Chapter 221: The New Nation's Technology Explosion

In the suburbs of Z City, following Li Huowang to a hilltop, they looked at the base entrance standing before them.

Looking at the metal steps stretching downward, the two stepped inside side by side.

As they walked toward the interior of the base, Fang Can listened to Li Huowang's explanation, just like a child sharing a toy with a friend.

'The Infinite Protagonist Project?'

Having heard the full outline of this project, Fang Can felt it did have some merit.

By hypnotizing clones to believe they are the novel protagonist, then relying on subjective initiative to grow stronger.

"How is it? Isn't it a very grand plan? I thought of it," Li Huowang said proudly, pointing at himself with a smug smile on his face.

"It's lacking something," Fang Can stated honestly.

"Hah? How could that be? That's impossible," Li Huowang panicked: "This plan absolutely has no flaws."

"Clones are, after all, just fakes; even with identical memories, they cannot replace the original."

Fang Can said truthfully: "For example, a clone with your memories is still not you. Would you accept a clone of your memories as yourself?"

"This..." Li Huowang fell silent; when applied to himself, he immediately refused to accept it.

"Let's go inside and take a look first," Fang Can said. "I'll see how your Infinite Protagonist Project is doing and see if it can be improved."

"Right, right, right, let's look first before saying anything," Li Huowang nodded repeatedly, leading Fang Can into the underground base.

Along the way, countless researchers in white lab coats greeted the two, while countless armed personnel in similar exoskeleton mecha, holding guns, guarded strictly on the side.

Arriving at a narrow research area, Fang Can could see clones cultivating behind glass windows on both sides.

Most of them were male martial artists with blue hair and muscular builds.

These martial artists all had their eyes slightly closed, their bodies submerged in transparent nutrient fluid, like livestock being raised.

At the same time, a white helmet partially covering the head was worn on these clones' heads, with a thick data cable connecting from the top to the ceiling.

Outside the room, there was a bank of electronic screens, allowing one to see the martial artists' actions from a third-person perspective.

"A virtual world?" Fang Can asked.

"Yes, because this base isn't big enough, and it's not good for them to meet each other, so I referenced the online game model, letting these clones live and train in a virtual space."

"Uh, has our technology... reached this level?" Fang Can asked doubtfully.

"Of course it has; it's just that cutting-edge technology hasn't been opened to the public."

Finally having a chance to show off, Li Huowang said proudly: "Just like having a Luck ability user perform special material synthesis; they can skip a huge amount of trials and directly obtain the desired material structure."

"We also have an ability user called 'Artifact Appraisal Technique' who can directly derive the specific form and properties of microscopic particles through appraisal."

"For another example, let F Superman stand still while a nuclear bomb explodes; with his super vision and super reaction, he can directly obtain first-hand data on the changes at the center of the nuclear explosion."

"Or simply let F Superman spend a few months traveling to the sun, allowing for in-depth study of stellar changes."

"Biological science can study Da Li Wang's body; brain-mutation type ability users can directly serve as scientists. Although the Great Cataclysm wasn't many years ago, technology has been exploding almost every month."

"Now, we actually find theory can't keep up with the speed of product R&D. We expect to achieve controlled nuclear fusion within three years. Oh, and as a byproduct of this research, we also created an antimatter bomb."

"If just one kilogram of this thing explodes, it can easily wipe out an entire city. We originally conducted the tests on the far side of the moon," Li Huowang said with a wildly crazy smile, spreading his five fingers forcefully to mimic an explosion.

'This is truly outrageous,' Fang Can thought, criticizing internally.

No wonder it felt strange; exoskeleton armor and helmets like online games—it turns out technology had already exploded behind the scenes long ago.

His gaze turned to the screens on the wall, which clearly described the clones' lives, actions, and martial arts practice within the virtual reality.

But in reality, these clones were soaked in nutrient fluid, unable to leave the small room even a step, just like in The Matrix.

"But what's the point of this?" Fang Can looked at Li Huowang and asked: "Without real-body training, they can't cultivate anything in the virtual world, right?"

"Not so," Li Huowang cackled: "You are underestimating the power of the Idealist Martial Dao too much."

"No, or rather, you are underestimating the capability of the Human Wish-Granting Machine too much."

"Now, these Tang Sans, after more than a month of training, have officially drawn Qi into their bodies."

"Moreover, because they believe they are in reality, the brain deceives the body, and physical strength rises in sync; tests show they can already lift over one ton of matter."

"Can it really be done like this?" Fang Can widened his eyes in slight surprise, almost forgetting that cultivation before the Path to Heaven was all about deceiving the brain.

Walking and talking, after passing over a hundred Tang San clones, Fang Can saw some clones with appearances different from before.

"Whose memories did you insert into this bald guy?" Fang Can pointed at one of the glass windows.

Inside the nutrient fluid, a bald clone who looked dull and silly wore a virtual helmet.

Through the perspective of the outside screen, he could see this bald clone doing push-ups in the virtual world.

"Bald Caped Hero Saitama, but the effect isn't very good. This guy's path to strength is too strange, lacking logic; after training for so long, he hasn't drawn Qi into his body, and his physical stats are only slightly better."

Li Huowang sighed: "Moreover, the brain circuits of people in the original One Punch Man worldview are as bad as shit and too hard to mimic; our clones have normal brains, so the match is too poor."

"Compared to those fantasy, xianxia, and comedic works, Wu Xia is a bit more grounded, and the match is the highest, so later we tried several more works."

As Li Huowang spoke, he pointed to martial artists of different appearances behind him: "Guo Jing, Yang Guo, Li Xunhuan, Fu Hongxue, Qiao Feng..."

'This really is a hodgepodge of the Wu Xia world.'

Fang Can looked at the clones one by one; these Wu Xia masters had also basically drawn Qi into their bodies, each capable of lifting a cauldron, and in Great Expansion, they would be geniuses chosen one in ten thousand.

'So, the higher the power match and the closer it fits the character setting, the easier it is to achieve successful immersion?'

"After seeing this whole circle, what do you think of the effect?" Li Huowang asked.

"It is indeed interesting; after hypnosis, their self-perception has indeed improved, but the speed of becoming stronger is still too slow."

After touring the place, Fang Can said seriously: "I have a direct, quick-success method; do you want to try it?"

(End of this chapter)