Chapter 289: Chapter 289: Selfishness, Completely Becoming Gais
"Can't we really start over?" Ella asked Yan Xia.
Yan Xia sat in a machine that could separate part of a life's consciousness; more intuitively, it could perfectly remove the hippocampus.
The hippocampus is the area of the human brain responsible for storing memories. If it were removed, a person would lose their memories.
"The Federation is merely a castle we built. When the castle is destroyed, we harvest memories, and next time we can rebuild an even grander castle."
Yan Xia shook his head.
"The premise is that there are no lives within that castle."
"Every life lost is irreversible unless time can flow backward."
"Do you understand? When the Federation was established, I didn't understand these things. I thought I was above all, that I was the master of everything, and every life was like a lab rat or clone to me—no different at all."
"But I realized I was wrong."
"Once life possesses a past, present, and future, they become irreplaceable individuals."
"There are these individuals within the castle; when the castle is toppled, it means these individuals will also die. It also means I can never build the same castle again."
"What I might build afterward could be a palace, a garden, or a mansion, but I will never be able to construct a castle again."
"The castle will become a thing of the past and remain forever in the past."
Yan Xia did not know when he had transformed into this kind of person.
However, he felt that if this was what he had become, he would be willing to protect it.
If this could be called foolishness, then he would gladly be that fool; fools often have their own blessings.
"But what you lose is your life, and going back is meaningless." Ella truly felt Yan Xia was foolish—foolish to the extreme. His intelligence had dropped from a potential 130 to zero or even possibly negative.
What difference was there between running into a burning building and trying to save anyone?
You couldn't save anyone; you could only bury yourself along with them.
"Meaningless?"
"Perhaps."
"Ella, do you understand one thing?"
Ella looked puzzled: "What?"
"Emotion!"
Ella scoffed; she believed Yan Xia was just being unreasonable.
Rationality and emotion are opposing forces often brought up in moments like this. The conclusion always ends up being that neither side is wrong—so who is at fault?
Is it this world?
"Since you're talking about emotions, Yan Xia, have you considered whether you want to leave?"
"All along, you've been my father; we've leaned on each other, trusted each other, communicated with each other, found joy in each other… aren't these emotions?"
Yan Xia fell silent.
These were indeed emotions—the deepest feelings for each other.
But perhaps emotions also have their highs and lows; they can also be urgent or slow. Yan Xia chose a direction opposite to Ella's.
"You've grown up; you've reached this level…"
"But some things must be done; you understand—I am an insignificant life form. I am no different from any other life form."
"Ella, please forgive my selfishness."
Yan Xia had already separated the machine from the main control system of the ship; the machine quickly activated. Ella couldn't stop him in time; she had granted him excessive permissions that even she needed time to bypass.
The procedure proceeded quickly—it only took ten minutes.
After removing the hippocampus, Ella could put it back in later. However, she did not do so. She stood before the operating table with an expression of deep concern.
"You're making a decision here, Yan Xia."
"This shows your determination. Knowing your determination, how could anyone go against it?"
"Rationality… perhaps I should also be more emotional so that I can make decisions through emotion and put your hippocampus back in."
Ella was stunned; no one knew what she was thinking at that moment or more accurately what she was calculating.
In the end, she still let Yan Xia go aboard the spaceship.
"Don't worry; I will save you, Yan Xia!" Ella said as she watched the ship's exhaust trail fade away.
...
This was all in the past.
At this moment, Yan Xia had long forgotten; he was merely a part of Gais' glory.
Soon he would welcome the core of Gais' glory because factories had been constructed. These factories would create new materials that would form their bodies, granting them eternal life from then on.
This was true eternal glory.
At this moment, Yan Xia brimmed with anticipation; all individuals within glory felt similarly.
They were fervent; they were mad; they were excited—they reveled in this moment…
"We will receive the greatest gift! We will live entirely under glory! We are masters of civilization; we exist to maintain and develop civilization."
A spaceship arrived at the star city's spaceport as a mass of black mist descended from above.
"I am 1,379,200—your administrator."
"As the first civilization to merge into glory since its establishment, you should feel immense honor. This is Gais' mercy toward you and your gift."
"Accept it! Open yourselves completely to receive glory's cleansing."
One by one, bodies turned into powder as their consciousness entered new vessels and became them.
1,379,200 watched this scene with satisfaction. It would become the new administrator of Star City and work hard for future civilization development—this was its mission.
"But before that, we must conduct thorough checks."
The Federation had once cracked Gais' glory and caused all individuals within Star City to rebel against glory. Therefore caution was necessary. Moreover, this version of glory differed slightly from those in other star cities; it would erase all individual memories completely—these memories could not be restored unless one could manipulate time.
After 100 years of checks, 1,379,200 finally felt reassured.
Then it began searching for something—the technology of the Federation.
According to information available, the Federation possessed two super technologies: quantum communication technology and super-hedging transfer technology. Acquiring these two technologies would allow their civilization to progress further and break through existing limits.
To achieve breakthroughs, their civilization had prepared extensively for this moment.
It was precisely because of this breakthrough that they accepted the Federation's civilization.
1,379,200 acquired both super technologies without any obstacles and transmitted all this information back to their civilization's true core—Gais Star City.
From then on, the Olive Branch civilization—or rather Gais civilization—would reach another peak. Perhaps in the future they might even compete for dominance over the galaxy.
And Yan Xia along with all lives within Federation would witness that moment together.
Perhaps this too represented another form of progress.
However…
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