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Huazhong District actually quietly launched the project twenty years ago?

All the representatives from other areas immediately exploded into an uproar, expressing their condemnation!

Such an act that could potentially bring disaster to the entire Digital City, and they didn’t even discuss it before doing it?

For a moment, the majority of the representatives were filled with righteous indignation.

The representatives from Huazhong District, however, showed little expression, having known this intelligence before coming.

Although many representatives were unhappy about the military district quietly starting this project, and there was even the intention to pursue this matter internally, externally, Huazhong District had always been firm.

"Cough... Everyone, please keep your cool..."

The representative from Huazhong District spoke up, "Indeed, there was negligence on our part, but the project originated from us in Huazhong, and whether to use it for research is our internal affair. Let’s ask ourselves, haven’t other areas also researched some forbidden projects in secret?"

"Lee..." The leader of the North America District representatives began, "No other project is more dangerous than the one from Huazhong. Originally, entrusting that project to Huazhong was a sign of trust in you, and now... you have betrayed that trust!"

"That’s a biased view, Mister Wills," the representative named Lee laughed, "The main reason the project was put under the control of Huazhong District is because we provided eighty percent of its energy, as well as the fact that the project itself is a resource from Huazhong. Now that we’re willing to share the results, it’s already considering the friendship within the Federation, otherwise.

.. do you really think we lack the capability to research independently? "

With these words, the other areas became even more agitated, hurling accusations one after another.

Wu Xiaoli sat at her seat with her head down, not speaking and looking impatient.

Politics within the Federation is just troublesome, every time a serious matter is discussed it turns into endless bickering. What’s the use of all this talk?

Huazhong District is now the area with the highest energy output, possessing the best photovoltaic and nuclear technologies, and producing more engineers every year than all other areas combined.

Half of the Digital City’s energy comes from Huazhong.

Would any other district dare to confront them directly?

If they don’t dare, what’s the point of making a fuss here? What a waste of time...

If it weren’t for the full operation of this project being too energy-intensive, creating too much pressure for independent research in Huazhong, they wouldn’t have even considered letting other districts within the Federation participate.

Being treated to such a windfall and still putting on a facade of moral condemnation to demand more benefits is really a lack of foresight.

As expected, it wasn’t long before other districts proposed issues concerning the distribution of shares after participating in the project.

But on this matter, Huazhong did not budge an inch.

After so many years of investment into this project, with Huazhong contributing the most, how could they possibly give ground?

Eventually, after over an hour of noisy quarreling, there was only one outcome: In future task advancements, if individuals from other districts make significant contributions to the game modifications, they can be considered for a greater allocation of slots.

With a compromise reached that provided a way out, Wu Xiaoli, who had been standing for over an hour, was finally able to start introducing the new situation.

"The first batch of players has now mostly gained control over that world within the game, but those adventurers are not a professional national team. I will distribute detailed intelligence on their origins to everyone present," she stated.

The next second, every representative received a list on their smart devices.

Many from Huazhong District were receiving this intelligence for the first time as well, and for a moment, the entire congress once again fell silent.

Back then, in order to see more virtual worlds developed, governments from all major districts encouraged the people of Digital City to join various game developments as adventurers. Nobody thought at the time that the extremely difficult Demonic World would bring such great benefits...

By the time the government realized and wanted to get involved, it was almost too late!

After multiple investments, they were defeated by the guild players inside, reduced to amnesiac civilians.

Moreover, as players inside evolved to an unimaginable realm, each individual’s data volume became incredibly vast, making it so that the authorities hardly dared to easily open up that place again for new players.

Every time they were to open a portal, it had to be done with extreme caution.

Otherwise, if an invasion was launched in return, it could spell an utter disaster!

The report indicated that the first batch of players were from forty thousand years ago, with people from all districts among them. But winning them over with favors was nearly impossible—after all, to many present here, those inside might as well be their ancestors...

