Chapter 647: The Expansion Realm with "Countless" Me's
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 647: The Expansion Realm with "Countless" Me's
Time flew by.
The semester was already half over.
Strictly speaking, the Expansion Realm hadn't been open for a full half-semester yet, but a significant amount of time had passed nonetheless.
As far as the Expansion Realm was concerned, it didn't seem to need saving by the students of the Witch Academy or the other transcendent academies.
The students seemed perpetually trapped within a circle radiating outward from Ninglan New City.
Even though the Third Sanctuary had been completed during this time—and even the Fourth and Fifth large-scale shelters had been erected under the sheer might of transcendent infrastructure, with roads established to the main hub of Ninglan New City—progress remained localized.
A few exceptional students would recklessly strike out into the distance, following the example of the nearly vanished "Teaching Assistant Xiao Han," pioneering and exploring unknown territories.
As for the major clubs, their expansion was predicated on whether they could extend their reach effectively; after all, everything they did had to be driven by profit.
During these outward explorations, many students claimed upon their return that they had encountered the long-absent Teaching Assistant Xiao Han. Initially, these reports were a sensation; everyone was curious about what that "legendary" teaching assistant had been up to.
However, as similar reports cropped up in different directions and at vastly different distances, the accounts began to contradict one another. Most didn't believe Xiao Han possessed a clone technique capable of supporting such a widespread presence.
Eventually, the whole thing became a "joke."
From then on, few people brought it up. Even if someone truly encountered her, desperately rushed forward to confirm her identity, and took photos, no one believed them.
As the various transcendent academies established their own "bases" in the Expansion Realm, their cooperation grew tight. However, as they pushed further outward, they encountered an unexpected "resistance."
The mutant beasts.
The weak creatures they once slaughtered like chickens had become the greatest threat to their outward expansion.
It wasn't that these beasts had become irrationally powerful in just a few months. Rather, they had become... "smart." They understood how to seek benefit and avoid harm at a higher level; they understood coordination; they understood... how to retreat.
To exterminate them now required upperclassmen with powerful spellbooks, or even teaching assistants to personally intervene. Furthermore, if such an operation was too flamboyant, the enemy would sense it in advance and migrate.
While these mutant beasts couldn't cause horrific damage to transcendent students, the harm they dealt to ordinary people was immeasurable.
The students wanted to build a social framework, establish a circulating market, and eventually move toward high-level capitalist operations. A society needed ordinary people to hold it up; this wasn't just a few people playing house. They needed people—a steady stream of people—to generate wealth for them.
Thus, the casualties and potential threats to ordinary people became the primary obstacle to the outward expansion of the united region centered on Ninglan New City.
Furthermore, among those mutant beasts, certain species possessed terrifying reproductive capabilities. Under the influence of transcendent energy and through the instinctive talents of their mutated bloodlines, they began learning how to harness that power.
Consequently, both the reproductive rate and the combat potential of the mutant beasts were constantly rising.
The intervention of transcendent power had compressed a long process of natural selection into one or two generations, achieving a high-speed optimization that would have been impossible in the past.
But rather than calling it optimization, it was more accurate to call it mutation. They were individuals developing through mutation under the pressure of transcendent forces; mutation was a curse, but it was also a boon.
The price was mass death, but their breeding speed narrowly compensated for the loss.
In short, the mutant beasts had reached a critical mass. The students had completely missed the optimal window to wipe out the mutant beast populations.
* * *
Aside from infrastructure development and the mutant beast problem, there was another field of development worth noting: the plant technology tree.
Ever since the agreement was reached in Ninglan New City with Teaching Assistant Xiao Han to disperse the overlapping dreamscapes, the city had begun pivoting toward plant technology.
The banner of civilian technology within Ninglan New City was carried by the Beyonder Research Association.
After all, the development of technology wasn't just about cutting-edge breakthroughs; it was also about the development and popularization of foundational tech.
The Beyonder Research Association, with its background in researching non-standard arts, found this to be a perfect fit.
Moreover, they discovered that this Plant Network was far more convenient than the technology they had previously developed. Their old tech required power plants, power sources, the laying of electrical grids, and rigid requirements like network cables. Plant technology, however, was simplified by the "universal" nature of the Plant Network.
