Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 64 We've Bringed Our Own Food

Zhou Qian originally worked at a research institute, where he was engaged in research related to materials science.

Although his resume boasts a considerable number of published papers in various journals and publications, it pales in comparison to those industry leaders who have studied abroad. However, it is precisely because he lacks overseas study experience that he appears even more politically reliable.

To date, the interaction and exchange between the Dragon Group and "Ten Continents Chronicle" have remained restrained, and each newly acquired spot is extremely valuable. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the secrecy work, and also due to some special considerations, Zhou Qian, who is only in his forties and is a student of Academician Shi, stood out and was successfully selected for the Dragon Group project team.

This was Zhou Qian's first experience with virtual reality games in his forty-odd years of life.

He played quite a few mobile and PC games during his student days, but by the time virtual reality games became widespread, he had already devoted himself to scientific research and didn't have any extra time to play them.

So when he found out that the "top-secret project of China" he was asked to participate in was actually playing a game, he was completely dumbfounded.

When he learned that the game he was going to "play" might actually be a completely new and unknown world, he immediately became ecstatic.

As we all know, science and technology around the world are currently in a period of relatively slow development. Compared with the rapid development of science and technology in the more than 100 years since World War I and World War II, the scientific community has not had any discoveries or achievements that can be called cross-century discoveries for a long time.

What limits technological development is not the ability of the world's top geniuses—only a fool would be biased towards the past and think that people in the past were smarter than people today.

The real reason is actually quite simple—the limitations of the materials.

The periodic table was proposed in 1869 and completed in 2015, taking less than 150 years. In fact, by the 1920s, only four elements remained unfilled in the periodic table, but it wasn't until 2015 that the IUPAC confirmed the artificial synthesis of four new elements: 113, 115, 117, and 118.

Since then, human exploration of materials has hit a bottleneck, and new breakthroughs can only be sought by arranging and combining microscopic elements such as molecules.

Now, a brand new, unexplored other world has appeared before us, and the implications of that are self-evident.

However, Zhou Qian has not yet had the opportunity to conduct scientific research in this other world. Besides the fact that even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice, the project team also needs to send someone to liaise with Wang Ergou to help the second group (Wang Ergou's group) build the city smoothly and complete the strategic role of guiding and leading other players.

As a result, Zhou Qian, who was inexperienced and young, was thrown out and had no choice but to wander around the "construction site" in Chang'an.

As he was analyzing the various "technological points" that could be developed and improved under the existing conditions to greatly improve production and construction efficiency, a commotion suddenly came from afar.

"My lord, all the able-bodied men in our village have come!"

The players who were busy carrying bricks all looked over and saw that there were more than 30 NPCs from Blessed Village. The youngest of them was not even as tall as an adult's chest, and the oldest was even the village chief.

The players who witnessed this scene were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out. They huddled together in twos and threes, discussing it incessantly.

"Holy crap! What are these NPCs trying to do!?"

"I don't know! Is this an NPC from Blessed Village?"

"Is Dog Bro up some new tricks again?"

"Didn't you hear that?"

"Could it be that they're hired to move bricks, just like those NPCs in Taiping Town?"

...Amidst the many speculations, the village chief, who was walking at the front, finally spotted Wang Ergou. His eyes lit up, and he eagerly went to greet him, his voice booming: "The work in the fields has been light these past few days, even a half-grown boy can do it. I heard that the immortals are going to build a city here. If we don't come and help, we'll despise ourselves!"

"That's right! Yesterday, a celestial being even prayed for rain for our medicinal herb fields. He didn't even have time to drink a sip of water. We feel really bad about it!"

"Immortals, please don't worry, we've prepared our own provisions!"

The NPCs chattered amongst themselves, showing no trace of their timid demeanor from just a few days ago.

In a sense, this is thanks to the players who showed no regard for human beings in front of NPCs, which successfully dispelled the villagers' fascination with the "immortals".

However, Wang Ergou almost burst into tears when faced with this scene.

The storyline of Blessed Village is so infuriating that you want to send the game planner a knife, but the players' respect for the elderly and pity for the weak makes them all more enthusiastic than ever when doing the group quests that Lu Renya shared with everyone before.

The original rough thatched roofs were all replaced with coarse pottery tiles that the players bought from Taiping Town at their own expense. To facilitate irrigation for the villagers' crops, some players even spent a whole night on the CNKI website, using magic to dig several ditches.

Such spontaneous behaviors are too numerous to mention.

However, when players do those things, they don't consider the emotional feedback from the NPCs at all. After all, it's all "quest requirements," and at most, out of sympathy, they might be a little more proactive while doing the "quest." Once they receive the quest rewards, the entire storyline ends for the players.

Like in other games, once a storyline is completed, the player and NPCs no longer interact regarding the plot. Even in the most detailed games, the only interaction is occasionally a casual conversation where the NPCs say things like "thank you for your help back then." The NPCs' programmed behavior patterns and daily routines in the game do not change in any way that affects the player.

But now, this shocking scene before their eyes seems to be telling the players that what they did because of the quests was rewarded! It's as if those NPCs are living, breathing people with feelings and memories, people who can truly connect with the players emotionally!

Many veteran players, who roughly understood what was going on, exclaimed in bewilderment: "No wonder it's AI-driven evolution, the NPCs in this game are incredibly intelligent!"

Wang Ergou and his group, however, had already guessed as much and were not surprised by the NPC's "intelligence".

However, it was precisely because they had guessed some things that they were even more moved by the villagers' actions.

Previously, Wang Ergou and his group's enthusiasm for Shenyou Village stemmed not only from the project team's requirements but also, and perhaps more importantly, from their empathy for the suffering people. They were all people who had experienced hardship themselves, and Shenyou Village had initially seemed even more hopeless—the objectively existing gods, demons, and monsters wouldn't care about the thoughts of ordinary mortals treated as expendable resources, not to mention that this world lacked the conditions for independently developing industrial technology.

But this kind of empathy is merely a manifestation of realizing self-worth.

We are natural persons in a peaceful and beautiful new era. We possess the personality and dignity of every individual, so we sympathize with you and help you. In essence, even Wang Ergou carries an inexplicable sense of superiority, which even manifests as one party "charity" to the other.

However, at this moment, Wang Ergou felt as if he had just attended a class on "humanity." His heart felt as if it had been squeezed tightly, and an indescribable sense of shame and self-reproach welled up in his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He said blankly, "You..."

The villager with the loudest voice grinned, revealing his uneven, yellow teeth, which looked somewhat comical.

He repeated, "We've all brought our own food!"

There'll be another chapter later! But I need to grab a bite to eat before I start writing! Powder!
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(End of this chapter)