Richelieu, who has always been known for being extremely demanding of his subordinates and even more demanding of himself, rarely admires anyone, even if it is an opponent whom he respects from the bottom of his heart, he will only express his respect in the form of "go all out to eliminate them". And the Supreme Consul of Alfheim happens to be one of the few.

It's hard to convince a guy who is closest to God in every sense of the word.

But because of this, for a long time, there has been a question about Li Lin that has plagued Richelieu.

That is, why is Roland the only one special?

In Richelieu's view, Li Lin is a benchmark figure who can be used to annotate the phrase "no blood and no tears", a strategic machine full of efficiency and consequentialism (it sounds a bit like talking about himself). In addition to not getting married, there are no offspring of blood and bones, and every part of the body can be related to "good people" (this is also surprisingly similar).

Generally speaking, people with the above personalities are less interested in "reproduction" than most nobles, and their attitude towards "cultivating successors" is only slightly better. After all, they lack urgency in this regard, and in their opinion, there is no one who can meet their own standards, or who can be "like themselves". It is only because they have to, and they are vigilant during the cultivation process, as if something goes wrong with the subject, such as not fitting or trying to get out of control, the subject will immediately be replaced like a broken part.

Li Lin's attitude towards Roland is close to "spoiling" and "free-range", and even Roland rebelled against Li Lin's established strategy several times, and was not punished afterwards.

At first, Richelieu thought that it was Roland's outstanding talent that Li Lin did not start, or that Li Lin's few human sides were due to it, but then the Prime Minister began to feel that it was not like that. Although Richelieu himself has no heirs, he is still an old fox with a white tail. I have seen a loser's son and a bastard father. Even if his own son pries the corner of his father's wall, he will at least be locked up in a small dark room after the matter is revealed. I have never seen an adopted son move his father's business, and afterwards the two sides are still the same as if they were fine.

For a while, Archbishop Li wondered if Li Lin had any special hobbies and something wrong with his orientation. has a yearning for "immorality" and "taboo" that ordinary people can't understand. You must know that "the noble circle is really chaotic" is the norm in the aristocratic circle, what bull-headed people are not new for a long time, and the knights and knights give each other green hats as if they were playing, and some people have written books about this, and the underground literary creation between someone and someone in the society has long been flooded. If you don't think about it, maybe someone just likes to roll the sheets with the women's Roland or the feminine Roland? The archbishop said that this is not incomprehensible, at most, for the sake of the pure and immaculate true love for the holy maiden, let someone be burned.

In any case, it is difficult to find an element called "family affection" in the relationship between Li Lin and Roland. Even if there is, it is unilateral by Roland. They are more like teachers and students than fathers and sons.

After that, after getting the whole truth about the consortium, the elf camp, and Li Lin from Roland, the doubts not only did not subside, but became stronger.

What are the factors that can make Li Lin put Roland in the hangar of the Great Emperor? This is not a matter of spoiling and cultivating. A political leader known for his "absolute rationality", a strategist who barely smells the human touch. He should know better than anyone the importance of "strangling potential dangers in the cradle", but he did the foolish act of keeping tigers in danger. Is it overconfidence? No way. Is it a momentary soft-heartedness?

The only explanation is. There was a certain factor in Roland, and this factor was so important that Li Lin had to give in.

――If you have this information, will you be able to make some kind of concession to Li Lin? At least without triggering the mechanism of world restart, will you be able to reach a balance?

With this thought in mind, Richelieu tried with the determination to die, but—

"Sticky notes?"

The scheming prime minister did not hide his surprise. There was more surprise than shock.

He had made a lot of guesses before, but the answer Li Lin gave was too unbelievable, and it didn't even look like an answer.

(Did you notice anything?...... ）

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom clenched his fists, a wet touch came from his palm, and his eyes were full of doubts and stared at the sticky notes that Li Lin took out.

