Technology That Changes the World!

"The smell of phenolic compounds... a bit like kerosene, but not quite." Mosquito gave an uncertain assessment after sniffing it for a moment. Standing to the side, Zhui Hun suddenly spoke up. "Could it be Aerozine 50?" "No ammoniacal stench, so probably not." Mosquito shook his head and immediately screwed the bottle cap back on. Phenolic compounds easily oxidized in the presence of air. For now, he couldn't pinpoint its exact chemical composition. Judging solely from the liquid's viscosity and scent, he could only roughly infer that it was some analogue of kerosene. Come to think of it, though, this tiny bottle was surprisingly heavy— Wait. Oil?! Mosquito froze, the glass bottle in his hand. He stood rooted to the spot with a blank expression, as if his brain had just crashed. "Did you lag out?" Seeing Mosquito's dazed look, Quan Jia stepped forward and waved a hand in front of him, only to find the guy had zero reaction, like he had disconnected entirely. "Did this item bug out or something?" Sha Shen muttered, curiously reaching out to grab the glass bottle for a closer look. Before his hand could touch it, however, Mosquito jolted as if struck by electricity. He snapped back to his senses, then bolted straight into the adjacent workshop without a single word. Though he was an Agility-type, none of them had ever seen him run so fast. Watching Mosquito's sudden burst of speed, everyone was dumbfounded. "What's gotten into that guy?" "Possessed?" "Surely not." Zhui Hun, whose real-life field had some ties to chemistry, vaguely sensed something, and his expression turned intrigued. "Fuel..." "Fuel?" Quan Jia frowned. "Yeah..." Zhui Hun nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he continued, "And ten to one, it's the exact kind we've been looking for." ... The fields on the northern outskirts of Dawn City. Sitting beneath the windmill, Pai looked out over the fresh green fields in the distance. Holding a bowl of shaved ice, she squinted comfortably against the oncoming breeze. People led two-headed oxen along rural paths or worked the fields with farm tools in hand. Beneath the shade of trees, children ran, laughed, and played, while the rumbling roar of tractors echoed from afar. This was a sight she had never witnessed in Xizhou City. It was hard to imagine that the war had ended only days ago... Xiao Yu, sitting on the steps nearby, was in the same boat, lazily dangling her calves and happily spooning up the shaved ice resting on her knees. Perhaps because she greedily ate too fast, the brain freeze forced her eyes shut, a soft "wu-wu" slipping from her lips. "Damn it... my HP bar is empty." Not far away, the big white bear wore an expression easily misunderstood on a bear. "Ahaha..." With a relaxed smile, the catgirl gently stroked the big white bear's fur. Today was another peaceful day. Then again, it had been less than a week since the war ended. If they weren't in a game, there was no way everyone could enjoy such a relaxed vacation right now. Sitting to the side, Tail stroked her chin, wrinkling her nose in an expression that seemed to say she was thinking very hard. Suddenly, she spoke up. "This is unscientific." "Uh-huh?" Sisi glanced at her. Tail whipped her head around toward Sisi, her eyes glittering. "Doesn't Sis think so too? Tail's Xiao Yu is getting cuter and cuter!" "You... your remarks are getting more and more dangerous, you know." Speechless, Sisi pulled her gaze away from her bestie and glanced at Xiao Yu nearby, suddenly understanding why Tail had made that comment. She remembered that when they first met Xiao Yu, the kind and well-behaved young girl had noticeably dry, yellowish streaks in her hair. As a medical student, Sisi knew very well that this was a sign of zinc deficiency. Now, that fine hair was an enviable, lustrous black. "...Probably because her nutrition has improved. After all, she's still growing," Sisi said thoughtfully. According to the game's lore, the citizens of the Human Alliance during the Prosperity Era had embraced gene modification technology, applying it widely in fields like cosmetic medicine. As long as nutrition kept up, people's looks were generally well above average under normal conditions, and this was even more true for vault dwellers. So much so that she had become somewhat numb to handsome guys and pretty girls in reality. "Oh! Meaning she'll grow up?" Tail asked in pleasant surprise. Sisi blinked, then nodded. "Probably... yeah." NPCs grew as time passed. If this logic held true, meaning that as long as they played long enough, they'd eventually see Xiao Yu grow into a mature young woman? Ah, this... It was almost too realistic. "Then, what about Tail?!" "Uh, if you manage not to die all the time?" Seeing Tail's expectant look, Sisi nodded again, though her tone held a hint of uncertainty. Hearing that, Tail deflated like a punctured balloon. Looking up at the windmill turning leisurely