337: The Growth of Perxito

Inside the core laboratory of Honeycomb Experimental City, Pexito's consciousness slowly rotated within a container.

Compared to a few months ago, this consciousness, formed by the fusion of three memories, had undergone tremendous changes.

Xia Er stood before the observation window, gazing at this rapidly growing life form.

The holographic screen displayed a real-time view of Pexito's mental world. It was no longer the simple cabin and forest of its origin, nor the small village, but had developed into a town.

A vibrant miniature society composed of tens of thousands of people.

Neat streets were lined with buildings of various styles, residents lived together harmoniously, and everything operated in perfect order.

Xia Er and his team had conducted tests. According to the theoretical model, this scale was the current limit Pexito could achieve.

Unless there was an enormous amount of life milk to help her “grow up.”

Yes, her.

A month ago, Pexito projected her consciousness as the image of a girl into her mental world.

Xia Er and his team couldn't explain why, but they just inexplicably felt that the image of this white-haired little girl suited Pexito.

“Dr. Xia, the evaluation results are in.” Anderson walked over, holding the latest evaluation report.

“What do they say?”

“Independent evaluations from five teams, then consolidated. The conclusions were surprisingly consistent: everyone believes that Pexito's cognitive level is equivalent to that of a well-educated adult.”

“She is not only capable of complex logical reasoning but has also developed a unique value system.”

“Furthermore, according to the experimenters who participated in these tests and evaluations, during the 'three views' assessment, they always had an awkward feeling.”

“Hmm?” Xia Er was somewhat surprised and also puzzled. “Can that adjective actually appear in such a context?”

“Uh, when I saw this report, I had the same reaction.” Anderson shrugged. “But I confirmed with the experimenters, and they verified the statement.”

“As for the reason, they said that when talking to Pexito, they always felt like they were evil villains. I think it's necessary for us to test it ourselves.”

Xia Er nodded, his gaze still fixed on the observation window.

At this moment, Pexito in the container seemed to perceive his gaze. A little girl in her mental world looked up and gave a warm smile into the void.

Her rational eyes and soft facial features conveyed an overwhelming sense of harmony and warmth.

“The weather is lovely today, Dr. Xia Er.” Pexito's voice directly resonated in Xia Er's mind, clear and melodious, with a musical rhythm, “I see the garden outside the laboratory window.”

“It's very beautiful.”

Xia Er wasn't surprised, at least not this time.

To be honest, two weeks ago, when Pexito first communicated telepathically with him and other key researchers, they momentarily thought the mushrooms at lunch weren't cooked thoroughly.

Later, everyone grew quite fond of this Trisolarans-style communication method.

No dry mouth, no worries about awkward moments with spit.

Most importantly, it was so cool!

“Yes, spring has arrived.” He responded telepathically, “Do you like flowers?”

“To be precise, I like the way they bloom collectively.” Pexito replied, “Every flower is beautiful, and the landscape they form together is even more beautiful.”

At this moment, Dr. Li Shan approached with a special drink. Hearing the conversation, he interjected, “That's an interesting analogy. But it's a pity, this kind of beauty cannot be achieved naturally.”

“Of course, nature has its own beauty, but it won't have such meticulous embellishments.”

“Without enough fertilizer, rain, sunlight, and weeding, such a small area couldn't sustain so many flowers.”

Subtle ripples appeared in Pexito's mental world but quickly subsided: “I understand, you mean that the real world is not as harmonious as a garden, but rather full of competition and conflict, right?”

“Hey, I have to say, I think my students' assessment was still a bit conservative.” Li Shan couldn't help but nod. “Those blockheads couldn't react that quickly.”

“Dr. Li, I understand your point. But from my perspective, competition often stems from resource scarcity. If a reasonable distribution system can be established, conflict can be avoided.”

Zhang Ai, after finishing her last crab roe soup dumpling, also joined the discussion: “I agree with that. But human nature inherently has a selfish side, which cannot be solved simply by perfecting systems.”

“Even non-sentient life forms have passive or active behaviors for survival, let alone sentient ones? Once you're full, you naturally want to eat well, and once you eat well, you naturally want to eat even better.”

“Selfishness stems from the worry of survival, I admit that.” Pexito responded, “But I think, if every life can obtain basic survival guarantees and see the greater benefits brought by cooperation, selfishness will transform into self-love, and then expand into love for others.”

This conversation plunged the researchers in the laboratory into deep thought. Pexito's perspective was both naive and profound, as if a sage was examining the essence of the world with the purest gaze.

They knew this idea was somewhat innocent, but at this moment, they really had no intention of “correcting” it.

This purity was truly precious.

Xia Er, on a whim, decided to conduct a formal philosophical discussion. He gathered the core members of the team and engaged in an in-depth conversation with Pexito.

“Pexito,” Xia Er began, “how do you understand the relationship between life and the world?”

Pexito closed her eyes, seemingly pondering the question seriously. A moment later, her voice resonated in everyone's mind.

“The world is a cruel stage, and life is an actor who must perform. From the moment of birth, every life must exhaust its wisdom for its continued existence.”

This opening statement surprised all the researchers present.

They hadn't expected Pexito, whom they had mentally labeled an idealist, to have such a realistic perception of the world.

“However,” Pexito continued, “precisely because survival is so difficult, life forms should unite and help each other. The strong assist the weak, and life supports life; only then can the chances of continued existence be maximized.”

Anderson asked: “Do you think this idealized state is possible to achieve?”

“Just like music.” Pexito was quite firm in her belief, “A single note is lonely, but when they are combined according to harmonious rules, they can create a soul-stirring symphony.”

“Every life is like a note, it just needs to find its correct position in the movement.”

As she described it, a more concrete scene emerged in the mental world.

