A different world game? A different world game!

Chapter 1060 Consciousness Chapter Return

The front line, the anvil fortress.

The deafening roar of artillery fire seemed to have been filtered out by an invisible barrier.

Some legendary powerhouses looked up and saw the world barrier in the sky that had been eroded by the void and was writhing like a rotting sore.

Suddenly, it burst forth with an unprecedented, pure, and resilient silvery-white radiance.

Countless fine, circuit board-like energy patterns rapidly spread, intertwined, and solidified on the barrier, as if patching the damaged sky with a huge patch that shone with the light of order and data.

The suffocating sense of oppressive emptiness diminished rapidly, like the receding tide.

This is the power of the world barrier, which only legendary strongmen can see.

Some of the Night Watchers squinted, observing the fine, highly ordered energy stripes, which had a very heavy, data-driven feel to them.

Was it Lord Kana who made the move?

"The barrier... the barrier is stable!" a sharp-eyed level 10 elf ranger exclaimed, his voice trembling with excitement.

Because of the previous detachment from the world's will, there was no protection whatsoever, and now it has suddenly launched a powerful attack. The energy of the conflict is visible even to non-legendary individuals.

Almost visible to the naked eye, the void rifts that were trying to tear through space and surge into the prime material world were forcibly squeezed and closed by this suddenly enhanced barrier force.

The new intrusion route was abruptly cut off!

For the first time, the relentless, worm-like encroachment of the void was blocked so clearly and forcefully.

"Roar--!!!"

The fortress commander, a dwarf general covered in blood and with shattered shoulder armor, raised his filthy warhammer high and roared with all his might, the sound drowning out the remaining artillery fire.

"Did you all see that?! The void is powerless! The world is responding to us! Hold on, drive them back to that damned void home!"

That roar was like lighting a fuse.

Witnessing the miraculous stabilization of the World Barrier, coupled with the commander's battle cry filled with passion and hope, instantly ignited the flames in the hearts of all the Night's Watch warriors, which had been almost submerged by exhaustion and despair.

On and around the city walls, dwarves, humans, elves, orcs... all races, all professions, erupted in thunderous shouts, their weary eyes rekindling with burning fighting spirit.

"For the world! For our home! For order!"

"Kill all these scum!"

Morale soared like a volcanic eruption.

Those void creatures that had already surged onto the city walls or were climbing them instantly became victims of this raging torrent.

They were no longer facing a weary army, but a group of avengers fueled by hope and burning with unwavering resolve.

Weapons were swung more swiftly and precisely, spells shone brighter, and the impact of heavy shields became more unstoppable.

The remaining Void monsters, under the Night Watchers' explosive counterattack, quickly melted and disintegrated like ice and snow under the scorching sun.

As the last Void Beast was cleaved in two by the chainsword, its purplish-black blood splattered onto the cold stone bricks of the city wall, a brief, eerie silence fell over the battlefield—only the heavy breathing of the warriors and the soft thud of weapons striking the ground as they slumped low.

Then came an even bigger wave of cheers.

"Cleanup complete!"

"This wave... is over!"

The commander wiped the blood from his face, looked at the sparse void creatures outside the city that had thinned out and were no longer being replenished, and decisively issued a new order.

"The Void Vanguard's main invasion has subsided! All personnel, take note and begin rotation and rest immediately! Logistics team, prioritize treating the wounded! Engineering team, repair defensive fortifications!"

He paused, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hoarseness and an indescribable sense of relief, "This damned, two-month-long meat grinder... we've made it through for now!"

The laboratory in the southern part of the city surrounding the tower.

Ripples spread through the space, and Kana's figure appeared silently in the center of the laboratory, which was filled with alchemical instruments and complex blueprints.

The runes of order on his silver-white robe seemed to still retain a faint glow from contact with the sea of ​​world consciousness.

"Yo! You're finally back?"

A slightly high-pitched yet energetic voice rang out.

Poppot, the only god of Kana with rodent-like features and wearing a specially made small research robe, was sprawled on a pile of cushions in an extremely undignified posture, munching on an energy crystal fragment that was almost as big as his body.

