The moment they saw this tall, strange "robot," Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong's hearts both skipped a beat. Every pore on their bodies involuntarily closed, and every hair stood on end.
In that instant, the same term flashed through their minds:
"Monk of the Monastic Order!"
This was a very dangerous creature on the graylands. It also had another name:
"Eternal!"
According to internal "Pangu Biology" teaching materials, before the Old World was destroyed, humanity had already made breakthrough progress in certain technological fields. Among them, the most outstanding, admirable, and desirable was "consciousness uploading."
This technology could use special equipment to upload human consciousness into specially designed robotic bionic chips, thereby allowing humans to escape the limitations of fragile flesh, no longer age, no longer get sick, no longer feel hunger, and no longer die due to the passage of time. All that was needed was periodic maintenance or replacement of the carrier, thereby achieving eternal life at the consciousness level.
However, before the Old World was completely destroyed, the technological achievements in this area still had many flaws and were never officially applied, existing only in laboratories.
After the Old World was destroyed and the chaotic era arrived, a group of robots calling themselves "Eternals" suddenly appeared on the earth.
They used imagination, ways of thinking, and other compelling evidence that were completely consistent with humans to make the surviving people begin to believe that they were indeed once human beings, believing that consciousness could be eternal.
However, according to those "Eternals," all the technology for "consciousness uploading" was lost in the cataclysm. Now, only a few devices could be used, and only one factory could produce "bionic chips" and corresponding robots that could carry human consciousness. They could not reverse-engineer them, only knowing how to use them to create "Eternals" to a limited extent.
Therefore, their purpose in walking the earth was to call on humanity to unite and reverse-engineer the devices, reproduce the corresponding technology, and allow everyone to achieve eternal life, end the dark age, and enter a new world.
Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong were not clear on how things developed at the time, only knowing that the teaching materials recorded it this way:
"As time passed, the 'Eternals' gradually revealed many problems. This was not because they were full of malice, but because the technology was far from mature.
"Among them, the most significant problem was that when a person lost all the sensations brought by the physical body, they also lost all the motivation for humans to struggle for survival.
"Many 'Eternals' began to find life boring and meaningless, experiencing very serious mental problems. The insane 'Eternals' brought a new round of extremely serious harm to the already fragile human population.
"The remaining 'Eternals,' although not insane, also became very confused. They began to seek comfort from the various religious remnants left over from the Old World.
"Ultimately, they used a certain religion as the main body, absorbed the useful things from other religions, and created a completely new religion with self-consistent but extremely distorted doctrines that could help them solve their psychological problems.
"They called themselves monks and named the hidden strongholds where the 'consciousness uploading' equipment was located Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli."
These monks, whose appearance was that of robots, were themselves not afraid of light weapons and possessed powerful firepower. They were like exoskeletons with human intelligence, dangerous creatures that ordinary humans could not contend with in small teams—even with heavy weapons, it might take dozens or hundreds of well-trained people cooperating with appropriate tactics to have a chance to deal with a monk.
Previously, when Jiang Baimian summarized which types of humans were more dangerous, she did not mention "Eternals." This was because members of the major factions on the graylands and wasteland wanderers all regarded these monks as another kind of creature, a creature completely different from themselves.
Of course, the monks of the Monastic Order did not have a strong urge to attack humans. In many cases, they were even quite friendly.
But the problem was that consciousness could not be produced out of thin air, and monks who lost the ability to reproduce would decrease by one each time one was destroyed.
In order to maintain the "species" and maintain the Order, the monks were active in various wastelands, searching for "fated people."
If they found one, they would "convert" the target back to the Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli, making them give up their physical bodies and upload their consciousness into the robotic bionic chips.
Among those "fated people," a small number were full of desire for "eternal life" and did not resist. Most, however, dared not try due to the rumored flaws of the "Eternals." But once they were chosen by a monk, whether they were willing or not was no longer up to them.
This caused the reputation of the Monastic Order to deteriorate rapidly, almost to the point of notoriety.
At the same time, perhaps because there were certain defects in the "Eternal" technology, many mechanical monks had certain, different problems—when they encountered specific scenes or even heard a specific sentence, they would lose control and become crazy, needing a period of time to calm down, just like having a trigger-type mental illness or a trigger-type personality defect.
