Chapter 613: The Complex Situation of the Seed Vault
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 613: The Complex Situation of the Seed Vault
"Yes, the Seed Vault." Seeing my interest, Ninglan Qiuyue hurried to continue.
"You mentioned that world was primarily based on plant technology. Therefore, their Seed Vault represents the highest pinnacle of their civilization's technological achievements, much like the technological artifacts preserved in a museum. It will also be a precious heritage for the potential revival of that civilization's technology."
"How fascinating. I'm surprised you would place such importance on the technological products of that civilization," I said, somewhat surprised.
Judging by their lack of interest after learning about things like the Omni-Link Main Network Tree and the Plant Network, I assumed they wouldn't value such things. Yet, Ninglan Qiuyue was actually interested in learning more?
One had to realize that the technology of this civilization could be perfectly replaced by the technology of the Main World.
"It’s just my personal curiosity. When our City Defense Commander’s exploration teams go out, they naturally collect a large number of artifacts from that civilization. However, once the Teaching Assistant Senior Sisters learned about the functions of those items from the refugees, they lost interest. I suppose it has to do with the environment one lives in," Ninglan Qiuyue said with a sigh.
After all, the technological level within Ninglan New City was already quite distorted. After connecting with the Witch Academy, the influx of technological products had a massive impact on Ninglan New City due to its own limitations and infrastructure issues. The plant technology of this civilization, now integrated into the Expansion Realm, faced the same situation.
"So… have you made a decision? Is Ninglan New City going to accept technological assimilation from the Witch Academy, or will you pursue the revival and utilization of plant technology?"
"Oh? Can't Ninglan New City forge its own unique style?"
"It’s not worth it. Ninglan New City still needs to develop. If it's purely to prove and protect your culture, there's no need to force a fit without a foundation. You'd end up belonging to neither the Witch Academy nor the Expansion Realm. Besides… Ninglan New City cannot afford such repeated upheaval," I said.
"True." Ninglan Qiuyue naturally understood this logic, and now was the time for her to choose.
Theoretically, she should cling to the Witch Academy's coattails and integrate into their technological system…
"So, have you decided?"
"I… Our Ninglan New City first came into contact with the technology of the Main World… As I just said, we cannot afford such upheaval…"
"I can tell you a truth: the technology of the Main World has little to do with the Witch Academy. Perhaps you rarely look at society outside the Academy, but the Witch Academy doesn't have many technological systems. It appears modern because of the Academy Network, but the architecture of the Academy Network… is fundamentally different from the internet of the outside world."
"What do you mean?" Ninglan Qiuyue was stunned by my words.
"The technology of the Witch Academy is essentially a transcendent system mimicking a technological architecture. The Academy Network is, in essence, a transcendent art—a technique that utilizes the energy of the Ley Lines. Main World technology is pure technology, a scientific technique that utilizes the physical laws of the material world; it has its limitations. Plant technology, meanwhile, is also essentially a transcendent art…"
"So you're advising me to choose plant technology?"
"No, I am helping you recognize truths and common knowledge you weren't aware of, so you can make your own choice. In short, as transcendent arts, both exist on the same level; the only difference is the degree of development. A connection between the two is called 'technical intercommunication'—an equal relationship. However, the relationship between the Academy Network and a technological network is unequal. A connection between those two is called 'downward compatibility.'"
"I understand." After listening to me, Ninglan Qiuyue pondered for a long time to grasp the concepts I had explained.
"Since you understand, I won't interfere further. I'm still quite interested in that Seed Vault. Can you tell me more about it?" I asked.
Although I had obtained some information on the matter from the Tree of Knowledge, it was certainly incomplete. It was impossible for the exploration teams to record every detail within the Tree of Knowledge.
Of course, asking Ninglan Qiuyue directly was simply to provide a reasonable source for my acquisition of this information.
"Of course." Ninglan Qiuyue gathered her thoughts and nodded.
Deciding on such a major developmental direction for Ninglan New City—the place where she lived and grew up—could not be done lightly. She could only record the information she had gathered and make a careful decision after returning.
For a moment, Ninglan Qiuyue looked at the person before her. Although she had a habit of speaking in riddles, it felt like one could always gain a lot of useful information from her.