"Before we begin to explain. Let me start with a question for you. ”

Casually playing with paper and quill pens, like a child attracted by two pieces of stationery, Li Lin asked leisurely:

"Do you think someone can completely replace you and give an 'exactly like you' answer to a question?"

"No way. ”

Everyone is unique, everyone is unique, and no matter how similar thoughts and values are, there are bound to be differences in perceptions and reactions. By collecting personal information, organizing it, reasoning, and constructing an inference model, it is also possible to obtain "someone's opinion and answer to a certain question." However, it is generally limited to theoretical questions, and it is difficult to realize the perceptual realm beyond logic, for example, the reaction of ordinary people to the flames is different from that of ordinary people. So fundamentally, the so-called "answer" is actually "close to the correct answer", and there are still many debatable details to be discussed.

Not to mention that personal perceptions change over time and place.

"Therefore, there is no second way to get 'someone's answer' at all than to ask himself, at least in the sense of common sense. ”

A quill drew a large circle on the white paper, followed by a striking cross.

"But this object is dead, and we want a 'unique answer' anyway, so what do we do?"

When asked about this, people will always subconsciously think of "resurrecting this person", and then immediately reject this unrealistic delusion.

Whether it is magic or science, "resurrecting the dead" and "immortality" are both eternal but fruitless attempts, some people try to retrieve all the information records about themselves from the "roots" and implant puppets with exactly the same indicators as themselves, some people try to digitize their thoughts and memories and exist in the form of electronic memories, some people want to transplant their brains into clones or other people's bodies, and some people turn their souls into magic circuits and spend a hundred years in the form of parasites.

All of these attempts failed. The reason is also extremely simple - any object that exists, even the world itself, is doomed to destruction from the moment it is born. Even with the technology that Li Lin mastered, he absorbed the thoughts, memories and genetic information of Li Nadu Dalk at that time, and created a highly similar clone to inject the data. All you can get is a "very similar doll". The answer he expects can't be obtained by a puppet that has to pull on his own to act.

One cannot step into the same river twice – the great Greek philosopher Heraclitus has already revealed the problem.

The world is constantly changing, and the world doesn't wait for anyone. If you want to find the truth from eternity, you can only follow it for eternity. But...... Leaving aside the difficulty of this study, the tendency to touch the "root vortex" is bound to attract some "attention". As the spokesperson of the will of the planet, under the circumstances at that time, it was absolutely impossible for Li Lin to conduct an "eternal experiment" on someone who was equivalent to "voting for the name". Failure to do it is one thing, the main problem is taboo.

Then there is only one way to settle for it.

"As an alternative, other aspects were explored. ”

"'Groping for other things'...... What do you mean?"

"Various, there are theory-based. There are also conceptual attempts that feel like something out of an entertainment novel. Let's say, the group unconscious or something. ”

"The Syndicate is unconscious?"

"It's a concept of psychology and the occult, but there are some secrets that can't be said...... In short, it is the spirit of the individual that is connected to others at the root part, forming a huge body of common consciousness. That 'common consciousness' is like a giant bulbous, the individual consciousness is only its tentacles derived from the world, and the life and death of the individual are like the action of the tentacles stretching and retracting, and the sphere itself still exists. In a sense. The globe itself is the wisdom and experience accumulated by all individuals. ”

Perhaps it was the first time since the conversation began, that he bluntly said "the secret that cannot be said", which brought some changes to the stiff atmosphere, or it could be that he was dissatisfied with Li Lin's lack of positive answers to questions. Richelieu snorted coldly, teasing in a scathing tone:

"Why? Isn't it as smart as you want to go inside that bulb and try to steal all the crystals of wisdom?"

