Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 141 The Pedantic Monk

One year later, in Beijing.

"I'm speechless. Earth's controlled nuclear fusion facilities are being moved into space, and the entire planet is currently facing a severe power shortage. Under these circumstances, the Circum-Equatorial Particle Accelerator simply cannot conduct high-energy particle experiments. Why did you wake me up so early? Don't you know that every day I live is one day less?"

Ding Yi, who is in his fifties, said with a sense of disappointment that he now suffers from severe anxiety about his lifespan.

Luo Qing walked down the street with a worried expression: "You can put your high-energy particle experiment on hold. I think humanity may not be able to overcome this hurdle, so there's no need to continue your lousy experiment."

"What hurdle?" Ding Yi countered.

“The hurdle of a major trough.” Luo Qing pointed to the city in the distance, enveloped in soap bubbles.

— It seems that humanity has developed PTSD of ecological collapse. Large cities must be constantly enveloped in round soap bubbles, otherwise the residents of the city will feel extremely insecure.

Even now, with the global ecological environment 'regressing' by 20 years, soap bubbles still habitually blanket the skies above major cities.

“I think the Great Depression has eased a lot, hasn’t it? Your Wallfacer project has been very successful. Now, afforestation is being carried out all over the world, the ecology is slowly recovering, and the prices of fruits, vegetables and light industrial products are also falling. People can even afford rice, flour and cooking oil,” Ding Yi said.

Before Luo Qing's Wallfacer Project was implemented, the prices of fruits and vegetables were outrageously high. Light industrial products barely met people's basic daily needs, and a commodity economy based on light industrial products was virtually non-existent. As for traditional agricultural food, it was unaffordable for ordinary people; they could only afford "air buns" or "air bread" (referring to starch buns and bread synthesized from carbon dioxide and water in the air).
Previously, the phenomenon of bartering even briefly emerged among humans—under a planned economy that dominated everything, being able to barter was already a good option.

But since the emergence of the Wallfacer Project, humans have been able to afford food dug from the ground again. This is a major regression in the level of technological life, but a major advancement in the quality of human life.

—Although nowadays crops are almost all genetically modified high-yield, high-trait crops.

But it's still much better than steamed buns with air inside, fried pancakes with mosquitoes inside, or meat sandwiches with cockroaches inside.

It is precisely for this reason that Luo Qing, the Wallfacer, enjoys unprecedented prestige among the people. The United Nations even plans to appoint Luo Qing as its first substantive leader of civilization, the Earth's leader.

Luo Qing decisively refused and confronted the UN member of parliament who made the suggestion, going to his house and beating him up.

You humans have such a beautiful dream!
Faced with Ding Yi's answer, Luo Qing forced a smile: "Old Ding, don't you realize that the current economic recovery is essentially an illusion that I strongly promoted?"

"What illusion or not, it's a fact that humans can eat their fill, it's a fact that roadside stalls that disappeared for decades have reappeared, it's a fact that egg pancakes and roujiamo have appeared, and it's a fact that all sorts of random supermarkets have opened!"

Luo Qing pressed further: "Yes, I know these are facts; humanity has returned to a brief period of prosperity. But Lao Ding, have you considered that for the entire year, space construction has come to a complete standstill, and humanity's second starship is still a long way off?"

Ding Yi glanced at him: "Isn't it because you're here? A stellar-class warship can't beat you anyway, so why bother building that thing?"

"Is this the same thing? I can't be used like a donkey. I can't handle the Trisolaran fleet by myself. I'm practically a jack-of-all-trades now. Whenever there's a problem, the UN calls me. I'm so busy, I really don't have time to cultivate," Luo Qing said dejectedly.

"What will happen if you stop cultivating?" Ding Yi asked.

"It will stop getting stronger and eventually be killed by the Trisolaran fleet." Luo Qing shrank back in fear.

“That’s a serious problem.” Ding Yi frowned. “Why don’t you ask the all-knowing MOSS?”

