The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 673 Technology is Might! (Seeking monthly votes)

Dude, you've got a big face!

Without even a greeting, they came up and asked me about top-secret information?
Xu Meng shook her head and did not answer.

The president opposite him analyzed: "I have convened technical advisors and science officers to discuss your achievements in technologies such as dream machines, artificial nerves, brain-computer interfaces, and brain-controlled prosthetics, which have fully met commercialization standards. This shows that you have gone much further in these fields than the outside world thought."

"Neuron scanning, consciousness digitization, and integration with reality—if you want to do it, you can do it sooner or later."

"Many consultants speculate that you may have already mastered this technology, or even been doing it behind the scenes."

"This will pose a huge challenge to the moral and ethical issues of modern society."

The blond president, who was nearly 80 years old—a very old age in Xia culture—stared at Xu Meng's face, trying his best to put on a serious expression.

Unfortunately, Xu Meng had seen too much of his aggressive behavior in front of the camera and his outrageous remarks on social media during his previous term, so even though he seemed much more composed now, Xu Meng still couldn't bring herself to be serious.

As for that subtle pressure...

I felt absolutely nothing.

—At this moment, they are sitting in the bustling metropolis, in the central square where players are jostling shoulder to shoulder. It would be strange if they felt any tension.

Xu Meng shook her head boredly, skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the point: "So... you have a serious problem with your head?"

That sounds like an insult.

But Xu Meng really didn't mean to insult people indirectly; the question was exactly what it said.

The blond president opposite him paused for a moment when asked the question, and a look of hesitation appeared on his face.

But after hesitating for a few seconds, he still said, "It's not that serious, but it is indeed a little troublesome."

So the problem is quite serious.

Xu Meng nodded knowingly.

If it were a minor issue, why would they rush to him to ask about "consciousness upload"?

But instead of immediately exposing him, he continued, "What trouble?"

"The doctor said..." the president hesitated before choosing his words, "that my workload was too high, which caused some attention deficit, memory loss, impaired executive function, and somewhat slowed thinking."

"They are more prone to anxiety and irritability."

"I have difficulty falling asleep at night, and I experience dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, and numbness in my hands and feet."

"Increased potential cardiovascular risk and immune dysfunction."

"besides……"

"What else was there?"

"So, his cognitive function has declined severely, he has both psychological and physiological problems, and he also has some early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?" Xu Meng summarized for him.

"No! Nonono!" The president waved his hands repeatedly in denial. "It's not that serious. I just need a longer vacation."

"If that's the case, why don't you take a break and go play golf? Why are you looking for me?" Xu Meng shook her head and made a move to get up and leave.

"Wait!" The president immediately exclaimed.

However, he still refused to disclose his physical condition.

—Considering that he is the president of a country, and his health condition is involved in global political and economic issues, this caution is indeed necessary.

"Let's get straight to the point."

"I, along with many wealthy, powerful, and influential people around the world, are very concerned about your progress in [digital immortality] and are very willing to provide you with the necessary support."

"As long as you can produce usable results—even if they are only preliminary results—you will immediately receive strong support from many people, including myself!"

...Dude, are you really going to die soon?
You're in such a panic, you don't just have cognitive impairment, you're practically brain failure!

Seeing his posture, Xu Meng decided to try to reveal some information: "Completely abandoning the body and only retaining consciousness is very difficult, and it would pose a huge challenge to modern ethics and morality, so I have not devoted much energy to this aspect."

"A moral and ethical challenge," those were the president's exact words.

But now, hearing Xu Meng say that, he immediately shook his head and said, "That's not a problem! Everyone in the US who controls the media is willing to be your friend!"

“That’s really good.” Xu Meng nodded, but immediately added, “But that’s not enough.”

“Consciousness is different from data and cannot withstand any accidents—explosions, earthquakes, power outages, etc. So before the consciousness is uploaded for actual testing, I have to build an integrated air-ground server and network communication system to ensure that the uploaded consciousness will not be damaged by network problems.”

This is what we call taking advantage of a pretext.

The Dream Building Perpetual Nuclear Explosion-Proof Server Center can fully support a semi-independent "Consciousness Center".

But when it comes to negotiations, there's no need to be so honest.

Sure enough, the blond president on the other side nodded without changing his expression: "That won't be a problem either!"