She looked up, her golden eyes filled with accusation that "you've finally shown up."

"I can't believe you just disappeared for half a year! Well, for Ming, half a year is probably like taking a nap?"

She waved her little paws exaggeratedly, "But Popper is just a mouse! And how long has he been a god? All told, Popper has only lived for less than forty years!"

"Popot hasn't gotten used to the gods' attitude of talking about hundreds or thousands of years and being indifferent to the passage of time! He hasn't even gotten used to the elves' concept of 'only a few hundred years old and still young'!"

Listening to his family member's machine-gun-like, rat-like rants, Kana rolled his eyes helplessly and walked to the main control panel to bring up the data stream.

"I'm not used to that time scale either."

"Alright, I just witnessed the entire process of the world's will being transformed into a data host in the Sea of ​​World Consciousness."

"That grand scene of... rule reorganization, information flooding, and underlying logic reconstruction immersed me and I benefited greatly from it."

"The process itself almost distorted my sense of time, making me ignore the passage of time outside." He glanced at the stable situation on the front line and the soldiers who were taking turns to rest on the monitoring screen. "However, it doesn't seem like there are any major problems outside."

Popper shrugged, tossed aside the gnawed crystal fragments, and jumped onto the control panel: "Of course! After all, we've been preparing for so long and planning so much."

"If the Void Vanguard's sudden large-scale attack poses an irreparable threat to us, then all the blood we shed, the lives we risked, and all the big moves we made before were for nothing?"

She patted her chest, looking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

A slight smile appeared on Kana's lips, and he gave a soft "heh": "That's true."

He paused, a hint of barely perceptible emotion in his voice, "However, if this conversation were to reach the ears of other world consciousnesses or survivors who were once invaded by the void, who struggled in despair for hundreds or thousands of years but ultimately could not escape destruction..."

"I'd probably get a severe dressing down. After all, which world didn't exhaust itself preparing under the shadow of the void? And what was the result?"

He shook his head. "Most of them are simply powerless to change anything."

"But we are special!"

Popper jumped up, his little eyes sparkling, his tail wagging excitedly.

"From a macro perspective, the key to our world surviving this wave is that it is special enough! Look, it can naturally produce a special product like the 'Creation Stone' that can directly rewrite the rules of the world. Is this kind of thing commonplace?"

“Absolutely unique! Only a very few worlds with deep-rooted foundations could be born like this. And then…” She pointed her claw at Kana, her tone full of pride, “you, a prophet, came along with a clear path and ideas, and even found a wonderful way to use this gift and the Stone of Creation to strengthen the world and fight against the Void! This is simply destiny… no, it’s a perfect fit with the rules of data!”

The two exchanged a smile, needing no further words; they both understood the opportune timing, favorable location, and harmonious relationships behind this victory.

Soon, Popper's attention was drawn to the core issue as if by a powerful magnet.

She leaned close to Kana, her nose almost touching his robe, her golden eyes gleaming with an almost fanatical thirst for knowledge.

"Tell me quickly! World Host! My God, I knew you had big plans, but I didn't expect them to be this crazy!"

"Using six Creation Stones to forcibly transform the world's consciousness, which was in a state of confusion, into a pure, cold, and super-powerful 'host'? That's insane!"

"What's even more insane is that the world's will actually agreed? And it actually accomplished this transformative change? It succeeded? It really succeeded? What's it like now? What results has it brought?"

Seeing the impatient Popper, Kana nodded affirmatively, his eyes also revealing admiration for the magnificent creation: "Of course it's a success. The world mainframe, Aegira, is now running stably."

"It is no longer the vague consciousness that relied on instinct and reacted slowly. It is now an unparalleled supercomputing core that gathers and governs all the information flow in the world."

"It can process a vast amount of information, has a processing speed, and is more efficient at parsing and applying rules than ever before."

"In its eyes, the whole world is a huge, clearly structured data network that is updated in real time."

Upon hearing Kana's description, especially the name "Aigella" and the concept of "anthropomorphism," Popper's curiosity was instantly piqued.

