Chapter 67: Chapter Sixty-Nine: United as One, Gaia Interconnection

Yangzhou City, Mingyue Community.

Luofeng's family was sitting around the dining table, happily eating dinner.

"Brother, how long will you stay this time when you come back?"

After the war trial, Luofeng returned to his hometown to support as soon as possible.

Although Jiangnan is not one of the three main battlefields, the surrounding defenses have been strained; Luofeng is one of the few planetary-level mentalists here, and having him on the front line for a day could mean the lives of several ordinary soldiers. "Train soldiers for a thousand days, use them for a moment." Having come this far, Luofeng believes he has received much support from Longmen, and naturally he must fulfill his duty as a martial artist.

The war suddenly ended, and even the shadow of monsters vanished from the outer defenses of Base City; Luofeng could finally relax and return home to keep his family company.

"Wait a while."

Luofeng smiled and said.

On one hand, the war has ended and there is temporarily nothing to do; on the other hand, the Limitless Martial Arts Hall is being merged into the World Tree, and a series of handovers is currently underway.

Although Luofeng has risen quickly over the past year, he has not yet taken on any particularly important duties in the Limitless Martial Arts Hall, so he will be much more relaxed.

"By the way, brother, there's a free pickup event for the Heartnet frontend tomorrow morning in the community; do you think our family should go?"

The Limitless Martial Arts Hall is currently being fully merged into the World Tree, and the first batch of qualifications for the Heartnet frontend will be opened preferentially for the families of Limitless Martial Arts Hall members in places like Mingyue Community.

However, Luo Hua is also a meticulous person; nowadays the whole world's situation seems to be a once-in-a-thousand-years great upheaval, and the sudden large-scale promotion of virtual technology is certainly not just a simple virtual program.

Even if Luofeng hadn't returned today, Luo Hua intended to have a good discussion with him about virtual network matters.

Luofeng lightly raised his eyebrows; he hadn't expected his brother to ask about this.

"What do you think?"

It must be said that since becoming a disciple of Chén Chén, the brother has really changed a lot.

If it were in the past, Luo Hua would surely have asked for his own opinion and then trusted his own choice, but today Luo Hua's tone clearly shows he has his own ideas.

"I've heard before how amazing virtual devices are; reportedly only a small portion of the upper class can use them, and there are still many difficulties in building, running, and the technology of virtual spaces. If the technology isn't mature, launching a mass virtual era would be utterly thankless hard work."

Luofeng nodded; Luo Hua's analysis was very reasonable and also matched the facts as Luo Hua saw them.

"And the key lies in the technology that the World Tree has made public."

Luo Hua, saying this, glanced at his brother briefly; although it was just a fleeting look, Luo Hua knew this was not a topic convenient to discuss in front of their parents.

"Brother, you're basically a member of the World Tree now; you should know some inside information, hahaha."

Luofeng gave a knowing nod, smiled, and said:

"It's a mature technology that has been used for many years in the martial artist field; after popularization, it should bring about considerable changes to ordinary people's lives."

"Not just considerable—it should be described as earth-shattering; calling it an information revolution is completely appropriate."

Luo Hua's excitement is easy to see from his words.

As for the parents, Luohonguo and Gong Xinlan merely chatted and laughed along; the two elders had little knowledge of the virtual network, were older, and weren't very interested in accepting new things.

However, Lu's father mentioned wanting to go check it out; now the family has no worries about food or clothing, and the two elders, having nothing to do, just raise birds with neighbors and play cards—more of that would also be boring.

"By the way, Ah Hua, regarding the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's merger into the World Tree, as a family member you can also enjoy the World Tree's internal welfare benefits."

"That is, you can receive a high discount to have your leg cured."

Luofeng looked at his brother, knowing that his brother had previously vowed to cure his leg on his own, but over the past year, due to the prolonged war, aside from the military industry, all other sectors have been sluggish; wanting to earn a hundred billion in a year is truly too distant for a minor.

Although Luo Hua's character has improved, curing his legs is just a matter of time, but Luofeng still hopes his brother will stand up sooner.

Gong Xinlan also just realized this issue, and happily looked toward Luo Hua:

"Yes, I heard from Aunt Wang next door that the World Tree's family welfare is great; if it's not a serious injury or illness, basically no treatment fees are needed."

Luohonguo, on the other hand, places more importance on Luo Hua's own wishes.

Exactly as Luofeng thought, although Luo Hua is still young, he has already shown maturity and excellence far beyond his peers, and many things can be trusted to his own judgment.

"Don't worry, Mom; I've already looked into it. After I settle the virtual network matters in the next few days, I'll go make an appointment."

After saying that, he then said to Luofeng:

"I'm not the type to nitpick, and I don't take advantage of cheap deals; once my leg is healed, there's an even broader world waiting for me."

Luofeng smiled with relief; his brother had indeed grown up.

"An even broader... world?"

Luofeng's thoughts inevitably drifted to the topic he had chatted about with Babata a few days earlier.

After being cut off from the network, Babata appeared very anxious; as an intelligent lifeform, Babata had absolute confidence in its control of information, but conversely, the flowing information was also vital to Babata—like light and sound being suddenly deprived, which made Babata feel very uneasy.

