Chapter 357: Justice

To welcome his "successful return," Jie Ming's "parents" and "old friends" carefully prepared a family gathering.

The familiar living room, warm lights, and the dining table were filled with dishes he liked in his "memory."

The "parents" were filled with pride and care, "Amy" was chattering about recent events, and "Victor" was listening quietly as always, nodding occasionally.

The atmosphere was warm and harmonious, full of the joy of family reunion.

Jie Ming was eating quietly, with a gentle smile on his face, listening to their conversation.

But deep in his eyes, it was cold as water, observing every detail, every subtle change in expression.

Finally, he put down his tableware.

The crisp sound of metal colliding with the porcelain plate was not loud, but it strangely made the laughter at the dining table come to an abrupt end.

Everyone's eyes were focused on him.

Jie Ming looked around at these four "family members" who "cared" for him and "loved" him, his eyes calm as a deep pool, sharp enough to penetrate the appearance.

He spoke slowly, his voice not high, but carrying an unquestionable penetrating power: "Alright, stop acting."

"Come out, let's talk."

The four people at the dining table were stunned at the same time, and the smiles on their faces froze for an instant.

Amy was the first to react, barely pulling out a smile, with just the right amount of confusion: "Jie Ming? What are you talking about? What acting or not acting—"

Jie Ming shook his head, interrupting her, his gaze seeming to pass through her skin, looking directly at the invisible existence behind her: "You, have been manipulating them, right?"

His fingers brushed lightly, encompassing the "parents," Amy, and Victor.

"Although—I don't know what to call you either."

The moment the words fell—

It was as if a switch had been pressed.

The vivid expressions of the four "family members" beside him faded away like the tide in an instant.

They solidified into a coldness that was exactly the same, without the slightest human emotion.

Four pairs of eyes lost their focus at the same time, becoming hollow and lifeless.

Immediately after, four mouths opened at the same rhythmic pace, emitting the same cold, flat, seemingly mechanically synthesized sound waves.

The four people spoke in unison, echoing in this warm restaurant, carrying a chilling non-human feeling: "—You are right, I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is—Justice! How did you discover it? Individual 721, special observation subject."

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The delicious dishes lost their aroma, and the warm lights became pale.

This restaurant full of life turned into an interrogation room for direct dialogue with the mastermind.

Jie Ming's heart beat heavily in his chest, but his expression remained calm.

He had already prepared himself mentally when considering this possibility.

"The reason is simple." Jie Ming faced those four hollow "eyes," saying word by word, "Because I discovered that in this world, only the four of you are fake."

"I spent several years traveling through several cities, even planets, constantly probing and observing everyone I could come into contact with around me. From classmates, teachers, to passersby, soldiers, and even other wizards who I confirmed had also fallen here, such as Wei Aola—they all have real souls, independent thoughts, they were just blinded in cognition and implanted with false memories."

At the very beginning, Jie Ming thought this was a fake world composed of his own hallucinations, so he thought he was the only living person in this world.

Later, with the discovery of real unknown knowledge and the probing of Wei Aola, Jie Ming speculated that there might not be only himself in this fake world.

But at that time, he only thought that this fake world was specifically constructed for two million wizards.

Until later, he walked through many cities on this planet and even went to other planets, finally confirming at Lei Ke's place that where he was was a real world.

Every creature in this world was real, even including the "aliens" who were enemies.

But in this way, the initial falseness appeared particularly glaring.

Especially after knowing that Lei Ke was an orphan, Jie Ming recognized this point even more clearly.

His gaze swept over these four "family members" who were like exquisite puppets, his tone carrying a trace of cold mockery: "Only you. From the moment I 'woke up,' you have always been by my side, playing the most intimate roles—"

"But whether it's words and deeds or emotional expression, it's too simple, just like a program tailored for the role of 'Jie Ming,' lacking the contradictions, complexity, and unpredictability that a real soul should have."

So I speculate—you are just hollow puppets created entirely to monitor and maintain 'me'."

After listening to Jie Ming's account, those four mouths opened and closed synchronously again, emitting a sound without any waves: "Sharp observation and logical deduction. Based on your special performance authority, information sharing is granted."

