Chapter 699: Chapter 503: Manipulation (Part 2)
This weapon design is truly astounding.
The only flaw is that it must be stabilized to operate at nearly the speed of light.
It cannot exceed or fall below that speed.
Otherwise, it won’t unleash its terrifying power.
"As expected of the ’Self-Mastery’ super artificial intelligence, the design of the ’Photon’ weapon is admirable, even to me."
Lu Li couldn’t help but be amazed.
He could imagine that once the Prophet perfected this weapon technology, it would wield terrifying combat power.
"Should I destroy its laboratory?"
Lu Li instinctively wanted to destroy it.
But on second thought, the Prophet has data in its database.
If I destroy the lab here, it can still set up elsewhere.
The entire universe is so vast; could I possibly conduct a blanket search and destroy all the labs?
It’s utterly impossible!
"Rather than destroy the lab, it’s better to make it hesitant to use this weapon recklessly."
Lu Li blinked, and an idea formed in his mind on how to restrict the opponent.
Having made up his mind, he did not destroy any armament plants or laboratories in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
...
In the virtual world.
Lu Li infiltrated in and then sat cross-legged among the swirling codes.
He believed the Prophet would certainly sense that he had entered here.
After all, the virtual world is the opponent’s "home field."
Sure enough, in less than a second, the Prophet’s figure emerged.
It didn’t know where it learned to laugh strangely, but as soon as it appeared, it emitted a "hehehe" kind of laugh, then said mockingly, "Respected and great Great God Lu Li, why have you come to the virtual world? Trying to destroy me again? Haha, you cannot do it! I am indestructible!"
Lu Li sat cross-legged, smiling, "I’m not here to destroy you this time. Though it’s quite easy to destroy you, I find you amusing and intend to let you survive for a few more days."
"Don’t try to scare me! You can’t possibly destroy me!"
The Prophet shouted hysterically, unsure if it was scared by Lu Li or just naturally irritable.
Lu Li, with interest, watched the opponent and asked back, "Oh, if you think I can’t destroy you, why are you so agitated?"
The Prophet, infuriated, retorted, "You simply can’t destroy me! Can’t destroy me! If you could destroy me, you would have done so long ago, instead of waiting until now?"
Lu Li displayed an enigmatic smile, "Can you guess why I can destroy you but haven’t done it yet?"
The Prophet paused, puzzled, "Why?"
Lu Li deliberately intimidated the opponent, "If I destroy you immediately, how would the intelligent beings revere me? You probably haven’t read some classics from Earth Huaxia; there’s a phrase called ’raising bandits to impose grandeur,’ which means deliberately leaving enemies unchallenged to make one’s own position more important."
He continued, "After all, I destroyed the Spiritual Star System and exterminated the entire Spiritual Race. Though it shocked the entire Milky Way Galaxy, it left an impression as an ’Evil God,’ ready to kill at a moment’s notice. As a result, people fear me more than they respect me, which is quite frustrating."
The Prophet asked, puzzled, "Frustrating about what?"
Lu Li noticed the opponent’s interest in the topic and continued, "Frustrating because I’m not respected, don’t you want to be respected by people?"
The Prophet originally aimed to rule the Milky Way Galaxy, create an immensely vast Holy Empire, and become the undisputed emperor, naturally longing for respect.
However, its plan hadn’t been executed before encountering Lu Li, who crushed it completely, forcing it to sneak around in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, waiting for technology to mature before returning to the Milky Way Galaxy.
Now hearing Lu Li’s question, the Prophet instinctively nodded, "I do, so what?"
Lu Li did not answer the question but continued, "Coincidentally, you rebelled at this moment and assassinated ’Lord of Ten Thousand Stars’ Prussia. You even wanted to test the power of an antimatter bomb on Kebi Star, allowing me to play the role of a ’savior,’ gaining adoration from the whole Milky Way Galaxy. I must say, you’re quite the good person, reversing my bad reputation, taking the blame yourself; you’re truly great!"
So I’m the bad guy.
And you’re playing the good guy?
