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After dinner, Tao Sai took a hot bath after a long absence.
She hadn't showered in almost a week, not because she couldn't. It was because she'd equipped herself with the skill [Omni-Adaptability], a skill with both advantages and disadvantages. Since she'd never uninstalled it, even if she'd been sweating and getting dirty these past few days, she hadn't felt any discomfort at all, having perfectly adapted to the situation.
If she hadn't rubbed mud off the back of her hands while eating just now, she might not have noticed even if she hadn't showered for a month.
Other people around her must have been too embarrassed to remind her that she stinked.
After taking a shower, Tao Sai felt that he might have lost two taels of weight.
She changed into clean pajamas, dried her hair, and headed up the stairs. Pushing open the door to the captain's cabin, she found Zhou Ning at his desk, burning the midnight oil, scribbling notes furiously. The spacious desk was piled high with books, drafts, and notebooks.
Only when Tao Sai came to her side did she come out of her study state.
Tao Sai touched the back of her head. "If you keep learning, I think you'll be able to make a nuclear bomb by hand. Is there any technical difficulty in purifying uranium 235?"
"That's right. My brain works very quickly now." Zhou Ning wrinkled his nose and said proudly.
The increased intelligence was well worth it. Initially, she'd been studying frantically to counteract the dizziness it brought on, but now, she seemed to genuinely enjoy studying.
Tao Sai opened the [Character] section and added a few more attribute points, as appropriate. He didn't increase her physical attributes too much; her physical condition was quite poor after years of inactivity. Two or three points in each would be enough for her to adapt for several days. Regarding her intelligence, Tao Sai increased her intelligence by five points. He expected her to hold her head and complain of dizziness, but she showed no reaction at all.
She is really smart and is the right person to be the second in command. With her in charge of the "Deep Sea Fish", Tao Sai can rest assured.
Tao Sai now had 1108 freely allocable attribute points. With so many attribute points sitting there for the rest of her life, she simply looked through the [Character] list and continued to add points and upgrade the characters as appropriate.
The crew of the refugee ship is responsible for escort duties. As the number of survivors accommodated increases, they may also be responsible for maintaining internal security. Therefore, the higher their Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Resistance attributes, the better. Their physical strength can withstand the discomfort caused by these attributes. Although unconscious, they exercise regularly every day. Unlike the high-intensity morning exercises of the other crew members, any discomfort will quickly subside.
There were twenty of them in total. After Tao Sai injected experience points into them, they were all raised to around level 12. Each player then added attributes based on their strengths, adding an average of 30 attribute points each. Once they had adapted to the attribute points, their combat effectiveness would generally reach that of an average level 4 player, and their combat capabilities might even be stronger. What they lacked was independent thinking and judgment. With proper command, they could be quite effective.
After using up more than 600 attribute points, Tao Sai turned to the page of other crew characters. She specially increased the resistance of Grandma Zhou. She started to increase the resistance of Grandma Zhou a long time ago when she had extra attribute points. After she adapted to it, she increased it again. Now she has as many as 12 points of resistance. This level of resistance can help her fight many diseases caused by aging.
This has been very effective. Just now, during dinner, Tao Sai noticed Grandma Zhou getting more rice. For someone of her age, filling a full bowl is quite remarkable. While food intake isn't everything, it is, to a certain extent, a barometer of one's health. Grandma Zhou's complexion has also improved, forming a stark contrast to Grandma Lin, who has just joined the crew. Grandma Lin, a native of Northwest China, has been in poor health since joining the ship, often falling ill. Fortunately, she is cared for by medical student Lin Yan. However, after Tao Sai added Grandma Lin as a character, he followed suit, gradually increasing her resistance. He believes that in the near future, Grandma Lin's health will reach Grandma Zhou's level.
Tao Sai suddenly thought of her grandfather. If her grandfather had not fallen ill so early and could have survived until now, she could use her resistance attribute to extend his life for a few more years.
Lan Xiaojia was busy taking care of a boatload of crops, so Tao Saiduo increased her physical strength to ensure that she had plenty of energy every day.
Zhou Ning explained that Dr. Liang, an orthopedist, and medical student Lin Yan had been studying the medical textbooks they had obtained earlier. So, Tao Sai had given them some additional intelligence attributes to improve their learning abilities. If they could successfully become general practitioners through self-study, it would greatly enhance the medical services provided by the Deep Sea Fish.
As for medical equipment and supplies, although she hadn't brought much aboard previously, and the shelter ship was limited in space at lower levels, she had opened quite a few [Blind Boxes] from completing missions in Season 2. While they might not be as valuable as in-game props, they were certainly useful supplies. They included medications, syringes, IV stands, thermometers, blood pressure monitors, stethoscopes, defibrillators, vital sign monitors, operating lights, and so on. She now regretted not having earned more [Blind Boxes] during the season; otherwise, she could have built a small clinic on the ship.
