Chapter 69: Chapter Seventy‑One: Turning Point of the Era (Mistakenly Deleted)

Luofeng logged out of Heartnet, and in the real world several hours had already passed.

At this moment Babata was still sulking alone, because Luofeng had not heeded Babata's warning and entered the Heartnet world himself.

Naturally, Babata's anger was not without reason, and it was impossible for him to give up Luofeng as heir just like that; his behavior naturally also stemmed from his own little calculations.

The gradually clarifying situation on Earth and the power displayed by that mysterious force, the World Tree, were strong for Earth, but in Babata's long life it was not exactly remarkable.

But the situation is stronger than wit; now the Inkfall Star Vessel is trapped on Earth, and we have also been discovered by the other side, so the choices left for Babata are not many.

Babata has waited fifty thousand years; for Babata, that span is agonizing but not unendurable, yet Earth no longer has another fifty thousand years to give Babata.

And now, the only chip Babata can grasp is Luofeng.

Luofeng is the person selected by the other side to inherit the Inkfall Star's legacy; unlike Jiāng Jiāng, who is wholeheartedly devoted, he has his own judgment about everything.

This is obviously also a compromise made by the other side toward myself; if it were truly like Jiāng Jiāng, who could be easily controlled by Chén Chén, Babata would not likely choose Luofeng as successor even if he were to die trapped in the Inkfall Star Vessel.

Naturally, singling out Jiāng Jiāng for comparison can also serve as a warning from the other side, telling oneself not to overreach with warnings.

As the inheritor of master Huyan Bo, Babata hopes Luofeng can, like his master, travel the Universe, bringing Babata along to finish the unfinished adventure, rather than using the master's leftover resources to train a lackey for another faction.

In this regard, Luofeng has given Babata a certain hope to retain.

But merely that is still not enough; to break free of the other side's control, Luofeng also needs to completely stand on our side.

Only if Luofeng turns toward ourselves do the two of us have the qualification to negotiate with the other side and a chance to escape its control; as for the other side's petty favors, there are plenty of opportunities to repay them.

However, the emergence of Heartnet completely disrupted Babata's plans.

First of all, naturally, is the isolated environment formed by Heartnet; such a situation, at least in Babata's memory, is encountered only in adventure grounds of realm lord level or higher.

Heartnet limited Babata's ability, causing Babata to lose most of his capacity to resist; moreover, once Luofeng enters Heartnet, he completely leaves Babata's sight and slips out of his control.

Luofeng is an Earth person and still has a decent relationship with Chén Chén and Jiāng Jiāng; Babata was originally on the weaker side, and if Heartnet contains some mind‑bewildering arrangement that Babata cannot counter for Luofeng, then he is even less able to win Luofeng over to his side.

Nevertheless, Luofeng ultimately did not heed the advice and still entered the so‑called Heartnet world.

The fact is exactly as Babata thought; having resolved the doubts brought by Heartnet, Luofeng became even more resolute.

On Luofeng's side, after coming out he also intended to look after Babata's emotions, beginning to answer Babata's worries from when he entered.

After all, Babata and the Inkfall Star's legacy constitute an investment of the World Tree in oneself, and one also greatly needs the Inkfall Star's legacy.

This favor already exists here, and one cannot betray this investment.

But as Babata listened to Luofeng recount his experiences in Heartnet, all that remained in his heart was a helpless sigh, and the plan to have Luofeng negotiate terms with the World Tree also fell through.

Thus all that remained was to change strategy, see what conditions the other side would propose, and take things step by step.

Although Babata had already made the worst plans in his heart, on the surface he had already switched to a calmed expression.

"You didn't ask about that faith they mentioned, did you?" Babata said, changing the subject.

"Questioning someone's faith to their face is impolite, and just listening to the tone and wording of Divine Tree Jian Mu makes it clear that asking would be pointless."

Babata also did not delve deeper; no matter what, in Babata's eyes this is merely a means for the strong to dominate the weak.

"If there's a chance, ask Chén Chén."

