novelsite Chapter 576 Diligence and Thrift in Housekeeping
Chapter 576 Diligence and Thrift in Housekeeping
Chapter 576 Diligence and Thrift in Housekeeping
Kyoto, Iwasaki family residence.
The usually tranquil and peaceful courtyard was now filled with a somber atmosphere.
The lakeside villa, the heart of the residence, is surrounded by guards every few steps, with suit-clad bodyguards patrolling the surrounding area vigilantly at every key point...
"Has the person...not been found yet?"
Inside the lakeside cottage, Iwasaki Hanzo, pale-faced and covered in electrode patches, lay on the bed and asked in a hoarse voice with great difficulty.
As Yuhei Iwasaki described, his poison was a highly potent neurotoxin that would gradually cause the victim to lose all awareness and control over their body.
Although the rescue was timely and top-notch medical resources were used to remove some of the toxins from Iwasaki Hanzo, he was temporarily spared from death.
But already old and frail, after this ordeal, Iwasaki Hanzo is now completely paralyzed, struggling to move even a finger, and even speaking is extremely difficult.
With current medical technology, there is almost no chance of curing this type of damage involving the nervous system.
According to the doctor, Iwasaki Hanzo probably doesn't have much time left. Even if he survives, he will gradually become a paralyzed, speechless vegetable.
"Not yet, but Father, don't worry, I have already sent more people to search for Hideyoshi with all my might."
The good news is that the ninja that Yuhei Iwasaki sent to assassinate Hideyoshi somehow failed, and apart from Hideyoshi's bodyguards, no one found Hideyoshi's body at the scene.
We also learned from Iwasaki Yuhei's men that their assassination mission had indeed failed, and none of the ninjas involved survived, so there is a high probability that Hideyoshi is still alive.
I don't know why, but he hasn't contacted his family yet. I guess it might be because he was injured or he's worried about being hunted down, so he's temporarily hiding in China.
If that's the case, then finding the person should only be a matter of time.
Beside the hospital bed, a man in his sixties, whose features bore a resemblance to Hideyoshi Iwasaki, spoke in a deep voice.
After a moment of silence, Iwasaki Hanzo's dry voice finally came through.
"At all costs... we must bring them back..."
The man shuddered upon hearing this, looked up at Iwasaki Hanzo, his eyes filled with surprise and a hint of complexity.
The pleasant surprise is that his son might actually benefit from this misfortune and move closer to that position; the complicated part is that the position of head of the family will ultimately not be his...
Iwasaki Hanzo struggled to turn his eyes, glancing at the man beside the hospital bed, his gaze sweeping over his graying temples and the wrinkles between his brows.
“You…understand…Hideyoshi is…the best…choice…”
Although his expression was somewhat complicated, the man finally nodded emphatically.
"Don't worry, I understand. The Iwasaki family can't afford any more trouble!"
This power grab by Yuhei Iwasaki not only rendered the current head of the Iwasaki family useless, but also led to the subsequent purge of two family branches that participated in the power grab, severely damaging the family's vitality.
The family is now in a state of panic, while countless eyes outside are watching with predatory intent to take advantage of the situation.
If he were to compete with his son for the position of head of the family at this point, the Iwasaki family would likely descend into chaos.
Fortunately, things are going quite well now; in the end, it's his son who has the last laugh...
Upon hearing this, Iwasaki Hanzo closed his eyes in relief.
He knew his son well; he was kind-hearted, mediocre, and his personality and abilities were simply insufficient to shoulder the burden of the family. Moreover, he was too old and could not compare to the younger generation like Iwasaki Hideyoshi.
It's a pity. If he hadn't turned on himself this time, given the ruthlessness and decisiveness Iwasaki Yuhei displayed, he would have been a very good candidate to succeed the family...
Thinking of this, he opened his eyes again.
"That... mysterious person... have you found him...?"
The man shook his head.
"No, apart from issuing a warning to me, the other party did not leave any contact information or clues."
At first, I thought that some force had accidentally learned of Iwasaki Yuhei's plan and informed us, and that in the end, they were probably trying to get something out of us.
