49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 241: Chapter 230: Decentralized Mind Network

「The third day after the "Numeric Stage" rules were announced.」

A rumor about "Psychic Power Connection" spread like wildfire across the internet.

Because of the rules’ restrictions, most of the people active online now were ordinary people and Ascenders who had failed the challenge. The former dominated the discussion on major social media platforms, debating the unsubstantiated rumor.

"Can Ascenders really use Psychic Power to communicate mind-to-mind, like the rumors say?"

"Where did this news even come from?"

"If they can do that, wouldn’t Ascenders not even need phones or any other communication devices in the future? They could just use Telepathy to contact each other?"

"Damn, that would be way too convenient! It’s so unfair to us ordinary people!"

This rumor, its authenticity unknown, filled ordinary people with envy and jealousy.

As time went on, the advantage Ascenders held over ordinary people was already growing larger and larger. It was also plain to see that modern human weaponry was becoming less and less effective against Ascenders. Sooner or later, a large number of Ascenders would become impervious to modern weapons, at which point the status of ordinary people would undoubtedly hit rock bottom.

Now, with the emergence of rumors that Ascenders could telepathically contact each other, the blow to ordinary people was even greater.

It meant that, in the future, the Ascender community could communicate exclusively among themselves, completely shutting out ordinary people. The very thought was terrifying.

Even on the website literally named "Ascender’s Home," non-Ascenders could register and log in without any restrictions. Many of the users who were regularly active on the site were ordinary people.

If Ascenders gained an independent channel of communication, they would truly be on a separate and distinct path from ordinary people.

The Strategy Research Room also caught wind of this rumor circulating online immediately.

It would be difficult to confirm the source of the rumor, but that wasn’t important. What mattered was whether the information was true.

Zhang Minglu of the research room immediately arranged an experimental test.

The test subjects he selected gathered at the testing facility on the afternoon of August 4th.

There were four people in total: Dragon Soul, Silver Fox, Chen Na, and Bai Xuewu.

Dragon Soul and Silver Fox both wore solemn expressions. Silver Fox, who had always loved to joke around, had become rather quiet and withdrawn after three of his teammates were sacrificed during the earthquake rule.

Chen Na stood with Bai Xuewu. The two had become acquainted on a previous mission and had a good relationship.

Although Bai Xuewu was a socially awkward homebody, she was very friendly to Chen Na, who was a few years younger and rather cute. Bai Xuewu had even invited her over to her place to hang out a few times.

Zhang Minglu was actually happy to see Bai Xuewu developing other social connections. If she continued to only have a single line of contact with him, it could lead to potential problems in the future.

"I’ve called the four of you here today to test the ’Psychic Power Connection.’ You’ve all reviewed the relevant information, correct?"

Dragon Soul said, "Yes, we received the briefing you sent, Doctor."

Zhang Minglu nodded. "To be specific, it involves two people making Psychic Power contact while simultaneously holding the intention to ’connect with each other.’ It might be possible to construct a psychic bridge with Psychic Power and communicate through it."

"Doctor, is this secret information released by that site administrator?" Dragon Soul asked.

"Uncertain."

"That guy probably wouldn’t touch any network devices during the Rule Stage, right? Otherwise, he’d fail," Bai Xuewu muttered, looking a bit listless.

Clearly, for a homebody like her, being unable to go online for a month was a great form of torture.

Zhang Minglu chuckled. "He doesn’t have to touch it himself. He can just give the information to someone else and have them post it online."

Bai Xuewu froze for a moment, an astonished look on her face as if she couldn’t believe such a workaround existed.

Her expression, as if such a simple matter was incredibly complex, left the others, including Chen Na, a little speechless.

Zhang Minglu shook his head helplessly. "You really should get out more and make some friends."

"No way. That’s so boring," Bai Xuewu pouted.

"Anyway, the source of the information isn’t important. What’s important is to determine whether this method is feasible," Zhang Minglu said as he divided them into groups. "Dragon Soul, you’re with Silver Fox. Chen Na, you’re with Bai Xuewu. All four of you have mastered Psychic Power Flow, which will allow you to make Psychic Power contact more easily and safely."