"Because opening a safe channel is quite complex and requires a tremendous amount of energy, the number of entry slots is limited," Wu Xiaoling stated directly. "We have selected three individuals for our side, all based on big data analysis—descendants of the original developers!"

"Their genes have inheritance, so they can reconstruct many memories from that era using algorithms. As descendants of the developers, they’re privy to information about subsequent versions and have a certain chance to turn the tables, or at the very least, secure a foothold in that world."

Descendants of the developers?

The other representatives were momentarily stunned, thinking that in this case, Huazhong District still had the biggest advantage. Once their people took control of the game, wasn’t it Huazhong who would dictate the distribution of resources afterward?

"You provided the energy, so you may continue to send in your people according to one third of the energy provided by you, but you must contribute two thirds to support the passage we have opened," Wu Xiaoli stated the ultimate purpose at this moment.

"This..." The councilors from the other districts found themselves in an uproar again. Wasn’t this plain extortion?

Did it mean they had to provide three times the energy just to place one person inside? Weren’t they just trying to get a free ride?

What did Huazhong mean by this? Not contributing any energy at all this time, relying entirely on subsidies from others?

"For research purposes, we have already spent too much energy. The current energy shortage is also something we can’t help," Wu Xiaoli replied with a frosty face.

The other councilors from Huazhong didn’t say much more. They held the initiative now. Despite mainly aiming to siphon off energy from the other districts, they were hardly polite about it: take it or leave it; if you won’t do it, then get lost. There were plenty of others willing to take the task.

Unlike Huazhong, the other districts were still dominated by large capital holdings, with many energy projects in the hands of capitalists.

Even if these councilors refused now, for the sake of profit, those major capitalists would still likely cooperate secretly with Huazhong District.

This was something everyone present was well aware of.

So, despite the noisy quarreling, the end result was still a reluctant agreement to join the treaty.

However, the specific candidates were still under consideration.

It took nearly eight hours of discussion to work out all the intricacies of the agreement.

Wu Xiaoli, who had introduced the project, had excused herself five hours earlier to meet with the newly arrived mining youth.

--------------------------------

"Do you have a rough understanding of the situation?" Wu Xiaoli looked at the awkward youth, feeling somewhat helpless.

This kid had no military training to speak of. Could he really complete the task by just being thrust into it?

But there was no choice, with the urgency of time.

According to those managing the interface to that world, "several massive data entities in that world have reached an extremely exaggerated state.

If we allow them to grow any further, they might directly break through the game interface and establish an active connection to Digital City.

Once that happens, it would truly be a disaster descending upon us. "

Therefore, completing the task was not solely about exploring a new world but also a form of self-preservation.

Unless the energy support for that world was completely shut down, but those in power would never allow it. Because once shut down, that virtual world might directly collapse, and Digital City would definitively lose the possibility to explore that world.....

Actually, she was in favor of shutting it down. She always felt that the world... posed greater danger than benefits. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the decision-maker...

"I... roughly... understand..." the youth stammered.

Wu Xiaoli sighed and continued, "After this, you will stay in Digital City and undergo military and mission training for a whole year. Time is of the essence, so you must get into the groove immediately!"

"Yes, officer... I will do my best to complete the task!" the youth said excitedly.

Complete the task?

This young man sure had a big mouth...

Wu Xiaoli shook her head amusedly. Now, this kid had no idea about the level of difficulty of the task he was supposed to complete.

"Officer..."

"Speak!"

"May I ask, everyone says that I’m a descendant of that group of developers, that I inherited the developer’s genes, which is why I can participate in this mission. May I ask... who is my ancestor?"

"You’re Jiang Xiaoling, right?"

"Yes..."

"There were two principal designers of this vast virtual world.

One was responsible for creating the Demons, named Pu Yunchuan.

He had no descendants and passed away from illness at forty.

Even though the Federation had begun popularizing digital uploading technology by then, no records of Pu Yunchuan uploading his own data were ever found.

The second one is your ancestor: Jiang City! "