Chapter 493: Chapter 481: Cyber Ascension

Five orbs of light, "breathing" slowly, materialized in mid-air.

Their form resembled human brains, but they were woven from countless Rune neural threads. Each pulse of light corresponded to the flow of data within.

[Samples One-1 through One-5, soul emergence complete.]

[Thought imprinting stability rate: 97.8%.]

[Free will deviation rate: 0.004%.]

[Recommendation: Retain Samples 3 and 4 for long-term observation. Terminate the other three.]

Of the five Rune neural networks, only two were usable.

"Zero" had produced uncontrollable free will from a single sample. In contrast, after being subjected to the equivalent of tens of thousands of high-intensity emotional storms from the real world, the thought imprinting on these two "Ones" remained firmly in place.

"Excellent."

Dozens of Golem bodies, designated for testing, were ready.

"Back up these two ’Ones’ and begin the final test."

[Command confirmed.]

The newborn "One" souls, before they even had a chance to experience the world, were enveloped in a stream of data and injected into the Golem bodies.

The Golems’ eyes lit up. They slowly sat up, their movements fluid and natural, then lay back down as the light in their eyes faded.

Movement, dialogue, tests, and scenario simulations—these were repeated thousands of times on the Golem bodies in different corners of the main control room.

"Jarvis, report the test results."

[The theoretical framework for the "Quantum-State Soul Lock" technology has been verified. Solutions have been found for all three core problems.]

"Compile it all."

[Problem 1: How to define "observation," i.e., the trigger condition for active state transfer.]

[Solution: Unless a special directive is given, only one activated consciousness can exist at any given time, in any location. Activation requires dual verification with a "location." When the soul transfers to a new location, the old location automatically loses activation authority, and its backup enters a dormant state.]

Allen nodded. It was a simple, effective method, like a single key opening a single lock.

[Problem 2: How to achieve quantum entanglement between different backups to ensure the uniqueness and continuity of "Allen."]

[Solution: Apply Witchcraft. By using Witchcraft related to divination and causality, a faster-than-light information link can be established between all data backups at a low cost. When one backup is activated, all other backups are instantly locked into a dormant state via this link, and vice versa.]

The end of technology is metaphysics. But in the world of a Wizard, metaphysics is as fundamental as basic physics.

[Problem 3: How to achieve real-time memory synchronization.]

[Solution: None at present.]

Allen’s fingers paused.

[The bandwidth of the "Quantum Consciousness Entanglement" link is extremely limited. It can only transmit simple switch signals like "activate/hibernate." It cannot support a memory data stream.]

[This means—a backup that is awakened will only have memories up to the moment it last entered hibernation.]

[Supplementary measure: Write a timestamp, accurate to the nanosecond, into each backup. An awakened consciousness can immediately compare it with the current real-world time to know exactly how long it has been "asleep" and how much memory has been lost. It is also possible to manually update the backup’s memory.]

"Are there any other unresolved issues?" Allen asked calmly.

[Once you activate this mechanism, strictly speaking, each backup will not be the complete "you." They are merely "potential yous," Schrödinger’s cats locked in a box.]

Jarvis’s voice echoed in the vast main control room.

[When you die, the "you" that returns from a backup will not remember how you died. All experiences, insights, and data between your last backup and your death will be completely lost. For you, it won’t be a death and rebirth. It will be more like a sudden, unexpected blackout—a movie with the key scene cut out.]

"It doesn’t matter."

’A blackout is still better than total annihilation.’

He rose from his seat and walked, step by step, toward the custom-made Gold throne in the center of the main control room.

To be precise, it was a Rune neural interface terminal. A dense web of data-link conduits extended from the back of the chair, converging into the main server cluster behind the wall.

"Jarvis."

[Here, Commander.]

"If I fail, activate my Number One consciousness backup. Let it take over Cybertron and become the true ’me’ with high-level authority."

[...Command recorded.]

[Commander, based on our calculations, the success rate is 96.3%. You need not worry.]

