Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 182 Contingency Plan Activation and the Spirit Stone Economy

Tao Yue, having calmed herself down, took out the oracle bone with the River Chart pattern from her person. At this moment, it was abnormally flowing with golden light.

"This just happened... I don't know what happened..."

Su Xun frowned. Tao Yue had never seen this situation before, but he did know about it. After all, this piece of oracle bone had also fallen into Su Xun's hands in his previous life. At that time, Tao Yue was already dead, and Su Xun was already an eighth-level transcendent.

"Do you have any premonitions about anything?"

"No, nothing at all." Tao Yue shook her head, which was precisely the reason for her panic at this moment. The unknown, which is commonplace for ordinary people, is the most terrifying thing for her.

"But I have a very uneasy feeling..."

"It's alright," Su Xun reassured softly. He turned to look out the window. In the darkness of the swirling snow, even extraordinary beings couldn't see the distant scenery clearly. He only knew that in that direction, the majestic first of the Five Sacred Mountains was quietly sleeping.

Xinfu is some distance from Mount Dai, but it's not actually that far. The extraordinary individuals from the previous life discovered that this oracle bone was related to the Mount Dai secret realm, so they brought it to this area, where it eventually ended up in the hands of Su Xun, who had been stationed there.

In this life, it was for this very reason that Su Xun transferred Tao Yue to the Taimeng Base. Just as some items related to other secret realms were also placed in bases near those secret realms.

However, those items were all less practical than this oracle bone, and the abilities they provided were perhaps not even as good as ordinary superpowers, which is why we haven't heard any news about them for so long.

It seems that, just like in his previous life, as this world is about to support the existence of fifth-order transcendent beings, secret realms like Mount Tai are also beginning to show signs of change. In his previous life, Su Xun obtained his opportunity there, broke through to the fifth order, and took a big step forward in his strength.

It's just a simple omen right now, like the appearance of the undead in the silver mine. These things are like ducks in the spring river; the overall change in the environment will come a little later, but it's certainly just around the corner.

It's understandable that Tao Yue couldn't predict these things, since it wasn't a change in a specific thing; there were too many other things involved.

And the reason she felt uneasy...

In this day and age, any major change in the environment can certainly make a prophet uneasy.

Seeing Tao Yue's expression, Su Xun raised his hand and gently rubbed her head. This girl was usually lively and seemed carefree, but she was actually still a child. She was much younger than Xiao Zhenru and Jiang Yi, and was not even twenty years old yet. It was inevitable that she would feel scared when faced with such a sudden event.

"Let's find a place to sit in on the meeting. Nothing will happen. No matter what happens, we have the ability to handle it."

Hearing Su Xun's assurance, Tao Yue was somewhat relieved. Then she realized that her hair was all messed up, and her face turned red visibly, as if steam was rising from the top of her head.

"I...I...I'll go find a place! Then you, Commander, are on your way!"

Watching the other person run away, Su Xun smiled helplessly and then walked towards the podium.

As he passed by Qin Chang's location, he called out to him.

"The Daizong Secret Realm may be about to appear, but we should still have time to finish the Grand Competition. In the next few days, we can expand the previous observation posts, and the batch of cognitive anchors we prepared can be transported there ahead of schedule."

Qin Chang was startled. He knew something had happened when Tao Yue ran in, but he didn't expect it to be this. He nodded solemnly to Su Xun.

Today, the extraordinary individuals in various regions have a fairly profound understanding of the secret realms, and they are no longer caught off guard when dealing with them, but rather have well-developed contingency plans.

Su Xun no longer needed to do everything himself; he only needed to activate the corresponding contingency plans. He said to Qin Chang, "At the same time, we must be careful of further changes in the secret realms in other regions. If they rise further, they may have to expand into the real world."

"Understood." After reaching an understanding, the two nodded to each other and returned to their seats.

Su Xun will still personally go into the Daizong Secret Realm, but now is not the time to consider that.

The break has ended, and the conference will continue.

"Greetings, Commander-in-Chief, Secretary-General, and fellow comrades."

The man greeted the attendees; he was a representative of the economic reform group.

After the cataclysm, the economic system suffered the most thorough blow and destruction. In this era, money is worthless, and the currency left over from the civilized era has completely lost its effectiveness. Outside the safe zone, countless supplies are available for anyone to take from the shelves.

If the nation hadn't implemented numerous policies before the cataclysm, managing to weather it relatively smoothly and maintain a certain level of public trust, the survivors would have done even more outrageous things.

Currently, the internal environment of the safe zone is relatively stable. If order needs to be maintained by law and the future needs to be supported by talent, then the vitality and prosperity of society depend to a certain extent on the smooth operation of the economy.

The man who spoke held up a crystal encased in a protective case. The crystal was nearly transparent and emitted a soft, stable glow.

"After rigorous evaluation and thorough verification, we officially announce that high-purity, standardized spiritual energy crystals will serve as the value anchor for the Corps' new currency system!"

This proposal was largely expected by everyone present, and it was something many people had long been calling for.

First, spiritual energy crystals contain the most basic and precious spiritual energy of this era, and are inherently scarce and stable—these things are only produced in the bodies of third-tier extraordinary individuals. Even if corresponding natural mineral deposits appear due to future environmental changes, their mining will be quite difficult.

In the foreseeable future, it is a strategic resource that drives many key devices, creates advanced weapons, and even assists superhumans in advancing. In terms of its intrinsic value, it can be said to be irreplaceable and relatively stable.

Furthermore, this thing is very difficult to manufacture artificially—or rather, it's pointless to manufacture it artificially.

To create a spiritual crystal, you must consume spiritual energy exceeding its intrinsic value. Su Xun once found many crystals formed by nuclear bombardment on the corpse of a high-level alien in Haiqu. However, let's set aside the fact that crystals produced in this way contain too many impurities. The spiritual energy generated by the collision between that high-level alien and that nuclear bomb was far more than that of the crystals in its corpse.

In the more distant future, perhaps someone will eventually be able to mass-produce it, but by then, human civilization will have already entered a new historical stage.

Some of the attendees had some knowledge of these points, while others had only a superficial understanding. They were simply analyzing the representative's explanation of the draft in detail.

"...The volume of the spiritual crystal itself is naturally constant, and the energy it contains can be quantified. It is easy to store, transport, and divide. If gold and silver were the natural currency before the Great Cataclysm, then spiritual crystals are the gold and silver of the new era."

"Since the Great Cataclysm, spiritual crystals have effectively replaced weapons, ammunition, food, and fuel, circulating widely among survivors as currency. Their value has been widely recognized and accepted in the process of fighting monsters and rebuilding homes."

"To make it easier for survivors to accept and use, the new currency system will adopt the denominations of the currency from the Civilization Era, and will be tentatively named 'Revival Coin'."

As the words fell, numerous on-site staff distributed the entire set of printed and packaged new banknotes to the attendees, including Su Xun.

The set given to Su Xun was all marked with the same serial number 'FX0000001'.

He had actually seen this set of banknotes before. This issuance was not entirely a formality. After this meeting, the banknotes would be given legal status and officially issued.

Even though it wasn't the first time he'd received it, looking at this somewhat familiar currency still filled Su Xun with endless emotions.

(End of this chapter)