I really only stop

"Unexpectedly, the little snacks Zelika stuffed into my clothes would actually come in handy."

After the productivity of Osiris in the sky city was greatly increased due to the help of adventurers who climbed the tower unremittingly, and the research ability also increased due to the research of bacteria by Miraculous Haimo, Nova finally had the time and ability to deal with some problems proposed by Lu Xi. ideas, and the 'bouncing candy' in his hand is one of them.

Under Lu Xi's description plus the original product provided by the system store, Haimo easily made a harmless bacteria that can make the mouth feel bouncing. After adding sweet bacteria and color-changing bacteria, the alien version Popping candy (a bacterial aggregate) was easily reproduced by Osiris.

Cough, it's a bit weird to say, but think about it from another angle, because it doesn't add any real sugar, so you won't get fat no matter how much you eat-is it easy to accept?

In order to counteract the sales, Lu Xi included a colorful character card in each package of Bouncing Candy——the promotion method of blind box gift is quite effective no matter what kind of product it is used on. Truth in sales.

As a matter of course, a certain childish Zerika foolishly took the bait. Without Lucy's knowledge, she spent her pocket money to buy a lot of bouncing candies. The candy was given to his three teammates.

So, why doesn't this guy just talk to me?It would be great if I just gave her a set of all-character cards.

Shaking his head amusedly, Lu Xi handed half of the candy to Cocoa:

"Our own products should still be fresh in Sanctuary, and they taste good. Although theoretically, they can't fill your stomach, but holding them in your hand can give you a little peace of mind."

"grateful."

Anyway, the Mushroom Paladin is also a well-educated knight.Facing the other party's gift, she stood up and saluted very standardly:

"I also have some dried mushrooms that I made myself. The seasoning is only simple salt. Please accept it."

"Ah."

Nodding slightly, Lu Xi casually stuffed a piece of bouncing candy into his mouth, and looked sideways at the figures of the Holy Light exuding [joy, satisfaction] on the other side of the room:

"In short, in order to find possible flaws, let's investigate here first."

----------

To be honest, the feeling is quite subtle now.

We want to find clues to escape from this oversized secret room, but the culprit who holds the key to the secret room and locks us here is smiling and following us to find clues.

Can't help but look back at the smiling Themis, the corners of Lu Xi's mouth couldn't help twitching.

The only reason for this weird situation is the [Commander Beacon] in my hand. If my authority is not higher than this extreme AI, I might not be treated in any way.

Just like-

"These figures of the Holy Light didn't respond even when we got so close."

Wary of approaching the figure of the Holy Light, Cocoa waved his hand tentatively, but got silence:

"Do they really still have consciousness?"

"I don't know. As an ordinary human being, I can't imagine that I can stick to my thoughts after ten thousand years in such an extreme cycle of [suffering]-[pleasure]."

Lucy shook his head:

"Themis, since you say that everything you do is based on virtue, don't you feel [pity] when you look at these people?"

"Mercy? Why?"

A trace of confusion appeared on Themis's face rather humanly:

"What the center gives them is absolute [fairness]. After you give, you get something. This is the truth of natural operation. And when the effort and the gain are absolutely equal, the perfect social form is born. To live in such a perfect society , the center can't find a reason to pity the researchers."

"But what if they're involuntary?"

Lu Xi tried to be persuasive:

"For example, some of the researchers are unwilling to enter this endless and extreme cycle?"

"It's a shame you were born this way."

Evaluating human beings from the perspective of AI, Themis used [you] as the subject of the answer this time:

"Labor is exchanged for rewards for enjoyment. This criterion is applicable in any civilization. Although the center has exchanged labor for [suffering], it has not actually changed this principle. Even if the researchers live in an outside society, they also There is no escape from such a fate.”

"wrong."

Lucy shook his head:

"Your equivalent method of simply replacing labor with suffering is wrong. People who love life and work can also gain happiness in labor, which is not what you understand [labor is a purely disgusting activity]. "

"But it is undeniable that such people are a minority after all, right?"

Themis did not waver at all:

"Moreover, what the center does can actually be seen as dividing all [suffering] and all [pleasure] in life, so there is no such situation as you said."

"..."

Lucy was silent.

After a long time, he waved to Cocoa beside him:

"Let's go to the first room."

Chapter 478

Going back to the chilling 'Between Suffering' again, after learning the truth here, Lu Xi's heart was even more shocked.

If the information provided by Themis is accurate, this is not only the last energy source of the entire sky city, but also its most important [experimental site].

It is not simply to torture and pain the researchers, but to divide the functions of human society to the extreme.

The process of "suffering" of the researchers here corresponds to all the sufferings in the world, such as fatigue, exhaustion, misunderstanding, loneliness... In the real world, even if they suffer from these, people may not necessarily get what they deserve. However, in this [absolutely fair society] built by AI, all the sufferings suffered can be rewarded equally.

In many cases, people are not afraid of suffering, but are afraid that after their own suffering, the results obtained will be taken away by others for free.

"For safety reasons, you who have not performed [Immortal Life] cannot get close to the researcher, but you can use all the instruments in this room at will."

It wasn't as weird as when I just explained [you can't leave Sky City], the smile on Themis' face was still soft and perfect:

"The method of use will be guided by me all the way, if you need anything, please just tell me."

"Ah."

The researchers who never left their eyes suspended in mid-air for a moment, Lu Xi who noticed something sensitively made a request:

"I want to hear what they're talking about."

"Yes, the sound collection device is being connected."

There was no movement of Themis, and a suspended light screen appeared beside her out of thin air, and the voice patterns surged on it like waves, and soon, the voice from the other side of the curtain wall entered Lu Xi and the others faithfully. human ear:

"Ah, ah ah ah ah ah!"

