Chapter 971: Celestial Being

Chapter 971: Heavenly Being

Speaking with a hand on my conscience, the lottery for the "Wasteland OL" expansion pack, while lacking concepts like pity timers, was genuinely random—there was no such thing as "those more suited for a certain piece of gear having a higher chance to draw it."

Yet precisely because it was truly random, even if the "overall drop rate" followed a normal distribution, it was inevitable that a few unlucky souls with faces black as coal and lucky bastards with inhuman luck would pop up.

And when it came to such moments, the only recourse was for the administrator to step in and hand out welfare to the unlucky ones.

As for the lucky ones, forget it.

If they drew it, they drew it; you couldn't exactly take it back from them, could you?

Though occasionally a bit mischievous, Chu Guang asked himself honestly: he was a man of principles.

First, he never went back on his word; second, he never settled scores after the fact; third, he used the power of rules whenever possible.

But to be honest, that guy Quanshui was sometimes so absurdly lucky that even Chu Guang, the fake planner and true mastermind who knew the "inside story of the game," couldn't help but suspect the guy was cheating.

Similarly, that guy Wo Zui Hei was the same—his luck was so abysmal it was as if he had committed some terrible sin in a past life...

In the study on B4 of the shelter, Chu Guang leaned back on the sofa, sipping milk-laced black tea while scrolling through the forum.

At that very moment, the previously negativity-laden brother Wo Zui Hei was clutching a screenshot of a "Golden Legendary," crying tears of joy—or rather, showing off.

But little did Wo Zui Hei know, his drawing of the Golden Legendary wasn't due to some "change of fortune" or washing his hands before gripping the mouse; it was compensation manually sent to him by the great benefactor, Ah Guang.

"Xiao Qi, tell me honestly—did that guy really manage to draw twenty ramen vouchers in a row by his own skill?"

Xiao Qi, sitting in the pen holder, wore a helpless expression.

"Master, do you not trust Xiao Qi?"

Chu Guang took a sip of black tea and shook his head.

"That's not it. It's just that his luck is so painfully bad it drags down our credibility."

People on the forum always claimed the expansion lottery was rigged, but there was no such thing. At most, those who were too outrageous or too obsessive might fail to get the "visa" to enter the other world—that is, the helmet.

And honestly, he and Quanshui weren't even close outside the game; if there were any rigging, it wouldn't have gone to that guy.

But objectively speaking, cases of terrible luck were rare; most players still managed to draw some good stuff by their own skill.

Recently, due to the Alliance's explosive growth in both soft and hard power, the players' reward pool had become increasingly rich.

Besides the high-tech equipment produced by the shelter's own blueprints and processing centers, it also included gear commissioned for testing by enterprises and their subsidiaries, as well as experimental equipment jointly designed by the Alliance Scientific Expedition Team and relevant units.

Things like plasma cutting knives, magnetic slingshots, neural acceleration modules, and portable rocket thrusters.

These items were more for fun than practical use, hard to deploy on the front lines, but they had some utility in wasteland adventures.

For instance, some "resource points" unreachable by normal means—add a rocket thruster and reinforced tendon prosthetics, and you might just fly—or jump—up there.

Or take the plasma knife, which required sustained exposure to cut through targets; it might not be stronger than a deathclaw's claws, but when drawn, it might just scare the deathclaw.

Additionally, some well-received and battle-tested equipment would be mass-produced as planned and added to the in-game store for players to purchase.

Generally speaking, though, only players could use such things.

For other wastelanders, they'd need to be tough enough to survive.

Chu Guang browsed the forum, watching the talented folks using their reward items to pull off stunts, and couldn't help but curl his lips, chuckling to himself.

Just then, Xiao Qi, sitting in the pen holder, suddenly looked up and spoke in a melodious voice.

"Master, the director of the Academy's Investigation Department wants to talk with you... about the research vessel they lost near Avent City, and that 'pseudo-mother nest' at the 'World Tower.'"

