Pray that the world has finally failed after hundreds of years, and that the Elven Queen and the Council of Elders, who founded it in the first place, have had to admit to the public that it was another waste, but Pray that the world has still achieved some unplanned results in these hundreds of years of operation - not everything is required to be so precise, only the faster-than-light engine is greatly affected by the microscopic laws, and many other things can be tested under virtual conditions. The first scholars to enter the world of prayer used simulation calculations to create more advanced space equipment and ecological dome maintenance devices, and simulated a large number of projects related to social forms and rationing systems, which are still playing a huge role today, and it is because of these results that the world of prayer has not been completely closed, but has been put to other uses.

Although it's not a perfect real room, it's at least a perfect virtual paradise.

The elves realized that praying for the world could greatly reduce their social consumption, that some of the less demanding daily studies could still be placed in the real room, and that the virtual world would allow them to dream and forget about the boring real world outside. What's more: after entering the world of prayer, the bloated and useless body that consumes too much energy can be discarded.

"A thousand years ago, we introduced the 'Wish for World Stripping Method' to allow more people to apply for uploads to the server," Hilda said slowly, "Did I tell you?" As the environment inside the dome changes faster than the elves can adapt, some of the floating islands have deteriorated to the point where the elderly elves cannot survive, and many of us have incurable diseases. The royal family can't execute them just because they're sick, but these elves who have been infected with disease and lost their labor force have been able to wait for their death in the past, but they have been sent to the world of prayer after the 'stripping law' came into effect. Elves who are old, sick, disabled, or otherwise socially worthless must be uploaded, their consciousness pumped into the server, their bodies destroyed and decomposed into resources, they are still alive, but they are no longer consumed - and they can continue to contribute to Erim society in healthier forms in the Wish World, such as research. Some less demanding projects can still be carried out in a virtual environment. This is the fate of almost every Erim elf now, and we cannot afford to leave a deprived body in the world to breathe air. It would be better to break it down into nutrients in the dome and elemental blocks in the factory. ”

Hao Ren suddenly didn't know what to say.

The virtual world is no stranger to him. Whether it's science fiction on Earth or real-life examples from the Empire Counts website, he's familiar with the concept, but the vast majority of civilizations create virtual worlds for entertainment. The few that do it for research or to reduce energy consumption are not as extreme as the Elim Elf. Those civilizations will keep their bodies inside a connector. Waiting to wake up and experience the real world again, but the Elim elves are not: they enter the world of prayer after their bodies are incapacitated, in order to abandon their bodies. At the same time, let the spirit continue to work.

They don't want to waste even a breath.

"Actually, for many elves, the world of prayer is a paradise," Hilda suddenly smiled strangely, "it's sunny, there are vast skies, you can drive thousands of miles without seeing the walls, and there are some mountains and rivers that only exist in legends and video discs—every elf who uploads into the world of prayer will send back a message of thanks, and they finally don't have to endure the reality of exhaustion." ”

"Why don't you just go in and dream? I think that's a huge temptation for you. Confuse. Hao Ren asked a very direct question.

"Because then there is no hope," Hilda said, spreading her hands, "that is an escape, praying that the world is not made to escape from reality." Someone has to be in reality, and we have an old proverb: hold on until the next day. We firmly believe that as long as we live, there is hope, so we can live to this day. We have never given up our efforts to fly to other stars, and we pray that the world will be built on this premise. If everyone is immersed in that dream of abundant resources, who will save reality? The server will eventually collapse, and sooner or later the outside server will be broken, which is suicide, but it is only prolonged and anesthetized by the sweet dream. ”

At the end, she added: "Even if the world is going to collapse, I want to be able to see it collapse with my own eyes, rather than losing my home in my sleep." ”

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

"Yes, we are mortal after all - Elysium is an extremist organization that wants all people to escape reality and get everyone into the world of prayer for the rest of their lives. At their core, they are a group of technocrats, descendants or apprentices of the scholars who built the world of prayer in the first place. While the Prayer World Project was declared a failure and the Council of Elders was debating what to do with the virtual world, a group of builders couldn't bear the pressure and released a lot of unfavorable things - eventually, the Promised Land Organization appeared. The group believed that the real world was hopeless and that entering the dream could at least euthanize everyone, and they had been dormant for a while, but they seemed to have been stimulated after the last time the space-time accelerator exploded, and now they are more active. ”

"Wouldn't it be okay for them to sneak in on their own? Anyway, as long as you lose your labor, you can get in, so why make such a big fuss? Hao Ren was a little puzzled, "If it was just to escape from reality, they could have blended in directly, but now they are stopped by shouting like this." ”

"Because they're not trying to escape reality for themselves, but really want to change the entire kingdom of Erem," Hilda shook her head, "The Elysian Ground isn't easy, and maybe I'd admire them for a different stance: they want all the other elves to be happy." But that doesn't change the nature of their blindness. ”

There must be pity for the hateful, it seems that this is a group of idealists who have gone the wrong way, and in this case it is no longer possible to simply judge who is right and who is wrong: everyone has noble goals, no one is for themselves, but they are opposed to the mainstream society, and there are a lot of such things.

"Well, a bunch of idealists...... But if the resource problem is solved, they probably won't continue to jump," Hao Ren muttered under his breath, then raised his head, "You have a minister who has trapped himself for this?" ”

"The Promised Land Organization has somehow taken control of the main memory and established its own power in the Prayer World, and they have pulled some of the digital elves who support them into an undetectable place, I don't know what they are planning, but it must be a big operation. Pray that the citizens of the world are also citizens, so Kadiren personally led a group of elites in to investigate the situation - but he is missing," Hilda sighed, "I understand his actions, after all, he is already middle-aged, his mobility and mental power are not as good as before, and he will soon exceed the value/consumption ratio line, and it should be a few years before he is extracted and uploaded, but he really didn't come at the right time this time." ”

An additional explanation is needed here: the intellectual workers in Erim's society "retire" much earlier than the physical workers, and that's because of their flesh. The value of the body to society is less than their intelligence, and many intellectual workers, even if they are in good health, must be extracted and uploaded after middle age, and the upper class is no exception. Therefore, the Elim Elves usually choose the same practitioners to form a family: just to avoid this premature parting.

Hao Ren realized that he was afraid of another trouble—the group of elves that had already been uploaded to the server and had even destroyed their bodies could not be ignored.

At this moment, a small blue light suddenly flew from afar, and the number of jù terminals almost snapped and smashed on his face: "Yo, this machine is back!" ”

Hao Ren dodged the slut at the last moment: "Done? ”

"Well, the spare energy pool is also full, enough for them to use to repair the main line, and now a group of engineering ships are repairing the hole outside the floating island," the number of terminals skillfully drilled into Hao Ren's pocket, "Eh, Mom, I'm tired of the machine, I almost died of exhaustion......"

Hao Ren patted his pocket and said goodbye to Shirda: "I have to go back to study this matter, you can settle down and restore order to society, and I will give you an answer soon." ”

Hilda didn't speak, just bowed her head deeply. (To be continued......)