Chapter 213 - 213: Upgrading Humanity

7. Psionic Package: The Spatial Warp Discipline

Cost: 4,200,000,000 SP (4.2 Billion SP)

Description: This blueprint unlocks advanced understanding and control over localized spatial distortion. The Spatial Warp Discipline allows a psion to create temporary micro-rifts for rapid traversal, manipulate localized gravity fields for strategic advantage, or even create localized barriers that bend incoming energy and matter around a target. It transforms combat and exploration by enabling instantaneous repositioning, environmental control, and highly effective defensive maneuvers.

8. Psionic Package: The Vanguard Breaker Doctrine

Cost: 4,500,000,000 SP (4.5 Billion SP)

Description: This blueprint specializes in overwhelming structural defenses and enemy formations with raw, concussive psionic force. The Vanguard Breaker can generate focused sonic waves that liquefy armor, exert immense pressure fields to collapse buildings, or unleash wide-area kinetic blasts that clear battlefields of infantry and light vehicles. They are the ultimate living artillery, designed to shatter enemy lines and reduce fortified positions to rubble.

9. Psionic Package: The Chronal Duellist Discipline

Cost: 3,900,000,000 SP (3.9 Billion SP)

Description: This blueprint grants unparalleled precision in combat through localized temporal perception and manipulation. The Chronal Duellist can perceive fractions of a second into the future, reacting with impossible speed, and subtly alter their personal time-flow to create blurs of motion or momentary invulnerability. They are masters of the perfect dodge and the inescapable strike, turning any engagement into a slow-motion ballet where only they move at full speed.

10. Psionic Package: The Predator's Stalk

Cost: 2,100,000,000 SP (2.1 Billion SP)

Description: This blueprint refines the art of silent pursuit, ambush, and psychological terror. The Psionic Predator can mask their presence from all forms of detection, track quarry across vast distances through psychic echoes, and project terrifying mental illusions to disorient and break their targets before striking with overwhelming precision. They are the ultimate hunters, turning any environment into a deadly trap.

11. Psionic Package: The Echoing Mirage Doctrine

Cost: 1,600,000,000 SP (1.6 Billion SP)

Description: This package specializes in creating incredibly realistic, large-scale psionic illusions and diversions on the battlefield. The Echoing Mirage can project entire phantom armies, disguise crucial assets, or generate overwhelming sensory overload that completely disorients enemy forces, making them a master of misdirection and strategic deception.

12. Psionic Package: The Colossus Impact Doctrine

Cost: 4,000,000,000 SP (4 Billion SP)

Description: This blueprint focuses on transforming the psion into a living battering ram, capable of absorbing tremendous punishment while delivering devastating, high-mass kinetic attacks. The Colossus Impact Doctrine emphasizes raw physical augmentation, concussive psychic blasts for close-quarters disruption, and the ability to shatter through any barrier or enemy line through sheer, unyielding force. This package is for those who seek to be the spearhead of any assault, breaking through defenses with overwhelming might.

13. Psionic Package: The Velocity Arc Discipline

Cost: 3,000,000,000 SP (3 Billion SP)

Description: This package specializes in combat defined by unparalleled speed, agility, and precision strikes while in motion. The Velocity Arc Discipline allows a psion to move faster than the eye can follow, executing complex maneuvers, delivering multiple precision attacks in blurs of motion, and disrupting enemy formations through sheer, unstoppable momentum. They excel at hit-and-run tactics, overwhelming targets through ceaseless, unpredictable assaults.

14. Psionic Package: The Pure Aetheric Storm

Cost: 4,500,000,000 SP (4.5 Billion SP)

Description: This blueprint grants supreme mastery over the manifestation and manipulation of raw psionic energy for direct, devastating combat. The Pure Aetheric Storm enables the psion to project focused beams of destructive force, unleash wide-area energy explosions, and create dynamic energy shields that can incinerate incoming projectiles. They are walking batteries of pure destructive potential, capable of obliterating threats through overwhelming blasts of psychic energy.

Richard thought. Hmmmm… I got a wide selection of skills packages I can buy. He had enough SP for almost any combination. The Chaos Dragon was coming. He needed to be ready.

