Chapter 43 Building a Spiritual Link

Academician Wang's heartfelt thanks made Lin Yuan feel a bit embarrassed.

Separated by the glass, he waved his hands repeatedly at the figure who seemed to have grown thirty years younger.

"Academician Wang, please don't do this, I don't deserve it. This is all something I should have done."

"No, you do deserve it!" Academician Wang's eyes were brighter than ever. "What you brought is the hope of our entire civilization! It is you who allowed us old folks to see the possibility of truly touching the stars and the sea!"

Seeing Academician Wang so excited, Lin Yuan felt quite pleased himself.

Being treated as a hero, especially by a national treasure-level scientist like this, felt even better than finding an extra hundred million in his bank account.

The preliminary experiment of the "box of miracles" achieved unprecedented success.

The entire base was immersed in a state of immense, optimistic ecstasy.

The Medical Team immediately established a top-level special task force named the "Shennong Project" to begin analyzing the composition of the silver serum and cautiously develop the next phase of human trial protocols.

Everyone knew they had opened Pandora's box, but what was inside was "immortality."

While everyone's attention was still focused on the medical box capable of reversing life and death, Lin Yuan's attention quietly shifted to another piece of loot he considered even more precious.

—The soul USB drive named "ashilya" that had been "purified" and "packaged" by the system.

In the dead of night, Lin Yuan lay in his private hospital room. After confirming that all monitoring equipment was only tracking his vital signs and would not pry into his thoughts, he closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the system space.

In the inventory, that marble-sized blue sphere of light was floating quietly.

[ "Eternal Flower" Gene Archive (ashilya) ]

[ Type: High-Dimensional Information Lifeform (Purified) ]

[ Function: Passive Information Database, accessible via mental link. ]

[ Status: Usable. ]

"Passive information database..." Lin Yuan pondered these words, "Mental link access..."

He remembered the terrifying experience from last time when he was nearly overwhelmed by that massive torrent of memories, and he still felt a bit apprehensive.

However, the system prompt also said that this thing had already been "purified."

It should... not be that dangerous anymore, right?

With a "let's give it a try" mentality, he cautiously probed the blue sphere of light with a wisp of his mental energy.

"System, how should I... access it?" he asked in his mind.

[ Please construct a mental link in the form of a "question," host. ]

The system's prompt was simple and clear.

A question?

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and decided to start with the simplest question, which was also the one he was most curious about.

"That... white cleaner robot, the 'Purifier,' what exactly is that thing?"

The moment this question formed in his mind, a stream of information, completely different from the last time, slowly flowed from the blue sphere of light into his consciousness.

This information stream was no longer a violent tsunami.

Instead, it was like a gentle stream.

It did not force itself in but presented the information "before his eyes" in a way that Lin Yuan could understand.

He "saw" an incredibly precise, three-dimensional mechanical schematic. Every part and every circuit of that white sphere was clearly displayed before him.

He also "saw" segments of animation-like demonstrations.

They demonstrated how those nanobots worked in coordination, decomposed organic matter, and how they reassembled into different forms to execute different commands.

He also "heard" segments of explanations regarding the design philosophy and working principles of the "Purifier," delivered in the language of the "Eternal Flower" civilization.

And the most magical thing was that this language, of which he previously couldn't understand a single word, was now instantly understood by him as if it were his native tongue.

"So that's how it is..."

Lin Yuan felt as if his brain had suddenly been enlightened.

"It's not a robot; it's a 'swarm.' That white sphere is just their 'hive' and charging station. The actual execution units are trillions of nanobots, each with its own independent AI. They communicate and work in coordination through a type of... quantum entanglement..."

"Its energy comes from the ship's wireless charging network. Its commands come from the ship's central AI... the 'Cradle Spirit.'"

"Its 'clearing mode,' that gray mist, is called the 'Mist of Entropy Decomposition.' The principle is to forcibly break the atomic bonds of matter, causing it to return to its most basic particle state... Holy crap, isn't this just the Bone-Melting Palm technique?"

Lin Yuan was stunned by the knowledge flooding into his mind.

This feeling was too amazing!

It was like... having an omniscient, super-intelligent Wikipedia inside his brain!

And it was a deluxe version with videos, commentary, and automatic translation!

He became excited and started trying to ask some other questions.

"How did the 'Eternal Flower' civilization achieve interstellar travel?"

Instantly, countless knowledge regarding "curvature engines" and "space jumps" flooded his mind. Although he still couldn't understand most of the profound theories, he immediately grasped the basic principles and concepts.

"What do you usually eat?"