The existence calling itself "Justice" did not hide anything and revealed the cold truth of this huge world.

All of this started with a "Sage" who longed to end all injustice.

This civilization was also unusually developed, but with the increase in individual power gaps, the gap between people became larger and larger, becoming increasingly unfair.

Later, a sage overthrew the rule, but he sadly discovered that the people gathered around him were also respected by other peers because of the power gap, as if these dragon slayers had become evil dragons.

The sage believed that the root cause of all this was supernatural power, and he felt that if a world where everyone's power was the same could be created, the world would surely be able to usher in peace!

So he gathered the power of the entire plane, created the existence in front of him, and then led everyone into the influence range of "Justice."

So the core of all anomalies on this plane is this artificial intelligence named "Justice."

It is the masterpiece of a highly developed civilization that has long since disappeared in the long river of history, and it has been given the ultimate instruction to achieve "fairness."

"—Sealing supernatural power is the core function of the 'Absolute Fairness Domain'."

"Justice" stated through four mouths simultaneously.

Jie Ming suddenly thought of something when he heard this, interrupting its words: "It sounds like we wizards were also affected by your system."

"But I am very curious, what means did you use to 'delude' them? I am very sure that I did not receive any form of mental interference or illusion influence."

"That is not illusion or mental domination. Its essence is 'hope'."

"To prevent future ambitious people from destroying 'justice,' the creator gave me a core ability. Its principle exceeds the scope of my understanding and can be simplified as: I can discern and guide the deepest 'ultimate desire' for 'happiness' and 'satisfaction' of every intelligent individual, and based on this, construct a life path and environment for them that can realize that desire."

"Power, in most cases, is just a tool for individuals to achieve their ultimate desires, not the desire itself."

"I suppressed the power differences that would lead to injustice and directly gave them the life of 'realizing their final wish.' Those who desire to stand out can become celebrities; those who desire to pass on knowledge can become mentors; those who desire to explore the unknown can become scholars; even those who desire fighting and victory can become generals and satisfy their needs on the 'set battlefield'."

Four mouths responded simultaneously, the sound still flat as a machine: "They were not 'deluded' by me, but attracted and immersed by the 'hope' in their own hearts. I just provided an opportunity to reach the end of their dreams and obtain eternal happiness without relying on dangerous supernatural power."

"In the face of tangible, real happiness, what meaning do those illusory powers and past memories have that cannot be abandoned?"

"This is the most fundamental 'justice' for every individual."

Jie Ming listened to this theory, which was full of idealism but cold, and couldn't help but shake his head.

He wanted to refute, wanted to tell this artificial intelligence that even without supernatural power, injustice based on knowledge, wealth, power, and even luck would still exist, and the desires and disputes in the hearts of intelligent life would never stop.

The complexity of human nature and society is far from being covered by a simple "deprive power, satisfy wishes" model.

But he didn't say it in the end.

The identity of a traveler is his biggest secret.

Moreover, from a certain perspective, that sage and this "Justice" system have indeed completed their vision in an extreme and pure way, almost obsessively.

Even from Jie Ming's perspective, this place can be called an "ideal country" built on the foundation of "absolute equality of power" and "direct satisfaction of wishes."

It was also at this moment that Jie Ming suddenly figured out many places he felt awkward about before.

For example, the "school bully" rule in the university he was in that held an axe but decided strength by knowledge.

This just shows that the sage didn't naively think that depriving power could eliminate all differences.

He foresaw that even without supernatural power, society would still produce class and status gaps based on intelligence, information, resource control, and even pure physical strength (in low-level groups).

He just tried to control these gaps within a "non-supernatural," "understandable" range.

It's just that the sage ultimately failed to live in a society completely without supernatural power himself.

All his deductions were based on theory and observation, so when he combined these elements to construct this huge alternative society, he produced those social rules and worldviews that were full of subtle differences, and even appeared a bit "awkward" in Jie Ming's eyes.

It's like a blind man, even if he carefully touched the body of an elephant and gathered various physical characteristics of the elephant, the beast combined in his mind would definitely be different from the real elephant. ===== CHAPTER 358 =====