Soul of Searing Steel

Thanks to the game Continental War, most of the Chaos Memories sealed by Joshua were being slowly grinded away, softened by a billion people day and night. Likewise, with practical and reliable Extraordinary legacies obtained from the game, it had spread far and wide over the entire Mycroft civilization, even becoming a part of everyone’s lives.

In that respect, the relationship between Joshua and the entire Mycroft civilization could be said to be mutually beneficial. If Joshua had not been the one to resist and destroy the Chaos Memories, those fragments would never have been weakened, and hence destroyed, by the spirit of most players who were normal humans. Conversely, if Joshua had not had a billion people analyzing and attempting through multiple angles, his individual will could never have quickly gotten rid of the Chaos Memories that originated from millions of different categories.

The effect of their partnership hence far surpassed synergy.

It had now been several years following the Evil God of Death’s incident, with a great proportion of Chaos Memories crushed and digested. The knowledge contained within had been distributed across the entire civilization with game progression, discreetly increasing the power of the Mycroft civilization. Joshua benefited significantly as well, since he was ultimately a fighter-class specializing in lifeforce and Steel Strength—regardless of his lofty level, he needed the collaboration and experimenting of other individuals in the civilization if he wished to accelerate learning of the essence of other superhuman powers.

In fact, a few years ago, Joshua invested and founded a number of superhuman organizations, such as the Human Development Technology Group which specialized in physical modifications, the New Dawn group which attempted to develop new combat auras, and the Nightlight Associates, a group within the Winter Fort Academy which researched about all things Chaos. The warrior himself would never have had the time and strength to do all those things, but since they were necessary, the warrior simply delegated it to others while he provided a general direction.

The results were encouraging too. The Human Development Technology Group had a developed set of experience and skills in human body modifications, with Constantine, also known as Alchemist of the Elite Party being one of the successful examples. As for the New Dawn, they were essentially combat aura practitioners with another name, The Winter Fort Academy League of Fighters, and needless to say, the Nightlight Associates who were led by Zero Three even obtained direct investment from the Imperial Family for specialized research into Evil God and Chaos minions.

The civilization’s progress was his own progress. Extraordinary individuals could exist separately from civilization but it was unnecessary—complementing each other would fully unleash his own potential, the development making it simpler and easier than struggling alone. It was a mutually supportive path, an Order determined after Joshua and the other Legends pondered for days.

In the Silver World, Joshua’s consciousness was like the formless wind and the omniscient perspective unseen in the game, streaking past each floating continent to oversee the lives of Heroic Spirits from diverse civilizations…amongst them were Magma Giant, Thunder Jellyfish, and Rockeater Bug who, with Joshua’s support, performed excellently in daily quests which recreated some of their brethren, flourishing in their own lands. With their diligence, the surface and mass of the floating continent also enlarged considerably.

There were however exceptions too—the Rockeater Bug had indicated that he did not wanted to be kept in Joshua’s nursery, but would instead repay the great debt of being revived while he helped the warrior expanded and earn his own keep. A semi-elemental lifeform that mainly fed on metal ore, his kind would soon migrate from the Silver World while bringing along a Restoration Beam to head for a suitable new world in the Multiverse, with the position they vacating incidentally allocated for a newly revived Heroic Spirit.

“It’s a virtuous cycle now… a civilization revived through their Heroic Spirit, who would in turn accustom themselves to the unfamiliar world, and then have the Heroic Spirit revive their own race while educating about common sense and knowledge to flourish once again, creating a brand new intelligent race under the guidance of myself and the Heroic Spirit… when the time comes, I would probably be the one who sows the seeds for entire intelligent species in whichever world I can find suitable for living.”

Joshua nodded at the sight; he had expected it all. Indeed, it would be more correct to say that he had revived those failed races in order to propagate Order quicker and more effectively, before educating them with Mycroftian knowledge and culture to hasten their growth. They would also hence become natural supports of the Mycroft civilization, and a part of them.

Despite that, resurrecting them was not without cost. Some of Joshua’s visions for Extraordinary power, test subjects for human modification, and experimental combat aura cultivation were too dangerous and inappropriate to be tested upon vulnerable humans. Incidentally, the alien species who possessed diverse attributes and innate talents were the best test subjects.

