13: Chapter 13 Karma and Fate Platform 2.0 Update

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting shimmering, gold-flecked ripples onto the ceiling.

Yang Hang opened his eyes and stared blankly at the flowing light spots for three seconds.

"Oh, he had undergone Transmigration."

Regaining his focus, he finally remembered the bionic maid sleeping quietly beside him, her snow-white shoulders exposed, glowing radiantly under the sunlight streaming through the window.

He had been too wild last night; this bionic maid was not only completely submissive to his every whim but also skilled in all sorts of techniques and positions.

He rubbed his face with both hands, forcibly banishing the lingering amorous thoughts from his mind. Three light knocks sounded at the door.

"Please, come in."

The door slid open silently, and another bionic maid walked in. She was tall, wearing a black French-style long dress with a white apron cinched at the waist, the hem just covering her knees. Below that were straight, long legs wrapped in garter stockings, shod in low-heeled leather shoes. She carried a tray holding warm water, a hot towel, and a set of clean clothes.

"Good morning, Master."

"Morning." Yang Hang took the towel and wiped his face, feeling a bit more refreshed.

Accompanied by the bright sunlight spilling into the luxury villa, he couldn't help but stretch.

He washed up under the maid's attendance, and unable to restrain himself, tackled this garter-stockinged maid once before taking another shower.

Then, dressed and ready, he walked to the long dining room and simply opened his mouth.

When the aroma of hot steak rose from the plate, Yang Hang took a bite of the steak, ate a mouthful of fried egg, and drank a cup of hot milk while being served by the maid. He leaned back against the chair—that was it, life was worth living.

No, life at sea was worth living.

After eating the last piece of fruit, he wiped his mouth, leaned back into the sofa, and closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into the Cause and Effect Fate Platform.

The Void Realm unfurled.

A giant web woven from 1.3 billion lines of Karma rotated slowly in his mind. Each line was a living person, and every node pulsed slightly, representing that person's current life state.

Number of people online: 1,302,447,216.

A little over 1.3 billion.

That was over 50 million more than yesterday. Those who had been reluctant to connect probably couldn't hold out any longer—after drifting in the desolate sea for two days, not connecting to the Fate Platform was equivalent to being blind and deaf, unable to even obtain the most basic survival information; otherwise, they were simply gone.

Yang Hang didn't linger on this number.

It was time to get down to business.

The 2.0 update plan prepared last night was fully packaged and ready, originally scheduled for release at 10:00 AM.

But he couldn't wait now.

Release it manually.

With a single thought.

The underlying architecture of the entire Karmic Star Sea reorganized silently. The public forum was split into four major realms, the three-level System of Echo Channels went online simultaneously, and the location sharing module was embedded at the end of every karmic line.

To him, the difficulty of this task was roughly equivalent to dragging a few icons on a phone to change their positions.

Completed in three seconds.

The next instant, an announcement popped up simultaneously in the consciousness space of 1.3 billion users.

[Cause and Effect Fate Platform has been updated to version 2.0]

[Public forum realm division enabled: Human Intelligence Realm, Help Realm, Bounty Realm, Symphony Realm.]

[Echo Channels online: Includes World Echo and regional echo; original group chat and private message functions have been integrated here.]

[Added coordinate positioning function; real-time location can be shared in realms or echoes.]

[Added tipping function; surplus karma points can be gifted to others.]

Yang Hang scanned his energy pool.

The number was still rising, rising every second.

The "internet fees" of 1.3 billion people, the karma points consumed by every browse, every post, and every information interaction—half flowed into the public pool to maintain the Fate Platform's operation, and the other half belonged to him.

He couldn't spend it all. Absolutely couldn't spend it all.

Even if he did something major—like reversing the Karma of a sea-level natural disaster—it probably wouldn't consume much, right?

Save! Continue to save. Holding the energy supply of these billion-plus Yanhuang Civilization people meant that the path to invincibility was right under his feet.

He cast his gaze toward the freshly minted World Echo.

Click to open.

"??? What's going on? I just woke up and my brain is foggy. Did the System update?"

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. Four major realms? Echo Channels? I was worried about how to find people to form a team last night, and today they just gave us location tracking?!"

"Wait wait wait—am I blind? Does this coordinate sharing mean what I think it means? I can see exactly where my parents are?"

"Don't get excited, OP, calm down. First, check if you can connect... I'm shaking too."

"Connected!!! I found where my mom is!! She's just 300 nautical miles away from me!! Mom, you're still alive!! (Crying) (Crying) (Crying)"

"Ahhhhh, help, I'm crying, really crying. I thought I would never have a chance to reunite with my family..."

"I also found my brother's location. The treasure chest he opened yesterday was bad, and he's barely hanging on. I'm going to save him now. Brothers, wish me luck."

"Luck my ass! Go!! Go now!!!"

"Can someone tell me what the hell this tipping function is? Can karma points be gifted to others? Isn't this thing life? Who would be willing to give it away?"

"Are you stupid? If your loved ones were starving to death, would you give it or not?"

"...Understood. I'm going to send money to my sister now."

"Your perspective is too narrow. If you ask me, this tipping function is for the big shots—if you have the skills to help others solve their problems, they'll willingly give you karma points. From now on, we can really make a living by our skills."

"Make a living by skills? Those who make a living by robbing must be panicking now, hahaha! Once location tracking is on, anyone who is scum will be wanted across the whole sea area!"

"I just saw a post in the Help Realm: 'I'm about to die of thirst. If anyone can give me a pot of fresh water, I'll kowtow to them and transfer all my karma points.' Someone already replied below: 'Send your coordinates, I'll be there in three hours.'"

"My god, this efficiency... Yesterday we were deaf and blind, and today we're directly connected to the internet?"

"It's not connecting to the internet; this is opening the Heavenly Eye."

"Update? There's actually an official source? Who exactly is controlling this Fate Platform?"

"Don't ask. If you ask, it's God."

"God my ass. Would God care if you lived or died? It must be some ancient Yanhuang Civilization deity watching over us from above!"

"Well said. Whoever it is, I'm hyping this update to the moon."

"Let's analyze calmly: the public forum is divided into four major realms—Human Intelligence Realm is for normal chatting, Help Realm is for distress signals, Bounty Realm is a trading market, but what the hell is the Symphony Realm? Can someone explain?"

"I just clicked in to check, and it's empty, just one line: 'This realm is born to record major events; in the future, echoes will descend.'"

"...Don't understand it, but it sounds very impressive."

"Posting requires consuming karma points... This feels a bit like the paid messaging in old-school social apps, right?"

"I think it's pretty good. This can greatly reduce spamming and allow more people who need help to make their voices heard."

"If this feature had come out earlier, my husband wouldn't have..."

"Don't cry, sister. It's not too late now. Hugs."

"Location sharing is enabled, so won't I be discovered while hiding on a deserted island? No, I don't want to be found!"

"Don't worry, this feature is bidirectional. If you don't turn it on, others can't see you either. Coward, just keep hiding."

"Has anyone noticed that the regional echo seems to be... divided into channels based on actual distance? There are only a few dozen people on my side, and people aren't talking over each other. It's much more comfortable."

"Right! Fewer people is great, no need to fight for the mic."