It took Shiller almost a full ten minutes to accept the current situation. To put it simply, the Milky Way wants to build a highway, and Earth has become a roadblock. To build the road, they have to figure out a way to deal with Earth.
The saying goes, "To get rich, first build a road." As everyone knows, road construction is prioritized above everything else. So even if what stands in the way is Earth, Shiller would first consider how to solve the problem of Earth.
Fortunately, Earth can move, so it doesn't face destruction. But the problem is, although Earth can move, it can't keep running forever; it needs a place to stay. But since the original location is slated for a highway, it has to be relocated.
Also, because this teleportation passage is somewhat dangerous, it's best not to keep your home too nearby. It's not just a small shift. Once Earth moves, other planets have to move with it; when other planets move, the Sun must also move.
"Shiller!" A figure clad in metal armor stormed into the bar. He braked sharply at the counter, came over, sat down, crossed his arms, and tapped the counter.
"Why are you messing around with that madman Richards? What do you mean by 'moving the Solar System'? Can that even be moved???"
With a click, the face guard opened, revealing Stark's face inside the mecha. Shiller, who was tidying bottles behind the counter, turned to look at him and said, "Then what genius idea do you have, Dr. Stark?"
"I told you not to call me doctor." Stark adjusted his crossed arms and twisted his neck, then said, "You really only know how to screw in light bulbs. Haven't you realized that Reed's so-called space channel teleportation technology and Doom's virtual information flow technology are the same technology?"
Shiller was stunned; he really didn't know. So he turned his head to look at Stark. Stark sighed helplessly and said, "The essence of this technology is uploading us to the Antimatter Universe and then downloading us from a different place. Does that make sense to you?"
"I think I kind of get it," said Shiller, "but the problem now is that the upload and download port is fixed. If this can't be changed, then the entire Solar System has to be moved."
Stark rolled his eyes almost to the heavens and said, "One last time, this technology is not safe!"
"How does it compare with the teleportation portal?"
"It's not like the teleportation portal is safe either!" Stark struggled for a moment, seemingly at a loss. He tapped the table and said, "'Teleportation portal' is simply too conservative a name. If we called it 'dimension folding and space bursting' technology, I believe more people would research its safety issues."
"So the teleportation portal is dimension folding and space bursting, and Reed's teleportation channel is a virtual information flow. Which one is safer?"
"Neither is safe."
"Do you have a safer solution?"
"Not yet," Stark shook his head, "but if I must say, the teleportation portal is relatively mature technology. What they've come up with..."
Stark's expression turned complex as he said, "I must admit, it's quite technically sophisticated. They are indeed geniuses, at least on par with Stark. However, I must emphasize that from my perspective, it's far too early for humanity to apply this technology. The societal and ethical issues it may cause are more challenging than the technology itself."
"What do you mean?"
"Of course, it's virtualization," Stark sighed, "Turning the human race into virtual information is extremely risky. Even with the most stable technology for conversion, the technical ethics could never pass approval."
"Why?"
"It's murder." Stark looked into Shiller's eyes, speaking solemnly, "Erasing a person from the real world, even if converted into a virtual information flow, means they lose their existence in the real world. It equates to death. And if this conversion technology isn't in their own hands, or voluntarily controlled by them, then whoever controls the technology can erase humanity without restraint. Can you imagine how terrifying that is?"
Shiller also became serious, sat across from Stark, and said, "So Reed and Doom have this idea?"
"I don't think they intend to use this method to rule humanity. But the issue is, if someone wants to do it, the technology can be stolen. They both can be manipulated. If all of humanity is erased, then our race is equivalent to extinction."
"He never mentioned this to me," Shiller explained, "I think he's not deliberately concealing it, he just understands the technology differently from you. He thinks we're just taking a detour through the Antimatter Universe."
"That's not wrong, but this 'detour' process is actually a form of conversion."
"What I want to know is, can they already stably convert humanity?"
Stark gently shook his head, saying, "Doom's earlier proposition of directly converting people into information stored on a server is certainly not achievable at present. However, converting people into another form and uploading them into the Antimatter Universe is possible. If their technology wasn't stable, they wouldn't propose this plan."
"I don't understand, what's the difference?"
"The key is the soul," Stark said, "The soul is the creator's masterpiece, and nothing can surpass the creator. Thus, they can edit genes, modify the body, but they can't play with the soul."
"We can convert the physical form into anything, but we can't change the soul even a bit. This is one of the cosmos server's inherent constants, invisible to most existences. Even for the universe administrators, it's read-only and not writable."