The pseudo-mother nest was the term used by the Alliance's Institute of Biology.

According to Xiao Yu's analysis, that thing had little to do with the variant slime mother nest.

Judging by the Academy's various actions, they clearly possessed some intelligence that the Alliance didn't know about.

But that was always their way—extremely sensitive to technology, even to the "directions" beyond the technology itself.

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of interest flickering in his eyes.

It seemed this research vessel meant more to the Academy than he had imagined.

As A-level researchers, the directors of the four major departments were already part of the Academy's inner circle.

Above them was the sole S-level Chief Technology Officer, Mu Bei, and behind him, the Conclusive Doctor.

"When?"

Xiao Qi: "He's already near Shuguang City. He wants to know when you'll be free."

Already here?

Setting his teacup back on the tray, Chu Guang signaled to X-16, who was waiting nearby, to take it away, and stood up from the sofa.

"Have him wait for me in Meeting Room 1 of the Alliance Building."

...

Alliance Building, Meeting Room 1.

A middle-aged man of about forty sat at the conference table.

His appearance was utterly unremarkable, the kind you'd lose in a crowd. And that silver-white researcher's uniform was a common style within the Academy.

A staff member standing nearby stepped forward to pour him a cup of coffee.

The man softly said thanks, then sat motionless, waiting quietly.

Before long, footsteps sounded outside the meeting room, and the door opened.

Seeing Chu Guang enter from outside, the man rose from the table and bowed politely.

"Esteemed Administrator, greetings. I am Qi Liu, director of the Academy's Investigation Department. My apologies for disturbing you without prior appointment during your busy schedule."

"Director Qi, you're too kind. I was just resting, and with nothing else pressing, it's no disturbance at all. Please, have a seat."

Chu Guang nodded with a smile, then pulled out a chair and sat across the conference table.

Seeing Chu Guang seated, the reserved Qi Liu also sat down.

A staff member quietly approached and poured Chu Guang a cup of black tea.

Without wasting time on pleasantries, Chu Guang got straight to the point.

"I hear from my assistant that you have more information to share with us regarding that missing research vessel and its unauthorized survey activities near Avent City?"

Hearing the slightly barbed remark, Qi Liu didn't hide anything but frankly admitted it.

"Yes, but please believe me—we didn't conceal the relevant clues out of malice."

With that, he took a holographic pen from his pocket, placed it on the table, and gently slid it forward.

Watching the pen slide to the center of the table, Chu Guang raised an eyebrow slightly, then glanced at the staff member.

The latter understood and walked over to retrieve the pen for Chu Guang, then exited the meeting room.

Chu Guang pressed a button on the pen, and a pale blue holographic beam soon spread across the table.

What appeared in the holographic beam was a document, including an assessment and analysis of the biological weapon used by Tier in the final battle, along with its identification conclusions.

But perhaps due to data loss, the report was full of qualitative analysis throughout, lacking quantitative parts.

Having read the document from start to finish, Chu Guang's raised eyebrows took on a hint of intrigued interest.

"The Seed of Gaia?"

"Or rather, a Gaia-like organism," Qi Liu said, his tone turning solemn as he watched the shifting expressions on Chu Guang’s face. "That is the name we gave to the biological weapon Tyre deployed... You must have already realized that it is something entirely different from a mutant slime mold hive mind, despite the superficial similarities."

"Yes."

Chu Guang nodded, lightly tracing his index finger through the air to dismiss the holographic screen before him.

"Though from our perspective, the mutant slime mold hive mind is clearly the greater threat. Tyre’s little parlor trick fell a bit short... Of course, perhaps you can offer us a different perspective on the matter?"

"That is precisely why I have come," Qi Liu said with a slight nod, his face remaining grave as he pressed on. "Such a misunderstanding arises purely from your lack of knowledge regarding Gaia. Differentiating the severity of their threat based solely on brute strength violates scientific principles. Of course... we who suppressed this information bear a certain amount of responsibility for that."