In order to break the "Mind Lock" that shackled the natural growth of their Psychic Power, the four of them had spent all their free time over the past few months diligently practicing Psychic Power Flow.

Before the earthquake rule, Zhang Minglu had even specially invited Shi Jingyi to the base three to five times to give the Official Team’s Ascenders special tutoring and accelerate their training progress.

And the final results were good. As of today, some of the more talented members of the Official Team, like the four before him, had successfully mastered Psychic Power Flow and used it to break through the confinement of the Mind Lock. The others also showed great promise.

After preparations were complete, the test began.

The four of them paired off, clasped hands, and slowly released their Psychic Power from their bodies as a form of energy.

At the moment of contact, all four shared the same thought: to establish a Psychic Power Connection with the person they were looking at.

At first, nothing happened. But after they held this thought for about seven or eight seconds, a strange sensation was born within their minds.

They all felt as if a part of their own Psychic Power had become a part of the other’s, remaining within the other’s body.

The sensation was strange and difficult to describe, as if a part of your own body had merged into someone else’s, yet you could still feel its presence.

"I think... I think the connection was successful!" Chen Na, being the youngest and most impatient of the four, couldn’t help but exclaim in a low voice the moment it worked.

Bai Xuewu, who was connected to her, also nodded. "I feel the same way."

Dragon Soul and Silver Fox had the same experience. Seeing this, an excited Zhang Minglu clapped his hands and said, "Good! Now separate and try to communicate with your minds."

Hearing this, the four let go of each other’s hands. They stared at their partners, their mouths closed, but the part of their Psychic Power that remained in the other’s body seemed capable of producing a sound.

To be precise, it wasn’t a "sound" but more like a signal that echoed directly in the other’s mind.

’Bai, can you hear me?’

Chen Na silently shouted in her mind.

The next moment, her eyes widened, because she heard Bai Xuewu’s voice ring out in her head.

’I hear you, Na. By the way, this voice popping up directly in my head is so weird.’

"It worked!" Chen Na turned happily to Zhang Minglu. "Doctor, we just spoke to each other in our minds!"

"Excellent!" Zhang Minglu looked at Dragon Soul and Silver Fox, who also nodded to confirm their success.

Zhang Minglu rubbed his hands together, extremely excited. "Then let’s move on to testing multiple people and distance. Let’s see if this Psychic Power Connection can link multiple people at once, and what its maximum communication range is!"

He couldn’t help but be excited. The success of the experiment meant humanity had discovered a brand new application for Psychic Power.

Before this, no one could have imagined that Psychic Power could be used to establish Psychic Power Connections. If this method became widespread in the future, establishing large-scale, massive connections, what would society become?

The testing continued for the next few hours.

In addition to the number of people in a Psychic Power Connection and the connection’s sensory range, they also conducted various other tests, such as "the relationship between intention and Telepathy," and "whether one party could unilaterally block the other."

After the tests concluded, the collated results were placed on the conference room table that same evening.

Everyone was utterly astonished by the results after reading the report.

"Once Ascenders establish a Psychic Power Connection, they can communicate mentally without any distance limitations?!"

"There’s also no upper limit to the number of people who can connect simultaneously. This means that, given enough time, every Ascender could be incorporated into this vast Mind Network..."

"Everyone can speak to everyone else in the connection at the same time? How is that possible? If everyone spoke at once, wouldn’t it be total chaos in your head?"

While the others focused on the details, the person in charge, Gao Liangwei, was more concerned with the big picture.

After finishing the paper report, he put it down, frowned, and asked, "Dr. Zhang, according to the test results, this Psychic Power Connection doesn’t have a center."

"That’s right," Zhang Minglu explained. "It’s a completely decentralized Mind Network. Every Ascender connected to it is an independent node, and at the same time, anyone can be the center and speak to everyone else!"

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