The Bureau's Arrangements

Chapter 43: 1.43 The Bureau's Arrangement

The year is 2435 AD. Spring has arrived, and the Third Conflict has effectively ended.

Wei Keng's cluster retreated south. The war was over, and it was time to relax. However, after adapting to war, people developed a craving for excitement.

The cold winds from the north had reached their peak and were now receding. Large numbers of migratory birds began to gather. But they ran into Wei Keng, who was unbound by rules, and this caused some trouble. It was like a doctor secretly drinking glucose water – it might have bothered some people.

Under the guise of supplementing his protein intake, Wei Keng, after securing individuals with four layers of safety ropes, descended the cliff to collect specimens. In the 21st Century, such collection would be deemed illegal by his peers, resulting in a five-year prison sentence and a hefty fine by the courts. As for "kind and righteous" nature conservation volunteers, they would condemn it as madness, deserving to be thrown into the sea.

Wei Keng had already pre-planned his collection targets for each grid area marked on the cliff. It was unrealistic to collect everything, but missing more than three nests would be considered a failure in his work.

Wei Keng and his team descended using ropes, sending baskets full of specimens up. They cleared one area before moving to the next.

The baskets were filled with protein, rich in methionine, something not found in plant-based protein crops like soybeans. Although many flying birds attempted to interfere during this process, some spitting acidic vomit and others pecking with their beaks, Wei Keng, with his meticulous planning, had even prepared for encounters with pterosaurs on the cliff.

After the stakes were driven in, teams of three descended, armed with iron wires. Anyone who dared to spit filth or peck at them would be caught by the other two with large nets, their wings hooked and their legs lifted like catching a mother hen. They were then bound and sent up by rope. After five days of this ordeal, the flying birds in this cliff area were wiped out, and Wei Keng moved on to another cliff.

Wei Keng felt perfectly normal about this: "I don't want to go through all this trouble, but who can I blame when 'chicken, duck, and goose' are extinct in this era? Otherwise, wouldn't poultry and livestock be delicious?"

[If you don't solve the meat, egg, and milk problems for a group of people using modern civilization, then don't use modern concepts to restrict their survival behaviors in this regard.]

In the north, Wei Keng had modified the chicken coops. All birds had their feathers clipped and were crammed into cages, grouped as if they were a family when caught. Wei Keng remarked, "Family members should be neat and tidy."

The females had their wings clipped to lay eggs, while the males were slaughtered. A bowl collected the blood, followed by scalding in hot water to remove feathers. By the stream, white feathers floated on the green water, red duck feet paddled through the clear waves. The meat was then seasoned with oil and spices, grilled to perfection, and served on Wei Keng's table that evening. Of course, more was given to the laborers. Wei Keng was always vigilant about maintaining equality in distribution.

As for the taste of the bird meat—

Wei Keng, picking his teeth, commented with a smack of his lips: "The meat is too tough, not tender at all. It can only be sliced and pan-fried. Stewed, it's like rubber. Roasted, it turns into dry firewood. I'll never eat wild game again. Hmm, the eggs are quite good, though."

While Wei Keng was evaluating the taste of the bird meat, considering how to maintain the cat's predatory instincts to catch more mice and snakes, and how to utilize the brine on the beach to naturally crystallize under the night's temperature difference to collect more, In the Space Bubble corresponding to Wei Keng's location, the supervisor Bai Linglu watched the rectification plan issued from above with great displeasure.

Changing the background of the deep-sea coral in his Space Bubble to withered vines, old trees, and crows, Bai Linglu exclaimed, "Why is this area the one I developed first!"

Chief Observer Bai Hengqian said with a cold face, "No reason. During the planar war, the highest command center has the right to requisition all resources and manpower."

Bai Linglu: "But, Aunt~" His words were cut off before he could finish.

Bai Hengqian: "There's no 'but.' Bai Linglu, are you obeying or not!"