The meaningless howling made people feel numb just listening to it. Apart from that, Lu Xi didn't get any useful information.

...That's right, suffering from such inescapable torture, the brain may have lost the ability to think long ago.

Raising his hand to signal Themis to turn off the sound, Lu Xi fell into deep thought.

The so-called [torture] is not just about pain, after the seven days of pain, the new seven days of [enjoyment] is also a kind of torture.

Inanimate life like an iron pipe will lose its original structure in the extreme cold and extreme heat. What's more, it is the living man thousands of years ago who keeps repeating this desperate cycle of falling from heaven to hell and then from hell to heaven. of human beings.

Lu Xi here was still trying to find clues, but Themis on the side took the initiative to talk to the holy spear girl:

"Miss Cocoa, may I call you that?"

"Well, yes."

The Holy Spearman, who couldn't accept it but couldn't find any flaws in Themis' theory, was obviously not too interested. Facing Themis' move, which can be called a "good show", she just nodded slightly:

"Is there a problem?"

"Just wanted to chat with you."

A burst of data flashed in his eyes, and Themis smiled and pointed to the purgatory on earth that was deliberately ignored by the Holy Spearman:

"A simple question, how many kinds of coincidences can be found in this experiment?"

"coincide?"

Resisting the nausea and dizziness and looking at the six figures behind the curtain wall, Cocoa quickly looked away:

"I don't see any coincidence."

"Of course there are coincidences."

As an AI, Themis will not have any negative emotions because of the lack of interest of the conversation partner. On the contrary, under the adjustment of the center, her voice appears more stable and patient:

"Have you ever wondered why making some researchers suffer makes others happy?"

"...I hate what you say."

Clutching the holy gun silently, Cocoa kept taking deep breaths:

"Researchers who are transformed into high-energy bodies by painful stimulation can generate energy for Themis—this is your exact words."

"That's just a [phenomenon]."

Themis was unwavering:

"Why can infinite energy be released with painful stimulation? Why can these energies just meet the pleasure needs of another group after addition and subtraction? Is it because these energies are stimulated that they are doomed in the dark? Supply another energy body? Why must the superintendence of the center be supervised to achieve the equal balance condition? And—"

"—What the hell are you trying to say?!"

The churning feeling in his stomach became more and more intense, and the pale-faced holy gunman looked up at Themis' eyes, but there was a subtle lack of self-confidence and... [fear]:

"If you want to explain to me the disgusting mechanism here, I already understand it!"

"Observe the phenomena in nature, and understand the philosophy related to [life] from it - isn't this what [you] are best at and love the most?"

Cooperated with an distressed movement, however, Themis' chat did not end here:

"During thousands of years of experimental observation, the center has made a conjecture—in this world, is there a unified upper limit for all the pain and happiness that can be recognized by your [intellect]?"

"As long as a person pays, to be precise, [sacrifices] all of his own, he can make another person feel the greatest joy-this is the result of the center's experiment, which is very accurate and subtle. On the other hand, if If you want to gain joy for yourself, at least one person in this world must pay the painful price for it."

With a random move, a light screen was drawn, starting with a villain, and Themis drew many villains on it.The flow of gold coins is used as a bridge between villains. The smile on the side that flows away disappears, and the smile on the face of the side that gets it is even better.

But then, Themis completely erased the element of gold coins from the composition. However, the change of smile on the villain's face did not stop because of this.

"What binds you may never be the currency system you think. It is just a reality, just the realization of the above hypothesis. In fact, you are in a huge group called [society], relying on other people's Pain and sacrifice allow oneself to continue to obtain pleasure, and claim [success] by paying as little as possible and gaining as much as possible.”

The picture on the light screen changes with Themis’ narration. At the beginning, the villain stomps on other villains, and the smile on his face grows bigger and bigger—finally, it is so big that it almost swallows the entire face.

For some reason, looking at the smile on the villain's face, Ke Keya's originally tall and straight posture gradually became swaying from side to side.

Trying to overcome this visceral discomfort, she put her hand over her mouth, but it seemed to have little effect.

"The Center believes that this is the truth. However, in the real society recorded in the data, you cannot even achieve this most basic truth."

AI doesn't know what to say, or in other words, Themis doesn't think it's necessary for him to watch what he says:

"Someone has paid pain to get the ticket to [pleasure] called money, however, setting aside for the moment the fact that this pleasure itself is based on other people's pain, this is what humans do. Can the [ticket to enjoyment] defined and priced by human beings really be equated with the pain paid?"

"The answer from the center is that it can't, and the center has given its own solution."

Smiling and staring at the Holy Spearman whose soul seemed to have been taken away, Themis once again pointed to the location of the transformation formation of [Eternal Life]:

"So, please join our society. Join this society named [Fairness] where you can get absolutely equal rewards as long as you pay—"

"—Cocoa, let's go."

There was an inexplicable pulling sensation from her right hand, and the holy spear girl was almost mercilessly dragged away from where she was, and there was a pain in her wrist—thanks to this, she also recovered from the stomach pain just now. Waking up from the overwhelming trance.

"Stay by the side and take it easy."

Although seeing that the girl had slowly regained consciousness, Lu Xi still did not let go of her hand.After speaking to Cocoa in a low voice, he turned his head to look at Themis, and said firmly and firmly:

"Themis, [order] you with a first-level authority. Without my permission, you must never say a word to Cocoa."

There was no displeasure at all, Themis just bowed softly to Lu Xi:

"Follow your orders, Your Excellency Lucy."

PS: (→)

Chapter 479

"...I am a mushroom."

"..."