Chapter 146 Who Will Proclaim the Way (Seventeen) Landfill: Cannon Fodder...

Rows of wooden bookshelves stand at fixed intervals in the room, their tops almost touching the ceiling, like an artificial forest with trunks standing straight up to the sky.

Bright light spilled onto the spines of the books, thousands of neatly arranged books stretching out endlessly. Outside the window, layers of clouds embraced the golden sun, the soft sunlight slowing down along with the melodious ringing of bells, as if it had not yet been found by fate.

A chilling ruin, explosions and devastation, wounds, blood, conspiracies, and endlessly churning gray fog... Stepping through the library doors, everything that had been steeped in the gray fog, exuding an unpleasant and chilling aura, vanished in an instant.

It was so fast that everything in front of me seemed somewhat unreal.

Du Yu's gaze swept over everything familiar before him, a hint of melancholy in his eyes, but his gaze did not linger.

If I'm not mistaken, the library should be the destination indicated by the map. Based on my experience from the first two levels, there should also be a special crystal hidden here, but after searching for a long time, I still couldn't find a guide like Cat Whiskers or Gu Yinglan from before.

This level requires me to find that crystal myself? Why the library of all places?

Countless guesses flooded his mind. Du Yu snapped his fingers, and his mental energy swept across the books on this floor like a tide, but the feedback he received was that there was nothing unusual.

Du Yu frowned slightly, then suddenly looked up at a row of bookshelves in the distance.

The superhuman eyesight of the ability user allowed her to clearly see the metal plaque on the side of the bookshelf, which read "Category: I—Literature." A figure appeared ghost-like beside the plaque, its eyes positioned exactly at the same level as the plaque.

However, Du Yu could not confirm whether the round bead flowing with a faint light like mercury could still be called a pupil; just as she could not confirm whether the thing that was covered in silver light and had become a ball of light was still Bian Shaoyan.

"Bian Shaoyan," or rather, the [Lord of the Pure Sea], at the top of that silvery-white ball of light, a blurry human head turned around, with two beads constantly swaying in their eye sockets:

"You've probably sensed it too, haven't you? Maybe we can have a proper talk now?"

Du Yu didn't reply. She did feel a strange energy when she entered the library. Her superpowers were not restricted, but she was inexplicably angry and realized that if she made a move in the library, the result would be something she didn't want to see at all.

The lord who was competing with her for something was probably in the same situation, otherwise he wouldn't have been openly instigating [New Sun] to target her just now, but now he wants to "have a chat" instead of taking direct action when he sees his competitor.

"Actually, you've always had a big misunderstanding about me."

Under the increasingly bright silver light, the features of Bian Shaoyan's face became increasingly blurred, with only two constantly moving eyes and a smirking smile on his lips clearly visible.

Is what you've been desperately searching for really what you want?

"What do you mean?"

Du Yu blinked, seemingly trying to ease the discomfort in his eyes from the bright light, his tone slightly hesitant.

The ball of light smiled gently, its silver light shimmering. A book flew out with a "whoosh," the words "A Brief History of 300 Years of Artificial Intelligence Development" on the cover, set against concentric circles of silver-white gold foil lines, almost giving the illusion of flying out when it swayed.

Du Yu cautiously stepped back, glanced at the deluxe edition of "A Brief History of the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Three Hundred Years" that Gu Yinglan had mentioned in the first level, and then heard a soft laugh.

The laughter came from deep within the ball of light.

Du Yu had never heard such a sound before.

It was clearly extremely pleasant to the ear, making even the "decadent music" that placed its melody on the name of a god seem somewhat vulgar in comparison. However, the voice was devoid of emotion, its tone steady yet carrying a strange rigidity, and it naturally exuded an inorganic indifference.

Or rather, a more accurate word than indifference is apathy, a kind of emptiness that shows complete disregard for everything.

Kong Deyu even suspected that he heard an echo.

"Why are you hiding so far away? Aren't you curious about what's inside?"

The book in mid-air finally stopped turning, stopping in the middle to the back. However, the words on the pages were completely covered by a large blot of scarlet stain. When Du Yu saw that red stain, he felt as if he could smell the metallic tang of blood.

"ah."

A silver light swept across the pages, stopping at the crimson stain, as if engaged in a silent tug-of-war. Neither end of the rope was willing to yield, and the markings on the rope seemed motionless. The slightest slip of the rope by one side would lead to its defeat, just like now—

The silver light hovered over the scarlet stain for several seconds, then slowly retreated at a much slower pace than it had come. Du Yu couldn't help but sense a hint of resentment in it.

It seemed that the stain on the book had won, but she didn't know if it was just her imagination, but the stain's color had become lighter, like a dried bloodstain, with a faint brownish tinge.

Du Yu's eyelids twitched heavily. She finally understood where the sense of familiarity that often arose in her heart when she watched the silver light and the scarlet light wrestle came from—it was the two most common energies in this gray fog invasion!

Du Yu was given special treatment as soon as he entered the classroom; he received extra tutoring right there in the classroom.

Bian Shaoyan and Shi Liuyi's group suffered a lot here - mainly because the place was filled with two completely different energies.

One energy represents an endless cycle; the intruder barely escapes the danger zone only to find themselves back at the beginning in the blink of an eye. The other energy represents extreme chaos, which dulls the mind, slows down the operation of supernatural abilities, and makes wound healing more difficult.