"There are only a few fixed methods for manipulating the soul. These are programs set by the creator long ago. Nobody can break through this program to transform the soul into their desired form, otherwise, they would be the creator."
"So you're saying we can't upload our souls."
"That's right. We have no way to store our souls in what we've created, which is like trying to lift yourself off the ground by stepping on your own foot in a gravity environment."
Shiller said with some confusion, "Then what's the deal with Mephisto? His Hell has quite a few souls. Why can he store them?"
"Because that's a separate dimension." Mephisto walked out from the back door and said, "I haven't stored souls in anything. They're all just staying in the Hell Dimension."
After speaking, he pulled out a crystal from somewhere, in which there was a virtual shadow of a little person, burning with fierce flames. Mephisto shook the crystal in his hand and said, "This is the so-called Soul Crystal. To you humans, it looks like I've trapped the soul in a crystal, but that's because you can only perceive the world through basic senses. In reality, the soul is not inside it but still in the Hell Dimension. This thing is just a beacon."
"When I retrieve a soul from here, it's not from this crystal but rather from the Hell Dimension, according to the crystal's positioning, which doesn't violate the laws regarding souls."
"Then what about the Spirit of Revenge?"
"That's a bit complicated. However, it's not stipulated that a body can only have one soul. In certain cases, multiple souls can share a body. But the most I've ever seen is three, so it's not a very efficient storage method either."
Shiller rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then said, "So, souls can only stay in natural dimensions. The so-called methods of storing souls are actually just a blind eye technique?"
"Sort of, at least for complete souls. Some fragmented souls can be stored in certain circumstances, but that's beyond our discussion." Stark continued.
"So, they can upload souls to the Antimatter Universe because it is also a natural dimension, but it's impossible to upload to the servers we've created because they are not the creator's creations."
"Exactly." Stark nodded.
"Then the idea of erasing the entire human race can't happen, can it? We can't be uploaded into a virtual world. Even if it could happen, it would only be within the natural dimensions of the creator."
"Where do you want to upload to?" Stark asked, "Besides, once the body is erased, the human race cannot survive solely on souls. Even just the destruction of the body is terrifying enough."
"That is indeed a problem." Shiller sighed, "I should have paid more attention to Lucifer's lectures on Cosmic Construction Science back then."
"This doesn't really count as Cosmic Construction Science." Stark leaned against the bar and said, "This technology sounds grand, but it's just scratching the surface of compiling the cosmos. Even so, humanity would find it difficult to use it safely. Everyone would."
"Are you saying the Three Great Empires can't use it either?"
"Of course. If they had this ability, they wouldn't be struggling with the Antimatter Universe Wormhole that Reed created. In fact, they're far from Cosmic Construction Science. Robots don't even have souls."
"I have to say, in the absence of a better option, Reed's solution is very likely to go through." Shiller handed Stark a glass of beer, "The development of humanity is like rowing upstream, if you don't advance, you retreat. Our time is already very tight. If we continue to hesitate, such a valuable opportunity may not come again for ten thousand years."
Stark wiped his face, drank two cold beers, and then said, "Alright. I know, we should complete all the work while the Three Great Empires are weak. However..."
"But you're still worried and a bit anxious." Shiller handed him a piece of watermelon and said, "Why not call Reed over and talk to him?"
"What's the use of calling him?" Stark seemed a bit disheartened, "The two of us are complete opposites. Compared to him, I'm a pessimist, always seeing the negative side of things. But I also know that my view is not mainstream right now. I don't want to always be so annoying either."
Shiller understood that Stark didn't want to see Reed because he knew he couldn't out-argue him. Now, they had finally weakened the Three Great Empires and completely distracted their attention. They must seize this time to build up their homeland. Such an opportunity, once missed, wouldn't come again.
The construction process went smoothly, and everything was flourishing. All media outlets were reporting on the development progress, and humanity was advancing with great momentum. Everyone was looking forward to a bright future.
From a technical standpoint, Reed's plan couldn't have any problems, or Stark would have had a legitimate reason to stop him long ago. What was holding him back was nothing more than morality, paranoia, and a pessimistic view of human nature.
But nobody would stop such an important and visibly successful project on account of his view. So, from any angle, it was difficult for him to stop Reed Richards.
"Would you be mad at me for not stopping him either?" Shiller asked.
"Of course I'm angry," Stark said, widening his eyes, "If you were willing to use your genius brain to learn more about science and engineering, you wouldn't be so easily fooled by him. Plus, you should be more acutely aware of social and ethical issues than I am. You should question him harshly with that."
"I will." Shiller nodded.