Chapter 396
The Principle of Discrimination
Chapter 396 The Principle of Discrimination
Based on past experience, the spiritual network can only be established between ascended beings; ordinary people cannot use it.
Moreover, both parties establishing a connection must have the subjective intention at the same time; if one party is unwilling, the other party cannot force the connection to be completed.
The parasite in front of Guan Tong was also transformed from an ordinary person, not an ascendant.
And it certainly has no intention of establishing a connection. In this case, how can the mind network function? This is what Guan Tong is curious about.
His mental power surged forth with his thoughts and made contact with the parasite's forehead.
The instant it began to operate as a mental network, a powerful feedback occurred.
Guan Tong felt as images entered her consciousness through her mental power.
In those fragmented, chaotic scenes, there were towering, circular halls everywhere, with countless figures moving among them.
As the video played, whispers rang out one after another.
"Join us..."
"Joining this wonderful family..."
These sounds were similar to those he had heard during the [Extraterrestrial Parasite] period, but to his surprise, he discovered that, unlike before, this time his thoughts could be transmitted to them.
Like... two ascendants who have established a connection.
In an instant, Guan Tong understood!
"It's not about establishing a connection with the body of the parasite... but with the spores..."
With the thought of "interruption," all the images and sounds in his mind came to an abrupt halt and disappeared.
Guan Tong withdrew her hand and shadow, and the parasite, now freed from its restraints, collapsed onto the bed, having fainted the instant it had connected.
What did you discover?
Zhang Minglu asked, as he could tell that Guan Tong had already discovered the key point.
Guan Tong turned around and looked at the two of them.
“The mind network can indeed identify parasites. But what connects humans is not a parasite, but a spore.”
Zhang Minglu and Long Hun both looked surprised upon hearing this.
Guan Tong continued, "As we all know, once these alien spores take over a host's body, they retain the original host's memories. I didn't care before, but now I understand that the spores themselves, or rather, the individuals, have no intelligence, only the instinct to spread—their actions are entirely dependent on the logic constructed from the host's past memories. This means that when an Ascended being who can use the Mind Network attempts to connect with it, it will immediately agree. Because..."
"Because diffusion is its instinct!" Zhang Minglu couldn't help but exclaim excitedly. "When a connection appears, its instinct makes it think it has gained an opportunity to diffuse, but either side of the mental network can sever this connection at any time! So that's how it is, this is how you use the mental network to identify it!"
The Ascended connects to the host via a psychic network, and the spores that manipulate the host consent out of a diffusion instinct. Once the connection is established, it attempts to assimilate the Ascended, transmitting images and whispers... The moment the Ascended receives the transmission, it can confirm that what is before it is the host.
"Hahaha!"
Zhang Minglu burst into laughter, a rare occurrence for him.
"I see! This way, these parasites can no longer hide themselves. They can't resist their instincts, and humans can find them all!"
Dragon Soul knew that Zhang Minglu had been troubled by the parasite problem and had been researching it for a long time without any results.
Now that a solution has finally been found, it's not surprising that he might lose his composure.
But he was more concerned about another issue.
"I'd like to ask," Dragon Soul asked Guan Tong, "how did you restart the mind network?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Minglu calmed down as well: "Yes. Although we can identify parasites through the mind network, the number of parasites is enormous, and it would take a lot of manpower to completely identify them."
“Restarting the Mind Network requires a maximum Mind Power of 1,000 points.” Guan Tong didn’t hide anything. “This is a hard requirement.”
One thousand points of mental power maximum!
Zhang Minglu and Long Hun were both taken aback.
This number is too high, even for the official team members who have always received special training.
"You've already broken the thousand-point limit... That's amazing."
Zhang Minglu looked at Guan Tong with disbelief, wondering how the latter had managed to do it.
But then he frowned deeply.
"Reaching the 1,000-point cap is difficult! Only a handful of people in the official team are close, and everyone else is far behind. As for those who have reached the sublime level in the general public, it goes without saying."
The dragon soul standing to the side deeply sympathized.
He was one of the "few people" Zhang Minglu mentioned. While he was close to achieving that level, it would actually take a long time for him to succeed without any opportunity.
“Such stringent requirements mean that very few people can meet them.” Zhang Minglu’s expression turned somewhat grim. “It seems that even if we master the identification method, it’s unlikely that we can identify them all in the short term.”
Guan Tong didn't speak; he was thinking that he might be able to do it.
His ability to split shadows is unparalleled; hundreds and thousands of shadow threads spread out, each imbued with his mental power, and each thread can connect with a host upon contact.
Once connected and receiving images and sounds, a judgment can be made, and then the connected shadow line will be used to remove the parasite.
If he does this, he can easily identify more than four figures of parasites in a single day and eliminate them.
"In any case, we have gained enough today."
Zhang Ming patted Guan Tong on the shoulder as he walked.
"Thanks to you. I guess you're the only one in the world who can reach this level right now."