For example, before the Emotional Spectrum system Joshua had just thought of would be formally applied to the Mycroft civilization, he would have definitely made a deal with those revived species to undergo an experiment. He would in turn ensure justice and fairness, and that his subjects were voluntary, although the outcome—whether it was death, insanity, or ineffective—was another matter altogether.

Even so, no one would have another opinion over all that because that was how the world worked. In fact, it was a measure very similar to the Correctors, one of the Calamity civilizations that the Great Khan of the Starherders mentioned. Still, the Correctors’ own method was to decimate an existing civilization before remolding it anew. On the other hand, Joshua was resurrecting extinct civilizations and shaping them once more. If one had to compare, the former was bloody and unquestionably terrorism, while the latter was simply a good Samaritan with the ability to revive someone.

“Alright, not bad—none of the Heroic Spirits are being lazy, everyone’s very hardworking.”

Having patrolled over every floating continent, Joshua’s consciousness emanated a ripple of satisfaction just like a leek farmer pleased at his own work. After that, his will converged into a solid human form, landing inside the world’s interiors where infinite crystal obelisks stood.

At the heart of the world, the great Silver Star distinctly released inexhaustive light and heat, filling the world. The nine continents overlapped, bringing each other the exchange of night and day while the obelisks stood tightly against one another like a jungle beneath the continent. The Silver Fairies—Joshua’s own spawn—danced amidst the crystal forest, repairing any cracks and wear that may have appeared on the obelisk seals.

At present, most of the Chaos Memories subjugated beneath the obelisks had diminished, converted into part of Joshua’s strength. Still, there was ten to twenty percent of resistant fragments, where Joshua now was descending upon.

The obelisks in the area were distinctly darker than the other areas, with Chaos presence pouring—not even the swarms of Silver Fairies and their flapping wings could dispel the obscure shroud. Nonetheless, when Joshua arrived, the threatening mists disappeared between breaths, drawing the innocent cheers of the Silver Fairies.

“The Ruler be praised!”

“The Ruler’s might illuminates the land!”

These fairies were directly moved there from Karlis and had yet to head out to Fairyland for studies, which explained their simple and unsophisticated reactions and behaviors, unlike the elemental fairies who were rather… energetic. Joshua was content with that, however, and while it was not as if he disliked the elemental fairies, would his world not be a second Fairyland if both fairy species behaved the same? Praises aside, they would have been exclaiming dull words like ‘Ruler’s so cool!’ or ‘Ruler’s so awesome!’—actual praises the elemental fairies showered upon their queens.

“Get away from here, it’s dangerous.”

In the past, Joshua would have asked after his own brethren on every occasion he went to the Silver World, but he had work to do this time. That was why he had once approached the center of the crystal obelisks after giving them a simple reminder to not approach.

***

Years had passed. While the other Legendary champions diligently studied and recharged, generations of new Legends and Supreme-pinnacle champions also debuted. Hence, Joshua was intent on the lurking Chaos malady in his own body.

As he headed for the center of the Chaos Memory seals, Joshua also thought about the powerful civilizations and species he had recently encountered in the Multiverse. The Eldars, the Knowers, the Starherders, the Amos Court, the Takur Cult, the Rund, the Huard, the Undying Bird… all kinds of beings appeared in the warrior’s mind.

Ignoring the nebula lifeform that was Imperator Amos and the Takur Grand Patriarch’s Spectral Wraith—outliers whose clone could fight gods and whose real forms would were ultimate superhuman champions considerably superior to True Gods—what actually left a strong impression was the Undying Bird he recently encountered… and the Psybugs, a unique lifeform found throughout the Multiverse.

Although it would appear senseless to compare the two, the Undying Bird was immeasurably powerful, but in Joshua’s opinion, inferior to the Psybugs in its living form and was on a completely different level too. The aspect being compared here was not sheer power, but in the way that they survived. Though perhaps incomprehensible, an example could be made to describe the major differences that came with varied methods of survival.

