Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

”The ’Refresh’ process isn’t complex.”

Multicolored magic halos envelop Duo Luo, dancing in mid-air as silver threads pierce into his body.

Entwined by the silver threads, Duo Luo glows brightly.

The magic halo forms a hard shell, layering around Duo Luo.

With a ”crack,” the shell splits open, and the previously vanished Duo Luo reappears in Yang Yu’s view, gently landing in the ray of light.

The reborn Duo Luo looks around, respectfully lowers his head upon seeing the All-knowing Queen, and greets:

”Your Majesty, is there anything you need?”

The All-knowing Queen points outside the window, ”Duo Luo.

Do you see those rebels?

They intend to overthrow my reign, striving to lead our Nine-Life Cat Demon’s realm to ruin. Go handle them with the troops.

Be cautious not to be swayed by their deceitful words.”

Duo Luo lowers his head, resolutely responds:

”Your Majesty’s command, I shall fulfill with utmost seriousness.

Leave it to me!”

Saying this, Duo Luo turns away without looking back.

”Hey, hey! Leader!

Open your eyes and take a good look at me! Take a good look at the brothers who once fought alongside you!

Have you truly forgotten the times we battled together?”

The incredulous Dark Cloud shouts loudly, attempting to recall Duo Luo’s past consciousness.

Duo Luo does not respond, disappearing completely.

With a bitter feeling, Dark Cloud looks up at the All-knowing Queen, multicolored magic halos shooting from her hands, enveloping him.

”Dark Cloud, everything I have to say, I have already said. Is there anything you wish to ask?”

Dark Cloud feels dead inside, ”What’s the use in asking?

In the end, I’ll just be completely erased by Her Majesty the Queen...

Enough, enough. I anticipated this day long ago.

Your Majesty, you’ve repeated this countless times, haven’t you?

Why, why... haven’t you sought a way to change this situation?”

Manipulating multicolored magic circles, forming a strong shell around Dark Cloud, the All-knowing Queen’s eyes reflect an indescribable sadness:

”They are all gone.

Solving this issue is very difficult, very difficult.

What I can do now is only this.

Please, forgive me.”

The shell shatters, reborn Dark Cloud bows at the feet of the All-knowing Queen, obeys her orders, and goes to assist the newly reborn Duo Luo.

The All-knowing Queen lightly waves her hand, causing a dramatic change in the space around Yang Yu and his companions, shaping it into a spacious conference room.

”I must have amused you.

Your questions probably aren’t few.

Please have a seat.”

Silent, Yang Yu takes a seat with his partners.

Bai Jin and the others are filled with leftover apprehension, those Nine-Life Cat Demons refreshed by the All-knowing Queen are like entirely different beings, losing crucial memories as if caught by her magic...

Everyone empathizes with Dark Cloud and Duo Luo’s feelings, but they are powerless.

This is a matter within the Nine-Life Cat Demon family; acting without understanding the situation could only do harm.

Yang Yu should understand what the Queen just said, right?

Bai Jin and the others believe Yang Yu will make the right decision; Yang Yu has quietly held his position, devising his plan.

”Your Majesty, I’m really curious about everything you did just now.

Do those two Nine-Life Cat Demons still count as themselves?

In a sense, they are already dead, aren’t they?” Yang Yu asks the pressing question shared by Bai Jin and the others.

”That depends on how you perceive it.” The All-knowing Queen’s face shows a moment of sorrow, ”Memory is certainly a significant part of a person. Worldview, knowledgeview, and more, all stem from memory.

We also need memory to distinguish certain things.

When someone loses all memory, the world becomes new to him.

In this new world, he’ll form new memories, construct his worldview, knowledge view, value system based on those memories.

Just as one can never step into the same river twice.

The memory rebuilt cannot completely overlap with the past memory.

The worldview, values, formed from these memories, differ undoubtedly.

His personality undergoes a thorough change; is he still the same person?”

”Isn’t this that ship dilemma?” Gao Yuanyi strokes his chin, ”The debate ’If a vessel’s parts are replaced with new ones over time, does the vessel still retain its original name?’. If using replaced pieces, you build another ship...”

”Theseus’s ship. Theseus, a famous hero in Ancient Greece, was sent to Crete Island as the Prince of Athens.

He ventured deep into the labyrinth, slaying the Bull-headed Monster.

After his return to Athens, the ship he sailed on was preserved; as parts decayed, new sturdy parts replaced the old ones.

This method preserved the ship, eventually sparking debate: Is this ship still the same as before?” The All-knowing Queen spoke.

”Exactly! That’s the one!” Gao Yuanyi suddenly felt off, ”Does Athens exist in this world? Yang Yu, do you think this is a parallel world setting?”

Yang Yu retorted: ”Don’t be startled.

Didn’t I tell you before, I’ve seen fossils of many ancient creatures.

Also, the sect from the past is called Luca (LUCA).

LUCA’s abbreviation content should be...”

”LUCA, last universal common ancestor.

Unexpectedly, you recognized this term.

Indeed, those who come here are exceptional.”

The All-knowing Queen couldn’t help but sigh, seamlessly ending the philosophical discussion Yang Yu and his companions inadvertently stirred, ”No matter how you perceive it, I believe, as Queen, I’ve indeed taken their lives.

Though they continue to exist in this Nine-Life Cat Demon’s realm, it’s essentially no different from being dead.

It’s an unavoidable matter.

The reason for their deaths, I have already mentioned.

The ones who designed us didn’t achieve perfection; presumably, they anticipated their conflict would end sooner, so they allowed each Nine-Life Cat Demon only about a few hundred years of storage capacity.

When they crumbled, remembering us became impossible, unable to jointly overcome difficulties.

Thus, apart from my original function, several miscellaneous features were added, making me responsible for handling the redundancy of other Nine-Life Cat Demons.

Later, their civilization completely fell, regressed.

I sincerely hope they can return again, because, according to the remaining capacity for recording the world, it might last another fifteen thousand years.

If the record reaches its limit... or if external magic power declines to a certain extent, our world would be entirely doomed.”