Xiao Yu knew that at this moment, he had truly earned the loyalty of these scientists, because he had given them the most precious thing of all: dignity. From this point on, they would understand that, in Xiao Yu’s eyes, they were not commodities to be measured by specific value. From now on, they would regard this place as their true home, and do their utmost to protect it.
At Xiao Yu’s command, they rose from the floor and returned to their seats.
“Experiments involving live subjects, never bring them up again. My ruthlessness is reserved for my enemies. For those loyal to me, I will treat them well.” Xiao Yu said. “Now, let’s hear everyone’s thoughts regarding the second trial of the Trolor Civilization…”
“The level of technological advancement determines the structure of a society. That structure in turn shapes the ideological trends of a species. Philosophy can only emerge in dependence on these elements. Since we don’t possess a fully developed social structure, it’s impossible for us to know what truly goes on in the mind of a Level 4 civilization’s beings, what they think about life, what insights they may have.” Luka Two said, after some contemplation, with a note of helplessness.
“A typical philosopher from a Level 4 civilization may not be able to pass this trial. After all, the Trolor Civilization designed this question to evaluate the development potential of the Dwarf Race. So our answer must also reflect that potential. Finding the correct answer will be extremely difficult.” added another scientist from the Psychosocial Sciences Division.
“Besides that, we must also consider another matter.” a different scientist said. “Intelligent Program One now has its own independent thought process. When we submit the answer, we’ll also need to account for Intelligent Program One’s influence on how that answer is judged. It’s very possible that an originally correct answer could be deemed incorrect under its influence.”
“As for the reason why all the spaceships controlled by Intelligent Program One had to return after entering the second phase, I believe that detail is highly suspicious. This matter may be directly tied to the second trial.”
“But with so little known information at present, we simply can’t analyze the true cause. The safest course of action is still to use the ten million Dwarves to carry out the experiment. While we admire the master’s compassion for subordinate races, I still believe that now is the time to harden our hearts.”
After Xiao Yu thoroughly rejected the proposal for human experimentation, the scientists resumed their discussions. This time, the scope of their ideas was far broader, but not a single feasible suggestion was brought forth.
At this moment, Xiao Yu was also deep in thought, feeding possibility after possibility into various models. But each time, the simulation ran into a dead end and yielded no result.“Sigh… Why is the Trolor Civilization’s trial so twisted…” Xiao Yu muttered helplessly.
This question had struck precisely at Xiao Yu’s weak point. If the one who had come here weren’t Xiao Yu, but rather a typical Level 5 civilization, this question likely wouldn’t have posed any difficulty. But it was Xiao Yu who had come here.
While the discussion continued, aboard the Hope Seventy Six spaceship, the ten million Dwarves had already begun receiving the signal input from the helmet devices. However, Xiao Yu had neither wiped their memories nor employed any method of time compression to flood them with information in a short period. Instead, he used a normal flow of time to simulate signals in their brains, making them believe they had already removed their helmets, boarded a transport ship, and arrived at a terrifying alien planet.
Due to the Dwarves’ physical structure being similar to humans, all information was processed by their brains. And since Xiao Yu’s simulated signals were sent directly to their minds, the experience was incredibly realistic, so realistic that not a single Dwarf could detect anything unusual.
Since the initial propaganda had claimed they would reach an alien world for pioneering work, Xiao Yu naturally had to follow through on that promise in the simulation. Thus, under Xiao Yu’s control, these ten million Dwarves experienced all sorts of eerie and terrifying events…
Aboard the Hope Seventy Six spaceship, in an ordinary room of a city still under construction, a young Dwarf lay quietly. The rapidly flashing red light atop the massive helmet on its head indicated that its brain was currently undergoing intense activity. In fact, at this very moment, it was experiencing the most terrifying ordeal of its life.
It was fleeing from the pursuit of a creature resembling a demon. Within its consciousness, it clearly remembered that after arriving on the new planet, they had first taken some time to rest and received basic training. Then, after receiving equipment distributed by Xiao Yu, it and a few other young Dwarves had been assigned a mission to scout for minerals in the wilderness.
