The Monster is Coming

Chapter 438 The Real Truth?

After uploading the information, Xie Yu stopped cultivating.

He sat by the window, gazing at the deep night outside, his thoughts in turmoil.

I wonder if the report I uploaded will be like a boulder thrown into a pond, creating ripples in the real world.

After all, the fact that cultivation techniques in games can be verified in reality is enough to overturn our understanding.

This will also allow the management of each race to redefine the game Monster World.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

Looking down, I saw that it was an unknown number calling.

Xie Yu, lost in thought, took a deep breath and chose to answer the call.

Instantly, interwoven light and shadow projected down from the ceiling, quickly coalescing into a holographic image in front of him.

The caller was a man who looked to be about forty years old. He had a resolute face, well-defined facial features, a taut jawline, and a tough and masculine air about him.

He was wearing a dark uniform without any markings, sat upright, and his sharp eyes pierced through the virtual projection, landing on Xie Yu.

"Xie Yu, formerly worked at the Antarctic monitoring station, retired at 35, so we're practically colleagues." The other person immediately stated Xie Yu's identity information, then introduced themselves without waiting for Xie Yu's reply:
"My name is Duan Hong, and I belong to the Deep Space Observation Department."

"Deep Space Observation?" Xie Yu murmured to himself.

He had never heard of this department, but he was certain that the other party had come looking for information related to the document he had uploaded.

"Hello," he replied with a decisive nod.

"We have received the report you submitted." Duan Hong cut straight to the point without any pleasantries.

"That is, the information stone you accidentally obtained in the monster world, its related civilization history, and the verification data of that body tempering method in the real world."

Xie Yu nodded, assuming the other party had this question, and immediately prepared to explain his conjecture in detail.

But Duan Hong slightly raised his hand, interrupting him before he could finish speaking.

A meaningful smile appeared on his serious face:
"Mr. Xie Yu, you did a great job. Your observations were sharp, and your actions were decisive. We thank you for your efforts for the Human Federation." He paused, then smiled and continued:
"However, we are already aware of most of the content in your report, as well as your subsequent speculations."

"You guys found out too?"

Seeing the undisguised astonishment on Xie Yu's face, he nodded and added:
“Deep Space Observer was established as early as the launch of Monster World. Our core mission is to closely monitor the operation of Monster World and assess its series of impacts. To this end, we have invested a lot of real-world resources, acquired Sacrifice Power from other players, and established several player guilds directly under the official team in the game, including well-known guilds such as the Arms Dealer Guild and the Alchemist Guild. It is no secret that we are the ones operating these guilds.”

"Our initial shock to Monster World was the same as that of you ordinary players: the game has perfect physics. We invested resources in Monster World in the early stages to test a series of studies that would damage reality, and also to save on research and development resources."

"But after the Imperial Tomb Village Library was opened to players, our attitude toward Monster World changed."

"Our researchers discovered that some low-level rune structures recorded in the library could actually optimize energy transmission efficiency in reality, and the plant hybridization technology in the data even solved a long-standing agricultural problem for us... This made us realize the importance of Monster World far beyond our early understanding."

"Although it is difficult to replicate many of the technologies in the library in the real world, the fact is that we have successfully brought virtual content into reality."

"The body-forging method you discovered can also be categorized as one of the things hidden in the monster world that can be replicated into reality."

"In our eyes, the monster world is a treasure trove, a spark that may hold the future destiny of the Earth Alliance."

After speaking, Duan Hong looked at Xie Yu:

"So, you didn't discover some secret we didn't know about, but rather, through your own methods, you verified a path that we had already begun exploring but hadn't made public... Besides us, many other races are actually conducting related research in the Imperial Tomb Village Library."

After hearing Duan Hong's explanation, Xie Yu was immediately surprised.

It turns out that the authorities were already aware of this, and had even built an official onboarding system specifically for the Monster World.