"There was not even a project in that area, let alone an attempt. What is worth noting is not the function of the database, but the concept of the 'collective' as the 'individual'. Just as the act of 'thinking' is not the result of the operation of the soul. Rather, it is the result of chemical reactions between cranial nerves and the transmission of electrical signals. If individuals are seen as nodes, and the connections between them are seen as neural signal transmission, each group can function as a giant brain. ”

"That's not a theory at all, it's just an opinion, and there's no way to prove it. Basically. It has nothing to do with your purpose or the 'get a unique answer'. ”

Richelieu gently patted the table to interrupt Li Lin's speech, which was so obscure and full of incomprehensible terms that he could not bear it, and the prime minister could not help but feel that Li Lin was just saying something inconsecent to pass the time.

As if mocking Richelieu's impatience, Li Lin raised the corners of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I should have adjusted the level of interpretation to match your level...... Then I'll get straight to the point. Your Excellency Prime Minister, if there is a person who has the same vision, the same imagination, and the same direction as the target audience. If such a person exists...... Is that person's idea the same as the target's own thought?"

“...... Also, theoretically, this can be established. ”

"In that case, doesn't it matter if the subject himself is alive or not?"

In a voice that could not tell whether it was high or indifferent, the glass that was about to touch his lips broke away from his palm and fell rapidly towards the ground, shattering with a piercing wail and Richelieu's mental defenses.

"If there is a person who has the same level and thinking pattern as the target object, even if the subject disappears from the world, the phenomenon that 'someone will always follow the world and continue to think' can still be established. Wouldn't that be more efficient than keeping the target alive?"

Richelieu fell silent for a moment, and it was a full half minute before the prime minister, who had been wet with wine, stammered again.

"You...... What do you mean by 'the same'......

"There are two plans. It can also be said that one is originally two parallel lines that complement each other. Plan A is just the concept of the group as an individual, and the core of the group is the 'fed resistance'. ”

Judging from the parameters of the target object in all aspects, it is difficult to have an individual with the same level as it. However, in various fields, there should be people who are similar to them. Gather these people who are close to the target idea tendency and have excellent performance in different domain parameters. We will select and educate special talents in different categories.

Since there must have been a gap between these talents and the target audience that cannot be bridged by education, they can only be regarded as a "core", and by systematizing people from all over the world who hold the same tendencies and making them "peripherals", they can form "doppelgangers" that hold the system of thinking of the target object—that is, "heroic organizations that oppose the system of absolute domination of the empire."

"The flaw of Plan A is the 'gap between the target audience and the cultivated audience'. For example, at a time when the concept of trains did not even exist, a proposal was suddenly made to create a mechanical car that could reach a speed of 100 kilometers per hour without animal traction. After making a bunch of parts and bizarre semi-finished products, it was judged that it could not reach the target of '100 kilometers per hour'. Some of the people involved in the development of the project thought that even if the speed was only 10 kilometers per hour, it would still be very meaningful, and it could be improved to the original target in the future. But without the guidance of a 'leader', there is no way to continue research. There was a similar gap between the objectives in Plan A and the copycats, and in order to bridge the gap, Plan B was created. ”

The stammering expression disappeared from Richelieu's face, and in its place, the hairs stood on end.

（...... What is this? What is it...... Theory? It's like ...... ）

"Plan B. It's Roland. ”

The upright and elegant voice echoed, and the figure on the other side smiled with a seemingly pleasant look.

"Plan A is to copy objects in a group. Plan B attempts to replicate the nearest individual as a target. Through psychological and physiological influences, the brain that holds the same thinking pattern as the target is artificially reproduced. ”

"Wait...... Wait! Wait a minute!"

Patience would not have been enough, Richelieu interjected:

"The previous words are exaggerated enough, but now it is not a hypothesis, but a real transformation of people? This kind of idea can no longer be regarded as a conception, it is simply delusional and crazy! It's a fanatic who exaggerates his delusions and has no common sense—"

"What is the difference between 'common sense' and 'delusion', is it possible or impossible?"

The smiling face is beautiful.

It is more upright because of a serious book, more elegant because of calmness, and trembling because of indifferent madness. That beauty is also almost bewitching because it makes people can't help but be frightened.

