Wasteland history, Supreme Evolution

"Supreme Evolution?"

Upon hearing the name mentioned by the "professor," Lin Yu had a slight clue.

He had indeed heard this name many times in the Barren Realm.

Yin Lan, who was clearly not very familiar with the Barren Realm, asked, "Huh? Supreme Evolution... Didn't that company go bankrupt?"

"It's more than just bankrupt; it's become illegal. Now, within the City That Never Sleeps, it's an 'illegal company'—the City That City That Never Sleeps' Council has passed a law specifically for it, stamped by the Five Great Families, classifying it as 'Illegal Business Operations'," the professor explained. "In the City That Never Sleeps, this is almost the Highest Level of charge an organization or company can face, higher than 'Violation of Alchemical Ethics' or 'Illegal Preparation of Terrorist Attacks,' and nearly on par with 'Malicious Tax Evasion' or 'Illegal Sale of Supplies to the Great Wilderness.'"

The professor said seriously.

Lin Yu seriously, "It's indeed very serious. I've heard about it a few times before... Although it's not very active anymore, the Three Great Corporations still consider it their number one enemy."

"After all, it almost became the fourth largest company outside of those Three Great Corporations, and at its peak, it was the largest after the Three Great Corporations," the professor said, opening his phone and searching through documents. "About thirty years ago, this company even took on a lot of business from the Three Great Corporations..."

"From pioneering the Great Wilderness to distributing alchemical products within the city, 'Supreme Evolution' has been involved in virtually everything, even undertaking some 'alchemy research and development' projects directly outsourced by the Three Great Corporations."

As the professor spoke, he showed some old newspapers from the City That Never Sleeps —many of the news articles were related to the Supreme Evolution.

"Supreme Evolution Breaks Through New Alchemical Challenges Again," "Truth Company and Supreme Evolution Establish a Strategic Partnership Worth Hundreds of Billions," "Supreme Evolution: The New Helmsman of the Outer City of City That Never Sleeps for the Next Fifty Years," "Palaud Solence Praises 'Supreme Evolution'," "From Zero to One Hundred: Who Exactly is the Founder and 'Creator' of Supreme Evolution?"...

It's easy to see from these positive news headlines that Supreme Evolution was indeed once incredibly successful.

Even Yin Lan now understands the significance of Supreme Evolution and no longer sees it as just a small, bankrupt company in the City That Never Sleeps.

"Because of the time when Supreme Evolution was active, the 'Secretary' who was a 'Player' in the Previous Version had the opportunity to come into contact with them and even cooperate with them, so I guess... many of his ideas probably came from 'Supreme Evolution'."

After showing the newspapers, the professor continued.

Lin Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "But it's just an overlap in time, it shouldn't be enough to make you, Professor, draw such a conclusion..."

The professor nodded. "Of course, I don't only have time as my basis. Another important piece of reasoning is... the 'Authority' technology I mentioned regarding the Barren Realm, and some of the core theoretical sources in the God Creation Project, clearly bear the shadow of the 'Supreme Evolution' company, especially many of the theories of their 'Founder,' the guy codenamed 'Creator,' which almost coincide with each other."

Lin Yu frowned. "Based on the current intelligence and what I know, I haven't heard of them having any related technical or theoretical reserves regarding this Supreme Evolution..."

The professor whispered, "Because that's why they were destroyed... In the beginning, the rise of the Supreme Evolution was due not only to its management skills, but also to the fact that its 'Creator' possessed truly high Alchemy skills—moreover, he mastered many 'High-level Alchemy' outside the Alchemy Lineage that even the Five Great Families didn't possess."

"Therefore, at that time he was indeed able to develop alchemical products that even the Five Great Families couldn't."

"Because the Creator seemed to have a background in the Great Wilderness, the Five Great Families assumed that he had discovered Ancient Alchemy in some Great Wilderness ruins, or that he had created some Advanced Alchemy outside the Alchemy Lineage based on special alchemical reactions... This is rare in the Barren Realm, but it is not unheard of."

"Until one day... the Creator's true abilities were discovered—he did not possess Alchemy outside the Alchemy Lineage, but rather abilities outside the Supernatural System of Alchemy, which he used to simulate Alchemy."

"His abilities... involve 'Authority' and point directly to 'Deity'."

"According to the information I have, the Royal Nobles families who first discovered this Truth judged the Creator's abilities as 'Blasphemy,' and thus launched a 'Company War' against 'Supreme Evolution' —although it was called a 'war,' everything happened so quickly that it was almost entirely accomplished through a series of small-scale 'Decapitation Operation.'"

"This burgeoning company was completely wiped out in just one year."

"However... its legacy still exists in the hands of the 'Secretary,' and continues to shine brightly even decades after this version—that is, decades after the near annihilation of the entire Supreme Evolution of the Barren Realm."

