CH 166

The winter had just come to an end, and it was the time when people who had huddled indoors for a whole winter were preparing to go out and feel the outside temperature. However, the Shui Jing Gong unexpectedly saw a surge in its population. One by one, leaders of various Mang Ya bases arrived, and the massive procession continued for more than ten days without stopping.

Within the other bases in the Cangyu Mountain, the initial alertness and shock had now turned into numbness. Why were there so many Mang Yas? And why were all the Mang Yas acting in unison, with the common goal of helping the Shui Jing Gong grow stronger?

After this incident, there was no doubt that the Shui Jing Gong would become the largest base in the northern hemisphere, no, in the entire Cang Zhan Star.

During this period, the Shui Jing Gong was bustling with activity from top to bottom. Although they had restricted the number of new recruits last year, upon learning about the impending apocalypse, the people of the Shui Jing Gong had extensive discussions and decided to expand their ranks as much as possible.

However, they weren’t solely focused on quantity; they also emphasized quality. Therefore, the bases joining the Shui Jing Gong this year could still retain their original territory, personnel, and even their names. But from now on, the management would be overseen by personnel dispatched by the Shui Jing Gong, and the Mang Yas would have priority in gaining administrative authority. Bases joining the Shui Jing Gong were not allowed to initiate wars or harm the environment without authorization. The priority was given to planting and greening. Additionally, in the next six years, the Shui Jing Gong would conduct further assessments of the new recruits and outstanding talents would be absorbed into the Shui Jing Gong.

In addition to the basic rules mentioned above, the bases joining the Shui Jing Gong would enjoy several exclusive benefits. They would have priority trading rights, VIP services from Gray Rat Company, access to the latest research findings from the Shui Jing Gong, and protection privileges, among many other advantages.

As a result, gradually, even bases not led by the Mang Yas showed interest and chose to join the Shui Jing Gong. After all, the conditions offered by the Shui Jing Gong were not overly stringent, and the incentives provided were quite appealing.

The Shui Jing Gong did not disappoint, especially after the winter ended and summer arrived. Flooding returned to the Cang Zhan Star, and the entire planet seemed like a sponge soaked with water in an instant. Those who had experienced the terrifying floods of the previous year were uneasy, and amidst this anxiety, the Shui Jing Gong released a map of suitable summer living locations.

Delivered personally by Gray Rats Company to various sub-bases, after handing over the maps, Gray Rats Company even promoted their services with small flags. “Carefully selected, Feng Shui treasures, you deserve a peaceful summer. Gray Rats Company, home delivery, no bumps, essential equipment for base relocation.”

After displaying these small flags, and after receiving commitments from the bases to hire Gray Rats Company for assistance with relocation, the Gray Rats left satisfied with their down payments, sailing away in small boats.

As the water level gradually rose, various bases began preparations for relocation. After coordinating the timing with Gray Rats Company, a fleet of small boats arrived. In addition to the Gray Rats themselves, there were individuals bound by contracts with the Gray Rats. Since the Shui Jing Gong didn’t need to move, these individuals volunteered to help in their free time.

The result was that every base witnessed the helpers being subjected to various criticisms and eventually being shooed away by the Gray Rats, who took a break on the side.

At first glance, this scene might seem odd, but after witnessing it firsthand, you had to admit that no human could match the Gray Rats’ outstanding task completion. They were strong, agile, coordinated seamlessly with each other, and far superior in organization.

The northern hemisphere plunged into a bustling frenzy, but this time, thanks to the Feng Shui treasure map provided by the Shui Jing Gong, people no longer panicked like they did last year. They welcomed a brand-new summer in an orderly fashion.

According to the Shui Jing Gong’s announcement, those suitable residential areas only required a certain amount of planting points for entry. If you had enough planting points, you could even obtain permanent residency rights. It was indeed an enticing offer.

Some bases acted swiftly, already starting to exchange for saplings. They prepared for relocation while simultaneously dispatching specialized planting teams to focus on greening efforts.

Initially, many people couldn’t comprehend the Shui Jing Gong’s fervent tree-planting initiative, and some even proposed joining the Shui Jing Gong, with its magical provision of prioritizing greening and planting in all matters for the next six years.

However, as green spaces reappeared across the land, people quickly realized that regions with large numbers of trees had more stable climates. Flora and fauna flourished, and even the outbreaks of mutated creatures gradually decreased.

Greening and planting became the hottest topics in the northern hemisphere of the Cang Zhan Star within a mere two months.

While other bases were busy with development, the Shui Jing Gong continued to refine itself.

The bases led by the Mang Yas had all become subsidiary bases of the Shui Jing Gong. Due to the excessive population, it was impossible to accommodate everyone on the Cang Zhan Star. Fortunately, there were many bases like Zone S that had their fixed residences, so most bases continued to reside in their original locations.

On the fiftieth day of the summer season, the Shui Jing Gong completed communication networks across the vast majority of the northern hemisphere. At this point, message transmission finally became more convenient. While it couldn’t compare to the ease of interstellar communication in the past, the Cang Zhan Star had finally achieved long-distance communication. This further demonstrated that the control of the Galactic Alliance over the Cang Zhan Star was gradually weakening.

Perhaps in their eyes, the Cang Zhan Star, in the era of the apocalypse, had already lost its value in terms of monitoring and shielding. There were no new simulators deployed last year, and it seemed that the Cang Zhan Star had been abandoned.

However, this was not a bad thing for the people of the Cang Zhan Star. At least Xie Feng had gained greater freedom. The weakening of the Galactic Alliance’s shielding and monitoring allowed Xie Feng to find a loophole and reestablish long-distance communication.

But this was just the beginning. What concerned Xie Feng and the people of the Shui Jing Gong the most was the study of the system.

