Chapter 82: Civilization Is a Repeater (6400)
Because of the game "Continent of Strife," the vast majority of the chaotic memories sealed within Joshua had been slowly worn down and softened by the relentless mental attrition of over a billion people, day and night.
Similarly, because the game provided tangible and reliable transcendent inheritances, it could be said to have become popularized throughout the entire Mycroft Civilization, even becoming a part of everyone's life.
In this regard, Joshua and the entire Mycroft Civilization were mutually beneficial. Without Joshua's resistance and destruction, the chaotic memories could never have been worn down and softened by the mental will of people who were mostly ordinary, let alone be eradicated. Conversely, without the multi-threaded, multi-faceted attempts and analyses of over a billion people, Joshua alone, no matter how powerful his individual will, could not have resolved the tens of millions of different chaotic memories so quickly.
The cooperation between the two sides created an effect far greater than the sum of its parts.
By now, several years had passed since the Death Evil God incident. The vast majority of chaotic memories had been completely shattered and digested. The knowledge contained within them had gradually dispersed throughout the entire civilization along with the game's progression, subtly enhancing the power of the entire Mycroft Civilization. Joshua also benefited greatly from this. After all, he was fundamentally a combat specialist focused on Life Energy and Steel Force. Even with his lofty realm, quickly learning the essence of other transcendent powers required the cooperation and experimentation of other beings within the civilization.
In fact, several years ago, Joshua had already invested in and founded several transcendent organizations. For example, the 'Human Progress Technology Group,' specializing in body modification; the 'New Dawn Society,' attempting to create a new method of Battle Qi cultivation; and the 'Nightlight Society,' secretly researching matters related to Chaos within Winterfell Academy. These were things he himself lacked the time and energy for, but which were necessary. The warrior entrusted these tasks to others, only needing to control the general direction.
The results were also very encouraging. The Human Progress Technology Group already had very mature experience and technology in human body modification. Elite Squad member and Alchemist Constantine was a relatively successful example. The New Dawn Society also had another name, the 'Winterfell Champion Academy Combat Professional Alliance.' In short, it consisted of those Battle Qi cultivators who had graduated from the Winterfell combat professional division. The Nightlight Society needed no introduction; its leader was Number 3, and it even had direct investment from the Imperial Royal Family, specifically dedicated to researching matters related to Chaos Minions and Evil Gods.
The progress of civilization was his progress. Transcendent beings could exist independently of civilization, but it was completely unnecessary. The two complemented each other, allowing them to fully unleash their potential and progress more smoothly and easily than going it alone.
This path of mutual support was the order that Joshua and other Legendary experts had determined after much deliberation.
Within the silver world, Joshua's will was like an invisible wind, like the unseen God's perspective in a game, sweeping across the floating continents, overlooking the lives of the many civilization Heroic Spirits... Among them, the few Heroic Spirits that performed their daily tasks best—the 'Lava Giant,' 'Thunder Jellyfish,' and 'Rock-Eating Giant Worm'—had, with Joshua's support, revived a portion of their own kind, reproducing and thriving in their territories. As they worked according to their moods, the area and quality of the floating continents also grew larger and more substantial.
However, there were exceptions. For instance, the Heroic Spirit of the Rock-Eating Giant Worm expressed that it did not wish to continue being sheltered by Joshua in a greenhouse. Instead, it wanted to expand territory for the warrior, repaying the favor of its rebirth while being self-sufficient. This semi-elemental lifeform race, which primarily fed on metal-bearing rocks, would soon move away from the silver world, taking a Restorative Pillar with them to a new world in the Multiverse Star River suitable for their survival... The space they vacated could then be given to a newly revived civilization Heroic Spirit.
"It has entered a virtuous cycle... A revived civilization, through its Heroic Spirit, becomes familiar with this strange world. Then, the Heroic Spirit revives its race, teaches them common sense and knowledge, and they reproduce anew. Under the guidance of me and the Heroic Spirit, they quickly form into a brand new intelligent civilization... At that point, I might become a sower, encountering a world suitable for life and sowing an entire intelligent race."
Watching this scene, Joshua couldn't help but nod slightly. This was also within his expectations. Rather, the reason he revived these failed races was to better and faster 'spread order.' By instilling the 'knowledge and culture' of the Mycroft Civilization into these civilizations, they could not only grow quickly but also become natural supporters of the Mycroft Civilization, even becoming members of it.
However, revival naturally came at a cost. Joshua's ideas about transcendent power, experimental subjects for body modification, and test cultivations of Battle Qi methods were sometimes too dangerous to test on relatively fragile humans. At such times, otherworldly races with various attributes and talents were the best test subjects.
