The conference room slowly rose back to its original position, and the euonymus lit a cigarette and threw one to Li Mengnan casually.

"Unlike fragile bodies, human brains live very long...... The average person's brain can have a lifespan of at least 200 years, and if it is guaranteed not to be damaged in any way and provided with adequate nutrition, it can even reach 500 or even 1000 years.

In other words, if you don't mind the so-called 'real life', human beings can achieve the coveted immortality through guò this way of abandoning the physical body. ”

Although human beings are always pursuing a true life, if they had to choose between "real" and "alive", I believe that the vast majority of people would still choose the latter.

Although the HX Research Institute's research is a bit frustrating, it is beyond reproach from the standpoint...... What's more, so far, no one's safety or interests have been harmed.

"So what does this have to do with the tests I've been through?" Li Mengnan has never forgotten the ultimate purpose of his question.

"Follow me."

Wei Mao led Li Mengnan out of the hidden conference room, to a room full of various instruments, and after exchanging a few words with the staff inside, he motioned for Li Mengnan to sit with him in the egg containers in the center of the room.

As if it were just a trance, Li Mengnan noticed that the world around him seemed to be different, and the most obvious sign was that the watch issued by the HX Institute in his hand was missing.

"This is a dream?" Li Mengnan tried, and sure enough, he couldn't use the illusion.

"The term "dream" is not accurate, the full name of this world is called 'the collective unconscious network of human beings', and the international scientific community collectively refers to it as 'Gaia'."

Euonymus sat up from the egg-shaped container, ripped off the number of threads on his body, got up and walked out of the room, and Li Mengnan hurriedly followed.

Sitting in the underground parking lot, the pink pickup truck that was enough to blind the eyes of a titanium alloy dog, Li Mengnan stepped out of the huge underground building for the first time and saw the whole picture of the HX Research Institute.

Different from the expected appearance of the secret base in the form of a bomb shelter in the mountains, he never expected that the HX Research Institute was actually located in the city of Sanshan City, adjacent to the most prosperous pedestrian street business district, and the appearance was completely like an ordinary high-rise office building.

Sure enough, it is a small hidden in the mountains, and a big hidden in the city.

Euonymus lowered the car window, took a deep breath of the cool morning breeze of early autumn, and said with an intoxicated expression: "It's a beautiful world, isn't it?" What fresh air, without a bit of PM2. 5……”

"I'm not here to accompany you on an autumn outing." Li Mengnan reminded expressionlessly.

"Gaia, the god of the earth in Greek mythology, is the mother of the gods, the most respected and illustrious of all gods.

Gaia was also the first primordial god to appear in Greek mythology, born of chaos before the dawn of the world. She was the grandmother of Zeus, and she gave birth to Ouranos in the sky, Pontos in the sea, and Uria in the mountains, and married him to give birth to six males and six females, twelve Titans and three cyclops and three hundred-armed giants, the beginning of a qiē, and all the gods were her descendants. To this day, Westerners still often refer to the earth as "Gaia". ”

Li Mengnan knew that Euonymus would not tell a mythical story for no reason, and there must be something to follow, so he just listened patiently and did not interrupt him.

The American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov once mentioned a theory of the Gaia galaxy in his novel, and its concept can be roughly summarized as follows:

All living things, organic and inorganic, are a community of life and can share the information and memories in their bodies at the same time.

All creatures on the planet Gaia have connected thoughts, and can share memories and feelings at the same time, and at the same time, all the creatures on the planet Gaia can be interchangeable, you become me and I become you, because the thoughts of the creatures on Gaia are all connected.

The memories of the creatures on Gaia are still preserved after death, even if the corpse turns to dirt and the bones turn into rock. Because the inorganic matter on Gaia is also a community of life like organic matter, the organism only transforms into a way of existence after death, and the 'self' is not yet extinct. ”

"Like that planet Pandora depicted in Cameron's sci-fi movie Avatar?"

When I was watching this sci-fi blockbuster, Li Mengnan felt that the ecosystem built in the film was amazing, but I didn't expect that someone had proposed it a long time ago.

"That's right, that's pretty standard Gaia ecosystem...... Many people think that it is just a science fiction concept, but in fact, few people know that the earth we are on is actually a Gaia planet. ”

Wei Mao deliberately paused when he said this, as if he was waiting for Li Mengnan's surprised reaction, but he was a little surprised when he found that Li Mengnan still had that indifferent expression.

"Aren't you surprised?"

"Not at all."

In fact, Li Mengnan has known these for a long time, but they are all scattered information, and they are not as systematically summarized by the HX Institute.

The old man had told him that there was once a branch of the Trickster Sect called the "Butterfly Flower Sect", which had a unique secret technique that could communicate with Cordyceps in order to obtain a large amount of information that could not be discovered by other means.

Because there is no combat power that can be used, the Butterfly Flower Sect rarely participates in the rights and wrongs of the rivers and lakes, and once made a living by selling intelligence, but later it was still annihilated by others.