overhead, she let out a long sigh. "Damn it! That's way too hard." Sisi: "..." The fields were filled with the chorus of frogs and the chirping of cicadas. In the June river valley, a touch of heat had already settled into the air. Previously, for the sake of cloud seeding, the New Alliance's factories had built a differential pressure refrigerator, and later the chemical plant had produced the refrigerant difluoromethane. Thanks to this invention, the New Alliance's industrial zone could now independently manufacture refrigerators. Although there was still a long way to go before these home appliances entered every household, the clever players had already brought a massive variety of ice-related delicacies into the game. Shaved ice drizzled with fruit jam, milk-flavored popsicles, freezer pops... A plethora of chilled delicacies flooded the streets of northern Dawn City, dazzling the traveling merchants and itinerants passing through. It wasn't that these things didn't exist elsewhere. It was just that rarely anywhere had such a complete selection as this place. And what shocked them most was that these delicacies were actually affordable enough for ordinary people to enjoy! That was the most unbelievable part... "...Brother Chu said that in another two months, the view here will be even more magnificent," Xiao Yu said happily, taking another bite after recovering from her brain freeze. By then, the plains north of Ling Lake would turn into a rolling sea of golden waves. Listening to Xiao Yu, a trace of yearning surfaced in Pai's aquamarine eyes, only to quickly turn into melancholy. "Two months... That's still such a long wait." Though it had only been two short days, she had already fallen in love with this place. There were endless delicious foods, endless scenery, endless stories and books, and all kinds of fascinating people. Of course, everyone in Camp 101 was very nice too, but they were all engrossed in their own interests. No one had ever spent a leisurely afternoon with her like this. Friendship. A word she had only ever seen in books—she hadn't expected it to be so wonderful. Yet at the thought of having to return in a few days, Pai felt the gloomy distress of a vacation coming to an end. Looking at Pai's melancholy expression, Xiao Yu tilted her head. "Two months will pass by very quickly." "Mm... I guess so." Staring at the shaved ice in her bowl, Pai went quiet for a moment, then suddenly spoke up. "Xiao Yu." Xiao Yu blinked. "Yes?" Pai gathered her resolve and asked, "Do you want to... go to school?" "Go to school?" Xiao Yu cocked her head. "Do you mean night school? Brother Chu said they don't have much left to teach me there." The night school mainly taught arithmetic and the Human Alliance language, with the primary goal of literacy; it didn't cover anything too advanced. Under Brother Chu's guidance, she had already taught herself algebra, geometry, and statistics. According to Brother Chu, she was already qualified to teach the younger children as an instructor. Pai shook her head and looked at her earnestly. "Not that kind of school. I mean learning far more impressive knowledge." She had visited the New Alliance's night school; the content taught there would span at most three lessons at Camp 101's school. What lagged behind here wasn't just industry; the educational level was also quite worrying. Seeing Pai's serious look, confusion touched Xiao Yu's face. "More impressive knowledge, like..." "Knowledge that can make the windmill above us turn faster, let the tractors in the field drive farther, and make it so people don't even have to sit inside the vehicle—they can sit on the sofa in their living rooms in the cool air, tilling millions of mu of fertile farmland, and spend the entire day with their families..." Pai described the things she had seen in VR footage. From farmland to factories, to public squares, parks, theaters, and schools. Although she had never truly seen that era, and neither had anyone in Camp 101, her master had once told her that as long as they preserved and passed down the information from that era, one day humanity would remember its former pride and reclaim everything they had lost, piece by piece. Xiao Yu listened intently beside her. Though it all sounded like a dream, she was at an age fond of dreaming, and a hint of longing couldn't help but seep into her face. "It sounds so incredible..." "Right? Even though the knowledge we've mastered is only a tiny, tiny fraction, it's still amazing stuff!" Pai raised her chin with a proud little tilt, continuing in a mock-authoritative tone, "As long as you study diligently, that day won't be far off." "But... can I really do it?" Xiao Yu asked softly. "You definitely can! Trust me!" Pai gently reached out and touched her forehead. "I can sense it... You possess a rare trait, similar to those vault dwellers, though completely different in essence." Xiao Yu: "...A trait?" Pai nodded. "Haven't you