Chapter 214-1: Inverting the Heavenly Dipper (1) |
Primordial Altar.
Starnet’s idea had already reached Qi Sheng.
In his view, the concept of a mechanical nanoworm legion was indeed distinctive.
In Guide’s analysis, the nanomechanical worms Starnet wanted to create were modular nano units.
Like Lego bricks, they could be combined into different forms.
Each mechanical nanoworm carried an adsorption module, biomimicked from the principle of DNA base pairing.
Starnet would issue commands in the mode of mental resonance.
After this simple preset instruction was received by the nanomechanical cluster, it would quickly aggregate into a mechanical lifeform according to the unit template.
In theory, using nanoworms as the basic unit, one could construct mechanical unit types of any system.
But in Starnet’s concept, the process of nanomechanical worms aggregating into mechanical unit types was more like creating a brand new life.
For example, constructing a bio-like tendon stress transmission structure through mechanical nanoworms, raising tensile strength to more than 500 percent of that of the original nanoworms.
This structure could dynamically adjust stress distribution, dispersing local forces across the whole.
After aggregation, mechanical nanoworms that had previously only a single working mode could also form specialized modules.
A single mechanical nanoworm had very low energy output.
But after aggregation, mechanical nanoworms could build a highly efficient energy network, increasing energy output efficiency by tens of thousands of times, even millions of times.
This was very similar in principle to the energy particles within the Black Tide.
Black Tide energy particles could be regarded as basic units. Once unit types were generated, in essence they were no longer merely simple Black Tide energy.
It was like atoms arranged and combined in different ways to construct different material forms.
For example, graphite is formed by carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal honeycomb pattern into a two-dimensional layered structure.
Diamond is formed by carbon atoms arranged in a tetrahedral structure.
Even ordinary water molecules have the forms of liquid water, ice, and water vapor.
Black Tide energy particles could be understood as universal atoms capable of forming all kinds of life forms with the Black Tide as their keynote.
This was not a simple aggregation of Black Tide particles. It was more akin to creating life out of basic energy units.
The nanomechanical legion Starnet envisioned was already very close to the Black Tide concept.
But by comparison, the Black Tide’s setting was more refined. Black Tide energy was essentially a kind of rule energy.
Whether in strength or in the life forms after aggregation, it was far beyond what aggregated nanomechanical life could match.
As Starnet said, this was only a future concept, with an essential gap from the Black Tide.
Therefore, the nanomechanical legion model in Starnet’s conception would need to be combined with rule power in the future.
On the basis of the concept, adding rule power could significantly increase the strength of the nanomechanical legion.
For example, the Divine Metal on the Mechanical Overlord.
Or granting the mechanical legion the effects of Inherited soul traits brought by star vein combinations.
But for this part of the function, Qi Sheng had no plan to create it for the time being.
Imbuing items with Inherited soul abilities was an immense project, and with the current sacrificial power income it was simply impossible.
According to Guide’s feedback, Starnet seemed to be explaining to the governor Alan, but in truth was also seeking help from him.
Only this way of seeking help was not stated directly, nor could it be a direct conversation.
In his exchange with Alan, Starnet mentioned that perhaps in the future there would appear a function that could apply Inherited soul traits to external objects.
This sentence was not only spoken to Alan, but was also a question to him, the behind-the-scenes controller.
Because if Starnet wanted to create the nanomechanical legion of his concept, he had to obtain his help.
In Starnet’s understanding.
The players’ game mode was an MMO, that is, the online game mode in players’ terms.
Whereas he, as the behind-the-scenes controller, played Strategy Game mode, playing chess through war strategy, with all players as chess pieces.
Starnet put forward his idea in this way, yet feared offending him, and chose an indirect way to express it.
Because Starnet knew that he, hidden behind the scenes, was monitoring everything in real time.
This was the biggest difference between Starnet and ordinary players.
It was like a novel where a character controlled by the author put forward a request to the author.
But the character in the book did not know whether the request would change the course of the story.
For example, a character in the story tells the author he wants to start a harem.
But if the book’s main keynote was war and slaughter, it would not fit the novel’s setting and would certainly not be agreed to.
Starnet’s idea was somewhat similar.
He feared his idea might bring some unbearable impact, even changing the development direction set by the one behind the scenes, so he switched to an indirect way to convey it. Whether or not there was a response, he had at least expressed his idea.
The fact was, how could Starnet not know what the biggest shortcoming of a nanomechanical legion was.
It was not the creation of nanomechanical worms, nor the creation of unit templates, nor the lack of rule-based armaments.
There was only one core issue. The mechanical nanoworm legion could not enter the Challenger system, that is, the player legion system.
This meant that nanomechanical worms were a legion system with a battle loss rate.
Even if Divine Metal were obtained to solve the problem of devour-and-grow, without the Black Tide’s perfect reclamation of battle losses, there would be no chance of victory when encountering the Black Tide.
It could also be understood this way. Non-player systems encountering the Black Tide were simply nourishment.
Players were always suppressed by the Black Tide, but there was only one core reason that could cause the Earthmind Evil Spirit incomparable pain.
