Chapter 434: Had The Trump Card Lost Its Effectiveness?

Northwest Desert Reconstruction Area, Z country.

Technology City No. 1.

A research room located 100 meters underground.

Hu Kejie stood at the lab bench, wearing a big white coat and a pair of glasses. He held a pipette in one hand and a test tube in the other and was conducting a chemical experiment.

Excitement was written all over his face. Through the transparent lenses of his glasses, one could see that his eyes were shining with an inner light.

“Teacher, this particular type of mineral from the Heavenly Realm, called the ‘Soul of Fire,’ is extremely resistant to high temperatures. There is almost no change in its surface at temperatures of more than 6,000 degrees.

“The structure only starts to soften a little when the temperature rises above 10,000 degrees.”

“In addition, this extremely pure mineral generates a lot of heat when natural spiritual energy is added into it—enough to raise the surrounding temperature to several thousand degrees, even tens of thousands.

“Because of this characteristic, the ‘Soul of Fire’ is generally used as a ‘flintstone’ in the smelting processes required in alchemy refining. The natural spiritual energy is used as fuel to generate the required high-temperature environment.

“And, in the field of chemistry, the fine powder of Soul of Fire acts as a very good catalyst. It can accelerate chemical reactions that do not occur easily to a speed that is hundreds or thousands of times faster than normal.

“In short, the ‘Soul of Fire’ is another mineral from the Heavenly Realm with a super-high value,” the young assistant Gu Yunfei said, completing a report on the experiment.

“There’s no mineral from the Heavenly Realm that is useless or low-value. We can even extract dozens of high-value elements from the soil shipped from the Heavenly Realm,” Hu Kejie said with great feeling.

Five years.

As the Director of the research institute, Hu Kejie had been engaged in studying the characteristics of the minerals from the Heavenly Realm for five years.

During this period, the institute had discovered that there were hundreds of elements and mixtures originating from the Heavenly Realm that possessed significant potential due to their unique characteristics. They made exciting discoveries almost every day.

He had grown so used to the shock that he had become numb.

Then, he became a workaholic with a more energetic mindset. He made even more discoveries and achievements.

Amazing.

It was really amazing.

There was hardly any element that was useless or worthless.

For example, a common mineral from the Heavenly Realm called ‘Blazing Scarlet Rock’ has a physical melting point of 5,000 degrees, and a boiling point of over 7,000 degrees. It was also very hard and tough. If it was used as a blade in the propellor of an aircraft engine, the working lifespan and reliability of the engine would double.

Another example was the mineral called the Black Crystal Pith. If it was processed and made into computer CPUs, they would possess a very powerful superconducting ability. Its power consumption was also lower than a graphene-made CPU. The potential for overclocking was increased by 50%, and the device’s comprehensive computing performance was nearly doubled.

An additional example was a mineral called ‘Soul of the Mysterious Ice.’ Under natural conditions, its temperature was as low as -270 degrees. Moreover, it did not absorb heat. When natural spiritual energy was added into it, it would generate an extremely cold field, such that it could even reduce the temperature in a closed environment, thus reversing the so-called Law of Entropy. These properties were incomparably magical.

There were countless similar examples—too numerous to list.

The minerals from the Heavenly Realm had turned all human understanding and knowledge upside down and beyond cognition; these materials had allowed them insight into a whole new world.

More importantly, they saw great commercial value in these minerals.

Scientist Hu Kejie said with great excitement, “Many of the minerals’ properties have overturned our understanding of traditional chemistry and physics. One can’t help but to sigh in wonder at such magical materials, whose existence goes against all reason. Issues that had originally restricted and confined us have now become huge opportunities.

“From the perspective of industrial development, as long as those minerals from the Heavenly Realm are available in sufficient quantities, they could bring about at least two industrial revolutions!

“First of all, if large-scale application of the materials from the Heavenly Realm is carried out in the military industry, we will soon be able to create rifles that have double the power, tanks with triple the overall combat capability; fighter jets, missiles, interstellar warships, and other weapons would have a three to five-fold increase in the stats for their combat power... The standard of our weapons and related equipment would experience a significant improvement on all fronts.

“In the fields of civil industries, our communication networks will be faster, and the production efficiency of factories will increase. The performance and quality of the products and the experience they bring to the user will be significantly improved.”

“Technologies which have stagnated or have been developing slowly will begin to grow at a rocket-like speed over the next two or three decades.”

“In the same span of time, the nations in the Federation and the various free cities will experience an average growth rate of at least 3.5%...”

Hu Kejie actually veered into some macro fields as he continued talking. It was as if he could see the prospective boom in the Federation’s development.

“Teacher, we haven’t really been out of this underground research institute for a few years. The outside world must have changed significantly in that time,” student Gu Yunfei said. “Even in the most basic area of food, many wealthy families in the Federation are now eating the ‘spiritual crystal rice’ from the Heavenly Realm.

