Chapter 372: Sun and True/False

Facing Lin Liu's so-called 'energy crisis,' Zhao Si had no interest at all; after all, the main goal of playing the game is to clear it, everything else is side plot, not worth worrying too much about.

But Lin Liu, a bona fide protagonist, seemed to have completely forgotten his identity and main quest, instead throwing himself into irrelevant side quests together with the newly spawned NPCs……

This is outrageous; if it continues like this, even after several thousand or tens of thousands of years he still won't be able to clear it!

"You……"

Zhao Si wanted to speak but held back; he wanted to say Lin Liu was wasting time, yet he himself knew it wasn't Lin Liu's intention, purely a helpless helplessness.

He had done all the effort he could; what couldn't be done truly couldn't be done. Knowing that nothing would help, his current choice was essentially a numbness Lin Liu imposed on himself……

"Forget it……"

After a long sigh, Zhao Si also couldn't be bothered to force him to do meaningless things:

"Since you've given up on clearing the game and chosen to spend a lifetime in the dream, I can only go along with your wish."

Anyway, Zhao Si had no hard requirement about clearing; clearing would be nice, not clearing wouldn't matter.

On this basis, making a decision to indulge the simulated protagonist is also not impossible.

But thinking about it, Zhao Si again had some doubts:

"If the criterion for clearing is whether the protagonist is immortal, then Lin Liu has obviously already achieved that, right?"

First, the deified Lin Liu has no lifespan limit; second, given the current situation, there's nothing to worry about regarding his safety—he has dozens of true gods under his command, so he fears nothing in the dream world.

Moreover, as time passes, the number of true gods under Lin Liu's command will only increase; as long as he doesn't court death, even without the Blood God Son his status and safety remain unaffected, and the loyalty of all beings toward him is genuine.

In other words, Lin Liu has actually already met the standard; his storyline should have ended!

Although the final evaluation won't be high, in any case he has cleared it.

But up to now, chapter four still hasn't ended, as if Lin Liu has also exhibited a passive ability to 'bug' the simulation.

Not only does he get stuck in the game, he also gets stuck outside it, causing the saints to dare not end the dream, and causing the system to delay settlement……

How to put it, an innate bug saint's body?

"System, what do you say?"

When in doubt, ask directly; Zhao Si didn't waste words, straight to the system: "Could Lin Liu have other clearance conditions?"

【Of course, and every protagonist has it.】

Huh? Zhao Si scratched his head:

"Any? I never saw any other clearance conditions on Jin Bing and the others before."

【Yes, but other protagonists aren't stalled by this condition, because it's an attached condition……it's called 'voluntary'.】

"Voluntary?"

Zhao Si pondered: "You mean, to clear, one needs not only the ability to clear but also the willingness to clear?"

【Yes.】

Zhao Si raised his eyebrows: "In other words…… Lin Liu actually doesn't want to clear at all now?"

After the system pointed it out, Zhao Si fully understood:

Judging whether a protagonist has cleared isn't just about whether his situation meets the clearance conditions; more importantly, it's about his personal willingness to clear—if he feels he hasn't reached a satisfactory level, he will surely choose to keep going!

Lin Liu's heart has not yet grown old.

Even if he can't see hope for a perfect clear, that doesn't mean he's willing to submit to the status quo! He, still wants to fight!

"But who knows how your clearance actually needs to be done……"

Regardless of whether clearing affects Zhao Si's real life, he feels deeply troubled by Lin Liu's predicament: "System, can this chapter really be cleared?"

【Of course, as long as the player wants to keep playing, there's no chapter that can't be cleared.】

"……Then I'll trust you."

Having made up his mind, Zhao Si pondered for a long time, then began seriously devising strategies for Lin Liu's side plot.

