Chapter 224-2: Ninth-Generation Precognition, Ferocious Newbie (2) |
Different Primordials have different temperaments. This Precognition appears very laid-back.
It has not expanded its territory nor proactively slaughtered nearby life. It simply takes root quietly in the earth, devouring the earth’s energy and growing without cease.
Posing no threat is one of the reasons Precognition has survived to this day and grown to the Divine Realm.
But at the core, there is only one reason.
Foreseeing the future lets it avoid every danger that might occur, leaving it able to depart unhurriedly before crises arrive.
In theory, by performing one precognitive deduction for itself every three days.
It can steadily ensure it remains in a safe state for the next three days.
But Guide also stated that the Precognition rule has two deduction limits it cannot break.
The first limit is that it cannot deduce the future of ‘high-order rules.’
Therefore Precognition cannot deduce the future of someone who possesses the Emperor’s Sign trace of Origin, which is to say his future.
Nor can Precognition deduce the future trajectory of that super deity behind the Black Tide.
On this, Guide explained the principle.
View the world as a network. When Precognition’s deduction ability is activated, it will automatically consult all information in the network world related to the deduction content.
More accurately, it issues a command to the network, and information related to the deduction target automatically aggregates and arrives.
High-order rules refer to encrypted information within the network world. No matter how many commands Precognition issues, it cannot obtain this encrypted content.
For example, if Precognition wanted to deduce whether the Emperor’s Sign will be resurrected in the future.
That deduction involves the Emperor’s Sign trace of Origin, so it cannot obtain that part of the information. The future pieced together would thus be inaccurate.
If it cannot break through the encryption barrier of high-order rules, it cannot deduce futures related to high-order rules.
High-order rules can not only encrypt but also possess self-protection mechanisms. Any attempt to deduce high-order rules will be blocked or disrupted.
For instance, if Precognition deduces his future, he will become aware of it.
In the process, it is as if someone knocked on the door asking to obtain the information inside the room.
Whether or not he opens the door, the knocking has already happened.
So he can learn that someone is deducing his future, and if his strength is sufficient, he can even trace the network line back and give the deducer a thorough beating.
The second limit is information interference.
Once the future result deduced by Precognition is exposed to the outside world, it will influence the development of the situation.
Thereby causing the deduction result to become untrue.
In other words, you cannot expose the conclusion to the outside.
Say it aloud and it will no longer be accurate.
Upon learning the deduction result, beings who know the future will adjust their behavior according to the ‘answer,’ thus changing the future trajectory.
Take real world energy prices as an example.
If Starnet, through Precognition, arrives at the conclusion that energy prices will fall tomorrow and spreads the news, it would indirectly cause energy prices to drop even further due to the impact of Precognition.
The outcome would exceed what Precognition foresaw.
Starnet’s influence determines the direction of the result, so the higher the influence of the target who knows the deduction conclusion, the greater the factors that will alter that conclusion.
Conversely, if after obtaining the conclusion that energy prices will plunge tomorrow, Starnet instead declares to the outside that prices will certainly soar tomorrow, that too would drive the originally expected development in the opposite direction, forcibly changing the established trend line.
If the target who speaks the deduction has relatively little influence, the spread of the Precognition conclusion will still trigger a butterfly effect as time passes. Minute impacts will be gradually amplified through chain reactions, ultimately leading the future to diverge significantly from the deduction.
The longer the time, the greater the influence.
Therefore Guide said that the conclusion of a deduction is affected by high-order rules and by information interference.
To make sure the future seen by Precognition necessarily occurs, first you cannot attempt to deduce the future of a high-order rule holder. Second, you cannot tell the outside world the future seen by Precognition, or else you will change the future and render the answer untrue.
Perhaps the future will still head in the same general direction, but in details and trends it will inevitably display differences.
There is no doubt that Precognition as a Primordial ability is extremely powerful.
But the limitations are many as well.
The stronger one’s own power, the stronger the performance of Precognition.
You can regard the body as the power supply and processor, Precognition as the rule algorithm; only in combination can it produce an effect.
But Qi Sheng knew that he currently had no ability at all to take down this Divine Realm Primordial.
In the future, in all likelihood he would have to take action personally.
Only he was not subject to the algorithmic prediction of Precognition’s deduction.
No matter how strong Precognition’s deduction ability was, it was useless against him, who possessed the Emperor’s Sign trace of Origin.
Perception followed Guide, sweeping across the Boundless Forest Domain and Qi Sheng finally returned with Guide to the Eastern District.