In the space, Bai Linglu pondered for a long time, then raised his head, stubbornly stating, "I concede, young lady, but I want to express my opinion."

Bai Hengqian: "Fine, speak. I'll record it." She maintained a cold, business-like demeanor, as if to say, "You speak your piece, I'll report it, but it might not be heeded."

Bai Linglu: "This current transmigration is highly coincidental. The nature of the transmigrator is coincidental, as is the initial exploration by a complete novice who was unaware of the situation. These coincidences are irreplicable. If this transmigration is abandoned midway, it will be difficult to find the same transmigrator again!"

"I don't deny that the Time-Space Center can bring in High Ministers to practice this model. But can consciousness proliferation be sustained under this model? And will the sustained consciousness proliferation be sustainable and long-lasting?

In my current records, when he first arrived, he was just a Civilian Rank, the most ordinary initial Civilian Rank. Now, every single individual here is a Corporal. The total scale is difficult to estimate. After merging, even with a minimum fusion rate of ten percent, Wei Keng's willpower outburst is quite significant."

"And he's still increasing? Whether it's the mission or his growth, we should strike while the iron is hot," Bai Linglu emphasized her thoughts.

Bai Hengqian said coldly, "He hasn't shown the necessity to continue the mission, and as far as I know, he hasn't exchanged the proliferation equipment you recommended."

Bai Linglu: "What he needs to do, he never says it beforehand. He doesn't want the proliferation equipment now, but I'm confident I can get him to accept my plan."

Bai Hengqian: "How will you get him to accept? By lying? If a Civilian Rank Transmigrator is dissatisfied with a high-risk mission, you can only provide assistance. We will mobilize others to continue this mission. You must obey the assignment."

Bai Hengqian was amused by this girl, she wished she could directly point out, "The reason 'they' replaced you is because your current methods and mindset are both wrong."

Why couldn't Bai Hengqian say it directly? Because she now represented the official side. During the work handover process with the Observer, all conversations would be recorded. Once exposed, it would be an offense on record. This was also why "they" arranged for her to come and take charge. If it were someone else, Bai Linglu would have already left substantial evidence in the conversation.

Bai Linglu: "If it's someone else, it's better not to do it and just seal off this plane and this time-space node. Instead of finding someone else to replace him. If you want to develop this plane now, you should open a new timeline, not use the one he hasn't completed."

Bai Linglu meant for this current beginning to wait for Wei Keng's return, rather than pushing forward while Wei Keng was not on this timeline. However, this was impossible. The Plane War was already intensifying. A landing point for a high-flow-rate time plane must be preserved. The Time-Space Department would use the experience provided by Wei Keng to reopen this plane, but they would not abandon the history that Wei Keng had already opened up.

After all, Wei Keng had secured fifty thousand square kilometers of land in this plane, being the first Transmigrator to establish a stable operation on this plane. This historical line could now produce steadily, enough to allow the effect of the high time-space gap to be exerted steadily. But the Federation would absolutely not give up this "safe" foothold in time and space. After Wei Keng left, they would arrange for new Transmigrators, thereby creating multiple historical lines.

Moreover, in the current war, High Ministers and Sergeants were in short supply. The Time-Space Administration Bureau could only send Corporal-level Transmigrators to reopen the timeline in this plane. Even with the experience and data provided by Wei Keng's exploration, the data Wei Keng provided was only for more than two years, which was too little. What if they failed to reopen it?

Therefore, to maintain a stable landing point for the plane, they must continue based on Wei Keng's exploration. And they were preparing for large-scale development, using the time point after Wei Keng's departure as the new starting point for transmigration, opening up a large number of timelines. This was to ensure that this high-flow-rate world could be fully utilized during wartime.

But in Bai Linglu's eyes, these upper echelons of the Time-Space Administration Bureau might not have considered one thing! On these timelines reopened by Wei Keng, all other Transmigrators would not find a path to continue growing in this world! At that time, they would still have to ask the original Wei Keng to open up this world.