noticed? You have a special gift for languages and arithmetic." "Brother Chu did praise me before, saying I learn very fast..." Being patted on the head made Xiao Yu's cheeks flush slightly. She shyly leaned back a bit and added quietly, "But how did you know?" "That's the trait I'm talking about!" Pai looked at her, her expression solemn as she continued. "Every now and then, our camp recruits young newcomers whose brain structures are different from ordinary people. Where an average person needs one minute to think through a problem, they only need one second. Knowledge that takes an ordinary person a year to learn, they can master in a single month!" "We teach them knowledge and help them develop their talents, just as the pioneers of Shelter 101 once extended a helping hand to our forebears." Even without the aid of an 'Enlightenment Chip,' they could still reach astonishing heights of mental prowess through their raw natural talent alone. "As for what's happening to them, they call it—" "Awakened!" Xiao Yu held her breath slightly, her bright eyes filled with surprise and bewilderment. Me... Possess the traits of an Awakened? To be honest, she didn't have much desire for powers or abilities; her current life already satisfied her deeply. As for studying... Partly it was for fun. Partly it was because Brother Chu told her it would help everyone, and from the bottom of her heart, she wanted to help him and shoulder some of his workload. If she could learn even more impressive knowledge... Seeing Xiao Yu still hesitating, Pai grew somewhat anxious. Yet just as she was about to press harder and abduct Xiao Yu, a suspicious, bizarre cry sounded from nearby. "Master!!! Please accept my knees!" "Eeeek?! What is that thing?!" Seeing an eccentric freak suddenly burst out and lunge for her thighs, Pai jumped aside in fright by pure reflex, not understanding a word the guy was saying. It wasn't until the big white bear pinned the man down with a single paw that she clearly recognized the person pinned to the ground: none other than the rude fellow she had encountered yesterday in the industrial zone. "Fuck! Are you trying to crush me to death?! Let me go! I've served the Alliance! I've shed blood for the Administrator!" Pinned by Rou Rou's paw, Mosquito bared his teeth and hollered from the ground. "Y-You, don't thrash around... behave yourself!" Seeing Mosquito squirming wildly, Rou Rou panicked, accidentally sitting down on him with her entire bear body. Mosquito's eyes instantly rolled back. "Ooh! The pervert has been brought to justice! Please leave the rest safely to Tail!" Snapping a crisp thumbs-up, Tail wore what she believed to be an ultra-cool smile. Xiao Yu looked completely at a loss, utterly bewildered by the situation. "Regardless, even an attempted offense is enough for fifteen days of detention," Sisi said, staring down at Mosquito with cold eyes and a mischievous smile. "Do you have any last words?" Seeing Mosquito on the verge of suffocating, Sesame Paste stepped forward with concern. "Could there be some misunderstanding? Let's let him up first." Even if he were to be sentenced, that was the guards' job. Finally realizing that Mosquito was on the verge of disconnecting, Rou Rou hurriedly let go and stood up from him. "Cough, cough... Thank you, I almost died an unjust death." Sucking in huge gulps of fresh air, Mosquito looked at the kind catgirl with deep gratitude. Yet to his dismay, Sesame Paste backed away with a complicated look. "...I never said you were innocent." "Damn it! Fine... Let me apologize first! I'm sorry! My actions just now were indeed too rash! I caused you trouble! I had no intention of offending you, I just wanted to express... how astonished I was!" Taking a deep breath, Mosquito looked at the startled Pai and offered a sincere apology in his clumsy Human Alliance language. After listening to Mosquito's explanation, Pai finally understood what was going on and nodded in realization. "No problem, no problem! A great person doesn't hold grudges against small fry!" "Still, though I can understand that your admiration for me is beyond words, please don't do something so easily misunderstood next time!" Although she spoke with magnanimous flair, her upturned nose gave away the sheer smugness in her heart. Rou Rou scratched her head with a bear paw. "So that's how it is." "Mmm... While the behavior was still perverted, that explanation does make sense," Sisi nodded. Players in the game could indeed act a bit uninhibited. Much like Tail, who was a quiet girl in real life, yet possessed a bottomless stockpile of memes. Since the party involved had forgiven him, they let it drop. Everyone relaxed, except for Tail, who clicked her tongue in regret, looking bummed that she hadn't gotten to play cop. Looking gratefully at Pai, Mosquito spoke with agitation. "I have a request! Can you help me?" "Mhm, mhm! Speak." Pai nodded smugly. She loved the feeling of being a