Xiang Shan looked at Zhu Xinyu.
Or rather... a thought of Zhu Xinyu.
The one in front of him was merely a branch, a thought, a thread of the Ascender. In the grand architecture of the Ascenders, this uncertain existence before him might merely be a whim that could vanish at any moment.
Even such an ambiguous thing, poised between existence and non-existence, could wield the divine power of artificial intelligence, becoming an "individual" indistinguishable in speech and thought from Zhu Xinyu in her human period.
Xiang Shan and Zhu Xinyu both understood this well. This was just a branch of the project, a psychological slice; she could not represent the entirety of "Ascension AI Zhu Xinyu".
Yet Xiang Shan still said, "Long time no see."
Zhu Xinyu sighed, "Yes, it's been a long time..."
"Hey, hey, is this the reaction you should have when seeing a lover you haven't met in two hundred years?" Xiang Shan complained, "Can you provide some emotional value? Look at the atmosphere!"