Bai Linglu had a good grasp of Wei Keng's personality over these days.

She knew that if Wei Keng left midway, it would be difficult for him to return to this plane.

Bai Linglu: "This guy is very introverted. Reopening? His (Wei Keng's) current model looks strong, but have you considered that in the early stages of exploration, a Civilian Rank needs to consume three to four thousand times their Information Enthalpy, and with very little equipment in the early stages, there's a high probability of suffering a certain casualty rate. When the casualty rate exceeds ten percent, most people will collapse! You can't reopen it. In the end, you'll still have to use the timeline he opened to continue the exploration."

According to the plane rules discovered in the Main World, if a time node's subsequent history has been extensively modified, causing space-time inflation, this space-time inflation will slow down the entire space-time speed relative to the Main World.

And this space-time inflation is not uniform. The inflation effect is weakest on parallel space-times. For example, with extensive travel on the timeline adjacent to the Shenzhou Plane, the time ratio between the Shenzhou Plane and the Main World only dropped from 10:1 to 9.8:1.

However, the upstream origin of numerous branching timelines experiences the most severe inflation. And if one wants to return to the origin time plane, the time flow rate relative to the Main World will not be hundreds to one.

If the Time-Space Administration Bureau, based on Wei Keng's experience, reopens multiple parallel time points on the Pandora Plane, and each timeline can continue, Bai Linglu would have nothing to say. But she knew that the Time-Space Administration Bureau's upper echelons would likely not succeed on other timelines. They would only develop along Wei Keng's timeline. Then the time inflation effect when Wei Keng left this origin point would be very significant.

If this were the case, if Wei Keng were to return to this time point again, the entire traversal process might be calculated in units of ten years in the Main World's time. Because to bypass a large amount of proliferated space-time, the traversal path would be very circuitous.

In other words, if Wei Keng leaves this timeline now, and the new Transmigrators sent by the Time-Space Bureau have not fully released the transformative potential of this plane, and Wei Keng, the original, must be invited back, the cost would be immense.

The process of Wei Keng returning to this origin time would require more than ten years relative to the Main World.

After partnering with Wei Keng for two years, Bai Linglu had a hunch that she did not trust any Transmigrator other than Wei Keng to develop this plane sustainably. Therefore, she was stubbornly unwilling to let Wei Keng leave, unless she and Wei Keng's timeline were not open to other Transmigrators.

As an Observer, Bai Linglu cared deeply about the long-term prospects of the first high-risk plane she had secured and developed.

However, an arm cannot win against a thigh. She was forcibly made to sign the approval by her aunt, who was also her superior.

By the seaside, Wei Keng had set up a lighthouse, and Wei Keng, with a fat cat, squatted on it.

The reason for building this lighthouse was a message from the system: that plane support had arrived, and once it did, the time for him to leave this world would be near.

And in the rear, while Wei Keng was industriously engaged in industrial production on this plane, the system (Bai Linglu) had taken the opportunity to ask: "Do you have any lingering feelings for this world?"

"Ugh, lingering feelings my ass," Wei Keng immediately denied in his heart. Outwardly, he explained softly, "This world is full of mushrooms, flies, and all sorts of ugly monsters. Every day is filled with things that must be done, it's so annoying."

Wei Keng truly wanted to go back.

Back to the Main World, then lean back in his Otaku Room, open a bottle of Happy Water, tear open a bag of Crab Sticks, put on Immersive Goggles, and sit on a Movie Shaking Chair, resting for two days, no, a week.

Ding dong, just as Wei Keng was fantasizing about how he would enjoy himself upon returning, the System Interface flickered again. It contained some popularization of the Plane Knowledge System.

Now that Wei Keng had some downtime on this plane, the system was popping up this information every day, supplementing Wei Keng with some common sense regarding Plane Exploration.

