Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A year later, in the Spire Experimental Base.

A device resembling a cryogenic chamber was laid in the middle of a laboratory.

It looked like a well-designed coffin with its upper half made of translucent plexiglass and the lower half crafted with exquisite alloy metal. There was a large external device connected to one end of the chamber, with many exposed wires plugged into it like a Frankenstein.

Chen Chen stood in front of the coffin and looked at it with curious interest.

“This is the research result of the psionic department.”

Little X stood next to Chen Chen and explained, “Our initial discovery from the psionic energy extracted from your brother was that it had the ability of interdimensional information transmission. Unfortunately, the psionic level of your brother proved to be quite lacking and cannot harness the potential of this ability. This in turn also hindered research progress, so another approach was devised instead.”

Upon reaching this mention, Little X gave a signal by clapping her hands. A metal wall behind them suddenly rumbled and retracted into the ceiling like a garage overhead door.

Chen Chen followed Little X’s gaze and saw rows upon rows of life incubators revealed behind the wall. These incubators were much smaller than the usual variant seen, used to cultivate clones. They were half of their usual height and arranged so tightly together they looked like rows of pickles.

There was a humanoid figure in each life incubator!

The humanoid figures were all curled up like a worm inside the incubator. Their skin was white as snow and their eyes remained closed, seemingly still in a fetal stage. They seemed like normal people. Only their size was half of the usual person’s size. All cramped up together in the miniature life incubators, it was quite a claustrophobic sight to behold.

Little X flavored this reveal quite ceremoniously by making exaggerated hand motions. “We shall substitute quality with quantity instead!”

Chen Chen looked at the gathering of clones in front of him. The corners of his mouth twitched with equal amounts of amusement and horror. “Don’t tell me, these are all my brothers…”

“Of course not, they are just the clones of your brother.”

Little X snickered. “Their genetic code may be similar but strictly speaking, they are just lumps of flesh.”

“What’s the difference…”

Chen Chen shrugged and left the topic aside. “Alright, forget about that. So, you’re saying that you managed to extract Chen Zeyu’s interdimensional information transmission psionic manifestation and cloned it several hundred times?”

“Correction. Not a few hundred, but nine thousand and nine hundred and ninety-nine.”

Little X corrected. “Only three hundred of them are located in the Spire Experimental Base, the rest of them are in the Spire 2 on Mars. The total comes to nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine psionicists with interdimensional information transmission psionic manifestation.”

“And…”

Little X went on, she approached the other end of the cryogenic chamber. “This is derived from the on the Bose-Einstein Condensate Soldiers Generator you instantiated up from the movie Spectral. We modified it to create an intermission channel to transport human consciousness in a quantum form to another body.”

“So, you can achieve what I need by combining these two separate technologies?”

Chen Chen seemed thoroughly intrigued, “First, we use the interdimensional information transmission technology to transfer quantum information into the parallel world. From there, we use quantum technology to connect consciousness in the real world with the body in the parallel world? A brilliant idea… ”

“Of course!”

Even Little X seemed proud of herself. “Don’t underestimate me!”

“How about the receiving body in the parallel dimension?”

Chen Chen enquired, “Clones need up to three months to be developed.”

“We can do it using 3D printing technology.”

It seemed Little X had everything worked out. “Now that our 3D printing technology is already mature, we can print a complete body, even if it’s still quite difficult to replicate brain tissue. Don’t forget that the body in the parallel world doesn’t need a brain.”

“Excellent!”

Chen Chen applauded, completely impressed. “It only takes half an hour to complete the 3D printing process. This greatly saves time and resources. This is perfect for implementing my idea of an online world.”

This was it. This was the idea Chen Chen came up with after discovering that Chen Zeyu had been manipulated by the subspace.

After Chen Zeyu in the end dimension was executed, his consciousness was transported to reality by the subspace and he was reborn in his own body, even if he ended up getting caught by Chen Chen almost immediately. Chen Chen realized that this was the perfect opportunity that could seamlessly connect to the final phase of his Four-phase Era Project.

Over the last year, the Spire Laboratory conducted in-depth research on Chen Zeyu’s psionic powers. With the help of his special psionic powers combined with the quantum device instantiated from Spectral, this device was produced…

An interdimensional quantum consciousness transmitter disguised as a game warehouse.

The next part was to conduct experiments.

Little X first selected a hundred felons available in the Spire and extracted their DNA along with a copy of their body structure. The time machine was then used to transport their DNA into the end dimension. After that, Blacklight Biotechnology in the end dimension used the resources in the city to construct a 3D printing factory.

After the completion of the 3D printing factory, it served as the central hub for all 3D printing purposes. It was where the hundred selected felons were recreated.

After achieving this step, Little X had the felons situated in the “gaming platforms” and used all 9999 Chen Zeyu as a signal output node to transmit the combined consciousness of all one hundred subjects into the end dimension.

What happened next was as fascinating as one would expect. All of the felons came alive in the end dimension.

Crediting to the quantum effect, the consciousness connection was completely seamless and established without the slightest delay. The felons who woke up in this separate dimension felt like they had traveled into another world.

The only distinct flaw currently was that the coverage range of the signal transmitter was still rather inadequate. These individuals were restricted to only traveling around the city. Any further and the signal would be interrupted.

The good news was that this problem was not difficult to solve. From here on, more signal transmission stations could be set up in the outskirts to expand the range.

“We can also install a switch on these printed clones.”

Little X said, “From there, we can adjust the pain transmission level for the players, ranging from zero percent to one hundred percent. This way, the game would be appropriate for consumers of all ages!”

Chen Chen considered further. “But when you think about it, this game can be quite boring for players coming from the real world if all it has going for it is realism. If players don’t have access to superpowers, it’s no different from living their ordinary lives here. What I’m trying to say is that the gameplay is too bland.