For example, the 'Emotion Spectrum' system Joshua had just conceived. Before its official use in the Mycroft Civilization, he would definitely make a deal with these revived races, letting them conduct an experiment first. He could guarantee fairness and that the experimenters were volunteers. As for the consequences—death, madness, or no effect at all—that was hard to say.
No one had any objections to this, because that was how the world operated.
In fact, this approach was very similar to the 'Civilization Corrector,' one of the calamity civilizations mentioned by the Great Khan of the Star Shepherds. The difference was that the Civilization Corrector acted by 'destroying existing civilizations and then shaping them from scratch,' while Joshua did 'revive already extinct races and then shape them from scratch.' To use an analogy, the former was a blood-soaked, undeniable terrorist, while the latter was a kind-hearted uncle who happened to pass by with the ability to revive.
"Good, not bad. No Heroic Spirits are slacking off; everyone is working hard."
After inspecting all the floating continents, Joshua's will emitted a wave of satisfaction, like an old farmer seeing his leeks growing well. After the wave, the warrior's will condensed into a humanoid form, descending into the inner side of the world, amidst the endless crystal obelisks.
One could see that at the center of the world, a massive silver giant star was releasing infinite light and heat, filling this world. Nine great continents overlapped, bringing alternating night and day to each other. At the bottom of these continents, obelisks stood densely like a forest. Joshua's minions, countless Silver Fairies, flitted among this crystal forest, repairing cracks and damages that might appear on the seals of the obelisks.
By now, the chaotic memories suppressed at the base of most obelisks had dissipated, becoming part of Joshua's power. However, about ten to twenty percent of the chaotic memories remained very stubborn. The warrior landed precisely at the sealing place of this stubborn portion.
It was clearly visible that the crystal obelisks here were much dimmer than elsewhere. The aura of Chaos overflowed here. Even if many Silver Fairies gathered to flap their wings, they couldn't dispel these hazy mists.
But when Joshua descended, all these dangerous mists dissipated into nothingness in an instant, eliciting simple cheers from the surrounding groups of Silver Fairies.
"Praise the Overlord!"
"The Overlord's might shines upon the earth!"
This batch of Silver Fairies had not gone to the Fairyland to study; they had moved directly from the Carlis World. So their expressions and reactions were very simple and innocent, not at all like the Elemental Fairies... lively. Joshua was quite satisfied with this. It wasn't that he didn't like Elemental Fairies, but if all Silver Fairies became like Elemental Fairies, wouldn't his world become a second Fairyland? Even their praises would be things like "Overlord is so cool!" or "Overlord is awesome!"—words that left one feeling drained.
In fact, the Elemental Fairies praised their Empress in exactly that tone.
"Run farther away later. Don't come near here; it's dangerous."
In the past, every time Joshua descended, he would communicate with his minions, learning about their recent situation and status. But this time, he had business to attend to, so he simply instructed them not to get too close and then walked directly toward the core of this crystal obelisk field.
After several years, in an era where other Legendary experts were diligently studying and recharging, and new Legendary and Ultimate Peak experts were appearing one after another, Joshua also planned to completely resolve the hidden Chaos hazard within his own body.
At the same time, on his way to the core sealing the chaotic memories, Joshua was also thinking and recalling the powerful civilizations and races he had recently encountered in the Multiverse Star River.
The Spirit Clan, the Knowledge Seizer, the Star Shepherds, the Amos Royal Court, the Takur Order, the Lund Civilization, the Wald Civilization, the Undying Phoenix Void Behemoth... and other beings, all surfaced in the warrior's mind.
Setting aside the exceptional 'Nebula Lifeform' Emperor Amos and the 'Ultimate Cosmic Venerable' High Patriarch Takur—whose avatars could rival deities and whose true bodies were likely far stronger than True Gods—the lifeforms that left the deepest impression on Joshua were the 'Undying Phoenix Void Behemoth' he had encountered not long ago and the peculiar lifeform spread throughout the entire Multiverse Star River, the 'Psionic Bug.'
Although comparing the two seemed absurd, in Joshua's view, while the Undying Phoenix Void Behemoth was immensely powerful, its life form level was likely lower than that of the Psionic Bug... and by more than one tier.
This wasn't about pure power, but about survival mode.
It might be hard to understand, but an example can illustrate the enormous difference represented by different survival modes.
Consider a creature, temporarily called a 'hairless naked ape.' It lives in a primitive, savage world, surviving on plains and in forests. Its competitors and natural enemies are many, such as tigers and forest wolves in the woods, and lion prides and hyenas on the plains. Besides these, there are other apes in the same ecological niche, like various hairy naked apes, baboons, monkeys, and gorillas.