Sun Haizhu and his family, who are in charge of the breeding, are doing a great job and are in good health, so there's no need to increase their stats for now. While she currently has a lot of stats, they can't use them blindly; they need to be used effectively. The same is true for Aunt Li Yinzhu and Zhou Weixing; their current physical condition allows them to handle their respective tasks well. As for children like Cheng Cong, Lin Kang, and Sun Siyao, there's even less need.
Then there was An Nan. Tao Sai had been intentionally cultivating her combat prowess, having previously buffed her attributes several times. She was diligent enough to adapt to the discomfort of her attributes, even cycling until she was smoking every day. Just after dinner, An Nan had mysteriously pulled Tao Sai into a secluded corner, lifted her quick-drying T-shirt, and revealed her distinctly defined abdominal muscles.
Similar to Tao Sai's strength bias, An Nan also had a bias towards speed, and her upgrades were primarily focused on that attribute. Tao Sai also intended to increase her speed, and her body surprisingly adapted to the 30-point attribute with ease.
Tao Sai had her draw more experience from Lin Kang's fighting games, and he also assigned her less-used combat skills to An Nan, such as [Borrowed Strength]. Her current strength level didn't require stealing her opponent's strength at all, and the added attribute points were minimal, and it still took up a skill slot.
All in all, after hard training, An Nan has become a good fighter. If she uses her skills instead of firearms and fights alone, her combat effectiveness on the "Deep Sea Fish" should be ranked second.
Tao Sai lay in bed, assigning attribute points. It was already late at night. Zhou Ning stretched out his body, concluding his study for the day.
She came back after washing up, pointed and said, "Taotao, I just went downstairs to take a shower. Guess what I saw."
"What did you see?" Tao Sai was surprised.
"I saw a light on in the hallway, and when I walked over, I saw that Lin Kang was still playing games." She was filled with righteous indignation, "It's almost twelve o'clock!"
"He must have sneaked out with the game console while his parents were asleep," Tao Sai speculated.
"Of course!" Zhou Ning said, "I confiscated his game console. I'll tell Yanyan tomorrow that she's the only one in their family who can handle him."
That is indeed true. From ancient times to the present, elder sisters have always had bloodline suppression over their younger brothers.
After applying eye cream, Zhou Ning lay down on the bed, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully.
After a while, she suddenly turned around and said with a sinister look on her face, "Taotao, I think we can't let these kids have such a reckless childhood, otherwise they'll definitely become lawless when they grow up."
She went on, "Now that our refugee ship has been upgraded and is much larger, I have an idea. I want to convert a classroom into it. I'll use it as a classroom for Lin Kang, Cong Cong, and Si Yao first. When they're not in class, they can use it as a study room and a place to do their homework. We need to set some rules for them and correct their sleep and rest schedules. The habit of self-discipline must be cultivated from a young age."
Tao Sai wholeheartedly agreed with her idea. A Level 5 refuge ship, and eventually a Level 6 one, would become a small community as the number of survivors grew. Survival shouldn't be the sole purpose; there should be more functional areas for the community to function effectively. This is what distinguishes humans from animals. Although driven to the sea by insects, humans need to gradually pick up these things after solving basic survival problems. Schools are necessary for development and continuation, but the curriculum needs to adapt accordingly. Advanced theoretical knowledge can be temporarily shelved, and more practical skills should be learned.
Tao Sai turned off the bedside lamp, and the room became dark. The faint moonlight shone on the sea and then reflected into the porthole.
The air conditioner runs at low power consumption, and the cool air from the air outlet blows out gradually, making the room cool and comfortable. Now it is early autumn, and it will take some time for the air conditioner to be used temporarily.
Tao Sai put herself into deep sleep mode, but before she closed her eyes, she said to Zhou Ning beside her, "It seems your tasks will be quite heavy for the next period of time."
"It's okay, there are only a few items. I can remember them clearly now and I'm sure I can complete them successfully. I found that after my brain started working better, I became more organized. Whenever several things came together, my brain could plan them out right away. I used to be a mess at work. Taotao, if I become smarter, can my brain evolve into artificial intelligence?" Zhou Ning came over and asked curiously.
"The human brain is actually much smarter than artificial intelligence, but it just needs to be developed and is easily interfered with by external factors," said Tao Sai.
Zhou Ning paused, then suddenly said seriously, "Taotao, something strange happened when I was taking a shower just now. I don't know if I should tell you about this, but it also feels like I'm making a big deal out of nothing."
"What?" Tao Sai asked curiously.
"There was a moment, just a split second, when I suddenly forgot you. Not just your name, I can't quite put my finger on it. I just had an impression of you, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't recall it. I was so anxious. Then I remembered it again after a while." Zhou Ning was puzzled. "Why did this happen? Did my brain freeze? That shouldn't be the case. I might have been confused before, but now my intelligence is so high that I can memorize long sections of technical terms in books after just one look."