"Always plan for the worst."

He closed his eyes.

A cold, metallic sensation spread from his back as the data-link conduits automatically attached themselves to his temples, cervical spine, and spinal column.

[Countdown five seconds—full consciousness upload experiment. Estimated duration: approximately 8 minutes.]

[Soul Detachment Protocol initiated.]

BZZT—

In an instant, his five senses were stripped away. The world became an endless expanse of darkness and dead silence.

This was followed by a tsunami-like torrent of information.

He "saw" a cross-section of his own soul—every layer of memory, every segment of emotion, every single belief, all disassembled into readable data slices, like organs laid out on an operating table.

He "heard" the sound of his humanity operator running—a strange rhythm somewhere between a heartbeat and code compiling. It was the fundamental support for what made him "human."

He was being "analyzed," translated from a carbon-based lifeform into a string of data and information.

Every synaptic connection was being deconstructed.

Every piece of muscle memory was being digitized.

Everything he thought "belonged" to him was now being proven to be nothing more than information in a specific arrangement.

[Warning: Humanity Value experiencing severe fluctuations!]

[Humanity operator is running. Self-perception recalibrating!]

A massive amount of data washed over his consciousness, threatening to "dissolve" the very concept of "Allen."

The deep-seated nature of his past life became the sturdiest of anchors, desperately holding on to the ’Allen’ that was about to be swept away by the Storm.

In this absolute "quiet zone" forged from solitude, his consciousness began to coalesce once more.

[Consciousness stream translation complete. Beginning injection into the Cyber Spirit Realm via the Allen Network.]

The next moment, he plunged into a river that defied description.

It was made of light, composed of data.

Past, present, and future converged here. The joys and sorrows of countless players, the logical loops of countless NPCs, the operational logs of countless Golems... all these formed every single drop in this river of information.

He sped through this river, without a body, without direction, simply moving forward.

He didn’t know how long it had been. Perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.

Ahead, he saw an "exit."

A coordinate constructed from the source code of *Sword Art Online*, shining like a lighthouse in a tempest.

Without hesitation, he plunged headfirst into it.

...

*Sword Art Online*, Town of Origin, Central Square.

The sun was warm, a gentle breeze caressing the skin. The fountain murmured softly, and NPC merchants walked back and forth on their predetermined routes. The only thing missing was the boisterous energy of the players.

A young, black-haired man in a plain, novice-issue linen tunic materialized out of thin air beside the fountain.

Allen opened his eyes.

His perspective had never been so strange.

He could see the sunlight—not just "see" it, but directly read the rendering parameters of every single beam of light.

Color temperature 4800K, attenuation coefficient 0.7, projection angle 62°.

He could see the spray from the fountain—the physical trajectory of every single droplet was an editable parabolic equation.

He could "perceive" the entire Town of Origin—three hundred forty-seven NPCs were running simultaneously, all their behaviors hanging on a single decision tree. The branching conditions were perfectly clear, like a stage play with the backstage exposed.

He looked down at his "hands."

They were a humanoid silhouette constructed from basic data packets.

He clenched his fist.

It wasn’t muscles contracting to move bones—it was his will directly modifying the status parameters of this data-body.

In the carbon-based world, the action of "clenching a fist" required a complete chain from the cerebral cortex to motor neurons to muscle fibers. Here, it only took a single thought.

He had escaped the shackles of flesh and blood, descending upon the world he had created in the form of information.

He had succeeded.

An unprecedented sense of freedom and control filled his every "data bit." He knew he could turn all of Aincrad into a plaything in the palm of his hand at any moment.

"Jarvis?"

[I am here, Commander.] Jarvis’s voice rang directly in Allen’s consciousness.

"Report on my original body’s status."

[Your carbon-based body has lost all conscious activity. Vital signs are normal.]

Phase one—consciousness detached from its carbon-based vessel, existing in a data state on a virtual network.

Verification complete.

"Prepare for phase two testing. Project my consciousness from the virtual network into a Golem shell in the real world."

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