Take a creature—called the ‘Hairless Ape’ in this instance, a species which lived in the plains and forests primitive world. It had many natural enemies and competition, such as tigers and wolves in the jungles, or lions and hyenas in the plains. Apart from that, there were other apes occupying the same ecological niche, such as chimpanzees, mandrills, or gorillas.

Survival was hard for the Hairless Ape, and collectivism could not guarantee their race’s survival either. Generally speaking, if they wished to claim an advantage in the long evolution of life so that their species lived on, they had two choices—to either evolve and develop tougher skins, stronger muscles, larger sizes, and sturdier bones, or to multiply further and ensure continuity of species even if many of them were to be eaten up by their natural enemies.

For such a change, the Hairless Ape could only bet on luck. The former required an extremely powerful and large mutated specimen that resembled King Kong—called Hairless King Kong here. With empowered advantage to multiply, many more Hairless King Kongs would have thus been born and further modified the Hairless Ape genome, so that all Hairless Apes eventually became Hairless King Kongs, gaining exponential survival advantage and a higher position in the food chain, banishing tigers, lions, hyenas, and wolves out of the forests.

Like the latter, the former required a mutated specimen that passed down the advantageous bloodline legacies until they changed completely—leaving aside when the mutation would come to be, the bloodline alteration itself would have taken up to hundreds of thousands of years. It was the way beasts survived and evolved, just as it was for the Void Behemoths, the most powerful beasts of the Multiverse, which hence made the Undying Bird no exception.

However, the path that intelligent life—civilization—would choose was far too different.

As the Hairless Apes feared for their survival day by day and wished for a King Kong to be born to their race, commencing a process that would take who-knows-how-many-millennia, a genius would suddenly appear amongst them.

It would learn to use fire.

Certainly, Hairless Apes of different worlds might have had different orders of learning things, with some learning Psi or combat aura or some other thingamajig, but the general definition was constant. The Hairless Apes would give up on modified hereditary bloodlines and instead commence imitation to learn using fire, tools, weapons, magic, and combat aura to ensure their survival in the world.

When the genius of a tribe could ignite a stable flame and craft weapons so that their weak kind could hunt prey at a lowered cost for better nutrition, every Hairless Ape would imitate that. Although it would have taken time, it remained many times easier than bloodline modification.

Tools were themselves a form of mutation, but it was unlike physical mutation, since the latter would take hundreds of millennia to be spread across every Hairless Ape over the world, and possibly without having reached every single of their species too. As for tools, they could grant the Hairless Ape a greater advantage than physicality, not to mention could quickly be learnt and spread. Therefore, evolving knowledge a way of living far efficient than evolving bloodlines, and from there, the Hairless Apes could call themselves humans. After that, they would clearly separate themselves from their former selves to formally become a civilization.

***

The chief element of civilization did not reside in the physical—the health of a human individual was no longer an important part in survival advantage.

Unarmed, an ill human of smaller form would not win against a Hairless Ape, but if he had a bow and arrow, the Hairless Ape’s only option was to turn and run, nor would tigers risk attacking him if he had a spear. In fact, should he have worn bone armor and wielded a Gatling Gun, that jolly good fellow could well be a malnourished, wheezing patient, but the beasts he chased after would have been running and screaming for their mothers all the same.

If he theoretically learned magic, combat aura, or was one of the god’s priest, it would even be more impressive. The education over a decade and the superhuman cultivation would hang out to dry any wild beasts and their million-year evolutionary process. It would be likewise with magical creatures, since the time and resources needed for one to be born amongst natural beasts would allow humans to educate dozens of Extraordinary individuals commanding the same level of power.

When the first Hairless Ape learned to use fire, crafting spears, blades and arrows, ‘it’ would become a ‘he’—an existence that no longer resided upon the same wavelength as any other beast. Their living state would stand above all beasts, for they grasped the superior evolution model of knowledge and technology.

Like how genes were the basic units of life and spread through replication and inheritance while evolving through mutation, a meme was the basic unit of civilization and culture, spreading through imitation and emulation, likewise evolving through mutations (sparks of inspiration).

