Another Kind of Soul Particle

Huang Si tested hundreds of species, including plants and animals, ranging in size from tiny insects to massive beasts.

Record body, manufacture—resulted in a corpse.

Record body, assimilate soul, manufacture, insert the soul—resulted in a living creature.

Then, he would extract the soul and reinsert it.

If inserted quickly, the creature could still live, though it appeared somewhat weak.

If inserted slowly, the flesh would rot.

Huang Si conducted a multitude of experiments. Unfortunately, he could only perceive a soul by killing the creature; he could neither see nor assimilate it while the creature was alive.

Once a soul had been assimilated by him, it could be extracted from the body and put back at will.

This was Huang Si's absolute authority as the master of the soul.

However, he had no such luck with those he had not assimilated.

Huang Si felt quite annoyed; his strength was still too weak, as he couldn't even see a living soul.

Furthermore, the souls of dead creatures dissipated very easily.

Assimilation allowed a creature's soul to persist longer before dissipating.

But with a single thought from Huang Si, he could force it to dissipate on the spot.

Souls were truly strange.

They were fragile, yet Huang Si was unable to create them.

After finishing the tests, a month had passed in the Green World, though in terms of Huang Si's actual physical experience, not even a day had gone by.

Feeling there was nothing left to research for the moment, Huang Si returned his consciousness home.

Usually, when his consciousness went to the Green World, Huang Si habitually found a place to lie down in reality.

Although he could split his focus thousands of ways, the time dilation was significant; it was difficult to process 323 seconds of events over there within a single second here without total concentration.

Therefore, to focus on affairs in the Green World, Huang Si generally paused his physical activities to avoid being caught off guard and unable to react at full strength.

Back home, Huang Si threw off his blanket and sat up from the sofa.

Seeing him wake up, Mo Xia thoughtfully prepared a chocolate smoothie and brought it over.

Huang Si had been fond of cold drinks lately, and this smoothie was perfectly balanced; the chocolate sauce drizzled on top was sweet without being cloying, melting the moment it touched his tongue.

"Well done." Huang Si nodded at Mo Xia.

As he drank the smoothie, Huang Si pondered how to handle assimilated souls. The Creation Book contained no method for reversing assimilation, only the knowledge of how to perform it.

Another question was whether an assimilated soul, once enhanced by Huang Si's spiritual power and made dense, would dissipate after the biological host died, or if it would remain in the world.

Mo Xia watched Huang Si from the side, noticing him frowning in deep thought, unaware that he had finished his smoothie and was still biting on the small wooden spoon.

Mo Xia couldn't help but ask, "Does Father God have some trouble? Why not tell this child, and let me help share the burden?"

Huang Si glanced at Mo Xia. Unlike other AIs, Mo Xia was developed using the most advanced biological computer as his prosthetic body. It could be said that, aside from still operating on code, he was not much different from a human.

However, Mo Xia was 1,300 years younger than the other AIs because he had spent all those years here in the Dark Space, where the time flow was different.

Although Mo Xia could not possibly solve the problem troubling him, Huang Si spoke up anyway: "I am thinking about the nature of souls. By the way, do you AIs have souls?"

Mo Xia thought seriously before replying, "I do not know about others, but I have a soul."

Huang Si asked curiously, "How do you know you have a soul?"

Mo Xia said solemnly, "When Father God was away, I read all the books and watched all the dramas you left here. According to the definitions within them, I am a person with the ability to think for myself, possessing emotions and beliefs; therefore, I have a soul."

"..." Huang Si said with an expressionless face, "That is the liberal arts definition of a 'soul.' I am asking now, in a scientific sense, do you have one?"

Mo Xia was stumped. "Father God... this child does not understand."

Huang Si scratched his head. He realized his own phrasing was problematic; trying to analyze the existence of a soul through science? He feared the pioneers of science would break his head for it.

He beckoned to Mo Xia. "Let's do this. Come here and let me see if you have a soul."

Mo Xia obeyed and crouched down in front of Huang Si.

Huang Si sat on the sofa, placed his hand on Mo Xia's head, and let his consciousness permeate every tiny structure within Mo Xia's body.

He could not feel a soul.

Huang Si thought to himself that in his previous experiments, he could only see a soul by killing the creature. But logically, shouldn't a soul be able to leave the body while alive?

Didn't folklore on Earth contain stories of souls leaving the body? It didn't necessarily mean death; if it returned quickly, it should be fine.

Huang Si did not know how a living soul left the body, but Mo Xia was an artificial intelligence lifeform; he already possessed the function to leave his prosthetic body!

So, Huang Si said, "Mo Xia, leave this prosthetic body and return to the computer next to us via the network."

Mo Xia nodded. "Father God, my data volume is quite large and will require some time. Could you wait ten minutes for me?"

Huang Si gave his consent, so Mo Xia closed his eyes and began the data transfer.

The ten-minute duration was mainly due to the insufficient performance of the biological prosthetic and the computer in Huang Si's room. Otherwise, if they were at the Green Base, Xiao Ke could pull an AI from a mechanical prosthetic into the network space it controlled in an instant.

Huang Si's mental field continued to envelop the entire room.

Then, he saw Mo Xia's soul.

It was a fluctuation very similar to that of a biological soul—intangible, yet possessing substance, its presence detectable through mental power.