Side plots are also plots; perhaps the key information needed for the main line is hidden in this seemingly bland side plot……

And Lin Liu's energy crisis problem isn't difficult either, after all it exists in reality. After thinking, Zhao Si came up with a plan:

"Since artificial charcoal isn't enough to burn, let's mine fossil energy—coal, petroleum, natural gas…… although pollution is a bit big, using it is fine."

"While using fossil energy, we also need to develop new energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, and even nuclear…… once fossil energy is mostly used up, we can seamlessly switch to new energy."

"The energy problem is that easy to solve!"

"Anyway, you have divine power; if it really doesn't work, just cheat a little—small cheating doesn't count as cheating……"

【Ding! Faced with the dilemma brought by the energy crisis, you couldn't come up with an effective solution on your own, so you pinned your hopes on 'another self' to devise strategies……】

【You chose: (Besides charcoal, first use fossil energies like coal, petroleum, natural gas, then gradually develop new energies such as solar, wind, nuclear…… thus the energy crisis can be solved!)】

【……】

【The solution from 'another self' slowly flows through your mind; you look forward with anticipation, hoping to gain truth and answers from the knowledge of that other world.】

【Then, you were instantly dumbfounded……】

【"Coal…… petroleum…… natural gas…… what are those?"】

【You muttered blankly: "How does this strategy make me completely unable to understand? ……"】

"Ah?"

Zhao Si, who had just finished writing the plan, also stared blankly: "What does that mean?"

No, you can't even use fossil energy? 【That means the dream world simply has no fossil energy…… players don't even think, how could different worlds randomly mix settings? Asking cultivators in a xianxia world to find coal and petroleum is no different from you looking for a Nine-turn Golden Elixir in reality—it simply doesn't exist.】

Zhao Si: ……

After receiving a scolding from the system, Zhao Si also belatedly realized:

Right, if that side truly had readily usable fossil energy, the natives would have started using it long ago—why wait for me to remind them? The natives are merely behind, not stupid; since they stuck to charcoal throughout the Industrial Revolution and never used coal, that proves the dream world lacks this setting……

"No coal at all…… could it be that they never experienced a massive plant extinction in ancient times?"

Zhao Si scratched his head.

Why must there be?

The system's answer seemed to have a deeper meaning: "Players need to remember, the dream world is not a real existing world, but a dream made by the primordial sages joining together."

As the saying goes, "What one thinks by day, one dreams by night"; the sages' understanding of the world comes entirely from the primordial era, so when shaping the dream world, the basic parameters and settings used are also derived from the primordial era, at most with some personal adaptations.

And adaptations are not random fabrication, dramatization is not baseless talk… So, do players think that this place of the primordial era has the basis for producing fossil energy?

The system's explanation made Zhao Si frown: "Probably not…"

Then that settles it.

Zhao Si fell silent for a moment, but ultimately still chose to continue watching Lin.

As long as Lin Liu uses these energies, it can still help the dream world escape the energy crisis! But… things are obviously not that simple.

You are completely clueless about so-called fossil energy, and you don't even know what a fossil is.

But you definitely can understand wind and water power!

But the problem is, these energies have many key points; first, the development and utilization technologies are very difficult, and even ordinary people who haven't grasped a preliminary industrial revolution—where could they get such advanced technology?

Second, these energies are also very unstable; the seasonal variations and regional imbalances of wind and water power are quite serious…

After searching everywhere, you placed your last hope on solar energy: if you must find a reliable energy source, the sun is obviously the best choice; if you can harness its energy, it could last forever!

As for the technical problem, you can solve it with divine power; anyway, you just need to get the technology sorted, and leave the rest to ordinary people themselves…

Holding onto this hope, you decided to carefully study the relevant technology; to study solar technology, you first need to fully understand the sun!

So, you soon made up your mind to go to the heavens together with dozens of true gods under your command, aiming directly at that eternal fireball…

What you don't know is that your discovery will completely change your thinking.

Your understanding of heaven and earth is ultimately too shallow…

……

(That's it for today's chapter; busy with the start of school, please understand, folks.) (End of chapter)