69: Chapter 69 System Upgrade

Su Fan was so excited he almost clicked "Yes" immediately. However, looking at his noisy surroundings filled with people, he wasn't sure if any anomalies would occur during the system upgrade, so he ultimately held off.

After hurriedly scarfing down some food, he rushed home from the cafeteria.

Once home, Su Fan clicked "Yes!" with a heart full of excitement.

"System upgrade initiating. Please wait patiently, Host!"

Su Fan stared expectantly at the system interface. As if to soothe his anxiety, the system thoughtfully provided a percentage progress bar!

"Look at this, this is a real system. The systems in some novels are always threatening to wipe out the host, making the protagonist look like a slave." Su Fan's lips curled slightly as he watched the progress bar with satisfaction.

Ten minutes later.

"System upgrade successful!"

"Congratulations to the host's civilization for successfully crossing the threshold into a Level 1 civilization. Please keep up the good work."

"Conditions for opening the Level 2 Civilization Black Technology Mall have been met."

"Level 2 Civilization Black Technology Mall is opening."

"Opening complete. Please check it, Host."

Su Fan excitedly opened the Black Technology Mall. Sure enough, the locks on the Level 2 civilization black technologies were gone, and exchange buttons were visible.

The system continued its prompts.

"System officially launched. Current System Level: Level 1."

"Universal Encyclopedia function activated. The host can pay to query information."

"Dimensional Ascension Manifestation function activated. The host can spend ten times the influence points to forcibly ascend black technologies within the system and manifest the finished products directly into reality!"

Su Fan's pupils contracted. He could understand the Universal Encyclopedia; since the system could produce black technology, supporting information queries was only natural.

But!

The Dimensional Ascension Manifestation function left him feeling a bit dazed. Extracting black technology directly into reality felt somewhat like a fantasy no matter how he looked at it.

"System, query what Dimensional Ascension Manifestation is."

"Host level is too low. Only a brief introduction can be queried. It costs 10,000 influence points. Confirm query?"

"Query!" Su Fan did not hesitate.

"Dimensional Ascension Manifestation is a standard application of dimensional technology by advanced civilizations. The universe is both real and illusory; the universe perceived at different dimensions varies. Higher dimensions can dominate lower dimensions."

"These are the results of the query. Please check them, Host."

Su Fan fell silent. For advanced civilizations to possess dimensional technology was simply cheating.

Letting his imagination run wild, if an advanced civilization used dimensional technology on Blue Star—a direct dimensional reduction strike—the consequences...

There would be no way to fight back at all. It would be GG before even seeing the enemy!

Absolutely terrifying!

"System, continue the query. What level of civilization can master dimensional technology?"

"Host level is too low. No authorization to query!"

"That's not right. I can see black technology from Level 9 civilizations, so why can't I query some info?" Su Fan was puzzled.

"The black technologies the host sees are only those the host can comprehend. Due to the host's current level of understanding, more powerful black technologies from advanced civilizations have been automatically hidden!"

The system's mechanical voice showed no regard for Su Fan's feelings, striking him down with cold indifference.

"Holy crap! That hurts!" Su Fan clutched his chest tightly.

However, it was still too early to worry about higher-level technologies.

Since he could now exchange for Level 2 civilization black technology and even manifest it, Blue Star's technological development could accelerate even further. Catching a glimpse of true advanced civilization technology was only a matter of time.

"Right, being able to manifest black technology directly is too much of a cheat. I need to cover it up a bit."

"If I'm too blatant about it... the universe is so big, if an advanced civilization notices, it'll be 'GG' for sure!" Su Fan thought to himself.

"System, query a type of Level 2 civilization black technology. I want to build a secret research base."

"Requirements: The base's defense must resist ultra-large yield nuclear bombs from Blue Star and withstand attacks from Level 2 civilization weapons. It must have complete defense and survival facilities, and be large enough to house manifested objects of various sizes."

"Relevant black technology found. Fee is 1,000 influence points. Pay to view?"

"Pay!" Su Fan didn't care about such a small amount of influence points.

By now, his influence points had reached a staggering 10 billion.

Currently, every person in Xia Country was affected by Super God Group's products, with each person providing an average of 1 to 10 influence points.

This was just an average; in reality, many people did not like the Super God Group.

Su Fan learned through Red Queen that most of these people were those who previously had good lives but became unemployed because the Super God Group kept introducing new technologies, leading them to secretly resent the Super God Group and Su Fan.

This was a normal phenomenon; reforms always have winners and losers.

However, now that the system had the Dimensional Manifestation function, the use of influence points would increase dramatically in the future. The reputation of Super God Group's products had to be well-maintained.

And to maintain that reputation, he had to let the people live better lives.

In addition, Xia Country's population needed to increase.

One was improving quality, the other was increasing quantity.

"Found the most suitable black technologies for the host's current situation."

"First: Level 2 civilization, Bionic Nano-Ants, value: 310,000 influence points."

"Bionic Nano-Ants can achieve self-survival and self-proliferation by consuming various minerals."

"The survival and proliferation of the colony can be controlled through the Bionic Nano-Ant Queen."

"Bionic Nano-Ants can excavate underground bases, multiply their numbers using the excavated minerals, and then, through regulated death, stack their carapaces to create sturdy base defense facilities."

"Second: Level 2 civilization, e-class doomsday survival base, value: 990,000 influence points."

"e-class doomsday survival base can defend against E-Class weapons, which represent the maximum power of a Level 2 civilization. It also possesses a complete life-support system and an independent ecosphere."

"Which one would the host like to exchange for?"

Su Fan looked greedily at the two black technologies. He wanted this one, and he wanted that one too.

Which one to choose?

Pah! Only children choose; adults want everything.

"System, exchange for both!" Su Fan waved his hand grandly.

"Exchange complete. Cumulative consumption: 1,300,000 influence points."

"Would you like to perform Dimensional Ascension Manifestation?"

Su Fan rubbed the peach fuzz on his upper lip. Ever since injecting the gene optimization fluid, even his coarse beard had become soft.

"How big is the e-class doomsday survival base? I don't want to manifest it and have no place to put it."

"The host's consideration is very thorough. The e-class doomsday survival base has a side length of 10 kilometers, a footprint of 100 square kilometers, and a height of 3 kilometers."

"So big! It's practically a small city!" Su Fan exclaimed. "The Moon Palace Base I exchanged for before was only 160,000 square meters, with a side length of just 400 meters!"

"Host, the technology of a Level 1 civilization and a Level 2 civilization are not on the same level. Please do not compare them."

Su Fan was taken aback. He seemed to detect a hint of—contempt?—in the system's mechanical voice.

But he quickly brushed it off. If a Level 1 civilization could have a primary AI like Red Queen, and the system could exchange for Level 9 black technology, it wasn't surprising for it to have a more powerful AI.

"Fine. Manifest the Bionic Nano-Ants for me first!"

...