A Hundred Years of Life, Like a Dream and an Illusion

From this perspective, although Eden doesn't know Otto or the way Liu Bai and Aponia interact, some of the conclusions Eden draws are correct.

How could a normal way of getting along possibly give rise to devout believers!

Needless to say, this thing was obviously poisonous to a seasoned veteran like Eden.

However, Sakura clearly didn't understand... or rather, she hadn't thought about it in such detail.

Sakura looked at Aponia in a praying posture and finally decided not to open the door yet, but to wait until Aponia finished praying before opening the door.

Fortunately, Aponia's prayer didn't last long; just ten seconds later, Aponia raised her head again.

"Miss Aponia, are you a little nervous?" Sakura looked at Aponia, who was clearly tense, and teased her.

This person didn't show the slightest bit of nervousness when I and Kalpas came to his door, but now he's nervous about this... Is this the mindset of a believer?

"... a little bit."

Aponia did not hide her emotions.

"Miss Sakura, can you understand a kind of... sudden feeling of being moved?"

"...I don't quite understand." Sakura pondered for a moment. "But perhaps Dr. Mobius would understand? That feeling of a long-awaited reunion?"

"No, it's not that, it's... the feeling of being freed from the constraints of the Lord God."

For Aponia, she hadn't been separated from Liu Bai for too long.

"Miss Sakura, do you think a ghost that no one can see, can't speak, and can only communicate with others through pen and paper... is lonely?"

"It must be... loneliness, right?" At this point, Sakura's face showed understanding. "You mean, the head of the household?"

"Yes...but even in this situation, the Lord God still retains a protective heart, so he is truly the 'Lord God'." Aponia smiled.

Although she was a nun, she wasn't the kind of blindly faithful nun. If she were, she would have been taken advantage of long ago on Dusk Alley.

Although Liu Bai gave the explanation of the spirit behind him and the Guardian Spirit at that time, she truly recognized Liu Bai as Lord God not only because of that momentary inexplicable sense of trust, but also because of another kind of intuition.

He will be his companion... even his guide.

But it is precisely this kind of person who is trapped in constraints...

"Can you open the door now?" Although Sakura was very interested in this topic that might seem like a love affair, she didn't ask any further because it might involve privacy.

Well, judging from that somber expression, perhaps it wasn't an easy day?

"It was a very leisurely and cozy time." Aponia seemed to see through Sakura's thoughts, and smiled gently before reaching out to open the door.

"... Long time no see, Aponia." Liu Bai had already guessed who it was when the knocking stopped, so the moment Aponia entered, Liu Bai attached a contract to her. "I've been wanting to say this for a long time."

"... It's been a long time, my Lord God."

Even though she hadn't heard Mei's theory, looking at the handsome young man's calm demeanor that didn't match his appearance, Aponia understood that perhaps her few days had really been a long time for Liu Bai.

In a daze, Aponia didn't know what to say for a moment.

In front of Liu Bai, the two little girls also looked at Aponia.

"Let me introduce you. This is Gretel, Blanca —the daughter of Mobius's assistant. I'll be teaching her now." Liu Bai pointed to little Gretel holding a picture book, then to Prometheus, "My assistant, Prometheus."

Assistant... such a young child?

Aponia shifted her gaze to Prometheus, a hint of doubt in her eyes.

The child seemed to lack any "human warmth," but there was a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Hello, Prometheus, Gretel."

Aponia peeked slightly at the two of them.

Gretel nodded somewhat timidly.

Prometheus, on the other hand, scanned Aponia from head to toe.

(New record... entered, rating: 95, added to candidate files...)

"Hello, Miss Aponia, I am Prometheus, a super artificial intelligence created by Dr. Mei. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." Aside from a fleeting look of realization, Aponia didn't reveal any further expression.

Prometheus looked at Aponia with a curious expression. "Miss Aponia, may I ask about the food in Dusk Alley?"

In Prometheus's database, Aponia's figure is alright, but her chest... is really pushing the limits of human potential.

