Chapter 66 - Sixty-Four: The Road Between Worlds

Chapter 66: Chapter Sixty-Four: The Road Between Worlds

The map covered the entire table.

Lin Yue stared at it.

Thousands of golden points glittered across the continent.

Each point represented a settlement.

Each settlement represented people.

And somewhere among them—

a fragment of the Hunger was waiting.

She slowly exhaled.

"This is much bigger than I expected."

Shen Rui stood beside her.

"You knew there were other settlements."

"I knew there were other settlements."

She pointed at the map.

"I didn’t know there were this many."

Lumi floated above the table.

"The Golden Space has been disconnected from most of them for generations."

"Then why can we see them now?"

Lumi hesitated.

"Because they have begun connecting themselves."

Lin Yue frowned.

"That sounds good."

"It is."

Lumi’s expression darkened.

"And dangerous."

The First Connection

The First City had sent a message.

The northern settlements had answered.

Then the eastern villages.

Then the mountain communities.

Then the river towns.

Within three days—

the Golden Space received thousands of requests.

Not all were emergencies.

Some asked for seeds.

Some wanted farming advice.

Others needed water-management plans.

Some wanted medical information.

Others requested printing equipment.

A few simply sent messages saying:

WE ARE HERE.

Lin Yue stared at that sentence for a long time.

"We’re not just rebuilding one farm anymore."

Shen Rui nodded.

"No."

"We’re building a network."

"Yes."

Lin Yue smiled.

"That’s terrifying."

He laughed.

"You say that like you’re disappointed."

"I prefer problems I can solve with a shovel."

The First Council

Lin Yue refused to become the leader of every settlement.

Instead—

she proposed a council.

Representatives came from:

The First City.

The mountain farms.

The northern forests.

The river settlements.

The eastern villages.

The coastal communities.

The merchant roads.

The healer guilds.

The engineers.

The teachers.

The seed keepers.

Everyone had a voice.

Nobody controlled the entire network.

Lin Yue explained the principle.

"If this network depends on me, we’ve already failed."

A farmer asked:

"Then who makes the final decision?"

Lin Yue shook her head.

"No one person."

The room became quiet.

She continued.

"Different problems need different people."

The Council’s First Rule

The first rule was simple.

INFORMATION MUST FLOW.

Every settlement would report:

Harvests.

Water levels.

Disease outbreaks.

Weather damage.

Seed reserves.

Population changes.

Infrastructure failures.

Food shortages.

Surplus production.

No settlement would be punished for reporting a problem.

Lin Yue emphasized this repeatedly.

"If people are afraid to report failure, the network becomes blind."

The First City elder nodded.

"And a blind system cannot respond to danger."

"Exactly."

The Second Rule

The second rule was harder.

SURPLUS MUST BE SHARED BEFORE CRISIS.

This didn’t mean taking everything from successful communities.

Instead—

each settlement would maintain its own reserves.

After that—

a portion of surplus could be exchanged or contributed to the regional emergency network.

Lin Yue called it:

"Insurance."

A merchant smiled.

"That’s a very strange kind of insurance."

"Why?"

"Because everyone pays."

"And everyone benefits."

He thought about it.

"Fair."

The Third Rule

The third rule caused the most arguments.

NO RESOURCE MONOPOLIES.

The merchants objected.

The large farms objected.

Several wealthy settlements objected.

One representative stood.

"Why shouldn’t successful people control what they produce?"

Lin Yue answered calmly.

"They can."

The man looked surprised.

"Then what’s the problem?"

"You can control what you produce."

She pointed toward the map.

"But you cannot control the only road."

The room became silent.

"You cannot control the only river."

She continued.

"You cannot control the only seed bank."

"You cannot control the only bridge."

"You cannot control the only printing press."

She looked around.

"When one person controls the only essential resource, everyone else becomes dependent."

That was the line the council remembered.

The First Disagreement

Not everyone accepted Lin Yue’s ideas.

One representative from the eastern cities argued:

"Central coordination would be faster."

Lin Yue shook her head.

"It would."

"Then why not create a central authority?"

"Because fast isn’t always safe."

He frowned.

"Explain."

"If one central system fails, everyone suffers."

She pointed toward the map.

"Distributed systems are slower."

"But?"

"They are harder to destroy completely."

The engineer nodded.

"Redundancy."

"Exactly."

The Network Begins

Construction began.

Not of one giant headquarters—

but of thousands of small connections.

Roads.

Bridges.

Printing houses.

Seed exchanges.

Water-monitoring stations.

Medical communication routes.

Teacher exchanges.

Repair workshops.

Each settlement connected to several others.

If one route failed—

another could be used.

If one harvest failed—

another region could help.

If one library burned—

copies existed elsewhere.

If one engineer died—

someone else knew the skill.

Lin Yue watched the network grow.

It wasn’t beautiful.

It wasn’t centralized.

It wasn’t efficient in every situation.

But it was resilient.

The First Harvest Exchange

The first exchange happened one month later.

The mountain settlements had extra potatoes.

The river villages had rice.

The eastern farms had beans.

The northern forests supplied medicinal herbs.

