Chapter 147 The Man Who Follows His Followers
Legend has it that Wang Shubi Gan had a heart with seven orifices.
King Zhou was tyrannical and cruel, and Bigan was forced to have his heart cut out, but he did not die immediately. However, just as Bigan was riding away, he suddenly heard an old woman loudly hawking heartless vegetables.
Bigan seemed to sense something, so he reined in his horse and asked: "Can vegetables live without a heart, and can people live without a heart?"
The answer is no. A person without a heart is dead!
Upon hearing this, Bigan cried out in horror, fell off his horse, and his blood splattered onto the ground.
He died there, never to return.
This is a story from the Investiture of the Gods.
Different readers will naturally have different opinions.
Some believe that life and death are predestined and cannot be forced, some lament that Bi Gan's fate was full of twists and turns and he was not in control of his own destiny, and most people just regard it as an ordinary legend.
However, a group of people were inspired by this story.
It is said that vegetables can live without a heart, but people will die without a heart.
But which of the legendary gods and monsters died after having only one heart ripped out?
Demons have demon cores, and as for gods, immortals, and ghosts, they have long since transcended their physical bodies, so where would they get hearts?
Therefore, they concluded that the first step in creating a god must be to find a heartless person.
Of course, some people might ask, "Why people?"
Because almost all experiments conducted on humans use animal experiments as a preliminary reference for the research.
But this time, from the very beginning, the target was chosen to be humans.
From both an ethical and human perspective, this is undoubtedly a huge challenge.
The person in charge made it clear: "The face of a man-made god must be derived from man."
According to the person in charge, only in this way can a man-made god possess the greatness of a god while also maintaining closeness to humanity.
"Because humans are its compatriots, its brothers and sisters and its parents, humans made God, and God naturally gives back to humans."
The same member asked again, "Why a god, and not an immortal?"
The person in charge also gave a clear answer on this point.
"What is an immortal? To a large extent, an immortal is a false god with human nature. Since it retains human nature, it will inevitably have its own selfish desires and greed. Human nature is too unpredictable. Therefore, it would be dangerous and uncontrollable to endow it with great power in this way."
The person in charge further elaborated on his views. All along, the so-called "Investiture of the Gods" was actually bestowing titles upon immortals.
Therefore, in so many myths and legends, all the deities who failed were those who could not withstand the test of humanity.
Greed, anger, or ignorance...
"Putting one's own selfish desires above one's divine duty is nothing short of blasphemy."
As he spoke, the person in charge's heartache and indignation were palpable. As he spoke, he excitedly raised his hand above his head, his infectious gaze sweeping over every colleague present, young or mature.
He said earnestly, "But God is different."
Artificial gods do not need to have personal preferences or biases; they belong to all humanity and are selfless, great beings.
It is naturally different from those miracles that only exist in legends and only briefly interact with humans in a few occasional moments.
But then again, since we are born as human beings and are able to live, we must be people with a heart.
Whether it's a kind heart, a good heart, or a black heart, a wicked heart, a person's heart will beat as long as they are alive; if the heart doesn't beat, the person will die.
There are virtually no people who are born without a heart.
Therefore, their first task was to create a person like Bigan, who could survive without a heart.
But merely surviving is not enough; what is needed is to survive until the day one is nurtured into a god.
"That Bi Gan was still too fragile."
The person in charge continued, "The saying 'A person without a heart dies' was the death sentence for him. If he had been able to abandon his identity as a human being immediately, he wouldn't have died from that ridiculous prophecy. This is the harm caused by the cowardice of human nature. Of course, this is just a somewhat unscientific joke, but it can still offer some insights."
At this point, the person in charge gave a perfectly timed smile before resuming a serious expression.
"Getting back to the main point, our experimental subjects must first possess the characteristic of low sensitivity to the words and actions of others, including emotional transmission, and..."
The image of the person in charge speaking eloquently on the stage is still vivid in my mind.
The bright lights overhead reflected a dazzling light in the young man's eyes. It had been almost a century since then.
Too many changes have occurred in the past century.
The person in charge died, and I, who was once an inconspicuous young man in the corner, have now become an old man in my eighties. Of course, this is just a metaphor.
After all, in terms of actual age, he has long since crossed the threshold of 100 years old.
Technology has developed rapidly over the past century, and human lifespan has been greatly extended.
Nevertheless, they seem to be getting further and further away from their original dream.
It is said that ignorance is bliss.
The more Chang Li delved into the research, the more powerless he felt.
Perhaps it's really because of his age, but he's becoming more and more emotional these days, and sometimes he even starts to doubt himself, wondering if he should continue like this.
"Chief? Are you alright?" A deep, melodious voice came from behind.
Chang Li realized he had been daydreaming again; what a useless old man he was.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something from the past."
Chang Li smiled kindly at the boy in front of him, recalling that he was about the same age when he met his brother.