The sky was pitch-black, which made them extremely uncomfortable, given their reliance on visible light for vision. Fortunately, they had night-vision goggles issued by Xiao Yu, which allowed them to barely make out their surroundings.
“This planet is really desolate.” it thought with a tinge of emotion. “I wonder what kind of treasure is hidden on this world.”
“Shh, John, don’t talk. Did you hear that sound?” a companion whispered to it.
“Sound… huh?” Remaining alert, it listened carefully and immediately picked up a low, mournful wailing. The sound was chilling to the bone, making its hair stand on end.
The group of young Dwarves all halted simultaneously, raising their weapons, staying on high alert. Then, to their horror, the ground ahead suddenly cracked open, and a monster resembling a giant octopus burst forth from the earth, roaring furiously in front of them.
“A monster! Run!” it screamed and turned to flee. The rest of the group quickly followed, sprinting in panic while turning back to fire their weapons at the creature.
But the attacks seemed to have no effect, not even enough to slow the creature’s advance. The monster drew closer and closer. It felt as if they could already smell its sickening saliva, an odor that made one want to vomit.
By now, it had fallen into despair. Its legs felt like they were filled with lead, numb from exhaustion. Its heart pounded wildly, as if it might leap from its throat at any moment. It could no longer feel its arms, and the weapon it once held had long since been flung away.
In the virtual world, it was enduring immense terror. But in the real world, as Xiao Yu saw it, the Dwarf still lay quietly on the bed. Only the faint trembling of its arms betrayed the deep fear it was experiencing within.
Back in the virtual world, just as the group of young Dwarves had lost all hope and the monstrous creature was about to devour them with its hideous maw, a burst of white light suddenly erupted from the void. Then, the god in their hearts, Trolor, descended from the sky and instantly slew the monster.
Under Trolor’s attack, the beast that had nearly taken their lives couldn’t even hold out for a second.
“Return to camp immediately and rest. Prepare for the next battle. I still have other citizens in peril who need saving.” Trolor said, then vanished. The stunned Dwarves stared at one another. “Was… was that the true god who saved us?”
“Yes, the true god descended, slew the monster, and saved our lives…”
Having witnessed the power of the true god, their bodies seemed instantly filled with strength. Struggling to their feet, they supported one another and made their way back to camp to rest…
Scenes like this unfolded within the minds of every Dwarf. Since things had already progressed to this point, and they had already donned the helmets, there was no reason to let them off so easily. While the live-subject experiment had been cancelled, it was still acceptable to use these devices, which interfaced directly with their brains, to provide them with a bit of loyalty education.
This was exactly what Xiao Yu was doing now. Harnessing his immense computational power, he constructed realistic illusions for each of the ten million Dwarves. Within these simulations, they struggled to survive, shed blood and sweat, completed missions, and received Xiao Yu’s praise…
The illusions even included interactions among the Dwarves. Sometimes, Xiao Yu would randomly select two or more individuals and assign them to a squad, making them experience these events together. It could be said that these Dwarves would never realize the experiences they had were fake. Even after returning to the real world, they would still firmly believe in them. That was because everything was simply too real. So real that their memories of the real world could connect seamlessly with their experiences in the virtual world. If they still remembered companions from those illusions and tried to find them back home, they would find real individuals.
To make the illusion even more convincing, Xiao Yu even manipulated robots to create injuries on the bodies of these helpless Dwarves as they lay immobile on their beds. After all, if they went through so much in the virtual world but found their bodies unscathed in reality, it would be far too contradictory.
Some unfortunate ones even had an arm or a leg cut off by Xiao Yu. But that was no problem, Xiao Yu had long since mastered limb regeneration technology. Once they returned, it would be a simple matter to reattach a new arm or leg, causing them no lasting harm. On the contrary, suffering serious wounds was a badge of honor, and Xiao Yu even planned to grant those individuals some additional rewards.