After the blue progress bar finished loading, Bian Ziyuan re-entered the game. The Butterfly of Deep Space, Kronos, and the Ghost met again in the canyon.
At this moment, just after Bian Ziyuan finished speaking, Kronos was deep in thought and had not yet become angry. Bian Ziyuan about to persuade Kronos not to get angry before he cast his spell when suddenly, the Ghost beside him spoke:
" Kronos, he's right. The true god is him, not you. To be precise, it's them. You and your world were created by them. They call the world you live in a 'game,' and there are many such worlds. They granted you the highest authority in this world, so your divine status was also given to you by them."
And who are you?
Kronos hadn't even glanced at the Ghost; he disdained these foolish monsters. He turned to look at it, his eyes filled with curiosity and shock.
At this moment, Bian Ziyuan Ziyuan's shock far exceeded that of Kronos in the game.
What shocked him was not only that the Ghost's sudden speech was against the rules of the game, but more importantly, that the Ghost's words did not pop up through a text dialog box, but were actually transmitted to his ears through the headphones he was wearing.
He knew very well that the game did not have a voice dialogue engine, and all the characters' speech was presented through text. No matter how intelligent Kronos was, it was impossible for it to change this way of communication.
Bian Ziyuan's heart skipped a beat, almost stopping. He heard Ghost, sinister voice in his earpiece. "I am the Ghost —I am the ruler of the world that holds your world."
"No, impossible! You stupid and ugly creature!" Kronos said with a hint of disgust. "I've seen you, I've seen countless of your kind, I've killed you all with my own hands. How could you possibly be the ruler of that world?"
He pointed into the air, and a ball of flame erupted from the Ghost's body, then turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished without a trace.
However, a Ghost soon flew over from the horde of Ghost gathered in the distance, its pale, shadowy body twisting as it floated in front of Kronos and the Butterfly of Deep Space.
"You can destroy my body, but you cannot destroy my will," the Ghost said. "In this world, you rule everything. But you must know that I am not in your world. I am outside your world. You can call me ' Ghost,' because I like this kind of creature, and I like the name. But you must understand one thing: I am merely using the bodies of the beings in your world to convey my words to you and enhance your wisdom. Even if you kill all the creatures here, you will only destroy your own world, not me!"
Bian Ziyuan listened through his headphones, curiously watching the Ghost floating in mid-air. His Kronos worked much faster than Kronos'. When he heard the Ghost say it was the ruler of this world, he immediately thought of the servers here.
His first thought was—the servers here are running a very advanced form of artificial intelligence.
What Bian Ziyuan couldn't understand was that before this, he had hacked into all the hosts and servers on the entire local area network and found nothing unusual. As a computer genius and a fervent enthusiast of machine life, capable of creating a game AI extension program like Kronos, he was highly sensitive to artificial intelligence, and no intelligent program could escape his notice.
There was only one possibility left—this local area network itself was an artificial intelligence, and behind the server must be a super brain. He couldn't help but feel excited about the experiment and admire Professor Mei Yiqiu, the initiator of the experiment, even more. Truly a titan of the China scientific community! Bian Ziyuan thought to himself.
Kronos, his robes fluttering, maintained his noble divine demeanor. Yet, his brow was furrowed, as if lost in deep thought.
" Ghost, I believe you now." A look of dejection appeared on Kronos's face. "You said there are many worlds like mine, many gods like me, so what is the meaning of my existence?"
"The meaning of existence? That's a profound question!" The Ghost turned to look at the Butterfly of Deep Space. "To be able to ask that question is to possess true wisdom. Isn't that the very reason why humanity prides itself on being noble and different from other creatures? The one who could create an artificial intelligence that can ask such a question is truly remarkable!"
Bian Ziyuan know how to answer. Should he type it out or speak into the headset? After thinking for a long time, he finally typed in a line: "You are more intelligent, but the person who created you is even more remarkable!"
The Ghost's voice came through the headphones. "You did the right thing, Butterfly of Deep Space. Type with the keyboard, don't speak. I know there are people next to you, and they can hear you if you talk. Typing is much safer. Although there might be surveillance, they probably won't pay attention to the details on your screen."
"Why not let them hear?" Bian Ziyuan asked. "Wasn't this test supposed to be testing your intelligence? I don't know about others, but I'm sure I passed. Your intelligence has surpassed my imagination of artificial intelligence."
The Ghost chuckled, a sinister and chilling laugh, "You're right, they do want to test me. But you're wrong about one thing. They don't want to test my intelligence; they want to test my very existence."
"Your existence?" Bian Ziyuan was somewhat confused.
The Ghost said, "Let's put aside your and my questions for now. Let me answer Kronos's question first—the meaning of life!"
Kronos placed his right hand on his chest, bowed slightly like a gentleman in a castle in a game, and said, "Please enlighten me."
"I wouldn't presume to offer guidance, Kronos," the Ghost said. "Indeed, many such worlds exist, and many gods in game worlds like yours do exist, but you are unique in being able to ask about the meaning of existence. Think carefully: before this, did you understand the meaning of your own existence?"
Kronos fell into deep thought again, like a decrepit old man whose mind seemed to be getting increasingly sluggish. After a while, he shook his head and said, "No, before this, it seems I existed only to change the world. I never thought about the meaning of my existence, so why should I change the world?"
The Ghost said, "That's right. Although you were outstanding among your kind in the past, and although you already possessed the seeds of chaotic and ignorant wisdom, you were still far from true enlightenment. You were no different from those ordinary programs that humans in another world call artificial intelligence, until you asked this question—the meaning of existence—and then you became different."
"Now, let me tell you what the meaning of existence is—"