Complex Counting

"With the concept of one-to-one correspondence, everything that followed became a natural progression."

"Humans only have ten fingers, and even with their toes, only twenty. Such a small quantity clearly could not meet the ever-increasing productivity of Civilization."

"Therefore, the next step was to establish sets larger than fingers, using them to calculate greater quantities."

Li Heng pulled an irregular red crystalline object from Fat Bird's stomach. This was the Stellarator heart within Fat Bird, used for Nuclear Fusion.

With a light tap of his index finger, the crimson crystalline object split in two, and a fired clay tablet fell out from inside.

"A clay tablet?"

Achilles looked at the clay tablet in confusion. It appeared even larger than Fat Bird's heart, and she had no idea how it had fit inside.

"There are three steps to putting an elephant into a refrigerator: open the refrigerator door, stuff the elephant inside, then close the door."

"Though it sounded like a funny joke, it actually wasn't difficult. Anyone could learn this ability."

"The size people perceive directly isn't the basic standard for measuring an object's magnitude or quantity, especially when infinity is involved."

Li Heng handed the clay tablet to Achilles and said,

"This Fat Bird was your novice monster, as well as your first food reward."

"As the Novice Village chief responsible for guiding your quest, I directly helped you clear the tutorial stage and gave you the power you would have gained only by eating it."

"Your combat strength is now comparable to this Fat Bird's. You could wipe out an entire major nation by yourself."

"But this is only the beginning. You are still very, very far from the Continuum, and you need to keep fighting monsters and leveling up."

"You'll have to deal with the next food