After the system achieved the highest level of binding with the Mang Yas, it could be considered as cutting off its own retreat. In their system’s world, achieving the highest level of binding meant defaulting on the main system, and from then on, they would no longer be under the protection of the main system, and the use of the main system’s mall would also be restricted.

Although the little frog didn’t speak, it was evident from its daily hopping back and forth outside Xie Feng’s door that it was anxious. Gradually, even before dawn, the little frog would run to Xie Feng’s door, knocking and calling for him to wake up.

Moreover, the little frog seemed to have made friends with two or three gray rats at some point. To support the little frog’s cause, the gray rats would clean Xie Feng’s house for free every day after he woke up, with an extraordinary level of thoroughness, leaving not a speck of dust behind.

Xie Feng was quite vexed. He had finally realized that scientists weren’t actually crazy; it was the overly enthusiastic little white lab rats that were crazy.

After enduring two months of harassment by the system, Xie Feng couldn’t take it anymore. He burst into tears and ran to Shu Shuishui to complain, expressing that he couldn’t bear it any longer and that even during his school days, he had never worked so diligently and seriously.

The little green frog peered outside the door, seeing Xie Feng inside with tears streaming down his face, looking thin and dejected. He hung his head low, intending to quietly retreat and not rush him anymore in the future.

Shu Shuishui keenly noticed that hint of green. “Little Green, you’ve come just in time. I have a gift for you.”

The little frog let out a weak croak, feeling that even a gift couldn’t save him.

Three minutes later, a frog, a rat, and a person sat together eating freshly baked roasted grasshoppers, which smelled heavenly!

Xie Feng seemed to have gotten used to being tormented and, even while eating grasshoppers, didn’t forget to explain. “Shui Shui, don’t be fooled by it eating all the grasshoppers. It’s actually converting them into energy, just like how we eat food to provide heat for our bodies. I’ve made some progress with the help of the system, and I can achieve this conversion preliminarily…”

The little frog’s eyes lit up. “Really? You didn’t mention this yesterday.”

Xie Feng was a bit smug. “Well, I wanted to surprise you. How about it, are you happy?”

The little frog hopped in place a couple of times, expressing its joy. “That’s amazing! I thought you were annoyed.”

Xie Feng took another bite of a grasshopper. “I’m definitely tired, but I’m also happy. High-dimensional civilizations, this is what I’ve been longing for. The ultimate pursuit for me is the limit of science. I’m grateful beyond words.”

The little frog felt like it wanted to cry, but it didn’t have tears. Suddenly, it seemed to understand why so many systems kept trying, even though becoming a main god meant facing so many risks, and they could easily disappear. It was probably because they had encountered a group of people like this, too.

The surprises that Shu Shuishui and Xie Feng had prepared for the little frog had given it a different perspective on life. It no longer rushed to wake up Xie Feng every day but chose to sleep until it naturally woke up. Then, it would have breakfast with everyone and join Shu Shuishui, who had taken the form of a dormouse, for a post-meal stroll.

However, every time this happened, there were always passersby who would smile kindly and greet Shu Shuishui, “Shui Shui, taking the frog for a walk?”

The little frog thought, ‘I’m a system aspiring to become a main god; I shouldn’t care about these trivial matters.’

The system’s pace slowed down, but the research results began to burst out one by one. After breaking through the challenges of matter and energy conversion, Xie Feng’s research seemed to have an epiphany and was making remarkable progress every day.

The result of this technological explosion was that the Shui Jing Gong in the northern hemisphere experienced a series of waves of excitement.

Finally, at the tail end of the rainy season, the independent mall system of the little frog was born, marking the first significant milestone after it had detached from the main god. As promised, Shu Shuishui handed over a large amount of resources obtained from the Huanxing Continent to the little frog. This included some talismans he had crafted himself, as well as roasted grasshoppers.

The system had become quite wealthy now. It then asked Mang Ya to complete a simple task and offered a reward afterward. Mang Ya looked at the roasted grasshopper in the palm of his hand. “This is a reward that suits my taste.”

The system said, “Indeed, indeed. But roasted grasshoppers are rare. I’ll set them as limited-edition products. I don’t know when I’ll have my own sub-system.”

“Little Green, Xiao Feng Feng is looking for you. I heard that the mimicry model of the sub-system has been created,” Shu Shuishui called from the doorway.

The system and Mang Ya exchanged glances, their mouths twitching.

Xie Feng hadn’t expected the research on the sub-system to yield results so quickly, but it was partly thanks to Shu Shuishui’s casual remark. “If only the simulator could be turned into a sub-system. I have so many simulators! And Xiao Cheng Cheng has mature contract devices.”

Xie Feng: !!! At that moment, it was like a blessing had come to his heart as if he had opened the door to a new world. Indeed, a sub-system didn’t necessarily have to be created from scratch; it could be built upon other objects.

The structure of the simulators themselves was similar to that of the system; both were controlled by various main optical brains and had the ability to traverse different times and spaces to explore simulator dungeons while also granting item rewards. It was practically tailor-made for a sub-system. Why hadn’t he thought of it himself? Indeed, Shu Shuishui lived up to his reputation!

Xie Feng dove headfirst into the laboratory, where Shu Shuishui had kindly provided simulator prototypes. In just a few days, the model for the sub-system was created.

The people who learned about this causal development were almost all wearing expressions of astonishment. Their faces clearly showed that they had never thought simulators could be used in this way. However, upon reflection, it seemed that simulators were remarkably similar to systems without independent thinking in many respects. It was a remarkable coincidence. Shu Shuishui’s simulator, Cheng Que’s contract devices, the system’s cooperation, Xie Feng’s talent – any one of them missing would render the plan impossible. Yet, imperceptibly, all the necessary conditions had fallen into place!