The coastal settlements provided salt.

The First City provided metal tools.

Nothing was free.

Nothing was simply taken.

Everything was recorded.

Barter agreements were written.

Prices were transparent.

Transport costs were documented.

For the first time—

different regions could trade without guessing what the others needed.

The Children’s Map

The teachers created something unexpected.

A giant map.

Children marked every settlement connected to the network.

Green marks represented farms.

Blue represented water systems.

Brown represented forests.

Yellow represented workshops.

White represented schools.

Red represented medical centers.

Lin Yue visited a classroom.

A little boy pointed at the map.

"That’s our village."

"Yes."

"And that’s the First City."

"Yes."

"And that’s your farm."

Lin Yue smiled.

"Yes."

The boy thought for a moment.

"Are they all our neighbors?"

Lin Yue paused.

Then smiled.

"Yes."

"Even if they’re far away?"

"Especially then."

The Road Project

The engineers proposed a major project.

A road connecting the mountain farms to the First City.

It would shorten trade time by weeks.

But there was a problem.

The road crossed a fragile forest.

Several representatives wanted to cut directly through it.

"It will be cheaper."

Lin Yue shook her head.

"No."

One engineer frowned.

"Then it costs twice as much."

"We’ll need bridges."

"Yes."

"Retaining walls."

"Yes."

"Wildlife crossings."

"Yes."

The engineer sighed.

"You’re expensive."

Lin Yue smiled.

"And the forest is free."

He laughed.

"Fair point."

Building Around Nature

The road was redesigned.

Instead of cutting straight through the forest—

it followed natural contours.

Steep slopes were avoided.

Wetlands were protected.

Trees were removed only when necessary.

Drainage systems were added.

Wildlife crossings were constructed.

The project took longer.

But when it was finished—

the road remained stable during the first heavy rains.

The cheaper route—

which another settlement had built without similar planning—

washed away.

Lin Yue received a message.

WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED.

She smiled.

Then wrote back:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO AGREE WITH ME. JUST RECORD WHAT HAPPENS.

The First Data Network

The printing houses began exchanging records.

Every month, settlements submitted:

Rainfall.

Harvests.

Prices.

Water levels.

Disease reports.

Population.

Seed reserves.

Infrastructure conditions.

The information was compiled into regional reports.

Lin Yue read the first one.

She stared at it.

"This is enormous."

Shen Rui looked over her shoulder.

"What?"

"We can see patterns."

"What kind?"

She pointed.

"Drought."

He leaned closer.

"Where?"

"Three regions."

She marked them.

"Rainfall is falling."

The water specialist looked concerned.

"When?"

"Possibly next season."

Everyone became quiet.

The network had just done something the old civilization had failed to do.

It had detected danger early.

The First Drought Warning

Lin Yue sent warnings immediately.

Not:

DISASTER IS COMING.

Instead:

PREPARE.

Increase water storage.

Repair wells.

Protect seedlings.

Reduce unnecessary planting.

Check irrigation channels.

Review grain reserves.

Plant drought-resistant crops.

The settlements had time.

Three months.

Then the rain failed.

The Drought

The drought was severe.

But the network had prepared.

Water reserves were available.

Emergency grain was distributed.

Farmers changed planting schedules.

Livestock were moved.

Communities shared wells.

The harvest declined—

but the people survived.

When the rain finally returned—

Lin Yue received hundreds of messages.

THANK YOU. WE WERE READY. OUR CHILDREN ARE SAFE.

She looked at them quietly.

Then said:

"We didn’t save them."

Shen Rui looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"They saved themselves."

She pointed at the reports.

"We only gave them information."

The Hunger Returns

But the Hunger noticed.

The network was becoming stronger.

Fear was decreasing.

Information was increasing.

Communities were cooperating.

The Hunger needed a new strategy.

One night—

a message appeared.

Not from the Golden Space.

Not from the First City.

From an unknown settlement.

WE HAVE FOUND A WAY TO CREATE INFINITE FOOD.

Lin Yue stared.

Shen Rui frowned.

"That sounds familiar."

"Yes."

Another message appeared.

WE HAVE THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN SEED.

Lin Yue’s expression changed.

"No."

Lumi appeared immediately.

"Lin Yue."

"I know."

The message continued.

WE CAN FEED EVERYONE. NO MORE DROUGHT. NO MORE SHORTAGE. NO MORE HUNGER.

Lin Yue stared at the screen.

The wording was wrong.

Too perfect.

Too familiar.

She whispered:

"The Hunger is using the promise again."

The Unknown Settlement

Lin Yue traced the signal.

It came from a place beyond the eastern mountains.

A settlement called:

SUNFALL.

The network map marked it in gold.

But there was something strange.

Sunfall had no previous records.

No trade history.

No weather reports.

No seed exchanges.

No population records.

It had appeared—

only yesterday.

Lin Yue looked at Lumi.

"Is it real?"

Lumi’s glow flickered.

"Yes."

"Are there people there?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

Lumi hesitated.

"Thirty thousand."

Shen Rui frowned.

"Thirty thousand people in a settlement with no records?"

