Chapter 179 Star Cluster Plan

"Grandpa, can you explain in detail... what exactly is the Star Cluster Plan?"

On the snowy slopes of Mount Kulong, an old man and a young man sat on the ground.

The snowy night was cold.

But the lantern in Elder Gu's hand kept the flying snowflakes away, scattering them several meters away. The two sat on a clean patch of snow, surrounded only by the faint whistling of the wind.

"You... really want to know?"

Gu Qilin set down the lantern, his eyes seeming lost in thought.

...

...

Regarding the name Jing Shanyan.

In Snow Forbidden City today, there aren't many who remember it.

But twenty years ago.

During the years when Gu Changzhi achieved the position of God of Combat, and Changye rose to the pinnacle of the Five Continents, this name... was a shining star atop the mountains of Changye. At that time, the Three Institutes had just been established.

Zhou Jiren, Gu Qilin, and Jing Shanyan became the "highest leaders" of the Three Institutes.

These three people were in charge of the "Adjudication Office," "Command Office," and "Prison Office" respectively.

And twenty years later, the three found themselves in different situations.

Amidst the fierce internal strife of the Adjudication Office, Zhou Jiren's personality led him to choose to leave Changye and avoid escalating conflicts. While carrying out missions throughout East Continent, he carefully cultivated his disciples, staying away from disputes and the "power" that a Grand Adjudicator should wield.

Gu Qilin, on the other hand, remained in Changye, supporting the last breath of the Gu family's old faction. Although he appeared to hold a high position, he was actually surrounded by enemies on all sides, each step fraught with difficulty, walking on thin ice.

Twenty years later.

Although the two of them were not doing well under the impact of the great torrent, they at least retained their identities as the highest leaders of the Three Institutes.

But Jing Shanyan was different.

His situation had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to twenty years ago.

"Throughout history, humanity has been making different efforts to preserve the 'seed of civilization'."

Gu Qilin's voice was very soft.

Gu Shen listened attentively.

"Some people want to find an 'oasis,' a paradise of eternal peace."

The representatives of these people.

Were the Investigation Corps of North Continent.

Many transcendents from all over the world, after learning the "truth of the world," would choose to go to North Continent... The Investigation Corps would accept all explorers, who wore Yuan Armor and went to the [Old World], each expedition carrying hope.

Oasis.

So many years had passed, and only a corner of the [Old World]'s map had been explored.

In fact, most transcendents had already given up hope for an "oasis," but under the onslaught of the torrent, if one were to harbor illusions, nothing would be more enticing than the "oasis."

"Some people also think about escaping south, continuing the plans of their predecessors."

Gu Qilin paused slightly and asked, "You should know that we were also wanderers six hundred years ago... right?"

"Yes," Gu Shen nodded.

Six hundred years ago.

Driven by the storm of collapsing order, humans fled to the Five Continents, and if it happened again...

Humans could only continue south.

Further south of South Continent was the Chaotic Sea of Source, where the environment was very unsuitable for "travel," and almost no navigation tools could stably travel on that sea.

"There are also some people who want to reinforce the Great Wall. Even more, some want to shatter the storm of the [Old World]."

Gu Qilin smiled and said, "Faced with crisis, our race has generated countless 'ideas,' and the Star Cluster Plan proposed by Jing Shanyan... is different from all the others."

"Different?"

"Yes... Jing Shanyan does not advocate confrontation, he believes that the storm of the [Old World] is simply not something we can resist, nor does he advocate running away, because the weather in the southern seas is too harsh, and once we set sail, we will all be lost."

Following this line of thinking, Gu Shen frowned and said, "So, we have nowhere to retreat?"

"Although this sentence is hard to hear, it is the truth."

Gu Qilin said calmly, "From the current situation, we have nowhere to retreat."

The old man chuckled softly and said with a hint of jest, "So, Jing Shanyan thinks we can dig a hole... and hide."

Gu Shen was stunned for two seconds.

Dig a hole and hide?

Faced with a major decision concerning the fate of humanity, this decision sounded rather amusing.

But soon he realized that Jing Shanyan's proposal was not just a casual remark.

"According to the current investigations by the North Continent Investigation Corps, the 'severely affected areas' swept by the Source storm remain at a depth of about 1,000 meters underground. The 'relics' discovered in recent years also indirectly confirm this statement. The reason why those relics were destroyed is because they were not deep enough. If this investigation result is reliable, then 1,000 meters underground is a relatively safe depth when facing the Source storm."

Gu Qilin said slowly, "For the sake of safety, we can continue to 'dig deeper.' Jing Shanyan proposed building a new home for humanity at a depth of 2,000 meters underground."

Absurd.

Hearing this, only these two words came to Gu Shen's mind.

Too absurd.

On the surface, humans can use strong logic materials to build their Great Wall to resist the storm.

But underground... how could this be done?

"How to build a home 2,000 meters underground?" Gu Shen asked puzzledly, "Do we have to build an underground city?"

"The proposal for an underground city has been put forward before, but it was rejected."

Gu Qilin shook his head with a smile, "It is too difficult to create an 'underground city' that can accommodate civilization at a depth of 2,000 meters underground. The difficulty of this project is not at the same level as the North Continent Great Wall at all. The underground city needs countless 'strong logic materials' and has no risk resistance at all. Putting aside these factors, there is no sunlight or resources underground. Once the storm arrives, no one knows what will happen."

