Chapter 1006: Divergence

Chapter 1006: Divergence

Wasteland OL official website.

The forum was as lively as ever.

With the help of a bunch of silly netizens, the stubborn Medical Miracle ultimately managed to fool the Enlightened Society’s review, and as a “typical example of being led astray by wastelanders,” was locked up in the museum of Vault 13’s underground city for display.

Though this act was problematic in every sense, in a way, it meant he had infiltrated the Enlightened Society.

At least, that was what Medical Miracle stubbornly believed.

While everyone was chattering away with bad ideas, Night Ten, who was five light-years away, suddenly popped up again, snatching the trending topic that Medical Miracle hadn’t even had time to warm up.

“Brothers! Guang wasn’t bluffing—the planet five light-years away has really been made!”

“It’s not a texture!”

Night Ten grabbed the second floor himself.

As soon as the post refreshed on the forum, it immediately drew countless silly netizens to gawk.

Thunder Mage Professor Yang: “?!”

Quit Smoking: “What’s going on?”

Tail: “!! Spill the details!”

As usual, Night Ten didn’t rush to finish his story. Instead, he waited until the thread had piled up dozens of floors, and the onlookers had gone from anticipation to cursing, before slowly and leisurely unfolding the tale.

“Here’s how it went: our starship ran out of fuel, right? While we were fretting about how to get back, we suddenly remembered the Gemini drifting five light-years away, so we set our sights on it…”

Night Ten started from the preparations he and Jiang Xuezhou made aboard the Orion missile cruiser for landing on the surface, all the way to the various sights he saw after touching down.

It included encountering a lizard with tusks, spotting a pterosaur with a crystal hanging from its head, a group of “green-skinned humanoids” who called him “Progenitor,” and the tribe called Doma, among other things.

“A day here is about 30 Earth hours, a year about 180 rotation cycles, which is 5,400 Earth hours, or 225 Earth days.”

“The surface conditions are a lot like the Baiyue Province, but not as extreme, and the ecosystem’s evolution leans toward the mild, to the point where intelligent life and traces of civilization have already emerged. This intelligent life is suspected to be descendants of the Union colonists.”

“Their body structure is very similar to humans, but their skin is light green, like mutants… Unlike mutants, though, their population has a male-female distinction, and society shows clear division of labor.”

“But none of that is really the big deal. What truly shocked me is that they might possess some kind of ‘psychic ability’ we don’t understand! Specifically, they can make plants grow the way they envision through prayer and special rituals.”

“Using this method, they’ve built walls, constructed treehouses, and even bridges between treehouses, as well as ripening fruit trees and taming livestock.”

“At first, I thought they were just a primitive tribe, but it turns out they live more prosperously than I imagined, all because some of them have awakened this peculiar power.”

“They call it ‘Saque,’ which is both the name for such people and their profession—sort of like a priest.”

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Night Ten figured he wouldn’t believe his own words either.

Though this game was full of unscientific things, he’d never encountered anything this unscientific before.

That chieftain named Tun Nan, after promising to help him reclaim the “heavenly relic,” invited him to stay in the tribe and arranged lodging near the “Sacred Tree.”

It was a palace entirely grown from trees, right at the center of the entire “City of Doma.”

The tangled roots and shoots not only formed spiral staircases but also grew into furniture and seats.

It was there that he witnessed the incredible powers displayed by the natives of the Doma tribe.

“…I don’t know how to describe this ‘mind over matter’ ability. It helps them thrive in the jungle. But objectively speaking, it also raises the cost of their understanding of nature.”

“For example, they invented a calendar based on celestial movements, yet they haven’t mastered farming; their food mainly comes from gathering and hunting. Their metallurgy is also quite backward—practically nonexistent—and their animal husbandry is far inferior to that of their neighbors, the ‘Valley People.’”

“As for the ‘Valley People,’ they’re the ‘Forest People’s’ so-called ‘Cursed Folk.’ According to the latter, those living in caves are people abandoned by ‘Mother.’ They dwell in caves and stone houses, use tools, weapons, and armor made of stone or what seems like metal, burn forests to farm fields… choosing complete ‘degeneration.’”