The hairless naked ape's survival is difficult. Even banding together doesn't guarantee the continuation of its race. Generally, to gain an advantage in the long history of life's evolution and ensure its race's smooth continuation, it has two choices: one is to evolve tougher skin, stronger muscles, a larger body, and more solid bones; the other is to reproduce more, having many offspring so that even if many are eaten by natural enemies, enough remain to continue.
To achieve such changes, the hairless naked ape can only rely on luck. The former requires a mutant individual within the race that is extremely strong, exceptionally large, almost like King Kong—a 'hairless King Kong.' This mutant, leveraging its strength, produces more offspring, and among its offspring, more hairless King Kongs appear. This gradually transforms the hairless naked ape's genes, turning them entirely into hairless King Kongs, thereby gaining a survival advantage and elevating their ecological niche, driving tigers, lions, hyenas, wolves, and other beasts out of the forest.
The latter, like the former, also requires a mutant to pass on the advantageous changed bloodline until a complete transformation occurs. But setting aside when the mutation might appear, the process of bloodline change alone takes at least tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years.
This is the survival and evolution method of 'beasts,' and also the method chosen by the 'Void Behemoth,' the most powerful 'beast' in the multiverse. The Undying Phoenix Void Behemoth is naturally no exception.
But the path chosen by intelligent life, 'civilization,' is vastly different.
When countless hairless naked apes were living in constant fear, hoping for a King Kong to emerge and begin an evolution process that would take who knows how many millennia, suddenly, one day, a genius appeared among the hairless naked apes.
—It learned to use fire.
Of course, the order of things learned by hairless naked apes in different worlds might vary. Some might learn psionics, some Battle Qi, some other things. But the general idea is the same: the hairless naked ape abandoned the long process of 'genetic bloodline modification' and began, through 'imitative behavior,' to learn to use fire, tools, bows, arrows, knives, spears, magic, and Battle Qi to survive in this world.
When a genius in a tribe could reliably light a fire, make knives, swords, bows, and arrows, allowing the hairless naked apes to hunt prey at a lower cost and eat more nutritious food, all hairless naked apes would 'imitate.' The time and difficulty required for 'imitation' were far simpler than 'genetic inheritance.'
'Using tools' is essentially also a mutation, no different from mutating a strong physique. But spreading a strong physique to all hairless naked apes in the world requires a base unit of hundreds of thousands of years, and it might not even be possible to spread it 100%. Using tools is different. The evolutionary advantage it provides to hairless naked apes is far greater than a strong physique. The learning speed is fast, and the spread speed is equally fast. This is a 'knowledge evolution' survival mode far more efficient than 'bloodline evolution.' From this point on, the hairless naked ape can call itself 'human.'
Because from then on, it draws a line between itself and its former self, officially becoming a 'civilization.'
The essence of civilization does not lie in the physical body. The robustness of an individual human is no longer the most important part of survival advantage.
A short, unhealthy human, unarmed, might not even be able to defeat a hairless naked ape. But if he has a bow and arrow in his hand, the hairless naked ape would probably have to turn and run. If he has a gun, even an ordinary tiger wouldn't risk attacking. If he is wearing an exoskeleton armor and holding a rotary Gatling gun, well, even if this person is a malnourished asthma patient, it wouldn't stop him from chasing a group of wild beasts until they cry for their mothers.
If, besides this, he also knows magic, Battle Qi, and is a priest of some god, then it's even more remarkable. The education he receives and the transcendent cultivation he undergoes in just over a decade can utterly defeat the evolutionary process of wild animals spanning tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years. Magical Beasts are useless too, because with the same resources and time, while a beast might produce one Magical Beast, humans can educate at least a dozen or more transcendent beings of the same level.
When the first hairless naked ape learned to use fire, to make spears, knives, swords, and bows and arrows, it became 'he,' and was no longer in the same dimension as all beasts. Their life form was elevated above all beasts because they had mastered a higher level of evolution mode, namely 'knowledge and technology.'
Just as genes are the basic units of life, spreading through replication and inheritance, and evolving through variation and mutation, memes are the basic units of civilization and culture. They spread through replication and imitation, and also evolve through variation and mutation (sparks of inspiration).
This evolution of knowledge not only spreads and learns quickly but also progresses faster. The Stone Age lasted about two million years. Even ten thousand years ago, humans were still primitive intelligent life using simple tools. But soon, within the next one or two thousand years, humans learned to cast metal weapons. Natural beasts, evolving for hundreds of millions of years, couldn't make their claws and teeth so sharp. Another one or two thousand years, and humans created guns, tanks, airplanes, missiles... This entire process was like flying, and beasts were no longer worthy of being compared to humans.
