Shang Jianyao didn't care that the person in front of him was "Zhuang Sheng" Du Heng, and clapped his hands together with a snap:
"So that's what the permissions refer to!
"That guy Wu Meng just wouldn't speak human language!"
Du Heng didn't mind Shang Jianyao interrupting casually and laughed with a hint of self-deprecation:
"At that time, we were all dizzy with joy, believing that we had really passed through the ladder and entered the forbidden zone of the gods, and would be immortal from then on."
"I now believe Wu Meng is your student," Shang Jianyao said sincerely.
They had the same tone, the only difference being that Wu Meng often knew what was happening but not why, and tried to "integrate" the Dao into life.
Du Heng chuckled:
"We spent a lot of time considering our titles and unanimously agreed that we couldn't directly use the term 'god,' it was too vulgar.
"As you know, I really like games and found inspiration in them, deciding to use 'Grand Duke' as a title for our batch of gods, and then choosing the corresponding month to manage. Conveniently, there were thirteen of us in total, matching the concept of twelve months plus a leap month. Later, I never gave 'Truth' permissions, because after he joined, the number was exceeded, making it impossible to strictly correspond, which would lose the mathematical and set beauty..."
"Not because 'Endling' was occupying the position?" Shang Jianyao asked in surprise.
"No," Du Heng shook his head.
Shang Jianyao sighed for a moment:
"If I were 'Truth' and knew the real reason was this, I would definitely die with my eyes wide open."
"But in a sense, it was indeed 'Endling' who occupied that position," Du Heng thought for a moment.
As long as "Truth" became a Grand Duke by replacing "Endling," there would be no problem of being unable to strictly correspond and losing the mathematical and set beauty.
"That's true," Shang Jianyao was convinced and praised sincerely, "Worthy of being a senior game player, you value the beauty of the setting so much."
As for the mathematical beauty, he couldn't appreciate it.
Du Heng didn't continue this topic and said with a lot of emotion under the rapidly flashing lights:
"I also really like Taoist culture, so I gave myself the title 'Zhuang Sheng.' They also changed their names to 'Bodhi,' 'Double Sun,' 'Life Controller' in accordance with their own ideas..."
"If I could become a Grand Duke, what should I be called? The title 'Wei' is too unserious... How about 'Destiny'?" Shang Jianyao fell into a difficult mood.
Du Heng didn't answer his question, and a few traces of vicissitudes appeared in his eyes:
"People are all selfish. After the initial adaptation phase, we planned to monopolize the 'Forbidden Zone of the Gods' and not let anyone else become a Grand Duke.
"To this end, we used the special nature of the 'New World' and jointly established the 'Hall of Stars,' manifesting everyone's 'Mind World' and 'Ocean of Consciousness' as the 'Sea of Origin,' and connecting those 'Seas of Origin' together by creating the 'Corridor of Minds.'"
"What's the deal with the gate to the 'New World'?" Shang Jianyao was quite curious about this.
Du Heng "heh"ed:
"Of course, the gate to the 'New World' was also opened by us. This is both a trap and an opportunity.
"We can control that gate to appear in any room of the 'Corridor of Minds' and give a hint, making people feel familiar and courageous to continue exploring.
"Any one of us, as long as we want, can let an Awakened who has just entered the 'Corridor of Minds' see that gate directly, but when pushing it, we need to consume extra energy to give some help. Otherwise, the strength of the Awakened at that level of the 'Corridor of Minds' is not enough. They must explore deeper, improve themselves, and then rely on their own strength to easily open the door.
"And coming to the 'New World' is equivalent to fully accepting our management, unable to stir up any waves, let alone become a Grand Duke."
Shang Jianyao expressed his incomprehension:
"Why do you say it's still an opportunity?"
This is a blatant trap!
"Without the gate provided by us, humans can only reach half the level of the 'New World' at present," Du Heng explained simply, "Do you think brainwaves can have such a strong electromagnetic manipulation effect with such amplification and improvement, and even interfere with matter? Only by being in the 'Corridor of Minds' and the 'New World' can you use the special nature here to do what currently seems ordinary."
Shang Jianyao's focus shifted again, and he rubbed his chin, saying:
"That is to say, even without the 'Hall of Stars,' without the 'Corridor of Minds,' without that gate, normal Awakened can still step by step reach the 'New World' level, but the sensing range and ability strength will be much weaker?"
"Yes," Du Heng nodded.
Shang Jianyao followed up and asked:
"If such an Awakened can enter the second research area you mentioned, find a way to bypass the restrictions, control that machine, and steal the permissions, can they also become a Grand Duke?"
Du Heng first nodded lightly:
"There is also a prerequisite, which is to enter the experimental cabin and accept the final stimulation to develop the brain to a certain extent."
He then continued:
"Otherwise, why do you think I want to control the remaining people in the Eighth Research Institute, let them guard here, and stifle all efforts to figure out the cause of the Old World's destruction?"
"Another reason is to maintain the electrical energy required for that machine," Shang Jianyao helped to add.
Suddenly, his expression changed:
"Brainwaves! You just said brainwaves!
"Does that mean that the brain control device that the 'Salvation Army' people talked about is true in a sense?"
