The key to determining a person is the body, consciousness, or something external or internal?

The paradox called "Theseus's Ship" that is now placed in front of Yicheng lies in this.

Although the name of the ship has never been changed from beginning to end, the external existence of the ship itself has been replaced by a brand new thing. So, whether the ship is still the same as this ship, is it the material of the ship itself, or the name of the ship... or the meaning of existence?

Or, if a person's body, including his limbs and torso, and internal organs, are replaced with machinery or artificial organs, then... can this person still be regarded as the original person?

This is exactly what Yi Cheng cares more about now, and the meaning behind this statement.

"You mean...my body..."

"Although it is intact from the surface, in fact, the Pillar God judged that the body was actually 'patched'."

Murphys's answer made Yi Cheng's bad premonition come true.

"Of course, this 'patchwork' may not be the same as you think. At least from a biological perspective, your body still maintains its unity in DNA, and does not have any artificial or mechanical structures of inhuman nature, but..."

Murphy glanced at Yi Cheng, whose face was gloomy and said bluntly the conclusion she had reached.

"In the 'real' observed by the Pillar God, this seemingly complete and unified body is actually pieced together by many 'you'."

"……clone?"

Yi Cheng almost subconsciously thought of such a possibility.

Perhaps... only cloning based on the perfect copy of the ontology can recombine the "patchwork" structure that cannot be detected and observed in conventional ways. After all, in a sense, the definition of "new ship and old ship" between "clone" and "ontology" is equivalent to the definition of "new ship and old ship" mentioned earlier.

"Although I'm not sure why, there is a high possibility that is."

Murphys's final decision made Yi Cheng fall into a wave of contemplation.

At this moment, the first thing he thought of was the "artificial protagonist project" that Loki once mentioned.

Taking the protagonist as a model, a large number of brand new individuals are created by cloning a large number of brand new individuals, in order to create new individuals with the ability of the protagonist. This plan that sounds inhumane and unreliable was initiated and implemented by some guys who have some different ideas about the protagonist in that battle of the century.

However, it is obvious that this experiment proves one thing from another, that is, "if the material is replaced, the ship is no longer the ship." In the premise that the protagonist's ability cannot be completely copied, the artificial protagonist's plan will naturally be a futile failure.

The King of Lies Loki once said before that he himself is actually the product of the failed plan of the artificial protagonist, and his ability, the simple "good luck" is indeed somewhat similar to the ability of the protagonist Yi Cheng, but in the final analysis, the limitations of that "luck" also doomed him to no longer replace the protagonist's position and become the key to saving the world.

But the problem now is... If Yi Cheng's body was pieced together by many similar clones, then... what is he?

"I can't give a clear answer to this question even if you ask me."

When Yi Cheng turned his attention to Satan, an existence with rich knowledge and experience who called himself "God", the other party just laughed and shook his head.

"But if your existence is like this... it's a bit similar to me."

"What?"

Yi Cheng looked at the devil in surprise.

"You know, I was originally an angel, and the existence of an angel itself... is actually the product of 'patchwork'."

“…”

Seeing that Yi Cheng was stunned by such explosive messages, Satan did not leave him much room for thinking, but explained it further.

"Of course, the 'patchwork' mentioned here is not the simple external stitching and splicing. In fact, this involves... the essential difference between mortals and gods."

“Essentially…difference?”

"Yes, what do you think is... such a difference?"

Faced with Satan's question, Yi Cheng thought for a long time before giving his own answer.

"God's power is stronger and purer?"

“Sadly, not.”

Satan shook his head, and somehow a deceitful expression appeared on his face.

"A long time ago, humans were like you, thinking that purer bloodline and purer power could make people stronger."

It sounds like there is no problem, but next, when Satan gave the simplest example, Yi Cheng suddenly realized.

"The fact is that in-breeding breeding in order to ensure the purity of bloodline and genes will only lead to the large number of deformities and low-energy offspring. The final result is that this group of people who believe to be superior will be quickly eliminated due to the stagnation of evolution..."

This is really... quite subversive.

People have always had the "purity, perfection and strength" of the cognition of matter, energy, and even power. However, it is obvious that this statement does not hold true from any perspective.

