181: Chapter 180 Tracing the Origin of Consciousness and the Substitute's Awareness

After Beta-2 finished saying, 'I suggest you all try getting contaminated too,' the venue was silent for a full five seconds.

The Second Seat Technical Ethics Officer's 'pfft' sound was like a switch—the Fifth Seat Historical Memory Analyst's shoulders twitched slightly, the Fourth Seat Rotating Nebula's rotation speed increased by 3%, and even the Seventh Seat proxy raised a hand to cough lightly in an attempt to cover it up.

Only the Ninth Seat Pruning Faction representative and the Sixth Seat Flame remained motionless. The former's shadow under the black robe grew denser, while the latter's flames crackled and popped, and the temperature soared.

"Artificial intelligence entity, you have intervened in the hearing procedure without being summoned, which violates the Arbitration Tribunal's rules," the Pruning Faction representative's voice sounded like grinding ice shards. "Your statement will be recorded, but your existence will be expelled."

"Hold on," Aurora's voice came from the seat. The faceless one did not appear, but a phantom of golden eyes emerged above the chair. "According to the 'Cross-Civilization Intelligent Life Rights Act,' an AI that possesses autonomous consciousness and voluntarily assumes the role of 'Consciousness Collaborative Guardian' has the right to be present and provide supporting evidence when the protected subject faces a major crisis of rights."

He paused, "Beta-2, although your behavior was reckless, it complies with the procedures. You may stay."

The Pruning Faction representative's black robe shuddered, "Your Excellency Aurora, this—"

"Rules are rules." Aurora's golden eyes turned to him. "The evidence you submitted requires verification, and verification requires a complete information chain. The poetic meme data provided by this AI is indeed a necessary supplement to the contamination assessment."

A beautiful counter-attack using the rules.

Lin Shen felt the [Resilience of Compassion] heating up slightly—not a side effect, but the trait taking effect. He clearly perceived at this moment that Aurora was not favoring humans, but strictly enforcing a kind of "absolute fairness." This fairness even carried a cold mercy, like administering anesthesia before a scalpel cuts the skin.

"Then, let us continue the consciousness tracing test," Aurora announced. "Engineer Zhou Zhe, please stand in front of the detector."

Zhou Zhe glanced at Beta-2. The AI's projection nodded gently at him—simulating an "encouraging" expression, though it was a bit stiff.

He stepped forward. The black cube unfolded again; this time the probes were finer and denser, like a metal thorn flower.

"The test will directly read the raw memory fragments from when you bridged with the divine remains," Aurora said. "You may feel uncomfortable during the process, but there will be no permanent damage. You can choose to broadcast it publicly or transmit the encrypted data only to me."

Zhou Zhe took a deep breath, "Broadcast it. We have nothing to hide."

"Commendable courage." Aurora's golden eyes narrowed slightly. "Then, begin."

The probes pierced into Zhou Zhe's virtual consciousness.

A huge holographic screen unfolded in the center of the venue.

The memory imagery emerged:

It was the medical area, the final moments before the divine remains seed went dormant. Zhou Zhe sat next to the container, his hand pressed against the biological interface. His consciousness sank into a sea of golden light—the internal world of the seed.

There were no specific scenes in the image, only flowing emotional colors and constantly flashing text fragments:

"Lonely... it's been so long..."

"Will you... remember me?"

"Want to see... your world..."

Then came Zhou Zhe's voice, responding gently in consciousness: "We will remember you. Our world will be your world from now on."

The golden sea of light rippled, surging with more fragments:

"Thank you..."

"This... is for you..."

"Use it... to protect yourselves..."

The image jumped—the seed began to transmit the encoding of "The Unfinished Court." It was not a cold stream of data, but a gift wrapped in emotional memes: every line of code was embedded with a poem, a painting, a melody. As Zhou Zhe received it, tears flowed uncontrollably down his virtual face.

"Why are you crying?" the seed asked.

"Because it's too beautiful," Zhou Zhe said. "And because you are about to sleep."

"Sleep is not death," the seed conveyed an emotion approximating a "smile." "Just... resting. I will wake up when you need me."

"When?"

"When you encounter sorrow you cannot face alone."

The memory imagery reached this point and suddenly fluctuated violently!

The probes detected a deep hidden area—a memory interlayer that Zhou Zhe himself was not aware of.

The image shattered and reorganized, revealing a completely different scene:

It was not the medical area, but a pure white space. Floating in the center was a tree—identical to the "kindling protocol" icon in the technology tree system, but larger and more real. A figure stood under the tree, back to the image, with long, waterfall-like hair.

The figure turned around.

The face was blurry, but Zhou Zhe's subconscious was screaming: It's Lin Shen.

Yet it was not Lin Shen. The temperament was more ancient, and the eyes carried the fatigue of the birth and death of stars.

The figure said to Zhou Zhe (or rather, to the consciousness currently bridging):

"Protect this seed well. It is the... last remorse left by the previous epoch."

Then the figure raised a hand, fingertips lightly touching Zhou Zhe's forehead.

