155: Chapter 152 Infrastructure Deployment Logic

The Command Cabin was silent for two seconds.

Director Zhou Ming was the first to speak: "What the hell kind of technology is this?"

He raised his left hand, turning it over to examine it. The life ring fit perfectly, seamless and snug; he could feel neither weight nor temperature, as if a layer of transparent film had been added to his wrist.

"Nanoscale adaptive Materials... No, even finer than nanoscale." Researcher Tang pushed up his non-existent glasses, a habitual gesture from before his Transmigration. "This kind of seamless Fusion craftsmanship is something no laboratory in any country before Transmigration could achieve."

Director Lin Su had already lightly touched the surface of the life ring.

A faint blue light lit up on the silver-gray metal surface, and nine function icons were neatly arranged, hovering three centimeters above his wrist in the form of a holographic projection.

magic sea compass. Numerical Panel. Life Spring. food god shrine. Trading Realm. Enhancement Realm. Map. Spatial Backpack. karma points storage.

"Full functionality." Director Lin Su spoke faster than usual. "It's exactly the same as the state in the Fate Platform space."

She tapped them one by one to test them.

The compass's sea area scan deployed normally, with red and green dots densely marked around the Renaissance.

The "Numerical" button on the Numerical Panel could be selected normally.

The Spatial Backpack could be opened normally.

"Map positioning is normal, the Trading Realm interface is normal, the Enhancement Realm interface is normal." Acting Director Liu Zhenghua was testing simultaneously, his voice steady. "All functions can be executed normally."

Zheng Yuanshan did not rush to express his opinion. He looked at Director Sun Zheng.

Director Sun Zheng put down the notice paper in his hand and spoke, his pace very slow: "There is a sentence in the notice—'Supports offline independent execution.' The emphasis of this sentence is not on 'offline,' but on 'independent.'"

He raised the wrist wearing the life ring.

"Independent execution means it no longer relies on the Fate Platform itself. It is a piece of physical equipment with autonomous functions."

The Command Cabin was silent for a moment. Everyone understood what he was talking about.

The Sequence War.

Professor Jiang took over the conversation: "In other words, it can be manifested in the consciousness space."

"Verification is needed," Zheng Yuanshan said. He turned to look at a young guard standing at the cabin door. "Xiao Zhao, go into an individual Sequence Battle, wear the life ring, and test if all functions can be used normally. Report back immediately after you finish."

"Yes!"

The guard turned and left.

Zheng Yuanshan's gaze swept back to the conference table. "Before the verification results come out, let's discuss. Professor He, you go first."

Professor He was in her early forties and had spent twenty years working on economic models before Transmigration; she was accustomed to starting her remarks with data.

"The price of two hundred karma points is on the high side, considering the average karma points held by current Yanhuang Survivors. Based on my rough estimate of the transaction flow data in the Trading Realm, the median karma points for Yanhuang Survivors is currently between thirty and fifty. Two hundred points means the vast majority of people must pay in installments."

She paused. "But the fact that the Fate Master chose this price rather than a lower one indicates that the cost of the life ring is indeed not low, yet he is also concerned about the speed of short-term adoption. Therefore, the installment payment design ensures final comprehensive coverage—as long as you pay one point every day, you will definitely pay it off in two hundred days."

"In other words, the Fate Master doesn't want just a portion of people to buy it, but for everyone to buy it," Director Lin Su added.

"Correct," Professor He nodded. "Full coverage, no dead ends. This is not product promotion logic; this is infrastructure deployment logic."

Director Zhou Ming frowned: "Infrastructure?"

"Think of it like an ID card from before Transmigration," Professor He said. "It's not about whether you want to get one; it's that you must get one."

This analogy caused the expressions of everyone present to change slightly.

Zheng Yuanshan didn't reply, turning his gaze to Professor Jiang.

Professor Jiang cleared his throat: "I am concerned with the tip at the end of the notice."

He read it out: "'The life ring is very important for the future Fate Platform, oh! We strongly recommend all lovely Fate Platform users to activate and bind it. Users who don't accept this suggestion aren't lovely, hee hee.'"

"The tone of this passage is completely different from the previous text. The former is standard functional announcement style, while the end suddenly switches to a... cutesy tone."

"But under the cutesy shell, the core is mandatory," Professor Jiang slowed his pace. "The combination of 'strongly recommend' and 'not lovely' is an expression of affinity for Yanhuang Survivors; everyone will chuckle and then go buy it. But for Survivors from other civilizations—"

He paused.

"It is a warning."