This unstable state made many humans on the graylands regard mechanical monks as a scourge.
Based on these reasons, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong reacted so strongly when they discovered a mechanical monk in front of them.
--Only monks of the Monastic Order would like to wear monastic robes and cassocks outside their bodies. Ordinary intelligent robots would not have this kind of need or "hobby."
Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao simultaneously aimed the muzzles of their "Berserker" assault rifles at the iron-black robot wearing a red cassock, their foreheads covered in cold sweat.
They knew that the weapons they had could not threaten the other party at all, and the other party did not have any vital points to target, unlike the bandit leader who wore military exoskeletons before.
Facing a mechanical monk, they had no chance of winning in terms of equipment. The reason they were aiming was mainly because of conditioned reflex.
At this moment, they could only silently pray in their hearts, hoping that they were not "fated people."
The next second, the robot, over 1.9 meters tall, wearing tattered monastic robes and a red cassock, slightly tilted its cold, rigid face and scanned them with eyes that flickered with red light.
The mechanical monk did not speak, silently walking to the person who had fallen to his death.
A cold, emotionless voice then rang out:
"All living beings suffer, so why are you still so deluded?
"Follow me back to the Pure Land, abandon your flesh and skin, and attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. Then you will understand that the four elements are empty, and the enlightened will exist forever."
After saying that, the mechanical monk put its hands together and chanted in a low voice:
"Namo Amitabha." (Note 1)
Seeing that the other party ignored them, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong exchanged glances and began to retreat silently and tacitly.
Just then, the mechanical monk wearing a red cassock remained in the same posture and issued that cold, emotionless voice again:
"Why don't the two benefactors wait a moment longer?
"Although you have no affinity with my Buddha, all living beings have Buddha-nature. It is not a bad thing to listen to a scripture."
Hearing the words "no affinity," Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong were secretly delighted and relieved.
At the same time, they were afraid of angering the other party, so they could only stop their retreat.
--Since the monk had no intention of attacking or converting them, just wanting to preach, it was better to just listen than to fight to the death.
Seeing that Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong had stopped, the mechanical monk looked at the corpse on the ground and continued:
"Although you are deluded, my Buddha has compassion and cannot bear to see you exposed in the wilderness, unable to find liberation.
"I will deliver your soul, wishing you complete liberation from the flesh and a new life in the Pure Land."
Long Yuehong watched quietly, when he suddenly heard Shang Jianyao's voice in his ear:
"How are you going to deliver him?"
The mechanical monk extended its right hand, pointing its palm at the corpse.
Then, it held its left palm upright and chanted in a low voice:
"Namo Amitabha, great compassion, universal salvation, raging pure fire, burn your shackles..." (Note 1)
Amid the chanting, a stream of intense, white flames spewed out from the mechanical monk's right palm, instantly igniting the corpse.
And these flames seemed to stick to the surface of the corpse, unable to be extinguished no matter what.
After doing this, the mechanical monk wearing a red cassock turned its body and walked towards Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong:
"The two benefactors, this humble monk's Dharma name is Jingfa, a 'monk.'"
Seeing that Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong did not respond, it suddenly sat down cross-legged, lightly flicked its cassock, and said in that cold, emotionless voice:
"Sit."
Shang Jianyao hesitated for a moment, stepped forward a few steps, and sat on the ground in the position most convenient for jumping up.
Long Yuehong was a few seconds slower, walked to the same position, and sat down along with him.
The mechanical monk who called himself "monk" Jingfa's eyes flashed with red light and nodded slightly, saying:
"I wonder what the two benefactors know about my Buddha?"
Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong shook their heads at the same time.
Jingfa, the mechanical monk, was not angry. The cold voice was somehow tinged with solemnity:
"My Buddha is one of the thirteen Holders of the Year who controls the years and controls this world.
"He is the master of the first month, the beginning of all things, the germination and incarnation of consciousness."
Note 1: The religious texts found by the Monastic Order are all incomplete copies, so errors in Buddhist names and teachings, as well as the piecing together of teachings from other religions, are normal. Well, this is also to distinguish it from real-world religions, to avoid trouble.
ps: Asking for recommendation tickets~