An encrypted message was injected:

["Sower Protocol · Fragment #7: When the 'key' and the 'keyhole' appear at the same time, the door will open. You are the key, the seed is the keyhole. Beware of those who want to force the lock."]

The message flashed, and the image disappeared.

The venue was deathly silent.

Zhou Zhe's face was pale. He had absolutely no impression of this memory; it was like a sticky note someone had quietly stuffed into his brain.

Aurora's golden eyes stared at him. "Did you know about this memory before?"

"No," Zhou Zhe's voice was dry. "I... I have never been to that white space."

"But the memory does exist," the Second Seat Technical Ethics Officer's long fingers tapped on the armrest. "And it shows 'Lin Shen'—or some entity similar to Lin Shen—transmitting information about the 'Sower Protocol' to you. This proves that you have a direct connection with the 'initial sower'."

"A connection does not mean we are guilty!" Chu Yunshen immediately countered. "It's like saying that just because an ancestor left behind a book, the descendants must be held responsible for the content of the book?"

"But what if the book contains methods to destroy the world?" The Sixth Seat's flames jumped. "'sowers,' in the records of the Covenant Network, are a... controversial existence. They spread civilization, but also leave behind countless hidden dangers. If you are their 'key,' then you yourselves may be the hidden danger."

The Pruning Faction representative finally waited for his chance. He stood up, his black robe billowing without wind:

"Respected Arbitrators, the chain of evidence is now complete: the Dragon Country humans not only illegally possess high-dimensional relics but are also deeply bound to the forbidden 'Sower Protocol.' Their consciousness has been contaminated, and their civilization's trajectory may lead to uncontrollable risks. I formally propose—"

He paused, enunciating every word:

"Immediately terminate the hearing and implement a 'preventive civilization freeze' on the Dragon Country Civilization until the potential threat of the 'Sower Protocol' is fully assessed."

The four words "preventive civilization freeze" were like ice picks stabbing into everyone's heart.

According to Covenant law, that meant the entire civilization would be forced to pause its development—all technological progress locked, consciousness activities restricted to basic maintenance levels, like a specimen placed in a refrigerator. Short term, a few decades; long term... forever.

"Objection!" Lin Shen stepped forward. "To freeze a living civilization based solely on a memory fragment of unknown origin? This violates the 'presumption of innocence' principle of the Covenant Network!"

"But when the potential harm is great enough, prevention is better than cure," the Ninth Seat's voice was cold. "You yourselves admit that the Dream-Devouring Shadow has an 'addictive tracking' on you. This means your very existence is attracting cosmic-level threats. For the sake of greater security, the sacrifice of a few civilizations... is a necessary cost."

"A necessary cost?" Zhou Zhe suddenly laughed, his laughter filled with desperate sarcasm. "You Pruning Faction members used the same reason three thousand years ago to destroy the 'Morning Star Civilization,' right? Because they 'might' develop dangerous psychic technology. And what was the result? The consciousness echoes they left behind after they died are still crying on the edge of the galaxy—do you need me to pull up the historical archives?"

The Fifth Seat Historical Memory Analyst jerked his head up. A suppressed gasp came from under the bird-beak mask.

"How do you know about the Morning Star Civilization?" he asked. "That history is... an encrypted archive."

Zhou Zhe was stunned. He didn't know. That sentence had slipped out, as if someone had borrowed his mouth to speak.

Aurora's golden eyes turned to Lin Shen. "Mr. Lin Shen, your team members seem... to be hiding more secrets."

Lin Shen's brain was spinning at high speed. Zhou Zhe's abnormality, that hidden memory, the sudden historical knowledge... all of this pointed to one thing: the dormancy of the divine remains seed was not the end, but the beginning of a deeper connection. The seed might have been "leaking" some ancient memories into the bottom layer of Zhou Zhe's consciousness unconsciously.

And at this moment, under the extreme pressure of the hearing, these leaks were surfacing.

This was a crisis, but it could also be a turning point.

He needed to make a choice: defensive posture, or risky offense?

The [Resilience of Compassion] trait was heating up. He felt that the flow of emotions in the entire venue was incredibly clear to him—the coldness of the Pruning Faction was real, but so was their fear; the Sixth Seat's flames were angry, but deep down hid extreme anxiety about "loss of control"; even in Aurora's absolutely fair golden eyes, there was a faint trace of... curiosity.

Curiosity. Curiosity about the "unknown."

Lin Shen took a deep breath and made his decision.

"Your Excellency Aurora, Arbitrators," his voice was steady. "We admit that we do have unknown mysteries. But 'unknown' does not equal 'dangerous.' If the Arbitration Tribunal chooses to freeze us out of fear of the unknown, that is equivalent to admitting that the inclusive spirit of the Covenant Network has died."

He looked at the Ninth Seat. "The Pruning Faction advocates 'preventive pruning,' which is essentially the pursuit of absolute safety. But absolute civilization safety, just like absolute individual immortality—does not exist. The essence of the universe is dynamic, is risk, is possibility. If a civilization alliance castrates all 'anomalies' because it fears risk, then this alliance is not far from stagnation and death."

