Chapter 287: Social Media
However, through all the fights, Alex's most memorable experience was fighting in the inner world, where he could do everything he wanted.
The possibilities were endless, limited only by his imagination. In Alex's opinion, if he could combine it with his abilities, his fighting prowess would be raised by many levels.
"That means I should have something that could be transformed as I wanted. Maybe I should focus on blood. Lifeforce could become solid using it as a medium."
Alex then started thinking about how he could enhance blood manipulation by combining it with qi and all his fighting styles.
'This should not be hard since my qi already flows inside my blood now.'
Alex closed his eyes, feeling his core that pumped out qi all over his body.
'Our body is really a wondrous thing; it can even adapt to new energy and generate it ourselves. I wonder if I can do the same with mana.'
Alex then remembered the new power system from the association. It utilized mana and magic circles.
As he started dabbling, William had already gotten the complete method from Solomon. He was now inside his restaurant cooking a meal for the guests while thinking about his next move.
Should he tell Alex everything or just part of it? 'But what the president asked of me, I doubt Alex will agree.'
As he was considering this, one of the staff came to the kitchen, "Sir, someone is here looking for you."
"Who?" William asked in a stern tone, as the last few times people looked for him, they only brought trouble.
"It's Lady Emily."
"Oh, alright, I will go there after finishing this dish. Serve them some complimentary drinks."
"Yes, sir."
William continued his cooking. Meanwhile, outside, Emily and MingYue had just arrived.
They were served some fresh juice.
"What do you want to order, MingYue?"
MingYue, looking at the menu, felt her desire growing; there were many things she wanted to try.
So far, she had only eaten instant food from Alex's world.
"Can I order one of each meal?" she asked.
Emily was caught off guard by the sheer amount of the order. She didn't know MingYue was such a glutton.
"Is the food in your place that bad?"
"It's not bad, but it just lacks taste." MingYue had tried some spirit beast meat from her world, but even that meat couldn't beat a perfectly seasoned meal.
Since she knew about storage rings, Emily didn't ask further; she thought MingYue would just put it there for later.
Their discussion then changed, as MingYue saw almost everyone was on their phones despite not sitting alone.
"Emily, why is everyone busy with themselves?"
"Oh, that is normal here; people just spend all their time on social media."
"Social media? You mean like those apps DikTok and Blue Bird?"
"Yes, you have seen it?" Emily asked, wondering how MingYue could know about this. She also realized MingYue was not that surprised looking at the modern city. Find exclusive content at m.v.l.e.mpyr
MingYue took out her phone and showed it to Emily. "Well, there were apps like that here before, but I removed them all since they couldn't be used. I did watch some movies where they were mentioned a lot."
"Wait, let me show you," Emily said and took out her phone.
MingYue's phone didn't have any signal since it wasn't set to any provider, and Emily didn't register her for any account. She thought it was better for Alex to do it.
MingYue started scrolling through the feed. Since it was based on Emily's watch history, most of it was filled with fighting techniques and cat videos.
This got her hooked, as she liked watching the fighting videos. They showed people giving tips on what to do during dungeon breaks, how to fight against monsters, and how to survive as a normal person. The rest was filled with awakeners showing off their abilities.
"I don't get it. Why do these people show off their power like this? Won't it become dangerous for them?"
"Well, it's for money, MingYue. The more popular you get, the more money you receive. As for danger, these people don't fight at all; they are just normal civilians."
"I know the situation in your world from Alex. How could people with abilities still stay as civilians? Aren't you on the brink of crisis?" She then chose one of the videos, showing a man who could make his arm bigger and then smaller. Basically, he could control his body size.
"Look at this man. His ability would be very useful in combat. I could imagine he would work great as a spy."
"There are many factors. Maybe his power has limitations, or he has other weaknesses. But honestly, I also share your sentiment. That is one of the reasons I often check this feed.
I try to recruit some of them, but it's just hard. You know, even with our situation, some people just care about themselves.
They say and show their care through social media, and some also donate money, but when push comes to shove, none of them dare to take the line, risking their lives.
They all just talk. They know how bad the situation is despite us making sure the news doesn't report it daily. It's all still there to be seen on the net."
"Then why would they stay here? If the frontline gets breached, it's not only their lives that are forfeit."
"You see how peaceful this city is? That is just how most of them are. Deep inside, they feel it's unrelated to them since the tragedy never hit their lives.
It's like people who see the news of someone murdered; they may condemn the killer, but tomorrow it's just another day as usual for them."
"I still don't get it, honestly. Your government should do forceful conscription in case this happens.
Just so you know, despite commoners in my world not standing a chance against cultivators, there is a reason why, in most cases, all the cities or villages are massacred."
"You mean they all stand up and unite to fight?"