Chapter 1234 Ex-Machina, Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Crown of the Former Forest King

The next afternoon, in the Zen Garden.

The Zen Garden is located to the west of Vimalakirti Villa, on the hillside of a high mountain where the Shanjian Land is located.

This is the research base of the Institute of Life Studies, where various rare plants are planted for research.

This vast garden, built of stones, with doors and windows made up of colorful geometric shapes, has a beautiful environment, blooming flowers, and various rare rainforest plants that provide cool shade to block the scorching golden sunlight.

The two staircases on the left and right surround the crescent-shaped fountain water area, the circular platform walkway and the flower bed. The platform rises layer by layer, and the stairs continue to go up. At the highest point, the main research room of the Zen Garden appears, which is full of vegetation.

Along the way, Jiang Yi saw a lot of pale purple and blue Patisalans, large orange-yellow fan-shaped flowers growing from winding tree roots, and various tall trees like palm trees... and a green-tiled pavilion.

Yesterday, after completing the deal with Tinari, he took away everything he could from Abatoi's laboratory and placed it in the outdoor cave.

Tinari was a scholar of the Vitalism school, but he had once taken courses from the Suthirism school of the Institute of the Decrees, and had some research on machinery. He replenished the energy for Kakata, replaced all the broken parts, restarted it and woke it up, and buried Abatoi together with him.

"Although I know I'm dead, why do I still feel dazed when I see Seniors Kakata and Tinari burying my body..." Abatoi's soul is still on the back of Jiang Yi's cat paw.

His new identity now is Jiang Yi's lackey, and he is about to start working on 996 and 007, a ghost researcher who does not need to eat, drink or sleep, and only needs to rest for a while, to study mechanical life for Jiang Yi.

The kind that can... kill gods.

Jiang Yi called this future mechanical life form "Mechanic species".

Of course, relying on just one researcher, Abatoi, is not enough. Jiang Yi also identified some scholars from the Institute of Religious Affairs, preparing to poach them when the opportunity arises.

Then, there are the various ancient technologies in the Sumeru rainforest and the desert.

And... a body of a god, the ancestor of the Ex-Machina.

Jiang Yi raised the corner of his mouth. This god's body was destined to be the new god created by the Ministry of Education.

At that time, Kanriya's first eye of the ruins guard, plus the inverted statue sealed in the cave, and all the powers in the plan, would not be used to kill the gods, but perhaps could be used to blow up his own "seat of fate" in the sky.

This plan is a revised version of the Abyss Cult's "Loom of Fate" and "Mechanical Demon" plans, and is completely for its own benefit. Even if this Mechanical Demon has only one strike power, it is enough.

How to destroy the "Seat of Destiny"? This was his answer after thinking about it overnight.

The only problem is that the Fatui executives must be dealt with before the body of the god can be obtained. There is also a slight flaw in the plan. Direct destruction may prevent him from absorbing the power of the "Seat of Fate". The plan needs to be improved.

But at least, it is a trump card to break free from the shackles of fate.

Jiang Yi had already given up the race with the Order of the Church, and the hope of recovering his strength before the other party's god was born. He should develop himself, instead of being led by the enemy and falling into the worry of the battle strength competition.

So, I decided to give it a try with a small investment for a big gain. Without fully recovering my strength, I would make good use of every trump card around me to eliminate the Fatui and the new god of the House of the Decrees.

Of course, there is no need to tell these things to the researchers under him like Abatoi.

For mechanical life to truly be born, it has to happen after the Mechanical Demon succeeds and recovers its own strength, and then data can gain emotions.

And the key lies in Kakata.

The other party is an important existence in the future who gives mechanical life a true "heart".

The reason why Tinari violated the Decree Court was that he believed that "any life born in the world has meaning, and this one is no exception. Since it exists, it should not be abandoned or destroyed at will."

"And the rules of the House of Ordinances..."

Tinari said this to Ying and Paimon at the time.

"I'm not in the Order House, so what do those rules have to do with me? On the contrary, I'm now the ranger of Daocheng Forest, and I have the obligation to protect the lives in the forest."

The last thing everyone had to do was to keep the matter to themselves and avoid being discovered by the Ministry of Education.

And destroy all evidence.

"Gurgle, gurgle!" Kakata, who turned himself into a cube, was being sat on by Tinari.

While Tinari was talking about the names and functions of various plants, he asked his assistant Kakata to help record them.

Before becoming a ranger, Tinari had spent a long time studying in the Zen Garden. After becoming a ranger, he would come here when doing research.

This place is familiar enough and secluded enough that it will not be easily disturbed by scholars other than the students of the School of the Church.

Abatoi's soul looked at Kakata and Jiang Yi with a bit of resentment.

"Kakata, it's obviously mine..." He was angry but dared not say anything.

At this time, he saw a photo frame next to it with a photo in it.

“This is…” In the photo, there was a picture of him and Senior Tinari.

Tinari saw Jiang Yi coming over and stared at the photos. He said, "Although I'm not interested in taking photos, I won't throw them away, so I just found a box to store them in. When I came back yesterday, I searched around and saw Abatoi's old photos, so I gave them to Kakata."

“It’s quite happy.”

Jiang Yi ignored Abatoi's expression and glanced at the other group photos on the box next to the photo frame. There were many female scholars in them.