It's not that I offended any enemies, it's just that I know too much.

Li Mengnan never thought that insects and weeds and other lower creatures or plants could have any intelligence, so the so-called communication is likely to be just a one-way reading of information, which coincides with the Gaia ecology mentioned by Euonymus.

The most typical example of the network of consciousness is telepathy - this situation is more likely to occur in people who are closer, such as parents and children, siblings, and husband and wife, when one of them is in danger, the other party will have a different feeling, and even clearly indicate the location of the party in distress.

The large-scale illusions performed by the illusionists are also carried out through the interconnected consciousness network of human beings, similar to the relationship between hackers and the Internet.

It's just that Li Mengnan never imagined that the inner part of the consciousness network that he often uses would actually look like this, which is completely another mirror image of the real world.

Li Mengnan lowered the window of the car, looked at the crowd in a hurry like the real world, and said in disbelief: "So, these people are also real?" ”

"Yes, every person in Gaia corresponds to a person in the real world, and their actions in Gaia are completely synchronized with the real world without being affected by external forces."

"External forces?"

"Yes, the general external force refers to us who enter the subconscious with the superficial consciousness...... Look at it. ”

As he spoke, the euonymus suddenly braked suddenly, and a white Honda sedan behind it had no time to react, and slammed into the arm-thick pure steel bumper at the rear of the pickup, and the beautiful streamlined front of the car deflated a large piece on the spot.

The owner of the other car was just about to get out of the car to check, but the euonymus suddenly stepped on the accelerator to the end, and it passed through the gap of the traffic like a loach, and escaped with a smoke.

"What are you doing?"

It wasn't until he couldn't see the angry Honda owner in the rearview mirror that Li Mengnan asked Wei Mao puzzled.

"I just want you to understand that what happened in Gaia does not affect reality, like the car accident just now - in Gaia, the owner of the car should be calling the police or contacting the insurance company right now; But in reality, because there is no such car as me, the Honda should still be driving according to the established route at the moment. ”

Li Mengnan nodded, but suddenly felt as if something was wrong, and pondered for a moment and asked, "Then what about the butterfly effect you caused?" ”

If one of the qiē in Gaia is completely synchronized with the real world, then any change will trigger a series of butterfly effects, and eventually lead to the synchronization of the two worlds being completely destroyed, which in turn makes the "synchronization theory" a paradox.

"Talking to smart people is effortless." Euonymus turned the steering wheel and turned out of the downtown area of Sanshan City, lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and said, "Do you remember the changes around you after night when you took the test?" ”

Li Mengnan nodded, the completely changed playground left a deep impression on him, and he even remembered every detail.

"Gaia's world is actually divided into two worlds, night and day—during the day we see the outer world dominated by the light side of the human heart, and at night, the inner world dominated by the dark side of the human heart.

In fact, this is what is often referred to in religious circles as the essence of heaven and hell.

And every time you go through such a cycle of substitution between the surface and the inside world, a qiē change in Gaia will be reset, and all the butterfly effects caused by external forces will be reset to zero. ”

As the car drove out of the city, the euonymus increased its speed, and the pickup's powerful engine roared happily, sending it to 180 miles in one leap.

The final destination of the trip is a place called Qingshangou on the outskirts of Sanshan City.

Li Mengnan once heard Liang Sanbo talk about it, which is said to be a small valley with no village in front and no shops in the back, but because of the beautiful scenery, some locals occasionally drive there to camp and have a picnic.

However, the Qingshan Gully in Gaia is obviously different from the original ecological scene described by Liang Sanbo, a simple one-way cement road follows an oblique zigzag route from the foot of the mountain to the upward, and a large community of color steel simple houses is exposed in the woods halfway up the mountainside, and the noise of construction can be faintly heard.

After climbing the mountain into it, Li Mengnan found that it was like a big construction site, with building materials everywhere, construction workers wearing yellow hard hats for nearly 100 meters were building single-storey huts with brick and stone structures, and a group of people were building water towers on the high slope not far away.

However, Li Mengnan also discovered a strange thing - although the construction site was in full swing, there were a group of people resting in the surrounding color steel houses with nothing to do.

The car of Euonymus was really eye-catching, and it was already found as soon as it entered the gate, and before the car could stop, Li Mengnan and Euonymus were surrounded by a large group of men and women who ran out of the color steel house.

"Director Wei, when will our house be built? We have so much money out, and we didn't come here to remember the bittersweet ones! ”

"That's it, squatting in this simple room all day long, it's like going to jail, you just get us a TV......

"Director Wei, if you don't solve the problem for us any longer, we will cut off the source of funding for your HX Research Institute......

"Yes, we are here to enjoy life, not to go to prison and work as coolies!"

Euonymus smoked unhurriedly, as if he was accustomed to the resentment of these people, until he finished a cigarette, he opened the car door and climbed on the roof, and said impatiently: "What are you calling?" At the beginning, our HX Research Institute told you all about the situation here, who forced you to come here with a knife? If you don't want to stay here and suffer hardships, you can go, and go wherever you feel like you're happy......"

