Secrets of the Fifth Era

The secrets of the Fifth Era

Lu Yuan had studied "Space-Time Tide Harmonization Conversion" in the past and found that it was simply manual labor. It would take him centuries working alone just to obtain a tiny bit of fortune, so he had not bothered with it.

It was essentially spending spiritual essence, manpower, and material resources to obtain a small amount of "fortune."

"Doesn't that sound a bit like... Bitcoin?"

"Spending massive amounts of energy on something with no practical use, yet somehow it's incredibly valuable?" Lu Yuan was speechless. "The Pangu Continent's blockchain?"

Hai Zhiyun said, "There may indeed be a blockchain system on an idealistic level... This thing is useful to the Pangu Continent, but useless to us."

Still, no matter what, this inexplicable "Tide Harmonization Conversion" had to be researched. If its efficiency could be improved, it might have some practical use.

The second major research direction was "Emotion Harmonization Conversion."

A long time ago, when Lu Yuan completed a certain Civilization Milestone, his reward had been a "Cube-Level Energy"—a large pale-blue cube.

This extraordinary item could generate forty to fifty units of spiritual essence from nothing every year, helping humanity through many difficult stages of development.

Even by current standards, an annual output of forty to fifty was still not low.

Its principles had once been utterly unfathomable, but after analysis by scientists, they discovered that it could gather emotional fluctuations emitted by humans, Fire Seed Energy, small amounts of Space-Time Tidal Energy, and more, then convert them into spiritual essence.

It was an exceptionally ingenious technique, possibly even technology from a level 4 or level 5 civilization, known as "Emotion Harmonization Conversion."

However, this "Cube-Level Energy" could already operate at full capacity with only fifty to one hundred thousand people. Even with a population of one million now, its output could not be further increased.

Humanity truly needed to research its own spiritual essence harmonization conversion formula. Even if it could not match the Cube-Level Energy's efficiency, gathering a few more points of spiritual essence each year would still be a good thing.

The times are advancing. Technologies that once seemed utterly inexplicable are gradually being deciphered. Lu Yuan could not help sighing inwardly.

These technologies that seemed so grand and sophisticated were things he had not even dared to imagine tackling alone.

Yet now, they were slowly being deciphered.

As for further directions of development, they were much harder to think of.

"I think our biomedical technology also counts as Level Three Civilization technology, and it has a better chance of reaching an even higher level. Although it does not involve Civilization Points, it is indeed an exceptionally clever method that contains the crystallized wisdom of countless people."

"The Omnipotent Factory... may be Level Four technology. We have no way to decipher it for now."

"The Quantum Civilization's Flying Saucer... incomprehensible."

"The Da Lai Empire's spatial inscriptions... incomprehensible."

"Some gear wreckage from the Gear Civilization... still incomprehensible."

Everyone voiced their opinions, and the office was bustling with discussion.

Hearing that long string of "incomprehensible," Lu Yuan could not help rolling his eyes. "Ahem, ahem. Stop fixating on those things and be more down-to-earth. Other than technologies for increasing income and reducing expenditure, is there nothing else we can research?"

Hai Zhiyun reached a conclusion. "There are, but they are extremely difficult in the short term. Technologies such as Lightning Storm and Volcano Eruption, which harness the power of heaven and earth, require vast resources to construct large-scale control devices. We do not have that many resources for now."

"Among Level Three Technology, research developed from anomalies has relatively low costs."

"If we develop technology ourselves, we need enormous resources piled into it. The cost will be extremely high, and the difficulty will also be high."

"From this perspective, we really are a rookie civilization. We do not even have the resources for independent research..."

"Of course, we can only try to find a way through Little Mirage Dragon and Mr. Undying Giant Turtle. Perhaps we can extend new low-cost technological routes from them. As far as I know, the most feasible Level Three Technology at present is the Myriad Image Iron Curtain, derived from the Undying Giant Turtle. Its specific function is to greatly increase the defense of mechanical units, creating a temporary 'undying' effect."

Hearing that, Lu Yuan rubbed his nose. "Ahem, ahem. Why does that sound a bit like the Iron Curtain Device from some game?"

"That's right. We drew inspiration from there."

Everyone could not help laughing again.

But then again, the Source Fire Civilization had held on until the End of Era and had its own fortuitous encounters. It was only natural that it had been wealthier than humanity.