She was a bit too cryptic, somewhat self-centered, and a tad arrogant, but then again, she had the capital to be arrogant.
"The Seed Vault was discovered by accident." With a wave of her hand, Ninglan Qiuyue used a spell generated by the Seed of Wisdom to project a 3D topographic map.
It was marked with exhaustive detail. Ninglan New City's location was clearly visible, and not far from it was another special marker—the Omni-Link Main Network Tree, the site of the Calamity Shelter.
"The exploration teams are actually divided into two types. One is an exploration team led by a Teaching Assistant or a senior student, and the other is a support team."
"Support teams are usually composed of several Teaching Assistants or senior students. In most cases, they are mobile squads sent to deal with lost exploration teams or to cull large groups of Variant Beasts when reports of a potential Beast Tide come in."
At this point, Ninglan Qiuyue sighed inwardly. Their Ninglan New City's City Defense Commander's forces were already failing to keep up with the pace of outward exploration. Now, they could only garrison resource points outside the city.
Equipped with Type III Beyonder Killing Weapons, the city guards were capable of defending resource points against stray Variant Beasts, but in terms of individual strength and ability, they could no longer keep up with exploration squads composed entirely of transcendent students.
After all, outward exploration required mobility and massive supplies. The city guards were mostly ordinary people and lacked storage equipment…
"So, an exploration squad went missing at that Seed Vault, didn't they?" I asked.
"Yes. Or rather, they aren't exactly 'missing.' The Academy Network signal hasn't covered that area yet, and they were using special spells to communicate. They are trapped."
"Trapped? Trapped where? Surely not inside the Seed Vault?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, exactly. The Seed Vault is a massive, interconnected complex of buildings. Setting aside the vast amount of seeds stored inside, the reason that complex attracted the exploration team was that it contains a composite resource area dozens of times larger than the largest resource point discovered so far!"
"No wonder."
"Furthermore, the high concentration of transcendent energy gathered there has already destroyed the Seed Vault's preservation equipment. Many seeds have undergone induced mutation under the influence of that energy."
"Are the plants there aggressive?"
"Aggressiveness is only one aspect. That place concentrates the infrastructure of a civilization that used plants to build itself. The bizarre nature of those plants has become even more terrifying under mutation. Moreover, the space there seems to be extremely distorted; the entire Seed Vault is like a labyrinth that changes at any moment."
"Spatial chaos? Do you mean 'space' in the sense I understand it?" I frowned and asked. I didn't recall this civilization's plant technology being advanced enough to touch upon the spatial dimension.
However, I didn't dare jump to conclusions. Instead, I continued to pull first-hand shared information from the Tree of Great Knowledge that I might have overlooked. After all, "space" was a very "fragile" thing, especially regarding material space…
"Yes, it's that kind of chaos on a spatial level," Ninglan Qiuyue replied.
Since this was the reality, there had to be a reason. However… material space… matter…
"Wait, you said that resource point is a composite resource area. Do you know about World Origin Soil?"
"World Origin Soil? What is that?"
"You don't know? Alright, never mind. Different question: are there any transcendent materials of a material nature in that resource area?"
"Transcendent materials of a material nature? I know about those. They include some very rare—"
"Good, I understand. I'm not interested in the specific materials." I interrupted Ninglan Qiuyue. Since there were transcendent materials formed from World Origin Soil, the material dimension made sense.
Many things could affect space, such as transcendent energy or transcendent matter. Consequently, material space was very fragile; one could utilize space simply through spell techniques.
One had to understand that the World Three Source Elements were no joke. The tiny, unstable fragment of a [Transcendent Knowledge] Fragment sealed in my Book in the Box possessed enough power to destroy a massive area if it detonated. Why else were there no original plants in the energy crystal mine areas, only regrown plants that appeared after the mines formed?
And that was just a simple drop in energy level forming another kind of high-energy crystal. If it were fully released, the power would be unimaginable.
And World Origin Soil was clearly sufficient to cause spatial distortion. Currently, I had a lot of information in the Tree of Great Knowledge that could corroborate that the disintegration of World Origin Soil was enough to affect material space.
Lest we forget, World Origin Soil was the "raw material" that constituted a world's matter and material space. In the void, even material space did not exist. The birth of a world was not just the generation of a material continent, but also the continuous expansion of material space.