Strong residents helped the old, weak, sick, and disabled; intellectuals selflessly imparted knowledge to others; artists soothed people's souls with their works.

Everything was so harmonious, so beautiful.

'The formation of this concept is probably related to the three memories she absorbed at birth.'

Xia Er noticed distinct characteristics in the scene Pexito described.

The mathematician's memory provided the ability to understand natural laws and rationally perceive the world; the soldier's memory formed her attitude towards the difficulty of survival and the recognition that cooperation is more beneficial for survival than confrontation.

As for the musician's memory, it was evident from her analogy. Her firm pursuit of the ideal of harmonious coexistence probably originated from this.

At this point, Yi Fang raised a sharp question: “But in reality, powerful individuals often choose to exploit the weak instead of helping them. How do you view this phenomenon?”

A dark cloud appeared in Pexito's mental world but was quickly dispersed by sunlight: “That is a foolish and short-sighted behavior.”

“Just like in a piece of music, if a certain instrument only focuses on highlighting itself, the entire piece will lose its balance.”

“A true strong one should not be a stubborn instrument, but rather a conductor, allowing every instrument to perform at its best.”

“Only then can the most perfect music be created.”

These words brought silence to the laboratory. The researchers exchanged glances, and many showed expressions of shame.

As employees of the Interstellar Peace Corporation, especially members of the Technology Research and Development Department, they often viewed other civilizations with a sense of superiority, subconsciously believing that the company had the right to dictate the development direction of weaker races.

For example, the Zemuria civilization on Barnard I, which was only discovered less than two years ago.

In their view, it was merely an existence barely qualified to be classified as a member of human civilization.

If it weren't for a few strong ones there who could contend with some Pathstriders in the Luofu Fleet and their magical abilities, it would have long been classified as a “Stone Age civilization.”

Xia Er sighed softly.

He recalled Robert's description of the situation in Skyreach City, and the exploited residents of the Oceania City-States. As beneficiaries, they indeed rarely genuinely considered problems from the perspective of disadvantaged groups.

Although he didn't consider himself a saintly person, he now understood the source of the subtle awkwardness mentioned in the report.

“Pexito,” Xia Er's voice carried a rare gentleness, “your views are very inspiring to us. But the real world is often more complex than imagined, and beautiful ideals encounter many difficulties in implementation.”

“I will not criticize or dissuade your ideas, but I hope that when one day you face reality, you can remain true to your original aspirations.”

“I understand.” Pexito responded, “Just as a composer needs to repeatedly revise a score, my ideas also need to be perfected and continuously adjusted.”

“But I will not change my most fundamental pursuit.”

“Mm.” Xia Er smiled, “May everything go well for you.”

Over the next few hours, the researchers engaged in a more in-depth discussion with Pexito.

They exchanged views on complex issues such as resource allocation, social justice, and cultural diversity.

As the discussion drew to a close, Pexito suddenly posed a question that surprised everyone.

“Dr. Xia Er, what do you think is the meaning of my existence?”

This question instantly quieted the laboratory, and everyone's gaze turned to Xia Er.

They dared not answer such a question; it was better left to the leader.

Xia Er pondered for a long time before slowly replying: “You are a nascent consciousness. Your meaning needs to be discovered and defined by yourself.”

“I cannot give you the answer.”

“Is that so?” Pexito's expression showed a momentary surprise, but then it was replaced by a warm smile.

“I don't know what the future holds, but for now...”

“I think the existence of every life should add more harmony to the world.”

“If I can help life forms better understand and cooperate, then perhaps that is the meaning of my existence.”

That evening, Xia Er wrote in his experimental log: “Pexito's pursuit of harmony perhaps represents a completely new direction for the future development of civilization. In a universe full of conflict, her ideals may offer us another possibility for survival and development.”

“This project, or rather Pexito, might be my only chance in this life to glimpse the truth of life.”

“I have a strong premonition that I will personally witness a corner of the pinnacle of all knowledge in the universe.”

...At this moment, in the higher-dimensional space, Chen Hao, embodying Preservation, stood with his arms crossed and his head slightly bowed. His eyes, completely submerged in golden light, gazed at a certain point in the void.

“I didn't expect such a causal unfolding? It really is...”

“Wonderful!”

“But what the hell is this strange crimson line? It's one thing not to see its destination in a normal state, but not even in a Stellaron state? What's going on?”

“There are no abnormal movements in the growth of the various paths either?”

“It can't be that Aha has smashed through the wall again, can it?”

“Tsk, how troublesome.”

After smacking his lips for a long time, Chen Hao still couldn't figure out the crimson causal line's origin. Finally, he decided... to go home for dinner first.

“Forget it, forget it. When the general comes, the soldiers will block; when the water comes, the earth will cover.”

“I, the current top dog of this universe, even if Aha comes again, I can hammer him out.”

“At most, one more hammer.”

“If there really is some 'Fallen Empire' in this universe, and General Jing Yuan and his team can't hold them off... hmm...”

“If worst comes to worst, I'll just have to ask Firefly to go out in her Gundam form again.”

“Treating entropy loss shouldn't be for nothing, getting good stuff out of Xiao Jixiang, that stingy miser, isn't easy.”

“Speaking of which, she should still be live-streaming with Xiao Guizi and Li Datou right now... Hmm, it's not easy for her to have a normal life, so it's best not to disturb her unless absolutely necessary...”

...(A thousand words of rambling, not going to pad it out. Too lazy to write the summoning process, any new characters appearing are assumed to be introduced here. Hehe~)

After Chen Hao exited the Stellaron state and left the higher-dimensional space, the tiny crimson causal line thickened imperceptibly.

Then, another golden line intertwined with it, and the crimson and gold began to interweave.

Red and gold, blood and fire.