195: Chapter 195 Lin Mo's Prestige: Navigator of Civilization
The seventh Earth day after the conclusion of the meeting in the Ark city.
In the Kunlun world, atop that symbolic central floating mountain, crowds were surging. No, it wasn't a physical crowd, but rather hundreds of millions of consciousness projections gathering here, illuminating the virtual peak and the surrounding sea of clouds like an ocean of light. This was an unprecedented virtual assembly, unorganized by the GDA yet formed spontaneously.
The participants' virtual avatars took myriad forms, ranging from simple humanoids to imaginative fantasy designs. Yet, at this moment, all their "gazes" were focused on the center of the mountain peak's platform. There stood a minimalist projection, blurred by the system yet "perceived" by everyone as Lin Mo. There was no speech, no movement—merely a symbolic presence.
Invisible information streams surged through the underlying network of Kunlun. These were direct "thoughts" emitted by countless consciousnesses, unconverted by language, coalescing into a grand and warm background sound:
"Thank you, Navigator!"
"Because of you, we have seen the light."
"Lead us forward!"
"For civilization!"
These thoughts were not blind personality worship, but rather a sincere entrustment of a symbol, a direction, and a hope. The name Lin Mo, and his image, had transcended the barriers of borders, ethnicities, and cultures to become the core symbol of the grand narrative: "Human civilization finding a way out of desperation and uniting for the future." He was Patriot X, the source of technical miracles, the proposer of the Civilization Cornerstone Plan, the invisible force pushing the GDA from cooperation toward integration, and the direct reason ordinary people could eat their fill, cure their illnesses, use endless energy, and live under blue skies.
In the physical world of the GDA member zones, this prestige manifested in more concrete ways.
In school history and social studies classes, in chapters regarding the "Era of the Great Turning Point," Lin Mo's contributions were placed on equal footing with the giants who pioneered scientific eras. In children's drawings of future cities, a blurred figure pointing the way often appeared. In factory break areas, when workers spoke of "Consultant Lin's latest instructions to speed up a certain production line's modification," their tone carried pride and urgency, as if it were a direct exhortation from "one of their own."
In research institutions, the "Lin Mo Conjecture" or the "Lin Mo Direction" became the most efficient passes, representing frontier topics derived from system reverse engineering and future technology tree guidance that were not yet fully understood, attracting the top minds to follow one after another. Even when the system performed major strategic deductions, it would note: "This plan conforms to the 'Civilization Resilience Priority' principle proposed early on by the Navigator."
Every short speech or technical suggestion he released after review (through official GDA channels) would be repeatedly interpreted, studied, and discussed globally, becoming an important reference coordinate for policy-making, technical breakthroughs, and even social trends. He was no longer just the Dragon Country's peerless national scholar, but the well-deserved "Navigator of Civilization" in the hearts of the entire GDA and all those yearning for the GDA's path.
Ark City, Lin Mo's private workspace.
The place was so minimalist it was nearly empty, containing only necessary interfaces and a massive virtual window that could toggle between any data display. Su Xiaowan handed him the latest global public opinion and belief index analysis report, her face wearing a complex expression.
"Consultant Lin, the positive sentiment index and symbolic identification related to the 'Navigator' have increased by another 22 percentage points over the past week. In some areas, especially grassroots communities that have undergone profound improvements, there have already appeared some... spontaneous folk commemorative acts with slight religious overtones," Su Xiaowan phrased her words carefully. "For example, combining your virtual image with concepts like 'hope,' 'future,' and 'protection' in artistic creations or even small ceremonies. The GDA Cultural Committee is asking if we need to guide or downplay this?"
Lin Mo looked at the folk paintings and writings in the report, filled with simple emotions and even some clumsiness, and fell silent for a moment. In the paintings, a silhouette surrounded by a halo pointed toward the stars, with fields of harvest and recovering patients at his feet. In the writings, they called him the "Lighthouse Keeper of the Starry Sea" and the "Rudder of Civilization."
"There is no need for deliberate guidance, nor for forced downplaying," Lin Mo finally said slowly. "This is a natural expression of people seeking spiritual sustenance and collective identity amidst immense pressure and uncertainty about the future. The key is that I cannot be allowed to personally replace the more fundamental concepts of 'unity,' 'science,' and 'civilization.' The GDA's official propaganda and the narrative tone of Kunlun must always emphasize collective wisdom and universal struggle, stressing that technology belongs to all of humanity and the future is co-created by everyone. I am merely a... pathfinder who discovered the map earlier and pointed out the direction."
