The Fittest, Resonance

Chapter 19 1.19 The Fittest, Resonance

The war was over. What remained was to clean up the battlefield, skinning what needed to be skinned, and grilling what needed to be grilled. The humidity in the jungle was very thick. As soon as night fell, fog began to form in some areas, and fires had to be lit quickly to dispel the dampness.

As for their own corpses, the Wei Kengs dug pits and buried them hastily. There was no need to cry for themselves; remembering the pain, scars, and the lessons learned from their blood and sweat was enough.

After burying each self, the Wei Kengs would smash a stone, placing half of it on the grave and taking the other half with them.

Work was urgent now, and there were no conditions for holding funerals. But before leaving, Wei Keng intended to carve the information left behind in this world by the sacrificed selves onto the cliff face. The broken stones taken with them would later be placed before the inscriptions on these mountains.

For now, pain needed to be transformed into driving force.

Wei Keng had confirmed their location. This area belonged to the Zhū Shuǐjiǎo Region. The skyscrapers of the past had all collapsed within a hundred years, covered by vegetation and no longer visible.

During the recent battle, the several fifty-meter mounds Wei Keng had seen were actually piles of debris from collapsed skyscrapers. After decades of rain. The glass shards had turned into fine sand, eroded by the moss and herbaceous plants on the surface, and were no longer visible on the ground.

It wasn't until Wei Keng started digging pits and unearthed items like red bricks, ceramic tile fragments, and rusty door handles from underground that Wei Keng realized this had once been a city. Wei Keng lacked the discipline of an archaeologist to protect relics. Picking up bricks to build a bathhouse and a bed, these burnt red bricks were quite good materials now.

After a brief confirmation, the Wei Kengs decided to set up camp in the area and explore for more underground resources.

As souls from the 21st Century, digging up a 21st Century city, Master Wei Keng felt no psychological burden.

Groups of personnel began to transform into construction teams.

The first group started dismantling steel pipes and assembling tents.

On the original lake, the second Wei Kengs, who were planning the water source, used the naturally formed river that already existed there. They began to lay pebbles from the adjacent stream, then dug a trench to divert the stream's water into it. After filtration, it would become drinking water.

The team of a hundred people worked silently, sometimes finding joy in hardship, tasting the potential sweetness of some unearthed grass roots.

Wei Keng 1344 suddenly said, "We are currently living in the city center, but unfortunately, there is no hospital."

Wei Keng 1365 said, "There are no fast-food restaurants either, nor any Internet Cafes."

Wei Keng 1343 said, "All we can dig up now are bricks. The glass bottles are all cracked, and there's nothing to drink."

Another replied, "Sweetened water from hundreds of years ago, and you dare to drink it."

At this moment, a Wei Keng from the Communications Group walked over and asked, "Are you guys chatting?"

The Wei Kengs looked up and nodded, but suddenly realized something.

The Wei Keng in charge of communications said, "You didn't move your mouths just now!"

The Wei Kengs looked at each other in surprise! They hadn't moved their mouths just now, and even the distance between themselves during the conversation was ten meters. The sound of digging stones with engineer shovels was very noisy, which should have been a barrier to communication. But they had naturally exchanged their thoughts and received responses.

However, now, when they deliberately tried to do so, it was like a dream where "you float from the air to the ground, wanting to fly again, but finding you can never replicate it."

Communications Group Wei Keng: "Don't worry everyone, we'll ask the other groups about this later! It shouldn't be an isolated incident." -- As long as it's not an isolated incident, it can be seen as normal and analyzed objectively.

If this kind of telepathy could be actively achieved, the collaboration ability within Wei Keng's group would be greatly enhanced.

This was certainly not an isolated incident; members of other groups also experienced temporary, unhindered mental communication.

Meanwhile, the Observer was currently in shock from the data transmitted back by the node particles from Wei Keng's side.

The Information Enthalpy only replicated the body and mind, but the phenomenon of consciousness was not included in the replication.

To be precise, consciousness is a quantum physical phenomenon that cannot be precisely observed or measured, because once observed, the wave function collapses and becomes fixed, which is equivalent to killing someone.

What happens when there is only a body and a fixed mind, lacking consciousness? They would act according to inertial thinking, hesitate when encountering various situations, and act according to instinct.

The greatest possibility for such large-scale self-replication would be chaos and disintegration. However, Wei Keng did not disintegrate. His inertial thinking contained some dogmatic elements, which clearly prevented Wei Keng from dispersing at the beginning, and instead formed a collective.

As an individual, Wei Keng had always believed himself to be an ordinary person, not someone capable of turning the tide. Therefore, when facing danger, his instinct was to rely on the collective.

But this was still inertial thinking. If it were only this, it would not be enough! Without consciousness to further consolidate, this collective would encounter various contradictions and begin to disintegrate.

After Wei Keng's individual actions synchronized and disappeared at the beginning, although the subconscious maintained the whole, the trend was still towards dispersion.

If this were a situation of tourism on a deserted island, Wei Keng's group would have experienced various divisions within a few days.

