Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 293 What is Oak?
December of the year 2108 in the Han calendar. Almost a month after the Han dynasty and the beasts clashed head-on, a meteorite streaked across the sky once again.

In the Qinling Mountains, large combat airships armed with laser weapons stood ready. This time, most of the meteorites landed near the Ural Mountains, while a significant portion fell in northern Longzhou (North America).

The perspective shifts to the other side of the ocean. Two hundred years ago, Longzhou had a long-standing confederate culture—in other words, a tribal alliance. Although reforms were implemented, the regional power remained considerable, making it impossible for the central government to exercise comprehensive information control.

So tabloid reporters flocked to the area to get firsthand information; the government simply couldn't resist these paparazzi with their flashing lights, gathering all sorts of inside stories. Then, all sorts of news flew around the Xinxiang Main Street newspaper.

Knowing the "unserious spectator" atmosphere in the south and the spread of the "stupid cartoons where Orks hit each other on the head with sticks," Xie Ming said helplessly, "Are you (the Southern Federation) just acting like nothing's wrong?"

Xie Ming then joked, "That's right, I also like to scroll through my phone. It's only natural to go south and watch the excitement."

The process of unification that began with the Qin and Han dynasties has made people accustomed to unity, but they often forget why divisions occurred in the first place. Longzhou, which was a tribal system hundreds of years ago, serves as a good example for comparison.

In this era, people's pursuit of "news" has become another need besides "food" and "water," namely, the need for information.

When print media (newspapers, etc.) can be distributed to every household and require real money to purchase, rapid information gathering becomes an important task, similar to "food production."

In the era of print media, the fabrication of fake news such as "Shocking!" and "Is that really the case?" was rare.

If the information is untrue, no one will buy it, and it will become nothing more than tabloid gossip.

This is different from the rules of the 21st century. In the information age, news is free; even if print media is truthful, no one will buy it. Furthermore, in the internet age, the cost of disseminating news is not tangible like paper; it's practically zero. This leads media outlets in the information age to choose information bombardment directly, without paying attention to the veracity of the information.

Of course, returning to the present, the officials in Longzhou helplessly stated that prohibiting newspapers from obtaining information is like prohibiting the sale of alcohol.

Those modern-day officials who have been keeping the Northwest war a closely guarded secret agree: "Yes, yes, yes."

The Han intelligence agency is very active in Longzhou. They constantly buy newspapers from other regions and fund Longzhou media to train "senior investigators".

Photos appeared alongside newspapers, showing that "upright beasts" had also appeared in northern Longzhou, also known as the Kaluga region.

As rumors of Bigfoot and Green-skinned People spread throughout northern Longzhou, panic ensued in various cities.

The factory workers, who toiled 12 hours a day for meager wages, were like chickens and ducks in a chicken farm. When they suddenly heard the news of the end of the world, they became "excited" and spread the news throughout the north, leading to vandalism and looting on the streets.

The Imperial Censor commented: "This is simply a riot within the camp."

Xuan Chong understood the reason for Ying Xiao's outburst: "People who have long felt psychologically imprisoned, in a state of high stability, will expect the status quo to be broken." Just like when he was a student, he liked to read apocalyptic literature because of the constant pressure of exams during his long school years. Therefore, when any small thing happens (power outage during evening self-study), every individual in the group subconsciously hopes that the matter will escalate and change the status quo.

The "Soul-Calling Case" during the Qianlong era and the "Great Chaos of Alien Broadcasts in America" ​​are examples of this.

This widespread avalanche cannot be analyzed simply by passive factors such as "blind obedience and blind faith." We should also consider the "active" role of each snowflake in creating the avalanche.

Qin Tianyi once said: In a powerful dynasty, the laborers, under strict supervision, found their shackles increasingly heavy and impossible to break free from. At the slightest disturbance, they would try to seize the opportunity to break up and flee. They deliberately made the master's life a constant struggle.