teacher most of all. Just when everyone let their guard down, Mosquito pulled out the empty glass bottle, his eyes fixed hotly upon her as he stammered in excitement: "Um... that holy water! Could you give me a little more?" "Huh?" Tail tilted her head, not understanding. Sisi, standing beside them, froze for two seconds. After checking the translation on her VM, she silently pressed the two-character shortcut button in the top right corner. "...Let's just call the guards first." ... Ox and Horse Club group. To look after their good brother still soaking in the incubation pod, Lao Bai and Fang Chang deliberately logged off to report the latest developments in the game. Fang Chang: "We just received a quest issued by the Administrator. The objective is to escort the NPC Luka to Boulder City to sign a friendly agreement with the Director of Boulder City Hall. Barring any surprises, this quest should be tied to the next version." The main storyline of Wasteland OL was primarily driven by "player actions," "special events" likely arranged by the devs, and "exclusive quests" issued by faction leaders. Although any interested player could view the complete storyline and the official website updated the plot in real time, opportunities to participate in the game's main storyline as narrative drivers were rare. Many quests were unique. This was also why most players were obsessed with grinding contribution points and "affinity." WhoDoesn'tUnderstandLove: "Pardon my ignorance, but why don't you guys just take Boulder City by force? (curious)" Back when Brother Ye Ao was still in the group, he had already heard about this game, and had been following its progress ever since—he just couldn't be bothered to make a reservation. Such cases weren't rare. Not even money could be loved by every single person, let alone a game. Rather than playing the game, he preferred listening to his fellow group members brag. Lao Bai: "Forget war and you court danger; love war and you court demise. Right now is time for farming and adventuring. After fighting street battles for nearly two months, it's time to take a breather. (grin)" Fang Chang: "Yeah. Actually, from the perspective of the game's lore, a war would be difficult to trigger. The New Alliance is basically a Lawful faction, Boulder City is roughly Neutral, while marauders and mutant tribes are Chaotic." "Given the conditions on the wasteland, where the spark of civilization could be extinguished at any moment, the possibility of a faction war erupting between Lawful and Neutral isn't zero, but the probability is tiny. Unless the devs run out of ideas, replace the Administrator's hammer with a sword, or pull off some massive bombshell." WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Lordaeron's loyal son vibes, nice. (funny)" Ye Shi: "Huh? Why'd you come offline too? Blew yourself up again?" WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Get lost! I just came down to take a dump. (eye roll)" "Reported by players for inappropriate conduct toward an NPC and banned for two hours"—of course he was too embarrassed to say that out loud. The screenshots and audio recordings were all there; with no way to plead his case, Mosquito had simply taken the punishment. Anyway, it was only two hours. It was a good chance to grab a late-night snack and thoroughly brainstorm how to butter her up to get that fuel formula. There was no helping it; that bottle of fuel was simply incredible! Stable, high thermal stability, non-freezing at low temperatures with excellent fluidity, proper density, and a high calorific value! Not only could it burn continuously and completely, but it also produced almost no carbon buildup or coking... Its downsides were negligible, while its upsides couldn't be counted on both hands. If that wasn't black technology, what was? It was utterly mind-blowing! Nobody asked why Mosquito had disconnected; after all, this wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened. Fang Chang continued typing: "...Anyway, that's the basic gist. We set out in an hour and will be hopping back online immediately. We'll be in touch once we reach Boulder City." Jieyan: "Crying tears of envy! TAT" Kuang Feng: "Remember to record video." Lao Bai: "No problem! Take a good rest these next two days, brothers. (grin)" "Fuck!" It was so frustrating not being able to log into the game! Sending a reply, Ye Wei rolled his eyes and tossed his phone onto the desk. Just then, a notification popped up on the screen, forcing him to pick the phone back up. "Brother, would you consider a ready-to-move-in property at Greentown Mansion? (grin)" The message was from the real estate agent he had added just this afternoon. Immediately after, five photos were sent over in rapid succession. Ye Wei took a look. The environment was indeed nice; the only drawback was that it sat by the river, a bit far from his university. Still, that didn't matter. Worst case, he could live on campus