A faint note of apology colored his voice.

Or perhaps it only resembled an apology.

Chu Guang remained silent, merely looking at the Director of the Academy's Investigation Department, silently prompting him with his eyes to continue.

After a brief pause, the latter resumed speaking.

"It happened a very long time ago, older even than the Wasteland Era or the Three-Year War... When the colonists who reached Alpha Centauri realized that the planet beneath their feet was a 'living world,' the colony's researchers conducted an in-depth investigation into Gaia. The results of that investigation caught us all by surprise. Laid out before us was a hive-mind civilization the likes of which we had never seen."

"And according to the research reports sent back by the colony, it was a stagnant society. Whether they had fallen to their current state from a higher civilization or slowly climbed to these heights from a lower one, the reality was that they had lost the capacity to spiral upward or downward."

Chu Guang nodded.

"The Alliance Academy of Social Sciences has a similar report."

Qi Liu remarked.

"I've read it. It was a well-written report, even by the Academy's standards."

Chu Guang offered a slight smile.

"Haha, thank you for the compliment."

"It is not a compliment, but a fact," Qi Liu said, staring earnestly at Chu Guang as he continued. "Though Gaia has lost the drive for further social evolution, its existence still brought us immense enlightenment. Inspired by that report and the related research, the Human Federation experienced technological explosions of varying degrees in biology, aerospace physics, and sociology. Even the psionic interference technology you use today is a product of that era."

Chu Guang had heard of this before.

The overseer's logs from Vault 401 in the eastern suburbs of Qingquan City mentioned that psionic interference technology was initially researched to replace the infrasonic fences used to repel alien creatures.

This technology unexpectedly unlocked the door to a brave new world, building a bridge of communication between humanity and Gaia, who previously possessed no means of mutual understanding.

Currently, quite a few players in the Alliance relied on this very equipment to communicate with Xiao Yu’s sub-entities.

Of course, the technology had caused quite a stir back then, such as when an unscrupulous company used it for promotional sales, drawing the scrutiny of the Scientific Ethics Committee.

Watching Chu Guang sink into his memories, Qi Liu continued.

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and the same holds true for communication between civilizations. We learned many things from Gaia that we had never seen before, and Gaia was profoundly shocked by the complex social structures and individual consciousness we displayed. After all, before we set foot on that land, it had only ever played with itself. Only the occasional meteorite would fall from the sky, bringing a few small lives it had never seen and didn't find particularly interesting."

"No matter the reason the Gaia civilization abandoned its original social structures and any individual consciousness that might have existed, it truly does not remember anything prior to the mutation threshold—which is to say, before the 'Big Bang' mentioned in your Alliance Academy of Social Sciences report."

"Yet our birth allowed it to see another possibility in the universe—it began to wonder what its own 'children' would look like if it had them, and what its parents would look like if it had parents."

Chu Guang spoke reflectively.

"It grew interested in our method of inheritance."

Qi Liu nodded slowly.

"This was a point of contention in the academic world at the time. One faction believed that helping it understand human society could foster mutual communication, drive social progress, and perhaps even turn it into a loyal friend of humanity. Meanwhile, the other faction argued that awakening a prehistoric giant was a perilous endeavor. Its lifespan could be longer than the entire history of human existence; we might simply be swallowed whole by it."

Chu Guang nodded.

"That is indeed a valid concern."

In fact, its children had already consumed quite a few people, with a significant number in Qingquan City alone.

As for why Xiao Yu could integrate into the Alliance's society, it was largely a compromise made by the wastelanders in the face of harsh reality—

Completely eradicating the mutant slime mold was no longer realistic; the slime mold hadn't even blown up when the War Reconstruction Committee did.

Those little creatures, like the mutants, had already become part of the ecosystem. Rather than launching a war with no foreseeable end, it was better to find ways to control them and turn waste into treasure.

Qi Liu continued.

