Yang Jia looked at Zhuo Tianyang in confusion. "Why did you suddenly come to the city?"
"This is a different time now," Zhuo Tianyang said. "I used to keep a low profile, but now it seems that's no longer necessary, so I just came straight over."
"What do you mean?" Yang Jia narrowed her eyes, feeling he was speaking with a hidden meaning. However, she knew that playing dumb with Zhuo Tianyang was pointless given the information asymmetry, and she wouldn't gain any advantage, so she simply asked directly.
Zhuo Tianyang didn't answer directly, but asked her instead, "Is Li Bai on Hope Star?"
Yang Jia considered it briefly before nodding, "Yes." It wasn't a secret anyway. With Zhuo Tianyang's abilities, it would be easy to investigate; there was no need to hide it. But, did he come all this way just to ask me this question? Something felt off.
Hearing her answer, Zhuo Tianyang seemed relieved and smiled, "I won't ask what she's been up to on Hope Star, but are you guys preparing for the future?"
While the question was vague, given the specific topic, Yang Jia couldn't help but speculate that perhaps this person, who knew nothing about her, had already partially guessed what she and Li Bai were planning. She had no idea who he was, what he was up to, or why he was so focused on Li Bai and her.
However, Yang Jia had asked this question before, but never got an answer, so she simply didn't bother asking again. She said vaguely, "Who isn't preparing for the future?"
Zhuo Tianyang scratched his head when he heard this, and suddenly said, "Why don't you ask me why I came to see you?"
"Even if I ask you, you won't give me an answer. If that's the case, why bother talking to me?" Yang Jia said bluntly. The implication was, if you want to talk, just say it. If you don't want to talk, I won't ask.
But Zhuo Tianyang sat down on the chair and actually began to explain, "I came here this time to discuss a cooperation with you."
"cooperate?"
"Cooperation." Zhuo Tianyang nodded seriously. "Of course, considering that you may have doubts about this, I will show my sincerity first. After you read it, you can decide whether to accept it. How about it?"
Although Zhuo Tianyang's existence remained a mystery, it was undeniable that Yang Jia, at most, had only suspicions about him, not doubts. In fact, in a sense, Yang Jia actually believed in him. It was just that he was not always truthful in his words, and it was often difficult to understand what he meant.
So when she heard Zhuo Tianyang say this, she immediately nodded and said, "Okay."
Zhuo Tianyang waved her hand, and Zhuo Han, who was standing behind her, stepped forward and said expressionlessly, "The purpose of establishing the 'Real' game project, in addition to trying to conquer the virus within the game, the most important point is to help ordinary people adapt to this environment."
Yang Jia frowned slightly, "What do you mean by letting ordinary people adapt to this environment?"
"That's what you mean." Zhuo Tianyang said, "None of us have been to Hope Star, but we have seen pictures and information. Compared to Earth, the environment on Hope Star is more similar to the one in the game."
"It is said that it is a fusion of data from Earth hundreds of years ago and data from Hope Star." Yang Jia said.
Zhuo Tianyang nodded. "For many people on Earth, although Earth has its various disadvantages, cities are where they are accustomed to. If we rashly move people to Hope Star, they may not be able to get used to or adapt."
"So, let's do some in-game adaptation training first?" Yang Jia asked. "That's nothing, right? At least it's not worth it for you to specifically share this information as 'sincerity'."
Hearing this, Zhuo Tianyang laughed. "To be honest, if you hadn't asked, I really wouldn't have told you. Indeed, on the surface, it looks just like you said, not worth taking so seriously. But what if... the authorities intend for everyone to 'adapt' to more than just this?"
When he said this, he gave a sarcastic smile, leaned back in his chair and stared at Yang Jia.
Yang Jia always felt that there was something ominous in his tone. She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then frowned slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I don't believe you can't guess it." Zhuo Tianyang smiled again, "You should have discovered it, right? No matter how many straight lines appear in this game world, the main direction of development is always certain. That is - war!"
He pronounced the last two words very emphatically, and then returned to his smiling expression. "I don't think I need to tell you how the Earth became what it is now, right?"
This sentence was like a bolt of lightning, striking through Yang Jia's consciousness and connecting all the questions that had puzzled her.