Whether ordinary people or those with abilities, what they are pursuing is nothing more than "evolution of species" and "sublimation of essence". In order to achieve such a goal, whether it is the natural evolution of external forms or the improvement and supplementation of internal genes, it is necessary and necessary.

In order to achieve such an evolution and to improve and supplement genetic defects, the most direct way... is naturally to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses.

As a common method in nature, reproduction of survival of the fittest ensures the survival of high-quality individuals, gradually improves individual defects in the long evolution process, and thus evolves into an existence that is more adaptable to the environment. The so-called "survival of the fittest" is the essence of evolution. However, compared with this time-consuming and labor-intensive and low success rate, humans as high-smart creatures have already mastered a simpler and more crude method, that is, hybridization.

However, perhaps it is precisely to limit this "shortcut" that there is also a limitation called "species isolation" in nature. There are differences at the genetic level. Two species that are different from each other cannot reproduce through hybridization. Even if they reproduce successfully, their offspring will lose the ability to reproduce.

Moreover, the biggest problem with hybridization is that if you want to select genes that are conducive to evolution and sublimation purposefully, you need multiple and long-term attempts. Obviously, this method of unpredictable results is not reliable in itself.

"Since it is impossible to integrate in a reasonable way, then put it together in a faster way."

For some reason, Yi Cheng suddenly felt that Satan's statement seemed familiar.

Because not long ago, on that small island in the southern country, he witnessed a battle that fully reflects the essence of "evolution".

Based on the human body, the fifth person of the Dark Four Heavenly Kings who evolved and sublimated to the peak in all aspects, as well as the perfect genes that fuse most creatures on the planet and transformed themselves from "human" to "monster".

In the battle between the two, verifying "which evolutionary route is correct", humans, as the apex of the evolution tree, suffered a crushing defeat, instead integrating Dr. Abalone, who is considered a gene for "lower creatures" by humans, upgraded his life form into an amazing and fearful existence.

Logically speaking, under the premise that the two of them are both quasi-god-level powerhouses, as a more pure, extremely sublimated human gene owner at the top of the evolution tree, d.k should be the winner, but in fact, the one who truly dominated that battle and even forced the protagonist Yi Cheng into a desperate situation was Dr. Abalone who seemed to be completely out of the human form.

"It's like a Lego toy, pieced together pieces of building blocks, and the final combination will also present a completely different form from the building blocks themselves."

"Like...so?"

Yi Cheng suddenly remembered something and grabbed the beast lying on his head.

"open……"

The beast, who was listening with relish, obviously did not expect that it would be displayed as a model, and a little unhappy protested.

"It's basically that..."

Satan nodded, which recognized Yicheng's scattered thinking.

"The evolution of all abilities is the same. Although at the beginning, if you want to go from 'bending the spoon' to 'lifting the skirt', and then to having initial destructive and attack power, you do need to constantly exercise your abilities in this process to make your strength pure and condense, but I don't need to say that you must also know the limitations of such exercise."

"indeed……"

This time the example that emerged from Yi Cheng's mind was undoubtedly the Miss Long Aojiao, who is known as the most genius savior in history.

The power of Long Aojiao is not her use of a certain ability, but because she can master any ability by just a short period of time and integrate it into her combat system. By constantly absorbing the power of various abilities, the strength of this young lady can even be comparable to that of the Sea Emperor, who inherited the quasi-god-level powerhouse.

At the same level of strength, it is undeniable that Long Aojiao's growth ability is obviously higher than that of the Sea Emperor.

"With the help of pure and single mortal power, the highest level that humans can reach is only quasi-god."

Sure enough, Satan's next words also confirmed Yi Cheng's idea.

"Next, although they can continue to move forward on the ladder of evolution, no matter how far they go, they will eventually be able to wander outside the gate of God and will never be able to enter the realm of God..."

"……so what?"

Not immersed in the sense of despair created by Satan and the huge gap between God and mortals for too long, Yi Cheng quickly realized that what he needed to pay most attention to now was not "how man should become God", but...

"If, as you said, that 'I' body is made up of countless 'I', then... what is the purpose of creating this 'I'?"

"Didn't you... have guessed it?"

Satan grinned.
Chapter completed!