Chapter 281 The Slow Growth of the Earth's Crust

Kyoto Alliance, Underground Control Room of the Supreme Academy of Sciences.

At three in the morning, the entire hall was still brightly lit.

Dozens of suspended light screens covered half the wall, with global geological monitoring maps, spiritual pressure fluctuation maps, gravity anomaly curves and deep rock strata profiles overlapping each other. The red, blue and gold lines were densely packed, making one's eyes ache.

"The results of the third review are in."

A young researcher, his voice strained, pushed the latest data onto the main screen.

"It's not an error, nor is it equipment drift. In the past 72 hours, 37 deep monitoring sites around the world have simultaneously observed thickening of the rock strata."

"The smallest increase in thickness was observed in the northern permafrost region, at 0.27 meters."

"The largest one is located at the intersection of the Kunlun Mountains and the western Sichuan geological formations, and it has already exceeded 1.3 meters."

No one spoke in the meeting room.

Wang Mingyuan stood in front of the control panel, staring at the ever-rising cross-sectional curve, his gaze gradually darkening.

Thickening of the rock strata is no small matter.

In particular, it increases globally in a synchronized manner.

This is no longer a simple geological movement, nor can it be explained by the compression of a certain plate.

"Overlay the mass spectrum and the spiritual pressure spectrum."

He spoke.

The next moment, the two sets of data were displayed simultaneously.

Beneath the slowly rising rock strata curve, a very faint golden mist-like structure is flowing gently at the boundary between the mantle and the crust, like some extremely thin yet real nutrient layer, seeping little by little into the rocks, mineral layers and fault zones.

"Does it look like... it's growing?"

In the corner, an old geologist with hair as messy as a bird's nest suddenly spoke up.

No one responded.

Because everyone knows that this statement sounds absurd, but when applied to the data in front of us, it is chillingly accurate.

The Earth is growing.

It's not the kind of wild expansion that's like a landslide or earthquake.

It's not like the old-era geological movements such as plate collisions or volcanic uplift.

Instead, under the continuous nourishment of spiritual energy, the earth's crust, mineral veins, mountains, and the earth veins themselves are "growing" outward in an extremely slow, yet terrifyingly stable way.

"The second set of on-site footage is coming in."

As soon as Wang Mingyuan finished speaking, the main screen quickly split into three sections.

The first piece is an old mining area on the south side of the Jianghuai defense line.

The place had been completely mined out three months ago, and theoretically, only a thin layer of waste ore should remain. But now, a new layer of dark gold ore veins is slowly emerging on the rock walls deep inside the mine, crawling outwards along the cracks like tree roots, with an incompletely solidified spiritual light on the surface.

The second site is the construction site of the underground refuge layer of a newly built fortified city in western Sichuan.

The load-bearing stone beams, which the workers had just finished pouring using a magic array yesterday, were retested this morning and it was found that a denser layer of gray-black rock had naturally grown around the beams. The rock was nearly twice as hard as the original design value, as if the mother structure had actively added a layer of bone to the city.

The third piece is even stranger.

That was an old rift valley beneath the permafrost of the North. In what was once an empty, deep crevice, tiny crystalline rock layers were now slowly closing, like granulation tissue growing from a wound, gradually stitching up the cracked earth.

"It's not a simple mineral redeposition."

"It's not simply spiritual pressure tempering."

Wang Mingyuan stared at the screen and said, word by word, "This is the mother planet using spiritual energy to actively repair itself."

As soon as those words were spoken, someone in the control room finally couldn't help but gasp.

The home planet repaired itself.

A year ago, such words would have been dismissed as the ravings of a madman. But now, no one can laugh.

Because all monitoring results point to the same conclusion—

The revival of spiritual energy does more than just make living beings stronger.

It is also allowing the planet itself to gradually recover from the depletion of the long end of the Dharma and countless wars.

......

That morning, several key footage clips and summaries of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' conclusions were simultaneously pushed to the Wartime Coordination Office, major fortified cities, and frontline engineering systems.

People's initial reaction was almost always one of bewilderment.

It wasn't until more and more construction teams, mining teams, and city defense troops witnessed the changes firsthand that the whole thing truly exploded.

The second fortress city, the outer ring construction site.

Old Ding was squatting next to the support frame on the third basement level, using a welding torch to repair an interface of a psionic rail.

A worker nearby suddenly cursed, his voice trembling.

"Old Ding, look over there!"

Old Ding looked up and paused for a moment.

The load-bearing rock wall that had just been cleared last night was now a full hand thicker than it had been this morning. The once clear cutting marks were now mostly covered by the newly formed rock crust, and faint spiritual mist was still slowly seeping out from the depths of the cracks, as if the stone itself was breathing.