But after so many days, the other party has shown no intention of contacting us at all, and doesn't seem to be trying to take advantage of our kindness.
Fortunately, this mysterious person gave me a heads-up; otherwise, if I had arrived any later, that bastard Yuhei Iwasaki might have succeeded.
If I ever manage to find out who this person is, my Iwasaki family will definitely have to thank them properly!
Upon hearing this, Iwasaki Hanzo's lips twitched slightly.
I'm a shrewd person all my life, how could I have given birth to such a foolish son?
Why should I thank them?
This mysterious person accomplished his task and left without a trace, concealing his merits and fame.
Not after money, not after fame, but perhaps something far more important...
The fact that the other party was able to know about such a secret operation in advance shows that they had been paying close attention to the Iwasaki family's every move.
The fact that they warned you and offered assistance, yet then concealed their true intentions and abandoned the friendship with the Iwasaki family and the immense wealth within their grasp, suggests that their identity or stance is questionable; they are not the kind of person you can openly associate with the Iwasaki family.
You don't consider whether such a mysterious person, whose allegiance is unclear and who is lurking in the shadows, has any ulterior motives towards the Iwasaki family.
You only thought about thanking them?
If my Iwasaki family were truly handed over to you, we'd be like someone selling us out while still helping them count the money.
"go out……"
"Uh……"
……
It must be said that Iwasaki Hanzo had a keen eye; he could vaguely sense someone's evil plot from a warning of unknown origin.
However, he probably never imagined that the person eyeing his vast fortune was a small-time insurance salesman from across the ocean, someone he had no connection with whatsoever.
Moreover, their plan is to swallow the entire Iwasaki family whole...
"Aww~ Mmm! This roast chicken is really good, crispy skin and tender meat, so delicious..."
"Hmm~ This smoked cake is also good, Uncle, you should try it."
"Clang, clang, clang~"
On the green train back to Suzhou, Meng Lang and Xiao Yu were diligently eating the various local snacks they had bought before boarding.
The Silent Hill base is far from populated areas and located in a remote location.
They had hiked almost the entire way up the mountain, and both of them were quite hungry, so the food tasted delicious.
Meng Lang was not short of money, so he booked a deluxe soft sleeper compartment. There were all kinds of delicious snacks on the table, and the fertile fields rushed past the window, which was quite a unique experience.
Furthermore, the results of this experiment far exceeded his expectations, which greatly increased the success rate of the "Pandora Project," putting him in a great mood.
But as he ate, he noticed that the food on the table was disappearing at a visible rate...
Seeing Xiaoyu stuff her little mouth full like a hamster and manage to devour more than half of the various snacks and food that were enough to feed four people, Meng Lang was initially taken aback, but then he realized what was happening.
Clearly, the previous "spiritual synchronization" was not a skill that saved us from being blue.
Judging from Xiaoyu's appetite, the level of brain activity during the skill's execution is probably no less than "brain overclocking".
Recalling the two little girls who were almost "in sync" in their previous actions, Meng Lang was very curious about the extent of Xiao Yu's brain development, who had mastered two super skills at the same time.
With the formidable enemy of the "Gods" at his side, and now considered a semi-expert in neurology, he naturally attempted to speculate and analyze to some extent the possibility of "gene editing technology" in Xiaoyu's body.
As the body's most vital organ, the brain contains approximately 860 billion neurons, which together form the decision-making center—the neural network.
From childhood, every time we learn and think, we are actually training neurons to "connect" with each other, thus forming various neural network circuits. Memory helps us to use these neural networks more skillfully.
For simple problems like one plus one equals 2, ordinary people can quickly arrive at the answer using a very simple neural network.
However, why does one plus one equal 2? How can we prove that one plus one equals 2? Can any even number greater than 2 be decomposed into the sum of two prime numbers? This leads to Goldbach's conjecture...
This kind of mind map cannot be created by ordinary neural circuits that ordinary people can build.
For such relatively complex problems, the brain will call on more neurons to participate in the calculation, and at the same time expand more and more complex neural branch circuits to solve the problem.
