Chapter 1457: Hermit's Set (1)

Before opening the 33550337th cycle of reincarnation, Luosi Gu Mu said at the time that he could no longer detect Dan Heng's signal, guessing that he had successfully returned to the train. And in this cycle, there was no trace of Dan Heng at all, which means…… He just returned to Wengfalosi?

Although happy that Dan Heng would participate in the next cycle of reincarnation, the Silvermane Guard was still more worried about the external situation of Wengfalosi now; after sending out Wengfalosi's internal news, could the train secure help from the company and the Immortal Vessel?

After all, once the Iron Tomb successfully comes into being, its target is not any single faction but the entire universe. At that time everyone will die; I'm afraid even the hardest-to-kill 'Abundance' will be destroyed by the Iron Tomb in this catastrophe.

Even if the apothecary himself would not be affected by the Iron Tomb, the flesh of the sealed 'Fleeting' probably would also be turned into a 'random function' by the Iron Tomb, right? Even if the Immortal Vessel were acting to save itself, it should at least send out the two generals Feixiao and Jingyuan to assist; otherwise, regarding this campaign against the Iron Tomb, he really has no confidence in his heart.

——

Before the delivery of the Stellar Computer Engineering project, Zandalar Yi Sangyuan once brought test data to visit the teacher living in seclusion by the Silver Scale Lake Shore.

Before their reunion, the two had not seen each other for several decades. What Zandalar inquired about was not the accuracy of the data, but rather achieving the outcome of everything… He had an inexplicable unease that shallow-minded outsiders could not understand——

""Mediocre talents will be smug for solving a problem that has been unsolved for hundreds of years; gifted geniuses tremble on the steel wire of doubt, a rope called 'Logic' protecting them from falling into the abyss.""

The old man lifted his head to look at his talented student; his gaze was very murky, like an old well filled by the years, at the bottom of which lay countless sighs.

""And you, you want to cut the rope, dragging the whole galaxy into the abyss to break through the boundary of knowledge… What are you doing now? Will you heed my warning and stop? Go look in the mirror—can't you see that you long to overturn the galaxy? I cannot stop you, nor can anyone else.""

The old man placed the wool hat from the coat rack onto Zandalar's head, blocking his astonished and angry gaze, and left without a word.

""That is an ultimate knowledge-seeking machine; it will demand all knowledge from past to future… but the teacher called it the 'Prison of Knowledge', while I insist it is a great 'Library'——until later, I became a prisoner.""

——

Sword Art Online.

This is what happened before Zandalar created the Omniscience Sovereign? It seems his teacher was more far-sighted, having already foreseen what would happen in the future.

Asuna's gaze lingered on the sky, but her brows furrowed slightly.

""Kirito, but I still don't get why his teacher would call the Omniscience Sovereign the 'Prison of Knowledge'?""

Kirito did not answer right away, merely staring fixedly at the distant sunset slowly sinking; after a while, he asked a seemingly unrelated question: 'Asuna, do you know the relationship between various board games worldwide and AI before this?'

""Mm… I actually haven't noticed that before.""

Kirito turned his head to look at Asuna: 'Board games have developed for thousands of years; humans have created countless openings, layouts, and moves—saying they are heavenly and myriad is no exaggeration. But after AI appeared, everything changed. AI's computing power far surpasses humans; those once considered genius ideas are easily cracked by humans' own programs, leaving only the optimal solution.'

""Since AI appeared, there will be no new openings; humans will no longer devise new layouts or moves, and humanity's 'creativity' is erased by our own creations. For professional chess players, this is more like a boring game solved by AI. Genius chess players spend their lifetimes practicing, merely trying to bring their moves closer to AI's perfect answer……Asuna, if it were you, would you see AI for human chess players as a library or a prison?""

""I……"" Asuna momentarily found herself at a loss for words, not knowing how to answer.

""Although comparing chess AI to the Omniscience Sovereign is not entirely accurate, I can roughly understand Zandalar's intent. When all knowledge in the universe is solved by the Omniscience Sovereign……for geniuses, this truly is an impregnable prison. If it were me, I would probably miss the time before AI was born.""

——

""Since the Omniscience Sovereign ascended to godhood, Zandalar's timepiece has fallen into stagnation. He insists on destroying his past, part of his works and inventions——those erased traces all point to the fate of the Enlightenment of All Things and the Star Gods.""

""That is a great achievement that countless later geniuses cannot surpass, not even the Creator has the right to destroy Him……"" A blade from causality stabbed at Zandalar's fragile neck, ""You destroyed your works too quickly; your last words could be said a bit slower.""

""Zandalar did not seem surprised by her arrival.""

""Lord of Silence? A prisoner obsessed with the 'Omniscience Domain'. Too bad, my intention is not as unfathomable as my research, which is also why you can easily target me. You intend to maintain His boundary of thought, while I must break the cage, release the possibility of chaos—hehe, I must after correcting errors, ensure He is never reborn. Therefore, those works and inventions……including the 'Complete Zandalar Yi Sangyuan', will not remain in the world.""

""After destroying Zandalar's flesh, Bolka Kakamu immediately realized how he had eliminated himself and yet retained the executor—his thoughts had already scattered across the vast galaxy, nowhere to be found, just like a true 'hermit'.""

""Zandalar's timepiece has not truly stagnated; his thought-slices are situated within all 'time'.""

——

Psychic Power 100%.

""So it turns out Zandalar's true body was killed by Bolka Kakamu, ah.""

""But Linghuan actually thinks Zandalar deliberately let Bolka Kakamu kill him; after his body was destroyed, Bolka Kakamu could no longer find any of Zandalar's avatars. Rather than saying Bolka Kakamu killed the first genius, it's more like his own death was also within Zandalar's expectation——Bolka Kakamu was merely used by him as a means to erase the traces of his avatars.""

""No wonder his research materials cannot be found anywhere in the universe; it turns out he destroyed them in advance to prevent the Omniscience Sovereign from being recreated—he even guarded against this to such an extent……"