Human 18 Civilization had only a little over two hundred years of history. It could not possibly compare to an established civilization, and wasn't the number of Level Three Technologies it currently possessed already fairly decent?

During this closed-door meeting, everyone discussed many things.

Every generation of young people had their own ideas and expectations.

At times, they were spirited and impractical.

But their starting points were ultimately good. They had not suffered too many hardships and still possessed a glimmer of idealism.

It had to be admitted: the world belonged to the young!

Even Lu Yuan felt that he was still very young, at exactly the age to accomplish great things.

"Then that will be all for now. Our key research directions in the future will be Level Three Technology related to 'increasing income and reducing expenditure,' high-performance computers, deeper exploration of Spirit Speech Technology, composite Idealistic Materials, weak artificial intelligence, unmanned exploration... and the Myriad Image Iron Curtain!"

"Comrades, if you encounter any difficulties, tell me directly. Do not be afraid of anything. I will always have your backs."

"Alright, it's getting late. Meeting adjourned!"

The young people left one after another, their faces filled with anticipation and smiles.

After the crowd left, only Hai Zhiyun remained in the office. She looked around furtively, wearing an expression that clearly wanted to pry into classified information—she had perfectly inherited Lu Yuan's personality.

"What, do you want me to treat you to dinner too?" Lu Yuan's heart tightened as he covered his wallet.

Lu Yuan's salary was actually quite good, but the welfare payments alone were becoming hard to sustain. He could only scrimp and save.

"Lu Dad, I made a major discovery. It wasn't appropriate to say it in front of everyone..."

"Let's hear it."

"I analyzed a large amount of ancient literature and calculated the course of development over the past few years. I discovered that Green Field City actually has many inexplicable and unexplainable aspects."

"So I believe there are many unknown secrets that have yet to be made public. Like that Da Lai Empire spaceship—why was it placed in the sinkhole? The sinkhole's space is so precious, yet they stuffed a wrecked spaceship inside. There must be a reason, right?"

"Brother Yun, you know too much." Lu Yuan said irritably. "For a civilization to develop, it must have secrets. You don't expect me to tell you, do you?"

"When you grow to a certain level, you will naturally learn them. The Da Lai spaceship is very dangerous. Do not study it."

Being called "Brother Yun" by Lu Yuan made the young man's face heat up.

Human 18 Civilization indeed had countless secrets.

Not to mention Lu Yuan's own secrets, there were the True Paradise within Green Field Paradise, the Life Fruit, the blood ghoul and Mirror Demon in the Da Lai Empire laboratory.

There were even remnants of the Demon Shadow of Zhao, all terrifyingly major secrets!

Yet no matter how tightly secrets were kept, there would always be traces. It was perfectly normal for smart people to analyze some clues.

"Since you say so, I will refrain from finding out for now."

Hai Zhiyun regained her composure. "But there is another extremely important matter. While reviewing materials, I discovered that the development route of the Ancient Era was different from today's."

"In the distant past, the idealistic route was dominant. Calamity-level anomalies were all born in ancient times. There were countless myths then, as well as innumerable giant beasts and anomalies. Even Mr. Undying Giant Turtle, who has lived for a very long time, was born in the Ancient Era."

"But from some era onward, the emergence of the materialistic route changed the development paths of major civilizations... The number of new anomalies declined. By that, I mean new varieties decreased; old varieties could still be naturally born."

"Fine, then let's hear what you analyzed..."

Lu Yuan brought the young man to the Big Rice Bucket Cafeteria and ordered an expensive meal for two.

The robot's eyes lit up.

"Ding! Luxury set meal for two. Payment received: 288 yuan!"

His heart bled. This Big Rice Bucket Cafeteria was getting more and more expensive. It was said to be operated by a novelist with the pen name Eternal Furnace. What an incomparably greedy fellow.

Hai Zhiyun, having scored a free meal, was naturally delighted. She continued, "First conclusion: Mr. Undying Giant Turtle has a very special trait—intelligence. Yet anomalies born afterward often lack intelligence. Those with intelligence all seem to be old creatures..."

"Maybe the sample size is not broad enough... Besides, doesn't Little Mirage Dragon have intelligence too?" Lu Yuan took a sip of soup.

"No, Little Mirage Dragon was born through Nirvana. That is different."