The reason given was: the Time-Space Administration Bureau was severely short of people during the Plane War, so they were mobilizing as much as possible to find opportunities to educate Reserve Troops.

Now that Earth's two major Technology Groups were in full-blown competition across various planes, they had also explored the situations of planes outside of Earth's space-time.

Wei Keng, having nothing else to do, clicked on these discoveries to take a look.

"The Main World of Earth, the only True Realm in the multiverse!" Such an exaggerated title made Wei Keng feel like he was back in the 21st Century with Mobile News Push notifications. However, there were assessment standards for his learning, so Wei Keng still had to click and read.

Compared to different planes, the elementary particles observable in the Main World were the most concise and stable among all observed planes!

The Material Accumulation Basis of the Main World's material framework was so stable, it was equivalent to a house where the bricks and tiles were laid very tightly, with almost no gaps! And this was its greatest characteristic. The phenomenon of consciousness was revealed through the gaps in the physical rules of this plane's particles.

The energy level plane of the physical phenomenon where human consciousness resided in the Main World was extremely small compared to other phenomena in the Main World. It was so small that in Earth's past history, people could safely and boldly regard the vague information occasionally encountered in dreams as "Supernatural," never worrying about its real existence.

Even Idealism, the basis of what Ancient Philosophers often said, "Cogito Ergo Sum"—thought—was electron transmission. The energy of conscious phenomena, in comparison, was like a swimming fish in the ocean.

Most people's consciousness, in their own ocean of thought, couldn't even stir up a vortex—Procrastination, Intermittent Effort, complacency upon understanding a little, wanting to ignore difficulties, seeking possible "innovative" shortcuts, these were all clear proofs that ordinary people's consciousness could not dominate their thoughts.

The physical phenomenon of "consciousness" in the Main World was so negligible relative to macroscopic phenomena that Earth's Will of Life, after evolving for billions of years, only developed nerves, hands, tools, and other methods to interfere with the world.

However, in other planes, the physical rules left very loose bricks and tiles for the Will of Life, and consciousness could directly shake these "bricks and tiles," thus allowing consciousness linked through thought to directly leverage macroscopic phenomena on a macro scale. This was the effect of "I Think This Mountain Will Collapse, The Mountain Collapses According to My Heart."

Relatively speaking, the evolution of life on these planes was much faster than in the Main World. Some Major Life Changes could happen in tens of thousands of years, not hundreds of millions.

However, while loose bricks and tiles allowed life to drill out, they couldn't allow life to stand firm on them. Earth's wisdom, through a Difficult Evolution over four billion years, formed civilization in this Main World, possessing an excellent Material Accumulation Basis.

"Materials" whose properties would not change for hundreds of millions of years were everywhere in the Main World! When materials were not arbitrarily shaken by conscious thoughts, consciousness could utilize the objective material conditions of this world for accumulation since ancient times.

Supercomputers complete vast and precise calculations using common materials on Earth. This is a victory for the materialist system, and its internal energy calculation phenomena will not be affected or change the calculation results due to anyone's prayer, scolding, or consecration.

However, in some planes, even if calculations are done with a difference engine, the gears might unpredictably slip under the unconscious influence of society, producing different calculation results.

Humans on Earth can be materialist! Those who need idealism are almost all reflected in long-term planning. If, in the short term, the objective accumulation results of some people's actual actions are changed by the fantasies of a minority, then in Earthling terms: "It's like encountering a ghost."

Due to this nature of Earth, it can stably preserve a large amount of completed results, continuously accumulating experience. And because Earthlings operate under physical rules, their consciousness's growth is generally more tenacious than beings of similar cognitive complexity in other planes. Therefore—Earthlings, you should be confident.

The system's science popularization for today ends here.

Wei Keng, hugging the fat cat and warming his hands, stared blankly at the sponge, which seemed to be experiencing some waves: "How come I feel like this is educating me?"

Volume One finally concludes.