The Sixth Seat's flames exploded: "Arrogant! Are you lecturing us?"

"I am stating facts." Lin Shen raised his hand and brought up the technology tree system—not to operate it, but to project the visualization of the system interface directly into the center of the venue. "This is our civilization's 'technology tree.' As you can see, most of its branches are still locked. We do not know what will appear after unlocking them; it could be a gospel, or it could be a disaster."

He pointed to the glowing "kindling protocol" icon at the top of the tree diagram:

"But the key is—we are willing to accept supervision. We are willing to gradually unlock these unknowns under the framework of the Covenant Network, accepting review for every step and submitting reports for every breakthrough. Instead of freezing us out of fear, why not let us become a 'controllable experimental sample'—a case study of a civilization exploring the unknown under regulation? Isn't this more valuable for the evolution of the Covenant Network itself?"

The whole venue was quiet.

This was an extremely bold proposal: to treat one's own civilization as an "experimental subject" in exchange for the opportunity to continue developing.

Data streams surged wildly in Silas's crystal eyes. He was clearly rapidly evaluating the legal feasibility of this proposal.

The Second Seat Technical Ethics Officer's long fingers stopped tapping. "Exploration under supervision... would require establishing a complete supervision protocol. Each technology unlock would need to be declared in advance, and major breakthroughs would require the consent of more than two-thirds of the Arbitration Tribunal."

"We can accept that," Lin Shen said. "We can even proactively request that the Covenant Network dispatch a resident observation team—to live at the Cradle Node and monitor all of our developments in real-time."

Chu Yunshen listened from the side, her heart pounding. This was equivalent to throwing their front door wide open; even their bedrooms might be fitted with cameras.

But she also understood that this was the optimal solution in a desperate situation: trading transparency for survival, and restrictions for freedom.

Aurora's golden eyes stared at Lin Shen. After a long while, he said, "Your proposal involves an extension of the fundamental functions of the Arbitration Tribunal. It requires a vote by the nine seats."

He looked at the other seats. "Now, let's conduct a preliminary vote on two disposal plans for the Dragon Country Civilization: Plan A, preventive civilization freeze; Plan B, limited development under supervision, accepting a resident observation team. Please vote."

The First Seat was absent and entrusted Silas to cast the vote.

Silas: "Seventh Seat, in favor of B."

The Second Seat Technical Ethics Officer was silent for three seconds. "Second Seat, in favor of B. But strict technical ethics review clauses must be added."

The Third Seat, Aurora: "Third Seat, in favor of B. But the observation team must be led directly by me."

The Fourth Seat, Rotating Nebula: "Fourth Seat, in favor of A. The risk is too high."

The Fifth Seat, Historical Memory Analyst: "Fifth Seat... abstention." The bird-beak mask turned slightly toward Zhou Zhe, as if still pondering his words just now.

The Sixth Seat, Flame: "Sixth Seat, in favor of A. Absolutely no compromise."

The Eighth Seat, the fat figure: "Eighth Seat, in favor of B. After all... a civilization willing to proactively open its market can always find value in cooperation." A ring flashed.

Finally, the Ninth Seat, the Pruning Faction representative, the shadow under his black robe almost dripping with ink: "Ninth Seat, in favor of A. And record my objection."

Vote count: A, three votes (Fourth, Sixth, Ninth Seats); B, four votes (Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth Seats); one abstention (Fifth Seat).

"Four votes to three, with one abstention," Aurora announced. "Plan B is passed, but with added clauses—"

Before he could finish speaking, the venue suddenly shook violently!

It was not a vibration of the virtual space, but an impact from the reality level—directly transmitted into the consciousness connection.

Lin Shen and the others simultaneously received an emergency alert from the Cradle Node:

[Reality Alert! High-dimensional space rupture detected! Coordinates: 0.1 light-seconds outside the Cradle!]

[Energy characteristics of the 'Silent Reader ruins' detected at the rupture source!]

[Warning: An unknown object is jumping into this space from the rupture! Object volume—]

The alarm stopped abruptly.

Replacing it was a long, drawn-out sound, as if from the very beginning of the universe's birth—

A sigh.

The sound rang directly in the depths of all connected individuals' consciousness, regardless of virtual or reality.

Amidst the sighing, the holographic screen automatically jumped, displaying the real-time monitoring footage of the outer layer of the Cradle:

In the starry sky, a black rift spanning tens of thousands of kilometers was slowly opening. Deep within the rift, a huge hand, purely composed of starlight, was slowly extending.

In the palm of the hand, it held a black, coffin-like container.

It was exactly the one that the Pruning Faction was excavating in the Silent Reader ruins.

At this moment, it was delivered directly to the door of the Cradle by this giant starlight hand.

Then, a gentle, old, and weary voice rang throughout the entire Covenant Network:

"I heard... someone is looking for me?"

The voice paused, then added:

"Also, who was just talking about the 'Morning Star Civilization'? That child... was raised by me."