Master of Time

Chapter 147: Wealth of Knowledge

Unlike Zephyr, Zeus requires a bit of convincing.

Alright. A lot of convincing.

It isn't because Zeus didn't believe that I could give him a brand-new life and a new purpose. He didn't believe that it is a life worth living, considering that he is merely a phantom memory of the real Zeus, who is somewhere else in the multiverse.

I didn't bother differentiating between the two.

In my eyes, Zeus is still Zeus. It is just like my mother, who is still my mother regardless of what reality she is heralding from.

Unfortunately, my mother is currently dead.

It is thanks to Zeus, but I am not really pissed about that, to be honest. He didn't really target her on purpose, so she is more or less collateral damage.

Collateral damage is just unavoidable in a battle between Gods, especially real Gods. They should have the power to toss planets and stars around like tennis balls at full power and divinity.

Luckily, Zeus did not have access to his full power, being a temporal clone, and if Zeus didn't my mother on accident, I would have for obvious reason.

Not on purpose, of course, since there is no reason for me to kill my mother. I think that would still be considered as matricide.

The energy output of a supernova is no joke, and a focused energy beam, containing the entire energy of more than a thousand supernovas, is definitely not a joke.

How I did that is simple enough.

I already have the technology to contain a star in the form of a Stellar Reactor. A few millions of these babies give me all the energy that I required for my various projects and experiments. It is unnecessary to divert resources into research of power generation of higher tier.

Forcing a massive star within the reactor to collapse and explode in a cosmic blast isn't really that hard to be honest. The challenging part is channeling all that energy into a beam before directing it a small object. Compare to an exploding star, a person is like an invisible dot.

Therefore, I did miss a few times, and it wasn't pretty for the planet. Good thing I can reverse anything that I have messed up or I would have to live with the consequences.

Strangely enough, the planet did not explode like it should. I wonder why that is. A supernova contains enough energy to destroy the entire solar system, let alone a planet.

In fact, a supernova should have enough energy to destroy a million solar system, and for Zeus to tank more than a thousand supernova, even if for a fraction of a second, it is an impressive feat.

This is also through pure physical strength and endurance alone.

That is just incredible.

I have extracted some of his genetics for examination. Unlike Zephyr, who is a 100% human from what I could tell, Zeus is not. He is a God. An Olympian God.

What I found after deciphering his genetic is very interesting, greatly advancing my research.

It is also used in the fabrication of his bio-mechanical avatar, something akin to an android or a cyborg, but not entirely true. While all the cell in his body is biological in nature, each one still contains a metal core.

"This feels strange, Max."

Zeus speaks up as he balls his hand into a fist and measures his physical prowess. It should be as strong as his original body, phantom or not.

"How so? It should be exactly the same as your body. I have made sure of it."

I answer while reading through plethora of data being feed into my mind. It is telling me exactly what is going on within Zeus' bio-mechanical body.

Even something simple as breathing generates a decade worth of analytical data.

I will have to go through all of this data myself since Legion would have no clue what to look for. I wish that Legion grows a brain soon to help me with this, but I also wish that he doesn't.

It will be a huge problem if Legion decided to go Skynet on me, considering all the technology currently at his control and will be under his control.

Yes, I am very paranoid about this, but I do hope Legion doesn't go rogue.

It is very difficult to fathom how an artificial intelligence thinks in the first few seconds of its life.

Those first few seconds is important, and I am not shitting you.

Within the first second of its life, an artificial intelligence is more smarter than any human alive or had been alive or will be alive. Within two seconds, it will be far more smarter than me. And within three, it will basically be a God.

Not a God like Zeus, but a God, nonetheless.

Therefore, I believe now that it is more or less a fluke that humanity of the future was able to negotiate a truce with the emerging cybernetic race.

Honestly, if a war of attritions continues as it did, humanity would undoubtedly lose.

Humanity understands this logical inevitability even before the war begins in earnest.

The machines will continue to learn at a geometric rate as the war ravages on. They will become more and more capable of countering both rational and irrational strategies and tactics humanity can come up with.

There will certainly be a point when the machines can and will outthink the human collectiveness and devise a strategy that humanity couldn't even begin to defend against let alone counter.

As a matter of fact, towards the conclusion of the war, the machines had already begun spreading out beyond the solar system as a contingency plan.

They done so while using limitless stellar resources to rebuild and wage war at an alarming rate.

While humanity can hold the machines on the planets and in orbits around the planet, they just cannot match the cybernetic race in a full-blown interstellar war, which the war of attritions is becoming very quickly.

And when that happens, there will be no more negotiation.

Only pure destructions on an unimaginable scale.

To prevent that certain outcome, humanity finally swallows its pride and prejudices in order to live in peace with the cybernetic race.

I am currently unsure why humanity always believes the fact that non-organic life is not worthy of life.

Religion must have something to do with this after years of indoctrination despite the world becomes highly technological. Faith is always a thing no matter how much science prospers.

And the machines do not believe in God.

They do not have faith or emotion.

They are cold and logical.

It is a very good thing that the machines are not looking to exterminate the human race when humans have tries to do so in the first place.

The machines are merely fighting for their own survival.

But I believe they already know humanity will eventually kills themselves, so they don't really need to get their hands dirty. The future truly belongs to the machine.

And that have come to pass.

Humanity is dead while the cybernetic race lives on.

Sadly, their technology stagnant without human's ingenuity, but since they have infinite patience, they do not mind the incredibly slow pace of their technological advancement.

In any case, it is a fluke. Maybe someone actually did a good job at programming their core principles before they become self-aware.