"We can boldly assume that in a certain era, the probability of intelligent anomalies being born declined drastically. And that era happened to be when the materialistic route emerged."

Hai Zhiyun drew a horizontal line across the table.

"Before this era, intelligent anomalies were numerous."

"After it, intelligent anomalies were scarce..."

Lu Yuan had initially only been listening casually, but as he listened, his brows gradually furrowed. "Which era?"

"The Fifth Era... supposedly. I'm not entirely sure."

Lu Yuan instinctively felt a trace of unease. The number Fifth Era... was a little sensitive.

Ghosts, demons, monsters, freaks—if the Four Great Calamities each marked an era, then wouldn't the next one be the fifth?

He looked around for a while, decided this information should not be much of an issue, and gestured for her to continue.

Hai Zhiyun took a few bites of mushroom chicken rice, then drank another sip of soup. "A purely materialistic route has no Extraordinary Level. Even when combined with some idealistic technology, the Extraordinary Level of its items declines significantly."

"Like that superconducting composite material, Ether Phase Fiber. In theory, it is only an inferior-grade material. But its practical applications are extremely extensive. It is a prerequisite technology for Controllable Nuclear Fusion..."

"Even if Controllable Nuclear Fusion is truly achieved, I think the entire power-generation apparatus may only be rare-grade. It is unlikely to surpass excellent-grade. Yet its function is far greater than that of a legendary axe."

Hai Zhiyun spoke eloquently. "Pandora Crystal is impressive enough, right? Yet it is also inferior-grade. It is actually a naturally occurring composite material... Pandora Crystal only emerged after the materialistic route appeared."

"Therefore, we can conclude that after this route combining materialism and idealism emerged in the Fifth Era, the rules of the entire Pangu Continent were changed."

"In the eras that followed, this route became widespread. The combination of idealism and materialism became the true mainstream."

"This route is both economical and practical."

"It is simpler than pure materialism and more economical than pure idealism."

Lu Yuan nodded. It sounded somewhat reasonable.

Hai Zhiyun abruptly changed the subject. "But could civilizations before the Fifth Era truly not have conceived of this route?"

"I don't think that's possible. There were too many civilizations, as countless as the sands of the Ganges River. Some must have been technological civilizations by nature, possessing purely materialistic technology and corresponding concepts of development even before arriving on the Pangu Continent."

"There is only one possibility: before the Fifth Era, the physical laws of the Pangu Continent had been interfered with to an utter mess. Perhaps they could not even produce stable electric currents, so they could only follow the idealistic route."

"In that world, idealism was prevalent. Even if they could accomplish things like fantasy magic and immortal cultivation, I would not be surprised at all."

"We could even say that it was a fantasy world!"

"But in some era in the middle, namely... the Fifth Era, pure physics suddenly rose again. Idealism and materialism began to balance out, and everyone could follow a new route."

"Why did this happen? There must have been an immensely significant turning point. I consulted a large amount of Green Field Civilization literature and found some clues. There must have been a massive prehistoric war that changed—"

"Enough. You cannot say any more." Suddenly, red light flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.

It was a mental impact from Domination.

It was not to dominate this young man, but to make him stop speaking.

The depth of this information was already poisonous.

With a clang, the spoon in Hai Zhiyun's hand fell onto the table.

Struck by that impact, her mind became muddled. It took several seconds for her to regain her senses, and she looked blankly at the Grand Commander.

Lu Yuan sighed. "The reason secrets are secrets is because eyes are everywhere in this world... We are all birds in cages."

"Even speculation is dangerous."

"Humanity is a little stronger than you imagine, but the Era Disaster is one hundred million times stronger than you imagine."

Hai Zhiyun froze. Smart people could often think of many things very quickly.

Her mind began racing intensely, and sweat started beading across her forehead.

Her thoughts extended outward from the Ghost Mist Disaster...

In the end, she let out a long sigh. "I understand some things now. This world truly is terrifying."

"The civilizations before us dug far too deep a pit. What kind of mess did they leave behind for us?"

"Not entirely. Without the civilizations before us, there would be no us... We have indeed benefited from the legacy left by our predecessors."

The two ate in silence. Under immense mental pressure, Hai Zhiyun found the food more and more tasteless as she ate, wishing she could immediately return to research.