Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 913 - 158: Six’s Approach

Chapter 913: Chapter 158: Six’s Approach

The conversation with this subordinate of the Sixth Martial God made Xiang Shan once again recall those words spoken by Kanhara Kotoba.

Although Kanhara Kotoba choosing to mingle with the Holy Lord might seem a bit crazy, in this matter, she indeed hit the nail on the head.

— That little girl, so sharp-tongued...

Xiang Shan internally evaluates his former disciple this way.

This is something that ought to be considered. As the saying goes, do not advise others on matters you have not personally experienced. Even if he were to recover the memories of the Eighth Martial God and the Ninth Martial God... no, even if he were to retrieve the memories of all the Martial Gods, Xiang Shan cannot truly count as having continuously lived for three hundred years. Every rebirth, his mindset resets to the peak period. This time, he even woke up in the wreckage of the starship without a bit of memory. His mindset might be even younger than at the beginning. In this aspect, he is different from everyone.

Standing from this standpoint, questioning others "why don’t you persevere" is indeed an easy thing to say while doing nothing.

— In these circumstances, what I should actually tell Kotoba is...

— "Even if you can’t persevere, doing nothing is fine... why go to the opposite of the past"... is it like this?

The Martial Artist seemed to know what Xiang Shan was thinking and asked, "Are you thinking about Senior Kanhara and Senior Yang’s affairs?"

Before setting out, Xiang Shan had already told this Martial Artist about "Kanhara Kotoba and Yang Mengying have changed their stances".

Of course, he couldn’t hide such a thing. This important information needs to be spread widely. To avoid dying under the sea, this message must be communicated to others as much as possible.

The Martial Artist, who wished not to reveal his name, following this matter itself was surprising. It seemed that the people from that base and the whales were startled. Ola Freeman sighed, "This day should have come long ago."

"Oh." Xiang Shan nodded slightly: "A bit troubled... But speaking of which, you really understand me well."

"When under Xiang Shan... the Sixth Martial God, the Sixth Martial God often discussed some problems with us warriors." The Martial Artist said: "At that time, the White Fleet Prosthetics Followers did not exist yet. Our initial activity area was within the Saturn Ring. By continuously attacking the outposts of development organizations within the Star Ring, we gradually accumulated resources. For a period, some of the stations were clearly idling, but the Protectors didn’t dare to linger long. It was in such stations that we built our first warship capable of boarding combat in the universe, and then moved to the Asteroid Belt..."

Xiang Shan nodded, very impressed: "Old Hero indeed."

"Just joking. After all, my inner strength, external strength, and Military Path were all not first-rate. Switching to behind enemy lines operations, in the end, well... never mind, it’s all in the past." The Martial Artist shook his head: "The troubles you face, actually the Sixth Martial God also faced."

Xiang Shan was very surprised: "He wanted to kill someone? Which old friend?"

"That’s not important. The figures the Sixth Martial God faced back then, some have already died, some you will face one day." The Martial Artist didn’t even turn his head: "And what you’re contemplating right now isn’t related to these things."

Hm, thinking carefully, the era when the Sixth Martial God was born, was not long after the Fourth Martial God’s death, the negative impact brought by the Second and Third Martial Gods hadn’t completely disappeared. Multiple setbacks combined, leading some Heroes to change their stances.

Xiang Shan laughed: "Then tell me, how did Six deal with these problems?"

"About the ’Trolley Problem’..."

— A madman ties five innocent people to the trolley track. An out-of-control trolley comes toward them, and in a moment, it will crush them. Luckily, you can pull a lever, directing the trolley onto another track. However, the issue is that the madman has also tied one person on this other trolley track. Considering the above circumstances, should you pull the lever?

"Ah, no need to think about it." Xiang Shan waved his hand: "Whether to pull the lever or not, choosing either side isn’t wrong..."

"’Kill the madman who tied them up first’?"

Xiang Shan laughed: "Doesn’t that make perfect sense?"

That sounds very much like an answer Xiang Shan would give.

"But that doesn’t directly answer the question." The person said: "It’s like Galileo and Newton pondering the pendulum problem, then you say ’Humans can’t maintain an absolute vacuum, this premise doesn’t hold, this phenomenon won’t occur, so there’s no need to think further’."

Xiang Shan nodded: "Hm, sounds like something I would say."

Xiang Shan respects everyone who proposes thought experiments. By "simulating", reducing the "cost" of experiments, allowing originally impossible experiments to appear in human imagination — this is exactly the most precious ability of Homo sapiens.

To question the practical significance of the "Trolley Problem" is like questioning the significance of "ideal surfaces" or "ideal vacuums" in physics.

"So, how did Old Six put it?" Xiang Shan said: "Should I follow righteousness and unhesitatingly eliminate my former disciples? For the sake of the world."

"This question shouldn’t be asked of me. Originally, it was a question without a standard answer." The Martial Artist said: "Of course, what I want to tell you is, as someone passively making a choice, no matter which side he chooses, others shouldn’t criticize."

Xiang Shan pondered for a moment. The thought experiment of the "Trolley Problem" is essentially criticizing "utilitarianism" – viewing "the overall sum of suffering and pleasure for every individual involved in an action as the most positive" as "the greatest good", the thought tendency that "the greatest good" is "maximizing group happiness".

From the perspective of the "Trolley Problem", "utilitarianism" reveals self-contradictory situations. Based on the principle of "maximizing group interest", "saving more, killing fewer" should be correct. However, "sacrificing an innocent person" is not good. And "inaction" seems to violate the principle of "maximizing group interest", also not good. Absolute goodness does not exist.

Similar to many mathematical problems. The answer to the problem is meaningless; its existence itself, and the process of debating it, is where its value lies.

"To reshape the public spirit, the Fourth Martial God organized discussions on similar issues online multiple times." The Martial Artist said: "When the warfare wasn’t intense, the Sixth Martial God pulled us warriors weekly to discuss those unanswered thought experiments — the process of discussing them was more important than the answers."

Xiang Shan clapped his hands: "No wonder, I... I quite like your kind of atmosphere. Xiang Shan’s group three hundred years ago also liked it this way. But then again, ’Whichever side you choose, you shouldn’t be morally criticized’, isn’t that an escape from the Trolley Problem?"

Thinking about the Trolley Problem before facing old friends... the mental state of the Sixth Martial God is worrying too.

The Martial Artist shrugged: "I’m just telling you what the Sixth Martial God would do under similar circumstances. Your views almost completely coincide with his, perhaps it may also help you."