"On one hand, the conservative scholars pushed legislation through the Scientific Ethics Committee, attempting to curb the loss of control over technology in various fields. On the other hand, a group of radical scholars... or left-wing scholars, as you might call them, extended a helping hand to it. Utilizing the technology humanity had learned from it, they helped it clone its children."

Chu Guang replied with a wry smile.

"That... is certainly a bold idea."

By comparison, the Alliance's radicals were downright conservative, at most overflowing with excess sympathy for the Brahman people, worrying whether they knew how to chew even when food was placed directly in their mouths.

Qi Liu gave a nod.

"Indeed. Even in a society that was socially permissive enough to tolerate genetic gender modification and marriage to androids, bearing children for Gaia was far too avant-garde... It was another species entirely, after all."

"Setting aside the uncontrollable risks the experiment might yield, the experiment itself was fraught with moral controversy. Because Gaia lacked the inherent ability to split off a secondary personality, they were forced to use a human volunteer with a fully intact mind as the donor of that consciousness... even if this volunteer sacrificed themselves willingly."

Wait—

Why did this story sound so familiar?

Chu Guang’s expression suddenly turned subtle, his thoughts inexplicably drifting to Luo Yu.

However, that incident was mostly the result of a series of flukes, and upon closer inspection, there were still distinct differences.

Qi Liu failed to notice the subtle shift in Chu Guang’s expression and merely continued with a grave demeanor.

"Though everyone at the time believed they were mad, by a stroke of sheer luck... due to Gaia’s active cooperation, this experiment, which seemed like pure insanity to everyone, unexpectedly achieved success in the end."

"Just like that, a Gaia with human citizenship was born—a new type of organism whose physical form was determined entirely by its consciousness. Defining it by gender, age, or skin color was utterly superficial; if it wished to fly, it could grow wings, and if it wished to roam underwater, it could grow gills... provided there were enough nutrients in the environment."

"Some cheered, believing that applying this technology to planetary terraforming could provide humanity with more habitable worlds. Others grew anxious, fearing that humans would cease to be human and instead become monsters out of myth."

"But regardless, the technology had already been invented... Before completing our own monument, the 'Gestalt Organism,' we finished someone else's monument first—the 'Amorphous Organism.' This is another potential branch on the evolutionary tree, philosophically speaking—I am it, and it is all."

A look of astonishment surfaced on Chu Guang’s face.

"...That is the Seed of Gaia?"

The boss his subordinate Lao Bai had cleaved down with a single axe turn out to be such an incredibly formidable entity?!

Qi Liu looked at him with a stern gaze and nodded.

"A power-tripping war maniac transformed into a monster covered in tentacles, no longer in need of airplanes, artillery, or tanks. Given enough time and left to devour the entire Bartoya Province, he could have become an army all by himself... Fortunately, he did not abandon his final boundaries until you backed him into a dead end. And your handling of it was swift, leaving them no opportunities whatsoever."

Chu Guang cleared his throat lightly and said.

"...I suspect he simply didn't know what kind of technology he held in his hands. The Illuminati had no reason to lay all their cards on the table for them."

"The Illuminati..." Qi Liu smiled for some reason, shaking his head as he spoke. "What could those beneath-the-table terrorists possibly know? At best, they are only fit to be used as pawns."

Chu Guang frowned slightly.

"...Are you saying that the ones pulling the strings are the 'Empyreans'?"

The descendants of the expeditionary force residing in the Lagrange point space port...

The extraterrestrial power suspected of taking in the remnants of the Church of the Torch.

So it was this group of people who handed Tyre that final superweapon?!

Through the hands of the Illuminati...

Watching Chu Guang fall into deep thought, Qi Liu nodded slowly, confessing a secret on behalf of the Academy that they had never disclosed before.

"The Celestials."

"They are the only ones who possess both the technical data of the Human Federation and that of the colonies... the only surviving faction that holds the 'Gaia Seed.'"

"If what they are now can still be called survivors."