Therefore, even though it's the same equation, one plus one equals 2, the brains of ordinary people and geniuses give completely different responses.
However, the complexity of such neural networks, which can be trained and developed later in life, can only be used to distinguish between ordinary people and hardworking geniuses.
The "activity" of neurons... this is the insurmountable innate gap between gifted geniuses and ordinary geniuses!
If we compare the human brain to a computer's central processing unit (CPU), then neural networks are similar to processor architecture, and the "activity" of neurons is equivalent to the CPU's clock speed.
Both are processors, but how can your kHz processor compare to someone with a GHz processor?
You can certainly improve performance by continuously adjusting and optimizing your architecture, but inherent factors dictate that you cannot change your clock speed. Even someone as brilliant as Einstein could not escape this inherent constraint.
The "brain overclocking" developed by the brothers is actually a special skill that stimulates the brain to temporarily increase the activity of neurons, thus overclocking the CPU.
Theoretically speaking, the more active the neurons themselves are, the easier it is to master this skill.
The astonishing speed at which Xiaoyu mastered this skill precisely demonstrates that Xiaoyu's neuronal activity is extraordinary.
By analogy, the so-called "spiritual synchronization" is probably similar to "CPU interconnection," at most just adding Wi-Fi technology to turn a wired connection into a wireless one.
As for the "Little Rain Sister" project based on this, that's the multi-core CPU technology route...
Dr. Xiaoyu, you're racing against time on the path to pushing the limits of the human brain...
Ok……
Meng Lang stroked his chin, lost in thought.
The reason why the "Little Rain Sister" project uses clones is because the brainwave frequency of clones is closest to that of the original, which is equivalent to being of the same origin. It is naturally the simplest to integrate them and the integration efficiency is also the highest.
But why can Xiaoyu and Xiaoyu achieve such a high degree of "synchronicity"?
Doesn't this further illustrate that Xiaoyu and Xiaoyu also share some kind of common origin?
For some reason, a scene suddenly appeared in Meng Lang's mind...
In the dimly lit underground laboratory, Lin Haitang, wearing a white lab coat, was carefully slicing a cluster of captured, dark red, writhing branching nerves.
Behind her were cloning petri dishes containing babies of various ages floating in them...
"Uncle, did I eat too much?"
Seeing Meng Lang staring at her with a strange expression, Xiao Yu felt a little embarrassed and let go of the half-eaten chicken leg.
"No, Xiaoyu... Don't you have any questions about this trip?"
Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu immediately put down the chicken leg in her hand, then looked around warily before leaning closer and whispering.
Yes, can I ask now?
Looking at Xiaoyu's cautious, thieving expression, Meng Lang immediately had some guesses in his mind.
"Judging from your expression, you must have learned something from that little girl?"
"Hmm... It's hard to describe that feeling before. It was a completely different way of communicating than language or body language, like being possessed by a spirit..."
Xiaoyu's face showed a strange expression, and then she glanced at Meng Lang.
"So... I saw something about 'them'."
See……
Meng Lang remained silent for a moment.
"Hmm... I knew I'd tell you some things sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to come so soon... Yes, 'they' really exist..."
Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu showed no fear on her face, but rather an excited expression.
"Then... are you guys from that legendary mysterious organization that specifically targets them, like the Men in Black?"
"Uh...you could say that."
"When can I join?"
"Hehe, you're only a reserve officer now, but that day will come sooner or later. The younger generation surpasses the older, and maybe I'll have to listen to you in the future," Meng Lang said with a sigh.
"Really? Do I have any more missions to complete?"
"Yes, come on, tell me how you controlled that little girl."
“I didn’t control her, I just ‘convinced’ her.”
"Persuade? How?"
"I just reasoned with her. She likes food, so I packed up a list of my past experiences of enjoying different foods and sent it to her. Then she said she wanted more, so I said, 'Then you have to listen to me...'"
"Uh……"
Meng Lang was speechless.
"It's that simple?"
"It's actually quite complicated, but that's roughly the process. The little one doesn't seem to understand many things, but for some reason, she seems to listen to advice. She believes whatever I say."