He paused, looking at Su Xiaowan. "Tell the Cultural Committee they can encourage works that celebrate unity, courage, innovation, and dedication. For those involving me personally, ensure the tone is 'thanking a pioneer' rather than 'worshipping a deity.' Additionally, make arrangements; I will hold a public Q&A session in Kunlun soon, with the theme 'Our Civilization, Our Future.' The focus will be on answering public questions regarding technology inclusivity, integration challenges, and deep space defense. The system will randomly select questions throughout to highlight the collective nature."
Su Xiaowan recorded the instructions, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes. To maintain nearly cold rationality and respect for collective power at a moment of such invisible prestige was perhaps one of the reasons Lin Mo could bear the name of "Navigator."
"Also," Lin Mo added, "monitoring of Wilkins' side... and all remnants of the old powers cannot be relaxed. When personal prestige reaches a certain level, one also most easily becomes a target for concentrated attacks. Since they cannot shake the GDA as a whole now, they might try more despicable means, such as creating rumors about me, plotting targeted assassinations (though the probability is extremely low), or trying to prove the 'Navigator's' decisions have 'fatal errors' to strike at public confidence."
"Understood. The counterattack of the 'Pure Fire' plan is ongoing, and most of the external public opinion mist has dissipated. Internal security and anti-infiltration levels have remained at the highest.", Su Xiaowan replied.
Just then, Lin Mo's personal terminal received a highest-priority alert brief from the system, marked as "Civilizational Sociological Deduction." He browsed it quickly, his eyes narrowing slightly.
The core conclusion of the brief was: as the Navigator's personal symbolic significance became overly focused during the early stages of integration (despite it being unintentional by officials), there existed a certain potential risk—namely, that some citizens and grassroots executors might subconsciously simplify complex social governance and technological development issues into "waiting for the Navigator's instructions." In the long term, this could suppress grassroots initiative and innovative diversity, forming an implicit "decision-making dependency," and trigger a disproportionate shock to confidence should the Navigator ever have an accident (such as health issues or a future strategic judgment being proven imperfect).
"See, even the system has issued a warning," Lin Mo shared the brief with Su Xiaowan. "Prestige is a double-edged sword. It can consolidate consensus, but it can also invisibly weaken the system's resilience. We must accelerate the construction of institutionalized and decentralized decision-making mechanisms, so that the GDA machine can continue to operate in the right direction even if it temporarily lacks clear guidance from a 'Navigator,' relying on perfected rules, shared knowledge, and collective wisdom."
This was perhaps another profound proposition that had to be faced under the pressure of civilizational survival: how to avoid putting all of civilization's eggs in one basket while possessing a nearly irreplaceable spiritual and technical leader, ensuring the ship of civilization itself functions, rather than relying solely on the helmsman.
At this moment, atop the floating mountain in the Kunlun world, that ocean of light continued to surge silently, transmitting trust and expectation toward the symbolic projection at the center.
Within the shrinking sphere of influence of the Pretty Country, Wilkins and others watched various reports about the Navigator's prestige with gritted teeth. That sun-like reputation made all their attempts at smearing and sowing discord appear laughable and powerless, leaving behind only deeper despair and more poisonous resentment.
Meanwhile, in the quiet cabin of Ark City, Lin Mo had already incorporated that warning brief into his new work agenda. He looked out the window, where the welding sparks of the lunar shipyard flickered like stars, and the blue light of Earth was gentle and steady.
What he carried was the hope and future of billions. This weight made him not dare to slacken in the slightest, and it also made him constantly vigilant, lest this overly heavy trust conversely become a shackle to the progress of civilization.
The Navigator's true mission was perhaps not just to lead, but to let civilization learn to see its own course at the appropriate time, and even... to cultivate the next, and the next after that, Navigator.
The system interface quietly emerged, and a new, slightly golden prompt appeared:
[Detected that the host's personal prestige is highly bound to civilizational symbolic significance. Triggered hidden task: The Way of Balance.]
[Task Requirement: Seek a dynamic balance between maintaining necessary leadership and promoting the decentralization and diversification of the civilizational decision-making system to ensure long-term resilience.]
[Progress: Initial. Reward: Unknown. Warning: Excessive bias toward either extreme may lead to a distortion of the civilization's development path.]