"Regarding the recent abnormal behavior of test subject E025."
At this point, Shen Yun paused, seemingly waiting for instructions from her superior.
Chang Li recalled the reports he had previously submitted.
Is it unusual?
The so-called abnormalities of the experimental subjects, viewed from another perspective, are precisely the normal behaviors that bring them closer to human characteristics.
Chang Li recalled the last time he saw that child.
Back then, I had a stern face, like a feudal old man, and said a lot of cruel things.
In the end, he turned and left, simply because he couldn't suppress the guilt in his heart.
Even now, he still softened.
Facing that increasingly familiar face, Chang Li ultimately couldn't be as resolute as his former brother.
However, even if it is to fulfill the unfulfilled wish of her brother, she must continue.
So at least in his final moments, he can close his eyes peacefully and, on the day of their reunion, offer a satisfactory answer.
With that in mind, Chang Li put the report aside.
Once again, I looked directly into Shen Yun's eyes, which were dark and resolute, with a deep and calm gaze.
That look in his eyes reminded Chang Li of his older brother when he was young.
—Although Changli had never seen what her brother looked like when he grew old.
Back then, as the initiator of the plan, my brother took the lead and personally participated in the experiment.
How much determination and courage does that require?
You can't truly understand the common etiquette.
However, he thought that for his brother, that matter itself was almost a religion.
However, unlike most people, instead of existing religions or sects, the older brother chose to create his own god.
Changli was merely someone who followed behind his followers.
However, compared to others, he followed them the longest and was the most loyal.
So naturally, he became the person closest to the core, besides his older brother.
Therefore, after the former's death, Changli naturally became the successor.
Unfortunately, he lacked both the ability to fulfill his brother's wish and the courage to abandon the research that had been ongoing for nearly a century.
Because in fact, although this research itself has not yet achieved a breakthrough, many other projects that followed it at the same time have achieved good results to varying degrees.
And it has already been incorporated into existing human social production.
A sharper mind, a more beautiful appearance, a stronger physique, a longer lifespan... If you want, you can get the corresponding services through official channels by paying a reasonable price.
Changli rarely goes out these days.
Firstly, everything he needs will be handled by a dedicated person.
Secondly, the world felt alien to him, whether it was the ever-changing cityscape or the similar faces that moved among it.
When Chang Li recalls the era he once belonged to, he even questions the very reality of this world.
Perhaps the real him is already dead.
After all, he has lived beyond the recorded limit of human lifespan.
All of this was nothing more than a long hallucination he had before his death...
To avoid being driven mad by this thought, Chang Li mobilized a great deal of manpower and resources to personally create his own Eden.
A new base.
Of course, this place was ostensibly built for the follow-up research of the God-Making Project, as well as for the training and output of related talents.
That's probably true.
However, Chang Li's little personal motive was incorporated into the specific planning.
This makes the interior of the new base look more like the retro style of that era in Changli's memory.
E025 was the first experimental subject born in this new base.
Perhaps it was because he was in the scene and the scene evoked his emotions that Chang Li did something he would never have done before.
He secretly went to meet E025 in person.
Then, to everyone's surprise, E025 retained the physical characteristics of its father more completely than any of its predecessors.
In other words, E025 resembles the older brother's appearance more closely than any other test subject when he was young.
Upon seeing this, Chang Li was secretly surprised.
And when the experimental subject E025 looked in his direction.
Chang Li felt as if he had returned to that early summer more than a hundred years ago, when he first met his overly young benefactor in the reception room of the orphanage, and an overwhelming excitement welled up in his heart.
That's my older brother!
My brother is back...
Under the assistant's gaze, which was half surprised and half worried, Chang Li practically jumped up from his seat.
He wanted to meet the other person, not through the one-way glass of the observation room, but face-to-face, close contact.
The assistant was puzzled.
However, she did not try to dissuade the old man from making this unexpected request.
—After all, this isn't a big deal.
On the contrary, the assistant was puzzled by the other party's almost neurotic avoidance of any actual contact with the test subject.
According to his assistant, Chang Li had been leading an extremely important research project.
Shouldn't experimental subjects, as the product of research, be works that we can be proud of?
Could it be because the previous test subjects were not perfect enough to meet the other party's requirements?
However, the E025's performance in relevant numerical aspects has not seen any significant breakthroughs, and it can only be considered above average among its peers.
Thinking of this, the assistant couldn't help but shake his head inwardly, perhaps it was just a passing fancy of the old man.
After all, people tend to become more sentimental as they get older.
Besides, I'm just a poor laborer, why should I worry about others?
However, things later developed in ways that seemed to go far beyond what was supposed to be a spur-of-the-moment thing.
The old man had surprisingly taken E025 back to his residence and began to personally teach it.
Even more surreal is that the old man gave this experimental subject, which should have been identified by a number, a name.
—Yu Qingzhou.
Those are the names of the first victims recorded in the annals.
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