379: Chapter 380 Mozaro

"Xiao Hei, do you think Polyphemus can solve this meme crisis?"

After driving Ains away, Lin Fang said in a low voice. In fact, he was also eager to deal with this alien race that oppressed the humans of the Godzilla plane, while also preventing them from becoming desperate.

He wanted to let the Company take control of this World and restore it to peace and tranquility.

This would also make it easier for Lin Fang to concentrate on dealing with the Mars disaster in the real World two months later.

Otherwise, fighting on two fronts, Lin Fang worried he wouldn't be able to handle it, and it would be terrible if things went out of control.

[Boss, there are too many variables; I cannot calculate it.]

Xiao Hei's voice rang out from Lin Fang's headset. Using the acquired spaceship core, it was applying most of its computing power to infiltrate Polyphemus. This massive empire did not yet know that such an artificial intelligence was lurking nearby.

Lin Fang's heart stirred. "Variables? You mean they might be able to solve this meme crisis?"

Xiao Hei projected an image. The subject was a brain-like structure that looked nauseating.

Surprisingly, according to the introduction next to it from Xiao Hei, this brain was actually still alive. He was a Sage of the Polyphemus race.

Mozaro, an old monster who had lived for tens of millions of years.

...

[meme Effect: Face]

[Source: First discovered in Barsai City on the Southern Continent on Day 263 of the year 16588 of the Morse Calendar. Due to what the infected called it, it has been tentatively named "Face".]

[Description: "Face" is a special meme with strong infectious properties. From the description, it is an ugly, white face-like pattern.]

[Symptoms: Among current infected individuals, anyone who sees "Face" in any way will no longer loathe it. Instead, they develop a strong attachment, believing it to be absolutely beautiful and sacred, falling into a frenzy over it. Ultimately, they completely lose self-awareness, and every action they take is to ensure more eyes see this face.]

[Transmission: "Face" spreads through vision; anyone who lays eyes on it will be infected.]

[Countermeasures: ...]

"Face, I want Face!"

In the highest-level laboratory of Polyphemus, a clansman inside an isolation room was rushing around maniacally like an out-of-control Beast. Tentacles and hands waved wildly, not stopping even after crashing until their head was broken and bleeding.

Hysterical frenzy filled more than a dozen eyes.

Suddenly, he stopped, saw his bleeding tentacles, and seemed to think of something. He crouched down and began to outline that white face-like silhouette with his own blood.

While drawing, he kept drooling, his eyes staring fixedly at the spot he was sketching, murmuring to himself in a pious tone:

"Draw it... I must draw it down, so all eyes can see it, so all can submit to it... It is the only truth, the supreme god..."

The outline of the face on the ground gradually became clear. Every stroke was spread by the infected person's blood; the lines were twisted yet possessed a strange regularity. It was exactly the appearance of the [Face] meme.

"Purge!" Just as he was about to finish drawing, following an order from outside the door, dense high-temperature spray nozzles suddenly popped out from the metal walls around the isolation room. Purplish-red flames erupted instantly, carrying temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees, sweeping through the entire enclosed space in an instant.

The infected person's body quickly carbonized in the high heat, and the blood painting on the floor was burned clean by the flames, without leaving a trace.

In just a few seconds, deathly silence returned to the isolation room.

"Sage, this meme effect reversal experiment has failed. We were unable to reverse his cognition."

A clansman with twenty-six eyes spoke. Beside him, a complex face pattern was drawn on a gray board. Upon close inspection, it was composed of dense lines, within which were numerous unknown symbols.

At first glance, it was eighty percent similar to that Face meme; the only difference was that the eyes in the pattern were closed.

"I understand,"

An aged voice rang out from the speaker and then fell silent. In the center of the laboratory, the brain in the liquid writhed violently, clearly thinking about something again.

"Teacher, the Sovereign has already asked for the results for the eighth time today. The situation outside is critical, but this information virus defies common sense. Could it be that there is no solution at all, and we simply cannot Master the knowledge of memes?"

The young genius scientist of this empire said dejectedly.

The aged voice rang out again, speaking gently like an elder.

"Morilio, do not be impatient. Nothing is unknowable. Just like cosmological formulas—did they not exist before we discovered them?"

"Great Polyphemus, do not give up easily."

Mozaro's voice spoke slowly.

"Our experiments are still effective. Haven't you noticed? The infection speed of clansmen who have seen the 'anti-information' pattern is ten percent slower, and their remaining sanity lasts longer."

Morilio adjusted his mindset and regained confidence. "I understand, Teacher. What should we do next?"

The brain in the center fluctuated more intensely, but Mozaro's voice was as calm as ever.

"This meme is definitely composed of information we cannot see. 'Face' is just the manifested expression of this information. But right now, this information is locked, and we cannot see it."

"Since we can't see it, let alone understand it, the first thing we must do is see it. I will do this personally..."

"Teacher, that is absolutely not allowed!"

Morilio said hurriedly, his expression sorrowful. Worthy of being the empire's youngest genius, he guessed what his teacher wanted to do before Mozaro could even finish speaking.

Mozaro actually wanted to take the initiative to infect himself with this meme.

But the brain that had lived for tens of millions of years said flatly at this moment, "I have made my decision. Proceed."

"Teacher, you are the foundation of the race and the inheritor of all knowledge and civilization. You cannot take this risk!"

Morilio's voice carried a sob, his tone earnest. "Teacher, your student is willing to sacrifice. Let me do it."

The aged voice chuckled,

"You're not ready yet, but you will be the inheritor from now on."

"I..." Morilio's twenty-six eyes filled with tears, and his tentacles hung down weakly. Once these words were spoken, he already understood that he couldn't stop his teacher's determination at all.

Looking at his student, this brain that had lived for millions of years did not hesitate and took the initiative to come into contact with the "Face" meme.

In an instant,

To the grieving Morilio's horror, he saw the mental fluctuation curve representing his teacher on the screen fluctuating wildly, several times on the verge of snapping, only to be stubbornly pulled back time and again.

Morilio didn't even dare to blink.

After an unknown amount of time, his teacher's voice rang out in the laboratory once more.

"Morilio, I... see it."

Along with the words, long strings of obscure and difficult-to-understand characters scrolled across the screen.

"This is a brand-new language. It... it can help us understand memes. I'll leave the rest to you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the brain in the central container instantly withered, and Mozaro's voice never rang out again.

"Teacher!" Morilio cried out in grief.

Meanwhile, far away on Pandora Planet, Lin Fang watched all this in stunned silence. There were actually such terrifying scientists in the World.

By comparison, that fellow Mite really couldn't even compare to his cerebral cortex.

But there was no time to lament the passing of this Precursors.

"Xiao Hei, hurry up and grab it!"