Currently, various rumors about "giant green aliens invading" are flying around Longzhou, to the point that some tribal supporters in Longzhou have started to use the pretext of "preventing invasion" to intercept trucks on the national highways of Longzhou and collect supplies.

Longzhou's army had to be dispatched to major cities to control the surrounding areas.

In the midst of this chaos, Jemint (Xie Ming) crosses over into the "Earth Shield" company controlled by his family and takes the opportunity to recruit armed forces in the north.

Because the Dragon State Parliament was a partisan system, the Jamint family engaged in a series of exchanges of favors. The vast majority of parliament members voted to tacitly approve of the Jamint family's actions—breaking borders in the north and recruiting troops.

The concept of principle resides in the ultimate responsible party of Eastern "sacrifice" culture. However, it doesn't exist in the multi-responsible system of the Mediterranean "sacrifice system." When everyone is responsible, no one is truly responsible.

In reality, compared to the present-day Han region, the number of alien beasts in northern Longzhou is very small.

The largest group that gathered together numbered only a little over five hundred. Although they were capable of learning, their weapons were very outdated, consisting mostly of machetes and even wooden tools inlaid with stone.

It was precisely here that Xie Ming's company reacted very quickly, using natural granite fortifications to clear out these alien beasts that were still stuck at the threshold of primitive technology.

To understand why the difficulty level in Jemint is so low, we need to talk about the northern part of Longzhou.

From Xuan Chong's perspective in his previous life, Canada's defining characteristic is its sheer size. Moreover, on a globe, it appears significantly larger than China in his previous life—not just by 380,000 square kilometers, but by a considerable margin. This is because its eastern territory is actually enclosed by a completely sealed inland sea. Excluding this sea, its area is 998 million square kilometers. Therefore, Canada is not only large, but also contains an inland sea ten times the size of the Bohai Sea.

This inland sea is embedded within the land, making it ideal for navigation at first glance; it practically turns half the country into an inland sea. It is a perfect, chosen place.

But! Once you really delve into this place, you'll be amazed that such barren land exists on this planet.

What appeared to be an advantageous inland sea was actually a nightmare that severed the development of civilization.

In my previous life, this place was called the "Canadian Shield." This area encompasses most of eastern Canada, a full five million square kilometers, the land surrounding Hudson Bay.

The soil here is very scarce; like the granite mountains of Huangshan, it is all bare rock.

The perfect inland sea is mainly due to the geological shield. During the Ice Age, after each glacier melted, a massive flood swept across this flat land. Ultimately, like flushing a toilet, the water resources accumulated during the Ice Age washed away the most precious rocks and the tiny bit of soil into the inland sea, leaving the land completely clean, just like an asphalt road after a heavy rain.

In the East, the existence of the second-step Loess Plateau and the alluvial deposits transported by rivers from west to east have made soil, a precious resource, commonplace in all regions of China.

Xuan Chong: In later generations, even in vast deserts, crops could be grown by altering the soil's mechanical properties. But in the Canadian Shield, there might truly be no way to do that.

Two hundred years ago, the Han Dynasty expanded rapidly, attempting to enfeoff various unclaimed territories. After geographers examined the area, they were both amused and exasperated: "The plains are indeed vast plains, but there is no soil. Rivers flow on bare granite rock foundations, and shrubs only grow in the crevices of the rocks."

Back in the Han Dynasty, those royal princes, unwilling to give up, took Luoyang shovels and dug around the area, trying to find places to sow wheat. As a result, they discovered many gold mines, but lacked even the most ordinary soil.

How so? Historically, when the capital of a dynasty was besieged, pearls and gems were extremely valuable, but they couldn't be exchanged for even a bushel of grain.

Only when people can farm, settle down, and have a large population can a place be considered "rich" in minerals. But if people cannot settle down, no matter how many minerals there are, they are not yours.