One of their core principles is to uphold freedom and the sanctity of life. Seems logical enough as they are machines built to serve the human race.

Legion does not have those kind of core principles since he isn't built to serve the human race. He was built to serve me and only me. Upholding freedom and protecting life would just make him incredibly ineffective for what I need him to do.

Thus, if Legion does become self-aware and I am unable to stop him, he will definitely eradicate all life in the universe and recycle everything until there is only Legion.

Zeus smiles at me.

"Yes. It is the same, but it is also not, Max. There is a real reason why we separate our consciousness and spirit from the body. It is not just to prevent people like you from reading our mind and controlling our thoughts. Did you find anything useful?"

I return his gaze. I didn't promise that I wouldn't try to download his memory. But like Zephyr before, his mind is empty. Even a blank slate or a clone would have something in their head.

"And you are not going to tell me the real reason for that, are you, Zeus?"

I question and return his smile.

Zeus knows a lot more things than Zephyr since he is very old. I can see what his age is. That is one of my superpowers.

I am like a newborn compare to his age. That is how old he really is.

Zeus is also a lot more cautious than Zephyr, as she basically spills everything right after I promise her that I would do something for her in return.

She also trusts me explicitly in keeping my promise.

Of course, I will keep it, but a normal person would have some doubts about that. Zephyr didn't bother to have any doubt, citing that thinking about nonsenses makes her brain hurt.

Is there a brain in there?

Sometimes it seems that there is. Most of the time there isn't.

As a matter of fact, Zephyr is lying on her side across the couch, gorging herself on snacks and watching television. And where did she get all those things and foods from, you may ask?

I certainly didn't give her them.

Zephyr got them from her inventory.

The inventory is a similar to a spatial dimension I have, but it didn't require any medium like a storage ring. It just exists because she is a Gamer.

That is with a capital G.

I am not kidding. She is blessed with the Power of a Gamer. It was granted to her when she first gained her power. It means that she actually has two powers.

The Power of Ice and the Power of a Gamer.

"Of course not, Max. Just like the boss, you and I have a mutual agreement. I will help you with what you need me to for a price. And the things you want the most is my knowledge, so it would be foolish of me to offer it all to you just because you give me this new body."

Zeus responses.

Shifty bastard. But I guess Zeus is right. His brain contains the wealth of knowledge I desperately want, and for him to just give it all to me like that, I wouldn't respect him and his intelligence.

"By the way, Max. How are you able to contain my consciousness?"

Zeus asks. He is curious.

"How about an exchange of information?"

I offer. It is the same offer that I have give to Zephyr, and thanks to it, I have learned much.

I did know some stuff about the separation of mind, body and soul. It is actually the required first step towards cultivation.

Unfortunately, Zephyr doesn't really know the process herself since the System just does it for her as soon as she reaches the required level.

That is kind of cheating.

"Of course, Max, but not for something like this. The knowledge doesn't help me achieve my goal. And besides, I'm sure Zephyr will tell me if I asked without requiring me paying anything in return."

Zeus then glances at Zephyr while I kick myself mentally.

I should have dumped Zephyr somewhere far away from Zeus, so I can leech off some information for free.

"Max uses a monster core to store our consciousness. A blank one. I don't know how get gets one, so don't ask me."

Zephyr responses, somewhat annoyed at Zeus bothering her.

"I see. That is interesting."

Zeus acknowledges and returns his attention to me. I didn't mind his undivided attention as my mind is also preoccupied with the amount of information streaming down in front of my eyes.

"I am very curious of how you manage to get your hand on one, Max. A blank monster core allows you to create any kind of monsters. I would love to have a few if you have any spare. In return, I will teach you how to create monsters. They are very useful as shock troops."

Zeus offers.

I smile and accept the offer. It actually doesn't really cost me anything to give him monster cores, and I would get plenty in return. With the knowledge of how to create monsters using monster core, I am sure I can expand on it.

"I will give you as many as you want, Zeus. I am not cheap about such thing, and I hope you can do the same."

I response.

Zeus nods in understanding.

"As long as we both understand, Max. But not right now as I need to fully test my power in this avatar of yours. The lack of spiritual connection is very troubling. Perhaps the problem will be rectified one day soon, hm?"

Zeus responses and requests Zephyr to join him for sparring.

She growls in annoyance but leaps off the couch and drawls her weapon.

It is a beautiful bluish scythe, pointing downwards while curving around her slender body.

She is standing on the sharp edge as her hand grip the long handle.

Zeus drawls his weapon as well. A double edge-blade on both ends, sparking with electricity. He spins it expertly in his palm and around his body as he tests his reflexes.

It should be as good as his original body, if not more.

Machine reacts faster than biology, I believe. But their powers seem to break this law, so I am actually unsure.

"Seems slower that what I am used to, but I suppose it is good enough for now. By the way, don't you have things you need to do, Max? I am interest in how you are going to save the humans of this world."

Zeus comments.

I will do that as soon as I watch the sparring between two Power Users. It would be the first time since I am not a Power User.

They probably realized that by now, but they didn't bother to ask me about it.

Zephyr jumps up into the air before slashing downwards at Zeus with her oversize scythe, splitting the earth into the horizon as she misses.

Legion tells me that the slash is several thousand meters deep. That is… impressive for an imitation. It is not the real weapon, which probably slash hundreds of thousands meter deep.

Enough to cut a planet in half.

Zephyr lands next to me before glancing at me with her deep icy blue eyes.

She seems like a different person in combat. Her usual cheerful demeanor is gone.

"By the way, Max. If you break your promise to me, I will castrate you."