Knowledge evolution would spread, be learnt, repeated and develop quickly—the Stone Age lasted around two million years, with humans remaining primitive life that could only utilize crude tools ten thousand years ago. Soon, however, humans grasped the way to forge metal weapons, while natural beasts could not hone their claws and teeth that sharply over millions of years of evolution. Another one or two millennia later, humans created guns, tanks, planes and missiles… the process was as quick as flying, and the beasts could no longer be mentioned in the same breath as humans.

Such was the evolutionary process of knowledge and technology, which in other words, was meme and information. Indeed, it was far appropriate to call civilization a repeater rather than human.

With supernatural powers, beasts might have still been able to last longer, since such powers was transcendent during the early days. Unlike skin, claws, or teeth, supernatural powers could birth entities such as Void Behemoths that not even ordinary civilizations could handle and triumph over.

“However, such comparison is unnecessary because civilizations have their own powerful entities as well—such as the Legendary champions of Mycroft, the various weapons, and the Black Fog which the Shelter civilization had created.”

“Non-sentient beings.”

“Sentient beings.”

“Sentient cognition.”

“Cognition incarnate.”

“Change permeating cognition.”

Joshua’s general categorizations of living forms had five classes.

Compared to the primordial soup where nothing existed and where consciousness was non-existent, the macromolecules that could pass on its genes and self-replicate, along with unicellular and multicellular lifeforms, were the lifeforms which were just a level above ‘existent’.

Developed multicellular creatures such as sea cucumbers and various beasts with matured evolution which possessed a sense of self such as insects were on a higher tier of existence. They could change themselves voluntarily, influencing the world with greater effect.

However, as compared to societies composed of humans and other intelligent life which gave up on the slow physical evolution but self-replicated through meme, knowledge, and progressive thought, their living state was a class above simple creatures of instincts and slaves of genes. Such was the class of sentient cognition.

As for Legendary champions, gods, or various champions who relied on knowledge and supernatural powers to transcend their own living sate, they had put a foot over to an ascended living state, although said foot had not touched down.

They were immortal and invincible superior beings with nothing in common with the mundane, and yet essentially had no decisive gap to normal intelligent life. They were simply very powerful intelligent beings, and perhaps simply half a class above typical life with their immortality and invincibility.

So, how would being class above be as ‘cognition incarnate’… or in other words, the being itself was the meme?

Strolling between the crystal obelisks, Joshua breathed a sigh, inadvertently remembering his moment of perplexity when studying the Psybugs.

He simply could not understand how the Psybugs multiplied, how they came to be, or even how they moved. Their physical form was somehow composed entirely of psionic energies, so how did that portion of psionic energy gain form? Could they really be creatures existing in pure meme form? Could it be that the seemingly unintelligent thing resembling a Multiverse cockroach was a greater meme lifeform than humankind?

“It might not necessarily be the case, as no one is sure if the Psybugs are intelligent. Their appearances that we see—mundane insects spread throughout the Multiverse—could well be a profound collective lifeform, his collective intelligence greater than the summation of all men. The Undying Bird meanwhile is a beast which has reached the limits of how far the power of its kind could evolve, and is not worth mentioning since it merely exists in this world.”

Naturally, Joshua was not really thinking about which between the two was superior. He was simply comparing the two to discern something more profound.

Primitive life exists. Beasts exist. Civilization acknowledges the world. Legendary champions attempt to understand Truth and world, while Psybugs have probably beome a part of the embedded phenomenon in this world.

“If one were to say that Legends are superior beings that surpassed most intelligent life by half a step…” At the thought, Joshua muttered to himself quietly, “Then the Wise Ones who had clearly transcended Legend by more than one tier had evolved to a state where they could change cognition.” It was ‘change is suffused with cognition’ that Joshua envisioned, and also the way of life of the Wise Ones which ‘changes world and Truth’.

Incidentally.

While the warrior concluded his thoughts, he arrived at his destination. Joshua looked up at the supermassive obelisk that was 4521 meters tall, as well as the Chaos Memories emanating inexhaustive malevolent Chaos held within. Wafting black mist like viscous tar filled the air, prompting a strong sense of discomfort.

“Before I advance…” Staring at the unchanging Chaos Memories that did not soften even after billions of people and years had worn away at it, Joshua’s body shone fully in silver light, and the warrior shook his head while he raised his hand.

“It is time to clean up and handle the stubborn stains.”