Chapter 2085: The natives of the island
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Hang walked to the side of a metal cabinet, inputting his fingerprint and password before opening it.
In an instant, a cloud of white mist poured out from behind the metal door.
It was as magnificent as waves crashing against the shore.
It gave off quite a cinematic feel.
Li Hang calmly walked inside and took out a cylindrical metal container, about twenty centimeters in diameter.
The middle section was made of transparent glass, inside of which lay a purple stone, roughly the size of a baby’s fist, resting quietly.
“Source ore?”
Seeing the item inside the container, Ning Che was momentarily stunned, not expecting Li Hang to bring it out.
“What is Source ore?”
“It’s also a unique mineral from Tilia Island, but unlike Bass ore, it’s not widely distributed,” Ning Che said.
“Back then, Yuluo and I were selected as team leaders because during one mission, we brought back a small piece of Source ore as a merit.”
“Team Leader Ning, the piece of Source ore in my hand is the one that you and Team Leader Qiu brought back.”
“Why bring it out now? Is it going to be used in the experiment?”
Li Hang nodded seriously and said,
“Actually, we could complete this experiment using Bass ore, but it comes with high uncertainty and can cause irreversible effects on the subject. From the start, we decided to use source ore as the energy source to avoid any side effects.”
“I understand.”
Li Hang placed the source ore in front of Lin Yi, along with the outer container, and put it into the experimental chamber.
Then, he quietly said,
“Team Leader Lin, are you ready? We’re about to start.”
“No problem, I’m ready anytime.”
“Good!”
However, the people in the combat units didn’t know much about it, and Lin Yi wanted to take this opportunity to learn more.
“Hmm...”
After a moment of thought, Li Hang said,
“Strictly speaking, we probably understand less than 1% of Tilia Island. There are still many secrets waiting to be uncovered. The Central Guards Brigade has a long road ahead.”
“Less than 1%???”
Lin Yi and Ning Che said in unison, “Team Leader Li, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”
“It’s true,” Li Hang said simply.
“In fact, this experiment we’re conducting is part of a seven-year plan we proposed. The goal is to refine the experiment over the next seven years and lower the physical requirements for subjects, thereby further enhancing the Central Guards Brigade’s combat capabilities.”
“We’ve just completed four years of this plan, and it has been accelerated because major global powers have sped up their research on Tilia Island, so we can’t afford to wait.”
“Accelerated?” Lin Yi frowned, “Did something uncontrollable happen?”
“This isn’t directly related to Tilia Island but is due to a global energy shortage,” Li Hang explained.
“The last one or two hundred years of human history can be seen as a history of energy. There are some things you might not know. For example, the lithium batteries in our phones haven’t seen any improvement in over twenty years.”
“Additionally, the world still uses silicon-based chips, and although carbon-based chips are under development, progress has been slow. These are all limitations imposed by energy.”
“The emergence of Bass ore, if it can be used on a large scale, could trigger the third industrial revolution. In other words, whoever controls more resources on the island will become the future world ruler!”
“But from what we know now, the mineral resources on the island have been almost fully explored. Why do you say we only understand less than 1%?”
“Team Leader Lin, you’re oversimplifying it,” Li Hang said with a smile.
“Think about it. Humans can only become the world ruler by utilizing Bass ore. But the problem is, research shows that there are indigenous people on Tilia Island. These people learned to use the mineral energy long ago...”
Li Hang paused. “Think about it. What would they have made using this energy?”
Hiss...
Lin Yi and Ning Che both shivered.
That was indeed a terrifying thought.
If the people on the island hadn’t gone extinct, would they now be ruling the world?”