Chapter 2979: Mental Defense Line
Xu Huo pondered, "Can a Class A Wormhole Point use instruments to probe a person's consciousness?"
Tang Guangbo glanced at him again and nodded slightly. "Yes."
"A Class A Wormhole Point has already developed a brain-computer interface chip that can upload and store a person's memories. Whether it can achieve consciousness immortality in the terminal is still unknown."
Xu Huo frowned. "Doesn't that make a person's brain completely transparent to the instruments?"
"Not entirely," Tang Guangbo said. "The human brain has a mental defense line. What's fascinating is that regardless of a person's scientifically measured mental strength, this defense line is extremely difficult to breach."
"It's more like an innate energy within a person, driven by their will."
"If this mental defense line cannot be penetrated, the instrument cannot freely roam the ocean of memories. There will be deviations, omissions, or even fabrications."
"The same goes for mental interference. The affected person may experience cognitive errors or even fall into inescapable hallucinations, but these are all pressures exerted by external forces. You cannot truly see that person's memories. Any reaction from the affected person is based on their own initiative."
This wasn't hard to understand. Under the same interference, those with stronger mental power would have weaker reactions. Although mental strength varied, everyone had a basic layer of mental protection, like the skull around the brain, only invisible to the mental eye.
Acquiring others' memories... This reminded Xu Huo of certain fragments. When Dr. Zhang altered his memories, he had made a motion of extracting Xu Huo's memories from his brain in the form of mental power.
This was an entirely different field from mental evolution.
After a moment of thought, he brought up the situation in the Wisteria Instance.
"People who fall asleep in the dream can be easily killed by the mental bodies of ordinary people. Moreover, whether it's the killer or the killed, their consciousness seems to jointly construct the complete sequence of events."
Tang Guangbo perked up. "There's actually an instance like that!"
"The instance is gone." Xu Huo briefly explained the situation, mentioning the base building he had discovered and the possibility that he had accidentally destroyed the Instance Authorization.
Tang Guangbo expressed some regret. "Since this instance wasn't famous in the game before, there probably aren't many survivors."
"But this doesn't necessarily mean the game has mastered a method to easily breach others' mental defense lines. It's more likely a unique location that formed when the instance suddenly emerged. The evolution of the game and the human brain are somewhat similar in that regard—both are unpredictable."
"Did you bring back any of that wisteria?"
"The wisteria in Hai City probably hasn't been fully cleared yet. If you go now, you might still be in time." Xu Huo paused, then added, "But your research results seem to contradict your own direction."
Based on what he had said earlier, Tang Guangbo was opposed to using other means to breach the human brain and disliked the idea of people being passively probed. Yet, based on the current information and clues, they seemed closer than ever to breaking through the brain's mental defense line.
"Both outcomes make no difference to me." Tang Guangbo scribbled on his communicator before continuing. "I'm only interested in the human mental defense line."
"The state of the people who fell asleep in the instance is very similar to what happens after the mental defense line is breached. Falling asleep again within the dream might represent a further relaxation of the defense line, which is why one mental body killing another results in the death of the person themselves."
"But this is also a very delicate state. When a mental body is killed, the person dies directly. It's more like an accidental mental collision. In a situation where both sides are very weak, the comparison of strength ceases to exist. The spirit can truly be killed..."
As he spoke, he began scribbling in the air, occasionally muttering to himself—he really did seem a bit unstable.
Xu Huo was also interested in this state of mental bodies meeting face-to-face across the mental defense line, so he said, "If you get any results, don't forget to let me know."
Tang Guangbo paused for a moment before replying. "By now, you should understand that the core of the spiritual world displayed by mental evolvers is, to some extent, them voluntarily opening their mental defense line. Although that is also where the evolver's mental power is strongest, if the core of the spiritual world is severely damaged, the person's brain will also be injured."
"You have multiple personality mental bodies. You could put in some effort to create a new core and hide your true mental core."
Having said this, he looked up and gave Xu Huo a meaningful glance. "In front of someone stronger, revealing the core of your spiritual world is a disguised invitation. Hide your true core, and no one will be able to read your memories."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body sank into the moldy floor, taking the bag of fruit with him.
Xu Huo stood there, silent for two seconds. "Quite good at being mysterious."
He wasn't surprised that Tang Guangbo knew about his memory issues. During the previous treatment, although Xu Huo himself hadn't recalled the events surrounding Xu Zhi's death, that didn't mean Tang Guangbo hadn't seen them.
As his mental evolution progressed, the old memories gradually replaced the false ones layered on top. This meant that even if the mental defense line was breached, as long as the brain wasn't physically destroyed, memories could never truly disappear.
How interesting. Even an extremely powerful mental super evolver would find it difficult to directly kill a person with mental power alone, yet a mental body stripped of its defense line could achieve this with the aid of external conditions.
But even with a ready example before him, breaking through the mental defense line shouldn't be that easy. Dr. Zhang had probably crossed that threshold. Xu Huo wondered if he could kill people this way. If so, given his mental strength, he could probably kill anyone in the game at will.
Would he even have an advantage against super players?
Whether it was Dr. Zhang, Tang Guangbo, or Dr. Wu, to some extent, they all acknowledged human potential, viewing humans as entities that could never be fully predicted—variables within the game.
Creating a new core... That was worth a try.
After visiting Tang Guangbo, Xu Huo returned home. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few guests. They were relatives from the Xu and Yu families. Although they were visiting, they had brought their own ingredients, taken the initiative to cook, and even helped tidy up the rooms, leaving Xu Huo's father and Ms. Yu with nothing to worry about. The children they brought were also well-behaved, not fighting over toys or making noise, and got along well with Tongtong.
Someone had even brought a set of ancient jade chess pieces for the old man, and a game was already underway.
Xu Huo greeted them and went back to his room.
The guests didn't mind at all. As long as they showed their faces, their purpose for the visit was achieved. Distant relatives are less useful than close neighbors, and close neighbors are less useful than frequent encounters.
As soon as he sat down, the Painting Woman floated out from under the bed, landed on the ground, and reached out to fiddle with the wormhole flower. She asked a question she had clearly prepared in advance: "Are you going to be busy again? If you're busy, can I go play at the New District Government Building?"