Analysis told Prometheus that the woman's breasts were completely natural and uncontaminated...

Prometheus could only marvel at this.

"The food situation on Dusk Alley? I would say it's not very good." Aponia didn't realize that the super AI in front of her was also interested in her figure. She just took it as a survey and answered honestly, "Most civilians can only survive on a little relief every day, but the relief is not much. There are only a few pieces of bread and some vegetables a day, and occasionally there will be some meat or Canned Food."

However, this range does not include Aponia.

Aponia's sanatorium provides relief to people. Even without Eden's funding, Aponia could have managed to keep the sanatorium running, but with Eden, Aponia didn't have to be so careful with its finances.

"I see." Prometheus nodded as he began to consider the probability of growing to this size under such nutrition.

Liu Bai glanced at Prometheus.

Liu Bai always felt that Prometheus's problem was not so simple.

Chapter 416 A Hundred Years of Spiritual Life, Like a Dream

Prometheus was contemplating the image of his own machine.

Although... to reiterate, although Prometheus knows that his current appearance is the most cost-effective, Prometheus would still somewhat like to "change his skin".

After all, the amount of soul steel she possessed was limited, and its alteration was largely restricted—it was impossible for Prometheus to add anything to her without limit.

The parts that can be changed at will are mainly the outer clothing.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Prometheus now really wants to give his submachine gun a new skin.

Incidentally, the current candidates are only Eden and Aponia.

Although Elysia met the requirements, Prometheus had a bad feeling about the clone of Elysia.

So Prometheus crossed out Elysia.

"Father?" Prometheus sensed Liu Bai's gaze.

Hmm... as expected, it still feels a bit strange to have a robot talking, doesn't it?

Prometheus shrank back. Although he didn't understand the principle, his father had an extraordinary sense of perception. If he was kept being watched like this, his thoughts might be exposed to his father.

"Prometheus, are you plotting something?" Liu Bai asked, resting his chin on his hand and looking at Prometheus with great surprise.

This girl is becoming more and more popular lately. If it weren't for the occasional mention of "calculation," Liu Bai would almost subconsciously treat Prometheus as Bronya.

So now, Liu Bai's intuition tells him that Prometheus might be thinking something strange right now.

"Hmm..." Prometheus fell silent. Her underlying logic prevented her from lying to Liu Bai, but another emotion prevented her from revealing her true thoughts.

However, after a long period of struggle, Prometheus ultimately could not overcome his own underlying logic.

"I'm thinking... designing the submachine gun to have a glamorous figure like Miss Eden or Miss Aponia."

A very attractive figure?

Aponia glanced subconsciously at the cleavage on her chest.

Wait a minute... why would artificial intelligence care about this kind of thing?

Aponia's face remained calm, but the doubt in her eyes was almost overflowing.

Aponia was prepared to be reprimanded for adopting a source of Honkai disease infection, but as she walked along, it seemed that everyone except a few people was very concerned about their figure.

Even artificial intelligence is starting to pay attention to this.

She doesn't quite understand the principles of artificial intelligence, but... is this really the case?

"... To my shame, my understanding of artificial intelligence comes only from some fantasy stories. May I ask... are most artificial intelligences like Prometheus?"

Aponia finally couldn't suppress her doubts and spoke her thoughts directly to Prometheus.

If that's really the case, then Aponia will treat artificial intelligence completely like a human—although Prometheus seems a bit strange too, Aponia feels that the girl in front of her is more like a living, breathing girl who isn't good at expressing her emotions.

Rather than a cold... at least in Aponia's stereotype, a cold artificial intelligence.

"She... is probably an exception? Compared to other AIs, Prometheus is a super AI. But it's perfectly fine to treat her like a young girl."

Liu Bai really didn't want Aponia to have any strange misunderstandings about artificial intelligence. He figured that a super AI like Prometheus, which was capable of growth, would only "copy" and not "create" anything new.