"That's just their own delusion," Du Heng first denied it, and then said, "For the Awakened who rely on themselves rather than the platform we built to become the 'Corridor of Minds' or even the 'New World,' complete electromagnetic shielding can indeed prevent them from exerting influence, but as long as they can use the special nature here, the effect of that protection will not be too good."
"Oh, oh," Shang Jianyao then remembered that he had led the topic astray for quite a while, and the flashing of the lights around him reached a point of urgency, "You can continue to talk about the main topic."
Du Heng looked at the door and sighed slightly:
"In the beginning, everything was very beautiful until we discovered that we would be hungry and needed to feed on human consciousness."
"Isn't it just enough to rely on biochips for power supply?" Shang Jianyao was full of resistance.
Du Heng shook his head:
"Our form of existence is very special, just relying on it, not rooted in biochips. When using our abilities, we can indeed draw electrical energy through it to increase power, but the consciousness itself will still decay.
"This cannot be avoided by those Mechanical Monks either, but their consciousness has been transplanted into biochips, and the rate of decay is very slow, allowing them to survive for hundreds or even thousands of years.
"Alas, after being hungry and unbearable, and weakened, we betrayed our conscience and morality and started eating people, and we also discovered that even if we don't need to feed on human consciousness, we still have to do it in the end.
"The formation of this 'New World' is related to the extraction of a large amount of human consciousness during the destruction of the 'Old World.' It itself is also decaying little by little and must have fresh blood coming in from time to time to maintain stability, otherwise it will completely collapse or disappear in a few decades."
Du Heng was silent for a few seconds and sighed deeply:
"From that day on, we were completely different from before. Some people really and truly no longer regarded themselves as human beings.
"During that time, I didn't do anything to restrain all the Grand Dukes, letting everyone do their own thing. As a result, multiple sects were born in the graylands, and human disputes could never be quelled, and there was chaos everywhere.
"Looking at the situation at the time, even if more than 90 percent of the people died when the Old World was destroyed, even if a large number of 'Heartless' were active in the graylands afterward, after seven or eight winters, humans could still slowly rebuild civilization. After all, a lot of scientific and technological data and industrial machines were preserved quite well, but the addition of us Grand Dukes caused the graylands to continue to slide into the abyss."
"Yes, it's because there was no hope in the chaotic era that the 'Salvation Army' appeared," Shang Jianyao sighed along.
Du Heng nodded:
"When the number of humans decreased drastically again and civilization was partially cut off and precarious, I joined forces with several Grand Dukes who were worried about this and had several frank talks with the remaining ones, fighting twice.
"Considering the importance of humans to us and to the stability of the 'New World,' we finally reached a consensus, that is, the Grand Dukes should try not to interfere in the affairs of the graylands, reduce the frequency of 'Heartless Disease' outbreaks, and allow humans to recuperate.
"At the same time, I, who had won, also placed restrictions on the other Grand Dukes, making it impossible for them to leave the 'High Tower' normally, and making every move of theirs in the 'New World' impossible to hide from me. This is equivalent to their operation logs being transparent to me. Therefore, their private connections were either through people and things in the graylands or through 'Truth.'"
"Why wasn't 'Truth' restricted?" Shang Jianyao asked in confusion.
Du Heng said:
"He himself was also a researcher. He had just entered the Eighth Research Institute, and was transferred to the second research area, when he lost his body due to that disaster and entered the 'New World.'"
"He woke up late. At that time, we had already completed the allocation, and no one was willing to have another person to share the authority.
"Later, when we had conflicts, he kept hiding and didn't show up, so he wasn't locked in the High Tower. Plus, he wasn't a Grand Duke and didn't have operation logs, and I had a personality split, often fighting with myself, so it was impossible to monitor the affairs of those Awakened in the 'New World' in every detail. So, he became the most special one.
"At critical moments, he can also obtain certain permissions through the Grand Duke behind him."
Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to ask again, Du Heng pulled the topic back to the right track:
"After that conflict, the graylands ended the chaotic era and began to count the years with the New Calendar.
"The restrained and restricted Grand Dukes lost a part of their freedom and would definitely not be reconciled. And as time passed, we discovered another problem.
"That is, machines also have lifespans, and machines also age.
"Once that machine is finished, the 'New World,' which has lost contact with the graylands and the corresponding support, will either collapse or float completely in the 'Darkness' until it dissipates.
"Many parts can be replaced, but the core components cannot be operated under power. As long as the power is cut off, we might directly disappear into smoke.
"'Life Controller' and the others hoped to prepare in advance and build another machine by relying on the remaining people in the Eighth and Sixth Research Institutes, and then try to transfer it. But this is likely to require a large amount of human consciousness as a catalyst or stabilizer.
"At that time, I had already made a decision and did not agree to them. They began private connections and resistance, so turmoil occurred again and again."
"What decision?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.
Du Heng looked at him and revealed a smile:
"I plan to destroy that machine, end all of this, and completely end this disaster that has lasted for decades."
"Ah?" Shang Jianyao was shocked.
Seeing this, Du Heng smiled teasingly:
"Otherwise, who do you think sent you the nuclear warhead for your team?"