Monday through Friday and stay off-campus on Saturdays and Sundays. Ye Wei typed a message and replied: "Sure." Likely having sent a mass broadcast, the agent paused for a moment. A few seconds later, a message came back: "Uh, brother, what do you mean by that?" The agent was somewhat unsure. It wasn't a lack of professional capability; it was just that he had checked this client's Moments earlier, and could only say the guy was exceptionally low-key. No matter how you looked at it, he was just a student! "Show me the apartment tomorrow morning." Unwilling to explain, Ye Wei replied tersely, then turned off notification alerts. To soothe his withdrawal symptoms, he toggled the phone screen on and off several times. In the end, he resisted the urge to log onto the official website forum and casually opened Weibo, an app he hadn't touched in months. He had intended to kill time watching funny videos, but upon clicking the trending search rankings, he was surprised to find that the number one spot wasn't celebrity family drama. In fact, three consecutive trending topics were about the exact same thing. "...Major breakthrough in lithium battery technology?" Reading it aloud in a murmur, Ye Wei grew curious and clicked in to take a look. The first thing that caught his eye was a video from the state network. "Recently, the Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS, achieved a breakthrough in research on the 'lithium dendrite problem.' According to industry analysts, this problem has long been a major bottleneck hindering research into lithium-anode batteries..." The narration ended, and the camera cut away. Facing a reporter's interview, Academician Liu Yiping spoke with deep emotion: "To be frank, it is rather humbling. We have merely made a small contribution, hardly worthy of such high honors! The reason we were able to make such major progress is primarily thanks to the help of our partner organization, as well as the full support of society and the state..." Academician Liu's wording was humble and rigorous as he provided a broad, popular-science overview of the fields involved in the research. After interviewing Academician Liu, the reporter turned the camera to an industry figure—the Chief Manufacturing Officer of a renowned battery enterprise. Unlike Academician Liu's modest composure, although this industry figure maintained a degree of restraint before the camera, the flush across his face made it obvious how thrilled he was. It was as if he had just won a bet on the national football team. "...This will be a milestone event for the new energy industry! It is no exaggeration to say that our lives will be turned upside down by this!" Although Ye Wei didn't fully understand what he was talking about, from the expression on the man's face, he could broadly sense the shock this new technology dealt to the industry. The video was too long, so Ye Wei didn't watch it all the way through, instead scrolling down directly to the comments section. To his surprise, he found hundreds of thousands of comments and over a million likes under a piece of news from the scientific research field. "Incredible!" "6666!" "Holy shit, does this mean my phone will only need to be charged once a week?!" "My EV's power battery is only 200 Wh/kg... Does breaking past three digits mean 1,000 Wh/kg?!" "Be bolder, it's gotta be at least 1,000! (grin)" "A 'small contribution,' sure—the master is way too modest! T.T" "By the way, what is this partner organization? It feels so mysterious!" "+1, it didn't appear in the interview at all." "+10000, anyone who doesn't show their face should just be treated as the 'relevant authorities.' (funny)" Scrolling through the comments section, Ye Wei felt a surge of emotion. He hadn't expected that a world-changing transformation would not arrive in a grand, spectacular spectacle. Instead, on an ordinary night, when he took off his helmet and picked up his phone, people's lives were already silently changing. By the time everyone realized it, the future had already arrived. After reading a verified influencer's shared analysis on how that thin layer of artificial SEI film would affect national energy strategy and the global energy landscape, Ye Wei couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. "Awesome!" These big shots were simply too incredible! Although he rarely followed trending news and his major had nothing whatsoever to do with batteries, hearing that the country had made major progress in scientific research still filled him with pride and honor. Science and technology were the primary productive forces. Advanced production technology was the wealth of the entire society. The instant social productivity achieved a qualitative leap from quantitative accumulation, every single individual in society would enter a brand-new version. Too bad he wasn't cut out for research. All he could do was give a like to the giants working silently behind the scenes.