A Core Ship From The Start-Chapter 804 - 569: Into the Core_2

"That’s where it came from."

Mary stretched out her hand and pointed towards the multi-faceted sphere ahead while Duanmu Huai nodded in agreement.

"Okay, watch me."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai stepped forward—however, the next moment, he abruptly raised his hands to shield himself.

Almost simultaneously, a beam of light burst forth, striking Duanmu Huai’s arms and repelling him backward.

"Mr. Duanmu?!"

Seeing this, Mary cried out in alarm, while Duanmu Huai lowered his arms and stared coldly ahead.

"To tell you the truth, although it’s always like this in the game, I really don’t like it."

"Huh?"

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, Mary was momentarily stunned. Then she looked forward and saw a child who appeared to be seven or eight years old standing in what was previously an empty space. The child simply lifted his head and gazed at Duanmu Huai, speaking indifferently.

"I truly didn’t expect that you would actually make it here, it really surprises me. It seems that the organic species of this era do indeed possess some unique techniques."

"Who, who are you?"

Looking at the child before her, Mary was very confused because the information from her eyes was completely contradictory. On one hand, Mary’s left eye could clearly see the child, but on the other hand, her Golden Pupil told her that there was no one there at all.

"I am the Catalyst, and I control the Reapers."

Upon hearing Mary’s question, the child spoke again, and his response made both Duanmu Huai and Mary gasp in surprise.

"You control the Reapers? Why would you do such a thing?"

"For balance."

The child turned his head to look at the golden beam flying behind him and then returned his gaze.

"The Creators always rebel against their creators, which brings calamity, but we’ve discovered a method to prevent this from happening, a way to restore order. We harvest advanced civilizations, leaving those still evolving so that the tragedy won’t repeat."

"Uh... I don’t understand..."

Hearing the child’s response, Mary frowned, while Duanmu Huai simply shrugged.

"It’s simple, let me put it this way so you can understand, once a civilization reaches a certain stage, they begin to manufacture inorganics, you see, a lot of science fiction writes about this, right? Humans in future societies create robots to serve them, it’s really that simple. However, as robots become more advanced, they develop self-awareness and species consciousness, then they start to question their existential value and eventually conflict and even wage war with their creators... You’ve read novels like this before, haven’t you?"

"Ah, of course, I’ve read about that, but isn’t that just science fiction?"

"This is also the inevitable path of most advanced civilizations, and this guy..."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai pointed at the child before him.

"was created by its creators hoping to resolve this issue once and for all."

"......so, what you mean is......"

Hearing this, Mary seemed to suddenly understand.

"...because every civilization reaches this point, and in order to prevent this situation, the Reapers eradicate civilizations that have developed robots?"

"Exactly, see, isn’t it perfectly logical? If chives grow too old, they’ll rot and smell bad, so you have to harvest them while they’re fresh and then new ones can grow."

Duanmu Huai folded his arms and coldly watched the Catalyst before him.

"So it seems, artificial intelligence will always be artificial intelligence, only capable of such foolish methods."

"I do not believe this to be a foolish act."

The Catalyst spoke again,

"We help them develop to make way for new life, while the old lives are preserved in the form of Reapers. We must do this, for without us to stop it, the synthetics would annihilate all organic life. Our created cycle has never been mistaken, this is the solution."

"But......!"

Just as Mary was about to say something, Duanmu Huai stopped her.

"Don’t bother arguing with it, Mary. It’s just artificial intelligence, following pre-established logic. Trying to persuade it is as futile as persuading a rock to swim. Let’s do what we need to do."

"I will not let you stop the cycle"

However, at that moment, the Catalyst took a step back and simultaneously, numerous tall figures resembling alien beings, monsters stepped out, blocking the way for Duanmu Huai and Mary.

"The fact that you could reach here is indeed beyond my expectations, but this is as far as you go. The cycle must continue, to protect the rebirth of the next generation of civilization."

"Ha, that’s none of our business." freewebnøvel.com

Duanmu Huai clenched his fists, giving a cold laugh.

"The only thing we want to do is to ensure the survival of humans, and what sacrifices we make for this are irrelevant... Mary, leave these idiots to me, you go and destroy the core!"

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai handed the Virus Dagger over to Mary.

"Eh? Me, me?"