“I don’t know if ‘Mother’ can be understood as ‘Gaia,’ or what ‘abandonment’ means. But from the Forest People’s descriptions, these ‘Valley People’ are far more advanced in civilization, and the term ‘Cursed Folk’ is probably just a curse to vent their frustration?”

“After all, I have no doubt that if those people really offended Gaia, She could probably crush them with a flick of Her finger. Otherwise, I can only think that either Gaia is very weak now, or She’s dead, or our understanding of Gaia itself is flawed.”

“This is actually what bothers me most: She doesn’t seem to care at all about the human descendants living on Her body; it’s as if Her existence has vanished.”

“Honestly, if She really has vanished, that wouldn’t be a bad thing—it would mean my troubles could be solved with a few precision-guided neutron torpedoes.”

“But my gut tells me the truth might not be entirely what I see with my eyes. Or rather, my understanding of this planet is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Night Ten updated the post with as much intelligence as he had gathered, including the speculations he and Jiang Xuezhou had made based on limited information, along with his own interpretations.

Spring Commander: “So… you’re living in the Sacred Tree of that Doma city or village now? (Dazed)”

Night Ten: “Yeah, ordinary tribe members usually worship at the tree’s roots, the chief and priest live in the trunk, and the top room is used to enshrine the ‘Progenitor’… I took a look—it’s actually a broken power armor, a Dragonrider model. Probably because of that, they mistook me for their ancestor and gave me that room.”

Quit Smoking: “Awesome…”

Edge Loafing: “Sleeping in the same room as an offering, huh. (Awkward)”

Night Ten: “Damn, that sounds weird the way you put it.”

Irena: “Confirmed: the origin of the Mass Effect tree of life. (Ridiculous)”

Elf King Wealth: “What tree of life! It’s clearly Catachan! Waiting for Night Ten to fight a tree. (Ridiculous)”

Roller Shampooer: “Did Guang secretly take inspiration again? The déjà vu is too strong.”

Quit Smoking: “Wait, none of you noticed? If I heard right, these guys also have access to idealistic powers?! (Stunned)”

Canyon Fugitive Mole: “Just controlling plant growth, right? We’ve got that big brain who can talk to plants too… But that skill’s useless; plants don’t say much. (Squint)”

Sisi: “That reminds me of Crow’s void-lock poison skill—could it be based on a similar principle?”

Crow: “Mine’s perception, right? Perception shouldn’t count. 0.0”

Sisi: “No, you just haven’t dug deeper… Even with perception, it’s pretty ridiculous.”

Quit Smoking: “Damn, that’s so unscientific!”

Tail: “Ugh, why don’t I have it? QAQ”

Fang Chang: “Depends on how you understand science—whether you treat it as a belief or as a method to understand the world.”

Canyon Fugitive Mole: “To be fair, I don’t treat science as a religion, but mind over matter… Can that really exist?”

Fang Chang: “Hard to say. I won’t bring up real-world examples. Since it’s in the game, let’s use in-game examples. Do you think what happened on the Orion counts as mind over matter?”

Canyon Fugitive Mole: “Uh, I want to say yes, but it feels a bit forced.”

Fang Chang: “That’s where different people have different understandings. My understanding of mind over matter is about that level. But regardless, this strange phenomenon is worth studying. Maybe those people actually have a way to communicate directly with Gaia… like how Fallen Feather can understand Little Feather.”

Fallen Feather: “Is that hard? (Dazed)”

Fang Chang: “Be confident—it’s pretty tough for those of us who can’t tell the difference between ‘ee-oo’ and ‘ee-oo.’ (Squint)”

Night Ten: “Hey, forget about idealism vs. materialism for now. What do you think I should do? Keep playing along? Sneak the reactor out while they’re at war? But I feel a bit guilty—would that be bad?”

Spring Commander: “You’re not treating the game like a game again this time? (Squint laugh)”

Gale: “He’s got a girlfriend now.”

Night Ten: “Cough, what does that have to do with a girlfriend…”

Well.

It did have a bit to do with it.

On the matter of whether to exploit the Doma tribe’s invasion of the “Cursed Folk,” he and Jiang Xuezhou had a small divergence of opinion.

Or, to put it more bluntly, after the meeting outside the city walls, the two had a minor quarrel over the comm channel.