But with the subsequent crisis, this trend was quickly halted.

A side note: When the crisis occurred, Bai Linglu thought that Wei Keng would accelerate the chaos and scatter in all directions, as this human accident had occurred in multiple experiments by Transmigrators in the West ten years ago.

But Wei Keng, for some unknown reason, suddenly experienced a surge in consciousness. Among all the replicated minds that originally only contained instinct and inertia, the more than 1,500 individuals suddenly possessed subjective initiative!

And this surge continued throughout the subsequent battle.

When Wei Keng's individual experienced a tragic death, this surge reached its peak!

At that time, the consciousness scale within the vast majority of Wei Keng's individuals exceeded the civilian level, and the consciousness scale of some individuals, such as those who directly charged to the front of the node creature for close combat, was clearly at the scholar level.

This surge decreased somewhat after the battle ended, and the consciousness scale of all Wei Keng's individuals dropped back below the civilian level.

But even so, with nearly 1,600 bodies, such a total consciousness scale was still terrifyingly high.

Observer Bai Linglu was currently busy with her primary duties.

Her primary duties not only included providing various buffs to Wei Keng, but also: storing the mental states of Wei Keng's fallen individuals before their deaths!

The Time-Space Shuttle Department paid great attention to the life and death status of Transmigrators, but in terms of medical standards, it always evaluated based on the total consciousness of the Transmigrator! Memory loss would cause the consciousness to lose its foundation.

However, during plane exploration, the total consciousness was growing, and the impact of some memory loss due to accidents during traversal was not significant.

And as long as valuable memories are preserved and copied, it's equivalent to a portion of memories going dormant! Because upon return, the self will re-accept these memories, which is like waking them from dormancy.

To some extent, the demise of Wei Keng's individual self in this world is merely a forced pause; when he returns to the Main World, he will recall his past.

Therefore, at present, with Wei Keng's few individual selves suspended in their planar exploration, Bai Linglu, as the Observer, is not anxious. However, she hasn't informed Wei Keng about the 'memory preservation' status of those who perished.

After Bai Linglu finished the necessary matters concerning Wei Keng, she urgently reported this significant discovery.

Four Dimensional Distances later.

The response came from the Gravity Well exit: "Do his multiple individuals have any integration obstacles?"

Bai Linglu: "No, all consciousness frequencies are very compatible and can be perfectly integrated."

The Gravity Well seemed to discuss it for a moment before responding: "There are still a few months. Please observe while ensuring the Transmigrator's safety."

What Bai Linglu was thinking was known to the Eastern Time-Space Administration Bureau! In fact, a radical faction clearly emerged during the Bureau's discussions on this matter.

The Pandora Plane is classified as a high-risk forbidden zone! This classification is due to the inability to find effective survival technology for this plane.

As for whether the native Human Civilization's survival technology could forge a bright path? Let's just say that the human settlements here are in the process of extinction.

Therefore, even if a Minister arrived, they could only alter the storylines of a few individuals in this era and exert some influence.

But now! The phenomenon of life radiation on this plane seems to have been given a new interpretation by Wei Keng!

Over fifteen hundred individuals, with identical genes and minds that do not conflict, achieving unity in will. Although the process might involve many complex mechanisms, whether it can be replicated in other Transmigrators remains to be verified.

However, it can now be confirmed:

In Bai Linglu's latest assessment, under the life radiation of the Pandora world, Wei Keng, unlike other Transmigrators, was not subjected to constant insertion of foreign genes by the local life radiation. Instead, it was Wei Keng who was radiating!

Furthermore, Wei Keng's life radiation began to evolve more deeply based on the environment!

Look, what is the consciousness communication happening among the current Wei Keng collective? It's that the life radiation has begun to evolve towards the function of information transmission.

Bai Linglu, within the plane's high-energy chamber, confirmed that Wei Keng was suitable for development, exploration, and accumulation on this plane. And in the current era, if an exploration team makes a significant contribution to exploring a high-risk plane, that team will be granted exclusive authority over that plane.

(Less important addendum: this authority belongs to the Transmigrator and the Observer accompanying them.)

So, Bai Linglu, inside the space bubble, covered her ears and quietly justified herself: "Is there anything wrong with me hoping you succeed?"

And now, the situation facing the Time-Space Planners is also different from before!

The planar war among the Main World's Transmigrators has reached a fever pitch.

If Wei Keng can achieve unprecedented pioneering on the Pandora Plane, it will open a new strategic channel for the Eastern Time-Space Administration Bureau. This will play a crucial role in breaking the stalemate in the multi-planar zone.

The first conflict in the history of Human Civilization in the planar domain is of no small significance. The loss of first-mover advantage means someone will bear historical responsibility.

Therefore, the Earth Time-Space Bureau has some bold and proactive ideas regarding the plane Wei Keng has descended upon.

However, it's still the same problem: Wei Keng is currently just a "Civilian" level Transmigrator who has recently joined the ranks.

"Civilian" level, as the name suggests, are civilians. Strictly speaking, by the definition ten years ago, "Civilian" level Transmigrators were not considered regular troops in the process of transmigration; they were still reserve forces in training. Tasking them with opening up high-risk planes is truly a bit... a bit cruel!