"Don't touch it!"

The array master above immediately shouted and led his men to jump off the testing platform.

After scanning through a string of data, the man's eyes widened in astonishment.

"The intensity has increased."

"The spiritual guidance is also higher than last night..."

The construction site quickly erupted in chaos.

Some people thought it was ominous, some thought it was a good omen, and some even laughed out loud, saying that this damned planet had finally learned to grow some bones.

Regardless of what they said, everyone acted much faster.

Because this implies a very real thing—

Cities cannot be built solely by people.

Our home planet is also helping.

......

The situation is even more direct in the Jianghuai mining area.

A mining team that was originally preparing to withdraw withdrew its evacuation order after detecting the regeneration of abandoned ore. Not long after the newly set up temporary formation was erected, the ore vein continued to extend deeper at a visible speed, and even some low-grade spirit stone layers that should have been completely depleted began to glow faintly again.

"This isn't a mine."

An old mine foreman squatted in front of the newly grown mine wall, his hands trembling.

"This is called giving birth."

The language was crude, but no one objected.

Because for the entire league, this is the most valuable news right now.

The Earth is growing.

The mine is growing.

The earth's veins are growing.

Even the old spiritual veins that had been completely drained by the great war began to show signs of slow resurgence.

The first consequence of this is that resource estimates from all parties have been drastically rewritten.

That same day at noon, the War Coordination Agency changed the original "Three-Year Resource Conservation Plan" into the "Five-Year Expansion Plan".

More lower refuge levels have been approved for expansion.

More defensive formations are being strengthened.

Even several small and medium-sized fortified cities that had originally been planned to be abandoned have been reinstated on the reinforcement list.

Because everyone can see it—

If the struggle continues for a while longer, this planet will naturally develop more buffer zones, more mineral deposits, and more sustainable human habitats.

……

Of course, change never brings only hope.

It will also bring new greed.

In the afternoon, at the Kyoto Alliance resource allocation meeting, the people from several powerful families were already getting restless.

"Newly formed mineral veins must be sealed off as a priority."

"The newly formed ley lines should be developed by capable individuals first."

"It would be a real sin to waste this window of opportunity for resource expansion."

That's well said.

But everyone present understood what it meant.

What they fear is not waste.

What they fear is that the benefits won't end up in their hands.

Without hesitation, the Wartime Operations Office immediately issued the new decree:

All newly added mineral veins, newly formed spiritual veins, and crustal expansion zones will be automatically added to the Alliance's wartime public property list.

No entity may excavate, occupy, or seize land without permission.

The moment this order was issued, countless people's expressions changed.

Because this is no longer the kind of loosening that used to be, where people "share more and keep less."

Instead, it ruthlessly controlled the ownership of new resources at the source.

You want to rob me?

Row.

Let's survive the main tide first.

......

Ordinary people experience this change more directly.

Overnight, a thicker layer of fertile black soil appeared on the wasteland outside the city.

The old spring in the mountains suddenly flowed back.

Some low-grade medicinal herbs that originally required repeated stimulation from plant masters to grow have grown significantly faster.

Even the oppressive dryness and hardness in the air seemed to be gently supported by some thicker foundation.

Not everyone can understand those geological curves and academy reports.

But they could see the ground beneath their feet gradually changing.

Many people had a very strange feeling for the first time.

Like this planet, which has been overdrawn, burned by war, and nourished by spiritual energy countless times, it is not completely dead.

It's still holding on.

It's still growing.

I'm still trying to get back on my feet.

……

In the evening, the Supreme Academy of Sciences released a simplified version of its conclusions.

There were no flowery words, only a very calm statement:

[Confirmed: Under continuous spiritual energy infusion, the mother planet is undergoing long-term, slow, and holistic crustal proliferation and leyline repair.]

When the news broke, many people's first reaction was not cheering, but rather stunned.

Because they suddenly realized that the current battle was not just between humans and demons fighting desperately.

This planet itself is also struggling.

The front lines, construction sites, black markets, hospitals, and mining areas—many places were briefly quiet for a few seconds.

Then everyone started moving even faster.

Because hope, once it is truly realized, is more compelling than slogans in motivating people to keep moving forward.

In the conference room of the Kyoto Supreme Council, the heads of several families stared at the report with a different look in their eyes.

What does the growth of the mother planet mean?

This means that mineral veins, spiritual veins, land, city defense infrastructure, and cultivation resources will all see an expansion in the future.

This means the ceiling has been raised a bit.

This also means—

With enough resources at hand, it's entirely possible to cultivate a group of people at an even higher level within these few years.

No one in the meeting room spoke openly about it.

But some things, once they flash in your eyes, are enough.

This planet is growing.

And new desires began to grow along with it.