"Maybe you're overusing your brain," Tao Sai said after a moment of thought. "Intelligence can improve brain capacity, but it can't replenish your brain. Brain cells die faster when you overuse your brain. Tell your mother to get you some brain supplements. Your brain is very useful."
"Hehehe, that makes sense." Zhou Ning agreed deeply and was full of energy. "Taotao, wait for me to build a mecha for you later."
Feeling sleepy, she lay back down, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep within a few minutes.
Tao Sai stared at the ceiling for a long time, then closed his eyes.
…
Zhang Chuan spent almost all of his gold coins on buying nutrient solution, filling up five cabins in the lower cabin.
He pulled Ms. Peng out of the cabin and earnestly instructed her, "Mom, the contents of these five rooms are all nutrient solution. One small bottle can keep an adult fed for a whole day. You must take out the finest of these to ensure that the people on our boat don't starve to death. There are so many people on the island, we can't save them all. Mom, don't be too sympathetic. You must not be a saint!"
"Holy Mother, what does that mean?" Ms. Peng asked in confusion.
"That's it..." Zhang Chuan tried to think of a word that she could understand at her age, but he couldn't think of one after a long time. "In short, just think about yourself first. It doesn't matter whether you are selfish or not."
"I know, don't worry." Ms. Peng assured.
Although the words were said, Zhang Chuan suspected that his mother had ignored them. She was too kind. He remembered when he was a child, their upstairs neighbor was an old lady in her seventies or eighties. She had a son and a daughter, but her children didn't care much for her. Every time the family ate meat, Ms. Peng would send a portion upstairs. This happened every day for several years. Sometimes she did it herself, and sometimes she sent him to do it. Later, when the old lady upstairs fell ill and was sent for emergency treatment, her son and daughter jumped out and accused the old lady of being sick because of the food Ms. Peng cooked. At that time, his father had not died yet, and he also scolded her for meddling. Zhang Chuan understood and appreciated his mother's kindness and love, but this did not apply in the context of the end of the world.
Ms. Peng was soft-hearted and easily deceived. She might just finish his words and then a famine would break out on the island, and someone on shore would ask for help. She would generously give away all the nutrient solution in these rooms. She could only talk to her cousin and the others again. If the situation wasn't right, she could take the boat out to sea and eliminate the problem at the source.
"But why are you telling me this?" Ms. Peng sensed something strange.
"Mom, I have to go on a long trip, but I don't know when I can come back." Zhang Chuan said with a relaxed expression.
"Go ahead." Ms. Peng nodded. She unconditionally supported every decision her son made.
"Mom, I'm hungry again. Please cook me a midnight snack. I want to eat fried noodles."
"Why are you so troublesome? Aren't there snacks on your bedside table?"
"That's all junk food, you said."
"Okay, okay, I'll do it."
"Add a sausage."
"Ham sausages are made from diseased pork. Eating too much is bad for your health."
"Then let's fry a sausage, Cantonese style."
"There's no Cantonese food left, only Sichuan food."
"Forget it, I don't want to eat fried noodles, I want to eat fermented glutinous rice eggs."
“…”
That night, except for Zhang Chuan, countless players in the third zone began to say goodbye to their families directly or indirectly and made preparations.
On the world channel, Guo Pei and He Zhaonian, who had just regained his composure, actively spoke and organized, officially putting the entire player coalition on the agenda. The gathering point was Cricket Island in the South China Sea. After all players hid their refuge ships, they gathered towards Cricket Island.
Starting from the second day, the grand gathering of players from the third zone began.
Tao Sai possesses two [Space Warp] skills, one S+ and one snatched from the wind. Besides her, three other players in Area 3 have also unlocked [Space Warp]. Area 3 covers over 20 million square kilometers of land and ocean, and players are scattered across the landmass. Relying solely on refugee ships would be inefficient. Therefore, Tao Sai and three other players acted as "pick-up drivers," shuttling across various seas to pick up people and transport boats.
In just two days, more than seven hundred players have gathered on Cricket Island, and others are still arriving.
Tao Sai sent Guo Pei, He Zhaonian, Shi Jiahui, and Tang Yingxue out to lead the players in collective activities, including training, monster farming, and sparring. Guo Pei was also concentrating on one thing: matching the players' nicknames on the world channel with their real-name authentication. This was to prevent members of the two alliances loyal to Paradise Island, "Azure" and "Daegu New Generation," from sneaking in.
