Did the world end today?

Chapter 305 Strategic Resources
Lin Xu opened his eyes and woke up on the sofa in the study.

He sat down at the table, opened his notebook, and wrote down the latest clues he had obtained.

First, Zhang Liming has already obtained clues about the "dimensional ascension lie," but he refuses to reveal them, intending to leave the mystery for last.

[Secondly, Zhang Liming has abandoned the Error Correctors organization and handed over the complete list of its members.]

Third, the butterfly's identity and the doomsday information have been fully revealed. The specific impact will need to be explored during the next entry into the bracelet world.

After writing down the three clues, Lin Xu subconsciously paused.

He tapped his notebook with his pen while silently pondering in his mind, his brow furrowed.

The argument that "dimensional ascension is a lie" seems to be more complex than it appears.

But why wait until "the very end" to find out the truth about this lie?
Lin Xu marked his questions in his notebook and then listed several possibilities.

First, Zhang Liming is unaware that he has mastered the principle of dimensional adaptation. The "lie" he is talking about is that humans cannot easily adapt to dimensional advancement.

Secondly, not every world can achieve dimensional ascension; for their world, dimensional ascension itself is impossible.

Third, dimensional ascension cannot avert disaster; even if dimensional ascension is achieved, humanity will not be able to survive.

Based on the current clues, all three speculations are quite plausible.

However, none of them can be considered "ironclad evidence".

Zhang Liming.
So are you truly trying to lead the world through the apocalypse, or are you merely pursuing the truth behind that so-called "lie"?
Lin Xu snapped his laptop shut and uploaded all the information he had gathered to the cloud, handing it over to the think tank team.

Looking at the time, it was already 9 p.m.

It's time to rest.

After leaving the study, Lin Xu turned and went into his bedroom.

Jiang Xingye had obviously finished washing up and getting ready, but instead of going to bed, she sat at her desk, organizing something on her computer.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Xu moved closer to Jiang Xingye, glancing at the screen.

On the screen was a complex table. Lin Xu glanced at it and saw that everything written on the table was related to high-dimensional channels.

"I am organizing the available high-dimensional channel information."

Jiang Xingye didn't even look up, and casually replied:
"Before we are able to reliably create time fragments, naturally formed high-dimensional channels are the most convenient source of high-dimensional influence that we can utilize."

“There are countless industries that will need to influence matter in a higher dimension, including but not limited to materials, energy, quantum computing, and so on.”

"I need to compile a comprehensive summary of this information and sort it by time and accessibility."

"These are the real strategic resources for the next twenty years. By holding these things in your hands, your central position will be more secure."

Strategic Resources
Lin Xu nodded thoughtfully.

Don't tell me, it's true.

Going back a thousand years, horses were the most important strategic resource.

In the steam age, coal became the most important strategic resource.

In the era of internal combustion engines, oil was the most important strategic resource.

In the information age, rare earth elements have become a strategic resource.

And now?

As all of humanity embarks on a process of ascending to higher dimensions, "higher-dimensional influence" naturally becomes a strategic resource.

However, this strategic resource has different properties from other strategic resources.

It is not stable and cannot exist for a long time.

Given these characteristics, accurate and agile information, along with efficient organizational capabilities, become the most important means to realize its value.

Controlling information in higher-dimensional channels is tantamount to controlling the power over the entire world.

Damn it.

In that case, Jiang Xingye is more suitable to be called the "Swordholder of the World," right?

After all, even in the era of alliances, maintaining stable and efficient cooperation between different forces and countries is quite difficult.

You can't place all your hopes on humanity or on so-called rules.

Human nature can become alienated, and rules can be broken.

But power and authority can never be questioned.

As the saying goes, having no sword in your hand and having a sword but not using it are two completely different things.

Thinking of this, Lin Xu asked:
What stage are you at?

"Datafication".

Jiang Xingye pointed to the table on the screen and said:

“We are trying to establish a standardized evaluation system to score the ‘high-dimensional influence’ resources brought by each high-dimensional channel.”

"Based on the scoring results, we need to divide the high-dimensional channels into different levels, and match the contribution levels of other countries according to the different levels to allocate high-dimensional influence."

"The biggest problem now is that we can't distribute influence by region."

"Because if it were allocated this way, the country that would gain the most influence in higher dimensions would be Zimbabwe."

"But if we don't divide it by region, new problems will arise in the allocation of personnel, equipment and other resources."

"With multiple factors combined, the difficulty of data processing has increased exponentially."

"But we have limited time, so I will be very busy in the next few days."

At this point, Jiang Xingye finally raised his head.

She looked at Lin Xu and said in a serious tone:

"It will be very busy."

"So, you shouldn't even think about doing bad things."

"At least for the next few days, I'm in a very, very inconvenient situation."

"."

Lin Xu was speechless and even rolled his eyes.

