“…… Resurrected undead? ”

Ivus was a little surprised.

Because he is a real priest - a priest of the third level, and a weaker bishop is at this level. It is impossible for him to be unable to distinguish between the dead and the living.

In Ivus's vision, both the Dwarven Hammer and Old William are genuine living people. And according to them, they are all Eagle Cape Village who entered from the swamp, and they are all "resurrected ones" in the mouth of the elders.

"That's just the way it is."

The old man nodded slowly, and looked at Ivas with his one-eyed gaze: "I will tell you this secret, also because of ...... You are Jacob's chosen successor. And Jacob has a kindness to us that will never be reciprocated. ”

"I came here to seek my grandfather's legacy."

Ivas said bluntly: "So I need more knowledge, more truth – so please tell me more truth." ”

"As it should ......"

The old man said softly.

He braced himself with his cane and slowly stood up.

He walked step by step, approaching the ledge with the help of Ehuas, and gazed at the sun that had risen high in the distance.

"I'm asking you a question, Ivace...... You are from the city and a college student. It must be much better than our old things. ”

"Excuse me." Ivas replied politely.

"What if there is such a person...... No one saw his body after he died, and no one learned of his death, and his body was swallowed up in a swamp somewhere.

And then another swamp connected to this swamp spat out another person who was exactly the same as him. This person's knowledge, memory, personality, and abilities are exactly the same as those of the deceased, and the body is also a human body, even the birthmark and the assassination are the same. It's just that there is no memory of death. After he woke up...... He only thought he had fainted and then been picked up.

"So, do you think such a person is the undead who is called by the corpse of the former?"

The old squire said slowly.

Ivas understood everything halfway through it.

- This is a classic thought experiment.

It's called the "Swamp Man Paradox."

Suppose that when someone dies, a very coincidental reaction happens to give birth to a replica that is identical to the former at the atomic level, and holds almost all of the memories and knowledge of the former, but does not have the memories of the moment of death...... And after this person woke up, he immediately resumed his life like the deceased, continued to read the book he had not finished, and went to work as usual the next day.

So is this person the same person as the one who died?

This reminds Ivas of the "egg man" of the EVE game, where when a pilot is about to die, the capsule system kills him instantly, preserves all memories and knowledge with powerful scans that destroy the brain, and then transmits the information to another place through faster-than-light technology, and uses clones to "resurrect" him.

So is the person who is resurrected by this means still the same person? Or is it a new self?

Evas's heart sank.

— because he immediately thought of himself.

If the "Egg Man" or "Swamp Man" is not who he really is, then ...... What about himself?

He is also partly Ivas Moriarty, but partly not. He awakened the memory of his past life for some unknown reason, but was that "past life" really himself? If only the memories were teleported, would he still be the same old self?

And if it's the soul that comes, then is he still Ivus?

In the past, Eivers had been running away from this problem. But now the problem has come its own.

“…… I can't answer this question. ”

Ivus was silent for a long time, and could only shake his head honestly.

He really couldn't give a definitive answer – because the question had already touched on him. Even if Ivas gave an answer, it would definitely be an answer that had not been carefully thought out and tended to fool people.

But even if it was such a hypocritical answer, Ewass didn't want to give it. Because he doesn't want to treat himself so casually.

"You don't know, and neither do we."

The old squire sighed, "But that's how they came.

"The first foreigner to enter Eagle Point Village through this route was Inspector William. And the one who created this special rite of resurrection and threw him in through it......

"It's your grandfather, Jacob."

- At that moment, Ivas suddenly remembered his promotion ceremony that had just ended.

It was at the inn that the young Jacob came into contact with Inspector William. And now it seems that the appearance of Inspector William has not changed much from that time......

If this is something that did happen in reality, it's just that the part of the dream has been modified by Wei Zhe......

That means that the real William is probably dead.

Without Ivus's shepherding method, a dream demon that was about to hatch could not be solved. Not to mention that there's an Earthbound Spirit standing there...... Jacob was able to escape and live to give birth to a child, which was already a surprise to Eivas.

That Inspector William didn't look very strong either. He probably died there.