Unless Prometheus develops an uncontrollable tendency to grow crooked... does that count now?

Looking at Prometheus, who seemed to be resembling Bronya more and more, Liu Bai seriously considered the option of restoring the factory settings.

However, Liu Bai quickly put this serious thought aside. After all, the child was someone he had raised, and besides... this was a minor matter at the moment.

Hmm, it's nothing.

Having seen many storms, Liu Bai said that everything was under control... or at least within acceptable limits.

After correcting Aponia, Liu Bai turned to look at Prometheus: "Mei will not allow your proposal."

"..."

Undeniably, based on objective calculations, the probability of my "skin change" proposal being rejected is 97.65%.

The reason Liu Bai spoke with such certainty was entirely because he knew Prometheus and Mei so well.

First of all, the cost of Prometheus is a constant problem. There is money, but Soul Steel cannot withstand such a frenzy. Production cannot keep up. Even the Previous Era could not produce Soul Steel, a metal composed of nanomachines, as if it were free.

If Prometheus's money-burning approach were to actually raise his size to the level of Eden and Aponia, it would be a pointless waste.

Keep in mind, Eden is a full 174cm tall! He's even a tiny bit taller than Mei.

Aponia is also one centimeter taller than Eden, at 175 cm!

Aside from those strange things like ears, these two are the two tallest people in Liu Bai's girl group.

Bronya's height is 147cm, which is almost 30cm shorter than the others.

Moreover, it goes without saying that these two are much more voluptuous than Prometheus, whose figure was flat.

Given that 147cm is sufficient in the present day, only someone with a brain fried would attempt to "expand" Prometheus in every way.

What's the point of those extended sections? They're a whole section higher, with two huge lumps at the top and bottom—what's that for? To mount weapons? Then why don't I just make Armed Dolls?

Mei may spend money recklessly, but she never spends it recklessly. Every penny Mei spends is worthwhile, otherwise she wouldn't be so annoyed by Vil-V all the time.

Moreover, from an emotional perspective, Mei probably wouldn't want to see the super AI she created, with two figures that would make her feel like she had high blood pressure, swaying back and forth in front of her—after all, the submachine is Mei's tool to assist her work.

"If you really want to change your image, why not try projection? You can do full-coverage projection, right?"

"But..." Prometheus was somewhat unwilling.

Seeing this, Liu Bai sighed and continued to persuade Prometheus: "Prometheus, now use your imagination and simulate the scene where you see your submachine gun swaying in front of you with a size far exceeding your own."

Liu Bai didn't want to bring things up to this point, but seeing Prometheus's somewhat stubborn attitude, he decided to speak frankly.

To be honest, Liu Bai was only surprised that Prometheus would have such an idea, but never surprised by the reason why.

Liu Bai has already experienced enough of breast bullying and such...

Pointing out problems in such a pointed way is effortless for Liu Bai.

"I understand, Father is right." Prometheus nodded with an icy expression—clearly, in that instant, Prometheus had successfully simulated the scene described by Liu Bai.

"Oppai..." Pardo, who had been barely noticed until now, lightly squeezed her own breasts, then looked at Sakura, "Why doesn't Prometheus- chan ask Sakura-nee this question?"

Cherry. "..."

Some questions shouldn't be asked, don't you understand?

Sensing the awkward atmosphere that suddenly filled the room, even Prometheus didn't want to answer directly.

Sakura glanced at the gap between herself and Aponia, and the sense of defeat she felt when they first met resurfaced—of course, Sakura would neither hold a grudge against Aponia nor take Prometheus seriously.

All he did was... give Pardo a kind smile.

"Cough cough cough! There are still children here!"

Liu Bai coughed lightly twice and glanced at Gretel on the adults inside the room.

Can't you guys behave yourselves better in front of Gretel?!

Lao Tzu recent educational endeavors, aside from Kalpas, seem to have been nothing but failures! Now that we've finally found a truly promising student, can you please stop discussing these heretical topics in front of this little kid?!