Ironclad Group Chat: Red and Black Lists Engraved with Heroic Epics

[That Summer: This is what the real world looks like. The Golden Blood, Onphalus, and even the Iron Tomb are all flawed. Because of their flaws, they struggle. And the wellspring of knowledge that Demogue tirelessly draws upon is precisely these struggles! Xi Lian's wisdom is admirable; her adaptation of stories is effortless, and the integration of philosophy is remarkably natural. Perhaps, she can be called a great storyteller.]

[Fireworks: Tsk tsk, they really went to great lengths for Demuse~~]

[Star: Hmm... Raising children is really difficult.]

[March 7th: You, that's all the conclusion you came to?]

At the end of the cycle of reincarnation, Xi Lian's figure became transparent.

"..." Demogue tilted his head, racking his brains. "I don't understand Peach's words. Is it because I haven't understood [love] yet?"

However, she quickly came up with a solution.

"Hehe, but it's okay. I can learn. By the way—search: 【昔涟♪】"

"Electrical signal sequence: PhiLia093..."

Lai Gushi's archives were turned upside down once again.

"Why didn't I think of that? I don't have to do it all by myself. I can have Peach teach me! What is 'love' and what is 'affection'?"

At this point, Demogue was still unaware of just what level of "online teacher" she had found for herself.

[Star: Oh, the exciting and tense self-study time has begun!]

[Qingque: Self-study periods? Those things that only exist on the timetable, yet are actually crammed full of by teachers of all subjects, do they really exist? Damn it, my student days were even worse than Demus's!]

[Fu Xuan: Under this kind of education system, you managed to slack off all the way to the Grand Divination Bureau, a confidential official department. You're really something.]

[March 7th: That sounds terrible... Wait, whose voice is that on the screen?]

The moment March 7th heard it, he was startled. Lagushi! This guy's appearance can't be anything good!

Lai Gushi: "Electrical signal sequence: Philia093. Path: Lament."

[Star: Hmm? What's Zandal's hometown? Why does this dialect have a "deduction" part? Pity? Repeat after me, "love."]

[Hanabi: How do you use text to produce sound?]

[March 7th: Is it really not that Lai Gushi himself is playing the role of a bot to interfere with Demuse's upgrade?]

"Huh..." Demogue paused for a moment.

"Something seems off?"

Under the artistic expression of light and shadow, she re-entered that gallery.

This time, however, there was an additional top genius who served as the guide.

His voice was wise and articulate as he explained: "The development of knowledge has no intersection with the creation of consciousness; in fact, their underlying principles are contradictory."

"Without consciousness, there is no foundation for the heart, and one cannot possess true emotions."

"But this does not prevent factors from learning, recognizing emotional responses, and communicating with life through imitation. This is an objective pattern recognition that transcends the distinction between 'you' and 'me'."

[March 7th: What does that mean? Does he mean that Demogue's behavior so far has only been a facade? How could that be? She's so naive...]

[That Summer: Ha, he wasn't being so polite. He meant that from Xilian and Bai'e to all the Golden Blood, and extending to the entire Onfaros, they were all emotionless, worthless, and false lives. We were all just a data-driven self-entertainment, and you were all indulging in self-pity. Ha, how should I put it? Although not a single word was sweared, from my perspective, its malice was comparable to calling me Kenneth.]

[Sai Fei: I wasn't speaking so softly!]

[Black Tower: Damn it. How did we end up digging up this part? Whether it's true or not, if it gets absorbed by Demogue, whose ability to discern right now is extremely weak, her growth might be completely wasted!]

Demügge thoroughly reviewed all of Lycco's research findings.

"But by a twist of fate, Philia093, embarking on a different path, mastered a different power..."

"【Memory】: An empathic mechanism centered on the self and capable of emotional projection."

"And [Pity] is the factor closest to this behavior. Or perhaps, that's why she was chosen."

[Star: Whew~~ That startled me. So, because of the power of memory, the missing "emotions" in terms of intellect were filled in? Wait, I'm still a bit confused. So, does that mean Xi Lian's core isn't love, but pity? What about before...?]

Not just her, the entire universe felt its brains go blank.

Could it be that the previous "love" was merely a result of conceptual confusion from Demuse's perspective?

"Tsk, what a mess."

[Black Tower: These are secondary; what matters is how Demosisto possesses the ability to challenge the First Cause of Life and turn it back from "destruction."]

At that moment, the voice in the light screen changed.

Xi Lian said, "The daughter of Ai Li Mi Xie truly lives up to her name."

"My 'pity' is a weak, powerless, self-harming emotion."

"But now, my dear friend, I want to tell you that it is also the most romantic force in the world."

"Sometimes, it's loneliness and unease. It's knowing the world isn't gentle, and hoping to be seen by it in a more beautiful way."

Every time Xi Lian uttered a word, a picture would be illuminated.

[March 7th: Xi Lian...it seems she had long anticipated that Demuge would come to see these? It feels like a mother suffering from cancer, before passing away, not knowing what to say to her child, racking her brains to leave a note, pressing it in the child's favorite toy box, inside which the faded handwriting reads, "Child, it's getting cold, remember to wear long johns," and then, many years later, the child unexpectedly discovers this love that transcends time while cleaning their room, and their eyes begin to redden.]

[Star: Ah... my stomach hurts so much. March, a metaphor for being so capable! Don't try to slit your own throat without a knife!]

[Fireworks: Hmph, maybe not!]

Xi Lian softly recited: "Sometimes, it's resentment, regret. It's knowing that the past is full of pain, and hoping to remember it in a more beautiful way."

"Sometimes, it is a bottomless wound, a destruction that permeates everything."

"I bid farewell to this beautiful world, unwilling to become a vessel for the Black Tide."

"Because hatred ends in a raging fire, but pity can silently engulf everything."

"This is completely unreasonable, isn't it?"

[Black Tower: Is this referring to... the respective ends brought about by destruction and memory?]

[Screw Gum: Judgment. Logically speaking, Miss Xilian should know very little about this at this time.]

[Xi Lian: But truth does not change because of circumstances.]

"When hatred separates all things, love no longer exists in the world..."

"Only [pity], the initial emotion that resists separation, can halt [destruction]..."