"We're real, and then... the 'seed' of Inner Power really appeared... I grasped it."
Xiang Shan looked very pleased.
Of course, expecting to break through every virtual reality with a single halt command was underestimating the progress of human technology.
If he truly was a brain in a vat right now, then the computer connected to his brain could simply use memory management to erase any simulator that might consume massive amounts of resources.
Visually, it would probably look like "the Turing Machine vanished."
Of course, vanishing into thin air would be far too abrupt.
If this "virtual reality connected to the brain" were designed to be more intelligent, it might be "a missile, meteor, or thug suddenly appeared and destroyed the Turing Machine." Every time you tried to construct a Turing Machine, you would fail due to some accident.
Of course, if Final Destination-style tricks kept being played on Turing Machines, even the dullest person would realize something was wrong.
A smarter approach would be for the virtual reality to directly give you an illusion, making you believe that "the verification succeeded, so I dismantled the Turing Machine myself."
If the local computational resources held an overwhelming advantage, then brute-forcing it would not be impossible either.
All of these were possible.
What was more, the Turing Machine Xiang Shan had built did not possess such capabilities—it was merely a prototype, not a completed machine.
Therefore, after understanding the Turing Machine, Vagrants needed another important skill: visualizing the Turing Machine.
By reshaping ancient Visualization Methods and mastering one's inner consciousness, one could directly construct a halt command within the Biological Brain.
The mathematical structure of the Biological Brain might surpass that of a Turing Machine. Therefore, a Turing Machine could not directly hack into a Biological Brain; it could only deceive it through existing "input ports"—that was, nerves related to sensory stimulation.
For Xiang Shan, who had lost his memories, this was a necessary ritual.
By assembling a machine with his bare hands, Xiang Shan had retrieved an object for visualization from his past memories and constructed it once more within his subconscious.
And the final result was what he had gained through visualization—this was a seed of Inner Power.
Or rather, the true "halt command" that cut through the illusion was not this pile of scrap metal before Xiang Shan, but the "seed of Inner Power" he had constructed through this mechanical Turing Machine.
The instant the mechanical Turing Machine "froze," it rekindled within Xiang Shan's mind. If this was virtual reality, then at that moment, something must have gone wrong with the world as Xiang Shan saw it.
All he needed was an efficient integrated chip to serve as the Niwan. When intent and tool became one, and tool and spirit became one, code would arise on its own, and divine abilities would form naturally.
A virtual reality no more advanced than human civilization could not fool a Vagrant who had mastered Inner Power.
Xiang Shan reactivated his hearing and vision.
The world was still there.
"We've more or less finished what we needed to do out here. Let's head back."
That was what Xiang Shan said.
"Oh..." Youji nodded, then froze. "That's it?"
"Yes." Xiang Shan nodded and prepared to leave.
Youji hurriedly grabbed Xiang Shan. "Xiang Shan, wait! Aren't we going to talk more about Vagrants?"
"We just did," Xiang Shan said.
Youji stamped his feet anxiously. "No, not that... Me! Me! Aren't you going to teach me something?"
Xiang Shan turned around and looked at Youji with amusement. "What I just taught you is enough to serve you for a lifetime, kid. This world still has a network. If you truly master that, then in a few years, you may have the chance to become a martial artist yourself—what more do you want?"
Youji gritted his teeth. "I want to become a Vagrant too."
Xiang Shan asked with interest, "Why?"
"Because..." Youji clenched his teeth. "Because Vagrants are cool! They're amazing."
"Oh." Xiang Shan nodded. Clearly, that answer had failed to move him.
That was just seeing Vagrants act cool without seeing them get beaten.
From what that tax officer had said, the conflict between the authorities and Vagrants in this era was far from minor. In most cases, Vagrants were weaker than the authorities.
Youji thought again. "Maybe becoming a Vagrant could let my mom and me live better lives!"
Xiang Shan laughed. "Then I advise you to abandon that idea, kid. Becoming a Vagrant will not necessarily make the people around you live better."
How could there be so many gentle and virtuous people among those driven to desperation? Among Vagrants, there were plenty who were disloyal, unfilial, and unkind—even Xiang Shan himself was not sure what kind of person he had been in the past.
There was no helping that.
Youji pulled a miserable face. "I just want to be one!"
Xiang Shan crossed his arms. "No reason? How can that do? Becoming a Vagrant is a lifelong matter. Once you take on the color of a 'Vagrant,' the authorities will see it as a stain that can never be washed away for the rest of your life."
"But I suddenly feel like if I can't become a Vagrant, then... then..." Youji clutched his head. "I can't explain it, it's just... after hearing what you said..."
