Chapter 579 - 355: Giving the Soul Ascenders an Eye-Opener (Part 2)

Chapter 579: Chapter 355: Giving the Soul Ascenders an Eye-Opener (Part 2)

Zog hadn’t expected this. He never imagined that beyond letting people dream, this space also functioned as a simulation platform. It was actually quite practical.

After living a wonderful life in this space, all Soul Ascenders would join a sacred collective.

In other words, they would be absorbed into that artificial consciousness.

Once their consciousness shed its decaying, fleshy vessel, it would continue to contribute to the cause of Soul Ascension as one of the pioneers.

It even sounded somewhat romantic.

But that raised a question.

’What is the price for becoming a Soul Ascender?’

This space was built upon countless Humans, Tieflings, and other living beings who were used as brain-servers.

The Soul Ascenders referred to these beings as "Basic Sources," a term that completely erased the fact they were once living people and reduced them to mere resources.

So, Zog put on an innocent expression and asked, "What kind of people become Basic Sources, and what kind of people get to join the great cause of Soul Ascension?"

The young Soron replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Of course, talented people join Soul Ascension, and the untalented become Basic Sources. But the Basic Sources aren’t useless; they are also part of the great Soul Ascension. We shouldn’t discriminate against them. In fact, we should be grateful for their contribution."

It was as if he was lecturing Zog, the "newbie."

And Zog, playing his part, cooperatively replied that he would be sure to thank the Basic Sources for their contributions.

Inside, he was speechless.

’What kind of ultimate social Darwinism is this? The untalented deserve to be used as raw materials?’

’And how is ’talent’ defined? Who gets to decide who has it?’

’The most absurd part is "thanking them for their contribution."’

’Did they volunteer for this? They’ve got people floating in vats, and they’re talking about being grateful?’

’Oh, I get it. The world is just one big Thanksgiving!’

At the same time, Zog also learned about many of the minor features of the Consciousness Space.

For example, how to view personal profiles.

However, you could only view someone’s profile with their consent. They were surprisingly privacy-conscious.

But when Zog tested it, he discovered he could view the information without needing consent.

’I really am an admin!’ he thought.

’The rules of the Soul Ascenders don’t apply to a Dragon using Divine Arts!’

That meant there was much more he could do here.

Having covered the basics, Zog moved on to the question that had been nagging him.

"What is this ’major update’ to the Holy Sanctuary you mentioned?"

"Ah, that. We lost a lot of Basic Sources because of the Church’s recent attack, which has caused connection difficulties for many of our comrades. To solve this, the Great Sage has decided to expand the Holy Sanctuary. It will be the largest expansion in history."

As he spoke, Sutton I’s expression filled with fanatical longing.

A longing for both the expansion and for the Great Sage.

The Great Sage.

’He must be the leader of the Soul Ascenders. Quite an intimidating title he’s given himself.’

"Does the expansion require a lot of Basic Sources?" Zog asked.

"Of course. They are all necessary sacrifices." The same pretentious, sanctimonious tone.

’So-called Basic Sources are just the living dead,’ Zog thought. ’Where would they find a large supply of them?’

’They can’t just go around openly kidnapping people en masse. The Church would come down on them hard.’

’So, the Soul Ascenders need a war.’

Zog quickly deduced the answer. War was the perfect opportunity to create large numbers of "missing" people.

In other words, the Soul Ascenders were connected to Loman’s leadership.

They were itching to start a war, not just to restore Loman’s ancestral glory, but also to create a huge supply of human servers.

Or worse, the Emperor of Loman was himself a Soul Ascender—and one of the most fanatical ones at that. The war’s primary goal might just be to create more human servers.

"And after this expansion," Sutton I’s expression turned somewhat crazed, "the great cause of Soul Ascension might finally see the dawn of hope!"

’The dawn of hope?’

’No need to even ask. Acting this excited, it must mean their plan to create an artificial god is about to succeed.’

