traces of past human lives, restore our culture and technology, and re-connect with the Old Human History in that form?
"They wouldn’t even need advanced archaeological technology; within the field of Mysticism, ’similarity’ itself can bring about power, just as mimicking the actions of a God can bestow corresponding protective power. Future humans, merely by being of the same race as present humans, might have hallucinations and dreams related to Old Human History among their highly inspired individuals...
"Is it really possible to completely eradicate the culture and thoughts of Old Human History?"
No. 7 admitted: "Your view is correct. This is a very difficult task. At least when our Tai Sui Army detached from the Evangelical Institute, there was intense debate within about this subject.
"At that time, one of the effective methods they conceived was to simply use gene engineering technology to change the genome of future humans, turning them into a completely different new life form from humans, and further adjust the self-awareness of future humans with brain science or soul spell technology... I just don’t know if this idea was abandoned or if it was further pursued..."
Upon hearing this, Little Bowl displayed a look of uncontained dread.
Gene engineering technology and brain science... Catching these two keywords, I suddenly recalled the Luoshan Branch Base under Ming Zhuo I once attacked.
The extraordinary fanatics there were primarily researching gene science and brain science.
Is this merely a coincidence? Or does it indicate some potential connection between Ming Zhuo and the Evangelical Institute?
In the modern world, Huang Quan, the mentor of Ming Zhuo... Thinking about it carefully, if I were Huang Quan, as a human god from the post-mortem world, coupled with that connection to Ming Zhuo, and knowing that Ming Zhuo was practically going crazy trying to enter the post-mortem world... how could I not attempt to contact Ming Zhuo?
Assuming Ming Zhuo had contact with Huang Quan, when might that have been? Was it after losing to me? Or was there contact before that? If it’s the latter, perhaps he had already obtained a way to enter the post-mortem world, so why target Mazao?
Could it be that Huang Quan used the promise of a ’path to the post-mortem world’ as bait, presenting Ming Zhuo with an offer he found hard to refuse—perhaps becoming a traitor to Luo Mountain? And Ming Zhuo, not wanting to be controlled by Huang Quan, attempted to capture Mazao?
Could Ming Zhuo’s easy submission to me be interpreted as having already considered Huang Quan as an ’out’ to solve the ticking clock of his lifespan?
As I contemplate, No. 7 looked at me and said: "So, let’s return to the original topic—
"As long as we can attack the Yellow Springs Evangelical Institute and seize the Teleportation Array that connects the Living World and the post-mortem world—the ’Du Shuo Mountain’ technical data—and deliver it to Luo Mountain, it will surely enable Luo Mountain to advance into the post-mortem world. This is what I wish to ask of you."
"Is this to save all humanity?" I asked.
"If I claimed my motivation was that noble, it would surely be hard to gain your trust. But even if it’s just from the perspective of letting Luo Mountain and the Evangelical Institute contend against each other, creating a space for the Tai Sui Army to subsist, I must do it." No. 7 said.
"Haven’t you considered that Luo Mountain could become another Evangelical Institute?" I retorted. "By merely slaughtering a trifling eight billion mortals, Doomsday can be averted, allowing oneself to survive... On this foundation, with the pretext of continuing the race, do you think Luo Mountain is a benevolent organization that would choose a different path from the Evangelical Institute even under such conditions?"
The sentiments of Luo Mountain’s extraordinary fanatics go without saying. Even within the Governance Ideology camp, there might be quite a number who support or tacitly approve of the Evangelical Institute’s insane plan.
Governance Realists generally possess higher moral standards and aspire to coexist with the ordinary populace. However, on the other hand, they don’t truly see this relationship as equal.
To put it harshly, they view their benevolence towards the ordinary populace as sympathy and charity—they could have been rulers controlling the life and death of mortals, yet humbly chose to coexist peacefully with them. If not for their relatively higher education and empathy, they definitely wouldn’t make such a choice... and to phrase it even more harshly, their thoughts might align with reality.
But in Luo Mountain, what truly matters is neither the views of Governance Realists nor of extraordinary fanatics, but the ideas of the Impermanence who stand above all.
Will the Impermanence choose to become the accomplice of the Evangelical Institute’s human gods?
Should I choose to walk the same path?