Chapter 273 225: History! Divine Continent Netizens: World's Number 1 Running Man—Chu Bamboo

"What the hell was that thing? And what was that about an 'off-world weapon'..."

Chu Bamboo recalled what Nuwa No. 17 had reported earlier, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably as he faintly grasped the terrifying implications.

Though he thought he had already greatly overestimated the upper limits of a Transcendent's power, it now seemed he had still underestimated it.

At the same time, Chu Bamboo's heart ached.

'My god, all that power was left for him by his good brother and grand-niece! And it was just consumed by the river of time?'

'It hurts... It hurts so much!'

After taking a long moment to sort through his thoughts and calm himself, Chu Bamboo finally composed himself and started to walk out. But after just two steps, a thought struck him. He frowned, looking at the Little Mushroom Head trailing closely behind him.

"Nuwa No. 17, can you recount my life story for me? Start from after 2025..."

'Before, I didn't ask because I thought my other self's life was full of taboo subjects. But then it hit me... the non-taboo parts should still reveal a lot of useful information, right?'

The Little Mushroom Head considered this for a moment before replying, "Name: Chu Bamboo. Gender: Male..."

"May 29, 2025: Became a wanted fugitive of the White-headed Eagle. Leveraging physical conditioning that could be called the best in the world, he forced his way out of their pursuit...

In Southern Mexico, he was extracted by a special forces unit, the Jiaolong Team, and escaped to safety. The event shocked the entire world!

As a result, netizens from the Divine Continent dubbed Chu Bamboo 'the World's #1 Running Man,' while foreign netizens called him 'the real-life 007' and 'the Divine Continent's strongest secret agent'!"

"June 1, 2025: The two giants, C Company and Z Company, were hit with joint sanctions from the free world, which ironically made them world-famous.

In a very short period, the two companies' products went viral within the Divine Continent... and quickly spread to developing nations. Even in the West, where they were strictly banned, a significant number of people still downloaded their products!"

Chu Bamboo's expression was complicated. 'Is this the West's idea of a Children's Day gift to the two companies?'

"January 1, 2026: Z Company reached a cooperation agreement with Mao Bear officials. They would export their relatively less advanced—but still internationally state-of-the-art—Energy Batteries in exchange for military support from Mao Bear."

"February 1, 2026: Successfully launched production at a drone factory in Jinling."

Chu Bamboo wasn't surprised they didn't cooperate with Great River this time... After all, the drone blueprints were already imprinted in his mind.

"April 1, 2026: Officially began mass production of unmanned machinery."

"October 4, 2026: C Company's board of directors passed a resolution to formally begin building a megacorporate society in Southeast Asia."

"January 1, 2027: After an assessment by the White-headed Eagle, it was preliminarily determined that C Company was engaging in neocolonialism, a violation of the laws of the World Federation!

At the White-headed Eagle's request, the Blackwater Company recruited a large number of 'retired' White-headed Eagle soldiers and initiated a war with the megacorp."

Chu Bamboo: "..."

'Recruiting 'retired' soldiers, huh? Isn't that just... a thinly veiled front?'

Chu Bamboo opened his mouth, then closed it, a torrent of unspoken comments swirling in his mind.

"June 6, 2027: Under the leadership of Academician Chu Bamboo (a title to be conferred in the future) and Academician Lu Keke (also to be conferred in the future), C Mechanical Manufacturing Company successfully created a room-temperature superconductor and began preliminary mass production.

This marked the beginning of another industrial revolution!"

'They produced it pretty fast this time...' Chu Bamboo paused for a moment, then summoned the manufacturing process for the room-temperature superconductor newly developed by his good brother and Lu Keke. He scanned it, and it was just as he had anticipated...

Compared to the manufacturing process for the room-temperature superconductor he had seen before, this one had been optimized far more extensively.

"They could mass-produce it by 2027!" Chu Bamboo remarked with some emotion, taking the opportunity to memorize all the data, including the process patents.

He thought for a moment, running a simulation of the manufacturing process in his mind. After confirming there were no major issues, he said, "Nuwa No. 17, continue."

The Little Mushroom Head nodded. "January 17, 2028: C Company successfully developed and deployed its sixth-generation unmanned fighter jet, gaining air superiority over the Blackwater Company. The tide of the war began to turn.

The world was shaken. No one with inside knowledge could understand how a single megacorp could stand against the Blackwater Company, which had the full backing of North America.

However, all those in the know gradually realized... a new era was dawning."

"January 3, 2029: With unlimited support from the motherland, the war ended in a stalemate...

In the same year, forces from the North American Region completely withdrew from Southeast Asia.

In the second half of the year, the megacorporate society was successfully established in its preliminary form."

'Huh?' Chu Bamboo was a little surprised. 'The motherland actually...' But he quickly made sense of it.

'For one thing, the conflict was in Southeast Asia, a strategically sensitive location...'

'For another, given the current situation in the Real World, if their old rival got bogged down in a war, the motherland would be absolutely delighted.'

'Not to mention, at this stage, this version of Chu Bamboo... he was probably considered one of their own, right? Sure, he talked about changing his nationality... but didn't he just make a high-speed escape right back home?'

'As for why he needed the motherland's support to get this result... he figured it was because North America acted too quickly this time. This version of him hadn't even had a chance to establish a proper base of operations.'

'A stalemate, though...' Chu Bamboo was noncommittal. 'Even if they call it a stalemate, the other side withdrew... Plus, Lin Xia and Zhao Shao didn't die... In my eyes, that's a win!'

'Of course, if North America insists on calling it a stalemate, then a stalemate it is...'

"January 1, 2030: C Company officially launched its space program, shocking the world."

"July 11, 2035: C Company successfully completed a manned Moon landing!"

"2040: C Company, ahead of all nations, successfully established the first permanent Moon Base. In the same year, it announced plans to build a permanent base on Mars."

"2043: Successfully established Mars..."

The next instant, all the data vanished.

Chu Bamboo stared at the space where the data had been for a long moment, then mused, "Data corruption..."

After pacing back and forth several times, Chu Bamboo said with a grim expression, "Nuwa No. 17, if you would... show me the plans for the permanent Moon Base and the detailed procedures for the Moon landing program..."

And then...

"...Alright! You can put that away for now."

Chu Bamboo's eye twitched. 'Good heavens... the number of design schematics Nuwa No. 17 just pulled up is easily on par with the ones for the nuclear fusion reactor...'

'This... When the hell am I supposed to finish memorizing all this?!'

'I'll just have to slowly memorize it tonight when I get back...'

"Nuwa No. 17." Chu Bamboo, who had just started to walk away, paused again. A new thought occurred to him, and he asked casually, "By the way, in this timeline, what year did Lin Xia and Zhao Shao live until?"