To use an analogy, the spatial labyrinth at the Seed Vault was like several independent spaces—such as the Witch Academy—intertwining over a city.
Based solely on Ninglan Qiuyue's description and the intelligence gathered by their exploration teams shared in the Tree of Great Knowledge, I was able to roughly deduce the situation.
Even if it wasn't perfectly accurate, it wouldn't be far off. It was the most reasonable deduction currently available.
If all else failed, I would make a final conclusion after a field investigation.
Regardless, I had developed a very strong interest in that place.
Whether it was to witness something unknown or because I needed the plants from that Seed Vault to pave the way for my Plant Network, I had to go see it for myself.
"Sister Xiao Han, did you think of something?" Ninglan Qiuyue asked, seeing my pensive look and then seeing me realize something.
"Yes."
"Is it about the spatial anomalies at the Seed Vault? Would it be convenient to share?"
"Just some guesses. I don't have a solution yet. I suspect it's related to World Origin Soil, but I won't reveal more. I'm afraid a wrong guess might give you a biased misconception."
"Alright." Ninglan Qiuyue nodded and didn't press further, though she made a note of the term "World Origin Soil" to ask about later.
"So… Sister Xiao Han, are you going to the Seed Vault?"
"I have to go, of course. Why? Is it off-limits now?"
"It's accessible, of course. However, I should mention that a Dream Overlap has also broken out there, and there are a large number of dream creatures causing trouble. This has added a massive amount of uncertainty to the labyrinth."
"I see. Are there still people trapped there?" I asked.
"Yes. And it's not just one group; there are five teams trapped," Ninglan Qiuyue said with a heavy expression.
"Huh? What?"
Hearing this was truly beyond my expectations. The information shared by the Seed of Wisdom to the Tree of Great Knowledge wasn't nearly this ridiculous!
"This… I've made a fool of myself in front of Sister Xiao Han. However, of those five groups, only two are from our Witch Academy. One was the first to get lost inside, and the other was a rescue team that also got trapped. The other three groups are from the other three great academies, who gathered students from other transcendent academies to enter together. Originally, two groups went in first, and after they lost contact, another group went in alongside our rescue team…"
"So, has Mentor Elena been told about such a major incident?" I asked, frowning.
"She has, but Mentor Elena isn't interfering… She told us to solve it ourselves. Our Witch Academy's second rescue team is already on its way."
"I see."
Isn't this just sending them in one by one to their doom?
I didn't say that out loud, but since it was a predicament on the level of material space, it shouldn't be able to trap someone who had mastered spatial magic. After all, senior students and Teaching Assistants should be able to obtain such spatial teleportation spells. The sheer number of teleportation landmarks in the Witch Academy proved that teleportation spells weren't rare there.
"So… Sister Xiao Han, are you still going? Though I imagine that place won't be able to trap you."
"Of course I'm going to take a look," I said confidently.
In any case, my current affairs weren't urgent. I had originally planned to spend my time planting trees across the Expansion Realm, but now… plans change.
Having confirmed this itinerary, I wasn't in such a hurry anymore. My goal for returning to Ninglan New City was now clear. Planting trees across the world was a long-term task; just how large was the repaired Expansion Realm?
Even if I could use the root network of the Omni-Link Main Network Trees to confirm spatial coordinates for teleportation, it would still take a long time.
Furthermore, the current Omni-Link Main Network Trees couldn't cover the entire Expansion Realm yet, so I would still need to blaze the trail myself for the journeys ahead.
It was like unlocking teleportation anchors in a game, except I was planting Omni-Link Main Network Trees.
Once a Main Network Tree was planted and its roots spread, it would "unlock" a region. Then, I could use the root network in conjunction with Ley Line information to obtain spatial coordinates and teleport using spells.
This was a method of use distinct from placing teleportation markers in advance. While teleportation didn't strictly require a marker, without one to act as an anchor, who knew if a long-distance teleport would end up putting you inside the ground or a wall? Safety first, always.
After discussing the Seed Vault, Ninglan Qiuyue mentioned a few other things, though they weren't particularly important.
Eventually, I was the one to suggest leaving, which brought our conversation to an end.
Ninglan Qiuyue returned to her busy official duties, while I was about to set foot into a region full of unknowns.