As soon as Wei Mao scolded like this, the crowd who was still excited suddenly fell silent, and a man who looked like a leader hurriedly came out to play a round, and said with a smile: "Director Wei, I'm sorry, everyone is really holding back, and it's inevitable that you will be a little excited, don't you mind...... Be considerate of each other, be considerate of each other. ”

Since the other party took the initiative to give in, the euonymus also took advantage of the situation to get off the donkey, put on a kind face, hooked the man's shoulders and said earnestly: "Old Chen, I know that you are all used to being rich and noble, and you can't bear this kind of hardship for a while...... But you should know that this is not the same world as it used to be, and the first priority at the moment is to ensure your safety, followed by the establishment of a self-sufficient base, and finally to material comfort.

And in good conscience, except for the lack of spiritual life, your material security is not bad, at least in terms of food and clothing, you can basically reach the level of ordinary people in the real world.

Although the progress of housing is a little slower, you also have to be considerate of our difficulties, in this Gaia world, almost everything except construction has to be done by dreamwalkers, and the awakening rate of dreamwalkers is so low, we really can't spare too many manpower......"

"Understand, understand...... In fact, it is better to say in other aspects, mainly because the recent funding gap is a bit large. ”

"You're in town again?" Euonymus was quite helpless.

"Alas, Director Wei, you also know that life here is too boring, and it is rare for the big guy to regain the body and energy of his youth, so it is inevitable that he will ......be a little unable to control it" Speaking of this, Lao Chen was a little embarrassed, "Otherwise, you can give some money to the huàn, and it doesn't matter if the proportion of the huàn is high." ”

"It's not a question of the proportion of huàn, it's that we're really short of manpower right now, and no one can make money...... You'd better be more restrained, and if you continue to squander like this, it will become a joke if you run out of food. ”

"Yes, yes, I'll pay attention to remind them in the future." Compared with the men and women who were commanding before, this old Chen put himself in the right position.

"Forget it, I know it's not easy for you to lead such a group of proud soldiers, I'll help you think of a way when you get back to the money...... You go back first. ”

Euonymus is also a slap to a sweet date, after all, these people are the big financiers of the HX Research Institute after all, it doesn't matter if you punish them a little, you shouldn't offend them too hard.

"Okay, then I'll trouble Director Wei." Lao Chen thanked him again and again and turned to leave.

"Who are these people?" Li Mengnan leaned against the car door and pouted in the direction of the color steel room.

"These people are called 'donors', simply put, they are local tyrants, they were the heads of major group companies before they died, and they removed their brains before they died and deposited them with us to continue their lives...... The main source of funding for our HX Institute depends on these people, and the fact that the institute can have so much energy has something to do with these people. ”

Euonymus is also from the grassroots, in fact, in the eyes of the heart, I don't look down on these people, since entering Gaia, these so-called business elites have not done anything serious, and they have been adding chaos all day long.

If it weren't for the operation of the HX Research Institute and the continuous funding provided by these people in the future, Euonymus would really want to throw them directly into the inner world and use them as snacks for nightmares.

"I just heard what they said about the huàn ratio?" Li Mengnan asked.

"Hehe, you've noticed...... Euonymus smiled, suddenly leaned over the big face full of stubble, and said in a mysterious tone: "Young man, do you want to make some extra money?" ”

……

More than half an hour later, Li Mengnan and Euonymus appeared outside a small speakeasy in Sanshan City.

"Brother Wei, do you do this often?"

Li Mengnan never thought that the so-called extra money of Euonymus actually meant the ransacking of an underground casino.

The world of Gaia is a projection of the real world, at least in the peaceful world of the table, where money is also a necessity of life.

The "donors" are unable to bring the wealth they possess in the real world into the Gaia world, and in order to maintain their luxurious life, they can only exchange a certain percentage of the money from the "dream walkers" in the Gaia world.

And the "Dream Walker" itself will not be able to produce banknotes out of thin air, and if you want to obtain a large amount of banknotes in a short period of time, you can only use some illegal means.

For example, Euonymus is planning to take what Li Mengnan wants to do at the moment.

"Of course, or where do you think my baby pickup came from? Counting on that guaranteed salary and task bonus, I may not be able to afford four cars until I get to fifty...... To tell you the truth, the biggest source of income for our Dream Walkers is by doing the business of exchanging banknotes from the two worlds with those donors. ”

Wei Mao thought that Li Mengnan was a little nervous, and couldn't help but explain: "You don't have to worry, the risk of committing a crime in the Gaia world is very small, even if you alarm the police, as long as you can get rid of them before dark, and when the world of the surface is changed, there will be nothing." ”

"No, I just don't understand it...... Since the Gaia world is a projection of the real world, if you want money, you can put a large amount of money in a hidden place in the real world, and then take it out after entering the Gaia world, why do you need to make such a big fuss? ”