This is the process of 'meme information evolution.'
Rather than saying that the essence of humans is a repeater, it's better to say that the essence of civilization is a repeater.
If transcendent power is added, beasts might still hold on for a while, because the initial intensity of this power is too high, unlike claws, teeth, or fur. Transcendent power can also give rise to terrifying 'beasts' like Void Behemoths, which ordinary civilizations cannot face or defeat.
"But there's no need to compare this way, because civilizations also have their own powerful beings—for example, the Legendary experts of the Mycroft World, or the various war weapons created by the Sanctuary Civilization, and things like the 'Black Mist Mother Entity.'"
"Unconscious existence."
"Conscious existence."
"Conscious cognition."
"Self is cognition."
"Changing universal cognition."
Joshua's division of survival modes could be roughly categorized into these five levels.
Compared to the primordial soup where no life exists, large organic molecules, single cells, and multicellular organisms that lack self-awareness but have self-replicating and inheriting characteristics are a survival mode one level higher than non-existence.
Compared to mature multicellular organisms like sponges, various beasts, insects, and other life forms that have evolved maturity and possess self-awareness have a survival mode one level higher. They can consciously change themselves and influence the world more efficiently.
But compared to humans and all other intelligent life that have abandoned the slow evolution of the physical body and instead use 'memes' and 'knowledge'—self-replicating, evolving 'thoughts'—to form societies and civilizations, their life mode is one level higher than mere instinctive beings, slaves to genes. This is the survival mode of the 'conscious cognition' level.
As for Legendary experts, gods, and other beings who transcend their own life forms through knowledge and transcendent power, they can be said to have taken a step towards advancing their survival mode, but haven't yet landed.
Their form of existence is already that of super lifeforms, immortal and indestructible, with almost no similarity to mortals. However, there is no absolute essential difference between them and ordinary intelligent life. They can only be said to be very powerful intelligent life. To put it another way, their immortality might place them half a level higher than ordinary life.
So, what about the next higher level, 'self is cognition,' where the self is the meme... what would that be like?
Walking slowly among the crystal obelisks, Joshua let out a breath. He couldn't help but recall the time when he was studying the 'Psionic Bug' and was utterly perplexed.
The 'Psionic Bug' was a lifeform that was completely incomprehensible in terms of how it reproduced, appeared, or moved. Its material world entity was entirely composed of psionic energy. But why did this segment of psionic energy appear? Could it truly be a lifeform existing entirely in meme form?
Could it be that this thing, which appeared unintelligent, like a cosmic cockroach, was actually a 'meme life form' one level higher than humans?
"Actually, not necessarily. After all, no one knows whether the Psionic Bug has intelligence—maybe what we see is just an appearance. Maybe the Psionic Bug, spread across the entire Multiverse Star River and seemingly ordinary, is a single, massive, integrated lifeform. Its intelligence might be more vast than all of us combined. And the Undying Phoenix Void Behemoth is nothing more than a 'beast' pushed to its extreme, merely existing in this world, not worth mentioning."
Of course, Joshua wasn't really pondering which was stronger or more advanced, the 'Undying Phoenix Void Behemoth' or the 'Psionic Bug.' He was using the comparison between the two to contemplate something more important.
—Primitive life exists in the world. Beasts live in the world. Civilization cognizes this world. Legendary experts try to understand truth, to understand the world. And the Psionic Bug has probably already become part of the world, that is, part of universal phenomena.
"If Legendary is a super lifeform that has surpassed ordinary intelligent life by half a step."
Thinking this, the warrior murmured to himself, "Then the 'Sages,' who clearly surpass Legendary, and by more than one realm... their evolution has probably reached the point where they can change 'cognition.'"
This was Joshua's conception of the 'changing universal cognition,' that is, the 'changing the world, changing truth' survival mode of the 'Sage.'
Just as Joshua's thoughts concluded, he arrived at his destination.
Joshua looked up at the super-massive crystal obelisk before him, standing 4,521 meters tall, and the chaotic memory sealed within it, emitting an endless wave of 'malicious Chaos.'
The drifting black mist was like viscous asphalt permeating the air, extremely unpleasant.
"Before I take my step forward."
Looking at this stubborn, unyielding chaotic memory that had resisted years of attrition by billions of people day and night without softening or decomposing, Joshua, radiating a silver glow, shook his head as he raised his hand.
"It's time to do some cleaning and deal with the stubborn stains."