Director Sun Zheng took over, his voice very low: "This notice was pushed to the entire platform. Including the visitor system."

"Correct," Professor Jiang nodded. "In the past, the Fate Platform had never used this tone for updates to other civilizations. This is the first time. The Fate Master is using a soft approach to convey a rigid requirement—everyone, including Survivors from other civilizations, must activate the life ring."

Director Zhou Ming directly asked the question on everyone's mind: "Why?"

"To let Yanhuang Survivors use Fate Platform functions in the Sequence Battle, it would be enough to just give the life ring to Yanhuang Survivors. The life ring functions for Survivors from other civilizations are all locked; it's useless for them to get it. So why force them to spend four hundred karma points to buy an empty shell?"

The Command Cabin fell into a brief silence.

Researcher Tang spoke. His voice was very flat, as if he were conducting a tactical simulation: "Several possibilities."

"First, economic binding. The installment payment design of the life ring will continuously consume the karma points of Survivors from other civilizations. Four hundred points is a huge burden for them. The more karma points consumed, the deeper their dependence on the Fate Platform, and the higher the cost to break away from the Fate Platform system."

"Second, data collection." Researcher Tang's gaze swept over the life ring on his wrist. "The life ring is a physical piece of equipment. Regardless of whether it can follow the wearer into the consciousness space of the Sequence Battle, and regardless of whether its various functions are locked, it is still an executing device. We don't know what it records or what it transmits."

Professor He continued: "Third, behavioral restraint. Once all Survivors from other civilizations wear the life ring, the Fate Master will possess a network terminal that physically covers all Survivors globally. What this physically covering network terminal can do in the future depends on what the Fate Master wants to do. We can even think in a darker direction: is it the final guarantee to ensure that we, the Yanhuang Civilization Survivors, achieve victory?"

Professor Jiang added: "Fourth, psychological screening. The phrasing in the notice—'Users who do not accept this suggestion are not lovely'—is in itself a user screening test, or even a compliance test. Those willing to accept it remain within the system; those unwilling will expose themselves."

Four analyses were laid out on the table.

Zheng Yuanshan had been silent. His gaze fell on the silver-gray metal band on his wrist, and his thumb gently rubbed the surface of the wristband.

"There is a fifth possibility," he finally spoke. His voice was not loud, but the eyes of everyone in the Command Cabin gathered on him.

"The Fate Master is setting up a game whose full picture we cannot see. The life ring is not just for the Sequence Battle, nor is it just for monitoring or binding. It is the foundation for the next stage of development of the Fate Platform. As for what the next step is—we don't need to know."

He looked up, scanning the crowd. "We only need to know one thing."

The cabin door opened, and the guard Xiao Zhao walked in with a face full of excitement.

"Report to Chief Zheng! The life ring can be used normally in the Sequence War consciousness space! All functions—compass, Numerical Panel, Spatial Backpack, Life Spring exchange—are all executing normally!"

The atmosphere in the Command Cabin changed instantly.

Zheng Yuanshan stood up.

"There is only one conclusion."

His voice was steady, and every word was resonant.

"The life ring is very important to the Fate Master. The Revival Society will support it with full strength and cooperate unconditionally with the promotion. Acting Director Liu Zhenghua, you are responsible for writing the promotional post and releasing it within half an hour. The content includes the life ring function test report, the Sequence Battle availability verification, and a call for all Yanhuang Survivors and Survivors from other civilizations to activate the life ring."

"Yes."

"Chief Prosecutor Chen Tianjiao, you are responsible for monitoring the public opinion trend in the Symphony Realm and guiding the current public opinion direction of the Fate Platform. The complaints about the price from our own Survivors need to be suppressed. Don't suppress it forcefully; use the comparison method and analysis method—we pay two hundred, they pay four hundred, but our functions are complete. List the value of the life ring's functions one by one, and let everyone calculate this account for themselves."

Director Lin Su's brows twitched. "Chief, being too deliberate might be counterproductive."

"So don't be deliberate. Have the people in the Propaganda and Incentive Department post it in the tone of ordinary Survivors, mixed into normal discussions. Five posts are enough."

"Understood."

This time, it was Zheng Yuanshan who broke the silence.

"Speculation ends here." His voice was steady, like an anchor dropping into the seabed. "We don't need to guess all of the Fate Master's intentions. We only need to be sure of one thing—"

He scanned everyone present.

"The life ring is very important to the Fate Master."

No one refuted it.

"And the Fate Master," Zheng Yuanshan continued, "is very important to the Yanhuang Civilization."