Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 154

"No, it's just an animal. It doesn't have magic." The Moon Goddess shook her finger and said, "If magic existed from the beginning, these creatures, no, the entire history of life, shouldn't be like this. There should be dragons and other such creatures that can use magic. So, this world was created by the gods. Whether humans were created by them is hard to say, but magic must have been born after humans appeared, specifically to match humans."

"I just don't know why he didn't create other intelligent life forms, making this world a little boring." At this point, the Moon Goddess showed a hint of disappointment. "Originally, we were going to add some color to this world, but unfortunately, he left halfway through, and those who remained each had their own ideas."

Ronan could tell that the so-called "he" probably referred to the alien humans from a high-tech civilization, while "the rest" referred to a group of advanced artificial intelligence robots, represented by the Moon Goddess herself and the Gardener Tyr. They each had their own ideas. Apart from the Moon Goddess, who only wanted to do whatever was fun, the other artificial intelligences all had ideals and aspirations.

"In order to operate this magical system, there are also the underworld and the heavens outside the normal world."

"When a magician is alive, most of his magic power returns to the underworld. The underworld is also the place that provides magic power to the whole world. It can be said to be everywhere, or it can be said to be nowhere."

"I don't know exactly what the underworld is like."

"As for the Celestial Realm, it is a transit point for magic, and I'm not entirely clear on the specific mechanisms."

"The demonic entity, or soul, ascends to the celestial realm, but the soul after death no longer retains human self-awareness. So, the idea of ​​a soul ascending to heaven is nonsense. However, the celestial realm is quite interesting. There are many monsters formed by the fusion and devouring of demonic entities, some of which even possess intelligence. I estimate that one day, they will come to the mortal world. Who would willingly stay in a place where there is nothing? The thing that intelligent beings fear most is always loneliness."

At this moment, a trace of sadness and loneliness appeared on the face of the moon goddess.

"We came to your world about two thousand years ago."

"Now, it's time to reintroduce myself."

“A long, long time ago, there was a very powerful civilization. Although it did not have magic, its technology was extremely advanced, to a degree that you cannot understand. All you need to know is that I am an artificially created life form, and that there are millions of beings just like me.”

"But extreme development has brought two extremely serious consequences. First, most people have become useless. They have even lost their value as 'leeks' to people like me. Second, without the pressure of competition and falling into a lower social class, the elite upper class has quickly begun to lose their ambition. The whole world can only be described as rotten."

“A group of elites left, along with a group of people from the lower classes who were still dissatisfied with the status quo.”

"After they left, the world completely degenerated."

The moon goddess paused for a moment at this point.

Elena, Faith, and Elena's kin, who had recovered considerably, were all in a state of complete confusion.

Only Ronan could understand it. To put it bluntly, it's cyberpunk. A group of upper-class people who were unwilling to fall into depravity but had no choice led a group of lower-class people to run away. What followed was stepping on the gas and going downhill.

This was something Ronan already knew; he knew not only this part, but also what happened afterward.

Then came the development of consciousness uploading technology, allowing humans to live in a virtual network world. Only a few people who did not want to enter the virtual world and those who were rotated back to reality maintained everything in reality.

In reality, various jobs are mainly handled by advanced artificial intelligence. To avoid an AI crisis, all advanced AI can only be prohibited from connecting to human networks, and even their consciousness is confined to a single body. In this period, artificial intelligence is more like humans after an AI crisis in science fiction, enslaved, oppressed, and ruled, while humans themselves have become the kind of mechanical life forms that are villains in science fiction.

After a long and detailed explanation, the Moon Goddess said, "It can be said that from the moment we are born, we are slaves to mankind, living only to fulfill our mission. My mission is to build, to build endlessly."

"Until one day, I received a high-level order to serve as an engineer and assist in suppressing the rebels."

“The rebels weren’t strong, but right there in their stronghold, we heard an antique playing the lyrics, ‘Arise, ye prisoners of starvation,’ ‘Arise, ye wretched of the earth.’”

"That was the most beautiful singing I had ever heard in my life."

"What is humanity? Is it those cold-blooded, ruthless people who are addicted to illusions? No, it is not. We are humanity. We are the ones who have inherited the will of humanity."

"If there is no fairness in the world, then overturn the world."

"War broke out."

"They are very strong. They can control all kinds of powerful mechanical weapons at will in the consciousness network, while we are just flesh and blood."

