Chapter 1029: Chapter 117 Even Aliens Fear This Terrifying Place on Terra (2/2)
ââI let the wilderness expand, allowing the domain of the Forest Ocean Spirit to penetrate deeper into this world?
Ian, at first, didnât quite understand what the other party was talking about. After all, peopleâs choice of words might differ, and the same thing could be described using various terms and adjectives.
Itâs like how a hamburger can be described as "meat between buns," or hotpot referred to as "meat slices boiled in water." Without clarifying, who would know what "two slices of dough sandwiching a piece of meat" or "hot water boiling hot substances" are referring to?
But Ian was smart, so he quickly grasped the meaning behind what the Forest Ocean Spirit was saying.
"Youâre referring to..."
Ian cautiously said, "My hydroponics agriculture building?"
[Yes, hydroponics, agriculture, building. Excellent vocabulary.]
The Forest Ocean Spirit smiled and said, [You have brought the wilderness into human cities. Plants that should have withered with urban expansion instead penetrated rock and cement anew, creating fresh territory.]
[For us, this is a very significant matter... It allows our powers and domain to further spread, and for that, we want to thank you.]
Ian nodded understandingly. "So thatâs the concept."
It really was because of the hydroponics agriculture building. He hadnât expected that developing new agricultural technology would lead to such an outcome... Ian truly hadnât considered it, but when brought up, it felt almost inevitable.
Yet, powers and domain? The Forest Ocean Spiritâs abilities seem to be quite unique...
Ian noted the terminology, gazed around the underground cavity, and his tone turned serious: "This was an inadvertent action on my part. Forest Ocean Spirit, you need not thank me excessively. In complex terrains, agricultural development is bound to reach this pointâitâs merely a matter of time."
"Instead, what is it that you want me to foresee for you? Also, isnât the essence of the Foreseeing Bifoliate the Prophetâs Power? What exactly is its function?"
From the moment the Forest Ocean Spirit had spoken, expressing a hope for Ian to help with predictions, he understood that the true capability of the Foreseeing Bifoliate likely wasnât akin to his own prophetic abilities, but rather some kind of similar function.
Still, even so, it remained extremely valuable. He wanted to understand the principle behind it.
[We are about to make a very critical decision, Prophet.]
The Forest Ocean Spirit said, [We aspire to formally and officially integrate into this increasingly verdant worldâbut we are unsure if this decision is correct. Even after analyzing all the data of the Great Redwood Forest Sea over the millennia, we could not deduce the outcome.]
[Thus, we need a Prophet... someone who does not require data to calculate the correct conclusion.]
[At the very least, provide us with an original dataset for extrapolation.]
The Forest Ocean Spiritâs words indirectly conveyed to Ian that the Foreseeing Bifoliate was not true prophetic power but instead served another function.
Extrapolation.
[The Foreseeing Bifoliate, in essence, shares perspectives and a portion of analyzed data and conclusions with us.]
The towering Wooden Madonna Statue seemed to perceive Ianâs thoughts and nodded affirmatively: [After signing contracts with us, what the Redwood People often sought predictions about were no more than weather changes, the tidesâ surges, the movements of beast herds, and the migrations of fish schools... None of these require true prophetic abilities; with vast data analysis, predictions can be made.]
[The name Foreseeing Bifoliate thus aroseânot true prophetic power, but it indeed represents a fragment of the Prophetâs ability.]
"I understand. If the preconditions for extrapolation are abundant enough, realistic enough, then itâs indistinguishable from foreseeing the future."
Ian nodded slightly. He was very familiar with the conceptâcomprehensive extrapolation from big data.
During his previous life on Earth, the Earth Federation Central Intelligence had a division called the âPsychometric Department.â This department could access all surveillance cameras on Earth, all personal information, everyoneâs growth records and personality analyses, as well as all medical history data... In other words, the Psychometric Department knew everything public about everyone on Earth and all behavior conducted in public.
Through colossal amounts of data and the near-infinite computational power provided by quantum computers, it could directly predict any citizenâs potential psychological statesâwhether happy, angry, gloomy, or suicidalâand most importantly, their criminal inclinations, all calculable and foreseeable.
Before crimes even beganâor even before peopleâs thoughts took an extreme turnâthe core chips in their electronic brains would guide them to attempt cheerful activities, and specialized members of the Psychometric Department would even perform psychological counseling, or help resolve life conflicts.
Thanks to this, Ianâs previous Earth had no overt criminal acts.
Ian couldnât definitively say whether this system was good or bad; in any case, to himâa stargazer solely focused on venturing into spaceâEarthâs matters were indifferent, irrelevant to him.
He, Ian, had always kept his mental state teetering barely above the discretionary threshold, avoiding trouble with psychometric surveillance!
In sum, the Foreseeing Bifoliate essentially grants people powerful Spirit Energy resonance, enabling interaction with the collective Will of the Forest Ocean and using enormous computational power to extrapolate, thereby achieving desired âanswers.â
ââThis biological computational model feels like it could be incorporated into the Artificial Soulâs data network.
