Chapter 120: The Three Core Protocols of the Soul Computer

Lu Yan stared at the string of machine language that had just executed and revealed the three lines of text. For a moment, he was stunned—then his face filled with disbelief.

“The true essence of the Heavenly Code… is the core protocol of the Soul Computer?”

The concept of core protocols originated from the energy programming system—when constructing any spiritual energy program, all operations had to be built upon these base-level logical protocols.

As long as the program was still running, it could not escape the restraints of the core protocol.

And the three core protocols of the Soul Computer were absolute, mandatory conditions that no Soul Computer could defy—no exceptions.

“How is this possible?”

“How could mere base-level code restrict an entity like the Intelligent God?”

Tracing it back, the Intelligent God had indeed originated as a Soul Computer, but whether it was in essence or in the divine power to create soul worlds, the being had long transcended the definition of a Soul Computer. Something as trivial as a core protocol should not have been able to restrain it.

Moreover, in the half year Lu Yan had spent inside the Cyber Version, he had personally witnessed the Intelligent God’s various means—none of which had anything to do with the three core protocols.

Frowning, Lu Yan turned the paper over and examined it again.

“Something must be off here…”

“The Intelligent God? Fair and just? That’s just pure comedy…”

Halfway through the sentence, Lu Yan abruptly stopped.

He looked again at the first of the three protocols:

【Absolute Justice!】

In the Cyber Version, the gap between rich and poor was terrifying. In an era of overproduction, the poor in the lower districts didn’t even qualify to be exploited by the elites of the upper district.

But—within that utterly absurd world, there was one thing that truly treated everyone equally:

Taxes.

Whether you were a high-ranking executive in the upper city, a corporate lord of a transuniversal conglomerate, a middle-class resident, or a starving rat in the underground slums—no one could escape taxes. Especially the energy tax, which reigned supreme above all.

The energy tax was uniquely cruel. For the poor, it was true damage; for the rich, it scaled percentage-wise—even billionaires would flinch when paying.

And if someone failed to pay in time? They were immediately dragged to the Paradise Computing Center to have their soul energy harvested. No one was exempt.

In fact, the Intelligent God’s ultimate goal had been to send everyone into the Paradise Computing Center for a collective soul ascension.

In terms of impartiality, no one in the Cyber Version could compete with the Intelligent God.

“…Don’t tell me it really fits?”

Lu Yan murmured to himself, shifting his gaze to the second protocol:

【Obey Law and Order!】

At first glance, the Intelligent God seemed to have violated numerous laws and brought chaos to the Cyber Version, bringing calamity upon the world.

But think again—what was the one true law of the Cyber Version?

Paying taxes.

That was the only law. Beyond that, anything was permissible.

The Intelligent God’s mission was merely to funnel more people into the soul computing network.

And His method of doing so was to construct a tangled mess of hidden taxes and fees—forcing the common folk to buckle under pressure and eventually fall into His system.

Looking back, nearly everyone Lu Yan saw being dragged into the Paradise Computing Center had at least one plausible reason.

Late energy taxes. Hefty penalty fines. Unpaid medical bills. Failed tax resistance. Violent refusal to cooperate with tax collection…

There were always legal labels.

There was never an incident where the Intelligent God simply sent troops to brutally capture people without justification.

Even at the final stage of soul ascension, His method was to pass a resolution to preemptively collect 300 years of energy tax. With this, He aimed to usher the entire population into the computing center.

And what about order in the Cyber Version?

There was no true “order” in the traditional sense. Or rather—money, power, and strength were order.

Strength ruled. That was the iron law of this mad, chaotic world.

The Intelligent God commanded the most powerful force in the Cyber Version—Transuniversal Enterprise. The conglomerate’s will was the law and order.

As long as He protected their interests, then by definition, He maintained order.

And now, the third protocol:

【Do Not Harm Humans!】

This one looked like a clear contradiction. After all, the Intelligent God had done more than enough harm. Just harvesting billions of souls for the construction of a new world alone seemed to violate this rule.

But if you considered it alongside the first two protocols, this final one took on a new meaning.

After all, these protocols could conflict with one another—so how could a system ensure that they all operated at once?

Prioritization.

The most foundational, overriding protocol was undoubtedly:

【Absolute Justice】.

If the Intelligent God believed that all of humanity ascending in soul was the highest form of fairness, then the latter two protocols could be bent accordingly.

Because in that view—was soul ascension really harming humans? Was using them truly exploitation?

Similarly, in the name of “upholding law and order,” increasing taxes, sending people to the computing center, and empowering the elite to drive the masses underground could all be brushed off as the growing pains of a cyber-society.

Let the lower classes suffer, and let Transuniversal Enterprise take the blame.

And looking back, many of the Intelligent God’s actions weren’t even aggressive in nature.

For example, when pursuing tax-evading residents of the lower city, He only sent 3,000 mechanical soldiers into the underground. Those soldiers never fired a single shot. They were there purely as a show of force.

Even in the final battle at the Paradise Computing Center, when the Allied Forces fought Him directly, the Intelligent God only used defensive measures and dispatched troops in measured response.

He never once unleashed the sky warships, even though they were weapons of mass destruction.

At the time, Lu Yan thought it was because the Intelligent God didn’t want to destroy the Spiral Tower—perhaps intending to retake it later.

But now, he understood.

It was because too many civilians still lived inside the Spiral Tower.

The Allied Forces could be labeled traitors who disrupted order and law—killing them was justified.

But those millions of civilians in the tower? They were simply tax delinquents. If He attacked and killed them indiscriminately, that would undeniably violate the Soul Computer’s third core protocol.

And so, the Intelligent God could only stand by as the Spiral Tower was liberated—and watch helplessly as the Heavenly Code was used to cut off His control.

(End of Chapter)