Thus, plant technology was gradually demystified and adopted.
With the rise of plant technology, the importance of the Omni-Link Main Network Tree became self-evident.
However, the Omni-Link Main Network Tree at the Calamity Shelter had been "requisitioned" by wave after wave of mentor teams.
Consequently, the Omni-Link Main Network Tree at the Second Shelter became the core of plant technology development.
Yet, as the symbol of the Plant Network's restoration, the tree at the Calamity Shelter would always be the true icon—even if it was slightly smaller than the one at the Second Shelter.
Because of the Omni-Link Main Network Trees, the current status of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth sanctuaries was quite awkward...
If things had continued this way, it might have been fine. That is, until the personnel responsible for maintaining the Omni-Link Main Network Tree at the Second Shelter picked up a signal from a Plant Network in another region!
In truth, an Omni-Link Main Network Tree integrated into the Tree of Great Knowledge system didn't need external maintenance. However, the Expansion Realm needed to develop plant technology, and the Omni-Link Main Network Tree was an unavoidable hurdle. Thus, they had petitioned Millian to contact Teaching Assistant Xiao Han to grant them permission to interface with the tree.
The response had been affirmative, albeit with many restrictive conditions. Ultimately, a contract was signed, and a maintenance team was formed around those who had signed it.
So, while this team held the title of "maintenance," they were actually just studying the tree to develop plant technology that could plug into it.
And now, this Omni-Link Main Network Tree had connected to another one!
This meant... they had pioneered a brand-new territory on the Plant Network!
Information exchange was, in itself, a form of pioneering unknown lands.
Even if they couldn't physically go there yet, they could at least learn what the world outside the Ninglan New City territory was like.
The news instantly sparked heated discussions in Ninglan New City and all the shelters and sanctuaries.
"Shelter" currently referred specifically to the Calamity Shelter and the Second Shelter, while "Sanctuary" referred to the Third, Fourth, and Fifth. This naming convention alone showed that many people still disagreed with Teaching Assistant Xiao Han's terminology.
Initially, those in control of the sanctuaries had looked down on plant technology. Even as its convenience and advantages became apparent... they couldn't exactly beg her to install it for them, could they?
Furthermore, those three sanctuaries weren't solely the work of the Witch Academy. However... eventually, those three sanctuaries became the bridgeheads for the three top academies, which made bickering and profit-sharing much easier.
But now that they realized the Omni-Link Main Network Tree could reach even further into the Expansion Realm, they grew anxious!
Once the developmental tone of the entire world was set, even their immense power wouldn't be enough to reverse the tide.
So much time had passed. The places they hadn't reached simply hadn't received their "helping hand" yet.
But surely, shelters of various sizes had been built there. Life always finds a way to save itself in the face of disaster.
Perhaps small towns had even been rebuilt. After all, the Expansion Realm was littered with ruins of former buildings; refugees couldn't afford to be picky.
However, as they learned through the Plant Network how those people had "repaired the Omni-Link Main Network Tree" and constructed such a staggering network system, they received a reply that left them stunned.
Those people had received help from a young girl calling herself the "Calamity Witch."
That Calamity Witch had granted them power, taught them how to fend off mutant beasts, dispersed the dreamscapes, and guided them in building shelters, gathering people, and planting crops...
The Calamity Witch... in the Expansion Realm, there seemed to be only one person who used that title.
The one they were almost beginning to forget—the terrifying existence whose every past action remained vivid in their memories.
When they asked if the "Calamity Witch" was still there, the answer was no.
She had left.
After helping them perfect their shelters and giving them a foothold in this ruined world, she had left without hesitation.
That figure lived on only in their memories.
They didn't know why they had suddenly connected to the Omni-Link Main Network Tree here, but they quickly accepted the reality. Perhaps this, too, was the work of the Calamity Witch?
After all, the era they lived in hadn't experienced the arduous period of the Omni-Link Main Network Tree's root system spreading.
But as time went on, Ninglan New City began connecting to the Plant Networks of other regions one after another.
The speed increased from one connection every few days to one per day, and eventually to multiple connections in a single day!