Hmm... much easier than fooling those unruly kids in the class.
Uh... take my advice?
It should be the level suppression that comes with the other party's "brainwashed innate holy body".
After all, in her own strength evaluation system, Xiaoyu is no weaker than the "first-tier" level.
"Oh right, there's another important reason why I was able to persuade them so easily," Xiaoyu suddenly added.
"what reason?"
"Hmm... they call themselves Familias, and all Familias, after completing their mission, ultimately have only one fate: to return to their mother, hmm... I think it's called a Nest..."
"Oh?" Meng Lang immediately perked up.
"Returning to the womb is like going back to one's mother's home, isn't that a reason to convince the other party?"
"Hey! Uncle, you know how to format, right?"
"Format?" Meng Lang was taken aback.
He certainly knows what formatting is, but what does that mean?
Wait! Formatting...
"You mean... after they return, they will all be..."
“That’s right! Formatting, simply put, is erasing most of the useless memories. Oh! They call this process ‘purification’…”
Memory erasure?!
That's it!
Meng Lang fell into deep thought.
The "God Race" is a very special intelligent race. As a collective intelligence, while possessing an absolute brain, their higher-level offspring are also allowed to have a certain degree of independent personality when they come into contact with external civilizations.
Take Xiaoyu, for example, a clueless foodie who loves delicious food.
Furthermore, the controllers behind Chaoge have developed a lust for power, even considering replacing the old dean's position.
From the perspective of environmental adaptation, this change is positive, enabling the company to integrate into the local environment to the greatest extent possible and make diverse responses.
However, for the core entity of the "god race," there is a hidden danger of "divine splitting."
If too many offspring are split off, what if they all want to express their opinions after they come back?
If it's a normal opinion, that's fine, but if there are really "ants who are just waiting to die," then wouldn't it be a disaster if everyone just lay down and did nothing?
Erasing memories and dissolving personality completely eliminates the aftereffects, making it a permanent solution!
Purification... that's quite fitting.
There is a concept in Catholicism that they believe that the legendary purgatory is not an evil place of suffering, but a purification process before entering heaven.
After leaving this world, the soul must undergo a purification process to become pure and reach the state required to enter heaven, due to minor sins that were not fully repented for or sins that were not fully redeemed during its lifetime.
This is quite similar to the approach taken by the Protoss.
Memories are a living hell for every personality, yet is it the only way to return to the past...?
Sigh! These gods have actually come up with a pretty good solution to deal with "schizophrenia".
As someone who shares a similar plight, this person inwardly expressed a genuine sense of envy.
How similar this is to his situation! Imagine how wonderful the world would be if all the brothers developed Alzheimer's...
Sigh! In the end, I've strayed from my original dream...
Brothers: "..."
Having figured all this out, another question arose in Meng Lang's mind.
I was forced to accept the baptism of N brothers because I was passively accepted. But the other party could have chosen the "physical destruction" method, so why did they choose the thankless "recycling and purification route"?
Why not just stop recycling altogether?
A moment later, after comparing his situation with his own, Meng Lang belatedly realized what was happening.
Yes, it's like expecting your brothers to work hard while simultaneously encouraging them to bury themselves in a hole after finishing their work, and not even wanting to give them a pension...
It is obvious that even if the enemy group's internal "spiritual construction" is slightly stronger than ours, it is only by a limited margin.
Hmm... this is the problem of intelligent beings.
On the other hand, the other side might also have the purpose of absorbing the essence of various civilizations in doing so.
After all, Xiaoyu also said that only "useless memories" are being erased...
"Memory erasure... this feels strangely familiar to me..."
Meng Lang stroked his chin.
Then I thought of someone who had lost their memory.
Hmm... Could it be that this technology was also plagiarized from the Protoss... oh no, borrowed from them?
So, they're just taking advantage of one sheep?
"Uncle, what are you thinking about?"
"Oh, I was thinking about your sister... so thrifty and good at managing the household!"
"Uh……"
"Clang, clang, clang~" The rhythmic noise of the old green train drowned out their conversation and secrets in the howling wind...
(End of this chapter)