How did the Earth become what it is today? Because of war, because of the unrestrained and indiscriminate use of weapons of mass destruction in war.
However, for the humans on Earth, that was five hundred years ago. None of this happened before their eyes; even when they were born, the Earth was already in much the same state as it is today. They knew this fact from countless sources, but it was difficult for them to grasp the magnitude of the event.
This game world was developed for them to "adapt", of course, not only to let them adapt to this world with green grass, singing birds, fragrant flowers, beautiful mountains and clear waters, but more importantly to let them "adapt" to the process of this world from its heyday to its decline, let them witness the destruction of such a world with their own eyes, and even personally participate in the process of destroying this world, and know how terrible this destruction is.
In this way, when they immigrate to Hope Star in the future, they will abide by the established rules, not use any overly destructive weapons on the new planet, and try their best to ensure the ecological balance, so as to prevent Hope Star from following the same path as Earth.
For humans on Earth, this isn't difficult at all; it's just a matter of developing a game. While it's expensive, the final result will be substantial.
But for the game world, from the day it was born, it was destined to have only one outcome in the end - destruction.
One day, the whole world will fall asleep.
--I see.
That's why this game was jointly developed by three districts, that's why the main theme of the game world is fighting, and that's why each district has invested its most elite young people... All of this is just to destroy a world for everyone to see, so that they will remember this painful lesson.
Zhuo Tianyang hadn't lied the last time they met; indeed, everything was hidden in that ballad. This was the fate of the entire gaming world.
After realizing this, Yang Jia felt a chill in his heart.
Not only from the perspective of an NPC, but even from the perspective of a player, this kind of thing is hard to accept. Especially the longer you live in the game world, the more you experience, and the deeper your feelings for this world, the more unacceptable it will be when that day comes.
It is true that this may be a good option for the authorities, but Yang Jia cannot accept this possibility calmly.
Even though she has now escaped from her NPC identity and no longer needs to rely on this world to survive, Yang Jia still cannot accept the fate of letting this world go to destruction.
Her previous vague and ambiguous guesses had unexpectedly led her to the truth. If not for this, if not for her desperate attempt to change the trajectory of her own fate, she might still be just an ordinary NPC.
In this case, she would never allow this final outcome to happen.
"I admit," Yang Jia took a deep breath and slowly suppressed his emotions. "This news is indeed very important to me. Tell me, how do you want to cooperate?"
"Don't be so nervous." Zhuo Tianyang smiled and said, "Don't worry, this cooperation will be very beneficial to you." He paused for a moment until Yang Jia looked over, then continued, "You and Li Bai are short of manpower now, right?"
If it was just a guess before, Li Bai can now be sure that he knows what he and Li Bai are planning.
But since they were here to cooperate, and although Zhuo Tianyang hinted at it, he didn't point it out, nor did he mean to threaten, so Yang Jia wasn't too worried. She nodded and said, "Why, can you still provide us with manpower?"
"That's right!" Zhuo Tianyang immediately nodded with a smile, "I'm here to send you some help."
So kind?
Yang Jia thought for a moment and asked, "What manpower are you talking about?"
"The current total population on Earth is around 20 billion, which should be a number that everyone knows. But do you know how many people live at the bottom of the society?" Zhuo Tianyang asked.
Yang Jia really didn't know. He only knew that the current distribution of humans on Earth was roughly spindle-shaped, with the least people at the ends and the most in the middle. However, the middle was slightly lower, around the 40th floor, where the largest number of people were.
"It's almost 2 billion, accounting for one-tenth of the total population." Zhuo Tianyang said.
Yang Jia couldn't help but take a deep breath. Although she guessed that the number might not be too small, when it actually appeared before her eyes, it was still shocking.
The so-called bottom floor refers to the people living below the 20th floor. Because they're so close to the ground, the living environment here is naturally poor, and all other aspects of their lives are significantly worse than those of the upper floors. While technology and medicine are advancing rapidly in today's society, these people rarely benefit from these advances.
The number of people living in this environment is only one-tenth of the entire human population on Earth, which is simply terrifying.
At this point, Yang Jia finally understood Zhuo Tianyang's intention. When he said he was providing manpower to Yang Jia and Li Bai, he was probably referring to these people who lived in the darkness at the bottom of society and were rarely noticed.
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