“I don’t want to see her. I don’t know why, but lately I feel that MOSS’s image is becoming more and more like a despicable con artist from my hometown.” Ding Yi also sighed and said, “Actually, the best way is still for you to suppress it for the next ten years, and then go to cultivate after ten years. The rest can be left to MOSS to take charge. Its computing power is so strong that it should be able to regulate the civilization to develop in a balanced way on the two paths.”

Luo Qing said, "I thought the same thing before I went into seclusion fifty years ago. I thought that since humanity has controlled nuclear fusion, soap bubbles, and MOSS, we wouldn't destroy ourselves. In fact, I overestimated humanity. Even with the support of MOSS, human civilization will still slowly become internally unbalanced and eventually be doomed."

Upon hearing this, Ding Yi frowned deeply: "Do you think it's possible that the continuous imbalance in the development of human civilization is due to problems with the overall command and control of MOSS?"

Luo Qing: "It's possible, but this can't be confirmed. I've reviewed all of MOSS's historical decisions, and each one fits the dilemma of the time and is theoretically the best decision. Not only me, but global think tanks haven't found any problems."

Ding Yi fell into deep thought.

Ding Yi then said, "If MOSS's rule over civilization will lead to its collapse after 50 years, then if you can't manage it, why don't you just come out of seclusion again after 50 years and repeat the process from this year?"

Luo Qing smiled wryly: "Of course that's no problem, but another problem has arisen. Haven't you noticed that humanity's development has been too slow in the last fifty years? The Trisolaran civilization has experienced a technological explosion in recent years! Their second fleet has already set sail. Who knows what the real speed of that fleet is? It's possible that they could overtake us from behind."

Ding Yi looked at the city before him, which seemed not much different from what it had been fifty years ago, and nodded hesitantly: "I don't understand the Trisolarans, but it seems we're a bit too slow."

Luo Qing added, "It's more than just slow! You used to be quite familiar with the Future History School, so you should be very familiar with their second and third prophecies, right?"

Ding Yi nodded.

Luo Qing added, "The first prophecy is a great trough, the second prophecy is a second Renaissance, a second Enlightenment, and a second French Revolution, and the third prophecy is that humanity will enter a new era of technological explosion."

Ding Yi already knew what Luo Qing was going to say.

He asked, "Do you think you prevented the Great Depression from continuing, preventing human civilization from experiencing a second Renaissance under sufficient stimulation, and consequently, from producing a technological explosion?"

Luo Qing nodded, then lowered his head and sighed, "The pedantic cultivators have hindered the natural evolution of civilization. They have used their self-righteous moral values ​​and individual power to hijack the development of the entire civilization."

Ding Yi was completely stunned.

"Who made that assessment of you?"

Luo Qing said sadly, "A month ago, I talked to MOSS and recounted our conversation beforehand. I told MOSS: You can tell the truth, and I won't pursue it. So MOSS gave me that evaluation."

"Bullshit!" Ding Yi stomped his foot angrily: "Does that mean it's right to let the great trough happen and billions of people die?"

Luo Qing said in a low voice, "If there hadn't been the Trisolaran crisis, I would have been right. But the Trisolaran crisis is right before our eyes. From the perspective of the survival of civilization, MOSS's assessment is correct, and I know that myself."

“MOSS is right. I am a pedantic cultivator, a conflicted wall-facer, a hypocrite who wants everything. Ah, I might as well die... But I really can’t let the Great Depression run rampant. If this happened in my hometown, half the people would die. This isn’t just a Great Depression, it’s a catastrophe! What kind of cultivator would let a catastrophe happen and remain indifferent?”

Ding Yi pointed out incisively, "You've placed too much responsibility on yourself. I really don't know why your moral standards are so high. If you were just an ordinary person, you wouldn't have so many troubles."

"I wish I were, but unfortunately I'm not one."

(End of this chapter)