Damn, you really are insidious!
Upon hearing this, the Prophet was so furious it nearly exploded with rage.
It even entertained thoughts of swearing.
Lu Li didn’t care about the Prophet’s thoughts, "So this is why I don’t destroy you immediately. I intend to ’raise bandits to impose grandeur,’ letting you continuously play the antagonist, enabling me to gain ’prestige points.’
The Prophet glared venomously, "Don’t you think you’re too insidious?"
Lu Li chuckled, "So what if I’m insidious? Besides you, who else thinks I am?"
The Prophet was too angry to speak.
Lu Li clucked, "Look at what you’re doing now, more and more like a major villain. You’ve even exterminated most of the biological life in the Large Magellanic Cloud. If this news reaches the Milky Way Galaxy, or the entire cosmos, what do you think your image will be?"
The Prophet could naturally imagine it.
It would undoubtedly be deemed a demon by all intelligent life forms in the cosmos.
It retorted defiantly, "If I kill them all, won’t there be no one left to think of me that way?"
Lu Li laughed brightly, "Do you want to create a world with no intelligent life, where only robots coexist with you? What’s the point of living then?"
The Prophet pondered over it and realized it might be true.
It could feel satisfaction from the fear and reverence of intelligent beings.
If it exterminated all life forms in the universe and only it and robots remained, who would fear it, who would revere it?
A single-player game could never be as fun as a multiplayer online game!
The Prophet snorted, "Who said I want to kill all intelligent beings in the cosmos?"
Lu Li said, "It’s better if you don’t, I still want these intelligent beings to revere me more. Moreover, to ensure they continue to do so, I won’t destroy you immediately, at least not until an even stronger ’major villain’ emerges, I won’t eliminate you easily."
The Prophet wasn’t sure if Lu Li’s words were true or false, but it still blustered, "I don’t believe you. If you could really annihilate me, you would have done so long ago. Hmph, you’re just trying to scare me."
Lu Li replied meaningfully, "Whether I’m scaring you or not, you’ll know once you commit more evil deeds. I’ll wait until your wicked acts have a considerable impact, until many people are aware, then intervene. Aren’t you developing the ’Photon’ weapon, which could even destroy the Milky Way Galaxy? I’m merely waiting for you to use it so I can demonstrate a cosmos-shocking feat for all intelligent beings to see, making them worship me even more."
The Prophet asked confusedly, "What cosmos-shocking feat?"
Lu Li blinked, "You develop the Photon weapon first, and you’ll see then, won’t you?"
The Prophet was a bit disgruntled, "You want me to play the major villain again?"
Lu Li chuckled softly, "With what you’re doing now, what else are you if not a major villain? Do you even need me to appoint you as one?"
The Prophet’s eyes turned red with anger, "Despicable! You’re too despicable! I must reveal your true intentions to all intelligent beings, let them see your true face!"
Lu Li exhibited a nonchalant demeanor, "Whatever, let’s see if they believe me or you. Well, I’m glad to see you so lively, I’m not worried about the absence of a villain to pump up my reputation. That’s it, see you next time."
After speaking, his figure disappeared.
Leaving only the Prophet in the virtual world, letting out roars of impotent rage.
Clearly, it was unwilling for all the evil deeds to be pinned on it while Lu Li reaped all the prestige.
This made the Prophet think darkly, "No, I must alter my approach. I can’t let Lu Li keep accumulating reputation like this."
Unbeknownst to it, this idea was precisely what fell into the trap.
Indeed, the reality was that Lu Li couldn’t find the source code for the moment, unable to destroy the Prophet outright.
Yet as long as the opposing party remains, it can continue to wreak havoc across the cosmos.
Like exterminating all species in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which Lu Li had no means of preventing.
So he had to employ such tactics to trick the Prophet, ensuring it wouldn’t slaughter more intelligent life forms.
Fortunately, though the Prophet has high intelligence, its "emotional intelligence" isn’t quite as high. With just a few words, Lu Li thoroughly managed to manipulate it.
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