Chapter 631 - 4: Returning to the Divine Wood World

—The flow of time in the Divine Wood World is different from that in the Earth World.

To be precise, in the Ice-Crystallized Void, every world partitioned by the Great Seal experiences time at a different rate.

It could be a hundred times faster, a thousand times faster, or even ten thousand times slower. It could even be a hundred million years passing in a single second—anything is possible.

Su Zhou knew this from the moment he first crossed over, and he had told Shao Qiming as well—the time ratio between the Divine Wood World and Earth Time was approximately 50 to 1.

"Fifty years pass for them for every one of our years. And Azhou, you’ve been away from the Divine Wood World for over two years now, haven’t you? That means over a hundred years must have passed for them."

As he spoke, Shao Qiming sorted through the various supplies and equipment in the room, packing them into a large bag.

Once he was finished, he sat down on the sofa and rubbed his temples, looking weary. "For a feudal society, a hundred-odd years isn’t a big deal. You wouldn’t expect to see any drastic changes."

"But the Divine Wood World has already developed True Qi Cannons and True Qi Furnaces—technologies comparable to the generators and artillery of our world. This shows that they were only a single step away from entering their own industrial age."

"That’s true."

Su Zhou’s brow furrowed slightly as he nodded.

He was currently maintaining the sword scabbard for his Blade of Annihilation. The blade itself was self-cleaning, and practically nothing could tarnish a weapon of its caliber, so only the sword scabbard required upkeep.

Responding to Shao Qiming’s concerns, Su Zhou replied in a serious tone, "Actually, they’d already managed to build Flying Airships back when I was there. I heard large ships powered by True Qi Furnaces were also under development. I’m actually pretty excited to see that kind of True Qi machinery, it’s a bit like Magic Guide Technology!"

"This is no time to be excited..." Shao Qiming sighed heavily at his friend’s carefree attitude and tried to put things in perspective. "Human technological development accelerates over time. A hundred years is a blink of an eye in the Stone Age. For a primitive society, it’s just the reign of a few Leaders. Even a feudal kingdom wouldn’t change dramatically in that time."

"But a hundred years is enough for humanity to go from inventing the first airplane to making round trips to Mars!"

At this, Shao Qiming’s tone grew more insistent. "Since they already had the prerequisite technologies for preliminary industrialization, we’ll likely be facing a Divine Wood World with 19th or 20th-century level technology. Or, to be more dramatic, maybe they’ve even entered the information age? Though I doubt that’s possible."

"I know what you’re getting at." Su Zhou smiled, seemingly unfazed by his friend’s concerns. "You think that because fifty of their years pass for every one of ours, their rate of development is fifty times faster than ours, right?"

"Exactly."

Shao Qiming picked up a drone from the floor and presented it to Su Zhou. It was a high-tech marvel incorporating extensive biotechnology and the latest Optical Invisibility armor. "Time is the greatest asset. It took Zhengguo twenty years to go from building the first drone to developing its ninth-generation weapons system. The more advanced a civilization is, the more technology and progress it can accumulate over time."

"With a fifty-fold advantage in developmental speed, the Divine Wood World will rapidly catch up to us, then surpass us. We’ll never have a chance to close the gap—unless we could somehow develop fifty times faster than them."

Here, Shao Qiming’s eyes narrowed, his voice taking on a hard edge. "That’s what worries me. If, one day, they discover the Earth World and decide to invade, we’ll be facing an opponent that’s developing its population and technology fifty times faster than we are. They’d basically be cheating. That’s an intolerable risk."

"That’s why, this time, I used your name to bring along this batch of ’Micro-Biological Warheads’."

"Biological warheads? Oh, the bioweapons the Plague Saint said had been made combat-ready a while back... ’I think I even voted in favor of them...’"

Raising an eyebrow, Su Zhou glanced at the miniature warheads sealed inside a metal safe. His gaze could penetrate the casing; thanks to his Spiritual Power Perception, not even lead could block his sight.

"Well now... genetically modified bubonic plague, smallpox, a new strain of swine flu, and an altered influenza virus... Quite the collection!" Su Zhou calmly listed the viruses stored within the warheads, clicking his tongue. "High-tech, solar-powered stealth drones with Optical Invisibility, plus these super-bacteria and viruses... Qiming, if you wanted to destroy a world, it would probably take you less than a month."

"It’s just a precaution. It all depends on you. After all, I requisitioned them under your name. If you forbid it, I won’t use them."

Shao Qiming was a little surprised by Su Zhou’s tone. He had expected his friend to be angry. After all, Su Zhou had saved that world; he naturally wouldn’t want to see it destroyed.

But necessary precautions had to be taken. If the Divine Wood World ever truly threatened Earth and their families, he wouldn’t hold back in the slightest. And given Su Zhou’s character, he would absolutely never permit such a thing.

But now, Su Zhou’s tone was surprisingly calm, and Shao Qiming couldn’t quite understand why.

So, he added guiltily, "Look, I’m not trying to be so grim. When I first found out we could go to an Otherworld, I was actually really excited. Unlike the Beast God Realm, the Divine Wood World is a world with a human civilization. There ought to be all kinds of new and amazing things there that you can’t see on Earth."