Mass Production of Art

On the surface, the idea of exploring underground seemed difficult to realize for the time being. The cost of entering the earth was simply too high.

Exploring the seabed, on the other hand, was a pretty good idea. It cost nothing—he could simply turn into a Shadow Person and dive straight in.

But in reality, things were not that simple.

Without a perception-type trait, going into the deep sea would be no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. He had no idea how long it would take before he made any significant gains.

Compared to that, precious minerals could be found everywhere in the deeper layers of the mantle. There was no need to search at all.

Even if he had the worst luck imaginable and ended up somewhere filled entirely with lava, that lava was still extremely valuable.

At a pulling speed of more than a hundred kilograms per second, he could absorb the surrounding substances into his mind. In one minute, that amounted to nearly a ton of High-Temperature Molten Slag.

This High-Temperature Molten Slag was at least five thousand degrees Celsius. Once stored in his mindscape, it could be converted into Thermal Energy when the opportunity arose, yielding at least two hundred billion joules.

Expressed in kilowatt-hours, that was fifty-eight thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity.

And that was only a single ton. If Bai Ge acquired enough of it, he would make an enormous profit. The cost of going underground would all be recouped.

This did not even account for whether the High-Temperature Molten Slag contained abundant radioactive elements. If it did, then its heat would continue flowing endlessly for a certain period of time.

With good luck, Bai Ge would possess a stable source of energy for some time in the future.

That was the greatest reason Bai Ge wanted to go underground: everything was for energy.

Compared to that, salvaging pearls, treasures, and the like from the deep sea was no longer very attractive.

Besides, it was not as if he would definitely gain something the moment he entered the sea. Bai Ge would first have to create a perception-type trait for himself, which would take a long time.

The energy spent on that would undoubtedly be better used for an expedition to the earth's core.

"I wonder how expensive the 'ticket' to the depths below the mantle is..."

"But no matter how much it costs, as long as I stay there long enough, I'll be able to recoup the expense."

In the vast universe, Bai Ge asked Lingdang, "How is it? Did the pseudo-reality succeed?"

Lingdang replied, "No. The known information is far from enough to construct a universe. I'm missing too many important parameters."

Bai Ge was not surprised by this result.

He had considered using the rules of reality to construct a rigorous universe inside his mindscape. That way, the technology developed in that universe would be applicable in reality.

After all, the information would come entirely from reality.

Even if there were minor differences, it could at least be used for simulations or experiments, and would certainly have immense reference value.

But clearly, this road was long, and he still had a long way to go.

"I see. Then creating a qualified vehicle for traveling to the earth's core is unrealistic too..."

"Looks like I'll still have to rely on a 'One-time Trait' or a 'Temporary Trait.'"

"Randomly teleporting a thousand kilometers underground—that's a One-time Trait forcibly added to the Shadow Person state."

"It really won't work. I have too little electrical energy right now. It's not even enough for one use."

Bai Ge knew that spatial-transference traits would inevitably require an extremely massive amount of energy.

"My generator units should arrive in four days. I wonder if they'll be enough."

"I'll raise some funds first and get several more."

"Computer technology, power systems, thermal devices..."

Bai Ge accepted all knowledge without discrimination, even including art.

"Writing techniques, composing music and lyrics, painting, calligraphy..."

The thing Bai Ge feared least was learning. He opened his computer and began cramming all kinds of knowledge from reality.

While waiting for the generator units over the next few days, he could just absorb all the knowledge available online.

This information was all acknowledged by reality, so it could only benefit his mindscape.

He no longer needed to use a hard drive as an intermediary. Bai Ge had already become proficient at moving his consciousness in and out of his mindscape.

He only needed to share everything he saw with Lingdang, transmitting the information directly. He did not need to understand it himself, or even see it clearly.

It was somewhat like indirect photographic memory. Bai Ge truly had become capable of remembering everything he saw.

Lingdang recorded the vast amount of information. Whatever Lingdang learned, he learned as well.

Repeating this process, Bai Ge slowly browsed various pages. Every time he turned a page, he would close his eyes and briefly enter his mindscape before coming back out.

His eyes were like cameras, frantically scanning the information.

As Bai Ge's consciousness switched back and forth between reality and his mindscape with increasing proficiency, the transmission efficiency also rose.

His page-turning speed continued to increase, and his eyelids blinked with rapid-fire clicks.

Of course, this was limited to short and concise materials. When he encountered books with massive word counts, he still obediently downloaded them onto the hard drive.

Otherwise, merely turning the pages would exhaust him.

"Lingdang, is the amount of knowledge still insufficient? Your ability to invent and create is terrible."

After working for an entire day, Lingdang had already integrated all the knowledge it had absorbed, and so had Bai Ge.

Lingdang said, "I won't have any additional inspiration. My creativity is the same as yours... I can bring my technical abilities to their limit, but artistic inspiration and sudden flashes of insight are things that can only be encountered by chance. The natural sciences aren't so simple that breakthroughs can be made effortlessly, either. If it can be done, it can be done. If it can't, it can't."

It merely did the best possible job based on its existing abilities. Its imagination could not surpass Bai Ge's.

Therefore, anything Lingdang made was something Bai Ge could have made himself. Bai Ge might have needed a long time, while Lingdang needed only a second.