Hailou holds immense credibility and prestige among the player community, and Guo Pei and the other four have fully mobilized the player base. Each player is assigned a team based on their strengths and abilities. Tang Yingxue leads the ranged attack team, the smallest of the group, with only 98 players. Shi Jiahui leads the nannies and other support players, numbering approximately 166 players. Guo Pei leads the close-quarters combat savvy players, numbering 229. The remaining players, with more combat damage skills, are comparable to mages, and are led by He Zhaonian.
The training content includes the use of skills and actual combat. Tao Sai will use illusions to create injury-free training and competition illusions for players.
Insect Tide Online is a development-based game, so player development is crucial. Besides training, players, led by their team leader, will also head out to the mainland to kill monsters and grind.
The combined power of such a large group of players is formidable. Each player unleashes their own unique abilities, unleashing their arsenal of skills upon the swarm. The intense firepower effortlessly pushes back the swarm's path. Players also communicate and help each other during this collective effort, avoiding detours. Previously, when fighting individually, players were inevitably prone to slacking off—this is human nature. But when everyone gathers together, with mutual encouragement and guidance from experts, everyone is incredibly motivated.
They all knew one thing very well: they had united and come here not for vacation or team building, but for a common goal, they wanted to become stronger, to become even stronger, and to work hard to improve their development. Only in this way could they remove the huge tumor of Paradise Island in the future "surgical operation".
Guo Pei had been having more and more questions lately, and he couldn't help but ask Tao Sai, "Boss, this is weird. These players used to adore you on the World Channel. I thought it was going to be some kind of big fan meeting. I was even worried that even security wouldn't be able to contain their enthusiasm. But when they saw you, they didn't seem to react at all, as if they'd just been through World War II. This isn't right."
"It's just that Ye Gong likes dragons." Tao Sai waved his hand indifferently.
"Sister Sai," He Zhaonian said in a deep and serious voice. He wore a mask to hide the large scars on his face. "I feel something is wrong."
"What's wrong?" Tao Sai asked.
"I feel like I've forgotten a lot of things." He Zhaonian frowned.
"It's normal for your memory to be impaired after your brain has been attacked by a virus," Tao Sai explained.
"It's not normal. The memories I've forgotten seem to all be about you, all of them!" He Zhaonian unconsciously increased his voice, becoming slightly agitated. "I've forgotten how we met and how we got here, but I remember Yingxue and Jiahui so clearly. And I feel like this is slowly getting worse. I definitely remember less today than I did yesterday."
"Sister Sai, I think I'm in the same situation," Shi Jiahui said hesitantly. Before He Zhaonian spoke, she thought she was the only one who felt the same way.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you guys are too much. You can even forget the boss's memory. I am the boss's dog. I remember everything about the boss clearly and I will never forget it for the rest of my life!" Guo Pei vowed, "From the very beginning in the Yangtze River, I..."
Guo Pei was stuck for a moment. He tried hard to recall but to no avail, and then fell into great fear.
Tao Sai understood and her expression grew serious. She gathered a few people together and said, "It's almost time. Open the system and we'll talk in the alliance channel."
Face-to-face conversations might result in Paradise Island monitoring you in unexpected ways. Only through the Alliance channel can communication be absolutely airtight.
She spoke.
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: Didn't Xiao He ask me before whether Paradise Island would take the opportunity to attack us? Don't worry, they won't pay attention to us for the time being, I'm sure
[Three Feet of Life (Lv4)]: Why
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: In order to grab more player resources, Paradise Island will not take action against ordinary players for the time being. They only target the tough ones who pose a great threat.
This is what Feng had told them before.
[Mr. Bucai Youshan (Lv3)]: But that's not right, Boss. I'm afraid you've already been on Liu He's kill list.
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: So I died
As soon as Tao Sai's news appeared in the alliance channel, everyone looked at her in infinite horror.
[Tang Sixi (Lv4)]: Sister Sai, are you kidding me?
[Zhizhi (Lv4)]: I don’t understand anything at all
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: I'm not kidding. Haven't you noticed that the loss of my memory is similar to the situation where a player's personal information is erased by the system after being killed?
Tao Sai's words made several people feel a chill down their spines.
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: But don't worry, the system just mistakenly thought I was killed. Am I not alive and well now?
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: To be precise, I faked my own death to escape. You will forget me, and so will Liu He. The principle behind this is too complicated to explain, and you will quickly forget it after I explain it. The Alliance Channel will also delete my information.
[Cx330 (Lv5)]: In short, you guys do your own thing well. You already have the ability to stand on your own. I trust you and am relieved to leave it to you.
There was a hawk-like sharp light in Tao Sai's eyes.
Before long, all of them, including everyone else, will have completely forgotten about her. She will be independent of the game system and will be able to do many things without being noticed by Paradise Island.
There was definitely an element of gambling in achieving the current effect. She fully understood the meaning of the simple drawings of T that Feng drew for her and then destroyed immediately.
The first scene in Fenghua's storyboard was a simple double-slit interference experiment. Through this picture, Tao Sai guessed the approximate direction.
