I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

Chapter 173: Chapter 72: Civilization Level, Level 4

”Without you, there wouldn’t be the Shang Siteng of today.”

Faced with Han Zhan’s praise, Shang Siteng’s beautiful eyes rested on him, unabashedly showing her feelings for him.

”The ability of the Nuwa Stone has improved me more than a little; you might not even imagine how important it is to me.”

If we say that the previous Shang Siteng was a genius of the Shang Family, she only had the genius mind and talent but lacked the means to actualize them, needing the support of the Shang Family to do so.

But now, with the Nuwa Stone, Shang Siteng, on her own, can accomplish things that were never possible before.

”The ultra-modern city you’ve built could already compare with the Can Shang Company, right?” Han Zhan asked.

Unexpectedly, Shang Siteng shook her head without hesitation.

”There’s still a big gap compared to the Can Shang Company.”

”According to our Shang Family’s internal civilization level rating, the current Nuwa Continent at most can only be considered Level 4, whereas Can Shang Company, with its years of development, has already reached Level 6 civilization.”

Civilization Level?

This was the first time Han Zhan had heard this term. Before, he didn’t know other members of the Shang Family, and Shang Jianyue would never talk to him about such things.

Sensing the confusion in Han Zhan’s heart, Shang Siteng continued to explain.

”Civilization level is a rating system used by the Can Shang Company to determine the stage of a civilization’s development. This rating isn’t meant for other forces, but rather an internal assessment for the Can Shang Company itself.”

”The civilization level system was also created by Shang Jianyue. He defined the early development of the Can Shang Company as Level 2.”

”A Level 2 civilization can use mature thermal power and large-scale destructive weapons, primarily relying on nuclear power, suitable for modern warfare.”

”A Level 3 civilization sees a rise in technological power, still primarily nuclear, but able to create technological warfare weapons like the Destruction Titan and Nanomites, and some more peculiar, inexplicable things, such as the prototype of Mechanical Ascension.”

Level 3 civilization was the highest level of civilization that Shang Jianyue achieved before his death.

With Shang Jianyue’s talent and genius mind, he had already deduced the development directions beyond Level 4, Level 5, and even Level 6, but due to environmental limitations, i.e., the so-called hardware not keeping up, some critical problems were left unbroke, leading to a bottleneck in development.

After Shang Jianyue’s death, based on the civilization level theory he proposed, generation after generation of Can Shang successors continued to make unremitting efforts.

The civilization level of the Can Shang Company began to steadily improve, just as Shang Jianyue had foreseen the future.

”A Level 4 civilization sees quantum power undergo more comprehensive research and development, gradually replacing nuclear power to become mainstream. From this stage, modern warfare is no longer confined to the battlefield; the battlefield has been expanded into a broader Star Sea.”

”A Level 5 civilization sees quantum power research reach its peak. The design of star fleets and cosmic mother ships is proposed, taking Star Sea warfare to the next level. At this stage, some ’geniuses’ within the Can Shang Company, thinking too highly of themselves, opened up a research branch, which is now the Abnormal Skeleton Warrior.”

The Abnormal Skeleton Warrior is a research branch that is ’self-righteous.’

At least from Shang Jianyue’s perspective, that was the evaluation given.

Fortunately, on the broader strategic direction, though the Can Shang Company wasted some energy, it still largely adhered to the civilization ladder proposed by Shang Jianyue, making gradual improvements.

The Can Shang Company’s most recent upgrade was to its current civilization level, Level 6.

”In a Level 6 civilization, Can Shang Company discovered a whole new energy—no, rather, they transformed Spiritual Power into a new energy source. This technology is in the hands of only a select few Shang Family leaders, with fewer than five people knowing of its existence.”

”This new energy basis, spiritual power, not only created ’Energy Bricks’ but also the kinetic cores of those War Fortresses, and the energy cores for space-based weapons, among others.”

The strength of these weapons is indisputable, serving as the ultimate strategic weapons and trump cards for the Can Shang Company, their use being exceedingly rare.

After listening to Shang Siteng’s detailed explanation of the Can Shang Company’s civilization level grading, Han Zhan gained much more understanding of the Can Shang Company.

”So, does that mean that the recently resurrected Shang Jianyue, using Level 3 technology, managed to trounce a bunch of Level 6 civilizations?” Han Zhan suddenly contemplated a question.

On this point, Shang Siteng offered a different perspective.

”Shang Jianyue being able to temporarily triumph over the Can Shang Company had some elements of chance.”

”First, because he is Shang Jianyue—the most talented founding ancestor and the father of Mechanical Ascension, the senior Shang Family would never be decisive about wiping him out completely unless absolutely necessary. This, in turn, ruled out resorting to Level 5, Level 6 technology.”

”Then, Shang Jianyue’s Level 3 and the Can Shang Company’s Level 3 differ; Shang Jianyue’s understanding and mastery of Level 3 technology were notably more thorough and extreme. That’s why he could create technological wonders like the Destruction Titan and Nanomites, technologies that haven’t been fully passed down.”

”Lastly, without you, he might not have lasted until activating the Titan Fortress and completing the final step. Because, in his era, the Titan Fortress still used nuclear power and was overall quite lacking.”

With Han Zhan’s support, Shang Jianyue managed to buy time to understand the Level 6 kinetic core iteration on the Titan Fortress and its activation principles and, through a ’backdoor’ left by himself, activated the Titan Fortress.

Shang Siteng truly deserves to be the new-generation genius of the Shang Family, as her analysis lays bare all of Shang Jianyue’s scheming and methodologies.

It’s like the saying: insiders watch for the way, outsiders watch for the spectacle.

The outside world merely viewed it as a lone Shang Jianyue giving Can Shang Company a severe slap, even beating a resurrected founding ancestor.

In reality, the depths were much more profound.

Setting aside the affairs between Shang Jianyue and the Can Shang Company, the conversation between the two returned to focus on themselves.

”So, what is your main mission now on this Nuwa Continent?” Han Zhan asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to confirm his suspicions.

Shang Siteng gave a bitter smile, raising her eyes to the sky above.

There, a massive gap was glaringly present.

”As you can see, my role as this world’s Nuwa Saint gives me the main mission—’Repairing the Sky.’”

Legend has it that Nuwa crafted five-colored stones to mend the hole in the sky.

Does this mean Shang Siteng needs to craft [Five-Colored Stone]?

What exactly is this so-called five-colored stone?

Shang Siteng glanced at Han Zhan, seemingly deep in thought, and looked at the group of people behind him, interrupting, ”The main mission can wait; I think you might need a hearty meal and a night’s rest more.”

Or perhaps a night of development.

Shang Siteng silently added in her heart.