Guan Tong thought to herself that Shi Jingyi was faster than her, but she just hadn't revealed it. "Dragon Soul and I will return to the main base now. I need to compile some information on this matter tonight," Zhang Minglu said, then paused and added to Guan Tong.
"Once this matter becomes public, the parasitic group will definitely target those Ascendants whose mental power limit exceeds 1,000. For safety's sake, we will conceal your name, and you'd better not expose yourself."
Guan Tong nodded.
That was what he thought at the time, which is why he told Shi Jingyi not to try to take the risk of discerning the truth.
If either of the two were to go on an adventure, the one with the unpredictable whereabouts would definitely be more suitable.
The three left the cell and arrived at the base gate.
"Where are you going? I'll have Dragon Soul escort you."
"No need."
"Okay, be careful not to be affected by Scarlet Fear."
"Scarlet Fear...that's a very fitting name."
“That’s what we call it in the countermeasures room,” Zhang Minglu said. “You’d better use a teleportation item to leave; that’s safer.”
Teleportation item...
Guan Tong suddenly frowned, something flashing through her mind.
The video of the replacement at the rehabilitation center... In such a short time, what was the purpose of the replacement?
If you enter Suzuki's room and set up a teleportation device, you can then use the device to enter again and avoid being monitored.
Because there are no surveillance cameras in the patient's room, this creates a blind spot.
……
The following morning.
A remote meeting of the Human Resources Alliance was held.
Soroma representative Mary spoke first: "Soroma Space Agency believes that the reason why the previous space colonization operation on Terra failed and resulted in the deaths of many astronauts was related to this rule. The astronauts must have been affected by the Crimson Force on Terra."
Gao Liangwei said, "Beixing also made the same judgment."
"You mean the astronauts were harmed by the rules before they were even published?" asked the representative from Sisyah, Toraft, in surprise.
“Yes,” Gao Liangwei said. “We speculate that the Firebringer deployed the Crimson Power used in this event on Terra long in advance. But it could not foresee the future and did not know that humans would launch two manned rockets to land on Terra, which is why this accident occurred.”
"Such a thing actually happened..."
"If this conjecture is correct, it seems that the fire thieves are not as powerful as we thought."
"Predicting the future is inherently an unlikely thing."
"I'm reminded of the last question humanity asked of nanolifeforms—wasn't it to test whether they could foresee the future, or whether the Firebringers had pre-set the rules? We didn't get the answer then, but now it seems..."
"Yes, we have the answer. While the Firebringers cannot predict the future, they may be able to set the rules in advance."
The committee members were excited about the new discovery of the fire-stealers, but they quickly calmed down.
Because this understanding cannot currently be translated into practical use.
“Then, I think it’s necessary for the Human Alliance to cooperate in exploring the unknown aspects of the Crimson Power,” Gao Liangwei said.
"Cooperation?" Mary asked in surprise. "Why?"
"If that unknown information is similar to the original 'Yamo Star Fragment Puzzle,' shouldn't this information be shared by all of humanity? Acting individually will only reduce efficiency and waste more resources."
"Chairman Gao is right."
"We also agree that the People's Federation should work together to explore that unknown."
Several members from smaller countries voiced their support, and Torraft also expressed his agreement.
Seeing this, Mary pretended to listen attentively, presumably to what someone from the Soloma state decision-making level was saying to her.
After a moment, she nodded in agreement: "Okay, we, Soloma, also agree to explore that unknown together."
"Before we discuss the specific actions against the Fire Thief Cult, I have some important information to share with you all."
Gao Liangwei sent the materials that Zhang Minglu had compiled overnight to the committee members, who were all taken aback when they saw them.
"What! The condition for restarting the Mind Network is actually a thousand points of Mind Power limit!"
"That's too high a requirement... How many Ascendants in the world can meet that requirement right now?"
Gao Liangwei said, "The purpose of releasing this intelligence is to encourage countries to accelerate the training of their top sublimators and help them break through as soon as possible. Only when there are more sublimators who meet the requirements can we effectively identify the parasites lurking in human society and eliminate this deadly poison from human society."
After he finished speaking, he noticed that Mary did not seem surprised.
"Committee Member Mary, has your Soloma already discovered this information?"
"No... Soroma does have people who have broken through the 1,000-point mental power limit, but they have not tried to use it to identify parasites."
Ok?
Gao Liangwei didn't understand the meaning behind Mary's words.
According to the report written by Zhang Minglu, once an Ascended Being breaks through the upper limit of one thousand mental power, their mental network will automatically restart.
In addition, the previous nano-intelligent entity had clearly stated that one of the methods to identify parasites is through the mind network.
In this situation, since Soroma has someone making a breakthrough, why not give it a try?
Looking at Mary's strange expression, Gao Liangwei wondered if there was something special about the breakthroughs of Soroma that made it inconvenient to make similar attempts.
Mary seemed unwilling to elaborate on the topic: "The conditions are so harsh, which means it's impossible to wipe out the parasites in the short term. The highest priority for humanity right now is to eliminate the high-ranking members of the Firebringer Cult and dismantle this cult."
(End of this chapter)