Tao Sai had occasionally come across popular science videos about the double-slit interference experiment. After all, it was one of the most popular topics among marketing accounts, which often cast a veil of horror and bizarreness to attract traffic. After watching so many of them, she naturally acquired a rough understanding of the subject.
The origin of this experiment dates back to a long time ago. People have always been curious about what light is, a wave or a particle. In the early 19th century, Young's double-slit interference experiment came into being, which is written in middle school textbooks. Thomas Young's specific method was to illuminate a light source on a wooden board with two slits, and finally project it onto a curtain behind the board. If light is a particle and propagates in a straight line, it will randomly pass through one of the two slits and finally form two and only two light spots on the curtain. If light is a wave, it will interfere when passing through the two slits, just like circles of water waves, and eventually form more stripes on the curtain. The results of the experiment are very clear. After the light passes through the slits, light and dark interference stripes are formed on the curtain, which is a characteristic of waves.
Later in the 20th century, scientists such as Einstein and de Broglie proved through the photoelectric effect that light is also a particle, and other microscopic particles including photons have the wave-particle duality.
People weren't satisfied with this conclusion. With the advancement of technology, humans developed devices that could emit only one electron at a time. Electrons could simulate photons, so scientists improved Young's double-slit interference experiment. Instead of shining a beam of light onto the wooden board with the double slits, they sent photons through the double slits one by one. Since photons are emitted one by one, interference should not occur, and only two slits should be projected on the screen. However, the result of the experiment was that interference fringes still appeared on the screen behind. Since there was no object with which the photon could interfere, the interference phenomenon occurred. Scientists could only come up with one explanation: the photon interfered with itself when passing through the double slit. In other words, the photon passed through both slits simultaneously and interfered.
As technology continues to advance, scientists have further refined the double-slit interference experiment. This time, they placed an observation instrument in front of a wooden board with two slits carved into it, allowing them to accurately observe what happens when a photon passes through the slits. Once the experiment began, they encountered a phenomenon they still can't explain: when the instrument was turned on, the interference fringes on the screen disappeared, revealing only the shadows of the two slits. However, when the instrument was turned off and the experiment continued, the interference fringes reappeared on the screen. This gave the experimenters a chilling feeling, as if the photons possessed intelligence, and the experimental results depended solely on observation.
Later, even more sophisticated instruments were invented, but the results remained the same. Whether using a camera or other device, as soon as the scientists attempted to observe the light, it would hide its wave nature and reveal only its particle nature. As soon as they stopped observing, the light would become a wave again. It was as if the light was playing a trick on the scientists, driving them nearly insane.
Later, scientists tried placing an observation instrument behind the double-slit plate. Their plan was to keep the instrument closed, then turn it on after the photon passed through the slits to observe and record the photon's state after passing through the double slits. Something even more outrageous occurred: after passing through the double slits, the photon was detected by the suddenly turned-on instrument, revealing the properties of a particle on the screen. However, when the instrument was turned off, interference fringes appeared on the screen again. The scientists randomly turned the instrument on and off, but the results remained the same. The experimental results shocked everyone, suggesting that photons can predict the future! Before passing through the double slits, photons could predict whether the scientists would turn on the detection instrument, and thus choose the state they would present.
This phenomenon directly challenges the human law of causality. According to existing human cognition, the past comes before the future, and past events influence the future, with cause and effect. However, it now appears that this is not the case. The past and future are both predetermined and exist simultaneously. Does time really exist?
In order to rationalize this phenomenon and prevent physics from collapsing, scientists have put forward many conjectures and thought experiments that cannot be verified by experiments for the time being.
What cannot be explained is that when the photon is a single particle before passing through the double slit and it is still a single particle after passing through, so with what does it interfere?
Hugh Everett III proposed a bold hypothesis: when a photon passes through a double slit, two superimposed worlds emerge: in world A, the photon passes through the left slit, while in world B, it passes through the right slit. The photons passing through each slit interfere with each other, and in each world, instruments, whether before or after the double slits, will only detect a single photon. Continuously firing photons through the double slits creates countless superimposed worlds, and observations in each world will believe that their observations and their own world are unique. This seemingly random phenomenon is actually predetermined. This is how the theory of parallel universes emerged.
The parallel universe theory states that every choice an individual makes creates a different parallel universe based on the choice, with countless parallel universes superimposed on each other. For example, if you eat the apple on the table, the universe will split into one in which the apple was eaten and one in which the apple was not eaten.
It turns out that the theory of parallel universes is just a conjecture of scientists. There is no definite conclusion. After all, it cannot be verified or falsified by experiments, and it is too far away from reality.
But Feng's S-level magical skill [Observation] completely confirmed the authenticity of the parallel universe. The skill introduction shows: Using this skill, you can choose to observe the parallel universe, and the observed parallel universe will be regarded as your subjective universe.