“A large number of biological research institutes in the country have achieved breakthroughs in localizing the planting techniques of Heavenly crops like the spiritual crystal rice. Those institutes have come up with several varieties of the rice that are produced by the thousands of kilograms. It is said that, in terms of taste, nutrition, spiritual energy content, and other aspects, spiritual crystal rice is far stronger than ordinary rice. In the next few decades, it may become one of the main food crops of the Federation.

“In addition, there are more than 10,000 other types of food crops and cash crops. Localization of more than 100 of them has been achieved in the past few years.

“In the field of animal meat, the ‘spirit fire pigs’ and the ‘immortal chickens’ from the Heavenly Realm have been successfully raised in batches and have gone onto the tables of thousands of households. In terms of nutrition and taste, there is no doubt that the poultry breeds from the Heavenly Realm are better... These animals will certainly occupy a large share of our poultry market.”

Hu Kejie nodded. He said with emotion, “This is the benefit brought about by the integration of the two worlds. By choosing the best species from millions of plants and animals to integrate into our local land, it will bring us double the happiness and satisfaction, hence achieving one-plus-one-equals-two.”

Therefore, even if the benefit was only absorbing excellent foreign species, the civilization could not remain in a self-satisfied state or stuck in the old ways.

No matter what forces they were faced with, opening themselves to the outside world would definitely bring about a multitude of benefits for themselves!

...

On the other side.

Haierfa.

Crater City.

During these past few years, Chen Jin had been really ecstatic.

He had earned money.

An absolute windfall!

His most reliant AIs, Nuwa and Alice, had both received an upgrade, becoming even more intelligent and capable.

“Master, those ores procured from the Heavenly Realm are really very useful,” Nuwa said excitedly. “The new CPUs and memory storage devices, which have been made of these materials that have never been seen before, are incredible. Not only is their power consumption reduced, but their comprehensive performances have also more than doubled! I never imagined that some materials could be so magical.”

“It seems that a world based on the philosophy of idealism can always accomplish things that can only be achieved with imagination,” Chen Jin said, nodding.

“Master!” Alice added. “If you could get more minerals from the Heavenly Realm to Haierfa, we could create many black-technology objects and processes, besides supercomputing.

“For example, an A-class warship with a more comprehensive combat power... This would be the supreme military force of a higher-level civilization.

“For example: a more powerful curvature engine. By incorporating some of the materials from the Heavenly Realm, the engine may even run a hundred times faster than the speed of light.

“As for the powerful ions cannons, laser cannons, gravity bombs, force field shields, new models of detectors, all-new energy systems... They all have subfields worth further exploration and branching out. These weapons will enter an all-new era.

“Master’s fears can be completely eliminated—especially your worries in the field of science and technology. We have so many magical materials from the Heavenly Realm. The human survivors on the planet of Walf are not worth mentioning, and, even when it comes to the very powerful Crystal Brainers, we will quickly leave them behind in the dust.”

After all, Chen Jin had the ability to connect all three universes!

As for the Crystal Brainers, they could only have developed according to the natural, prescribed order. They had no chance of getting their hands on a shortcut.

And it was not only that!

Alice said, “Master, I think that there seem to be some people, highly trained in the Heavenly Realm, who have the ability to influence space.

“For example, most of the practitioners of the Shenguang Order have mastered the combat technique of the ‘momentary shift.’ They can translocate to a place hundreds or thousands of miles away to escape the battle. The practitioners can achieve translocation within a very short period of time, and at a speed exceeding the speed of light.

“There are also some monks in the Shenguang Order who can create a space ‘ring’ or ‘bracelet’ with the aid of a material called the ‘void rock.’ They can then store a large number of items in this ‘space artifact,’ which is very convenient for travel.

“The abilities of the sages are so powerful that they are terrifying. They can directly break the barriers of the planes of existence, opening a space-time portal to facilitate the entry and exit of their members.

“On a certain level, individuals who are so powerful, to the extent that they can impact space, could be said to have mastered space application capabilities. Even though they do not know the specific principles behind their abilities, they can simply do it.

“This is equivalent to mastering advanced space technology.

“So, Master, there must be a way to shift the portal connecting Earth and Haierfa that has always been fixed in the bathroom, and even to conduct more complicated maneuvres on it, such as expanding and shrinking the portal.

historical

“This is... I see the possibility of taking away the time-space portal, and therefore, eliminating the last potential pitfall?”

Chen Jin’s eyes lit up, radiating a brilliant light.

“It is definitely possible. Only Master’s cultivation has the possibility of reaching the same level as that of those in the Shenguang Order or the Sages’ Order. There may be a way to completely solve the problem of the hidden portal.”

“The Shenguang Order?” Chen Jin’s expression dimmed.

According to intelligence investigations, the crisis of the primal chaos broke out many years ago in the Heavenly Realm. The four Sages of the Protoss were strong enough to protect their mainland, which was close to the size of the solar system, in order to prevent its collapse.

They were powerful enough to cause explosions in their cities.

Also, the practitioners of the Shenguang Order were not weak. Facing their thousands of monks, it was unknown if there was anyone who could attack the Shenguang Order successfully... It would require a high level of understanding and talent.