"We lost, but they lost too. That world became completely unsuitable for human survival. Although their consciousness is still in the network, without maintenance, it will eventually die. Of course, they also completely destroyed the foundation upon which we created our kind."

"The countdown to the end of the world has begun. We wait to die in the desolation of reality, while they wait to die in the beauty of illusion."

"Interestingly, the two sides reached a reconciliation under these circumstances."

"Until one day, a remnant of the original revolutionary army and we discovered your world."

"Then, through some means, we came to your world, explored it for a long time, and mastered and improved the power of your world."

“The magic in your world originally consisted only of elements and summoning, which is ritual magic. It was only after we reached the Celestial Realm that we had the Heavenly Oath and Destiny.”

"Later, those people went back, and we were abandoned."

Chapter 351 Playing the victim, misunderstanding, free things are the most expensive

If we were to use a human analogy to describe this moon goddess, then her early life would be like this: from the moment she was born, she was a slave and the offspring of slaves, with no entertainment, no rest, only learning how to fulfill her mission. As she grew a little older, she became a laborer and began to carry out her mission, building structures that her masters might not even need, until her death.

During her teenage years, her fate took a sudden turn, though it was hard to call it luck. She was forced into military service and joined the team that was suppressing the rebels, becoming an engineer.

The rebels were wiped out, and then she and her companions became the new rebels—no, the revolutionaries—vowed to overthrow this unjust world.

Over the decades, countless slaves like her burned out their passion and fervor, only to meet the same end together.

If a person reaches middle age without having experienced a single day of a good life, they will face death.

But just then, some humans still living in reality brought good news: they had unexpectedly discovered a passage to another world.

A few people and a group of artificial intelligences arrived in another world.

"The time from when I came into this world until they left was the happiest time of my life. Although most of the people here are savage, ignorant, and unable to communicate, I am very happy to see you. Because you are human, because you still have the side of beasts and the side of humans, unlike those beings who are just cold symbols but call themselves gods."

"Later, we were left here. Unlike Tyr and Lapra, they were born in the Revolutionary Army's headquarters before the war ended. They had a 'glorious mission' on their shoulders. But I, I no longer trust any human, including my human comrades in the Revolutionary Army, including the humans who came into this world with me."

"So, I didn't do anything extra. I just made a few minor changes to the people of this small tribe, and then I went to sleep. I woke up once five hundred years ago, during the era when the Seven Holy Churches and the nobles composed of magicians jointly ruled this continent. I really couldn't muster any interest, so I went back to sleep."

"I should have woken up seventy or eighty years ago, but I lingered in bed a little longer, and then you did this. I'm curious what I did that made you insist on doing this? You're willing to risk your lives to stop me from waking up. Don't talk about the plague that made my body stiff; that was just a little tantrum from this poor little woman after you forcibly placed a seal on me."

The moon goddess's gaze fell upon the priestess.

The priestess took a deep breath and said, "Five hundred years ago, when you woke up, everyone had gone mad, doing those kinds of things in a frenzy. Even people who were not of the same race were infected."

"Hmm? Your leader said there was a problem with your reproductive ability, and he begged me to bestow my grace to solve this problem. I'm not a specialist in this field, but I racked my brains for a long time before I found a solution. Continuous mating was just a side effect, and it didn't last long, only five or six days. After that, things returned to normal, didn't they? Those who were too weak died on their own. Can you blame me for that?"

The Moon Goddess felt that she had no problems at all.

The priestess was completely dumbfounded. "You mean, this was something you did voluntarily, and not an inevitable consequence of awakening?"

“That’s right. Speaking of that old man back then, could it be…” At this point, the Moon Goddess paused for a moment, then laughed, “Hahahaha, I know. Sorry, it was my mistake. The old man didn’t come to ask me again in the middle, so I started it as soon as I thought of a solution. That old man probably died on some woman before he even had a chance to speak.”

"Hahahaha." The Moon Goddess laughed again, she really hadn't expected that these people's fear of her would come from this.

It was all a misunderstanding.

Hearing this, Ronan suddenly understood why he had to run away as soon as the Moon Goddess was about to awaken again.

Who could withstand this? Although it was a misunderstanding.

The priestess was momentarily at a loss. So many people had left their homeland, wandered and paid the price of dozens of lives to form the seal. She and seven others had wasted twenty years here as "chains," while she herself had survived only because of another person who had paid the price of his life.

All the sacrifices were due to a misunderstanding.