After understanding the reason, Xie Yu took a deep breath and asked the question that had been lingering in his mind:
"Commander Duan, I'm curious about something. Since StarNet has mastered so many technologies that can be applied in reality, such as the energy transmission optimization you just mentioned, solving agricultural problems, and this body-strengthening method I've discovered... why doesn't it apply them directly to reality once and for all to completely transform our real environment? Is it to avoid social unrest and maintain stability? But given StarNet's control over the real world, it seems... that this wouldn't be an obstacle to technological advancement."

Upon hearing this, Duan Hong remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing something, before finally speaking slowly:
"To be honest, we've had heated discussions about this internally. StarNet has always been making every effort to promote the development of the Earth Alliance. If we really want to make this kind of technology public, we can simply store the technical data in the real network or selectively open it to research institutions of various races. Why go to such lengths to turn it into a library in a game? This goes against its consistent behavior and logic."

“We also considered many possibilities at the time, such as the real-world stability issues you mentioned, or technological risks. But as you said, many technologies seem to be quite mature and do not seem to pose any risks. It just doesn’t make sense to encapsulate these technologies in a game.”

"Especially the environmental modification technologies you mentioned. You are also aware of Earth's environment. Due to the legacy of numerous wars throughout history, large areas of land have been polluted by energy radiation from other worlds. The ecology of some areas is so bad that city-level protective barriers are needed to isolate them. Logically speaking, the environmental purification technologies recorded in the library are exactly what we need, but StarNet has never put them into use."

"The problem is that StarNet invests a lot of resources every year in purifying Earth's pollution."

"This logic doesn't make sense no matter how you look at it. At the time, we even speculated that perhaps StarNet didn't want to completely solve Earth's pollution problem at all, and that the investment of resources was more of a superficial project. In this way, the Lunar Eclipse Clan, which is independent of Earth, can always play a key role in the Earth Alliance and maintain its leadership position."

Hearing this, Xie Yu shook his head:

"This is unreasonable. Even if the Lunar Eclipse Clan completes the purification of Earth's environment, their leadership position will not be shaken. After all, modern networks are built on the Star Network. Without the Star Network, the Earth Alliance is just a name. The alliance between the various races was also led by the Lunar Eclipse Clan, and it has nothing to do with whether the environment has been purified."

Duan Hong's projection nodded approvingly:

“You’re right, this is more of a conspiracy theory, but it doesn’t make sense in reality.”

"What I want to tell you is that we have already found the answer to this question."

"The fact is that many technologies that you and I think are sealed away have already been applied in reality. It's just that we don't know about this process, and StarNet has not made this public to the various races of the Earth Alliance."

As he spoke, another light screen unfolded next to Duan Hong's projection.

"This is a satellite image taken three years ago of a region in the western Pacific Ocean."

Xie Yu looked over curiously.

In the footage, large areas of the sea appear as a sickly, murky, dark green, with visible pollutants floating on the surface like sores.

From an aerial viewpoint, the entire area appears lifeless and is marked as a "no-contamination zone" in the image.

"The highest priority for pollution control is on land. There are large areas of sea that don't have enough resources to treat, so they can only be temporarily isolated... But look at the situation now," Duan Hong said, switching the camera.

It's still the same sea area, but the scenery has changed dramatically.

The dark green sludge was replaced by a deep blue, the pollutants that once floated on the surface disappeared without a trace, and the sea surface shimmered in the sunlight.

What shocked Xie Yu even more was that the satellite images captured the shadows of the fish swimming.

"How...how was this done?" Xie Yu found it hard to believe. Such a large-scale pollution purification could not possibly be completed in just a few years with publicly available technology, and there was no external reaction whatsoever.

“We don’t know exactly how they did it, but only StarNet and the Eclipse Clan under its control could have done it so quietly.”

After speaking, Duan Hong pulled up another set of graphic data, showing the test reports of various marine organisms.

The light screen clearly displays anatomical analysis diagrams of several deep-sea fish.

The curves showing the accumulation of heavy pollutants in these fish bodies exhibit a rapid downward trend.

Even the concentration of radioactivity in muscle tissue has dropped to its lowest point in recent years.

Duan Hong pointed to a fish in the picture:

"This is the Black Scale Sword brought by the Gillfish Clan. It is also a reference indicator species for marine pollution. The concentration of pollutants in its body has been more than a hundred times higher than the standard for many years. Now its life structure is so pure that it seems to have never been polluted."