They were forced to confront a terrifying hypothesis... the entire Expansion Realm was being stitched together by the Omni-Link Main Network Trees!
And the architect of it all... was the person who had completely vanished from the public eye...
"How! How could it be that girl! Wouldn't it have been better if she just stayed gone? Why appear again so suddenly? She's just one person... how could she possibly do so much in such a short time!"
Looking at the streams of information coming through the Plant Network, the Expansion Realm was gradually forming a cohesive whole. Perhaps some places weren't "shelters," but the overall architecture was focused on gathering people and... reshaping their world.
Communication was nearly universal now. All that was left was to perfect the infrastructure of roads and transportation, and the Expansion Realm would become a single entity!
And the one who had facilitated all of this was Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan.
Though they saw various titles on the Plant Network—"Calamity Witch," "Yang Yuehan," "Xiao Han," "Yang"—every single one of them brought that name to mind.
"Don't be so agitated. It's not necessarily a bad thing that Teaching Assistant Xiao Han helped us link the Expansion Realm together. We hold the initiative in the development of plant technology. In other words, we hold the technological hegemony, don't we?"
With the rise of plant technology in Ninglan New City, they had naturally invested heavily in it. Why?
Profit, of course!
Now that someone had helped them make the cake this large, they stood to earn even more.
With their technological advantage, they held the power to set prices and the settlement currency for trade. And what did they need most?
The transcendent materials scattered across the Expansion Realm, naturally. They would never recognize the original currencies of this world—especially those Hard Wood Coins. Using wood as currency was the most hilarious thing they had ever seen.
In the society of the Core World, if transcendent materials weren't barred from circulating in the outside world, why would they have bothered issuing such currency?
Such money held little value to them. Currency circulating in society represented social labor, but this was a society of ordinary people. How could money representing the labor of ordinary people be exchanged for transcendent materials—an equivalent that transcended social classes?
At this moment, the club leaders gathered in Ninglan New City were merely venting their dissatisfaction and resentment at this party.
There was no need to propose a solution. Someone had already pointed out the silver lining, and as people shrewdly focused on profit, how could they not understand?
They simply didn't want to admit that such a magnificent feat had been created by a single person.
If they had been the ones to do it, they would have broadcasted it to the heavens. But there were no "ifs"...
Thus, the matter remained a rumor among the populace. There was certainly heated discussion.
But the masses have no memory. It wouldn't be long before the collective forgot. Even if every individual remembered, the group would no longer discuss it.
However, one group would never forget: the Xiao Han Fan Club.
This enduring and ever-growing "loose organization" was no longer confined to the Witch Academy; it was now spreading across the Expansion Realm.
* * *
Far beyond the reach of Ninglan New City, I didn't care in the slightest about what was happening.
My travels were not yet over. I had experienced much on this journey, and so had my clones.
Through the Great Knowledge Seeds and the Great Knowledge Sharing Spell, they shared their experiences with me, allowing me to taste a different kind of brilliance.
But all these experiences gathered together only served to make me realize one thing.
Whether something is "interesting" or not is something discovered through experience, not... through thought.
Originally, I had planned to just plant trees across the Expansion Realm. But when I personally participated in this transformation, I suddenly realized that many things were different from what I had predicted.
From the grand scale of the survival of civilizations...
Perhaps even without me, they would have found the spark of civilization and rebuilt their society.
Or perhaps without me, they would have perished even faster than I anticipated.
Down to the small scale of individual life and death...
These were all my experiences. Yet, for the same question, I often arrived at diametrically opposite answers. Because that is reality.
Perhaps the world is just one giant, makeshift stage, but every hero was once an ordinary person who chose to stand tall.
The turning points of history always occur at unexpected, subtle forks in the road.
The development of reality was far more unpredictable than I had imagined.
And the degree to which things were "interesting" depended entirely on how much energy I invested in them.
Perhaps because many of my clones did not share my original appearance, I made choices that the "me" of my former identity would never have picked. Those actions opened up lives I had never seen before.
And I... I had stepped out of the information cocoon I’d woven for my own life, escaping the prison of "identity" I had constructed for myself.