The beast-like smile continued:

"Ordinary people...... Not only the general public, but also the majority of scholars, belong to the 'majority of common sense'. After researching according to their own cognition, they put 'maybe it can be realized in a few centuries' -- that is, imaginable concepts on the extension line of their own cognition -- into the realm of common sense. Anything beyond that is delusional to them. ”

In an era when gunpowder did not even exist, a smoothbore arquebus was a magic wand in the eyes of people, and without a physical object, the person who proposed the concept of a musket would be regarded as a madman. For today's people, the Wehrmacht's automatic firearms are the "weapons of the future", and the researchers who developed them are great pioneers in exploring new areas.

In a word, how to distinguish the boundaries between "delusional" and "great" depends on people's cognitive level and attitude.

In this sense, while the plan is a delusional to the vast majority of people, it is reasonable to me - only what I can understand and cannot share with others...... It is for this reason that Plan A is incomplete. After all, there are differences in everyone's sensibilities and reactions, and even if you gather people with similar ideas, due to their different life circumstances and circumstances, the shape of the thinking circuit formed in the brain and the direction of signal transmission are inconsistent, and it is difficult for others to execute the idea with the exact same goal. On the other hand, from an early age when the personality has not yet been fully formed, will it be possible to construct the same thinking circuit as the goal by means of physics and psychology, and will the same thoughts as the goal be generated?"

"This kind of thing...... Is it feasible?"

"There have been cases of clinical surgery that affected emotional performance, such as becoming aggressive. Or the loss of fear, and in extreme cases, multiple personalities. The aristocratic family of the mental manipulation technique has also tried to explore such as 'conceptual camouflage', using the fragments of the technique hidden in the words and sentences, and assembling the technique into the reader's brain, with the ultimate goal of replacing the reader's personality with the personality of the writer of the technique or creating an obedient puppet. However, these only stay at the level of influencing emotional judgment, and at most will produce the waste of unsound personality. Even if it's me. With the concepts of 'thinking circuits' and 'signal-generating mechanisms', and knowledge of surgery, the brain is still a difficult object to deal with. So -- it's necessary to ask a few more heads. ”

The brain that is closest to the target and inherits its genetic information...... The head of Roland Dahl of great descent!

For example, when a subject sees food and thinks, 'I'm going to eat it now.'" So is this a reaction that would have occurred before the change, or is it the effect of surgery? Obviously. Ideas that are taken for granted are difficult to test, but they need to be tested with problems that can only be solved by the target audience, which takes too long and lacks a clear means of confirmation. Therefore, in the first half of the experiment, it is necessary to test the ideas that most people do not think about and are unlikely to put into practice...... For example, "stand up for the masses" or "fight an enemy that is too strong to defeat" or something like that. ”

As far as the standard of testing is concerned, it is actually still on the high side. Usually. "Wanting to kill", a simple act that is considered taboo by ordinary people, is more suitable, as long as it can create a murderer who only thinks about killing people all day long. The experiment was a success. It's just that considering that the whole world is about to usher in unprecedented turmoil, the rarity of the idea of killing has also become thin in the context of the times. That's why the criteria for high difficulty were chosen.

"The brain, like the muscles, is strengthened with constant use and exercise, and directed reinforcement occurs when exercising in a particular direction. Repeated use of the set circuit will lead to the fixation of the artificial circuit, and any problems encountered in the final stage will be taken on the premise of 'for the public'. There are 'too much selflessness' and 'unkindness' in behavior. There is even a tendency to 'eliminate the minority for the sake of the majority'. At this point, the experiment is considered a success. Then, based on the collected data, the plural objects selected from the groups in Plan A are verified, the common divisor is explored from the failures and successful cases, the deviations from the accurate values are eliminated, and then fed back to the individuals in the second Plan B - by repeating the above steps over and over again. Gradually improve the accuracy of the 'implantation loop', forming a virtuous circle. At this point, the plan can be considered a success. ”

Fear turned into disgust, and vomit kept churning in his chest.

Richelieu was well aware that Li Lin was neither provocative nor ostentatious, but merely stating his theories and calculations.

