Chapter 1 A Virtual Paradise

The Wish World finally failed after several hundred years. The elven queen and the council of elders had to admit to the public that it was another waste of resources. However, the Wish World had yielded some unexpected results during its operation. Not everything required such precision; only faster-than-light engines were greatly affected by microscopic laws. Many other things could be tested in a virtual environment. The first scholars who entered the Wish World simulated and calculated the creation of more advanced space equipment and ecological dome maintenance devices, and simulated a large number of projects related to social forms and rationing systems. These achievements are still playing a significant role today, and it is because of these achievements that the Wish World was not completely shut down but was put to other uses.

Although it was not a perfect laboratory, it was at least a perfect virtual paradise.

The elves realized that the Wish World could greatly reduce their social consumption. Some less demanding daily research could still be placed in that laboratory. At the same time, this virtual world could also let them have a sweet dream, temporarily forgetting the withered and boring reality outside. More importantly: after entering the Wish World, the energy-consuming and bloated body could be abandoned.

"A thousand years ago, we passed the 'Wish World Separation Act', allowing more people to apply to upload to the server," Hilda said slowly. "I told you, right? Because the environmental changes within the dome exceeded the elves' ability to adapt, the deterioration of some floating islands had reached the point where elderly elves could not survive. Many of us had incurable diseases. The royal family couldn't just execute them because they were sick, but in the past, these elves who had lost their labor force due to infection could only wait to die slowly. However, after the 'Separation Act' took effect, they were sent to the Wish World. The old, the sick, the disabled, or elves who had lost their social value for other reasons had to accept uploading. Their consciousness was extracted into the server, and their bodies were destroyed and decomposed into resources. They are still alive, but they will no longer cause consumption—and they can continue to contribute to Erim society in a healthier form in the Wish World, such as doing research. Some less demanding projects can still be carried out in a virtual environment. Now this is almost the destination of every Erim elf. We can't leave an inanimate body in the world to continue breathing air. It's better to decompose it into nutrients in the dome and elemental blocks in the factory."

Hao Ren suddenly didn't know what to say.

The virtual world was not new to him. Whether he saw it in science fiction novels on Earth or from real examples on the Empire's Data Network, he was familiar with the concept. However, most civilizations create virtual worlds for entertainment. A few create them for scientific research or to reduce energy consumption, but none are as extreme as the Erim elves. Those civilizations would leave their bodies in a connector, waiting to wake up and experience the real world again. However, the Erim elves were not: they only connected to the Wish World after their bodies lost their ability to work, in order to abandon that body and allow their minds to continue working.

They didn't want to waste even a single breath.

"Actually, for many elves, the Wish World is a paradise," Hilda suddenly showed a strange smile. "It's sunny there, with a vast sky, and you can drive thousands of miles without seeing a wall. There are also some mountains and rivers that only exist in legends and video discs—every elf who uploads to the Wish World sends back a thank-you note. They finally don't have to endure the withering reality."

"Why not just have everyone go in and dream? I think this is a huge temptation for you." Hao Ren asked a very direct question.

"Because then there would be no hope," Hilda spread her hands. "That's escapism. The Wish World was not created to escape reality. Someone must guard the reality. We have an ancient proverb: Persevere until the next day. We firmly believe that as long as we are alive, there is hope, so we have lived to this day. We have never given up our efforts to fly to other stars. The Wish World was built on this premise. If everyone is immersed in that resource-rich dream, who will save reality? The server will eventually crash, and the external servo mechanisms will eventually be damaged. This is suicide, just prolonged and anesthetized by a sweet dream."

Finally, she added, "Even if this world is going to collapse, I hope I can watch it collapse with my own eyes, rather than unknowingly lose my home in a dream."

Hao Ren pondered for a moment: "But not everyone thinks so, right?"

"Yes, we are, after all, mortals—the Land of Bliss Organization is an extreme organization that hopes everyone will escape reality and spend the rest of their lives in the Wish World. Their core is a group of technical elites, the descendants or apprentices of the scholars who built the Wish World. When the Wish World project was declared a failure and the council of elders discussed how to deal with this virtual world, a group of builders couldn't withstand the pressure and released a lot of unfavorable things—ultimately leading to the emergence of the Land of Bliss Organization. This organization believes that the real world is hopeless, and entering the dream can at least let everyone die in peace. They lay dormant for a while, but after the last space-time accelerator explosion, they seemed to be stimulated and are now more active."

"Can't they just sneak in themselves? Anyway, as long as they lose their ability to work, they can go in. Why make such a big splash?" Hao Ren didn't understand. "If it's just to escape reality, they can just sneak in directly. Now that they've shouted it out, they'll be stopped."

"Because they're not escaping reality for themselves, but really want to change the entire Erim Kingdom," Hilda shook her head. "The Land of Bliss Organization is not simple. Perhaps from another perspective, I would admire them: their motivation is to make all other elves happy. But this cannot change their blind nature."

There must be something to pity in those who are hateful. It seems that this is a group of misguided idealists. In this situation, it is no longer possible to simply judge who is right and who is wrong: everyone has noble purposes, no one is for themselves, but they are opposed to mainstream society. There are quite a few of these kinds of broken things.

"Okay, a group of idealists… but if the resource problem is solved, they probably won't keep jumping around," Hao Ren murmured, then raised his head. "You have a minister who got himself into trouble for this?"

"The Land of Bliss Organization somehow controlled the main storage and established its own power in the Wish World. They pulled some of their supporting data-based elves into an undetectable place. I don't know what they're planning, but it must be a big operation. Citizens in the Wish World are also citizens, so Kadilin personally led a group of elites to investigate the situation—but he disappeared," Hilda sighed. "I understand his actions. After all, he is middle-aged and his mobility and mental strength are not as good as before. Soon he will exceed the value-consumption ratio line, and being extracted and uploaded should only be a matter of years, but this time he went at the wrong time."

It needs to be explained here: mental workers in Erim society "retire" much earlier than physical workers, because the value of their flesh to society is less than their wisdom. Many mental workers, even if they are healthy, must be extracted and uploaded after middle age, and the upper class is no exception. Therefore, Erim elves usually choose the same practitioners to form families: just to avoid this premature separation.

Hao Ren realized that he would probably have another trouble—those elves who had been uploaded to the server and whose bodies had been destroyed could not be ignored.

At this moment, a small blue light suddenly flew from afar, and the data terminal almost smacked him in the face: "Yo, your humble servant is back!"

Hao Ren dodged this cheapskate at the last moment: "Finished?"

"Yeah, the spare energy pool is full too, enough for them to use until they fix the main line. Now a bunch of engineering ships are repairing that hole outside the floating island," the data terminal skillfully drilled into Hao Ren's pocket. "Oh mother, this humble servant is exhausted, almost machine-dead..."

Hao Ren patted his pocket and said goodbye to Hilda, "I have to go back and study this matter. Put your heart at ease and restore order to society. Soon I will give you an answer."

Hilda didn't speak, just lowered her head deeply.