"Why is that?"
The boy's brow furrowed tightly. "It's like you told me that not understanding Inner Power has serious consequences, but I never felt like that... was a problem... But when I think about it carefully, maybe it's a huge problem? If I never felt there was a problem..."
Xiang Shan wanted to smile. But he had no facial muscles now.
Good.
This kid really was worth teaching.
"Then sit down first."
Xiang Shan looked at Youji, wanting to say something. In that instant, too many things surged through his mind, and he did not know what to express first.
"There's a lot to say." Xiang Shan held his forehead. "I need to think about what I should tell you first..."
When teaching others, one first needed to understand exactly what one wanted to impart. Thinking that one understood something did not count as "understanding." Only when one knew how to use declarative language to completely convey what one knew to another person could one be said to have truly "mastered" a concept.
Therefore, teaching something to others was also a deeper form of learning for the teacher.
That was why so many scholars busy with research were willing to teach courses at institutions called "universities." Certainly, part of it was due to the institutional requirements of modern universities, but on the other hand, "passing on knowledge" also helped scholars organize their thoughts.
Xiang Shan was currently in such a state. Many things in his mind had been awakened, while many more existed only vaguely. He could not grasp those chaotic concepts.
But teaching others required him to capture those hazy meanings with "language" and transform them into things that could be clearly explained.
Teaching Youji certain skills did indeed contain elements of repaying a debt and nurturing him, but it would also greatly benefit Xiang Shan.
That was also an important reason why he wanted to "train an assistant." It was his form of "rehabilitation therapy."
"Youji, what I'm about to tell you will bring you into an entirely different domain. I'm unfamiliar with this era, and I can't tell you what that means. After hearing these words, you may find it difficult to live as peacefully as you did before—once you know certain things, you can no longer imagine what it was like to live under the premise of 'not knowing.'"
This was the "curse of knowledge."
Some knowledge could indeed compel people to do things that ignorant fools could scarcely imagine.
The sages of the classical era wanted the masses to remain foolish for this very reason.
Youji showed no hesitation. "I want to know!"
"You need to think this through. This is your last chance, kid." Xiang Shan said, "Living ignorantly in a peaceful world, unaware that you are enduring suffering, may not necessarily be a kind of 'happiness.' Chasing a radiant ideal while forever trapped in the suffering of never attaining it may not necessarily be good either."
"Xiang Shan, everything you've said today is hard to understand." Youji scratched his head. "But I've always felt that knowing a little more is really good. I know you're a good person, Xiang Shan. I know Vagrants aren't entirely thugs—those were things I didn't know before. I feel happy knowing them. It's like... like... I can't explain it. It's like I might have a choice in the future, to live a life... a life different from my mom's, Dr. Schultz's, and everyone else's. That kind of life might be very... very..."
"Free?"
"Yes! That's the word! Freedom!" Youji clapped his hands. "That word is so obscure! It's in the chip's built-in electronic dictionary, but I've hardly ever used it."
"Very good. Since you have chosen freedom, perhaps you truly are well suited to being a 'Vagrant'!" Xiang Shan nodded. "Vagrants are people who were born for 'freedom.'"
Youji's eyes lit up. "Does that mean Vagrants can do whatever they want?" But he quickly became embarrassed. "That might not be very good, right, Xiang Shan...?"
"This is the first idea I want to explain to you, Youji." Xiang Shan closed his eyes. Some echo from the past reverberated in his mind, urging him on.
Why... did this bring such... honor and pride...
"Vagrants do not exist so they can 'do whatever they want.' Vagrants exist for everyone's freedom." With his eyes closed, Xiang Shan spoke along the current of his memories. "I do not deny that many Vagrants chose to become Vagrants for 'their own ideas.' But Vagrants were born for the freedom of all."
"Since ancient times, powerful things have bullied weak things. The flesh of the weak became food for the strong. Some say this is an inborn human nature, just as powerful animals hunt weaker animals. But that is wrong. Since humanity entered the age of civilization, it has formed communities of the mind and gathered material strength together, eventually becoming a force in nature that could not be ignored."
"One could say that humanity follows the rules of civilization."
"But the essence of the strong devouring the weak is the trampling of the imagined community of humanity. It is wrong. Yet for a very long time, people all over the world failed to recognize that wrong. Humanity lived amid division and warfare, in immense suffering."
"Then, an extraordinarily, extraordinarily remarkable person stepped forward. His name was Mozi. He said that this was wrong, that we should love everyone and interact with one another on the premise of 'mutual benefit'—that was 'Universal Love, Mutual Benefit.'"
"Mozi?" Youji was astonished. "So Mozi was a person too?"