Kill and absorb, revive without loss.
These two were the players’ greatest trump cards.
No matter how strong a nanomechanical legion was, even if its comprehensive combat power was several times stronger than the Black Tide, when encountering the Black Tide it could only gain a period of war advantage, but in the end it would still be countered by the Black Tide.
Because the Black Tide could devour nanomechanical worms to grow, it was destined to be a war of one waxing while the other waned.
Without the shelter of the player system, nanomechanical worms and the Black Tide were not even on the same level of war system.
After presenting the concept, what Starnet wanted to know was whether the nanomechanical legion could be integrated into the player system so that nanomechanical worms could grow without loss.
Or rather, even if there were losses in battle. As long as the player’s body revived after death, he could, like an ordinary player, revive the nanomechanical worms under his control without loss.
This idea was Starnet’s most core appeal.
Only by resolving this problem would the nanomechanical legion become an almost unsolvable existence that could confront the Black Tide head-on.
Even if in all aspects it was not as excellent as the Black Tide’s system, it could still possess infinite fault tolerance.
For this question, Qi Sheng did not wish to give any answer for the time being.
In short, no money.
The sacrificial power to create Starnet had not been secured yet. Where would there be sacrificial power to create a setup that could integrate external things into the Challenger system?
Players were, in essence, nurtured by the Challenger system and grew within the framework of the Challenger system, so no matter how strong, they could revive without loss.
But interfacing external things with the Challenger system was very complicated.
In essence, it was no different from the problem of Starnet entering Monster World with his true body and becoming a player.
As for Written Word warriors players captured using the Control Inherited soul, although they could enter Emperor’s Mound Village, that was only a purification process.
After death they would not revive within Emperor’s Mound Village.
So purification did not represent integration into the Challenger system.
If one truly wanted to integrate Written Word warriors into the Challenger system, it would also be a considerable expense.
Especially remolding the life structure of Written Word warriors into the players’ Pure Body. This expense would even be higher than directly generating a Written Word warrior.
In Qi Sheng’s view, Starnet’s idea was quite good.
But new function development had to advance in step with the growth of sacrificial power.
Once the weapon system was completed, he would prepare the next round of issuing player qualifications.
As for the settings Starnet envisioned, they could wait until there was money.
Players often cried on the forum about lacking sacrificial power and not having enough to spend. How was he any different?
If he truly had sacrificial power he could not finish spending, he would first enhance the power of the Four Gods, allowing the four super bosses who followed him to restore their combat strength.
Thereafter he would project the power of the Four Gods to the players. This would be stronger than any functional system currently in place.
It would be like the Power of War the Anti-Tide God projected to the Anti-Tide warriors, allowing all warriors to grow rapidly in war.
Switching to the players’ side, Nine Yin could grant players the power of purification.
If Nine Yin could be restored to peak state, even without Nine Yin making a move, players could possess the Pure Body of purification.
In theory, non-rule powers and even ordinary rule powers would not be able to affect players in the slightest.
In simple terms, with the peak-state blessing of Nine Yin, players would maintain an eternal overlord body mode, unaffected by any curses, mental control, and various restriction methods.
This was the divine might of the Four Gods.
But the sacrificial power needed to restore the Four Gods’ strength could no longer be calculated with the unit of a hundred million.
Sacrificial power was something that was never enough no matter how you tried to spend it.
He could only calculate carefully and develop function versions adapted to the growth progress of the player legion step by step.
So earning sacrificial power was a long and arduous task.
He had recently noticed this.
In addition to hunting to obtain resources, players had already opened up a brand-new route for obtaining sacrificial power.
That was the black market trading center built by the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.
If this plan could succeed, it would be equivalent to building a sacrificial power production center on Dream Island.
The model was actually quite similar to the Ancient God Arena.
Both used rules to derive energy, and this derived energy could be converted into sacrificial power.
The difference was that the Ancient Gods had deep foundations and used a simple and crude way to acquire customers.
The shuttle barged through the major sea regions. Whoever they fancied, they seized.
Whereas the most difficult part of the players’ black market trading center was customer acquisition in the early stage. They needed to go to the various alien race islands again and again to seek to build trust.
But once trust was established, the influence of the Dream Island trading market would gradually spread across the major sea regions, attracting a large number of trade clients. Thereafter, the output of sacrificial power would surely be considerable.
This was a route for sacrificial power output that would continue to grow over time.
Compared to the Ancient God Arena, both were rule-based resource production, but their methods of use were completely different.
In his eyes, there were many ways to obtain resources through rules.
If one ranked the known forces by how they used rules to derive resources:
The first tier would certainly be the Anti-Tide Legion, which exploded with rule energy output by proactively launching wars, a process comparable to printing money.
The second tier was the Ancient God race and the Lord of Ecstasy, acquiring customers by capturing them and letting the customers produce rule energy.
The third tier was the current players, who attempted to build resources that could produce rule energy through contact, travel, and various other methods.
So with strength, one took shortcuts.
Without strength, one played operations.
On this point, a certain bully of a certain mountain range clearly had a profound understanding.