Chapter 772: The Magic Box Was Opened
The smile on the girl’s face grew more and more mysterious.
She extended two branches from the slowly squirming Green Tide, and like two arms pulling countless strings, it danced devilishly.
Amid the semi-transparent light, there was a jungle made of metal and cement on the left. In Peach Blossom Town, there were ferocious humans baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.
On the right was a primitive jungle. Under the Tree of Wisdom’s protection and connection, there were also ferocious-looking monsters baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.
Two kinds of ferocious-looking carbon-based creatures were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws. Their brains were connected together by long and thin red lines.
Streaks of red light were continuously transmitted from the left to the right.
From the human brain, they were transmitted to the monster’s brain, as well as every cl.u.s.ter of nerves that controlled their claws and fangs.
“I was born with a marvelous ability, which is that I can connect different kinds of carbon-based life forms, whether they are human beings, monsters, animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi, so that they can share their senses, memories, and even their thoughts.”
The Tree of Wisdom smiled and said, “After years of observation and learning, I’ve acc.u.mulated a lot of human memories and emotions, especially since I’ve fished many humans out of the Red Dragon River and the Raging Tiger River.
“Did you know that the battle with the highest death rate in Peach Blossom Town was fought against the Red Dragon River and the Raging Tiger River. I had to block the flooding and furious mudslides with my flesh and blood.
“Countless people were swept away by the turbid waves in the continuous battles. Most of them were buried in fish bellies, and they disappeared without a trace. A few lucky ones were saved by me.
“Also, since Raging Tiger River and Red Dragon River are so powerful, the humans in Peach Blossom Town liked to throw bodies into the turbid and rapid rivers after killing their own kind. I can guarantee that they were washed clean and there was no evidence left.
“Whether it was the original experts, the selfish fierce rats, the army ants who murdered the selfless and sacrificial spirit, or the townspeople who rose up and burned the fierce rats to death, or the fierce rats who disguised themselves as army ants, the leader who ruled Peach Blossom Town with lies and killed the people who had evidence of his crimes, or even the ordinary townspeople who killed each other due to resources, hatred, pleasure, and jealousy…
“Their disfigured bodies all fell into my hands along the Raging Tiger River and the Red Dragon River.
“Of course, most of the people were already dead when they fell into the Raging Tiger River and the Red Dragon River. By the time I salvaged them, their internal organs were either already eaten clean, or they had expanded into colorful ‘giants.’ There was no value in rescuing them at all.
“However, I didn’t need them to be alive in the first place. I only needed their brains to remain intact. I didn’t even need them to be too complete. As long as part of their brain tissue was still fresh, I would be able to read some interesting things from the brain cells that had yet to be completely annihilated.
“Most of them were their hard-earned memories and near-death memories, as well as the deepest emotions and strongest desires in their lives. They were like oil paintings that were exceptionally intense in color and burning fiercely. They could be deeply imprinted into the brains and nerves of other carbon-based life forms.
“Therefore, I connected the incomplete heads of the dead with the fiercest monsters under my command and injected a large number of images and emotions into the depths of the brains of the monsters.
“I injected the images of these humans killing other people, as well as being killed by other people.
“I injected the images of these humans pushing their own kind, who were weaker than them, to the ground and taking what they wanted from the weak.
“I’ve injected the image of humans using all sorts of schemes and methods to steal and plunder, concentrating all their resources on the same person.
“I’ve injected the image of humans using the cruelest punishment to deal with their own kind, and taking pleasure from it.
“I’ve injected the image of humans using a large amount of resources—the resources that they would never use up in their entire lives—to hide in secret, the kind of satisfaction that even their tailbone would tremble.
“I injected a human ambition to step on his own kind, step by step, into the clouds.
“I injected a countless number of people who simultaneously threw torches at the rubber tires, burning their enemies to death. That kind of unrestrained satisfaction of getting revenge.
“I injected the most ferocious, weird laughter, the most painful screams, the most perfect lies, the ugliest betrayal, the most evil curse.
“I poured in rage, panic, greed, jealousy…
“In short, I poured the broken souls of Peach Blossom Town’s dead into the brains of the monsters.”
In the translucent flames, the humans and the monsters began to overlap, gradually becoming indistinguishable from each other. They merged perfectly, like a pair of deformed conjoined twins.
Meng Chao broke out in cold sweat.
He wanted to concentrate and condense a spirit blade to break the Tree of Wisdom’s enchantment.
However, it was as if he had stepped into a nightmare-like swamp. His surroundings were damp, soft, and ambiguous. He could not find a place to exert his strength.
“Something incredible has happened!”