"Escaping into the ground means... human civilization needs to go through an extremely long period of 'hibernation,' which is difficult to achieve in a fragile underground city."

The old man's voice was complicated, "The Five Continents are independent and autonomous. I don't know how the other continents are considering this proposal, but in short, the high-level officials of East Continent rejected the underground city proposal."

He returned to the topic.

"The 'Star Cluster Plan' proposed by Jing Shanyan is not so grand."

"What he wants to do... is a simplified version of the underground city, and also a sublimated version. It is precisely because of this that the Federal Government will give him funding."

Gu Qilin said, "Jing Shanyan doesn't want to build an underground city. He only needs to place nutrient capsules at a depth underground that is safe enough. These nutrient capsules take up a small area and do not require activity. The strong logic materials used to protect them consume very little."

"Each nutrient capsule needs to be equipped with enough nutrient solution to meet a person's 'hibernation' needs. With the progress of East Continent's technology... the number of years a person can 'hibernate' will become longer and longer. When this proposal was first put forward, the nutrient capsule could probably provide a hibernation time of twenty years."

Gu Shen was a little shocked: "Hibernation?"

"Yes... this is the most important part of Jing Shanyan's proposal."

"That's also why... this plan is called 'Star Cluster'."

Gu Qilin's eyes were a little dazed. He recalled the scene of that year and laughed softly, "At that time, we were all puzzled about what to do after putting transcendents into the nutrient capsules and sinking them 2,000 meters underground. Jing Shanyan told us that the bodies of the transcendents in the nutrient capsules would be supplied with nutrient solution. As long as we ensure that their bodies do not decay, the plan would be considered a success."

"Because their spirits will be uploaded through the [Deep Sea]."

"The real 'oasis' is never in the real world, but in the virtual world."

"[Deep Sea]... is the oasis!"

This sentence came from twenty years ago.

But twenty years later, it still deeply shocked Gu Shen.

"Star Cluster... is underground."

"The shackles of the flesh, trapped underground."

"The spirit of mankind will be transformed into stars, rising into the sky."

"If in a few years, the Source storm destroys the Great Wall, destroys the homes built by humans in the Five Continents... then this plan can preserve a portion of the seeds of human civilization, even if the ground is fragmented, collapsed, and no longer exists, the spiritual fire buried deep underground will always exist."

Gu Shen looked at Elder Gu.

The latter's eyes were smiling, as if responding to Gu Shen's shock.

"Yes, at that time, my thoughts were the same as yours."

Gu Qilin said lightly, "We all thought this guy was a genius, and this plan was very constructive."

"It wasn't until later, when the plan began to be implemented, that I felt something was wrong..."

The expression on Elder Gu's face was somewhat self-deprecating.

"After the Star Cluster Plan proposal was approved, the East Continent Council gave Jing Shanyan a lot of power."

"Because this plan requires the cooperation of the [Deep Sea], the Highest Seat also made an exception for Jing Shanyan, giving him the highest authority—"

He suddenly looked at Gu Shen and asked.

"More than twenty years ago, the Federal Government launched a large-scale extermination campaign against the Guwenhui (Ancient Text Society). Do you know about this?"

Gu Shen's heart skipped a beat.

He nodded slowly.

So far... in the cognition of the federations of each continent, the Guwenhui (Ancient Text Society) is still a sinful organization that needs to be exterminated.

Even if he and Elder Gu were very close, he could not reveal his identity as a member of the Guwenhui (Ancient Text Society).

"Come to think of it, it seems to be the year you were born."

Elder Gu said, "That year, the [Deep Sea] issued the highest wanted order for members of the Guwenhui (Ancient Text Society). Zhou Jiren led the Adjudication Office to arrest nearly a hundred suspects of the Guwenhui (Ancient Text Society)... Jing Shanyan's Prison Office was responsible for detaining them."

"Everything should have gone very smoothly."

"But before the East Continent Council could transfer, accommodate, interrogate, and confirm the real 'Guwenhui (Ancient Text Society) suspects'... all these people died."

All the suspects died?!

Gu Shen's expression was exceptionally wonderful.

"Jing Shanyan, who had the highest authority of the [Deep Sea], did not directly detain those people, but took them to the experimental site of the Star Cluster Plan, locked them in 'nutrient capsules,' and ordered the [Deep Sea] to conduct a mental sea simulation experiment."

"This is Jing Shanyan's own statement. The result of this experiment was naturally extremely unsuccessful."

Gu Qilin stretched out his hand, pointed to the sky, and said lightly with a "whoosh," "When I arrived at the scene, the spirits of those people in the nutrient capsules had all been exiled... They became the real 'stars,' and the Federal Government's interrogation plan also fell through."

"Due to serious dereliction of duty, Jing Shanyan's highest authority was revoked."

"To this day, we still suspect the motives for his actions... and his true identity."

"This is the whole story of the Star Cluster Plan."

Gu Qilin stood up and said, "From that day on, Jing Shanyan was locked in [Snow Cage]. For twenty years, he has refused to answer any questions about this incident, and no one has been able to make him speak."

"No one."

...

...

(ps: 1. That's all for today. Under the premise of ensuring quality, updating 10,000 words a day has reached my limit. 2. I still owe Jingjing four chapters...)