"If you promise to let me be among the first to upload my consciousness, I can help you resolve all the doubts raised by official institutions."

"If you can keep this timeframe within three months, I can get all the satellites to clear their orbits for you!"

"?" Xu Meng was genuinely surprised now. "Does the US president have that much power?"

The president puffed out his chest and said confidently, "Theoretically, no, but I do."

"?" Xu Meng's head was filled with question marks.

“Even if someone objects, they have to let me finish my business first before going through the process to reject my decision!” the president said calmly. “But that would mean starting in the first half of the year. If I intervene a little, I can drag it out until the end of my term.”

"Goodness, so others have to follow the rules, but you don't, right?" Xu Meng's eyes widened. "But if you do this, won't your reputation be completely ruined?"

"I don't have time to worry about things that are so far in the future," the president said nonchalantly.

Xu Meng understood—

If no measures are taken, he may not live to see the end of his term.

It could even take between three and six months.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Meng suggested, "I can't do digital immortality for now, but I can give you a long vacation to alleviate your problem."

The person opposite me shook their head with a wry smile: "You can't imagine how busy the president's work is. He has to sign documents even when he's lying in a hospital bed. Where would he find a long vacation?"

Xu Meng asked him with a smile, "Do you know about the dream within a dream incident a while ago?"

"Magnify time by 12 times? Wouldn't that put even more stress on the brain?" the president asked, somewhat worried.

"Based on current testing, there will be some, but it is completely controllable and can be compensated for by server computing power, just like the [Rejuvenation] system does."

Xu Meng explained, "Next, I'll also talk about [rejuvenation]. I can customize a special system for you that allows you to activate the [rejuvenation] function without becoming younger, greatly relieving the stress on your brain."

For an elderly president whose brain is overloaded and cannot be relieved by sleep and rest, this is tantamount to prolonging his life!
Therefore, he was extremely interested in this and couldn't wait to ask more questions.

Xu Meng wasn't in a hurry to discuss terms, and patiently explained things to him.

—For this president, these technologies can only prolong life, not cure disease.

And as long as he uses Xu Meng's technology, it's like he's boarding the ship of dreams.

After that, without Xu Meng saying anything, he would take the initiative to protect Zhumeng.

Because by then, the benefits of building dreams will be his benefits!

……

The two chatted for a while, exchanged personal contact information, and agreed to meet in the virtual world two days later through the dream machine, where Xu Meng would "treat" him.

The president, on the other hand, used these two days to demonstrate his "sincerity".

As he rose to say goodbye, the president relaxed completely, even smiling as he said, "Mr. Xu, could you also give me the title of [Honorary Player]? I think that title is quite sought after." "You may not know, but I was also a gaming expert when I was young. If I weren't so busy with work now, I would be fully capable of obtaining this title."

Xu Meng smiled silently.

Do you crave fame that much?
They barely managed to keep him alive, and it's already started again?

Xu Meng waved helplessly and disappeared from the square.

He needed to contact Wu Shuang to inform the authorities of this news.

……

……

The other side of the Earth.

Thomas Booker waited anxiously for a full hour, but still received no word from the president.

Finally, unable to wait any longer, I couldn't help but open my contacts again and call the president.

This time, the president responded very quickly.

Thomas Booker quickly said, "Mr. President..."

Before he could finish speaking, the president interrupted him: "I have already communicated with Xu Meng and exchanged views with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Xia."

"This is an extreme natural phenomenon."

"I have to say, Thomas, you have terrible luck, really terrible luck."

Thomas Booker: "???"

How is it considered a natural phenomenon?
Are the technical advisors and scientific officers in the White House all brainless?

How could this be a natural phenomenon?!

"This is not a natural phenomenon! Our satellites have captured evidence! Before the aurora and geomagnetic storm appeared, the Dream-Building satellite released a large number of unknown luminous particles..."

Unable to compete technically, his only option now is to seek external help.

Seeing that he was about to lose his external support, Thomas Booker became somewhat flustered and started speaking faster and faster.

But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted again: "Thomas, oh Thomas, I already said, you're very unlucky."

"This doesn't mean your satellite crashed, but rather that you've become Xu Meng's rival."

"I suggest you talk to Xu Meng and make room for the satellite orbit he needs."