Because they used to fight side by side...... Or with the permission of the other party, Jacob decided to use his corpse for experiments to see if he could be resurrected.

But after the resurrection, William has lost the memory of his acquaintance with Jacob. So in his words, the first time he met Jacob would be after he entered the village of Eagle Headland.

"As soon as we first entered the village, Jacob brought us a new population. These outsiders who entered the village through his resurrection ritual gave the village some vitality. After all, it was not completely frozen in the cold wind. ”

The old man recalled the past and said slowly, "And after he returned to the village for the second time...... He seemed to be busy with something.

"I don't know what ritual he's preparing, and I don't know what he's doing. But that's when children began to be born in the village. That was about 20 years ago. ”

In this time-stagnant and isolated village, pregnant aborigines appeared for the first time.

It was as if time had been completely frozen and was starting to run again...... Although it was still running sluggishly, the frozen waterwheel was slowly turning.

“…… So there are no young people in their early thirties in the village? ”

Washton was stunned.

It's not because the young people of that age are dead or have left the village.

But no one has been pregnant since then.

Immediately afterwards, Ivus also realized another thing: "Doesn't that mean that not many people have died? ”

There are no outsiders, no newborns, and the population will only drop but not rise, and it will soon become a complete dead village.

But the village has apparently been around for a long time. And you can still see a lot of middle-aged people on the street......

“…… Or was it not so long ago that the villagers were unable to have children? ”

Ivas asked tentatively.

If the village was mothballed from forty years ago, that would be understandable. Time stood still for forty years, and then began to flow again...... A young man who is less than twenty years old is now an uncle in his forties, which is right.

The old man just shook his head and didn't say much: "How can it be so short."

"We are all Amber people who have sold their souls to Amber and sought refuge; We are all forgotten afterimages of the sand timepiece. Being able to stay alive is already the limit...... How is it possible to participate in the ritual of the 'new birth'.

"Childbirth is a great and sacred ritual. It heralds the birth of a new soul and is the result of the combined action of the Nine Great Paths. That's not what people like us who have lost our names deserve. ”

Aiwath frowned.

Stranger.

Newborn.

What exactly do they have in common......

What is the purpose of my grandfather's experiments here......

He thought about it for a long time, but in the end it was Lily's eyes that widened slightly and realized something.

She tugged at Ivus and whispered something in his ear.

Evas's expression froze, and he gasped.

He realized the most outrageous possibility—but even more outrageous, that possibility was even the most likely.

"Old sir," Ivus asked suddenly, "the outsiders who have 'risen' from the swamp...... Do they have souls? ”

- The swamp man paradox, in fact, has a solution.

Because there is no "soul" on earth. It is precisely because there is no soul that matter or thought can be the pros and cons of the philosophical question of "what is me?"

But the world is different.

This world really has a soul - not only that, but in a sense there is also "reincarnation" and the afterlife.

Although it is not directly reincarnated one-on-one after death. Instead, it returns to the world like a recycling machine, and then a newborn baby is born from the world...... But it does have a unique "soul". It is even unique to the point of being able to create an undead spirit to prevent the other from reincarnating or reaching the afterlife.

On the other hand, if that person dies and becomes an apostle, then it is no longer possible to turn the other person into an undead. Because the only soul has been taken away.

Unless......

It suddenly occurred to him why he couldn't recognize the other party as a priest as an undead.

INTERVIEWER What is the standard by which a priest judges a person as a ghost?

He never thought about it.

But now, the near-blurted out answer made him feel creepy.

If time stands still here, you can't go in or out.

- So where did the "extra" souls of foreigners and newborns come from?

The old squire was silent.

He slowly turned his head, his dim one-eyed gaze at Ivus.

"Yes."

The old man replied, "They all have complete souls, souls that are exactly the same as they were when they were alive.

"But in the abyss in the swamp, there is another soul stored. That's their soul when they were alive. ”

Ivas finally determined what his grandfather Jacob was doing in the village of Eagle Headland, and why the noble red wanted his research manuscript so much......

- He is trying to replicate the human soul.

Update complete!

(End of chapter)