She scratched her head excitedly and asked, "Anthropomorphized? What does she look like? Tell me! Is she... um... very majestic? Or full of wisdom? Is she...?"

She rubbed her little paws mischievously, her tail held high, "Is there any way to grow a fluffy, agile, and cute mouse tail like mine?"

"After all, you said you could see in her the embodiment of all intelligent beings' subconscious imagery of 'Mother World'! We ratmen are also part of the world!"

Popper's whimsical idea about "rat's tail" successfully made Carne roll his eyes again.

He said irritably, "First of all, Poppot, let me remind you, the intelligent races that constitute the mainstream of the 'mother' imagery in this world are the dominant races of order: humans, elves, and dwarves. You ratmen..."

Kana deliberately drew out his words, "The main race of the Pointy-Eared Rat People has long been classified as chaotic creatures, evil creatures, and even gave birth to that kind of evil god."

"Although it originated from this world, do you think the mainstream, positive image of 'mother' would actively incorporate characteristics representing chaos and negative impressions? If there really were collective consciousness data of the pointy-eared rat people mixed in, the world's mainframe would probably have to start its antivirus program first!"

He looked at Poppot's ears, which drooped instantly, and added, "Of course, round-eared ratmen like you, and a few good-aligned ratmen, are not included. It's just that your numbers... are not enough to occupy a prominent place in the collective image of Mother World."

"Therefore, you are unlikely to see any obvious rodent features in the anthropomorphic image of the world host, Aegira."

However, Kana changed the subject, not completely denying it, "Of course, individual perceptions may differ."

"The image of Aegira that I see is constructed from the perspective and perception of my god."

"Others, such as you, or beings of other races, may see an image of her that carries the characteristics of 'mother' in their race's culture when they perceive her on a spiritual level or in special rituals."

"Perhaps some round-eared rat-man can actually 'see' the symbolic round ears in her? Who knows?"

Not wanting to dwell on the strange question of whether Aegella had a rat's tail, Kana decisively steered the conversation back on track, saying to Popper seriously, "Alright, let's get back to business."

"Now, thanks to the birth of the world host Aigella, our plan to build the 'Ark' of the earthly divine kingdom will receive unprecedented support."

"The World Consciousness—or rather, the Egella—will bestow its blessings upon this project."

"More importantly, she will provide substantial assistance: directly connecting a portion of the data links to the core construction network of our divine kingdom."

Kana pointed to the miniature model of the 500-meter-diameter metal sphere suspended in the center of the laboratory: "What does this mean? It means that the rules imprinting, system integration, structural optimization, and even the conversion efficiency of matter and energy in the core of the divine kingdom will receive real-time assistance and optimization from the super brain of the world host."

"The entire construction process will be countless times simpler, more efficient, and smoother than our initial plan!"

"Data link?! Direct assistance from the world host?!"

Popper instantly forgot about the tail problem. His small eyes widened, gleaming with a light even more dazzling than when he saw a top-tier energy crystal—the ecstasy of a top alchemist or engineer seeing a perfect solution.

"Fantastic! This is simply... a miraculous optimization! How much will efficiency increase? Fifty percent? No, at least double! Hahahaha! Kana! Immediately! Right now!"

"I need to readjust the optimal construction sequence and start all the modules that were previously limited by computing power and rule coordination and had to be carried out in stages in advance and in parallel!"

"With Aigella's mom backing me up, what do I have to fear about resource conflicts or rule backlash!"

She was so excited that she danced around on the control panel. Countless projection screens popped up around her instantly, and a dense stream of data began to refresh like a waterfall.

After a series of thrilling preparations, including the energy accumulation from the bloody battles in the abyss, the acquisition of the Creation Stone, and the birth of the world's mainframe, the construction of the earthly divine kingdom "Ark" has finally ushered in an unprecedented golden period of construction with explosive efficiency.

Above the desolate planned area in the western part of the City of Towers, a massive energy tower began to hum and operate at unprecedented power. The barrier enveloping the laboratory shone brightly, like the powerful heart of a new world beating within it. (End of Chapter)