"Xu Meng is a very nice person, we have a good relationship, and I believe he won't make things difficult for you."

Thomas Booker was dumbfounded.

So you two have a very good relationship?
Which is better? Like our relationship during your campaign?
Unfortunately, before he could even raise his questions, the president opposite him had already lost interest in continuing the conversation.

"That's it, Thomas. Sometimes, we have to learn to accept reality."

"Goodbye."

The call was hung up.

But Thomas still held the phone to his ear, lost in thought.

……

Ten minutes later, a spokesperson for the White House issued an emergency statement in response to public concerns, clarifying that the fall of a satellite belonging to a domestic company was due to an extreme natural phenomenon, had no external influence, and was unrelated to the satellite recently launched by DreamWorks.

And strangely, at the end of his speech, he added a paragraph praising Zhumeng:
"DreamChaser is a powerful, technologically advanced, and ethically sound multinational corporation that would not openly violate international law."

Netizens in the United States and even around the world were completely baffled by this announcement.

In the general public's perception, the US government and the US government are enemies!

How did you suddenly start praising me?

Even more strangely, NASA's social media followed suit, releasing a report acknowledging that such an extremely rare celestial phenomenon could indeed form naturally.

To enhance the persuasiveness, several relevant documents were also posted.

Following NASA, the oldest and most influential television and media outlets in the United States have all spoken out, praising the success of Zhu Meng in the aerospace field.

Even those media outlets that have always been known for their "anti-Xia Kingdom" stance joined in singing praises at this time.

The criticisms quickly disappeared, and people even began to appreciate the rare beauty of the "autumn and satellite rain".

Finally, the announcement from Edge Industries put the final push on this bewildering turn of events that had left netizens completely confused.

"Today, some of the network communication satellites of the edge industry unexpectedly encountered an outer space geomagnetic storm. Due to the suddenness of the incident, there was no time to deal with it, resulting in 63 satellites falling into the atmosphere and burning up."

The loss of this number of satellites will not affect the quality of users' network communication, so users need not worry about it.

The technical team will also learn from this incident and make targeted adjustments to the orbits of some satellites to prevent similar events from happening again.
-
Thomas Booker's personal account immediately shared this post.

An additional message was also released:
"Congratulations on the successful completion of the test of the reusable rocket, which will contribute to a more environmentally friendly, sustainable, and efficient space program!"
We also look forward to collaborating with Zhuzhu on the epic project of "Landing on Mars," for example—

Simulating a Mars landing in a virtual world?
-
Netizens around the world were completely dumbfounded.

Not to mention netizens in the US and Europe, even netizens in China were stunned.

After a moment's thought and a moment's realization, American netizens immediately flew into a rage:
"We're all still helping you criticize Zhumeng, and you've already knelt down?"

"Don't you have any backbone? You still have over ten thousand satellites, and you're just going to give up like this?"

"waste!"

……

Netizens from Xia Kingdom burst into laughter:
"Hahaha! What a wise person knows when to yield!"

"Welcome Challengers" — "A Launch in the Virtual World Means Nothing" — "Looking Forward to Collaborating with Dream Builders" Hahaha!

"What a face-changing act! That's some amazing skill, Old Tuo!"

……

It wasn't just the netizens who were watching the spectacle who were surprised.

Countries with the capability to launch satellites into space are very uneasy about Xu Meng's actions of "shooting down other countries' satellites".

But seeing that Xia Guo, the United States, and peripheral industries had all reached an agreement, they felt extremely helpless.

They certainly don't want their satellites to live under threat, constantly on edge.

But now, they haven't even had a chance to speak; the strongest players in the space field have already reached an agreement...

What else can they do besides follow the formation and offer congratulations?

Not sending it is not an option!
Xu Meng might not remember who sent congratulatory messages, but he would most likely remember who didn't...

And so, France, Britain, Germany, Izumo, Russia...

Space agencies from one country after another lined up to congratulate the successful realization of the dream, and some even quickly sent emails expressing their intention to cooperate in space exploration.

……

Thus, this [battle for near-Earth orbit] ended as soon as it began.

It was so fast it caught everyone off guard!

This also made netizens around the world realize once again:
When there is sufficient military force as a deterrent, technology becomes the greatest power!

(End of this chapter)