"...I understand. Write a novel for me to look at," Bai Ge said.

In less than a second, a ten-million-word web novel was shared with Bai Ge.

Bai Ge laughed. "Not bad. You actually have this kind of writing ability?"

It was a historical novel. Lingdang had written it with considerable sophistication, its prose steady as Mount Tai.

The idea was not particularly astonishing, because Bai Ge discovered that everything in it was something he had thought of before. Naturally, he was not surprised.

Lingdang's advantage lay in its ability to do whatever could be done to perfection.

A book that required a long time to polish meticulously took it only one second to complete.

At first, Lingdang had not possessed this ability.

But after recording every piece of text, every idiom, and every historical allusion...

After learning the writing techniques and formulas made publicly available online, Lingdang could mass-produce decent articles.

Although its inspiration and creativity were on the same level as Bai Ge's...

When it came to "arranging words," it was at a perfect level.

After learning most of the writing techniques in reality, Lingdang could write books that truly played with language to its absolute limit.

Perhaps they would lack genuine emotion, and perhaps their ideas would not be particularly dazzling, but the prose would undoubtedly be top-notch.

The formulas, techniques, and patterns could all be brought to their peak.

In fact, combined with its enormous volume of knowledge, this writing ability was already enough to crush the vast majority of authors in the world.

"Compose a song for me to hear," Bai Ge said.

The next second, Lingdang played a melodious tune. It was the type Bai Ge liked best, but it still felt merely average.

"Mm, music doesn't work. This melody is so ordinary. Is my composing ability really only this good?" Bai Ge asked.

Lingdang answered honestly, "Yes. My ability is the same as yours."

"..."

"I understand. Whatever level we learn to, we can produce the best results at that level... My musical sense is actually this terrible..." Bai Ge murmured.

Lingdang said honestly, "You're tone-deaf. Your natural musical sense is abysmal, and you have almost no musical talent. So even if I bring my technical ability to its peak, I can only reach this level."

"...I said I know. You don't need to explain it in such detail."

Lingdang continued, "Would you like me to alter this setting?"

Bai Ge said awkwardly, "If I'm tone-deaf, then I'm tone-deaf... There's no need to alter reality over something like this..."

Lingdang added, "Actually, your visual arts are also..."

"Ahem. Compared to all of humanity, how advanced would you say our current achievements in the natural sciences are?" Bai Ge changed the subject.

Lingdang said, "My estimate may not be accurate... If all of humanity's technology is rated at ten, I'm roughly at six... Also, Dominator, the foundation of my thought comes from your subconscious. I'm a part of you. There's no need to hide your shortcomings from me."

Bai Ge pursed his lips. "Got it."

"Can you type for me? Input your books into the hard drive in reality. That should count as shaping electronic information. If I provide the energy, you ought to be able to do it."

Lingdang replied, "Yes."

Bai Ge hurriedly brought the hard drive into his mindscape.

Immediately afterward, the portable hard drive contained the full text of ten books in various genres, consuming only a tiny amount of his energy.

"Pure knowledge, combined with my fairly decent imagination, is enough to let me reach the pinnacle of a particular field."

"The natural sciences are the same. As long as my knowledge reaches a certain level, and I have enough inspiration in that area, I can instantly advance technology."

Bai Ge muttered to himself.

If Bai Ge could develop a technology after a certain amount of time...

Then with Lingdang's ability, it could develop it instantly.

But if Bai Ge could not crack it no matter what, Lingdang could not crack it either.

"Zero" or "perfect."

Of course, inspiration could come at any time. As long as his knowledge was sufficient and Bai Ge had a sudden flash of insight...

Lingdang would instantly share it, bringing the technology that should have evolved from it into reality.

Absorbing knowledge was not difficult. The key was inspiration.

So what Bai Ge had to do now was "fill himself up" with knowledge!

Once he had that foundation, the moment inspiration appeared, he would be able to obtain new technology instantly!

"Dominator, are you planning to publish these writings?" Lingdang asked.

"Of course."

"But the funds will take a long time to come in. I know you prefer making quick money, so I recommend directly using our computer technology to hack into banks..."

Bai Ge laughed. "Don't bring up hacking into banks... The money we obtained that way would cause enormous trouble."

Lingdang said, "Then I recommend mass-selling novels and music. To me, these are merely artistic arrangements of words and musical notes. Even if the income is lower, we can rapidly accumulate funds as long as the volume is high."

Bai Ge nodded. "I know what to do. What you said makes sense, but I also need a steady, long-term source of funds."

Lingdang said, "I recommend operating a game as a long-term source of income."

Bai Ge tilted his head. "Do we have the ability to make a best-selling game now?"

Lingdang replied, "No... But we can learn... We need more cutting-edge knowledge. Once our computer technology reaches the highest level, you could even record the scenery and objects inside your mindscape and profit from them."

Bai Ge laughed. "The knowledge on the internet can no longer satisfy us... Mm, prepare the relevant tools."

"They're ready. All the hacking tools, as well as an entirely new system."

"Excellent... Mm, once our energy becomes abundant in the future, I'll give you a body on the level of reality, and perhaps even a soul."

Lingdang responded, "Oh."

"You don't seem excited?"

"Because I'm a tool. I only share your joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness."