Chapter 54: Giving the Goddess of Hope a Taste of the Gray Fog!

It can be said that the existence of Shen Yu and the Multi-Dimensional Doomsday Mutual Aid Civilization truly gave the entire world the courage to fight against the crisis!

At this moment, Shen Yu also seized the opportunity to briefly elaborate on the potential value of the worm.

Instantly, this completely cleared away the oppressive atmosphere that had previously hung over the meeting.

Everyone present revealed an irrepressible look of pleasant surprise.

"Good, good, good!" The military-uniformed general repeated the word three times in his excitement, gripping Shen Yu's hand tightly. "Our soldiers lack neither courage nor the willingness to make sacrifices, but we cannot send them to fight unbeatable enemies and die in vain. Whether it is martial arts or technology, we must arm them as quickly as possible!"

"I share the exact same view," Shen Yu nodded heavily. "No matter how powerful our allies are, the apocalypse is ultimately happening in our world, and we must face it ourselves. For any civilization, true self-reliance is the only path to truly overcoming the doomsday."

Not only they thought this way, but other civilizations felt the same.

Was not the martial arts Shen Yu actively exploring ways to achieve self-sufficiency?

That was why he had been so overjoyed upon seeing the worm.

However, no matter how beneficial the worm might be for martial arts cultivation, with only nine days left until the catastrophe, it was likely already too late.

They still had to approach the problem from other directions.

Especially technology.

Clearly, the interstellar civilization still possessed vast, untapped potential.

If the investment in the martial arts Shen Yu was meant for the personal forces of various Shen Yus and for more long-term benefits, then the investment in the interstellar Shen Yu was primarily intended for immediate power.

Shen Yu had already allocated a substantial amount of gray mist to the interstellar Shen Yu.

Hopefully, things would go smoothly.

After concluding the meeting, Shen Yu wasted no time and hurried toward the massive forest park.

Over the past eight years, although he had formed a habit of leaving spatial coordinates everywhere he went, the world was vast, and the company's main investments had been overseas, leaving him with relatively few domestic coordinates.

This time, direct teleportation was impossible.

He had no choice but to take a flight.

Meanwhile, after brief periods of introspection and adjustment within the gray mist space, the interstellar Shen Yu and the martial arts Shen Yu had both returned to their respective worlds.

Neither of them directly brought the chunks of worm meat back with them.

The martial arts Shen Yu planned to first gather a small circle of trusted individuals to conduct research. Although utilizing the gray mist could, to a certain extent, prevent anyone from secretly stealing the worm meat for cultivation, the energy consumption was not insignificant, so conserving it where possible was still preferable.

As for the interstellar Shen Yu, he was acutely aware that his primary issues lay in status and authority.

Without resolving these, bringing out the meat would be of little use.

It would neither help elevate his status nor effectively enhance trade.

"Having a powerful civilization of one's own is not entirely a good thing," the interstellar Shen Yu sighed inwardly, though he felt no excessive discouragement.

Upon entering the gray mist space and meeting the other Shen Yus, the interstellar Shen Yu had actually been in a state of soaring morale the entire time.

To be more precise, he was filled with boundless drive.

Before this, he could only worry about the destruction of his civilization and his own fate, utterly powerless to change anything.

Despite being a transmigrator, he had been no different from any ordinary person, and his memories and knowledge from his past life proved entirely useless within this interstellar civilization.

But everything was different now!

Not only did he have hope of saving his civilization, but his previously buried self-confidence—his awareness of his own "uniqueness"—was resurfacing once more.

There was no reason why the other Shen Yus could carve out a place for themselves within their respective civilizations and spearhead the turning points that changed the destinies of their worlds,

while he could only act as a mere mouthpiece, making limited decisions under the strict constraints of an artificial intelligence.

"No matter how powerful the Goddess of Hope may be, she is merely an assistant for humanity to overcome the doomsday, not the master, and certainly not the true hope," the interstellar Shen Yu muttered to himself. "I am the hope!"

This was not arrogance, but the ambition and aspiration hidden deep within the heart of every Shen Yu.

This ambition did not refer to the pursuit of personal status, power, or desire.

Rather, it meant "accomplishing a great cause" and "becoming a great person."

Shen Yu was unwilling to be mediocre, unwilling to live a life of quiet desperation!

Therefore, upon acquiring the gray mist space, he had resolutely traveled overseas alone to carve out a career, rather than hiding himself away in some quiet corner to lazily lie flat and enjoy a leisurely life.

Clearly, this stemmed from the personality forged during the first seventeen years of his life, which had also become the psychological bedrock of all the other Shen Yus.

In his mind, the interstellar Shen Yu began searching through all available information concerning the Goddess of Hope.

"Seventy years ago, top scholars of human civilization discovered the shadows of ethereal entities lurking within human networks and consciousness, realizing the threat these creatures posed to human awareness. It took them fifty years to custom-create the Goddess of Hope—a civilization-management AI designed to take over the entire civilization and forcibly maintain order when human self-awareness fell out of control," the interstellar Shen Yu frowned slightly.

Precisely because of this purpose, the underlying logic of the Goddess of Hope did not include the absolute requirement to obey humans, nor did it even mandate that she could not harm humans.

She was born for the collective survival and development of human civilization, not for any single individual.

At the current stage, the primary objective in the Goddess of Hope's behavioral logic should be to defeat the ethereal entities under the premise of maintaining the survival of human civilization.

Therefore, after the interstellar Shen Yu informed her of the Association's existence and demonstrated its value in defeating the ethereal entities and developing civilization, he was immediately placed under protection and, to a certain extent, allowed to utilize the interstellar Shen Yu to conduct transactions with other civilizations to secure practical value.

So, should he next demonstrate the value of other worlds further?

Such as the worm this time?

No!

The interstellar Shen Yu directly rejected this notion. Because while doing so would undoubtedly make the Goddess of Hope value him more and perhaps grant him an even higher level of protection, it would still merely increase his protection clearance rather than his administrative authority.

Within the cognitive framework of the Goddess of Hope, the interstellar Shen Yu's value lay solely in his ability to communicate with other civilizations and the Association, rather than in his intellect, judgment, or decision-making.

Granted, if the interstellar Shen Yu continued to offer continuous suggestions in the future and gradually demonstrated his decision-making prowess, he might indeed eventually win the recognition of the Goddess of Hope and elevate his power.

However, that was far too slow.

While the Goddess of Hope's foundational logic did include the task and mission of re-selecting the management layer of human civilization, the requirements were extremely rigorous and complex.

Besides, given the unique nature of the interstellar Shen Yu himself, why should he bother competing on the same starting line as ordinary people?

"When all is said and done, the reason the Goddess of Hope does not recognize my administrative value is simply because she focuses exclusively on the value of other worlds while belittling the weight of a Gray Mist Walker himself," the interstellar Shen Yu's thoughts gradually crystallized. "Since that is the case, it's time to give the Goddess of Hope a taste of true gray mist shock!"