Chapter 405: The Prevailing Trend
The core of all transactions was a photon computer that continuously extended its reach. Its core algorithms were personally written and encrypted by Bai Mo, who stood at its heart, while the peripheral code was fragmented into tasks and distributed to a vast number of software engineers.
Beyond that, databases across myriad industries—banking, sales, healthcare, the internet, and more—were, through their collective efforts, restructured onto servers powered by photon computers.
The Hua-Ya Federation, in its entirety, generated petabytes of data daily, all of which converged upon the System's central hub via a nationwide, cross-domain wireless network sustained by Bai Mo's own power.
Each system terminal embedded within a human body served as both a miniature resonator, minimizing transmission loss akin to a Spirit Energy Network, and a modified chip, existing as pure energy, that very slowly began to alter the host's brain.
This modification process didn't involve enhancement; rather, it was akin to installing, or perhaps simulating, a brain-computer interface, granting others the potential to interface with the central photon computer.
The approach of imprisoning vast numbers of souls, temporarily weakening them, and then using them as administrative machines, could only ever be a temporary measure. Merely sustaining the stable existence of these fragile souls within the core hub already consumed a significant portion of Bai Mo's power.
Simultaneously, the high-intensity cognitive processing work inflicted considerable wear and tear upon the souls whose original bodies had yet to manifest a Life Field. Bai Mo roughly estimated that even by employing rotating shifts to mitigate the drain, the lifespan of most souls would still barely reach a decade.
To sate such a voracious consumption rate... Each year, beyond those who died naturally, an additional one to two million individuals would need to be slain to harvest their souls just to maintain an equilibrium of supply and demand. Evidently, this was far from a practical solution.
Furthermore, as the scale of management expanded exponentially in the future, the massacres would likely need to continuously escalate, and the ultimate outcome could very well be Bai Mo perpetually occupied with nothing but slaughter.
Via the brain-computer interface provided by the System, portions of a host's cognitive capacity that remained temporarily unused would be integrated into the central system through this network; a segment of this integrated capacity would collaborate with the photon computer, ultimately and entirely superseding the existing soul-based machines, managing and dictating the vast majority of human societal affairs. The residual capacity would, in turn, provide Bai Mo with auxiliary thought processing.
"Wouldn't this truly count as 'democracy'?" Bai Mo mused aloud, idly manipulating a sphere of white light.
......
"You can't steal my supermarket! I bought this! I have the property deed!" A middle-aged man, his eyes bloodshot and most of his shirt buttons burst open, gripped a knife in one hand and documents in the other, roaring hoarsely at the supermarket's entrance.
Before him stood over a dozen well-mannered, capable professionals, whose past as shrewd business elites was plainly etched on their faces.
Clad in uniform white attire, they paid no heed to the hysterical middle-aged man before them. They had witnessed too much along their path, so much that they were utterly numb to it now.
"Mr. Peng, you understand this is the prevailing trend. Why resist?" The leader gestured to the nape of his own neck, then offered a compassionate word of advice.
The System had issued a directive to integrate all industries across the nation. He and his companions, all formerly hailing from the finance, taxation, and consulting sectors, were well-versed in corporate mergers.
Thus, like tens of thousands of their counterparts scattered across various cities, they had transformed, almost overnight, into the de facto integration personnel for various industry consortiums.
From the consolidation of accounting ledgers to personnel reassignments, and the trimming and integration of departments with overlapping functions, under the System's command, they acted as powerful adhesive, binding countless disparate companies into a unified whole.
His gesture towards the nape of his neck was a clear indication that this was not their personal desire either, but merely a task transmitted by the System. The general consensus was that the System's voice emanated from that precise location, hence the use of the nape of the neck as a shorthand for the System itself.
"I toiled for half my life, grinding down one competitor after another, all to amass these few supermarkets. Now, they want to seize everything without so much as a word. Is there any justice in this?!!! Tell me, is there any justice?!" The middle-aged man, seemingly heavily inebriated, roared at the top of his lungs, emboldened by the alcohol.
As he spoke, he intermittently brandished the knife in his hand towards the group, striking a pose as if he meant to carve them up.
Earlier, when Bei Di'en had called upon supporters to raise their hands, he had been passed out from an overindulgence at a social engagement, thereby fortuitously escaping that particular ordeal. But now, with the property confiscation order landing squarely upon his own head, the middle-aged man finally erupted.
"Mr. Peng, the times have shifted. Haven't you grasped it yet? Your so-called property deed is nothing more than a certificate issued by the state. But now, even the state itself has transformed. That certificate is, quite simply, just a piece of paper." The leader maintained his gentle smile, yet delivered a chilling truth.
This cadre of individuals tasked with the acquisition held no fear that a drunken man armed with a knife could truly threaten them. The other party, they knew, undoubtedly possessed a system terminal on his person.
Should he attempt to launch an assault, the terminal's anti-violent crime module would instantly activate, causing the middle-aged man to temporarily lose all strength, thereby preventing any act of violence.
"Warning: Please refrain from extreme behavior. Failure to comply will activate the anti-violent crime module." Just then, the middle-aged man heard the System's mechanical voice.
"Activate, activate, it's *you*, you deranged thing, who's provoking this!! I won't slice anyone, but surely I can kill myself?!" The System's automated prompt seemed to have an incendiary effect. The middle-aged man had a premonition that the moment he moved against them, he would immediately collapse, utterly limp. Thus, in a surge of desperation, he simply plunged the fruit knife into himself.
"Squad Leader, he—!" A newcomer, standing behind and just about to utter a question, was instantly silenced by the squad leader ahead of him.
"He won't die. The System has prohibited suicide, and..." The leading man trailed off, as if he suspected that voicing the latter half of his thought would likely result in a deduction of "moral points."
"Clang!" His suicide thwarted by the System, the man's hand went limp, and the knife clattered to the ground.
"And what?" The team members behind him grew even more curious.
"Just watch." The squad leader glanced at his watch. "Within five minutes," he stated.
Four minutes and thirty-six seconds later, a woman sprinted to the supermarket entrance as if her life depended on it, followed closely by two boys, around twelve or thirteen years old.
"What will become of us if you die! It's not as if the sky has truly fallen!" The woman, clutching a child's hand, slapped the middle-aged man across the face.
"They must have all received the System's directive to continuously bombard him mentally. He isn't driven to desperation; he still has a life free from worry, with food and clothing assured. What kind of man would still try to commit suicide after a lecture like that from his wife and children...?"
"Using familial bonds to 'hostage' a person—*that* is the true decisive move to prevent suicide. Otherwise, dying would be simple; one would only need to force the System to kill them." The squad leader sighed.
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