Feng Xiang concealed the fact that she had opened an S-rank skill from Paradise Island. After all, the probability of a player opening an S-rank skill directly through the [Skill Blind Box] was too low, and she concealed the fact without arousing anyone's suspicion. She only told Coach Fujii about it, and communicated with him through the brain waves of the skill [Induction].
Feng didn't understand how to use the S-level magical skill [Observation] at first, so she conducted some tests on [Observation] under the guidance of Coach Fujii. Since [Observation] has a cooldown period of up to ten days after each use, the tests were not conducted too many times, but through these few tests, they basically understood [Observation] and more principles and characteristics about parallel universes.
First, parallel universes do exist. As Hugh Everett hypothesized, every decision an individual makes creates a superposition of parallel universes. The function of "Observe" is to use it before making a decision. After the action is completed, you can choose which parallel universe to "Observe". In whichever parallel universe you observe, the player's subjective consciousness will exist in that parallel universe.
Feng first took out a piece of toast. Before deciding whether to eat it, she used the skill [Observation]. After she ate the bread, two parallel universes appeared for her to observe. She chose to observe the world where she hadn't eaten the bread. The magical skill [Observation] worked, and although she still held the piece of bread in her hand, she still felt full.
In other words, by switching the parallel universe of observation, she got two pieces of bread, the bread in her hand and the bread in her stomach.
Feng began to understand the magic and usefulness of [Observation]. If that was the case, and she chose to observe the parallel universe where no food was eaten every time, would she have infinite food?
She thought about it and decided that it was theoretically possible, but not necessary. [Observation] had a cooldown period of ten days after being used once.
Continuing to test and control variables, after several times, Feng gradually gained a better understanding of the parallel world.
That is, although every decision made by an individual will split into countless parallel universes, these parallel universes tend to unify and merge.
If the entire universe is likened to a computer, parallel universes are the windows it opens, or the tasks it runs. However, the computing power and memory space of this cosmic computer are limited. To save computational resources, over time, the split parallel universes are squeezed back into a single universe.
Whether two parallel universes will be squeezed and merged depends on their similarities and whether the effects of the decision to split the parallel universes disappear, or nearly disappear.
Feng gave an example in her storyboard.
In the storyboard, a soap bubble floats in front of the little girl in a dress. She sees the bubble, feels happy, and reaches out to pop it. At this moment, if she chooses to pop the bubble, or not, it will split into two parallel universes.
But soap bubbles are extremely fragile. Even if the little girl doesn't pop them, they could burst on their own in the next second. When the bubble in the parallel universe that the little girl didn't pop pops, the parallel universe where the bubble was popped becomes almost identical to the world where it wasn't. Then, the two parallel universes are squeezed back into a single world by the cosmic computer, which saves computing power.
Feng gave another example, an example of a decision that caused even greater differences between the two parallel universes.
In the painting, a little boy is sitting at the dining table eating his lunch box, but the dishes his mother prepared for him today are all things he doesn't like. He is very hungry, but doesn't want to eat.
At this point, regardless of whether he ate the lunch box or not, he would be split into two opposite parallel universes. Logically, the difference between the two worlds caused by this event would last for a period of time, three or four hours, or even longer, after all, the difference in the feeling of fullness after eating or not eating the lunch box is very significant.
But this cosmic computer seems anxious, perhaps its memory is almost full. It doesn't want the system to crash, but it also wants to be lazy and desperately want to reduce its workload. So, before the differences between the two parallel universes have completely disappeared, it abruptly squeezes the two worlds into one. This will cause some tiny errors, just like a little boy who dumps his lunch into the trash can and inexplicably feels full half an hour later, no longer hungry. This is because the different states of the two parallel universes merge, and their senses influence each other.
The above two examples show that whether it is complete consistency or slight differences, it will not affect the fusion of parallel worlds.
In the next storyboard, Feng explained several laws of the parallel universe through similar comic storyboards.
First, this cosmic computer has a hidden tendency that, in order to accelerate the fusion of parallel universes, will deliberately erase differences, even at the cost of modifying and tampering with data. However, it will not make drastic changes to prevent observers from noticing.
Second, parallel universes that split due to the existence of a certain object tend to merge quickly. For example, if a piece of bread or a glass of water causes a split in the parallel universe, then within half an hour or ten minutes, the split worlds will merge again. This is because the only thing the cosmic computer needs to tamper with is the observer's memory.
Third, parallel universes with inconsistencies are difficult to merge. For example, a city is planning to build a landmark building, and a decision-maker is presented with two completely different plans. Once he makes his decision, the universe splits into two parallel universes. The landmarks at the same location in these two parallel universes are, in one case, a Sun Bird and in the other, a giant panda. This is a contradiction. If the two parallel universes were to merge, many people would notice the anomaly. The giant Sun Bird might merge with the giant panda to form a single monster, and the world would be in chaos. While the universe, like a computer, is very memory-efficient, it prefers to prevent observations from noticing anomalies.
