Chapter Four: Bridging Worlds Through the Web

“Too slow!”

A sudden, unfamiliar voice echoed in the ears of those standing guard around the apartment.

“Who’s there?”

Not only the sentries, but even Yan Qiluo, who had been immersed in the world of code, stopped typing and turned her head in astonishment.

Yan Qiluo had always had an exceptional memory since childhood, and she was certain she had never heard this kind of balanced, deep, and slightly languid voice before. Even the perfectly synthesized sounds in the virtual world lacked the soul-piercing quality of this voice.

This voice simply shouldn’t exist in the world of mortals.

“This virtual platform cannot save the world.”

The voice spoke again. Yan Qiluo looked around, finding the people nearby just as puzzled as she was.

“Who are you? Stop lurking—get out here this instant!”

Hands on her hips, her delicate face scrunched up in a pout, Yan Qiluo shouted imperiously at the empty air.

In the void, Ye Han watched this little girl—clearly adorable and youthful—putting on such a comically stern display, and almost lost control of his tone.

“I do not know my own name, but the will of all creation has called me: Hanlan!”

There was confusion in Ye Han’s tone, but before Yan Qiluo could speak, he continued, “Humanity should not vanish from the world because of this catastrophe. My will sensed hope within you, and so I have come!”

“Han... Hanlan?!”

Yan Qiluo gasped at the name, and those around her burst into a frenzy.

Have I overdone it? Ye Han, completely befuddled, stared at Yan Qiluo and her clan.

Incarnations like him usually only guide the development of civilizations; direct intervention is a last resort, only chosen when all else fails, for the cost is immense.

To the living beings bound to a planet, an incarnation is invisible; just manifesting a form consumes at least a million units of origin, and even then, it only lasts a minute!

Transmitting sound is much cheaper—five minutes of conversation costs only a hundred thousand.

Though it pained him to spend his origin, Ye Han had no choice. Xu Fatty’s carbon-based manufacturing device needed people to gather raw materials and to guard the machine from destruction.

As for modifying the parameters for the virtual pod’s clone control chip, though Ye Han was the civilization’s guide and Hanlan had the complete source code, he honestly didn’t know how to do it.

Knowing the principle doesn’t mean you can operate it!

So all of this still required Yan Qiluo and her clan to carry out.

At this thought, Ye Han looked at the little girl below with growing affection.

Meanwhile, Yan Qiluo stood frozen, but in her bright eyes there was not the terror or doubt Ye Han expected—rather, a strange expression.

Ye Han rubbed his eyes, making sure he saw correctly.

What was with that odd look?

While Ye Han puzzled over this, Yan Qiluo finally recovered.

“Our god! It is our god! Our god has not abandoned us!”

Yan Qiluo’s lips curved with a hint of a smile, but then her eyes reddened, tears welling instantly in her large, sparkling eyes.

As she spoke, the confusion on the faces of her clansmen turned to wild excitement. They began to gesture and babble, their eyes filled with a fervor bordering on fanaticism.

“Our god... it’s our god! The Yan clan—no, humanity will be saved!”

Nearly a hundred Yan clansmen, inside and outside the apartment, regardless of what they had been doing or how confused they felt before, all dropped what they were doing, pressed their palms together above their heads, and knelt with unbridled excitement.

“We thank our god for granting humanity the right of creation. In this calamity, we failed to honor the god’s glory—may our god descend punishment upon us!”

Recalling the ancestral teachings passed down through generations, Yan Qiluo knelt, sniffling, gazing up at the void, her face awash with grievance.

Seeing the little girl’s tears fall like golden beans, Ye Han felt a tug at his heart.

Damn, I forgot the previous incarnation descended just over twenty years ago.

Ye Han cursed inwardly, momentarily at a loss.

Over twenty years ago, his predecessor had descended with the virtual mainframe blueprints, and had used the name Hanlan.

No wonder the name came to me so easily!

Wiping his nose helplessly, Ye Han acknowledged this accidental stroke of luck.

Looking at the kneeling Yan clansmen, recalling how his predecessor had once descended, Ye Han realized he could not avoid spending that million units of origin.

“What’s a million? I still have over 4.9 billion—I can afford it!”

Clutching his chest, Ye Han forced himself to ignore the pain and called up the binding interface: “Burn origin, manifest incarnation for three minutes!”

If his predecessor could spend tens of millions, Ye Han thought he shouldn’t be stingy—three minutes it was!

One minute was too brief—it had to be at least three!

As Ye Han’s will activated, his origin points on the binding panel dropped by three million, from 4,933,700,857 to 4,930,700,857.

Origin energy enveloped Ye Han, and brilliant halos of light rendered his form as an indescribable being.

A humanoid figure of light slowly descended from midair, its features only gradually becoming clear as it touched the ground.

With the vague face now visible, the Yan clansmen knelt even more devoutly.