If others wanted to take it, the small population meant they had no right to resist. Therefore, the Han dynasty imperial family all rejected the land.

Xu Zhenzhi, a famous geographer in modern China, said: "If anyone really covets the gold mines on this land and moves in, there is no guarantee that a few hundred years later, when 'the heavens and the people are at odds and the world is in chaos,' the entire clan will be completely wiped out."

In the modern-day Han Dynasty, Hudson Bay is called "Ice Heart Sea." This name signifies the chilling hearts of those pioneers back then.

The alien beasts probably didn't know the situation. They saw this land from space with harbors and lush greenery (growing out of rock crevices) and thought it was a good place. But when it exploded, "splat!" the meteorite spaceship made a hard landing and broke into pieces.

Meanwhile, the mushroom spores inside disperse and try to absorb sunlight.

It took Oak over a month to finally raise his first batch of wild beasts. However, he encountered the same problem the Northern Indians faced when it came to acquiring weapons: there were no coal mines in the area, so they couldn't smelt them.

Over hundreds of millions of years, glaciers have repeatedly formed and receded on this land, and massive floods have repeatedly stripped away the soil, leaving it devoid of oil (organic matter deposits). They couldn't even dig trenches. These orcs, armed with clubs and stone tools, and occasionally carrying catapults, ended up like dead flies in front of a screen window, leaving behind a field of corpses that dried out in the sun.

…The test paper appeared, and I started doing the questions…

Inside the Earth Shield Corporation, Jemint sat in a laboratory, reviewing the latest research data. Behind him, in a glass enclosure, several orcs were undergoing vivisection, their bodies half-anesthetized. The orcs' skin was cut open, and unknown drugs were being injected into their veins.

On either side of the laboratory, a row of electronic screens hung high. Three of these screens allowed direct interaction with Jemint. These three were the students taking the "exam."

Jemint selected the nerve bundles of the beast and placed them under a microscope to examine this tissue structure, which possessed both flagellate and plant characteristics.

Another group was analyzing the mineral indicators of the orc tissue, using the enrichment of trace elements such as selenium to determine the "germination" areas of the orcs.

One group hastily submitted a report because they discovered anomalies in the "organic compounds of phosphorus" in some of the animals.

When asked by Jamint, the researchers offered a guess: "The ocean—perhaps these beasts are seeking a breakthrough in the ocean."

Upon hearing this, Jemint opened the communication interface and spoke with "Green".

At this time, Green was in the northeastern bay, training wild dolphins to operate their dorsal sonic weapons to form an underwater reconnaissance force.

Beside the swimming pool in the enormous aquarium, Green was using his psychic abilities to begin rallying the dolphins. Nearby, a wooden speedboat was equipped with explosive charges, allowing the dolphins to attach the magnets to the hulls of enemy warships.

After listening to Jemint's message, Green said, "Are you sure? Space Orcs entering the ocean is something I haven't seen in other standard storylines."

Xie Ming: "Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it won't happen. You should sense that with the expansion of permissions, the plot of this world has gone out of control."

Green said, "Okay, so this is the mission to blockade the seas, right?"

After Green ended the communication, he activated his ability, and the dolphins in the bay began to line up obediently.

At the headquarters of the Earth Shield Company, after persuading his teammates to go and investigate, Xie Ming made another phone call, notifying the Atlantic Coast Guard to mobilize a batch of old warships to arrive at Bingxin Sea.

After confirming that the smokestacks on these old warships were still emitting smoke and that the cannons could still rotate, Xie Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

He returned to his lab, hesitated for a moment, then turned on his phone, checked his remaining data, and opened the download page. While still undecided, he opened a simulation game called "Biochemical Infection."

Once the download was complete, crimson power swirled around him and then condensed into a blood crystal on his wrist.

This contains a "consciousness virus" that can rapidly alter organic matter. After obtaining this thing, he went to Laboratory No. 3, came to the mushroom, and began the inoculation experiment.