The moment the topic came up, they finally started to look like the fanatical Cultists they were.

Zog tried to ask about more details indirectly, but he couldn’t tell if they were being cautious or were simply too low-ranking to know more. In any case, they didn’t reveal anything useful about the deeper secrets.

So Zog decided to drop the subject and ask about something more immediate.

Namely, why were more and more people gathering in the plaza?

In this one plaza, Zog felt like he’d already seen every famous figure in Feilin’s history. The number of look-alikes for any given character was directly proportional to their fame.

He even spotted several "Zogs."

’Who knew the Soul Ascenders were all a bunch of cosplayers?’

"Why is everyone gathering here?" Zog asked, feigning curiosity.

The younger version of Soron smiled. "To watch the presentation of new achievements, of course."

The Pope chimed in, "Every month, people gather here to share the new results of experiments conducted in the Holy Sanctuary. It’s for knowledge sharing. Anyone without an urgent task comes to watch."

"Oh, I see."

’Speaking of which, the Soul Ascenders and the Church are mortal enemies, yet someone is role-playing as the Pope? Is that their idea of rebellion?’

As the surrounding seats filled up, the knowledge-sharing session officially began.

Zog declined their offer to get him a seat and simply sat on the ground.

He was used to sitting on the ground, anyway.

Besides, he was worried that if he did try to reserve a seat, some strange "bug" might occur.

No matter how slow on the uptake these guys were, something like that would surely make them realize he wasn’t normal.

The conference wasn’t for a single presentation but for any achievements made over the past month. Anyone who wanted to share could simply go to the center of the plaza and present. All they had to do was get in line; no appointment was necessary.

The first person to take the stage presented a red, slightly elastic-looking block.

To Zog, it looked a bit like an oversized eraser.

"I’ve developed a substitute for conventional food! With this, you only need to eat one block to satisfy your nutritional needs for an entire day."

The presenter looked very proud.

’One block a day sounds pretty useful,’ Zog thought. ’I wonder what it tastes like, though.’

He continued his introduction. "I discovered that insects contain a very high amount of energy. Therefore, I used cockroaches, mealworms, and maggots as the raw ingredients to create this energy bar!"

’Okay, never mind. I don’t want to know what it tastes like anymore.’

Zog hated bugs.

"It has the advantages of being made from easily sourced materials, being easy to store, having a long shelf life, and tasting absolutely terrible!"

’Wait, why is tasting terrible an advantage?’

As if hearing Zog’s question, the presenter immediately provided the answer. "Because it tastes so awful, no one will linger over their meals. Eating can be compressed into a three-minute ordeal. That way, all the time saved can be invested into the great cause of Soul Ascension!"

The crowd burst into thunderous applause.

Zog didn’t get it. ’What’s there to applaud? Are these Soul Ascenders out of their minds?’

’If I spent all day working for some ’great cause’ only to come home and eat that thing,’ Zog thought, ’then no matter how great the cause is, it can go to hell.’

The next presenter brought something far more practical: a large model that looked like a flying saucer on wheels. It had a ring of openings around its circumference, with numerous gun barrels protruding from them.

"I have designed a powerful weapon of war, which I call the Armored Tank!"

He then began to list the Armored Tank’s advantages: it protected its driver, possessed ample firepower, and could mow down cavalry charges.

Zog got it now. They had invented a tank.

’Wait a minute,’ Zog thought. ’If the Soul Ascenders developed a tank, doesn’t that mean Loman now has access to it? And if they can mass-produce them, doesn’t that mean we might see these things on the battlefields of the Northern Domain?’

’No good. I’ll have to develop some kind of can opener for these tanks.’

’Nip the problem in the bud.’

But the shock Zog received from the next person on stage was far greater than the one from the tank.

He was holding a sword, its design vaguely familiar.

"I have recreated a weapon that appeared in the decrypted memory fragments of Zog: the Dragon Ascending Sword!"

He even said the name with the original Chinese pronunciation.