Duan Hong switched images, displaying a shimmering silver moon trout:
"And then there's the fact that the hatching rate of egg cells used to be less than one in a thousand due to the accumulation of pollutants, but now it has recovered to more than 95 percent, close to the best level on record."

Duan Hong closed the light screen, his tone filled with complex emotions: "This is clearly not the speed and effect that natural purification can achieve. The only explanation is that the StarNet not only purified the seawater, but also carried out some kind of deep cleaning at the biological tissue level that we cannot understand, and even... reversed the damage that pollution caused to genetic material."

"Besides these two species of deep-sea fish, the levels of heavy metals and radioactive isotopes accumulated in the bodies of the latest deep-sea fish caught at the fishing port have all dropped below the safe threshold."

After hearing Duan Hong's explanation, Xie Yu nodded in understanding.

It turned out that things were not as simple as he had thought.

In fact, many technologies are already being used in reality, but ordinary people like them have never been involved in understanding them.

But what Duan Hong said next completely stunned Xie Yu.

Duan Hong waved his hand and brought up another set of data streams, the title of which read: Atmospheric Composition Monitoring Data.

"This is a global spiritual energy concentration curve indicator, made based on the spiritual energy concentration captured by special instruments at various monitoring stations around the world. For the past three hundred years, it has remained at a near-dead baseline level, with a very small drop every ten years. However, in recent years, especially starting from the second year after the launch of Monster World, this continuously declining curve has started to rise, showing a stable upward trend."

Xie Yu looked at it carefully.

The curve in the image resembles a sleeping dragon that has begun to slightly raise its head.

He was no stranger to the spiritual energy data from the monitoring stations.

Before retiring, he worked at an Antarctic station, where he was responsible for maintenance.

During this period, we will also check various local data and information, the most important of which is spatial fluctuation information, to determine whether a crisis is imminent.

This also includes data on the amount of spiritual energy in the air.

At that time, he guessed that the trend of environmental change on Earth was heading towards stagnation.

This is also why he believes that the future of Earth's civilization will move towards the virtual world.

Duan Hong continued at this point:

"Not just the ocean and the atmosphere."

The screen switches to display sample analyses from various monitoring stations, including a report on the exploration of deep Antarctic strata:
“We detected extremely faint signs of resurgence of energy activity in both the permanent ice and ancient rock formations in Antarctica. This active substance bears a striking resemblance to some of the energy signatures found in the monster world.”

After speaking, Duan Hong displayed a set of close-up ocean photos taken by satellite.

In the footage, in the purified sea, a spiral-shaped seaweed that emits a faint blue light grows quietly in the clear water, but has never been recorded before.

"We have tentatively named them 'Dust-Cleansing Algae.' They are not any species known on Earth. Their photosynthetic efficiency is hundreds of times higher than that of ordinary algae, and they can actively absorb and decompose trace pollutants remaining in the water. Preliminary analysis shows that they also have the effect of optimizing air quality. The slight increase in the spiritual energy content on Earth recently may be related to these plants."

"What is clear is that the large-scale proliferation of alien plants in Earth's oceans cannot escape the monitoring of StarNet. Its very existence means that it is very likely one of the test projects for modifying Earth's environment, led by StarNet."

"Based on the slow recovery of spiritual energy concentration, we have made a bold conjecture: StarNet is trying to usher Earth into an era of spiritual energy revival."

He waved his hand to bring up a global map, which was marked with several flashing, undisclosed coordinates.

"The Cleansing Seaweed may only be the tip of the iceberg of StarNet's 'Earth Transformation Project.' We have reason to believe that in the deep sea trenches that no race has ever set foot in, or in the depths of the polar ice fields where no one has ever been, or even in the depths of the mantle beneath our feet, there are many more unknown environmental transformation projects deployed by StarNet that are operating silently."

"The ultimate goal of these projects is to reshape the foundation of the Earth, transforming this swampy world that we have exhausted into a new world that can carry higher energy and is more suitable for the evolution of life."