The plant-type monsters here were the weakest in the entire region, so he decided to construct the fifth starter village space node right here.
After leaving an information coordinate point, Qi Sheng contacted Yan Ming to establish a space node here, then turned back with Guide to Emperor’s Mound Village.
Next, he prepared to issue five hundred thousand player qualifications to the outside.
Accelerate the speed at which players enter the game.
—
Earth, Trading City.
The city was shrouded in a curtain of rain.
Jiang Luo stood under a holographic advertising board, watching the neon above his head bleed into the rain.
This sleepless city forged by the fusion of many races was forever veiled in misty light and shadow. In his eyes the cloud-piercing skyscrapers were like glowing pillars, slicing the sky into irregular geometric shapes.
The air was thick with the smell of motor oil and synthetic spices.
On the streets, hovercars glided by without a sound, their headlights dragging long streaks of light across the wet pavement.
From time to time a holographic ad girl leapt out from a street corner, hawking the latest alien-tech devices in a honeyed voice.
“Number 28.”
Hearing the call, Jiang Luo tightened his trench coat collar and stepped into a gourmet shop at the corner.
The decor inside was painted in abstract colors, very much in keeping with the characteristics of the Spice race.
The Spice race’s original name was complicated. Translated, it was something like Taste-Bud Walker, Food-Time Traveler, Spice Weaver, Taste Alchemist, Culinary Chanter, Taste Rover… a whole string of titles.
In the end, the Lunar Eclipse race, according to this race’s traits, gave them the name Spice race.
It was very similar to how, back then, after the Lunar Eclipse race descended on the moon, they were named ‘Lunar Eclipse race’ by the Human race.
The Spice race’s hallmark is an exceptional talent for making all kinds of gourmet food. Food is also regarded by them as a power that assists their own growth, and virtually every dish would be infused with spiritual particles.
But that was limited to those years back.
With spiritual resources scarce on Earth, the days when the Spice race ate Spiritual Food at every meal were long gone.
The new generation even felt the elders were bragging. The days of eating Spiritual Food daily were simply beyond imagining.
Nowadays the Spice race could only earn foreign exchange by opening gourmet restaurants in the cities of various races.
He sat down at a wooden counter. The holographic ordering screen popped up automatically, tracking the focus of Jiang Luo’s pupils as it moved.
Halfway through ordering, Jiang Luo felt puzzled.
The usually lively restaurant was unusually quiet today. There were many patrons, yet no one made a sound.
All the way in, he could see every diner staring at their phone.
Thinking nothing of it, he ordered his usual favorite Rainbow Heart Soup Set and waited, stomach growling.
The heating in the shop was turned up. A thin fog formed on the glass. Bored, he drew a smiley face with his finger on the mist and watched it slowly vanish.
Just then, his phone rang.
He fished out the phone and glanced down. It was a call from his best buddy Mahua.
His friendship with Mahua went back two generations.
His grandfather and Mahua’s grandfather had been sent to Trading City back in the day to participate in its construction, and both became permanent residents here.
The friendship had continued from the grandfathers’ generation to the present. The two families often dined together.
With a trace of doubt, Jiang Luo answered and put the phone to his ear:
“What matter do you submit for memorial?”
“Where are you? I messaged you and you didn’t reply?”
“Got hungry late at night and came out for a midnight snack. What’s up?”
“Why didn’t you order delivery? You’re dropping the ball at a critical time. Monster World’s official website has been issuing game qualifications for more than half a day. Not sure of the exact number, but everyone’s scrambling for them. And you’re still in the mood for a midnight snack…”
Hearing his buddy Mahua’s reminder, Jiang Luo was instantly excited.
“Holy crap, I’m going to the official site right now.”
He had noticed something off when he came in. The restaurant was too quiet, and everyone was staring at their phones.
Now it all made sense. These people were all scrambling for Monster World’s game qualifications.
He logged into Monster World’s official website on his phone. The countdown showed 1 hour 32 minutes remaining.
“That was close.”
He decisively tapped ‘Obtain Qualification.’
At once a block of text popped up on the phone:
[The identity-bound account has applied for qualification acquisition. Please wait patiently: the qualification lottery will open in 1 hour and 37 minutes.]
He put down the phone, then couldn’t help picking it up again.
Watching the ticking countdown, Jiang Luo grew tense.
Though the odds were slim, he desperately hoped to become the one-in-ten-thousand Destined One.
Becoming a qualified player had already been his life’s pursuit.