The girl on the wisdom tree widened her eyes and said, “After imprinting the memory fragments and strong emotions of humans, the intelligence of the monsters has indeed increased exponentially.
“They are no longer bound by their genetic instincts. They only know how to roar, chase, and bite.
“Instead, they have learned all kinds of cunning techniques, learned how to release bait and create traps. They have also learned how to break the bones of their prey, listen to their screams, and enjoy the pleasure of torture after subduing them. It is said that this is a pleasure that only civilized people know.
“The organization of the monsters and the size of the population continued to increase.
“The simplest example was that in the past, there were at most one to two hundred ferocious rats. No matter how many there were, the rat king would not be able to satisfy the survival and reproduction needs of every ferocious rat, and the other ferocious rats would not obey the rat king.
“But now, from human experience, the ferocious rat king has learned how to lie, how to draw a big cake, how to make empty promises, how to divide different factions in the rat group, how to guide the factions to attack each other, and how to solidify such attacks into hatred. As the giver of hope and the arbiter of hatred, it can control five hundred, one thousand, or even more ferocious rats.
“Naturally, its ability is far from being able to control a thousand ferocious rats. Many of the ferocious rats have starved to death.
“However, they will not question or blame the rat king until they die. Instead, they will pour their hatred onto the opposing factions of the race, or even the ‘evil humans.’
“That’s right. The ‘evil humans.’ The monsters seem to have mastered the ability to ‘create an illusory enemy and use this enemy to stabilize their rule.’
“With such an ability, the primitive, naive, and simple jungle ecosystem quickly became unprecedentedly complicated and ‘advanced.’ How should I put it? Although it was still natural selection, the survival of the fittest, and even more cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y than in the past, all the deception, betrayal, killing, enslavement, and torture were now endowed with a sacred meaning—it’s all for our civilization!
“Just like that, my civilization was born.
“Although it was still so weak and immature, a poor imitation of Peach Blossom Town, I was already very satisfied and full of hope for the future.
“There was only one small problem.
“Since what ‘enlightened’ the monsters was the memories and emotions that originated from human beings, the most intense of them were the memories of being killed by others and the emotions of wanting to kill others.
“The fear, anger, and hatred were imprinted deep in the minds of the monsters, making them harbor a deep-rooted hatred for human beings.
“Besides, the citizens of Peach Blossom Town continued to explore, cut down the jungle, and build their industrial system. Indeed, there was a sharp conflict in my world, which was gradually expanding.
“After the monsters awakened their wisdom, their killing intent toward human beings increased greatly.
“Perhaps, even the undead that have been killed and thrown into the torrential river, whose internal organs have been gnawed away, and have been soaking in the view of giants, are all eager to take revenge and kill all the humans?
“Of course, this is not a ‘problem.’
“What better way to test a student’s academic performance than to directly challenge the teacher?
“I didn’t stop the restless monsters under my command.
“Instead, through the neural network, I indoctrinated them with ‘for the glory of the monster civilization.’ I didn’t understand half of it myself, but I just followed the same nonsense from the humans.
“The war between humans and monsters has officially broken out.
“That’s right. In the past, the battles between humans and monsters were just restricted to ‘hunting.’ This time, it’s real war.
“The humans in Peach Blossom Town soon discovered that the monsters they faced were completely different from the past.
“The monsters of the past had strong skins, but their brains were empty. They only knew how to lower their heads and charge forward or flee like rats. It was easy for them to deal with them with traps, organization, and firearms.
“However, the monsters of the past have become unpredictable, forbidden, and treacherous armies that know how to take advantage of the pride, stupidity, and fear of humans.
“This is a war that is almost impossible for human beings to win.
“It is not because my civilization is more complicated and advanced than yours.
“It is because I control far more resources and soldiers than Peach Blossom Town.
“After all, human beings are not very fertile creatures. The turbulence in the early stage of the journey cost more than half of Peach Blossom Town’s population. No matter how much machinery, explosives, and crystals are used, they cannot make up for the fatal shortage of population.
“My range of perception is expanding, but I can rely on the entire Hidden Mist Domain to replenish my army and resources.
“A batch of monsters on the frontline will be killed or wounded. There will be ten times more monsters at the rear, which will be incorporated into my neural network.
“With that said, I don’t want to end the war so soon.
“I’ve forgotten which dead person’s head I read that ‘war is the best way to promote the integration and development of civilizations.’
“I’m eager to unravel more secrets about civilizations in war.
“I also want to see what kind of interesting interactions will take place between the leaders and individuals in Peach Blossom Town, which is facing the disaster of destruction.
“From my experience, when a life or a race is faced with destruction, it reveals its true nature.”