The Martial Unity

Rui was actually quite impressed at how much the Psycher had gotten right about the nature of reality and the nature of the universe. The man, through pure a priori logical deduction, had concluded that consciousness was integrated information and that information itself was something very fundamental to the universe.

That was why Rui wanted him on board the committee that was preparing proposals for the model to privatize space expansion. His insights as a psychologist would be extremely good for ensuring that there weren’t any adverse effects of their plans on the human psyche.

“So I was right…” the Psycher remarked with a stunned tone. “Consciousness is integrated information. And information itself is a fundamental force.”

Rui stirred at those words. “More like a fundamental dimension of reality, rather than a force. But close enough. It defines all of reality, and it exists in a plane that I call the information dimension. Transcendents like myself derive our power by altering the information of the information dimension.”

And just like that, the Psycher found himself having answered some of the most fundamental questions of the nature of reality. He hadn’t expected that he would get confirmation of his theories this easily.

Then again, it hadn’t been easy at all. One of the reasons that he had pursued immortality was that he had sought to try to understand the nature of consciousness. It had been a goal that he had dedicated many centuries of his life to.

“And I’ve finally gotten confirmation of the answer and yet…” He gazed at his hands. “It doesn’t feel as joyful as I expected.”

Rui’s expression curdled at those words. Dedicating himself to a project and failing to derive any happiness from its completion?

He hoped that he didn’t go down that path.

“It does… bring me to a sense of peace, though,” the Psycher remarked with a tranquil tone of voice. “I suppose this is the fruit of my labor. An inner peace where my mind can finally rest.”

He heaved a deep breath of relief for several moments.

“Hah, good for you,” the Beggar Sage snorted with a hint of envy. “I can never achieve that kind of satisfaction.

His eyes grew more intense. “I need more knowledge. More information.”

Rui’s eyes swept the three individuals as he recalled just how much madness all three of them had. They were the original founders of the soul transfer method, after all. They had lived the longest, and their psyches were almost inhuman in their own way.

The Esoterist clearly knew this as well; he leaned away from the three of them, as if trying to disassociate with them. Unfortunately for him, Rui knew that even he was batshit insane. Every immortal sage was afflicted with some kind of mental problem; it came with the territory.

Rui heaved a sigh. “Anyway, I hope that means you’ll help me out.”

“Sure, a deal is a deal,” the Psycher remarked knowingly. “I look forward to helping human civilization expand.”

“I don’t mind helping out with studying Garg and reverse engineering its method of reproduction,” the Divine Doctor offered. “Helping my patient, Gaia, achieve fertility would be a good step to take.”

Rui nodded, turning towards the Beggar Sage. “Have you stopped throwing a tantrum, beggar?”

“Hah! As if! I’m not helping you!” Beggar Sage snarled at him unpleasantly.

Rui smiled at the old beggar. “You mean to say you won’t help me for free, correct?”

The beggar stiffened.

“I’m not stupid, I can read your mind, your little esoteric impediments can’t stop me anymore,” Rui remarked knowingly. “You came here with the intention of getting something from me in exchange for fulfilling my request. Spit it out. What do you want?”

The Beggar Sage grinned. “Hehehe… I want all the information you have on the Noosphere.”

Rui’s ethereal eyes widened as he stared at the beggar, quickly understanding exactly what the man’s intentions were.

The Noosphere was the sphere of human thought. It was an abstract concept, but the virus had managed to realize it with its immaculate utility of primordial seed. It used the combined power of the thoughts of humans of the past, somehow achieving phenomenological uniformity through a mechanism that not even he understood. “You… you’re trying to harness this power for yourself, are you?” Rui sharpened his eyes.

The Beggar Sage was uniquely positioned to make use of this power. He had the widest information network across the entirety of the Panama Continent and now much of the true world as well. The Beggar’s Sect converted ordinary people, often in the lower class of human civilization, into spies for the Beggar’s Sect.

No one held as much of a sway on regular people as the Beggar Sage did, not even Prince Raul or even Rui himself. That was why Rui immediately understood what his intentions were.

The Noosphere was the power of humanity itself. It was the power of the people themselves. It was completely consistent with the ideology and the goals of the Beggar Sage. He always sought to empower the common man against those who sought to oppress them. And by harnessing the Noosphere, he would be able to harness the people of the collective consciousness of all of human civilization.

“You never cease to amaze me with your ambition,” Rui remarked as an impressed smile emerged on his face. “Very well, I will share with you all the information that I have on the Noosphere.”

Rui had absolutely no problem with the Beggar Sage trying to tap into that power. If he succeeded, then it would make all of Gaian Civilization that much stronger for it, and it would strengthen their odds against human civilization.

And no matter how much the Beggar Sage complained about Rui stealing his immortal sages, the reality was that he knew Rui was the best Emperor a people could have asked for, subjugating the Martial World to create a better world for regular people.

Thus, it was very unlikely that he would ever use that power against Rui.

The Beggar Sage grinned with excitement. “Hehehe, then we have a deal.”