A World of Immeasurable Value

Chapter 6: 1.06 Chapter A World of Immeasurable Value

The first world Wei Keng traversed, according to the classification data released by the Time-Space Department, belonged to the space between the Adjacent Plane and the Near Plane.

It possessed the ancient history of the Main World, and most physical phenomena were currently similar to the Main World, so it was initially classified as an Adjacent Plane. Only recently was the possibility of supernatural powers emerging in this plane's humans discovered, leading to its current consideration as a Near Plane.

The turning point caused by the space-time ripple occurred when the Tartar Empire besieged a certain fortified city in Tongchuan Prefecture Road Hezhou. On the day Great Khan Möngke was about to be killed by a trebuchet, this Great Khan, due to an encounter with divine envoys, led his troops to retreat and return to the grasslands, thus avoiding his fated demise.

These divine envoys bestowed the Mongol Army with Light Blades and Divine Bows.

Subsequently, under the will of God, they began to march north, sweeping across Europa. However, this scourge from God, this invasion, had a far more profound impact than in the Main World.

In the Main World, the sudden rise of mounted forces on the grassland frontier had already dealt a devastating blow to the historical civilization of the Danqing Dynasty, comparable to a dimensional reduction attack.

This was specifically reflected in navigational chart relics: the Yashan unified shipping lanes were straight, but afterward, the routes became curved. This indicated the loss of navigational technology like the Star-Gazing Board. What was lost from humanity's classical era was not just navigation. Since books were fragile and rare, it was highly likely that after a single ancient siege battle, soldiers, in their thorough searches, burned down a building, and the accumulation of classical technology was severed. This time, however, the Jiuzhou continent did not suffer such a sweep. A large amount of technology was preserved among the populace.

But whether it was Constantinople, the Papal States of the Vatican, or the yet-to-be-completed Notre Dame Cathedral in Gaul, all were completely burned down by the Tatars.

However, after the Tatars struck the European continent.

This force that scourged the world suddenly vanished. The entire Tartar high command collapsed overnight, leaving no trace, not even a tomb, and a multitude of mysteries.

Later, after a period of vassal fragmentation on the land of Jiuzhou, a general used a Tengu Wood Carving to repel the remaining Tartar troops and established the Great Yan Dynasty in Yanjian Capital.

Three hundred years after this dynasty, it encountered an extremely cold climate and was once again invaded by the Tatars. The direct heir to the empire, Prince Jin, died in battle. Subsequently, a warlord in the north, under the banner of nationalism, supported the succession of a Queen.

Nearly a hundred years passed. Due to frequent commodity exchanges and intensifying ideological conflicts between the Nanyang regions, the eastern part of the world experienced an industrial revolution first. As the sails of the Great Voyage successfully unfurled across the oceans, the Shenzhou Imperial Heng Gewu Division built the first steam engine. Five years later, Europeans also built similar machines.

By the end of the nineteenth century Western Era, global capitalism transitioned from an early stage of free commercial economy to a monopolistic commercial economy.

Conflicts on the old continents grew increasingly severe, and the power struggles after the industrial age began. The major powers in various regions of the world were drawn into this "Meat Grinder."

In the later stages of the war, as the New Continent region joined the Western Ocean bloc, the former vassal states of Shenzhou maintained an ambiguous stance during the conflict.

The Eastern Asian Shenzhou bloc was forced to accept the armistice agreement proposed by the equally scarred Holy Alliance.

After the first great power struggle of the industrial age concluded, the authority of Eastern Shenzhou was greatly diminished, and internal cracks appeared in its rule. Northeast Asia's Shenyang also seized the opportunity to demand the abolition of tribute and the establishment of a Brother Nation status.

Under pressure from the situation, the upper echelons of Shenzhou were forced to compromise further with the aristocratic groups in various regions internally, increasing the proportion of scholars who passed the Dengke examinations in the southeast entering officialdom. Externally, they reconciled with the European Nations, abandoning the radical strategy of "civilizing Africa" before the first industrial war and recognizing Shenyang's status while supporting its maritime power development.

However, the West was not faring any better. In Eastern Europe, Sarlos experienced a backlash, the rule of the Romanov Family was overthrown, and Soviet Red Russia was established, beginning to export its ideology towards Europa.

What followed was a world of constant, small-scale conflicts for fifty years.

Shenzhou licked its wounds and re-established order in Nanyang, Central Asia, and South Asia, while remaining vigilant against the rise of Soviet Red Russia's land power.

Meanwhile, Shenyang was completely unleashed, vigorously developing its maritime power, expanding its sphere of influence to the Australia Continent, and now coveting the resources of Latin America.