ââIâll need to find an excuse to persuade the Forest Ocean Spirit to collaborate on an experiment... The Foreseeing Bifoliate would be perfect for this!
Ian thought thus, and at the same time, he began to faintly understand the Forest Ocean Spiritâs true identity.
An ordinary cluster of magical plants likely wouldnât speak about data prediction or extrapolation... The Forest Ocean Spirit is a collective entity, possessing evident technological thinking, or perhaps an entire set of cultural logic... This cannot simply be called a Magical Beast.
This is... a âAlien Civilizationâ vastly different from humanity!
And, on Terra, an Alien Civilization is essentially synonymous with extraterrestrial beings!
Judging by the information the Forest Ocean Spirit disclosed about their contracts with the Redwood People... Ian could readily imagine that the Forest Ocean Spirit was probably a fully cultivated intelligent alien life form brought back from a base by the Redwood People.
The Four Sacrificial Spirits were essentially guardians and collaborators introduced by the Redwood People from said base.
Other Magical Beasts, due to their insufficient potential, eventually became mere tools for the Redwood People. However, the Forest Ocean Spirit was different; its original form was likely some kind of plant civilization. Upon arriving at the external world of Terra, it adapted and expanded continuously, eventually becoming a collective organism like the Great Redwood Forest Sea.
It achieved immense power, yet the Forest Ocean Spirit still maintained cooperation with the Redwood People. However, due to unknown reasonsâor perhaps because their contract expiredâit suddenly ceased contact with the Redwood People, leading to their decline into the present-day Redwood Natives.
Even so, the Forest Ocean Spirit still assists the Redwood Natives by providing foresights for survival-related intelligence.
Currently, the Forest Ocean Spiritâs influence has even expanded to territories near the Agate Stone Plains... reaching as far as the Xiawei Territory.
Ian estimated that the Forest Ocean Spiritâs true power must have enveloped most of the South Ridge. Even in the Bison Mountain Range, within the old Qing Steel Dragonâs domain, many areas had fallen under the Forest Ocean Spiritâs control.
[The Foreseeing Bifoliate, in essence, is the essence of our Heart Light Body. It can enhance a lifeformâs Life Spirit Energy and accelerate Spirit Energy growth... but this applies only to ordinary beings. We are unfamiliar with the Spirit Energy of Prophets and dare not guarantee.]
The towering Wooden Madonna Statue extended her hand and retrieved a shimmering, emerald-green Spirit Energy bifoliate clover from within the fissure at the center of her chest. Its radiance spread around, stirring numerous tiny Spirit Energy vortices composed of luminous patterns in the surrounding air, with streams of microdata flowing through its proximity.
In the Foresight View, the Foreseeing Bifoliate radiated pure green hues, laced with a gleam of silverâindicating that it ranked as quite a high-level material even within the Third Energy Level.
[If you wish to possess it, we will gift it to you, as a reward for opening up the wilderness.]
The Forest Ocean Spirit said warmly, and Ian reached out, accepting the lightweight gemstone bifoliate clover offered by the Spirit. He squinted at the miraculous Spirit Energy artifact in his palm, then raised his eyes thoughtfully to the Wooden Madonna Statue: "Many thanksâbut how should I address you? Are you the ancient Alien Visitor, or the Forest Ocean Spirit of the South Ridge?"
[We are children of the wilderness, dependent on the Earth for existence. We retain samples of our homeland, but we are undoubtedly the Forest Ocean of the South Ridge.]
The Forest Ocean Spirit wasnât surprised that Ian knew its true identity. If anything, it had already assumed Ianâs awareness, and thus smiled as it said, [Humans are mobile beings, while the Forest Ocean can only rely on generation after generation of drifting seeds, endlessly proliferating, to take one step after the next outward.]
[In the past homeland, the wilderness (the Forest Ocean Spiritâs self-reference, equivalent to humans in their prophecy) was no more than a tiny grove confined to a corner, but we grew, evolved, and adapted, eventually cultivating an extraordinary and flourishing collective.]
[Back then, the seas were filled with endless algae, the skies floated threads absorbing sunlight as heat energy, and the land brimmed with compatriots. We formed an immense collective; we were the Earth, the Vast Sea, and the sky itself. In our homeland, our powers approached divinity.]
[But we were forced to leave our homeland... According to Terraâs historical records, perhaps it was a far more terrifying Heavenfall. The wilderness perished, disappearing alongside their homeland into the boundless dark void, leaving only a Spark to drift onto Terra.]
[Do not fret; we are the wilderness of Terra. We remember the homeland, but thereâs no doubt that we are part of Terra... This world is too dangerous; the wilderness dares not expand recklessly, nor dare it expose itself carelessly.]
At this point, the Spirit Energy from the Forest Ocean Spirit expressed an emotion akin to a sigh.
And Ian nodded empathetically.
Indeed, Terra is a terrifying place, filled with unpredictable monsters and dangers!