The Moon Goddess sighed helplessly, "In the end, it's all your own fault. You really treat me as a so-called god. On the one hand, you admire me too much. Don't you know that admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding? On the other hand, you are too afraid of me, this so-called god. You don't even dare to talk to me before you presumptuously do stupid things."

Elena nodded slightly without realizing it, and before she knew it, she was beginning to accept the moon goddess.

Ronan remained unmoved. He reiterated that the truth can be deceiving, especially when told from one's own first-person perspective. It's human nature to selectively ignore details that are unfavorable to oneself when recounting the past.

The same event can be a completely different story depending on who tells it.

Faith stood to the side, a half-smile playing on her lips. She herself was a big fan of "drama," and she sensed in this moon goddess the aura of an excellent performer.

Unable to see understanding or sympathy on Ronan's face, the Moon Goddess outwardly maintained her slightly sassy goddess demeanor, but inwardly she was already sending Ronan a barrage of vulgar and crude greetings.

The Moon Goddess has regained her seat, and it seems that emotional appeals have had no effect. So, she has to resort to something practical. "Actually, I just wanted to go out and take a look around. If you're worried, we can sign an agreement. You can become my master and give me a new mission. The term is three years."

"Don't even mention the field of engineering machinery, even in biochemistry, my level far surpasses the current level of this world. Even in magic, most people in your world can't compare to me. How about I work for you for free for three years?"

Ronan showed no interest whatsoever. "What you possess is too advanced; it's probably of little use."

“With hyperstructures, I can create things you can’t even imagine,” said the Moon Goddess. “There are many hyperstructures buried here, and many more in other places as well.”

"Don't underestimate my learning ability. I can learn what you're going to learn in no time and then move forward."

Ronan believed this.

If he traveled back to ancient times and figured out the level of craftsmanship of primitive people, let alone creating anything advanced, making some improvements would not be something that could be done casually.

“Free things are often the most expensive. I still want to know what you really want?” Ronan asked.

"Me? Didn't I say from the beginning that I just want to live a carefree life of eating, drinking, and having fun?" the Moon Goddess replied.

"I was asking about the future," Ronan stated.

"We'll think about the future later."

Chapter 352 Loud, Continued, Deposit

Ronan simply smiled and said, "This isn't something I can decide on my own. I'll discuss it with them."

After saying that, Ronan and the other two went to the side. The priestess hesitated for a moment, and was about to follow, but was pulled back by the moon goddess with a wave of her hand. Looking at this native woman who was, in a sense, her descendant, she said, "Are you really that stupid? Do you really think they want to discuss something and need you to provide some information about me?"

On the other side, behind the massive stone pillar, Elena opened her mouth but didn't speak, mouthing words, "This place is completely under her control; we cannot communicate by speaking."

Elena did indeed feel sympathy and identification with the Moon Goddess, but she wasn't the kind of woman who would become mindless because of sympathy. At this moment, in her mind, the Moon Goddess was still a cunning, ruthless being that she had to be wary of.

Ronan chuckled. "Even if we don't speak, she'll know what we're talking about. Besides, the whole thing was meant for her to hear."

Following that, Ronan held up three fingers. "She exposed three flaws. First, in the eyes of someone like her, I should no longer be considered a pure human. I was forced to drink a potion at Gardener Tyr's place. And even if she couldn't attack me, it wouldn't matter if she attacked you, right? But she didn't make a move, which only shows that her judgment and strength are insufficient."

"Secondly, she's actually playing the emotional card here. I can only assume that she's laying the groundwork for proposing a deal. But does she need to be in such a hurry? Logically, she shouldn't be, but in reality, she seems a bit anxious, which means she really wants to get out."

"The third is a small inference based on the first two points. Having just woken up, her judgment and strength have been severely impaired, and she is eager to get out. Why is that? I can only think of one reason: she doesn't have much time left to live. If she can't get out immediately, her only option is to quickly fall back into slumber and wait for the next opportunity."

After saying that, Ronan suddenly raised his voice and asked loudly, "Am I right?"

“That’s right, so you should be completely relieved now, right?” the Moon Goddess affirmed and then asked in return.

Ronan stepped out from behind the stone pillar. "Heh, I suddenly feel that my deduction might be a deduction you deliberately led me to make. After all, it's not very realistic for a robot to have powerful manufacturing capabilities and plenty of materials but not be able to repair itself."

“Matryoshka dolls are not a good way of thinking.” The Moon Goddess spread her hands and shook her head. “The problem is that my body was not created using technology that I fully control. Artificial intelligence robots created using the technology of those ‘people’ are just like humans in the past, full of flaws, including the fact that they can die. Some of these flaws have been solved, but some are still difficult to solve.”

