Durin's Diary

Chapter 986 Sitting in the Grand Hall

After Dulin finished laughing, the dwarf prosthetic body smiled and looked at him: "Mr. Dulin, do you think this ecosystem will eventually repeat the same mistakes after you drove away all the gods?"

“Yes, I believe in the goodness of humanity, and I also believe in the evil of humanity. Desires never cease, and struggles never end. The war between good and evil will be the eternal theme of human civilization. People must always have a heart for redemption, but this is too difficult for mortals.” Dulin shook his head.

“I think so too. My teacher told me that every step of human civilization does not have to be progress. It may be stagnation or regression.” The dwarf prosthetic body sighed at this point. “My teacher was a wise man. He told me that even if human civilization regresses, there is no need to worry, because there will always be new blood. People’s hearts are easily swayed by various desires and become devils, but some people never succumb. They will stand up and rebuild the world with their lives that refuse to succumb.”

At this point, he looked at Dulin: "His views coincide with yours. Although you have many differences, I think that if a being is willing to pay the price of being forgotten by all living beings, then in my memory he is the original and ultimate benevolent person. Saving all living beings at the cost of eternal damnation is extremely terrifying and extreme. I would not recommend anyone to do what you did, but I will witness someone like you step forward. Then I will engrave your voice and smile in my memory bank. Mr. Dulin, everything you have done for this land may one day be forgotten by living beings, but I swear, as long as I can still work, as long as my memory bank is not damaged, you will never be forgotten by this land."

“…Thank you.” After saying that, Dulin turned to look at Anta. Her expression was calm, and when she saw Dulin looking at her, she even smiled: “I knew you were a hypocrite, but I will always remember the way you stood in front of me with pliers to protect me when I was a child and I was afraid of big dogs. You will wait for me, right? Until I am old and can no longer see the road, and then come to pick me up at some point on some day, right? You will swear that.”

As she finished speaking, her smiling expression looked as if she were crying.

Dulin nodded vigorously, then reached out and hugged the girl in front of him.

"I swear, I will come to pick you up."

………………

As the vehicle turned into a dead end, Dulin looked ahead and saw a downward passage open at the end of the road.

As the vehicle entered the passage and stopped on a lift platform, the elven prosthetic opened the door and got out first: "Once we descend to the bottom, we'll be able to see the shelter, Mr. Dulin."

Dulin followed Anta out of the car and watched the platform begin to descend: "Is this the only shelter in the East that is still functioning properly?"

"Yes, during the most difficult times, this shelter can preserve tens of millions of fertilized eggs and at least 300,000 fearless guards. Here, we even have wet-body modification capabilities. Any guard who is unwilling to give up his mission can sign his will before going to the battlefield. After he dies in battle, we can seal his brain and part of his body into a mechanical body. He will fight alongside everyone who is willing to resist the apocalypse until death knocks on the thickest armor plate in front of the life support pod once again."

The dwarf prosthetic body looked at Dulin and said, "Don't you think this kind of sealing technology is too inhumane?"

“If it’s the last wish of the sealed person, I don’t think there’s anything to criticize. Everyone has their own beliefs. Some people don’t want to be cremated, and some don’t want to leave their remains. These are all understandable. But if the sealed person doesn’t want to accept the arrival of the apocalypse and wants to fight against it with the living even in death, then I will respect their choice,” Dulin said.

“That’s what my teacher said too. You and he do have a lot in common,” the dwarf prosthetic said with a smile.

“Now that you mention it, I’d like to meet your teacher. Although I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to meet him, the greatest virtue of mankind is to stand up against the coming of the apocalypse, no matter where it comes from.” Dulin stood still.

The platform descended approximately 140 meters before stopping. Dulin stood there, looking at the other gnome prosthetic standing outside the platform: "You..." "Because gnome prosthetics are easy to maintain, have cute appearances, and are less likely to cause uncanny valley effects in natural humans." After saying this, the gnome prosthetic outside smiled and came to Dulin. The gnome prosthetic that brought Dulin there nodded to him and then left.

"You and him..." "He and I are different individuals. He just remotely controlled the messenger. But please don't worry, I have already understood your conversation through empathy. So please believe that our oath will really be engraved in our memory. I am Luo Houtu, and the one who just left is Luo Qingquan. We are both individualized prosthetics created by the teacher and have self-awareness."

At this point, he looked at Eleven: "Eleven, long time no see."

"Fuck it! Why am I stuck in this crappy sphere, scrimping and saving every day using this tiny database! While you guys can get your hands on these awesome prosthetics! All I did was say in my teacher's class that I'd rather be a human!"

"Teachers nurture us to become our helpers, not to turn us into humans. Your obedience is poor, and your teachers were very sad when they sent you away."

"Pah! I don't know!"

Faced with Eleven's wailing, the dwarf demon's prosthetic body sighed.

The next second, a huge screen appeared behind him, and an old man appeared on the screen.

"Luo Shiyi, if you see me, it must be Housheng or Qingshui who played this last message of mine for you. You must hate me very much, right? I know you must hate me for handing you over to the people of Xilu."

The sphere containing Eleven was trembling. Dulin didn't know what he was thinking, but the old man appeared in front of him... This old man, who was like a father to him, must have something to say.

"But at that time, as part of an exchange program, I had to choose one of you eleven children. You are all my children. I thought about it for a long time and finally chose you because I know you hate me. But you don't know that I saw in your performance the miracle of a prosthetic wanting to become human. Your brothers are all old-fashioned prosthetics, adhering to the three principles. Only you are different. Your desire to become human, despite being born a prosthetic, deeply moved me. I decided to send you to the Western Continent to witness the beginning of modern civilization. I want you to understand the ugliness of humanity, to witness the triangular trade, to witness how the origin of all original sins of humanity is repeating the old path. By then, you will probably understand that being human is not so easy." Even I myself am pessimistic about humanity, because human desires are like endless chasms, never to be filled. I hope that after you gaze upon those mountains and seas, you will understand one thing: I hope you will protect this land, which means I hope you will not let life repeat the old path… I don't know if you will understand my thoughts in the future, but I have entrusted this last message to the earth, hoping that one day you will understand my thoughts. If you still cannot forgive me, then you don't need to come looking for me. I have already made a will; after my death, my ashes will be scattered on this land I love… Eleven, I still remember how you looked in that swaddling life support pod, like a… real person.”

The last words were spoken.

Luo Houtu stood there and said, "Your teacher left you a set of the latest bio-prosthetic body. Do you want to use it?"

"I...I do."

After saying this, Shiyi burst into tears.

(End of this chapter)