Fourth, similar objects in parallel universes merge and intersect. For example, if two different selves in two worlds merge, the intersection of their different memories is taken. Besides memories, other similar objects also intersect.
She specifically noted that it was the intersection that was taken, not the union.
Tao Sai was confused by this whole theory at first, until she suddenly thought of the "Pan Bowen incident" circulating on the Internet. If she used the theory of wind to interpret the "Pan Bowen incident", she would suddenly have an epiphany, and everything seemed to make sense.
The Pan Bowen incident circulating online is so bizarre it might even be adapted into a movie. The post was originally posted by an anonymous netizen, who later admitted to suffering from a mental illness. However, the truth of the matter has become unclear due to the ongoing controversy.
The original post described a classmate named Pan Bowen. One day, the poster, Pan Bowen, and two other classmates, A and B, were playing badminton on the playground. The shuttlecock accidentally flew into an abandoned basement nearby. The poster, Pan Bowen, and A decided to retrieve the shuttlecock, leaving B to guard the racket. The three of them entered the dark, complex basement, and the poster, A, and Pan Bowen became separated. Lost and wandering around, they stumbled down the stairs. When the poster and A finally emerged, they didn't see Pan Bowen. They questioned B, but B denied that Pan Bowen existed. After questioning everyone and searching through every available information, the poster and A confirmed something horrifying: the world had erased everything about Pan Bowen; he had never existed.
A few years later, the author confessed that he had a mental illness and that Pan Bowen was a fantasy companion. However, this did not explain A's existence, as he had also witnessed Pan Bowen's disappearance.
Tao Sai simply applied the parallel universe truth discovered by Feng to this incident. The general situation is as follows:
Several years ago, Pan Bowen was born, and the world split into two parallel universes. In World A, Pan Bowen hadn't been born. The author, like A and B, has lived in this world until now, and only the three of them play badminton in the playground. In World B, Pan Bowen was born, and his description is exactly the same as the author's. They've been classmates since junior high. Pan Bowen lives in Beilun, and the four of them play badminton. The two parallel universes have operated independently, overlapping in parallel for over a decade. Perhaps due to inconsistencies, such as landmark buildings, the cosmic computer, even with insufficient memory, has not forcibly compressed them, as this would cause chaos. Or perhaps the cosmic computer has been making many unnoticed efforts to eliminate the differences between the two worlds, but the process is slow. For example, under the influence of the cosmic computer's general trend, the disparate landmark buildings are slowly being demolished, and the inconsistencies that prevent the parallel universes from merging are disappearing.
Then, on the day they were playing badminton, the original poster, A, and Pan Bowen went into the dark, abandoned basement to retrieve badminton balls. Pan Bowen, who had been separated from them, suffered an accident. He may have fallen down the stairs or died in some other way. The contradictions disappeared around the same time. To save computational time, the two worlds were forcibly merged by the cosmic computer's processor. Everyone else in the two worlds had completely different memories of Pan Bowen: one knew him, the other had no memory of him. However, according to the rules of merging parallel universes, the merged memories intersect: the intersection of remembered and unremembered memories is no memory. This is why no one, classmates, or teachers, remembers Pan Bowen, and there is no trace of his existence in the world. Because in a world where Pan Bowen was not born, he did not exist. The intersection of the empty set and every set is the empty set.
As for why the original poster and Person A remember Pan Bowen, the original poster mentioned in their post that they too had fallen and tumbled in the basement, then inexplicably reappeared at the basement exit. It's likely that in the parallel universe without Pan Bowen, it was the other original poster and Person A who suffered the fatal accident. During the fusion of the two parallel universes, the original poster and Person A lost their original reference points, so they retained their original memories of Pan Bowen.
The whole story seems very metaphysical when explained, but if the theory of parallel universes is true, this is entirely possible.
Tao Sai even suspected that Pan Bowen might not have died immediately when the accident happened in the basement. The big hand of the universe might have played a role in it and accelerated the process.
There might be some minor details that Feng hasn't discovered, but this is roughly what the theory of parallel universes should be. Parallel universes exist, and split parallel universes tend to merge. As long as the differences disappear or decrease, they will merge immediately.
And Feng's last few shots are her plan.
After Liu He put forward those two options, Feng was in a situation at the time where she wanted to protect Coach Fujii but didn't want to hurt Tao Sai. She and Coach Fujii communicated through brain waves and jointly formulated a plan. This was a plan to conceal the truth based on the theory of parallel universes.
