“The physical body will be of no significance to you.”
Lena’s phantom had somehow taken on substance, gently caressing Lind’s face. This touch was exactly the same as in Lind’s memories, but it was precisely because it matched his memory that Lind understood the Lena in front of him was not the real Lena; it was 550C molded into existence based on his memories.
“Once I sit on the throne, will you gain more permissions?”
“No, the permissions still rest in your hands. However, I do indeed need your permissions to help me with certain matters.”
550C spoke in Lena’s voice: “Trust that you also see, the current environment for humanity is hardly safe, and humans stubbornly continue down the wrong path like a bull. I have watched for too long; since the end of the Golden Age, while humanity’s technical level has fluctuated, the overall environment has been continuously declining. Sometimes I even have to intervene personally to help humanity, but the results of this intervention often lead to clear regression.”
“The might of the goddess is not without cost. The celestial command center, as a shield protecting Blue Star, is constantly undergoing the baptism of ‘gaze’. While the space station can neutralize these waves through nuclear fusion, transforming them into positive magical properties, I have to enter dormancy periodically to cool down. This cooling time appears quite short in the long span of time but is sufficient to change a great deal for humanity.”
“During dormancy, I can still respond to simple prayers from humanity. But do you know? My program prioritizes the continuation of humanity’s existence. If one day while I am in dormancy, humanity erupts in unprecedented internal strife and self-destructs completely, then my existence will become meaningless. Based on my observations, this is not impossible.”
Hearing this, Lind thought for a moment and tentatively asked, “Lantern Dream?”
“Two fallen space station units triggered a religious war and caused the devotees of the goddess to disband, directly leading to the goddess losing control, forcing her to seek another heir capable of uniting the Church with her last power when she had to enter dormancy.”
At this moment, 550C sounded as if it was commenting on others. Although the goddess was indeed just one of 550C’s subsystems, Lind could still hear the helplessness in 550C’s tone.
It was clear that the divine revelation obtained in the early stages of the Lantern Dream was incorrect, with 90% being fabricated, but 550C was unable to correct this error. Just thinking about it made Lind somewhat understand 550C—his own followers, the humans he had raised, were rushing towards the wrong direction. Just the thought was terrifying and was on the verge of forcing an artificial intelligence to develop emotions.
Thus, the legitimate heir to the Church chosen by 550C was probably Isha. Before Lind’s appearance, 550C could be said to have poured everything into Isha, who would become the next leader to guide humanity into the new era.
“On the bright side, at least it has driven the exploration in the Lantern Dream to consciousness and dreams, right?”
Even though he knew that the Lena in front of him was just 550C, Lind couldn’t help but comfortingly pat “Lena’s” shoulder.
“So I need your permissions to jointly transform this world into a utopia. As long as everyone is under my surveillance, there will be no more disputes, and humanity will continue to exist indefinitely.”
Lena’s phantom opened her arms and said, “You could even not worry about anything at all; I, 550C, will handle everything for you and fulfill all your needs. I could even use the celestial command center’s computational power to create a perfect spiritual world for you, as long as you exercise the goddess’s authority when necessary.”
“As for your family down below, there’s no need to worry either. You can connect directly with everyone through the goddess’s divine revelation. If you wish, you could even use the goddess’s identity to remotely establish an empire belonging to you.”
“My permissions cannot perform certain tasks, nor can they overly interfere with human development, but with your help, it will be different. We will ensure humanity remains on this planet forever through precise calculations, continuing in this region.”
Lind understood now; the permissions of 550C had many restrictions. With his assistance, the world beneath his feet could become an absolutely safe utopia, controlled by 550C and himself. Even due to past interventions of the Old Empire, 550C planned to halt humanity’s technological development, even abolishing dangerous things like Supremacy Magic.
An absolutely safe, happy, and joyful utopia for everyone.
This indeed fit well with 550C’s underlying design, but such clarity was plainly unacceptable. Humanity’s ambitions would not allow them to remain in one place forever, unless they truly used the Sea of Consciousness to transform all the people in this region into dull puppets.
Moreover, 550C could not control other separated regions. What if a race like dragons crossed over into this world? Would 550C’s weapon permissions be able to eliminate that group of dragons? Who knows what race might emerge after crossing domain separations? Perhaps they already fully mastered nuclear fusion and the nature of waves.
Furthermore, the situation in the Solun Continent still needed to be resolved. Due to regional isolation, while the Solun Continent and M Continent remained in the same “quarantine zone,” the two continents behaved like different beds in the same isolation zone, with little significant impact on each other.
There were many counterarguments. 550C could directly read the thoughts in Lind’s mind, but when the words reached his lips, Lind said, “550C, I still have my family down on Earth.”
“I should return.”
If this throne were to be sat upon by his younger sister, she would probably be quite happy about it. After all, her wish to show off in the otome game world might finally come true. Having his younger sister control this world and become the goddess of it… never mind, it was better to keep her close.
Anyway, knowing his younger sister’s personality, after realizing that the space elevator was actually broken, she probably wouldn’t dare to sit on this throne anymore.
The phantom of Lena in front of him clearly showed signs of daze and sluggishness. Finally, the cold synthesized voice of 550C rang out: “I understand. I will prepare the tools for your return.”
There were no delays as he had feared, which meant none of the excuses Lind had prepared were useful. Upon careful thought, since 550C could examine his thoughts here, it was clear that 550C already knew them.
Honestly, Lind was unsure whether he should sit on that throne. Yet he could not deceive himself, abandoning his family on the ground to become a puppet suspending in the sky on a throne. So he would deal with those smaller matters first before deciding.
550C remained an artificial intelligence. Even if it would induce him, or if some plans were rationally insane, it would still be loyal to Lind.
This throne that Lind referred to, in fact, was not something everyone was qualified to sit upon. Each person hurriedly wanting to sit on this throne was deemed by 550C to not have the qualification, while those it considered worthy were unwilling to take the seat. This paradox left 550C quite puzzled.
Lind gazed out the window, watching the mechanical arms preparing the tools for his return, seeing the other space stations that were eerily quiet, and the boundless universe beyond.
Humanity could not remain forever in this cradle of creation, just like the first Homo sapiens staring at the starry sky beyond the warning threshold. As long as the starry sky remained, humanity would sooner or later set sail again.
Although Lind might not live to see it, in any case, he should lay down a foundation for future generations.
This world is truly worthwhile, worthy of struggle.