The European Community Alliance also experienced internal division. The Western Ocean economic bloc, represented by the Anglo-Saxons and Gaul, and the Mediterranean economic bloc, centered around the Rhine River and the Italian Peninsula, diverged strategically. The European Community Alliance was effectively defunct.

And in the New Continent's United States of America, although it successfully dismembered Shenzhou's monolithic influence in Asia and the Western Pacific during the First Global Hegemony War.

However, with the rise of Shenyang in the Pacific, it still offered no foothold for these Yankees.

Furthermore, the African colonial territories promised by the old empires of Europa during the war were ultimately abandoned after various treaty interpretations.

The United States of America's original economic recovery came to an abrupt halt in the 1930s of this century.

The Third Hegemony War did not break out, but the world's accumulated underlying tensions continued to scar this world for the next forty years.

It is now the year 2186 of the Qin Tong Calendar.

The Time-Space Administration Bureau of the Main Plane has stationed itself in this timeline's dimension. For example, across the ocean, they established Future Company, which now spans the New and Old Continents.

Shenzhou: Behind the alliances of multiple family businesses of the old financial magnates in regions like Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yili, lies the influence of forces from the Main Plane.

Wei Keng's father was one of the pioneers of this world's new technological financial consortium.

Wei Keng's father invested heavily in consolidating his influence in this dimension. And after Wei Qiang was transferred away, the Main Plane immediately transferred Wei Keng over to inherit it.

Why is this the case?

The developmental situation of this dimension holds significant reference value for the Eastern Civilization of the Main Plane.

In the Main Plane, the Industrial Revolution broke out in Britain, and a set of standards became universal, with the East following suit to industrialize. This is why when people in the 21st century write transmigration novels about going back to the Great Ming Dynasty to initiate an Industrial Revolution, they often carry a Western flavor.

This is because the accumulation of empirical knowledge in Eastern classical civilization was interrupted after the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

In the Main Plane, even a sliver of the rational thought from the Song Dynasty remains, still providing standards for certain contemporary industries. For example, the book "Collected Cases of Injustice Rectification." It was obtained by the Freemasons and taken to Europa, where they recognized the Eastern rational logical thinking. Based on the timing of fly egg-laying and the types of flies in different regions, it provided standards for determining the location of a crime scene.

What would this world be like if the civilization's sedimentation from the Two Song Dynasties had been perfectly inherited by subsequent dynasties! And if it had evolved into an Eastern Industrial Revolution?

This world is precisely like that. The East possesses a unique industrial system.

The carpentry trade, which is now an intangible cultural heritage in the Main Plane, is passed down by folk artisans.

During the Ming Dynasty, only Eastern carpenters could use the mortise and tenon method to construct furniture, while Europeans were more accustomed to using iron nails.

Please note that the essence of mechanical construction and assembly is also a form of piecing together.

Screws and rivets became part of industry because manufacturing developed a complete set of standardized models for them.

And the industry in the East of this world has a Yin-Yang System. It quantifies the expansion and contraction of different materials at different temperatures, and how to precisely embed them together for fixation is also a series of data.

Moreover, after Europe adopted welding technology for industrial machinery, the East widely employed the technique of beating soft metals like silver and lead into thin films and placing them between riveted steel plates to "glue" them together and enhance the bond.

Currently, in the industry of Eastern Shenzhou, from large transport aircraft to various home appliances, screws are rarely used.

The industrial standard gap is huge, which has effectively interrupted much of the technological exchange between East and West.

Facing Shenzhou's process system, called "Yin Yang Harmony" but actually based on various thermal expansion coefficients, the West cannot learn it.

Even if one passes the fourth level of Chinese and can converse fluently in the vernacular, when it comes to technology, damn it, these literary youths in Shenzhou who study things directly use cryptic phrases like "A bright moon rises over the sea" and "Last night, the small building felt the east wind again" for annotations. Different interpretations of the mood lead to different meanings. Thus, a single poem can correspond to four possible processing techniques.

So, this is why Wei Keng, before his transmigration, only tested basic knowledge and didn't overly complicate things with professional knowledge systems! Because testing it would be useless; even if you were a doctoral graduate in mechanical engineering from the Main World, you might find your specialization irrelevant here.

Faced with such a world, the Time-Space Department from the Main World's requirement for their transmigrators stationed here is: "Copy it, copy the entire technological system for me, and copy whatever new technologies their research institutions are developing there."

Within Qin Chuan Base, this is a Life Research Center anonymously built by Shenzhou's Wei Family.

Every year, this clan invests a large amount of funds to support research on maintaining the Human Life Field.