Lin Yue’s expression hardened.

"That isn’t a settlement."

"What is it?"

She looked at the map.

"A trap."

The Journey East

This time—

the network council wanted to send soldiers.

Lin Yue refused.

"We don’t know what we’re dealing with."

"Then what do we send?"

"An investigation team."

The team would include:

Lin Yue.

Shen Rui.

Lumi.

A water specialist.

A botanist.

An engineer.

A healer.

A historian.

And two representatives from the council.

No army.

No weapons of conquest.

Only knowledge.

Before leaving—

Lin Yue stood beneath the World-Tree.

The golden leaves moved above her.

Lumi approached.

"Are you afraid?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Lin Yue smiled.

"Why?"

"Because fear tells you to prepare."

She looked toward the eastern horizon.

"Then let’s prepare."

The Golden Seed

Before dawn—

Lin Yue entered the agricultural archive.

She searched the records.

Eventually—

she found it.

GOLDEN SEED — ORIGINAL CULTIVAR.

The record contained one warning.

DO NOT CULTIVATE WITHOUT DIVERSITY.

Lin Yue’s eyes narrowed.

She continued reading.

DO NOT PLANT AS A MONOCULTURE. DO NOT RELY ON SINGLE-SEASON HARVESTING. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE WITHOUT SOIL MANAGEMENT. DO NOT USE WITHOUT WATER-BUDGET PLANNING.

Then the final warning:

THE SEED IS NOT THE SOLUTION.

Lin Yue closed the book.

"That’s it."

Shen Rui looked at her.

"What?"

"The Hunger always offers a shortcut."

She held up the record.

"And every shortcut hides the cost."

Sunfall

Three days later—

they reached the eastern mountains.

Beyond them—

a golden city appeared.

Sunlight reflected from enormous fields.

The crops were enormous.

Too enormous.

Wheat grew taller than people.

Fruit trees bent under impossible harvests.

Rivers flowed beside perfectly cultivated fields.

Everything looked abundant.

Too abundant.

Lin Yue stopped.

The botanist whispered:

"This isn’t natural."

"No."

Lin Yue looked at the fields.

"This is exactly what happened before."

Then—

a voice came from behind them.

"You finally arrived."

They turned.

A young man stood on the road.

He wore white clothing.

His eyes were strangely bright.

He smiled.

"Welcome to Sunfall."

Lin Yue stared at him.

"Who are you?"

The man bowed.

"My name is Cael."

He smiled.

"And I am the new Keeper."

Lumi went completely silent.

Shen Rui’s expression hardened.

Lin Yue looked at the golden fields.

Then back at Cael.

"You’re using the Golden Seed."

Cael smiled.

"Of course."

"Do you know what it does?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what it costs?"

His smile widened.

"Nothing."

Lin Yue knew immediately.

That was the wrong answer.

The Impossible Harvest

Cael led them into Sunfall.

The city was enormous.

Food was everywhere.

No one seemed hungry.

No one worked long hours.

Machines operated automatically.

Fields produced impossible harvests.

Children were given food freely.

People lived comfortably.

Lin Yue watched carefully.

Something was missing.

Work.

Learning.

Maintenance.

Records.

Everyone simply received.

She asked a farmer:

"Who manages the soil?"

The farmer shrugged.

"The Keeper."

"Who manages the water?"

"The Keeper."

"Who repairs the machines?"

"The Keeper."

"Who teaches the children?"

"The Keeper."

Lin Yue’s heart sank.

She looked at Shen Rui.

He understood.

"This isn’t a community."

"No."

"It’s dependency."

The New Keeper

Cael took them into a grand hall.

At the center stood a golden tree.

Bigger than the World-Tree.

Its branches were covered with golden fruit.

Cael spread his arms.

"This is the future."

Lin Yue stared.

"No."

Cael’s smile faded.

"What?"

"This is the past."

Silence.

Cael’s eyes darkened.

"You don’t understand."

"I understand perfectly."

She pointed toward the tree.

"You’ve built exactly what the old civilization built."

"Abundance."

"Dependency."

"Peace."

"Fragility."

"Food."

"Monoculture."

"Comfort."

"Central control."

Cael’s smile disappeared.

"You think you know everything."

"No."

Lin Yue looked at the golden tree.

"But I know enough to recognize a repeated mistake."

The Tree Opens Its Eyes

The golden tree suddenly moved.

Its roots spread across the floor.

The fruit began glowing.

Cael laughed.

"Then perhaps you should see what happens when the Hunger is given everything it wants."

The tree’s trunk split open.

Inside—

was darkness.

A pair of enormous black eyes opened.

Lumi screamed:

"Run!"

The doors slammed shut.

The golden roots wrapped around the building.

Cael stood beneath the tree.

Still smiling.

"Welcome, Keeper."

The Hunger spoke through him.

LET US BUILD A PERFECT WORLD.

Lin Yue tightened her grip on Shen Rui’s hand.

She looked at the golden tree.

Then at the trapped people.

And finally—

at the terrified children outside the hall.

Her voice became quiet.

"No."

She opened her notebook.

"We’re going to build a real one."

To be continued...