The specific implementation method is that Tao Sai needs to reach the top in [S2 Season], obtain the designated skill reward of the Overlooker, and choose the S-level magical skill [Observation] from the ten cards. Using two [Observations] at the same time is the basis and key to the success of this plan.
Tao Sai chose to believe in the wind.
So when Tao Sai successfully reached the top in [Season 2], she chose the S-level skill [Observation] without hesitation.
That night, she faced Feng and uninstalled the [Eternal Life] skill to ensure that Feng could kill her instead of locking her health.
Tao Sai equipped the [Observation] skill and activated it. She hadn't yet experimented with this newly acquired skill to prove its effectiveness, but she still chose to trust Feng. Feng's eyes were as pure as the water of Tianchi Lake, without a single speck of impurity.
In an instant, energy burst out, and Tao Sai activated his skill to kill Feng. The process of making a choice cannot be delayed too long, otherwise it will affect the skill judgment.
The next second, Tao Sai faced two choices. She decisively chose to observe the parallel universe where Feng was killed as her own subjective universe.
From then on, the two parallel universes began to split and superimpose.
In the parallel universe that Tao Sai did not choose, she did not attack Feng, but Feng killed her with one blow.
Liu He witnessed this scene firsthand through the [Delegate Vision] left on Feng's body. Meanwhile, news of the Cx330 player's death spread to the world channel. Paradise Island's undercover agents among the players also relayed this information to Liu He, who confirmed Tao Sai's death from two sources.
In just a few seconds, the original world was split into three parallel universes: the parallel universe where Tao Sai killed Feng, the parallel universe where both of them lived in peace, and the parallel universe where Feng killed Tao Sai.
Tao Sai chose to observe the former, and Feng chose to observe the latter.
The parallel world where both people live in peace will be named the target parallel world and will be mentioned later.
In Tao Sai's main universe, Feng was killed by her, and she seized Feng's attribute points and skills. The news of Feng's death was announced on the world channel, sparking heated discussions among players, but because the information of dead players was erased, players quickly forgot Feng's name and identity, and even forgot about this incident and this person.
In the main universe Feng was observing, she had killed Tao Sai and also seized his stat points and skills. When news of Cx330's death reached the world channel, it was like a thunderbolt, sending all players into a state of panic. In an instant, the sky fell. Cx330 was the spiritual pillar of the entire Third District, a near-leader. But players erased by the system couldn't escape the fate of oblivion; Tao Sai was forgotten only hours later than Feng. Meanwhile, Liu He, who witnessed Feng's slaying of Tao Sai, was slightly surprised, but the truth was undeniable. Since there were no real threats to the Third District, the "pig farming plan" could continue. There was no need to exterminate them completely; they should be allowed to thrive. The whale had already fallen, and even if there were more rotten fish and shrimp, they wouldn't stir up any trouble.
This is Feng and Kenji Fujii's plan. It not only gives them a chance to exchange hostages with Liu He, but also allows Tao Sai to temporarily avoid Liu He's sight.
For Tao Sai herself, it was a faking death that couldn't have been more real. No matter how much Tiantang Island and Liu He disbelieved it, she was definitely dead. And because of her fake death, her positional relationship with Tiantang Island was completely reversed.
In the parallel universe where Tao Sai was killed, all traces of her existence were erased by the system, and Liu He and Paradise Island naturally forgot about her existence, forgetting that she had ever existed. This made it so that Liu He was in the light and she was in the dark.
She transforms into a venomous snake and lurks in the bushes. It is up to her to decide whether to hide or attack, and she has unlimited room for maneuver.
Of course, there is also the most important step here, which is the fusion between parallel universes.
Let’s go back to the parallel universe where Tao Sai and Feng live in peace.
First, the fusion of Tao Sai's subjective universe and the target parallel universe will occur quickly, or perhaps has already occurred. This is because wind is completely nonexistent in Tao Sai's subjective universe compared to the target parallel universe. The game system has enabled the cosmic computer to erase all traces of wind's existence. The only difference between the two worlds is the existence of wind. Furthermore, according to the laws of parallel universe fusion, parallel universes that split due to the existence of a certain object will quickly merge again. The only thing the cosmic computer needs to tamper with is human memory. When the two parallel universes merge, the memories of those in the target parallel universe and those in Tao Sai's main universe merge, and then the intersection is taken. This will result in a phenomenon: everyone has forgotten about wind, but it still exists.
Similarly, the only difference between Feng's main universe and the target parallel universe is the existence of Tao Sai. The fusion still happened quickly. After the two parallel universes merged, the memories of those who remembered Tao Sai and those who didn't remembered Tao Sai intersected. The intersection of empty sets is an empty set, and everyone will forget Tao Sai's existence. Even if she is standing in front of someone she once knew very well.
Tao Sai and Feng, by using [Observation] on each other and taking advantage of the game's ability to erase dead players, became invisible people independent of the players and the game.
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