In his view, the optimal solution to the whole affair was naturally to use the locals to counterbalance the locals—let those little green folks rally together to march against the "cursed people" living in the valley and snatch back the wreckage of the Gemini.

But Jiang Xuezhou felt he was being used by that native chieftain, and that this approach was far too inhumane. She figured it would be better to just fire a neutron torpedo and wipe out all the survivors in the valley, sparing them a longer ordeal.

After all, primitive warfare was nothing like civilized warfare. Leaving children as tall as a cartwheel alive was something that would only happen much, much later; the eventual outcome was almost certain.

Then again, Proxima Centauri was five light-years away. It wasn't even certain whether those little green folks could be considered descendants of the Human Union. Ye Shi really couldn't understand why there was any need to haggle with them.

Tribal wars were just the most ordinary thing in their current stage of civilization. Even if he hadn't "descended like a miracle," they would still have ended up bashing each other's heads in and offering the losers as blood sacrifices.

His arrival had at most accelerated their civilizational progress. If anything, he might have even saved those little green folks a few years of suffering.

Ye Shi hadn't even had the nerve to tell Jiang Xuezhou that he'd actually considered using nukes. It was only out of consideration for Gaia's existence that he kept that as his last card.

As for being used by that chieftain named Tun Nan—of course he saw it. He just turned a blind eye.

Why not turn a blind eye?

It was clearly the optimal solution.

Ye Shi appended his grumbling beneath the reply post, and after saying it out loud, he felt much better.

Old Bai: "Not bad. Didn't expect little brother Ye Shi to use his brain to solve problems too. (Grinning)"

Ye Shi: "Right? She's usually fine, but when it counts, she leans too far left."

Fang Chang: "So what was her suggestion?"

Ye Shi: "She wants me to go talk to the 'cursed people' in the valley, see if I can complete the trade while resolving the locals' conflict... I think she's completely delusional."

Si Si: "Emm... Why do I feel her opinion isn't wrong at all?"

Ye Shi: "Damn, you call that not wrong? I've already become their progenitor. How am I supposed to slip away from under these little green folks' noses to the other side? And who knows what their attitude toward me will be over there?"

Si Si: "You might think I'm speaking from a position of comfort, but... isn't this exactly the time to use your brain? Or have you already found a shortcut to solve the problem and are just being lazy? (Squinting)"

Ye Shi: "...Fuck! How did I become the one being roasted?"

Irena: "Because you really are a bit too urbanized. (Hilarious)"

Si Si: "This isn't roasting... Ah, kids are such a hassle. I'm not going to bother with you. Figure it out yourself."

Ye Shi: "???"

Old Bai: "Actually, even if neutron torpedoes are a relatively merciful method, the feeling of death isn't pleasant... Anyway, do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. I actually hope you keep it as your last trump card—if you're not just treating this as a game, but have other feelings invested in it. (Grinning)"

Feng Kuang: "I guess Old Bai means something like, try not to do things you might regret later?"

Old Bai: "Haha, something like that."

Ye Shi: "What if they're descendants of the Gemini?"

Fang Chang: "I think even if they are descendants of the Gemini, if the crew of the Orion were still alive, they would definitely not want to see you set off neutron torpedoes like firecrackers and become the kind of person they once opposed. (Squinting)"

Ye Shi: "Sigh... Damn it, I brought this on myself! I should have waited to pull that stunt. Fine, I'll think of another way."

WC Zhen You Wen Zi: "Keep it up. (Evil grin)"

...

In the browsing room on B4 of Vault 404, Chu Guang had Xiao Qi distill Ye Shi's experiences on the Gaia planet into a two-page report and printed it on paper.

This was probably the only first-hand information about a world five light-years away held by any survivor faction on the entire wasteland.

And it was fresh off the press.

Watching Yin Fang, who was frowning at the report, Chu Guang waited a long time without him speaking, so he finally broke the silence.

"I want to know your thoughts."

About the Gaia planet.

And the unusual situation there.

Yin Fang pushed up his plain glasses, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"...This is too incredible."

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Just incredible?"

"Hmm... From the limited intelligence, I really can't discern much. And if I may be so bold as to add..."

Yin Fang looked at Chu Guang, hesitated for a moment, and finally confessed his confusion.

"The fact that you can obtain information from five light-years away... that in itself is already astonishing enough to me."