It's like you're saying anyone wants to do it!
It's all been squeezed dry, completely squeezed dry.

It's perfect to take advantage of these few days.
Forest conservation and reforestation!

What does it mean to be in sync with someone? Isn't this what it means to be in sync with someone?
He coughed and answered:

"I never intended to do anything bad."

"Come on, let me give you a hand."

"What kind of work do I need to do?"

Jiang Xingye looked at Lin Xu and asked with a slightly teasing tone:

"You didn't object?"

"What am I against?" Lin Xu asked, bewildered.

Jiang Xingye coughed and said:

"According to the usual sweet romance novel formula, shouldn't you have firmly refused, then said, 'Nothing is more important than having our own baby,' then pinned me down on the bed, and then did *that*, and I just passed out until the next morning, only to find that the data processing work was already done?"

"That's a bit too sci-fi."

Lin Xu was both amused and exasperated.

How can you finish all the data processing in one night?
What kind of humanoid AGI is this?
Even more futuristic is the scenario where the character remains unconscious until the next morning.
You're overestimating me, aren't you?

He paused slightly before speaking:
"It's not that I can't give it a try."

"What to try?"

Jiang Xingye asked with ill intent:
"Try making me unconscious until the next day?"

"You little brat!"

Lin Xu was heartbroken.

"With a formidable enemy at hand, how can we indulge in such pleasures!"

"The data has been sent to me, and I will definitely fight it to the death today!"

Meanwhile, in Zhuzhou.

As Wang Yifan stepped off the plane, he rubbed his sore neck and waved to Zhang Liming, who had come to pick him up.

Without any unnecessary pleasantries, he went straight to the point and asked:
"How is the progress of the Zhuzhou Ring Expressway?"

Zhang Liming paused slightly before replying:
"The progress is going smoothly. The civil engineering work has been basically completed, and equipment production is underway."

"If the current progress is followed, we hope to complete the overall construction 20 to 30 days ahead of schedule."

"20 to 30 days."

Wang Yifan nodded, offering a rare compliment:
"That's a good progress, and you've worked hard too."

"That must be hard work!"

In front of Wang Yifan, Zhang Liming, as a student, had absolutely no inhibitions.

He poured out his grievances to Wang Yifan while leading him to the car that was there to pick him up.

It wasn't until he sat down that he realized there was someone following behind Wang Yifan.

Upon closer inspection, wow, it's Joanne!
Zhang Liming looked at the other person in surprise, then switched to English in a second and asked:

"You've come too?"

Joanne shrugged and replied:

"of course."

"It's not just me; in the coming weeks, the world's top physicists will be heading to China."

"This is one of the most important projects in human history—who would want to miss out on such a project?"

"That's true."

Zhang Liming answered casually, then immediately asked:

"But... have you just let things go in Geneva?"

"It's fine to leave it to the kids to do."

Joanne waved her hand dismissively and said:

"Limiter technology is not yet mature, and the experiments that can be conducted there are quite limited."

"Most of the experiments are simply to further verify and advance the knowledge we have already acquired."

"For me, this kind of work is just too boring."

"So when I heard that Yifan was going to return to China to lead the Zhuzhou Ring Project, I immediately applied to join the project."

"Luckily, I passed the review very quickly."

"Otherwise, I'll have to wait at least three more weeks, just like other scholars."

"By then, there probably won't be any positions left that can actually participate in the project, right?"

"That's not the case."

Wang Yifan shook his head and replied:

There are still basic laboratory technician positions available.

"You want me to be a basic laboratory technician?"

Joanne rolled her eyes.

That's really disrespectful.

"That's true."

Zhang Liming, standing to the side, nodded in deep agreement, and then asked:

So what position have you been given?

"A beam physics expert!"

Joanne answered proudly, but Zhang Liming, sitting next to her, had a complicated expression.

Beam Physics Expert
You might say this position is low-ranking, but it's not low-ranking at all.

The role of a beam physics expert is still very crucial in the project, and for a professional scholar like him, it is a good place to go.

But you're saying this position is high-ranking?

That's really not related at all.

At least, compared to Joanne's standing in academia, she's at least three stories lower.

But Joanne didn't seem to care at all.
Not only did he not care, he even seemed to enjoy it.

Tsk. Strange.

Seemingly noticing the expression on Zhang Liming's face, Joanne sighed and said:
"At dawn, the world has changed."

"The days when we seized power through technological dominance are long gone."

“Now, although you have never claimed your ‘dominant’ status in any public forum, in fact, you are already the recognized dominant force.”

"Whether in terms of technology, information, or actual strength, there is no country in the world that can rival you."

"You have already mastered the vast majority of strategic resources, and in the future, you will master an even more important strategic resource."

"That is us."

"Scholars like us will inevitably gather around you in an irreversible trend."

"And I was merely the first one to set off."

(End of this chapter)