Upon hearing the professor's words, Yin Lan seemed to understand. "Oh—so, we should investigate the company's collaboration with the 'Secretary' back then, right?"

The professor nodded. "Yes, we need to know how the 'Secretary' contacted them in the Previous Version —after all, the Secretary is dead, so it's not very convenient for us to start the investigation from his side, but... we can investigate the 'Spider Silk' he left behind in the Previous Version."

Yin Lan clenched her fist. "Then, we can get some information about that organization called 'Copper Furnace,' which is a remnant from the Previous Version, right?"

The professor nodded. "That's right, I asked 'General'... He knew absolutely nothing about 'Copper Furnace' or 'Emperor,' and even when 'Administrator' was around, he never mentioned any similar organization. So our investigation can only focus on the clues left by 'Secretary.'"

"Moreover... besides investigating the 'Copper Furnace,' I also hope... after the 'Secretary's' death, I can further complete and perfect the 'God Creation Project.'"

The professor said in a low voice.

Yin Lan was shocked. "Really? But this was a plan proposed by the 'Secretary,' and he was an undercover agent..."

Lin Yu interrupted him, "When he proposed this plan, it wasn't from the perspective of an 'undercover agent.' It is indeed a plan that benefits 'Order' and all 'Player.'"

The professor looked at Lin Yu approvingly. "Not bad. Even if the 'God Creation Project' really has problems, I still need to understand the core theories and then further judge... exactly where the problem lies."

Lin Yu said in a low voice, "So, it was actually the right thing for me to suggest asking 'Schreiber' for help."

Yin Lan asked, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the company that first discovered the problem and chose to launch a war to destroy 'Supreme Evolution' was Truth Company and the Nightless Sky Family behind them."

Lin Yu looked at the professor and said calmly.

The professor nodded. "Yes, there are very few records of this in the City That Never Sleeps now. If you were to investigate, you would find that all five factions were involved and all of them dismantled the 'Supreme Evolution'."

"The most crucial 'Life Evolution' related technologies and facilities of the Supreme Evolution have fallen into the hands of the Divine Power Group; several new Independent Alchemy and Mining District and alchemical Item production lines have been taken over by the Universal Chamber of Commerce; and the Truth Company has acquired the 'Creator's' private collection and Alchemy Laboratory..."

"It all seems like the three parties are sharing the profits equally, and the Divine Power Group even seems to have benefited the most. After all, there aren't many records of this matter, and most of them are deliberately vague..."

"However, with a deeper investigation, we can still discover something."

"Although it seems that Divine Power Company contributed the most, this is only the visible part."

"The one who actually dominates all of this is 'Truth Company'."

"At the company level, it's true that the 'Divine Power Group' profited the most, but when it comes to the five major families... the one who actually reaped the most benefits was the Nevernighting Family—in fact, it could be said that the one who benefited the most was the head of the Nevernighting Family alone!"

"Almost all of the 'Creator's' research on authority technology has fallen into the hands of the current head of the Evernight family."

Lin Yu looked at the professor with deep admiration.

Because of these things... even he, who had been in deep contact with the Nightless Sky Family and the Truth Company, hadn't noticed them.

Nightless Sky Yong Lian is indeed cunning and shrewd. It's normal that she couldn't discover the secrets she wanted to hide on her own territory.

But it was precisely because of this that Lin Yu felt the professor was even more impressive...

Because the professor clearly deduced all of this without having much of a foothold in the Barren Realm.

Moreover, Lin Yu didn't think it was fake.

Although he hadn't realized all of this before, what the professor said actually corroborated many things he already knew in his Memory.

For example...

"Thinking about it this way, the most powerful faction within Truth Company right now, the one led by President Paris, was actually promoted around the same time. His greatest 'achievement' should be that he got it through 'Supreme Evolution'."

"If the Divine Power Group truly contributed the most and benefited the most, they should also have a 'Paris' -like figure, but from what I understand... the highest-ranking person they were promoted to around the same time was only a department head."

Lin Yu analyzed.

The professor nodded. "Yes, that's also an important basis for my judgment... Although the social system in the Barren Realm is extreme, it is also 'fair' in a sense."

"So, if the 'Schreiber' you're talking about really does hold a position in 'Truth Company' that's close to ' Sherlock's, then... he could indeed be a huge asset."

"However, while I believe you, rationally I think it's unlikely," the professor paused, "You should know better than I that Comrade 'Forpolo' has the ability to directly meet the 'Head of the Nightless City' in the Wasteland."

Lin Yu nodded. "I know, but I didn't exaggerate Schreiber's status."

"He can also... meet directly with the head of the Nevernight Clan."