Richard said, "Okay, 7 for movement, good. 8 for offense, solid. 14 is a pure powerhouse. And 9 and 13? They'll make me a blur, seeing the future, hitting hard and fast. Perfect combo." He confirmed the purchase.

[ 19.6 Billion SP Deducted ]

[ Available SP: 26.7 Billion ]

His mind was now flooded with information about the techniques and combat execution. New pathways opened in his consciousness, integrating the complex knowledge seamlessly.

"Alright, before I get giddy with these new toys, let's finish this evolution," he muttered, looking at his PSY stat. "I need 12,000 more PSY stat!" he shouted in the white chamber, his voice echoing. He spoke to Lina, outside the simulation. "Lina, increase the time compression from 10,000 to 20,000! There's no time to waste!"

Outside, Lina sighed. She adjusted the controls, her fingers flying over the console. Richard's simulation now ran at 20,000-time compression. Multiplying that by his mindscape, it doubled from a 1:1 million time ratio to an astonishing 1:2 million.

He would gain 12,000 Psy stat in just 2 hours and 30 minutes of real-time. Before he could meditate again, the System appeared.

[ Psionic Package: The Apex Consciousness Induction (Required)

Cost: 9,000,000,000 SP (9 Billion SP)

Description: This transformative blueprint unveils the deepest secrets of universal energy manipulation and conscious expansion. It teaches advanced "psionic breathing" techniques that allow a practitioner to draw not just from ambient psychic fields, but from the fundamental forces and energies underpinning the very fabric of spacetime – accessing zero-point energy, cosmic background radiation, or even the subtle resonance of multiversal echoes. The discipline culminates in methods for infinitely expanding one's conscious awareness, allowing the mind to perceive, process, and ultimately interact with reality on a scale that defies linear thought.

This is the absolute prerequisite knowledge for anyone aspiring to transcend mortal limitations and embark upon the path to true cosmic consciousness and power, a state where the lines between thought and reality begin to blur. It is the ultimate foundation for evolving beyond the current known limits of sentient existence. ]

Richard thought, Since it's a requirement that benefits me, why not? There's no harm in it. He then purchased it. His breathing, which he'd been using after absorbing the new information, had been just a conceptual breathing technique, and a much inferior one. With this new knowledge, he gained the ultimate enlightenment and proceeded with the meditation again. Now, instead of 0.0002 PSY stat gain for 5 minutes, he now gained 0.0001 per second. He didn't know, that at this time of his evolution, humanity on Earth would also awaken due to his actions.

Deep in Luna underground, after meditating for another 570 simulation years (which was 2.5 hours of real-time), Richard's body was brimming with energy. The entire moon, seen from Earth, pulsed with light, like another sun. But 5 minutes later, the excess energy was absorbed by the moon itself.

Everyone on Earth who had witnessed the phenomenon. The UEDCC had a rough idea who was responsible, but they announced to the public that there was nothing to be afraid of, keeping the public in order.

But some citizens knew it was Richard. He was the only one who could do that kind of phenomenon. The internet, of course, absolutely lost its mind.

@SpaceNerd42: "OMG DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THAT?! THE MOON JUST PULSED! IT'S HIM, ISN'T IT?! RICHARD IS GOING FULL GOD MODE AGAIN!" (accompanied by a GIF of a glowing anime character)

@TruthSeeker77: "UEDCC says 'nothing to worry about.' Yeah, right. Just a casual moon-sized energy surge. Totally normal. #RichardIsComing #TheyLiedToUs"

@BytebullFan: "He is literally leveling up. While you're complaining about your Tuesday, Richard is becoming a cosmic entity. Get on his level! #BillionaireAscension #PsionicBoss"

@SarcasticSally: "Guess my landlord is gonna start charging extra for 'celestial light show' in the rent now. Thanks, Richard. You're making us all look bad."

@HopefulHeart: "Seriously though, that was beautiful. If that's what Richard's doing, maybe there's hope for us yet. A real protector. #NewDawn #HumanityStrong"

@MemeLord: (Image of a glowing Richard with 'UNLIMITED POWER!!!' text overlayed, next to a tiny, confused Krill)

The speculation was wild, but the consensus quickly formed: Richard had undergone some kind of massive evolution. Meanwhile, deep in the moon's core, an ancient structure awakened.