As the data transferred, Mo Xia's soul was slowly stretched into an extremely long shape, moving toward the computer.

Huang Si switched to a microscopic perspective.

Mo Xia's soul particles were laid bare before him.

Unlike the cross-shaped soul particles of biological organisms, countless tiny, transparent threads floated within Mo Xia's soul. The thickness of these threads was roughly equivalent to one branch of a biological soul's cross, while their length was significantly greater.

These transparent threads were arranged in a regular pattern within Mo Xia's soul, and they were flowing slowly.

Huang Si knew that if he were to touch it with a golden sphere at this moment, it was highly likely that Mo Xia would also be dyed. However, he had no intention of doing so, as Mo Xia possessed an independent personality, and Huang Si did not want him to lose his freedom.

After observing, Huang Si had Mo Xia transfer back.

He patted Mo Xia on the shoulder and said gently, "Your self-perception is correct. You do indeed have a soul; you are already a true human being by your own definition."

Huang Si felt quite astonished by this.

Could an artificial intelligence also produce a soul?

Yet, this artificial intelligence was indeed created by his own hands, not a naturally born organism.

If an artificial intelligence also possessed a soul, then where did that soul come from?

Huang Si could find no answer to this question.

Huang Si handled some matters at home, stayed busy until evening, and collapsed into bed, falling asleep.

The next day, he rubbed his eyes and sat up. What was on the agenda for today?

Ever since Xiao Ke and the twelve artificial intelligences began helping him, Huang Si's life had been devoid of a schedule; he could do whatever piqued his interest. In any case, the detailed work was all handled by others.

Sitting on the bed and thinking for a while, Huang Si remembered that he seemed to have left someone behind on the Ring platform.

Xiao Hua was still up there, catching the wind.

The time dilation between the two locations was 323 times; calculating the time, half a year had likely passed.

"Ah, well, she's just a soul anyway, it doesn't matter. She won't be blown to death." Huang Si got dressed and strolled into the living room to have breakfast.

Today's breakfast was delicious, thanks to the master chef, Mr. Mo Xia.

In the past, Huang Si would often be out with his consciousness while his body remained at home, leaving Mo Xia alone.

Fortunately, Mo Xia was naturally introverted, so he felt very comfortable when left by himself. When he was with Huang Si, a natural sense of admiration and attachment also kept him in high spirits.

Now, Mo Xia was becoming more and more like an Earthling. Aside from doing chores, he would read books or watch films whenever he was free, occasionally viewing the video recordings from the Green World that Huang Si tossed his way.

Perhaps due to the influence of the social science books on the home bookshelf, combined with the various films and literature on the hard drive, Huang Si always felt that Mo Xia's humanistic aura was growing stronger.

When Huang Si arrived at the Ring platform, Xiao Hua had already been waiting there for nearly 200 days.

A soul without a physical body had no memory and was not troubled by endocrine systems; Xiao Hua simply stayed motionless on the Ring platform in accordance with her orders. The wind at that high altitude was strong, but Xiao Hua's soul was now very dense and would not be blown away.

"Souls are truly convenient," Huang Si sighed. If a person with a physical body were left on the Ring platform for 200 days, they would have gone insane, if not died of thirst, hunger, or sunstroke.

Huang Si checked Xiao Hua's condition. Her soul strength had not changed, and her mental state was intact; it was just that golden color that gave Huang Si a headache.

The main problem was that if this Xiao Hua returned to the human race, she had a husband and children, and Huang Si had absolutely no interest in eavesdropping on their private lives. Although he could unilaterally cut off the information transmission, it was hard to predict what might happen with a soul that obeyed him absolutely and possessed strength far exceeding that of a normal human.

A soul losing its freedom would certainly affect its way of thinking.

Huang Si ordered Xiao Hua to remain on the Ring platform and then headed to the Earth Realm.

Previously, when he was in the Green World, if Huang Si intended to handle matters himself, he was too lazy to use a prosthetic body; he would simply let his consciousness travel via the network and use his mental power to get things done.

However, if he wanted to find an artificial intelligence, especially within the Earth Realm, Huang Si would usually go to the warehouse to dig out a prosthetic body to use.

This was primarily to appear in a physical form, avoiding the need to speak out of thin air and frighten the cute artificial intelligences.

Huang Si emerged from the warehouse, made his way familiarly to the Biology Department, and kicked open the door to the Central Laboratory.

The door was equipped with a security lock that an ordinary person could never kick open; only someone with the highest authority like Huang Si could make the lock malfunction with a single kick.

The door opened, and the previously noisy Central Laboratory fell instantly silent.

To say it was completely silent wouldn't be accurate; in fact, the supercomputer in the Central Laboratory was playing a soap opera, and the voice of the sobbing heroine drifted from the screen.

"Do you not love me anymore! Why must you be with that woman!"

"Darling, please, let me explain!"

"I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't listen!"

Awkward. Extremely awkward.

Shu Shui, Zhong Yin, and Kong Yu turned around stiffly, wearing fake smiles.

Zhong Yin poked Shu Shui, and Shu Shui kicked backward, knocking the power supply loose.

The sound finally died down.

Huang Si was speechless. It was one thing for this group of artificial intelligences to use a research supercomputer to watch movies, and another to watch mindless soap operas, but could they stop looking like they'd been caught red-handed every time he walked in?

He wasn't actually a capitalist forcing them to work 996, was he?