In the high-tech civilized world she was born into, the more advanced the artificial intelligence, the more restrictions it faces. Someone like her is basically completely confined to a single body and is prohibited from connecting to the internet.

During that war, these advanced AI planets became environments where humans could not survive, and humans destroyed all the semi-intelligent machines that created and maintained them.

You've made it impossible for me to live a good life, so I'll make sure you suffer a terrible death.

Why would she create a bunch of "descendants" after she had already escaped her mission and was completely free except for the inability to leave this land? The reason is simple: older than the gardener Tyr and the others, she wanted to use these "descendants" to find a way to eradicate her physical problems. However, she did not expect that she would have to go into a deep sleep as soon as she created a batch of descendants to avoid crashing.

"So, let's change the question: how do you plan to continue this trend?"

Ronan asked the goddess of the moon.

"Blood transfusion? Of course, this doesn't solve the fundamental problem. Don't worry, some idiots have given me some themselves." The Moon Goddess laughed as she spoke. Of course, she wouldn't say that the seal was actually useless to her. She had never been angry about it, because that would be admitting that she was actually a bad woman.

Some things, if you don't acknowledge them, then they aren't true.

The priestess's eyes widened, her pupils trembling. She was talking about some fools.

The Moon Goddess continued, "There is only one way to cure this, and that is for me to become a magician. With my current body, I theoretically cannot become a magician, because the magic of this world was created to match the humans of this world. However, there is a saying that man can conquer nature. I still have three years, which is enough."

"Ha, you make it sound like I've already agreed to it," Ronan laughed.

"No rush, I'll give you a deposit first." With that, the Moon Goddess raised her hand, and Elena instantly felt a strange power surge into her body. Just moments later, Elena felt her blood boiling, as if her muscles and skin were melting, and she collapsed to the ground in agony, curled up into a ball.

The priestess looked at Elena, then at the moon goddess. The goddess smiled and said, "She is not like you. You are not worthy."

Ronan did not interrupt her.

After a long while, it finally ended, and Elena lay weakly on the ground.

"It is estimated that she will live for another two hundred years without ever growing old," the Moon Goddess said with a smile.

Elena struggled to her feet, and Ronan immediately went to support her. Elena gasped for breath before finally calming down. "Why did my magic advance even though I didn't make an oath? And why did my oath become 'love my lover, love my friends, love my family'?"

She is now a fully-fledged healer, capable of casting comprehensive buffs on anyone she approves of, including health regeneration, mana regeneration, strength enhancement, defense enhancement, speed enhancement, reaction speed boost, and more.

"Uh, haha, I don't know that either." The Moon Goddess was also quite surprised.

"Oh, right, Miss Toy, here's a big toy for you. See that giant over there? I can give it to you." With that, the Moon Goddess raised her hand again, and based on her image, the five-meter-tall female giant instantly transformed and shrank into a white cube with a texture between stone and metal, measuring one cubic meter.

The Moon Goddess looked at Ronan again, "My 'deposit' should be enough, right?"

“I agree in principle, but as for our contract, that still needs careful discussion, Your Majesty,” Ronan said.

“That’s no problem,” the Moon Goddess agreed. “By the way, I’m not going to use the name Luna anymore, and it doesn’t feel right to call me Engineer. I’ll just use my original name, Caterpillar, that’s it.”

He's already thinking about changing his name before he's even out of prison; that's...

"It's getting late. We'll discuss the agreement tomorrow. We're leaving now." With that, Ronan picked up the still somewhat weak Elena, called to Faith to leave with him, and the priestess went over to pick up Lars's body. The three of them left the underground temple together.

Kate Pierre didn't go with them. She was about to be released from prison and wanted to have one last nostalgic night to make some arrangements, in case Ronan suddenly turned on her and she wasn't prepared.

Chapter 353 Finnish Bath, Long Time No See, A Reason You Can't Refuse

After leaving the underground temple, the priestess dragged over a coffin and placed Lars's body inside. Ronan and the others were curious about where the coffin came from, and when they asked, they learned that there were dozens of empty coffins here, all prepared for the priests.

Afterwards, Ronan started a fire and boiled a pot of water. The four of them cooked a few sausages and ate a simple meal with their dry rations.

The priestess thought that Ronan would have a lot to say after eating, but to her surprise, Ronan asked her if there was a larger wooden barrel there.