The bodies of the previous few Patriarchs are preserved here, and the previous Patriarch was also born here. The medical equipment here ensures that children born here are of the highest quality humans.

Currently, in the facility, a sealed pod is removed from Liquid Helium. A robotic arm extending from a concave cavity on the platform ejects a needle-sized Electric Key, which is inserted into small holes of Electric Heating Tubes on the sealed pod to complete heating. Under thermal expansion, the Mortise is easily extracted, and then the Steel Plate is effortlessly dismantled.

According to the will left by Patriarch Wei Qiang a few years ago, most of the company's shares will be handed over to this frozen twin brother.

Regarding this will, the Veteran Administrators within the group believe it should be weighed according to the current circumstances.

And three months ago, as Wei Qiang was about to enter the Hibernation Treatment Pod, he still insisted on this decision, claiming that he had transferred his Experiential Thought to this thawing brother. He only trusted his brother with the industries he managed.

Xijing, within a Steel-Reinforced Concrete Building in the Oriental Pagoda style, all members of the Luoshui Group's board of directors are present, seated around eight square tables. On the screen, resembling a folding screen, the medical thawing of the will's heir is being broadcast.

Most of those present hope for a medical accident.

However, no one dares to have any direct or indirect contact with the doctors in this laboratory.

Because if a medical accident occurs, and their opponents on the current board discover even the slightest Suspicious Circumstances involving their subordinates, even without legal evidence, it would be enough to socially ostracize them.

Although Shenzhou's society has undergone many reforms, the moral values of the Clan have always remained. If a person is suspected of dishonesty by others in the family, unless they find sufficient evidence to clear themselves, they will forever bear the suspicion. Therefore, this live broadcast is for everyone to witness, ensuring that even though there are objections, they are all open and honorable gentlemen.

Under the illumination of the surgical lights in the medical sterile chamber, as the sealed pod slowly opens, Wei Keng opens his eyes here. The numb sensations in his body gradually return.

Wei Keng—Grandpa Wei, upon seeing the flickering figures outside the glass screen, struggles to open his mouth and says, "I, I, I..." His demeanor is like someone gasping for air before expiring.

A female doctor puts down her Flat Electronic Recorder, opens the door of the Sterile Room, leans beside the thawing pod, and places her ear near Wei Keng's mouth.

Wei Keng tremblingly reaches out, touching the light above, as if trying to swallow the light, and gasps for air. Finally, gathering enough strength, he suddenly sits up, hugs her, and clutches her tightly, "It's so cold, cold, give me a blanket."

The female doctor in charge is a bit flustered and immediately tries to soothe him, "Sir, we cannot directly increase the temperature, as it would damage your body. Please bear with it. We will inject you with Nutrient Solution shortly."

Wei Keng: "Then hurry up. Also, tell those people to leave. Their watching makes me uncomfortable."

Outside the sterile room, the relatives sent by the family, separated by glass, now wore unnatural smiles, forcing an appearance of respect, but their eyes held unconcealable disappointment.

Because the one who woke up was not an idiot.

According to Shenzhou Civil Law, if the heir designated by the property holder is incapable of understanding the meaning of their own actions, they cannot inherit the leadership of social commercial activities. According to this law, a situation where the West allows a dog to inherit honor and wealth is not feasible in Shenzhou.

Wei Keng's current performance, not only having the ability to express himself but also knowing shame, clearly did not classify him as an unconscious puppet.

Forty minutes later.

On the hospital bed, Wei Keng, dressed in a standard blue hospital gown, leaned against the inclined bed. He opened the electronic screen and began to browse the personnel information of the Luoshui Group, along with the financial reports and real estate information from the past twenty years.

The young nurse placed the liquid food on the cabinet next to the bed. After taking a sip, she asked, "Sir, would you like to dine?" Wei Keng waved his hand, pretending to refuse with a serious expression. Oh, if he didn't refuse, she would probably feed him herself, and he definitely wouldn't be able to control himself. He had just arrived, and it was best not to do anything that would make others look down on him. He had to pretend to be decent.

Wei Keng: "Right, the communication information outside, you've postponed it all for me. Tell them I'll respond after my condition stabilizes. We'll talk about everything twenty hours later."

It was still unclear what attitude the capable ministers and fierce generals under his younger brother's command held towards him, this weak master. Therefore, it was better to retreat a small step for now and maintain an air of mystery.

This trick yielded immediate results! Even a weak master could be considered a "rare commodity."

On the board of directors, those managers in brocade robes and high caps had already begun to place their bets on the current situation.

Wei Yue, the former assistant secretary to Wei Qiang, picked up the bell hammer and struck the golden chime: "Everyone, it is now time to swear allegiance to the new patriarch."