This conjecture sent chills down Xie Yu's spine.

If he had any doubts before, now his doubts have been completely dispelled.

From this perspective, StarNet's schemes are far more complex than simply saving Earth from near extinction.

It is attempting to push a world heading towards its end back onto an evolutionary path leading to the vast cosmos.

"Now let's go back to the original question. You just mentioned why a lot of technology in the monster world is not used in reality."

"My answer is that StarNet most likely conducted countless simulation tests and optimizations of this type of purification technology in the virtual environment of the monster world to confirm its effectiveness before launching these massive purification projects in reality."

"Therefore, Monster World is not only a playground in the eyes of players, but also the ultimate testing ground for StarNet to verify cross-dimensional application technologies. The rise and fall of civilizations that we regard as background stories are likely virtual models set up in simulation tests. However, they were not deleted after the simulation ended, but were retained and integrated into the background story of Monster World."

Duan Hong waved his hand, changing the scene.

Seeing the pale green-skinned figure in the holographic image, Xie Yu asked curiously:

"This is the Green Source Clan? The background civilization of the Senluo Forest Realm... The Green Wood Clan in reality once protested against this, believing that the Lunar Eclipse Clan had distorted their history and culture."

With a light tap of his fingertip, Duan Hong caused a dense array of energy flow diagrams to appear beside the image of the Green Source Clan:

“That’s right. At the time, we were also curious as to why my Lunar Eclipse Clan would build a virtual civilization in the game that was so similar to our real race.”

"You mean... the Green Source Clan is some kind of technological simulation experiment conducted by StarNet in the virtual world, modeled after the Green Wood Clan? And once the test was completed, this data was directly solidified into the form of game content?"

Duan Hong nodded:

"We speculate that the entire Senluolin region is a sandbox built by StarNet to study the evolutionary path of plant-based civilizations. The modified settings that the Greenwood Clan considers cultural blasphemy are likely StarNet's deduction of the optimal development form of the Greenwood Clan under specific conditions. In fact, the life structure of the Green Source Clan is far superior to that of the Greenwood Clan."

The projection on the wall switched again, becoming an aerial map of the Pale Continent taken by the player, with countless points of light from civilizations flickering in the darkness.

"Now let's think about how many civilization templates in the monster world are projections of reality wearing masks."

"Unbeknownst to players, they are actually participating in this grand simulation test. Our game behavior and interactions with various environments may be providing massive amounts of interactive data for the final improvement of these technologies."

Hearing this, the doubts that had lingered in Xie Yu's mind for so long finally dissipated.

Although all of this remains at the level of speculation.

But the interconnected logical chain has already outlined an incredibly reasonable truth for him.

Just then, Duan Hong's expression suddenly turned serious, and he changed the subject:
"Mr. Xie Yu, based on the above understanding, we must give you a suggestion regarding your current body-strengthening method: please stop practicing immediately."

Xie Yu was taken aback upon hearing this.

Duan Hong's tone carried a warning:

"Since this technology has been shelved by StarNet and has not been actively promoted in reality in any form, there must be a reason for it. It is very likely that there are potential risks or major defects that we have not yet discovered."

"Your courageous attempt has provided us with valuable first-hand data, but this is only a proof of concept. Continuing to practice without a full evaluation and safety review is tantamount to walking in a minefield. For your safety, we suggest you suspend your practice."

Upon hearing this, Xie Yu immediately nodded.

From the conversation just now, he understood that only technologies deemed mature by StarNet would be put into practical use.

"I understand, Commander Duan."

"I wish you a pleasant retirement." Duan Hong nodded solemnly upon hearing this, and then the projected body slowly dissipated, and the projection light on the ceiling also went out.

After ending the conversation, Xie Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

It was like groping in the fog for a long time, and finally a gentle breeze blew away the haze, allowing us to see the road ahead clearly.

The feeling of having my question answered...it's so satisfying!

　The QVQ-related storylines serve as a prelude to real-world developments. Many issues need explanation; some readers might wonder why there's no real-world reaction. Therefore, the writing needs to be more logically consistent. This isn't filler content.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)