“You also have to consider the drastically different standards of material comfort in this world. Don’t forget that the civilization in this world is trailing several generations behind the real world. It cannot succeed in my vision of the Four-phase Era.”

Chen Chen sighed unwillingly. “This technology is only good as a transitional product. Its true value lies in its achieving interdimensional information transmission. To succeed in my vision of the Four-phase Era, we need to create a virtual reality that can meet the condition of living another unique life.”

Despite these fair critiques, Chen Chen still entered the experimental chamber himself. His DNA was promptly issued to the end dimension and a clone of himself was printed in the factory.

After half an hour, Chen Chen pressed the start button in the game chamber. He felt his vision turning into a sheet of darkness. Then, he sensed his consciousness passing through a transitional tunnel. When he came to, he found himself lying in an ice-cold crystal chamber…

The crystal chamber was filled with salty brine. Chen Chen’s naked body was submerged in the brine. He slowly sat up and immediately felt a discomforting stiffness in his limbs. It felt like he had to muster a disproportionate amount of strength just to move his stubborn limbs.

“Is this the body printed by the 3D printer?”

Chen Chen smacked his head with a palm, thinking that he would jolt his senses awake this way before he suddenly remembered that this body did not have a brain. There was nothing but clumps of flesh where the brain should be because his original consciousness remained in his body in the real world. In a way, he was only remotely controlling this body in the end dimension.

This also implied that even if the game chamber was somehow damaged, the player’s consciousness would not be trapped inside the end dimension but only wake up from the game chamber instead.

“Is that you, Sir Commander?”

This time, it was X-112 who addressed Chen Chen. She had been assigned to the Blacklight City in the end dimension for more than a decade by now.

“It’s me.”

Chen Chen rose from the crystal chamber. Two Black Knights stepped forward immediately to supply him with clean towels and a pair of clothing.

Chen Chen looked around the factory. It was an enormous factory lined with arrays of 3D printing equipment that stretched as far as the eye could see.

“It’s been a while.”

X-112 greeted, “So, it seems like you’re planning to take over this world with another method after your attempt on the Consciousness Stealer fourteen years ago proved unsuccessful.”

“It would be ideal if this method works.”

Chen Chen moved away from the Black Knights and took his time adapting to this new body. He paced around for a moment before mentioning, “It’s just a small experiment, this world doesn’t mean that much to me all things considered, especially since I now have subspace navigation technology at my disposal.

“Humans now have plenty of planets to choose from and many more resources to be extracted from them. This world doesn’t serve much purpose by this point.”

“That’s true.”

X-112 agreed. “Should I arrange a tour around the Blacklight City for you today?”

“Let’s.”

Chen Chen took the offer nonchalantly, seeing it as an opportunity to adjust to this new body while touring the city.

…

Several hours later, Chen Chen returned to the factory.

“Looks like the city’s development is progressing quite smoothly.”

Chen Chen noted, sounding quite satisfied. The city was considerably livelier than before.

“With the resources pouring in from the real world, Blacklight City naturally grows stronger than the other rebel forces.”

X-112 stated.

“Good, I don’t have much to worry about then.”

Chen Chen nodded. “Seems to me that Blacklight City would serve as an ideal spawn point for the game. It can be a starting harbor for players to figure out the game world, but there’s still a bit more fleshing out of the story that needs to be done.”

Chen Chen paced back and forth while pondering. “The original premise remains unchanged. The emergence of the Consciousness Stealers led to the downfall of mankind and four uneventful centuries passed by until… Mankind was separated into two factions, the Holy Fusion Empire and the Joint Resistance Army.

“The players can only choose to start in the Joint Resistance Army but they can freely customize the background of their characters. For example, they can choose a stealthy class, in which case we can give them nimbler hands when 3D printing their bodies.

“Or perhaps the players can create characters of a farmer background, then we can make their avatars more physically capable than the rest.

“Meanwhile, players who choose a soldier class can start with armor, swords, and the like…”

“How about their parents?”

X-112 interjected.

“That’s simple, their parents passed.”

Chen Chen did not bother with putting too much thought into it. “Which brings me to another point. Let’s not have the players wake up in the 3D printing factory since that would be immersion breaking. I suggest that we build transportation channels underneath Blacklight City and build several landmarks in the city that can also serve as checkpoints. For example, players who choose a monk background can wake up in a monastery, players who choose a thief class can wake up in the slums, and those who choose a farmer’s life wake up in a farm. You get the idea… ”

“Won’t they assume that their spawn points are their safehouse then?”

X-112 had her doubts about this approach.

“That won’t happen.”

Chen Chen shook his head. “As long as we establish a proper character background, one which their parents have passed on, their house has been repossessed, and they don’t have a dollar to their name.”

X-112: “…”

“We’ll also need to build more community buildings in the city.”

Chen Chen added. “Only the player-controlled characters can enter these community buildings. We can keep the furnishing at a minimum as the place is only used for the players to log on and off. We need to establish that players are only allowed to log out after entering these community buildings and after receiving official permission. This is the only way to ensure the progress they made in the game can be saved properly or else they’ll have to create a new character the next time they play.”

X-112 sounded even more unsure about the direction Chen Chen was taking now. “Doesn’t this lower the playability dramatically? Since the players will not have a proper safehouse available when they leave the Blacklight City and travel to the Holy Fusion Empire or other places.”

“We might have to employ some mission NPC… We can worry about this later.”

Chen Chen considered for a moment. “The game doesn’t have to be fully launched right away. We can start with open Beta clients and slowly patch things depending on the feedback, it’ll work out.”

With that, the details and background of the game took on a more concrete shape…