"Luofeng, we need to quickly leave this star…… hurry up and leave Earth, because your planet is undergoing terrible changes."

"I have encountered this situation many times during my long adventures with my master; each time it was extremely dangerous, and such places are absolutely not suitable for long stays……"

"You just need to help me find some wreckage of spacecraft, exchange it with wood-ye crystals; the heads of those nations on your Earth will surely be willing, you must hurry, or if you wait……"

Babata was very urgent, without hidden urgency.

Luofeng, however, somehow thought of a problem, one that seemed able to connect many clues.

"Babata."

"Do you know Chén Chén?"

Babata fell silent; this was the longest silence Luofeng had experienced since meeting Babata.

"Babata?"

Babata sighed: "I know him."

"Five years ago, the Chén Chén you mentioned found me; back then I still thought Earth had been discovered by some cosmic civilization……"

"He said he was a native Earthling, but unfortunately he himself is not a mentalist; however, he did not clash with me, and instead promised to help me find a suitable inheritor."

"The establishment of Longmen gathered talents from all over the world; many levels I observed on Earth that are rarely seen in a thousand years appeared one after another, and then I knew that a suitable person was not far off."

"Sure enough, not long after, you and Jiāng Jiāng appeared in my field of vision."

"Just as Luofeng had guessed, but not exactly the same."

"The war trial, leaf crystals, Babata—these things considered individually aren't much, but when linked together they are too much of a coincidence."

And things that are too coincidental are often not coincidental.

The war trial itself is to screen a person suitable to inherit the Inkfall Star's legacy, making everything reasonable.

But Luofeng never expected that his offhand question would elicit an answer he himself hadn't anticipated.

But what Babata had decided to say was not limited to this.

Although I have limited grasp of Earth's situation using the Inkfall Star's probing ability, I have always been very concerned about your human situation.

Regarding the World Tree, I think you must also have many doubts.

In fact, I also have many doubts.

Similarly, five years ago, that was the first time I heard the name of that organization from that person's mouth.

That's right, it was the first time; then I started paying attention, and this organization concerning the World Tree has already spread to many corners of your human world.

Luofeng frowned, already anticipating what Babata would say: 'But according to various investigations, the traces of the World Tree can be traced back to the Great Nirvana period...'

'What about before the Great Nirvana?'

During the Great Nirvana period, humanity lost too much—so much became history, so much failed to become history, and has been forgotten by people.

'Luofeng, don't overestimate Earth's tracing ability.'

'In this world, many things can have their traces erased, and many traces can be artificially created.'

'Five years ago, or perhaps six years ago, the World Tree officially came into existence; that was when you first came to know this organization, which may not be the day they were just born.'

'It's very dangerous.'

'The World Tree, for us.'

……

Luofeng cannot completely trust Babata.

Emotionally speaking, Chén Chén should be more trustworthy to me than Babata.

But Chén Chén has not contacted me since our farewell at Dragon Gate, and Luofeng can feel that this is not solely because the war is tense.

Babata is an intelligent life form, possessing absolute rationality as well as its own emotions.

If he is not lying, then Chén Chén's identity, Chén Chén appearing by my side, Chén Chén and my past in various ways… are naturally also part of the calculation.

And if that is indeed the case, this all becomes nonsensical, because according to Babata's account, the Inkfall Star's inheritance was personally handed over to me by Chén Chén, giving me even less reason to doubt Chén Chén.

Luofeng has a premonition that when he sees Chén Chén again next time, everything will become clear.

———

After dinner, Luo Dad and Luo Mom also made plans to go out for a stroll, perhaps also to free up space for the two Luofeng brothers.

Luohua also naturally brought up the topic they hadn't just discussed.

The virtual network technology announced by the World Tree.

'The foundation of building the Heartnet is every individual.'

According to the World Tree's public statement, building the Heartnet requires everyone's joint effort, which sounds wonderful, but looking at it the other way, it might not be free of exploitation.

Linking the virtual with human body and mind, what impact will it have on humanity? Could it be a Pandora's box, and even further, could it turn against humanity?

Tools serve humanity; this is a cornerstone and also the principle of humanity creating tools.

But the construction of the Heartnet could create a tool that controls humanity.

Or perhaps this is a tool some people use to enslave Earthlings?

Luofeng cannot answer this question for Luohua.

'It's fine, give it a try; let me try it first.'

———

The Heartnet, developed for the families of warriors affiliated with the World Tree, naturally places no restrictions on the warriors of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall either.

At every branch of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, one can apply for the front-end link of the Heartnet.

Before accessing the Heartnet, there is also a complete set of reference materials on the Heartnet that can be consulted, which briefly introduces the foundation of the Heartnet's composition.

In the materials, mention of the technologies involved in the Heartnet is scarce; instead, it mostly conveys an idea.

The reference material states that humans are social beings; compared to one-in-a-million or ten-million geniuses, ordinary people make up the majority of humanity.

The strong create history; the weak propagate the population.

Within this human population, both the strong and the weak are actually indispensable.

And the Heartnet is a way that allows the strength of all the weak to be perfectly manifested within the population.

Humans build society; society achieves the population, and the Heartnet is the tangible embodiment of society—a colossal entity formed by every human.

'One body, one heart, Gaia interconnected—this is our Heartnet.'

'Heartnet—connection'