He "saw" all kinds of strange, glowing plants, as well as a "matter reassembler" that could convert any substance into standard nutrient paste.

"Do you... look good?"

As soon as he asked this question, Lin Yuan felt his old face flush red.

The next second, a clear, three-dimensional image appeared in his mind.

It was a... a creature whose beauty could not be described by any language on Earth.

She had a slender figure similar to a human's, and her skin was like the finest mutton-fat jade, emitting a soft luster. Her features were as exquisite as a sculpture made by the gods. Most peculiar of all, on her back grew a pair of huge, gorgeous, transparent wings, like those of a dragonfly, but shimmering with seven-colored light.

Next to the image was a line of small text.

[ "Eternal Flower" Standard Adult Female Individual (Artist Occupation) ]

"Holy crap... isn't this just a fairy?" Lin Yuan watched, saliva almost drooling out.

He suddenly felt that the soul he had brought back, called "ashilya," was very likely such an unbelievably beautiful alien fairy.

It's a pity she was "purified" by the system.

If only he could have kept her personality and chatted with her, how great would that be?

Lin Yuan shook his head, throwing these messy thoughts away. He realized what a massive treasure he had in his hands!

Early the next morning, when Chen Weiguo and the "reborn" Academician Wang came to his room together to ask about his recovery, Lin Yuan told them about this new discovery.

"What?! You mean that soul has turned into a... database that can be accessed at any time?!"

After hearing this, Academician Wang was so excited that he grabbed Lin Yuan's shoulder with enough force to make Lin Yuan grimace in pain.

"Hey, hey! Academician Wang! Take it easy! You're in your prime now, but my small frame can't handle your rough treatment!"

"Quick! Try it! Try it!" Academician Wang didn't care about that at all. With bloodshot eyes, like an impatient child, he urged, "Ask it! Ask it whether the 'vacuum zero-point energy' of our universe can be effectively extracted and utilized!"

This was one of the ultimate questions that had troubled the Earth's physics community for over a century. If one could create something from "nothing" and draw energy from a vacuum, humanity would obtain truly infinite energy.

"I... I'll try."

Lin Yuan looked at Academician Wang's fanatical gaze and felt a bit apprehensive.

He closed his eyes and asked the question in his mind to the blue sphere of light.

"Boom—!"

Instantly, a torrent of information, a hundred times larger and ten thousand times more complex than any before, slammed fiercely into his brain!

Countless mathematical formulas, physical models, and spatial dimension maps that he couldn't understand at all... poured in like a breached dam, threatening to burst his brain!

"Ah!"

Lin Yuan let out a miserable scream, opened his eyes wide, and clutched his head with both hands, feeling as if his entire skull was about to split open.

Two lines of blood even flowed from his nose.

[ Warning! Warning! ]

[ host's knowledge reserves are severely insufficient; unable to parse target data! ]

[ Forced access to high-level information has caused moderate damage to the host's psyche! Link automatically interrupted! ]

The system's warning sound and the piercing alarm in the hospital room rang out simultaneously.

"Lin Yuan!"

"Quick! Quickly call a doctor!"

Chen Weiguo and Academician Wang were both scared out of their wits by this sudden turn of events.

The hospital room was once again thrown into chaos.

Lin Yuan lay on the bed, panting heavily, feeling like a broken computer with only 1GB of RAM trying to run a 1000TB super-large game, and the result was... the CPU just burned out.

"It won't work... Academician Wang..." he said weakly, "That question... is too complex. I... I can't understand it. My brain is about to explode."

Looking at Lin Yuan's paper-white face, Academician Wang also calmed down from his previous fanaticism.

A look of immense regret and self-reproach appeared on his face.

"I... I was too impatient... I'm sorry, Comrade Lin Yuan, it was me who harmed you..."

He understood.

Although they had obtained an endless treasure trove, they did not have a suitable key right now.

Lin Yuan was that one and only key.

But this key was still too "fragile" and too "basic" at the moment.

He could not bear such overly heavy knowledge.

"It seems..." Chen Weiguo looked at the weak Lin Yuan, then at the remorseful Academician Wang, his eyes becoming incredibly deep and firm.

"Our 'key' needs an upgrade too."

He looked at Academician Wang and said, word for word:

"Old Wang, starting tomorrow, draw up the most comprehensive study plan for Comrade Lin Yuan."

"Physics, chemistry, materials science, information engineering... everything, use everything we have in our reserves for him!"

"We not only want him to have a strong physique, but more importantly, we want him to have the strongest brain capable of carrying the wisdom of a civilization!"