Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 197 Can the consensus of all mankind change the world?
"And this change doesn't just happen when you're in direct contact with pollution. Pollution has a strange sense of boundaries. Sometimes, even if you're clearly some distance away from it, it will still slowly change you. Any isolation measures are ineffective."

In other words, being near pollution carries risks?

Xiu Si was suddenly startled and snapped back to his senses: "Wait, what about all these burning and polluting noisemakers?"

"That's no problem." Chloe waved her hand. "You forgot, I summoned those Noisy Ones with the Iron Prayer. I'm keeping an eye on them for you. The pollution is all suppressed by the Noisy Ones or the Machine Spirits. I don't know the principle, but as long as they are there, the reality shift caused by the pollution can be ignored."

Chloe's expression became more serious. "In other words, they are all anchors."

"Anchor point, I've heard you mention this word many times, but I still don't quite understand it. Isn't it only needed in the Sea of Unconsciousness? Why do we need anchor points in reality?"

"The Sea of No Consciousness naturally requires an anchor. The world there is unstable, without distance or direction. If you lose your anchor, your existence will be instantly washed away by the Sea of No Consciousness, and your flesh and blood will become an empty shell. You already know this, but in reality, you still need an anchor."

Chloe leaned her hands on the railing on the second floor of the church, her eyes lowered, looking at the islanders who were slowly walking towards various shelters in the hall.

"Anchor points in reality are there to prevent the world from drifting."

"World shift?" This was the first time Xiusi had heard this term. How could the world shift?

In other words, isn't the world the origin of the reference system itself? Shouldn't other things be offset relative to the world?

“What is your definition of cognitive interference?”

Chloe didn't answer, but asked Xiusi instead.

"Personal cognition and will, under certain conditions, influence objective reality, causing the material world to change in accordance with that will." After saying this, Xius suddenly realized something: "Is this world shift?"

Chloe snapped her fingers. "That's right. The essence of cognitive interference is that the world is being pushed by humans, shifting from its original position. At this time, both the material world and individual cognition become extremely unstable. Some say that cracks have been created in the world due to this shift, and pollution has arisen within these cracks. Therefore, cognitive interference leads to pollution."

"As for the 'certain conditions' you just mentioned, I can tell you that the first is a sufficiently strong will, which must be strong enough to transcend the high walls of reality and touch the essence of the world. The second is a sufficiently powerful force, which needs to be able to cause the world to deviate."

Corresponding to the soap incident, the workers firmly believed that soap was edible - after all, it was made by the workers themselves using olive oil.

Moreover, many workers think so, and the absolute number is large enough, which is the consensus of many people.

Hughes rubbed his chin and thought for a while, then suddenly asked, "If I make everyone in the world firmly believe in the same thing, will it come true immediately?"

Chloe was shocked by this bold idea. She opened her eyes wide and looked incredible: "How is this possible? How is it possible to make everyone in the world believe the same thing?"

"What if I did?"

Chloe fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly, "Perhaps you can truly shift the world permanently. No, it shouldn't be said that the world shifted, but rather that a new world was established with a new consensus."

There was silence between the two again. After a long time, she cautiously asked, "You, you can't do it?" "Of course I can't. If someone can do this, then he must be a god, right?" Zeus shrugged in amusement.

"God?" Chloe repeated in a doubtful voice. "Forget it, let's not talk about that. I'd better tell you about the anchor point."

"Didn't I just say that world shift requires pushing the world, and the anchor point is what stabilizes the world."

"Most anchor points are churches. Shared beliefs and shared understandings can serve as anchor points as long as they are properly guided. Furthermore, many Candlelight churches have guardian inscriptions, which also serve as permanent anchor points."

"This makes the reality in the church particularly stable, making it extremely difficult for cognitive interference to occur. This is why we often choose the Candlelight Society's church as a base to conduct experiments inside the church - it's safer."

Wow, so it turns out that conducting experiments in the enemy's lair is not because you like to make trouble, but for safety reasons?

The more dangerous the place, the safer it is?
Hughes looked strange.

This group of fire moths may look crazy, but if you think about it carefully, their actions seem to make sense.

——Although in the secular world, trying to understand cultists is a clear symptom of madness.

"I remember you mentioned before that the Candlelight Church often has equipment for diving into the Sea of Unconsciousness. Does that also take advantage of the more stable nature of reality here?"

"Yes, you guessed right. If it weren't for the church's protection, those mind whisperers would have been swept away by the Sea of Unconsciousness without a trace left. Incidentally, the Candlelight Society's transcendents couldn't even enter the Corridor of Truth in the church. The reality here is so solid that even their transcendental abilities can't tear it apart."

Ah, thinking about it this way, Hughes began to understand why the Candlelight Society would move towards complete conservatism. If stabilizing reality could solve the problem of world deviation, then all they would have to do was build more churches.

Developing the power of the church and closing a eye to those messy things can solve all problems.

Wait, if both the Noisy One and the Machine Spirit can be his anchor
So if I just build factories all over the world, can I stabilize the entire world?
Hughes' eyes lit up.

"I always feel like you're thinking about something terrible," Chloe glanced at Hughes. "Actually, I advised you not to worry because of this. It might have been okay before, but now with so many Noisy Ones, your factories are like anchor points. World shifts are almost impossible on Caster Island. Those strange phenomena may look like cognitive interference, but the possibility is actually very small."

"You mean, there will be basically no cognitive interference on the island?" Zeus suddenly widened his eyes, as if he had thought of something.

"I advise you not to be too radical. I'm just saying it's relatively stable here, not that it's completely impossible. If pollution really comes, it will be troublesome."

“No, that’s not what I meant.

"Is it possible that the entire Castel shifted together?"

(End of this chapter)