Chapter 269: The Stone Monument of Wisdom
Within the Prava Divine Nation, the churches of towns and villages, once under the dominion of the Paraiso, lay completely destroyed and reduced to barren land. This act was intended to leave a powerful impression of total control by eliminating the symbol of authority that the church represented.
Furthermore, additional measures were implemented.
Churches were typically constructed at the center of towns. To be more precise, it would be accurate to say that the towns expanded outward from the church. In any case, the basic structure of the Prava Divine Nation revolved around having a church at the center, with the town radiating outward from it.
Now, the site of the church had been cleared, with the rubble meticulously removed. As the Walker units from Paraiso arrived, they swiftly leveled the ground with astonishing speed. Although the area was already a flat expanse, they ensured it was perfectly even, compacted it, drove in stakes, and laid down pristine white tiles.
In just one day and night, the remnants of the churches in each town and village were paved with pure white tiles.
At the center of this newly leveled area, a pedestal was prepared.
Beside the pedestal stood a Communicator Android, flanked by Plimates for protection. The sight was markedly different from the usual, drawing the attention of the residents, who began to gather. Typically, they would be urged to return to work by the Sheriff if they lingered too long, but today, the Sheriff merely stood around the square, leading them to realize that something special was about to commence.
Soon, nearly all able-bodied individuals had congregated in the square.
At that moment, a helicopter approached the town. The whirring of its rotors filled the air with noise, but the residents were accustomed to it.
Then, something began to descend from the sky.
They focused their attention on the helicopter, contemplating what it might be.
The helicopter in use was a super-sized model designed for transporting heavy cargo. Indeed, it was carrying a massive structure suspended from its belly.
As the helicopter hovered directly above the square, it slowly lowered the enormous structure. The pedestal had a deep hole prepared for it, and the structure was set into place.
What was installed at the center of the square was a gigantic black plate—a Monolith.
After the helicopter completed its delivery and vanished beyond the horizon, the Monolith began to emit a faint glow, displaying text upon its surface.
“From now on, a new text will be added here once a day.”
“Compliance with this text is required.”
The surface of the black plate bore these words in white.
“If you have any questions, I will provide answers.”
Then, the Communicator Android, which had remained motionless, spoke.
“If you have inquiries, I will answer today. From tomorrow onward, you must voice your prayers in this square. While I may not have answers to everything, this Monolith will guide you the following day.”
Thus, a stone monument that would bring civilization to the Prava Divine Nation had emerged.
“How does it look?”
“Well, I think it’s an interesting spectacle, to be honest.”
Given that this was a religious nation, such an endeavor was likely to be readily accepted. Instead of a monk’s sermon, the Monolith would now speak.
“It seems to have a scrolling feature, so nothing will be missed. It’s quite comprehensive.”
“Every day for 380 days, new text will be added. Someone will likely transcribe it. It’s convenient that it will create scripture on its own.”
Whether it was truly convenient or not was uncertain, but the fact that there would be no need to dispatch Communicator Androids to each town was a significant advantage. The Communicator Androids were versatile units, and it would be a waste to use them solely as messengers. They were intended for resolving critical issues.
Of course, it was important to occasionally show their faces; otherwise, their value would diminish. Ayame Zero would likely manage that aspect well.
By the way, the power source for the Monolith was a nuclear battery. It could operate maintenance-free for decades or even centuries, making it suitable for such applications. However, the Monolith itself would still require maintenance, which would shorten its overall lifespan. Naturally, regular maintenance would extend its longevity.
“Does the Monolith have its own AI?”
“Yes, Commander. Currently, it is located at Yakari Port. We plan to relocate it to a geologically stable area inland.”
The Monolith and the Core AI were integrated into the network grid, maintaining mutual information. Even if local disruptions occurred due to natural disasters, overall communication would remain intact. By operating multiple Core AIs simultaneously, fault tolerance would be significantly enhanced.
The internal affairs of the Prava Divine Nation would be managed through this Monolith network. With Ringo not intervening and the dispatch of Communicator Androids kept to a minimum, it would serve as a test case for delegating governance to local management AIs.
“I believe the operation itself will be fine, but it’s hard to predict how the locals will react.”
“Yes, Commander. Given the religious foundation and the low resistance to directives from higher powers in this nation, we anticipate a readiness to accept it.”
Humans would not be present to give orders; instead, the Monolith would provide instructions. It was indeed a bland and flavorless approach. How humanity would respond to such a society was unknown, and thus, this governance structure was established somewhat experimentally. In essence, it was a data-gathering endeavor.
“The Hall of Wisdom in the Aflarasia Royal Capital has taken on an interesting atmosphere.”
The Hall of Wisdom, constructed in the Royal Capital of the Afrasia United Kingdom, had adopted a system where it issued verbal instructions to the dukes. However, due to the concurrent use of Communicator Androids, evaluations had become dispersed, making measurement difficult.
That said, since local forces were being utilized for maintaining public order, changing the system at this point would be challenging. Established interests could not be dismantled overnight.
Of course, there was always the option to crush everything, but that was not feasible at this stage. Abruptly removing everything without significant issues would likely be emotionally unacceptable for the residents. In cases of genuine problems, the Communicator Androids had dealt with them directly, leading to their recognition as a justice enforcement agency.
“I thought there would be more wariness, that they would keep their distance.”
“The Communicator Androids have been accepted by the locals more smoothly than anticipated. We can consider their status in the Afrasia United Kingdom to be solidified.”
The unified currency circulating in the Afrasia United Kingdom, along with everyday goods, agricultural fertilizers, and pharmaceuticals bearing the fox-girl insignia, were all primarily supplied by Paraiso. Since these were all sold at fair prices, their popularity was on the rise.
Of course, the labor provided in exchange was not wasted. They were engaged in farming, livestock, and Redstone mining. Some were also involved in the production of metal goods, woodworking, and porcelain manufacturing. While their performance could not compare to that of Paraiso products, it was not feasible to continue supplying indefinitely, so efforts were being made to educate them to some extent.
And thus, this know-how would be collected and fed back as needed. The Afrasia United Kingdom, and soon the Prava Divine Nation, would serve as a vast experimental ground for The Tree.
“The Learning Index is improving, so it’s not bad. Hmm, perhaps external stimuli are indeed important.”
“Yes, Commander. Particularly for the Brain Units, it has been shown that information gathering using the five senses is the most efficient.”
When comparing Brain Units using Communicator Androids to those that did not, differences in the growth rate of the neural networks were observed. This was likely due to the differing density of input information and the variety of feedback regarding output, as predicted by Ringo.
“An environment where Communicator Androids can be safely operated is being established. We should be able to accelerate the education of the Brain Units even further.”
This marks the expansion phase of The Tree. Indeed, the distributed grid seems to solve everything. Or so they say. The diverse beast-eared girls are immensely popular in the area. After all, the recent trend is diversification.