Chapter 282: Pengkeluode Spirit (II)

"Impossible." Heimodinge's beard twitched slightly. "He is not merely a program-driven entity; he truly possesses the ability to think, and is even observed by a higher existence—the 'Omniscient Venerable'."

Jiesi frowned slightly, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop: "In theory, if machinery could simulate the human neural structure, perhaps it could replicate thought. But someone like him, not only can think, but also display an almost artistic linguistic expression? Sorry… Professor, I still feel that inside Mr. Luosigumu's body lies some power transcending 'machinery'."

"This isn't the crux of the issue, Jiesi." Heimodinge shook his large head, "The existence of Luosigumu challenges our definition of 'life.' If machinery could also possess wisdom, emotion, even aesthetics… then should we reconsider the boundary between 'life' and 'machinery'?"

Jiesi fell into thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Professor, you wouldn't be thinking of making a Piiertewofu version of 'Luosigumu', would you?"

"No, Jiesi. I'm just wondering… if machinery could also reach such a height, how should humanity define its own uniqueness? Is it flesh and blood? Is it reproduction?"

The laboratory fell into a brief silence.

"Professor, I also cannot answer your question, but perhaps the answer is not in comparison; only after we coexist with them can we find the answer."

——

Xing discovered a staff member on the space station doing something to Heita's portrait; out of curiosity she approached, but the person mistook her for a new employee looking for the front desk.

"She's really beautiful." Xing pointed at Heita's portrait.

"Oh~ another fan of Lady Heita?" the staff member showed an 'I get it' expression, as if seeing a kindred spirit, "Go ahead, feel free to admire it, though this portrait will soon be taken down."

But then he immediately recognized Xing and had heard of her glorious deeds on the space station. He quickly gave a self-introduction: his name is Lunnade, the space station's network security engineer.

Not long ago, the space station was invaded by the Anti-Matter Legion; his duty was to repair various facilities and restore the station's network security. But during the repair process, he discovered a third-party intrusion besides the Legion, and not knowing the intruder's identity or appearance, he decided to investigate.

He suspected it was the Star Core Hunters, for this lot appears and disappears mysteriously, each wanted by the company, especially a super-hacker from Pengkeluode who made him lose face in front of everyone; now he greatly values this opportunity to make amends, hoping to reverse his reputation through it.

He designed a detector that could reveal hidden traces through it; saying that, he wanted to demonstrate it in front of Xing, aiming the detector at Heita's portrait, and soon something appeared on the portrait…

A bead of sweat appeared on Heita's hat.

"Uh, what is this?" Lunnade looked embarrassed.

"She's really beautiful." Xing still savored the comment.

"No, don't look at this!" Lunnade never expected anyone to dare doodle on Lady Heita's portrait, but he quickly realized it was an electronic graffiti with a certain auto-encryption function, needing only a second calibration to decode.

He hoped Xing could help him find similar electronic graffiti on the space station, which would also aid in understanding the Star Core Hunters.

Seeing Lunnade's sincere plea, Xing had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Xing aimed her camera at the graffiti on the wall; blue patterns began to flicker with a texture she had never seen. Suddenly, as she watched, it collapsed inward, surrounding sounds and colors being sucked in, as if something were about to emerge…

A Void Soldier appeared before Xing.

"Ah? No—how could there be a Void Soldier here?!"

——

Saint Seiya

"Sealing a Void Soldier into a wall? That little girl's ability is truly unimaginable…" Aludiba stroked the stubble on his chin; although they had not seen Yinlang's ability for the first time, but no matter how many times they saw it, they couldn't help but marvel.

"By the way, isn't this Void Soldier the one that tried to ambush Kafka from behind on the space station back then?" Tonghu suddenly recalled, "Back then, Yinlang said he threw it at a random coordinate—couldn't this be the place?"

"It's possible; if Xing doesn't scan this graffiti, that Void Soldier would likely remain forever sealed in the wall—neither dying nor causing trouble…"

"Aludiba, I can hear the abacus in your heart." Shiang of Aries gave a light smile, "Are you thinking of using this ability on the Underworld Warriors… or even on Hades?"

"Yeah, if we could seal Hades in a wall, it wouldn't kill him and would prevent his reincarnation from causing chaos again—it's practically the perfect counter to his ability—too bad we haven't met that little girl; even if we did, she probably wouldn't be interested in teaching us hacking skills."

"Why would we have her teach us?"

Shiang narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth: "Rumor has it that little girl is quite interested in games; we could offer a Saint Cloth as a reward and ask her to help us manually seal Hades—or we could ask Ren to come; thanks to his immortal body, I'd like to see how those Underworld Warriors would deal with him."

——

After dealing with the Void Soldier, a silver wolf's phantom appeared before the two of them.

Lunnade, being a tech specialist, instantly grasped the principle behind Silver Wolf's ability to perform such manipulation; in short, she can edit reality as if it were a program, its absurdity being something only a Masked Fool could believe.

Moreover, these graffiti are actually a tradition of Pengkeluode; its hackers intentionally leave something behind when intruding, waiting to be discovered—like a challenge letter. They call it the 【Pengkeluode Spirit】—having clashes and victories, with victory comes fun; life is a game, and enjoying it is most important.

The two followed the graffiti left by Silver Wolf to continue exploring; eventually, upon reaching a room filled with curiosities, the clue snapped off abruptly.

"By the way, does this also count as a curiosity?"

Xing turned her gaze to a display stand nearby, where a pair of wing-like feathers floated, seemingly a flight device from some world.