"Yes, it is a bit cruel." The supporters did not deny that the aggressive plan placed too much pressure on the newcomer Transmigrators, but they cited the situation on the front lines.

As the relevant discussions within the Time-Space Management Department reached this point, a spatial bubble near Wei Keng's Space-Time Region began to express its opinion.

'High Minister' level Transmigrator Luo Hongxing: "But isn't the confrontation directly ahead even more cruel? The war has already caused three of our Scholar level Transmigrators to be lost in space."

This weighty statement brought the discussion to a temporary halt.

At this time, on the Pandora Plane, night had fallen. The external mist was rather thick, making the fences damp. Thus, the bonfire in the center of the camp burned even more vigorously. Bricks heated in the fire were taken out one by one, wrapped in straw ropes, and placed into Wei Keng's bedding.

The twenty-three wounded individuals within Wei Keng's group had stabilized. Wei Keng couldn't help but marvel at his own Vitality.

One of his severely injured individuals had lost an amount of blood that would absolutely lead to shock and death. However, after they poured the prepared Blood Curd Soup into the severely injured individual's mouth and continuously kept them warm with blankets, this individual recovered.

The bonfire was burning in the camp. The surrounding fences had been completed, and behind the fences were various pit traps.

And the duty personnel had also been arranged. The more you do, the more at ease you are.

Most of Wei Keng's group began to summarize the day's work and gathered to explore the phenomenon of consciousness resonance that had appeared in many of their groups during the day. When they were lost in thought just now, their minds would spread outwards, and a collective telepathy phenomenon had just occurred again.

Wei Keng's Communications Group began to obtain detailed information from the system.

In the consciousness of Wei Keng's group, the system surprisingly appeared in a perceivable form.

Bai Linglu appeared in Wei Keng's mind in the form of sparkling stars. She strung together the scenes collected from various individuals during the battle and began to explain.

The showy system in Wei Keng's eyes: "Currently, there is a lack of data and information regarding the thought exchange you are experiencing. You are the only Transmigrator to arrive in this plane in your current form and survive effectively.

Currently known: The information of the life gene replication protein on this plane causes a strong quantum tunneling phenomenon, leading to genetic chaos within various species.

However, life phenomena themselves possess the ability to organize chaos.

For example, the Node Creature and its tribe that you encountered are an example of life from Earth's natural regions attempting to complete life information integration in the Pandora field environment; they are a Gene Colony.

And you, as a new group, are much more orderly in terms of genetic foundation than the traditional group life on this plane.

Therefore, you might experience a certain degree of life resonance?"

Wei Keng's Communications Group 33: "What does this genetic life activity information have to do with my consciousness exchange?"

System: "Consciousness is, in essence, also a life phenomenon. The consciousness you understand now is understood through thought. Most life forms have not evolved thought to carry consciousness. Their current life consciousness is the result of gene selection during their evolutionary process, corresponding to the quantum tunneling phenomenon of life in the Pandora Era, after which it was born."

Wei Keng Comms 13: "So, I can try to resonate with thoughts, attempt to resonate with consciousness, and thereby achieve resonance with life?"

System: "Yes, however, you? It seems you cannot control resonance at the moment."

Wei Keng's Injured 87: "Perhaps, I can try. Let me think of something that gives me goosebumps."

Fifteen seconds later.

Forty Wei Kengs gathered together and, under the conductor's wave, began to sing at the top of their lungs: "The Five-star Red Flag flutters in the wind! The song of victory is so sonorous..."

Wei Keng had forgotten how long it had been since he had sung wholeheartedly in a chorus.

In his youth, during the flag-raising ceremony, Wei Keng always hummed rather than sang at the top of his lungs. Because if his voice was too loud, people around him would inevitably notice him, and then his voice would involuntarily weaken.

During military training, everyone was required to sing loudly. But that was because the drill instructors demanded a certain volume, and everyone was just completing a task.

As for singing like this now, with a large group of himself in this foreign land, singing with abandon.

The chorus of forty people quickly sparked resonance, and more and more of himself joined in, the sound growing louder.

In the air, an invisible force seemed to be spreading – a shared sacredness, and each of himself felt a resonance amidst the emotional fervor.

This resonance felt the fatigue of the day, as well as the pain of other selves.

A strange thing happened?

The wounds of those severely injured Wei Kengs began to proliferate again, and the Wei Keng with the broken leg felt extremely thirsty, drinking large amounts of water and replenishing food ferociously. The cells in his leg grew rapidly, like fungal proliferation.

Of course, this growth did not include bone, only muscle. But! If the flesh could grow, the bone could naturally grow with a little more time.

After the song ended, the telepathic phenomenon that had temporarily appeared in various work groups during the day now uniformly appeared in the minds of all Wei Kengs. Each self had established information exchange with six to thirty other selves. This lasted for two hours.

The Observer Bai Linglu began to get busy again. This situation far exceeded the best expectations of her and the other administrators.