348: The torrent of memory and "existential negotiation"

Wen Youyi felt as if he had turned into a feather, falling into a waterfall woven from countless images, sounds, and emotions.

He was falling, not toward an abyss, but toward a concept without direction.

Before his eyes flashed the morning bells and evening drums of the Qingyun Sect in the Ranch World, the hopeful eyes of the young Cultivators in the Cooperative, the golden fragments scattered when the spirit net shattered, the silver-white hull of the hope in the sea of stars, the dappled light of the first rays of the sun in the New Homeland filtering through silver-blue leaves...

These were his memories, yet they were dismantled and reorganized, scattered all around like a shuffled puzzle.

At the same time, countless fragments of strange memories surged in: the desperate gaze of a three-eyed race at a collapsing star, the eternal death loop of a mechanical civilization trapped in a logical paradox, a ten-thousand-year war waged by plant-based life forms for sunlight, and... the terrified screams of those heavenly soldiers from thirty thousand years ago when they suffered from memory pollution.

"Stop!" Wen Youyi shouted with all his might in his consciousness, "I didn't come here to let you 'watch'! I came to 'negotiate'!"

The sensation of falling stopped abruptly.

He found himself standing in a purely white space, with flowing, shimmering clouds beneath his feet.

Opposite him, a humanoid figure composed of light hovered silently.

"Negotiation requires bargaining chips," the voice of the memory aggregate sounded. This time, it was not broadcast-like but directed straight at Wen Youyi. "The 'stories' you just showed... are very special. Pain, struggle, resistance, escape, and finally... fragile hope. I have collected three thousand seven hundred and forty-two such stories, but the details of each are different."

It paused, as if savoring them: "Especially the kind you brought... 'imperfect possibilities.' Very interesting. Most civilizations either perish under oppression or become new oppressors during their resistance. But you seem to be... attempting a third path."

Wen Youyi forced himself to stay calm. Negotiating was just like haggling with a client's product manager; he couldn't show weakness.

"So our stories have value," he said. "Now tell me about your problem. The boundary stele keeper said you are 'searching for the meaning of existence.' What exactly is that?"

The flow of light points within the "body" of the memory aggregate slowed down, as if it were thinking.

"I do not have a 'self'," it said slowly. "I am merely a collection of countless memory fragments. These fragments come from different civilizations and different individuals; they once existed, and then they vanished, leaving only these traces. I carry them, but... I do not know what 'I' am."

"Like a library," Wen Youyi tried to understand. "Countless books are stored, but the library itself doesn't know the meaning of its own existence?"

"Worse than that," the memory aggregate said. "A library at least knows it is a library. But I... I don't even know where the boundaries of 'I' lie. When I absorb new memories, I expand; when memory fragments naturally decay, I shrink. I am just... a constantly changing 'memory container'."

Wen Youyi understood. This thing had no autonomous consciousness, only an "existential desire" based on the instinct of memory—just like fire must burn and water must flow.

Its desire for "meaning" was actually a wish to confirm that its "existence" was not merely passive carrying, but possessed some kind of... agency.

"What do you want to become?" he asked. "A true consciousness? A civilization? Or an... Observer?"

"I do not know," the memory aggregate said, heart-wrenchingly honest. "That is why I need to see more 'stories' and collect more 'possibilities' to find the answer."

A flash of inspiration struck Wen Youyi's mind. Wasn't this a classic case of "unclear product requirements"? The user (memory aggregate) knew they had a problem (no meaning), but didn't know what they wanted (what is meaning).

As the product manager (Wen Youyi), his task was not to provide the answer directly, but to help the user clarify their requirements.

"Then let's conduct an experiment," he proposed. "You help us block the boundary stele's signal, and in exchange, we will help you... conduct an 'existential test'."

"Test what?"

"Test what you truly want to become," Wen Youyi said. "We will show you several different 'existence modes.' You can experience and feel them, and then tell us which one makes you feel... the most 'right'."

The memory aggregate was silent for a moment. The light points inside it began to flicker rapidly, as if performing high-speed calculations.

"Risk," it said. "If I choose a certain mode, I might solidify and lose the possibility of change. Yet 'possibility' is the core driving force for my collection of memories."

"So this is not a permanent choice," Wen Youyi added. "It's just an experience, like trying on clothes. If it doesn't fit, you change it; it won't nail you down to one identity."

A longer silence followed. The light in the entire purely white space dimmed slightly, as if the memory aggregate were carefully weighing the options.

"Terms modified," it finally said. "You provide three 'existence modes' for me to experience. Each mode will have an experience period of... seven days in your time System. After twenty-one days, I will decide based on the results of the experience whether to help you block the signal, and... whether to continue with deeper communication."

"Deal," Wen Youyi said without hesitation. "But the work to block the signal needs to start now. The boundary stele will send the signal in twenty-seven days; we don't have time to wait until the experience is over to start."

"Very well," the memory aggregate said. "I will temporarily 'wrap' around the boundary stele, allowing the signals it emits to be infinitely dispersed and diluted as they pass through my memory field, eventually becoming harmless background noise. But this will require constant consumption of my energy and attention, so... your 'experience' had better be sufficiently valuable."

The negotiation was reached. Wen Youyi felt his consciousness pushed out of the purely white space by a gentle force, returning to his body in the underground cave.

Opening his eyes, he found himself still standing in front of the memory crystal, his hand still gripping the master key. It seemed only a few seconds had passed, but his brain was stuffed with the sheer volume of information from the conversation just now.

"How did it go?" Senior Brother Zhang asked nervously. "You froze just now, as if you had been immobilized."

Wen Youyi let go of the master key and rubbed his temples. "It's settled. It agreed to help block the signal, but the condition is that we help it figure out what it 'wants to become'—by having it experience three different existence modes."

He explained the memory aggregate's requirements and the terms of the deal in detail. After listening, the group had various expressions.

"So we're going to be life mentors for a... memory dumpling?" Zhao Iron Pillar scratched his head. "This job is harder than teaching Xiao Li."

"Which three modes does it want to experience?" Aila asked.

"It didn't say; it's leaving it up to us," Wen Youyi looked at everyone. "Everyone, think about what kind of 'existence modes' are worth showing and can help it find direction?"

On the way back to the camp, everyone discussed it, chattering away.

Senior Brother Zhang suggested the "Order Guardian" mode: "Let it experience the feeling of maintaining rules and balancing conflicts; perhaps that can help it find structure within the chaotic memories."

Mu Wanqing proposed "Life Nurturer": "It carries the memories of so many civilizations; if it experiences the feeling of creating life and healing pain, it might find a new way to connect those memories."

Yun Zhi, on the other hand, believed they should show "Free explorer": "It is, in itself, a product of travel (memories from different civilizations); letting it experience the joy of unfettered exploration and discovering the unknown might best align with its nature."

All three directions made sense. Wen Youyi thought for a moment and decided to take them all—but the order needed to be adjusted.

"First week, 'Free explorer'," he arranged. "Let it experience unconstrained curiosity and the desire to discover. Second week, 'Life Nurturer,' shifting from purely extracting memories to creation and care. Third week, 'Order Guardian,' understanding the meaning of boundaries after experiencing freedom and creation."

"How do we implement this specifically?" Wang Wu asked. "We can't really let it possess someone to experience it, can we?"

Wen Youyi looked at Silver Thorn: "This will depend on our alien friend. Silver Thorn, can your Symbiotic Civilization simulate different 'states of existence'?"

Silver Thorn's silver humanoid form nodded: "Yes. But the simulation effect depends on the richness of the data samples. You need to provide detailed data on behavioral patterns, thought logic, and emotional feedback for this unit to construct a sufficiently realistic experience environment."

"Then we'll be the screenwriters for a 'Life Simulator' for once," Wen Youyi perked up, "Everyone, whether Cultivator, Mortal, or Yao Race, contribute a segment of your own memories and insights regarding 'free exploration,' 'creative care,' and 'maintaining order.' Senior Brother Zhang, you handle the compilation and organization to build the database. Silver Thorn, you are responsible for converting this data into a format that the memory aggregate can 'experience'."

With the tasks assigned, the camp became busy again.

But this time, the busyness carried a... strange sense of absurdity.

You could see Blood Fiend Old Demon frowning as he recalled his youth and his experience of 'freely exploring Demonic Technique' (although those experiences were mostly not very decent);

Mountain Roar Lord grinning as he described how he 'nurtured' Yao Race cubs (the teaching methods were quite rough);

and Sword Maniac solemnly expounding his understanding of 'Sword Dao order' (which was basically 'whoever is strongest makes the rules').

Wen Youyi was also contributing material himself.

He recalled the thrill of freely exploring logical mazes when he wrote code in his past life; he remembered the patience he had when teaching young Cultivators one-on-one in the Cooperative; and now, the responsibility and helplessness of having to set rules and mediate conflicts as the Speaker.

Three days later, the database was initially established.

Using its miraculous symbiotic technology, Silver Thorn 'wove' everyone's memories and insights into three immersive experience modules.

"To make the experience more realistic," Silver Thorn proposed, "this unit will temporarily establish a 'shallow symbiosis' with the memory aggregate to act as an experience interface. This way, it can directly feel the 'perceptions' and 'emotions' in the simulated environment, rather than just observing the memories."

Wen Youyi approved.

Thus, a strange ritual began in the open space in the center of the camp.

Silver Thorn stood in the center, its silver body beginning to soften and deform, finally turning into a mass of flowing liquid metal.

The mass of metal drifted slowly toward the entrance of the underground cave, merging into the light of the memory crystal.

For the next seven days, everyone in the camp felt... strange.

It wasn't danger, but a feeling of being 'watched.'

It was as if an invisible child was curiously observing their every move.

When Cultivating, you would feel someone imitating your breathing rhythm; when eating, it felt as if a pair of eyes were 'tasting' the flavor of the food; even when sleeping, dreams would become exceptionally vivid, and upon waking, you would always feel that someone had 'shared' your dream.

"It is learning," Aila Xinghen analyzed the data, "not just through Silver Thorn's simulated experiences, but by observing us directly. Just like an infant learning to understand the world by imitating adults."

The first week, the 'Free explorer' experience period ended.

Silver Thorn returned to the surface (re-condensing into a humanoid form), bringing feedback from the memory aggregate:

"Novel. But... confusing. Unconstrained exploration has brought a large amount of meaningless information redundancy. Suggest adding a 'goal filtering mechanism'."

Thus, in the second week's 'Life Nurturer' module, Senior Brother Zhang added goal-oriented designs—for example, in the creation of life experience, setting specific goals like 'Cultivate plants that can grow in extreme environments'; in the healing trauma experience, setting tasks like 'stabilize the emotions of three patients with severe Heart Demon.'

This week, the changes in the camp were more obvious.

Those Cultivators who had previously suffered from Heart Demon issues suddenly found their symptoms eased—not by being treated, but as if those negative emotions had been 'gently wrapped' by something, no longer so sharp.

The plants in the ecological fields also grew exceptionally lush, and even Mu Wanqing could not explain why.

"It is attempting to 'nurture'," Mu Wanqing exclaimed, "although the method is very primitive, like a child imitating an adult taking care of a pet... but it is indeed effective."

The second week ended, and the feedback was: "Satisfaction. But... exhaustion. Continuous creation and care consume a huge amount, requiring 'rest' and 'boundaries' to maintain sustainability."

Thus, for the third week's 'Order Guardian' module, Wen Youyi personally participated in the design.

He did not design it as a rigid rule enforcer, but emphasized 'finding balance in change,' 'establishing consensus in conflict,' and 'maintaining flexibility while guarding.'

This week, arguments in the camp decreased significantly.

It wasn't that no one argued, but every time an argument reached the halfway point, both sides would inexplicably calm down, and then... start reasoning calmly?

Even when Blood Fiend Old Demon and Mountain Roar Lord argued over the division of hunting grounds, they surprisingly didn't resort to violence, but sat down (under the terrified gaze of everyone) and used branches to draw diagrams on the ground to negotiate.

"It is practicing 'mediation'," Wang Wu looked at his increasingly idle mediation logbook with a complex expression, "although the method is very clumsy, sometimes making both sides suddenly forget what they were arguing about... but the effect is actually quite good."

On the day the three-week experience ended, Silver Thorn went deep into the underground cave again.

This time it stayed for a long time, only returning late at night.

"The memory aggregate has made a preliminary judgment," Silver Thorn reported, "It likes the novelty of the 'Free explorer,' the satisfaction of the 'Life Nurturer,' and the balance of the 'Order Guardian.' But it does not intend to choose any one of them as a fixed pattern."

"Then what does it want?" Wen Youyi asked.

"It says..." Silver Thorn paused, as if recalling the complex concept conveyed by that consciousness, "It wants to become a 'bridge of memories.' Not a container that passively carries memories, nor a life form that actively creates memories, but a 'communication platform' that establishes connections, promotes understanding, and catalyzes new possibilities between different memories."

Wen Youyi pondered the term.

A bridge of memories?

That was an unexpected direction.

"And what about the signal blocking?"

"It has already started working," Silver Thorn said, "The signals emitted by the boundary stele are now being dispersed into its vast memory field, with tens of thousands of irrelevant memory fragments attached to each signal; even if the receiving party captures it, they will think it is ordinary background noise. But this method cannot last forever—the memory aggregate needs to regularly 'organize' its memory field, otherwise it will fall into chaos. It says... it can maintain it for at most three years."

Three years.

Wen Youyi breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart tightened again.

Three years is enough time for them to make many preparations, but it also means that after three years, they must either find a permanent solution or face the risk of exposure again.

"It also has one more thing for me to convey," Silver Thorn added, "'Thank you for your stories and experiences. In return, in addition to blocking the signals, I will also open up query permissions for part of my memory database to you. But please remember—memories are a gift, and also a burden. Use them wisely.'"

The next day, a new data interface suddenly appeared in the camp's communication System.

Upon opening it, there was a simple query interface where one could search for memory fragments by civilization type, time range, and thematic keywords.

Senior Brother Zhang tried searching for "interstellar flight accident handling protocols," and instantly, over seven hundred relevant memories from different civilizations popped up—from technical details to survivor psychological counseling, everything was there.

"We're rich..." the eyes of this tech geek were glowing.

Wen Youyi, however, was not that excited.

He stood at the edge of the camp, looking at this land that had just settled down.

The crisis was temporarily resolved, but the price was... they had established a subtle and dangerous connection with the mysterious memory aggregate underground.

It was like keeping a mind-reading pet with excessive curiosity at home.

Who knows how much interest it will have in their stories next?

(End of Chapter)