But such a realm was definitely very challenging for Chen Jin, as he had never been exposed to cultivation. He was not even sure if he had anything like talent, insight, or whatnot... Anyway, he thought that his qualities were very common in all aspects, and that he was unlikely to become a strong practitioner of the Shenguang Order.

In addition, the concentration of celestial particles was still relatively thin on Earth. If he wanted to achieve better cultivation results, he would have to buy spiritual stones. The prices of these stones were insane. Even Chen Jin did not have the financial capabilities to use an unlimited quantity of spiritual stones, which he would need to improve his cultivation level to the point where it was similar to a practitioner from the Shenguang Order.

Therefore, the course of increasing his strength was somewhat improbable.

For the time being, they could only pin a large part of their hopes on the future of space technology.

...

On earth.

At present, from a rough calculation of the time that had passed, it was already the sixth year.

The Protoss immigration work in the Heavenly Realm was still being carried out in an organized and methodical manner.

Currently, there were more than 600 million Protoss immigrants who had moved to Earth.

They had filled 60 Free Cities to the brim.

During this period of time, through the greater acquaintance of the two sides and with the frequent dealings of business and trade exchanges, the two civilizations had become very familiar with each other.

People living in the border areas could even visit each other, travel, and conduct the first bartering for various goods. There was more and more contact between the two groups of people.

The human culture of Earth was very popular among the Protoss, almost to the point of assimilation. This had led to at least tens of millions of Protoss living at home and indulging in online virtual games every day.

The scientists of Earth had also been madly exploring the Protoss cultivation methods and exercises in those past six years. Scientists had even tried reverse experimentation to come up with scientific deductions. After a large number of accidents resulting in the “white mice” deaths, they had finally come up with several effective cultivation exercises and posted them on the internet. Anyone could download those exercises for free.

The era of universal cultivation had arrived.

In just five or six years, the number of “awakened” among the earth’s human beings was at least one million.

This certainly aroused protests and dissatisfaction from the Protoss.

“This is our supreme practice. How dare they publicize it so casually and allow just anyone to cultivate themselves? If things have become like this, won’t there be struggles and fierce competition over the already insufficient cultivation resources?”

“Those insignificant beings should have just stuck to the status quo. They have only gotten a little stronger. It will be meaningless when they are faced with a truly strong enemy.”

“Hurry up and desist. The cultivation exercises are a very important treasure. How is it possible for everyone to have a set of exercises?”

The Protoss had expressed their opposition against the Federation’s Policy of Encouraging Everyone To Cultivate, but it was ineffective. They could only gnash their teeth in private.

In addition to the policy encouraging universal cultivation, the federal legal system remained unshakeable.

In the past few years, humans of Earth and some of the Protoss could not help but commit crimes, in the face of overflowing material desires and those humans who were generally weaker. They wielded the power of their bodies to do whatever they liked and challenged the dignity of the law.

But the law was the bottom line of the Federation.

No matter who one was, if one broke the law, one would be severely punished and would inevitably be dealt a legal blow.

In the past few years, at least a thousand Protoss had solidified the dignity and the effectiveness of the law at the expense of their lives or freedom.

Therefore, a considerable part of the Protoss bitterly hated the so-called law. It was a thorn in their side.

A few extreme members of the Protoss even deliberately broke the law by challenging it personally. They had arrogant attitudes and were always thinking of ways to turn the humans’ laws into a piece of paper that had no restrictive power.

Essentially, they were challenging the existing order of the Federation.

With one case after another being added to the pile, stories of human victims and executed Protoss were played out almost every day in the news media. These news reports fermented tension. The friction and cracks between the humans of Earth and the Protoss were constantly deepening and expanding.

As time went by, the negative impressions accumulated, intensified, and solidified.

They became more and more disgusted with each other. On the internet, they pointed fingers at each other, and their rants escalated.

Structural tensions and conflicts seemed to be rather unavoidable.

Even so...

Humans had sufficient confidence in themselves, and were not afraid of the stirrings or the threats of the Protoss.

It was the fact that they had the “ultimate nuclear weapon” that brought them the most confidence. It could kill even the strongest of the Protoss.

With this big ace in their hands, they were equal in terms of top-notch fighting power. They were not afraid of the moment when the Protoss would rise in revolt.

However...

On this day.

A very alarming piece of news came from a number of military bases where nuclear weapons were stored.

“They have lost their effectiveness!”

“I don’t know why, but most of the nuclear warheads in the warehouse have lost their effectiveness.”

“Even the latest nuclear warheads that have just gotten off the production line exhibit a steep increase in their misfire rate. And even when the bomb explodes, its power drops to about 60% of the strength they had in the past.”

“The fusion reaction is a disaster. The law of the universe seems to have undergone a certain adjustment.”

Hearing these messages, the senior parliamentary members of the Federation broke out in a sweat, and they trembled slightly.

The trump card in the hands of the human beings seemed to be having some problems.