In short, after her upgrade, not only had Shali mastered playing dead, slacking off, putting on a cheerful face, and speaking with tact, but her whole body had even begun to radiate the dazzling glow of progressivism.
The sight was so dazzling that it took Yu Lian at least half a minute to recover.
In short, according to Shali, the hive mind's core had never sought to destroy the civilization of this era, exterminate humanity, or pollute the universe.
Shali said, "That's right. Even if we fail this trial, even if I completely vanish into oblivion and become a tool of slaughter, a calamity, that would still be no more than a temporary affliction for civilization. The swarm's purpose is absolutely not to destroy civilization. The true core algorithm of the hive mind is the infinite possibility of life forms..."
"What a positive-minded creation of the Enlighteners!" Yu Lian exclaimed. "But what would happen if you were careless and truly lost yourself? Would you become another tool-like Overmind, like the one who was killed in the Spiral Nebula?"
Shali's face filled with lingering dread. She nodded miserably. "Then the slaughtering swarm would instead bring the human nations together. Civilizations and nations would discover even more possibilities through cooperation."
"All right. In a way, that's also nourishment for the progress of human civilization!" Yu Lian said with a sigh.
"Yes. Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on the possibility that I might regain my reason." For the first time, Shali expressed sincere gratitude to Yu Lian. Then she asked curiously, "But why were you always able to come back to life just now?"
"Obviously, it's a gift from the Void. It lets me transfer my soul before I'm torn apart. Ever heard of the aether?"
"I... don't really understand.