On the contrary, Luofeng's obviously beginning to care attitude made Babata feel worried.

Regarding Chén Chén, Jian Mu did not give a very clear answer, merely saying that Chén Chén's relation to humanity is like his relation to the tree clan—one of the most favored kinds.

Next are myself and Jiāng Jiāng, Hong, and Ji Heng; this favor is not necessarily immutable, nor will it forever be limited to just one.

As for further details about Chén Chén, he also found it inconvenient to say more, but Jian Mu indicated that Chén Chén is currently residing in New Aili Du, and one should be able to find him if one goes to look for him soon.

But before that, one should still spend some time properly keeping company with one's parents, and also talk with one's younger brother about Heartnet.

Lastly, there is still the most important matter: the date with Xuxin.

……

The war had just ended less than a month ago, and the large‑scale release of the Heartnet front end was like dropping a deep‑water bomb across the world.

The whole world boiled over because of it.

Integrating entertainment, communication, and work into one, possessing more gorgeous scenery and freer space, entertainment that had faded from ordinary people's view, a dream world capable of creating infinite possibilities—no one would fail to yearn for it.

Although in most people's eyes the concept of virtual space is very distant.

This is an era plagued by war‑induced scarcity of resources; although there had been several decades of relative peace in between, humanity still has to expend vast amounts of manpower, material resources, and military force each day and year just to survive.

This is an era where productivity grows day by day but the wealth gap keeps widening; the output of a base‑city with hundreds of millions of people supports only a tiny fraction of martial artists.

To become a martial artist and rise in a single step—that is the slogan most often heard among society's lower strata, for martial artists are the superiors of people.

Because the hundreds of millions of people in this city rely on those tens of thousands of martial artists to survive in this world.

Even the living standards of ordinary people are insufficient to gaze at how far this world's technology and productivity have advanced.

Martial artists need sufficiently intelligent communication equipment, more convenient and swift transportation, and sufficient wealth and treatment to drive them to strive for humanity's cause.

Martial artists are heroes, yet they also enjoy the vast majority of humanity's society's resources.

Thus ordinary people mostly just live in barely survivable housing, can at most fill their stomachs with one or two meals a day, possess a somewhat functional communication device, ride public transport, and for decades perhaps merely lead a two‑point‑one‑line existence, with no need to go elsewhere.

So when the Heartnet front end was about to be issued free of charge worldwide, and its features and conveniences were all announced, ordinary folks did not think too much like Luo Hua; their eyes were full of anticipation.

After all, this is a product long enjoyed in the upper world, and after all, as a lower‑class person it is already hard to have a worse existence.

The emergence of Heartnet seems to have let everyone, from mere survival, catch a glimpse of life again.

Monsters have given humanity decades of fear; the war, whose end is unknown, seems finally to be heading toward its conclusion.

And the one who will put a period on all this, bringing everyone a brand‑new beginning, is no one else.

The turning point of the era seems to be precisely now.

Of course, the rollout of the Heartnet front end was not that swift either.

In the publicly released design data for the Heartnet front end, the main material of the front end is the leaves of Divine Tree Jian Mu, and the manufacturing process in the middle is also not simple.

The appearance of the Heartnet front end also resembles a leaf, only half a palm‑sized, can be freely adhered to the skin of any body part and merge into it; if one wants to go offline, it can be detached at any time, and for many martial artists it is quite novel.

The first batch of recipients naturally are the new members of the World Tree and the family members of World Tree martial artists.

Everything depends on voluntariness; in the first week some people still held a wait‑and‑see attitude, but from the second week onward supply could not meet demand.

One month passed, but the first batch of Heartnet front-ends released to the external market was not in China, but in India.

The Sect High Priest of India personally stepped forward, blessing each believer one by one; the firmer one's faith, the greater the chance to obtain early entry into the Dream World.

If the Heartnet's fervor in other countries is a hundred degrees, then in India it is a thousand degrees.