“My god, Yan Qiluo, seventh generation chief of the Yan clan, welcomes your descent!”

Like an abandoned kitten, Yan Qiluo’s suppressed emotions crumbled the moment she saw Ye Han, and she began to sob with tearful eyes.

Seeing her so distraught, and remembering he had just spent three million, Ye Han simply descended to her side and drew the little girl into his embrace.

“Ah!”

Startled by Ye Han’s gesture, Yan Qiluo felt she had sullied her god and tried to wriggle free in a panic.

“Don’t move!”

Feeling the small figure squirm in his arms, Ye Han found it hard to hold onto her with just one arm. He gave her a light smack and said sternly, “This descent lasts only three minutes. The hope of saving Hanlan rests with the Yan clan. Listen carefully to my instructions!”

Yan Qiluo had never been so close to her god before.

Stilled by Ye Han’s admonition and the prospect of divine instruction, she pricked up her ears and listened intently.

Ye Han explained in detail the tasks of guarding the carbon-based manufacturing device and modifying the parameters of the virtual helmet.

After Yan Qiluo repeated his instructions back to him, Ye Han finally felt assured.

“Creating divine guards requires the consumption of flesh and blood, and the initial descent of the guards must be guided by you.”

Once Xu Fatty’s clone had a suitable body, Ye Han finally loosened his grip on Yan Qiluo.

With less than twenty seconds left, Yan Qiluo said in a soft but determined voice, “The Yan clan will fulfill our god’s command! We will never lose your glory!”

“I trust the Yan clan,” Ye Han said gently.

With his affirmation, Yan Qiluo broke into a tearful smile.

Still held tightly in Ye Han’s arms, her whole body stiff with tension, she mentally counted the remaining seconds.

With less than ten seconds left, she suddenly wrapped her arms around Ye Han’s neck, bit her lip, and asked, “Will our god... will you descend to the Yan clan again in the future?”

At that, she squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to look at him.

Using feminine wiles now? This little minx!

Ye Han smiled, pinched her soft cheek, and replied, “That will depend on how the Yan clan performs this time.”

As soon as his words fell, Ye Han’s form vanished, and Yan Qiluo landed with a thump on her backside.

“Our god has departed!”

Rubbing her sore bottom and seeing her clansmen struggling to stifle their laughter, Yan Qiluo’s face flushed with embarrassment.

“What are you looking at? Get up, all of you!” Once she was sure Ye Han had left, her true nature emerged. “You all heard our god’s instructions. What are you waiting for? Get to work!”

With that, she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

“I heard the Su clan came to rule Hanlan because their sixth-generation chief once received the god’s favor.”

“Our god is not as stern as the legends say—he seems much more approachable.”

“That’s because our young chief is so brilliant! Hanlan faces disaster, and our god has descended to the Yan clan. The Su clan has lost divine favor.”

“Indeed! Throughout Hanlan’s history, the chief is the first to touch our god. After this calamity, the Yan clan should rule Hanlan!”

“With the sixth chief dead and the young chief newly instated, she still lacks an official ceremony. Once we complete our god’s instructions, that must be our top priority!”

...

After resolving matters on Hanlan, Ye Han immediately returned to Earth.

He distributed the signal relays he had brought from Hanlan to various parts of China, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Thousands of relays would provide complete, seamless coverage of every corner, all linked to a central base station.

Ye Han had buried this base station deep within an underground cavern.

“Open the interworld channel!”

At his command, a palm-sized spatial rift appeared in the cavern.

Both Earth and Hanlan were his bound planets, and opening a channel between them via his incarnation required no origin cost.

But for another world, like Xiyuan—the site of the college entrance exams—he would need not only massive origin reserves, but also the planet’s coordinates.

He threaded the fiber optic cable he’d prepared through the rift and then sealed the cavern.

At the other end, the cable connected to a base station on Hanlan, specifically at the Yan clan’s base. As long as Yan Qiluo modified the parameters on her end, the Earth base could automatically update via the cable.

“Cross-world internet—initial setup complete!”

Returning home, Ye Han realized three hours had passed.

He enjoyed a hearty meal to replenish his nutrition, then hurried back to Hanlan.

Over there, Yan Qiluo had followed his instructions, leading her people to the virtual helmet manufacturing plant and clearing a safe, open area outside.

Xu Fatty’s carbon-based manufacturing device needed a three-hundred-meter diameter to fully deploy.

Seeing Yan Qiluo ready, Ye Han immediately began spatial alignment.

As soon as the coordinates linked, a massive curtain of light appeared, stretching northward at visible speed, enveloping the cleared ground in three minutes and forming a hemispherical shield.

Within the shield, the projection of a high-tech factory took shape.

After orienting the projection, Ye Han confirmed receipt.

Crack, crack, crack...

With his confirmation, the shield shattered like an eggshell, dissolving into points of light that vanished into the void.