"Ying and Paimon came to visit Kakata, and then returned to Huachengguo to accompany Kelai to take care of some patients from the contaminated area. You come to me now, is there something wrong?" Tinari found that the mechanical bird lady on Jiang Yi's back seemed to have fallen asleep again.

"Do you take care of your tail regularly?" Jiang Yi asked a strange question.

Tinari flicked his furry tail.

"...Did you notice? I always apply plant essential oil to my tail before going to bed. I forgot to bring it when I was in the rain forest, so it didn't look shiny anymore. Do you want to buy some skin care products from me?"

He looked at the cat hair on Jiang Yi's body, thoughtfully.

"No! I buy it mainly for my friends." Jiang Yi said with a smile, "I have a fox friend, a big dog friend, and a cat friend... maybe they will like it."

"That's great. I have researched a new plant essential oil. I won't charge you any money. You can give it to your friends and ask them to give you feedback after using it." Tinari was very generous.

He found an excuse and gave Jiang Yi a few bottles of essential oils.

"Hey! I called you here because I want you to take me and Tinari to meet each other, not to buy plant essential oils!" Abatoi's soul shouted.

Previously, Jiang Yi said that he would give new employees a chance to realize a wish. The wish of Abatoi's soul was to take back Kakata, but Jiang Yi refused, saying that Tinari was more suitable to be the owner of Kakata than him for the time being.

So, as a second best option, he changed his wish to meet Tinari alone and give Tinari some instructions.

"Well... I came here today for another matter. Someone wants to see you alone and talk to you. Tinari, do you have time?" Jiang Yi said, "Just give me ten minutes."

"Your friend?" asked Tinari.

"No! It's your descendant!" Jiang Yi said meaningfully.

"My junior?" Tinari held his chin up in thought, "Well, since it only takes ten minutes, let's meet!"

"Let's go to that pavilion!" Jiang Yi walked silently towards the pavilion on the side of the Zen Garden.

"Kakata, you stay here for a while..." Tinari patted Kakata, and after getting a response from Kakata, he followed Jiang Yi to the pavilion.

There was no one else in the pavilion.

"No one has arrived yet?" Tinari said.

"We're here!" Jiang Yi let go of Abatoi's soul.

"Hmm?" Tinari looked at an aura wafting out of Jiang Yi, and a scholar dressed in Su Lun school clothes, with a translucent body and emitting light, appeared in front of him.

"Abatoi?" Tinari raised his eyebrows. "You are so obsessed that you came to Zenna Garden to haunt it. Is it because Kakata and I didn't bury your body properly? Do you need any burial objects? A set of mechanical parts?"

"Ahem! Senior Tinari, stop joking!" Abatoi was in a daze, and when he saw Tinari was in such complicated emotions that he didn't know how to start, he immediately lost his composure.

"I don't care where I am buried. I just want to see you and ask you, do you really regard Kakata as a real life?" He looked into Tinari's eyes.

Tinari crossed his arms and said, "From a scholar's perspective, it is not possible to conclude that Kakata is a real life, but since there is such a possibility, I am willing to believe it. After all, it is difficult to explain why it tried to 'repair' you, isn't it?"

"You only left a small part of the experimental records. I don't know how many instructions you set. Is it a conflict between the instructions that caused Kakata to do this? As the creator of Kakata, you should know better than me whether it is life or not?"

Jiang Yi interrupted at this time and said: "In fact, there is a simpler way to determine whether it is life. Have you heard of such a proposition?"

"'Do androids dream of electric sheep?', as in 'Does Kakata dream of Abatoi?'"

“Whether or not to dream may be the true sign of life.”

Tinari nodded: "Interesting answer. I'll observe tonight to see if Kakata talks in his sleep!"

Although the mainstream view in Xumi is that not dreaming is rationality and wisdom, Tinari does not blindly believe in authority.

"Will Kakata dream about me?" Abatoi looked in the direction of Kakata with a complicated expression.

"Senior Tinari, I will give you the instructions I wrote. Are you interested in continuing to study mechanical life?" He paused for a moment and asked.

Tinari shook his head and refused bluntly: "I am not going to violate the ban of the House of Decrees. If you are here to ask me to take good care of Kakata, I already understand your intention."

"But if you're here to ask me to inherit your research, I'm sorry to refuse."

"As a senior, I want to tell you something."

"My ancestors once lived together with the 'Balagasuna' from the desert and helped each other. Our bloodline was also born based on this 'symbiotic' relationship."

"In my opinion, any life is important. The first prerequisite for understanding life is to respect life."

Abatoi pursed his lips.

Tinari looked at the vibrant and lush gardens around him and continued, "... Life is not consumable, and knowledge should not become a crown or a scepter. This is what I am dissatisfied with some scholars, and it is also the reason why I left the House of the Decrees. It is also the reason why I saved Kakata."

Jiang Yi nodded.

Very good, very good. Tinari can write down these two sentences and use them as banners to hang all over his "Mechanical Life" Research Institute.

By the way, you can also play beautiful movies and animations about the bonds between people and robots to provide ideological guidance to researchers.

Praise the Supreme Mechanical Spirit! The Clever Girl will not... ahem, get hurt.

Seeing that Abatoi had no intention of speaking again, Tinari turned and walked down the pavilion: "...Putting yourself above other lives and studying pure life with impure intentions, can you really achieve any results? It's better to treat life as a friend!"