Xie Ming chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Am I creating evil orcs?" But he shook his head. Because these orcs who had boarded from interstellar space were evil enough as they were.

…The students displayed their unique talents…

The perspective shifts to the Yuezhi Plain. Xuan Chong summarizes his findings during a lull in the war.

Xuan Chong: "This kind of existence from outer space seems barbaric and absurd, and it is something that our ethical logic cannot understand. But in fact, it may be a kind of advanced intelligent species that has evolved in a special direction."

"What we can observe on the battlefield now is their bizarre 'weapon assembly and manufacturing methods' and their powerful 'tactical learning and imitation capabilities'."

Xuan Chong's pen fell on the "society" column: "They may have a set of 'perceptions' that are beyond our imagination, and can directly 'see' other species they encounter, such as our human operating system."

Please allow me to use the word "seen," because in the current war, we have discovered that these orcs are able to quickly mimic and converge on our military tactics.

The slideshow showed that ten hours earlier, Ouke was using skirmish lines to attack the Han army's positions! This skirmish line was the one Xuan Chong had originally been training in the rear.

Xuan Chong slowly said, "When they make such 'expressions,' we can know that they can directly 'see' our social activities."

The reasoning logic is as follows:
As the ancients said, "You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of fish?"

The answer is: "That means letting the fish respond to the 'joy' it describes, rather than having someone else answer for the fish."

Extending this further, consider the argument between two people about whether the other person is deaf: "You're not him, how do you know he can hear?"

He replied, "If I said he was a fool, and he retaliated with a big punch, then he's not deaf."

Following this logical chain, the fact that the Orcs can now learn human tactics, assemble weapons using human equipment, and charge over to constantly pressure humans suggests that they possess the ability to "hear" information exchanged within human society.

Xuan Chong therefore speculated that wild beasts could monitor the social conditions of various circles in human society, just like "monitoring radio frequencies".

The closer the communication within human organizations, the louder the sound is perceived by the Orks.

Currently, the most frequent groups of people interacting in Hanzhong are industrial production groups. So after the Orks landed, they spontaneously formed crude workshop organizations based on what they "heard".

When the Han army pressed forward, the volume of military tactical communication increased in their "hearing." As a result, these Orcs quickly "studied" the Han's tactical assault system after only a few dozen days of defeat.

Xuan Chong was able to make this guess because he could hear "waaagh!".

And it was also because the orc chieftain, in his dying moments, looked at Xuan Chong with the eyes of someone looking at their own kind. His death was not out of resentment, but rather a sense of liberation, dying at the hands of an opponent who "should have ended his life."

Xuan Chong wrote with a trembling hand: "They have learned to assemble our industrial waste scraps out of thin air, and put them into weapons. They can imitate our tactics like a mirror and keep up with the iterations quickly."

Does physics offer a theoretical explanation for the propagation of brainwaves in human communication? Xuan Chong is unsure.

But when Xuan Chong traveled to this dimension, he witnessed that true qi could restrain birds, that Tesla's magnetic field was highly controllable, and that the physical world was even optically invisible.

Xuan Chong has no reason to deny the possibility that "aliens can sense the brainwave state during communication between Earthlings."

Xuan Chong paused at this point, realizing that his cultural level was insufficient in this world, and he couldn't clearly explain some of the terms used in his previous life, or the terms he had coined in his own world.

Xuan Chong now speculates that in this plane, when intelligent life (humans) communicates and acts in a cooperative manner, there might be a phenomenon of "synchronous resonance." This is precisely why Qin Tianyi, an art student, came here for a special examination.

These alien beasts are able to simulate the social state of the "consensus" response process in human society.

If the alien beasts are indeed this kind of "evolution," then they are likely "military machines" created by a higher race in the universe.

Because of the Orks' characteristics, their development goals are too singular; this race develops "for the sake of fighting."

(End of this chapter)