Chapter 1483 — Theory and Practice

In the Noi people's protective system, the network formed by linking together the minds of vast numbers of mortals (the neural network) served as a "generation source," responsible for producing the powerful "undirected thought-current," while the force-field generation and projection devices were responsible for converting the undirected thought-current into the unified mind field (the inverted state of the anti-divinity barrier) and projecting it into the skies above the planet. It did not require linking the minds of all humanity into the network, nor did it mean having humanity hide inside the network for "refuge."

Therefore, in theory, as long as the node scale of the neural network could reach a certain threshold and generate a sufficiently powerful "undirected thought-current," the requirements could be met.

So the scale of this "foundational project"—the neural network—did not necessarily need to span the entire globe. At least, given that the Cecil Empire had already laid a certain foundation for it, it was possible to meet the blueprint's requirements.

"We have only made rough calculations so far," Jenny had clearly done a great deal of preparation in advance and had an answer ready for Gao Yang's question. "In principle, the more thought nodes linked into the neural network, the more powerful the 'undirected thought-current' produced, and the more effectively it can cover the observer effect. But in fact, as long as the existing neural network is expanded two to three times its current scale, the resulting 'undirected thought-current' would already be enough to activate the barrier... Of course, continuing to expand the network's scale on that basis would improve the effect further, but it is not necessary."

The existing neural network still needed to be expanded two to three times...

"So, this is achievable," Gao Yang said in a low voice after a moment's thought.

"Yes, this part is achievable," Rebecca nodded beside him. "The neural network is developing at a tremendous pace domestically right now, and its rollout in other countries is going smoothly as well. By Jenny's and my estimate, it may not even take a year and a half—within a year, the number of neural network nodes across the entire Alliance could reach three times the current scale. This thing has an astonishing appeal to everyone, and immersion pods can now be mass-produced industrially, so expansion won't be difficult."

"So the difficulty lies in the other part," Gao Yang spoke slowly. "Force-field projection..."

"According to the Noi people's blueprint, we need to cover the globe with projection devices for the unified mind field to produce a complete protective effect," Jenny nodded gently. "Compared with the neural network, these projection devices are the real 'hard battle' we cannot avoid. At present, the highest-power 'anti-divinity barrier generator' we have built covers only a few city blocks, and because it uses a great deal of precision technology, its production and assembly cycle is very long. A year and a half... forget covering this planet—covering even half of the Southern Region would be a problem..."

"What if all the Alliance nations threw everything into producing barrier generators?" Rebecca thought for a moment, then looked at Jenny. "I remember the elves recently restarted a lot of ancient manufacturing stations. The equipment is very old, but production efficiency is high, and production modes can be adjusted flexibly—most modern industrial parts can be machined there..."

"But only the Silver Empire has that kind of 'coffin money' in the Alliance," Gao Yang shook his head. "At most, Typhon could bring out their 'money power,' plus the sea-witches' deep-sea technology—but even that would probably hardly fill the gap. What we face now is a planetary-scale project. Even if every nation in the Alliance had Cecil's production capacity, it might not be enough—let alone the fact that most Alliance countries have only just begun their industrialization..."

As he spoke, he could not help but sigh inwardly again.

The magic tide had come too early.

Many countries in the Alliance were simply not prepared—even this era was not prepared. Apart from the three great empires and "leading nations" like the sea-witches and the dragons, most member states were still in the initial stage of industry: magic workshops plus craftsmen working by hand. And now such an Alliance suddenly had to face a planetary-scale project. This was no longer a matter of the wheel of the age arriving before their eyes—this was the wheel of the age already rolling over their faces.

And it was a "Warhammer-II" heavy tank, at that.

"We need to pool our wisdom," After a moment of thought and silence, Gao Yang shook his head slightly. "We need more clever people involved, including scholars from other countries. Now that we understand what the Noi people's blueprint is actually saying, the next step is to understand exactly how to do it. Contact the Silver Empire's Astromancer Association, Typhon's Royal Mage Association, the sea-witches' deep-sea sorceresses, and the dragons as well... We need opinions from every quarter now. Not a single line of thinking can be left out."

"Yes," Jenny immediately bowed. "As you wish."

"Before we discuss the force-field projection problem, the work of expanding and modifying the neural network must also be folded into the 'Magic Tide Countermeasure Project,'" Gao Yang continued. "Although the neural network's growth rate can now meet the barrier's requirements, growth in scale alone is not enough. We must also consider that it will later serve as the 'generation source' of the unified mind field... We can no longer develop the network according to the original plan. It needs to be re-planned, and preparations must be made in advance for connecting it with other subsystems later."

He raised his head and looked at Rebecca: "Go find your aunt and bring her here. She may have to... work some overtime."

"Okay!" Rebecca answered at once and turned to head for the study door, but halfway there she screeched to a halt, ducked her neck, and glanced back at Gao Yang. "If I go tell Auntie that... I won't get hit, will I?"

Gao Yang glared at her: "I'm the one who told you to pass on the message—why would she hit you?"

"Oh." Rebecca nodded, and only then did she leave the room with an easy mind.

……

At that same moment, deep in the heart of the Augustre tribal nation, a hushed night had settled over the forests and mountains of this ancient land, and the sacred Mount Mingcen stood beneath the starry sky.

At the foot of Mount Mingcen, Wen Na Bai Zhi, chieftain of the gray elves, stood at the edge of the balcony of Saint Helm City's highest council hall, both hands resting on the stone railing, gazing quietly at the high mountains bathed in starlight.

At the summit, faint lights and the silhouette of a tall tower could just be made out.

Where the lights clustered was the fairyfolk's settlement on the mountain, and that towering spire was the master magic-net hub at the peak of Mount Mingcen—and at the same time the largest hub tower in the entire Augustre tribal nation.

A somewhat hoarse voice came from beside her: "You've been staring at Mount Mingcen all day."

Wen Na turned her head and tilted it upward, and saw an exceptionally tall figure standing beside her.

"Camilla, you're standing too close. It's tiring to talk with my head craned back."

"Oh, oh, sorry," the Great Chief hastily took half a step back, her gaze also turning toward that towering mountain. "By my reckoning… 'that lady' should be arriving about now."

"Mm, soon," Wen Na gave a slight nod. "Stella sent word down from the mountain just now—she said the transmission signal has been received."

Camilla pressed her lips together, and at last could not help saying, hesitating: "…Tell me, if we do this, will the ancestors in the mountain truly not blame us?"