He's just-

“...... As a supplement and branch of the project, such as the "New Type Soldier Project" to develop telepathy and build mental networking functions, and the "Chimera Mass Production Project" to try to improve the brain with surgery and manipulation systems, etc., there are also considerations for confluencing the two plans, and selecting suitable candidates from the girls around Roland to be the target of Project A...... Generally speaking, the two plans will be based on the two plans, and while promoting the overall national strategy, we will create as much as possible an external environment that will help the plan, so that it can serve the grand strategy until the results of the experiment are finally confirmed. To put it bluntly, Charlemagne, anti-imperial organizations, and Roland, including the current world, are basically trying to see if a fountain pen can be used and use sticky notes for trial writing before writing important formulas. That's the truth of everything. ”

As he said at the beginning, for him, the world, human beings, and life are like sticky notes.

He is not selfish or unfair, but treats everything the same - like a machine, from the beginning he does not include the element of "feelings", and faces everything with a simple "yes or no" dichotomy.

So he can destroy everything he thinks needs to be destroyed without wavering or joy or sorrow, whether it is a person or a nation.

This is the essence of Siegfried Otto Lelin.

Knowing this, Richelieu felt a tired-like void welling up from the bottom of his heart. Immediately realized that this was proof that he realized that he could no longer communicate with Li Lin - he could not resonate, and there would be no intersection. Just as people and carved idols roar at seemingly perfect shrines, or kneel on the ground and beg for salvation, they are destined to receive no answer.

After a long exhale, Richelieu fell silent.

"How's it going?"

The quill pen is inserted back into the pen holder, and the white paper full of graffiti is drawn in an arc, and the waste paper is in the middle.

The faint smile, like the crystallization of darkness and moonlight, made people want to use the finest canvas and paint to preserve the smile of the future generations, and forced it like a knife.

"Gambling with one's life, we have put our hopes on the young people who are fighting, as the last contribution to the country and to all mankind, and as a farewell gift...... How does it feel?"

“......！！”

"Just as you think I might say something in a situation where I have an absolute advantage, I'm thinking about something similar. It is important to deal with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom and indeed eliminate the destabilizing factors for the future, but it is better to uproot even the deepest intelligence path that he is hiding. The only way to achieve this goal is to be forced into a corner, and there happens to be someone with enough identity to reveal enough important information. You see, as it is now. Now that most of my subordinates have closed the net, I'm going to speed it up. ”

With a dashing snap of his fingers, the black curtain fell.

Outside the window was still shrouded in smoke and fire, and the midday sun cast a dim daylight through the smoke, and under the sky, which was darker than dusk and redder than blood, you could faintly visualize the dancing undead.

It was certainly an unusual sight, but it wasn't enough to make Richelieu's eyes widen in disbelief.

Left and right replaced.

The sun and the street, which should have been in the window on the left, appeared on the right, and the scenery on the right was visible to Richelieu through the glass window on the left.

From street trees to destroyed buildings to smoke, everything that had long been used to was reversed as if it were reflected in a mirror.

"Imaginary space. A mirror world that compiles non-existent numbers and reverses everything in reality. Before the conversation began, the office had been moved into a space cut off from reality. Whatever you do, it doesn't affect the other side of the mirror. That is to say—"

Spreading out his hand, Li Lin generously announced:

"It's a place where we can fight and not worry about the repercussions. ”

"Thank you so much. ”

"I am looking forward to your final battle, Prime Minister Deep-Lessisy de Richelieu, a fierce general who was once known as the 'Whitebeard Devil' and a close friend of Lynado Darke. ”

(-- as an important parameter.) ）

Intercepting the unfinished words, Li Lin didn't have the slightest intention of getting up, narrowed his eyes that would be reminiscent of blood and death, and faced the old man whose physique was rapidly expanding and his bright red muscles stretched out his robe, he let out a low laugh from the depths of his throat. (To be continued.) )