[ ENERGY REQUIREMENTS TO REBOOT STRUCTURE 1401Z REACHED ] [ INITIALIZING… ]

{ CHECKING SIGNATURE ///133-4TE3UP/// } { AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED }

[ REBOOTING STRUCTURE 1401Z ] [ DISABLING STRUCTURE 1401Z ]

{ AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED }

[ AUTHORIZATION ///133-4TE3UP/// DESIGNATED ]

{ CONSCIOUS AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED }

Richard was forcibly woken up. His vision was full of two different holographic panels: a purple panel and a white panel.

But the one that intrigued him was the purple one:

[ ONGOING EVOLUTION ] [ YOU HAVE REACHED PATH AWAKENING: 1ST GRADE PSIONIC SOVEREIGN ]

[ DUE TO THE EXCESS PSIONIC ENERGY ]

[ THE ENERGY WAS REROUTED TO STRUCTURE D1401Z ]

[ DISABLE STRUCTURE 1401Z? ]

[ PLEASE CONFIRM AUTHORIZATION ]

[YES ] [ NO ]

The purple panel was now asking for his authorization.

Richard asked, "What's the structure D1401Z anyway? And what's this white panel?"

The white panel responded: { YOU HAVE INSUFFICIENT AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE THIS INFORMATION AT THIS TIME }

Richard said, "What the fuck???"

However, the purple system responded:

[ STRUCTURE D1401Z IS EARTH'S NATURAL PSIONIC REGULATOR TO MAINTAIN THE RACE: %*^$$^& DESCENDANT. DUE TO MALFUNCTIONS, ITS LACK OF ENERGY AND MAINTENANCE, AND INTERVENTION WITH KRILL SPECIES, STRUCTURE D1401Z HAS INSTEAD, DAMPENED THE PSIONIC ENERGY OF EARTH. UNABLE TO CONTINUE THE PSIONIC DEVELOPMENT OF HUMANITY. ]

Richard then asked, "Then why disable it if it regulates psionic energy?"

The purple system continued:

[ STRUCTURE 1401Z HAS MALFUNCTIONED AND NEEDED TO BE DISABLED FOR MAINTENANCE ]

[ UNTIL SUFFICIENT ENERGY IS REACHED TO KICKSTART STRUCTURE 1103TP. STRUCTURE 1401Z WILL REMAIN DISABLED AND QUEUED FOR MAINTENANCE. ]

[ ALSO, DISABLING STRUCTURE 1401Z IS REQUIRED FOR HUMANITY TO GAIN ITS 1ST AWAKENING TO AVOID GENETIC INSTABILITY. HUMAN GENES REACHED A BOTTLENECK FOR AWAKENING 10,000 YEARS AGO. ONE MORE YEAR OF SUPPRESSING PSIONIC DEVELOPMENT WILL CAUSE IRREPARABLE DAMAGE. ]

Richard said, taken aback, "Oh, you don't have to tell me. Of course." He tapped YES on the purple panel.

Then the purple system said, [ I APOLOGIZE FOR WAKING YOU UP, BUT YOU NEED TO BE UNCONSCIOUS TO CONTINUE YOUR EVOLUTION. ]

Richard suprised by the sudden response said, "This is bullshit, why do i have to-"

Richard then fell into darkness.

The systems now continued again:

[ AUTHORIZATION SIGNATURE CONFIRMED ///133-4TE3UP/// ]

{ AUTHORIZATION CHECKED AND CONFIRMED }

{ DISABLING STRUCTURE 1401Z }

{ ENABLING T3RR4-L14 PSIONIC REGULATOR }

{ GUIDANCE SYSTEM ACTIVATED V1 }

{ SIGNATURE ///133-4TE3UP/// }

{ AUTHORIZATION ELEVATED }

{ REASSIGNING ARCHIVE ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM V4 }

Back on Earth, the planet was now brimming with energy. Everyone on Earth unbeknownst to them, their planet had significantly undergone changes and this began to continue the process of humanity's evolution.