In the doctrine of the Indian Religion, suffering in this life is for sweetness in the next; 'reward after hardship' matches the believers' expectations, so the Heartnet blessing ceremony is all the more important.

The far shore of faith seemed within reach, and the believers' faith grew firmer and more fervent.

Heartnet's early release in India naturally caused dissatisfaction in other regions.

After more than a month of fermentation, all kinds of news about Heartnet and the Dream World were spreading everywhere, and people's anticipation had reached its peak.

When something that should be yours arrives just a step late, it most easily stirs people's emotions.

The officials in charge of the relatively lagging China, Soviet Union, and Egypt also stepped forward urgently to give explanations.

The agenda for rolling out the Heartnet front-ends has been set, but allocating the first batch still needs some time.

China, the Soviet Union, and Egypt, unlike India which was founded on faith, decided among the three; finally, they chose the families of soldiers who died in the war, the wounded, and veterans as the first batch, which also conforms to public sentiment.

Naturally, the advent of Heartnet is not something everyone hopes to see.

Especially those rulers still holding high positions can clearly see what ambition this imminent global upheaval reveals.

In their eyes, the war had just ended, and the World Tree could not help but reveal the fangs it had long hidden; describing it as unsightly in its eating habits is hardly an exaggeration. (Although it's indeed not wrong)

Especially in the confused EU and the United States.

Two years ago, they announced withdrawal from the War God Palace system; when the war broke out, despite public outrage, relying on military force and Hammerson's personal prestige, domestically, aside from losing a batch of martial artists unwilling to go with the flow, there were no further disturbances.

Then a basin of dirty water from the Geonet was splashed onto the HR Alliance, causing the HR Alliance to completely disintegrate; adding to that, during the war, countries strongly opposed the two nations' military industries and trade, causing the monster-related industry to slump, leaving the national economy with a huge deficit.

The leadership group headed by Hammerson and East, as well as their personal prestige, also kept declining.

As of now, the state can barely hold on, relying solely on military force and the spread of another kind of conspiracy theory.

The World Tree's ambition to achieve unification has long been common knowledge, but under the current circumstances, this can no longer be used to attack the World Tree.

Even within the two countries, there has long been talk hoping the World Tree would strike sooner.

Within the two countries, there are now three clear factions: one consists mainly of Christian believers, who likewise direct their faith in the World Tree toward the God of Christianity, and who have written the 'New Chapter of the Holy Covenant' based on the Great Nirvana and contemporary cultural background, believing that the former heroes Hammerson and East have been tempted by Satan, and that the Lord's Holy Judgment will eventually come to save His faithful followers.

The second faction is the 'Conservative Faction', composed of rational people domestically who hold a friendly attitude toward the World Tree; they believe that the selfish and misaligned choices of the leadership headed by Hammerson and East have caused the present situation, and their main demand is that government leaders admit their wrongdoing and bow to the World Tree and to other nations that experienced war.

The third faction is the root cause of the two countries' ongoing chaos; possessing great scientific, financial, and material resources, this faction has long argued that the World Tree is not a force of Earth's people, but merely a tool used by an alien civilization to enslave and rule Earth.

Among the five major powers, the United States possesses the greatest number of alien civilizations, and its exploration and discovery of alien civilizations have always been at the forefront; thus, holding this view carries a certain authority.

Once this message was released, it gained the support of many visionaries, who then produced one piece of evidence after another over the following year, gaining support from many and ultimately leading to the current vacillating chaos in the two countries.

Once people believe they have grasped the truth, they will hold onto it unquestionably, going mad like fanatics and sacrificing everything for it.

Of course, they don't realize that the ultimate source of this message is actually Babata, who had long anticipated being manipulated and secretly left a trap.

And Babata's network has been cut off now; the backup left here also lost control. As for the person taking over, naturally it's the hardest-working A Yun in the world.

"Hey hey hey, as expected, it's still me, the work of screening victims."

"Speaking of which, have I been doing too much dirty work these past few years? We are clearly pure clouds."

"After this ends, I definitely have to clear my name (; ｀O)o"