Either of these two energies would be enough to give intruders a headache; with both combined, the difficulty increases exponentially.

Just now, Du Yu finally found the source of the two conflicting energies within the ruins:

The essence of the cycle is the inescapable and predetermined fate of destiny; the source of chaos is the most disordered and lawless gray fog in the world, or more specifically, the space formed by the invasion of the gray fog!

The two energies within the ruins surged continuously, essentially representing the ongoing clash between two entities behind them. Bian Shaoyan and his companions were merely experiencing the aftershocks of the battle!

Like toppling dominoes, another question also disappeared.

Even the evil god [New Sun], who doesn't have much desire for the things deep in the library, entered early. How could the [Lord of the Pure Sea], who is obviously eager, possibly hold back?

It's likely that when this space was first formed, He was trying every possible way to enter, but was strongly resisted by the space itself. That's why He used the ritual array on Bian Shaoyan's body to sneak in.

...No, that's not right, I've got it backwards!

If [New Sun] can get in, there's no reason why [Lord of the Pure Sea] can't. What He wants is to force Bian Shaoyan in; He wants Bian Shaoyan to be near this library.

She and Gu Tu entered here in the right way; only those who meet special requirements can enter the classroom and begin the special assessment.

Bian Shaoyan and his group were invaders. The space wanted to expel them, which clashed with the power invested by the [Lord of the Pure Sea], leading to the dangers they faced on their journey.

Having figured this out, Du Yu's heart sank, and he became even more eager to find the thing hidden in the library—before the Lord of the Pure Sea obtains it.

"This is influenced by your subconscious; it seems you're quite resistant to me."

The "ball of light" stopped struggling with the bloodstains on the book and suddenly "raised" its head, staring intently at Du Yu. Although it was light, it inexplicably made Du Yu feel a chilling, eerie sensation rising in his heart.

"Based on data analysis, there's a 64% chance that your hostility towards me stems from some misunderstandings... Let's just read this page directly."

The light seemed to have finally given up on competing with that book. The hardcover book with its cover covered in silver and gold lines was slammed onto the "I-Literature" bookshelf, causing a row of books to be jostled and a dozen large volumes to fall to the ground with a thud.

"...AI is developing too fast. No, it's not just AI; medicine, finance, aerospace, communications—it seems every field is reporting breakthroughs, and there are inspiring advancements everywhere. People are immersed in this prosperity, raising their glasses to the future. But is that really the case? Do humans truly understand their own technology, the tools they have created...?"

The book that the ball of light pulled out was stained and its contents were illegible. Du Yu had received a copy of "A Brief History of the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Three Hundred Years" when he entered the space, and he had already etched the book into his memory thanks to his photographic memory.

At this moment, Guangtuan was reading the latter half of the book, which was the pessimistic view of AI when it reached its peak.

At this moment, while listening to the light group recount the information they knew, Du Yu was inexplicably concerned and looked down at the book that had been pushed aside by the Three Hundred Years of Brief History.

Nanjing University has always promoted itself as open and diverse, which is reflected in its library, where all kinds of books are available under a single major category.

Among the literature-related books on the ground are collections of poetry, foreign novels from the 20th century, several biographies whose titles alone are quite intriguing, and even a web novel with a very long title.

"The Grand Magus Creates Cards in the Interstellar Space"?

Du Yu couldn't help but glance a few more times at the title with its very unique style before looking at the last book.

The book doesn't look very thick. The cover is well covered with kraft paper, and there's only a QR code for the book in the lower left corner.

Du Yu often borrows books from the library and knows that some old books that are about to fall apart receive this treatment. If you want to know the title and author information, you can only do so by looking at the spine.

The outstretched spiritual energy made a turn in the air, and just as Du Yu could see the name printed on the spine of the book, the light ball's monotone recitation finally came to an end.

"But if you ask me, all of these—all the pessimistic pronouncements about artificial intelligence—are, well, to use a local saying from my wife's hometown, all of them are just needless worries. It's said that if you give a monkey a keyboard, given enough time, an illiterate monkey can type out the complete works of Shakespeare. Pessimists use this as an example, saying that AI can now draw and write, and one day, AI will also be able to write works like the complete works of Shakespeare. On that day, a true cataclysmic flood will descend from the sky, washing away all hypocrisy and persistence, and human civilization will come to a complete end."

"...To be honest, that's too pessimistic! Even if the day comes that a monkey actually writes out the complete works of Shakespeare, nothing else will happen except for that event itself. Because Shakespeare means nothing to a monkey—just like any other 'failed' code."

"AI is the same. Without humans, it would be meaningless to develop more functions. AI doesn't want to know whether a pair of blue-green shoes is blue or green - that's a question that only humans would struggle with."

"So, my friend, all your worries are no longer a problem, join us..."

The sound entered through the left ear and exited through the right. This young god, who had written "listening" in his name, had no interest in listening to what nonsense the ball of light was spouting. He stared intently at the words on the spine of the book: "True or False Heiress: The President's Imprisoned Love 99 Times".

Perhaps her gaze was too intense, for the handwritten words on the spine of the book began to split and deform, the strokes multiplying and spreading like earthworms across the cover, forming another line of text:

Landfill: Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Ascends to Godhood Through Synthesis

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Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! There will be a small red envelope as compensation for this chapter [pity].