"Co on, co on, connect!"
"Connect to ours, our network already has over a hundred people!"
"What's a hundred people? We have over four hundred!"
"What difference does it make who connects to whom? It's all shared anyway."
One week after the rule took effect, with the information about the Mind Network spreading, the academy's students began connecting with each other one after another.
Even though network devices couldn't be used, being able to join a brand new "Mind Network" was both novel and exciting for young people who liked new things, and they all flocked to it.
The academy neither encouraged nor opposed these connection activities, rely posting notices in front of the teaching building and dormitory buildings, advising students to proceed with caution.
After all, whether this Mind Network had any side effects, or whether haphazard connections might lead to so negative consequences, no one knew.
So students who were naturally more cautious indeed did not rashly connect with others.
Others worried that once connected, if so of their own dirty thoughts beca known, wouldn't that be utterly humiliating?
However, according to those who had already connected to the Mind Network, inner thoughts were not directly transmitted to other connected individuals; only information one consciously intended to convey would be transmitted.
Tracing back to the source of the leaked information about the Mind Network, it was naturally Guan Tong who had released it.
His thod of releasing the information was very simple: he made so slips of paper with the information written on them and used Shadow to place them at gathering points frequented by ordinary people.
Ordinary people weren't restricted by the rules and could freely use the internet. As long as so of them posted the information online, it would definitely spread quickly.
Looking at the situation now, it was exactly as Guan Tong had anticipated. In just three or four days, the related information had spread across the entire country and even abroad. Within the academy, the Mind Network activity had beco a craze.
Since students generally studied the Mind Power Flow course, connecting with each other was sowhat easier. Consequently, several large-scale Mind Networks quickly appeared within the academy.
With so many people serving as "samples" providing data, Guan Tong also rapidly grasped the general operational mode of the Mind Network.
First, it was both public and anonymous.
People connected to the Mind Network could have their spoken words heard by everyone in the network; there was no way to "send a private ssage alone." Unless soone in the network was familiar with the speaker's voice, no one would know which specific person in the network had uttered that sentence.
This single characteristic alone made this Mind Network a paradise for social outlaws, allowing them to recklessly publish so sensational and extre opinions.
Moreover, if soone's remarks gained the approval of the majority within that network, that person likely possessed a kind of decentralized influence, capable of mobilizing multiple people simultaneously to do certain things.
Secondly, the Mind Network had no upper limit on the number of connections, no distance restrictions, and mbers of two different networks would cause their respective networks to automatically rge upon coming into contact with each other.
This characteristic was sowhat eerie. It ant that if two people belonged to different Mind Networks, when they connected, the Mind Networks they belonged to would also rge into one.
Thus, if enough ti passed, eventually all Ascendants in the world might find themselves within the sa Mind Network.
But the problem was, how much noise would there be in such a network?
Just think, in the sa room, even if only a few people talk at the sa ti, it can be chaotic. In the Mind Network, no one has the ability to "mute" others. With so many people, anyone can speak... How chaotic would that be?
Based on Guan Tong's understanding, the Mind Networks ford by student groups exhibited precisely this situation. Many people talking simultaneously led to a chaotic buzzing in the brain; severe cases even experienced vomiting and ultimately had no choice but to exit the Mind Network.
That's right, after joining a Mind Network, if one wanted to exit, they only needed to sever the connection between their own Mind Power and the initial Mind Power used to connect with others, and they could successfully leave.
However, from casual chats among so students, he learned that within the student population, there were individuals with a strong ability to distinguish between multiple people speaking simultaneously; their brains could process the aning of multiple sentences at once.
This intrigued Guan Tong, but unfortunately, he was not connected to the students' networks.
Not just him; none of the academy's teachers were.
Because these students had established a rule for their Mind Networks: mbers could only connect with other students; they could not pull academy teachers into the network.
It was probably the sa principle as a class chat group not adding the teacher. One could imagine that many students would use it to complain about, or even viciously criticize, teachers they didn't like.
However, upon Dean Zhou Qinfeng's suggestion, the academy's Lecturers did connect to form a Mind Network, with the purpose of facilitating notifications for various matters.
Around twenty people were connected to this Mind Network. Unlike the students, the Lecturers certainly had no one idly chatting nonsense inside. Therefore, after Guan Tong connected and entered, the total number of voices he heard from within didn't exceed twenty.
While most people focused on the Mind Network itself, what Guan Tong thought about more was the purpose behind this thing.
Why did the Fire Thief tell humans that Mind Power had such a usage? Was its goal to make humans use this thod to do sothing?
If speculating with malice, Guan Tong felt the Fire Thief might be aiming to further divide humanity.
Because, on one hand, ordinary people couldn't access this network; only Ascendants could. On the other hand, its decentralized nature went even further than Guan Tong's "Ascendant Ho" website.
The website had him, the Administrator, managing it, and it didn't allow the posting of anti-human content such as promoting the Fire Thief Worship Cult. But this Mind Network had no "managent" whatsoever, and no managent was possible.
This conveniently allowed people with shared goals to establish connections and communication. If the goal was good, that was fine. But if it was bad, it undoubtedly beca a black box cocoon nurturing evil.
If considered from a benevolent perspective...
(Attention, all Lecturers.)
Zhou Qinfeng's voice suddenly sounded in his mind. Sitting on his dormitory bed, Guan Tong snapped out of his thoughts. He knew the Dean was using the Mind Network to speak.
(The academy's first-month discussion eting for the new sester will be held in the conference room on the 5th floor of the faculty building in one hour. Please do not be late.)
After Zhou Qinfeng finished, another Lecturer's voice sounded from the Mind Network: (With this network, it seems we could hold etings without even leaving our rooms.)
Zhou Qinfeng: (Don't joke. This eting also involves many non-Lecturer faculty and staff. They aren't in this network, and this isn't suitable for multi-person etings anyway.)
(Received. I was just saying it casually; of course it can't be taken seriously.)
A few other Lecturers also said "Received" in the Mind Network.
Guan Tong didn't speak. He simply waited until the ti ca and went to the conference room.
It was a large conference room with three long tables arranged inside. Quite a few people were seated on both sides. He casually found a seat and sat down. Lifting his gaze, he saw Fang Qian sitting at a corner of the adjacent long table, looking at him.
The mont their eyes t, Fang Qian imdiately looked away sowhat guiltily, her expression very unnatural.
It seed she, unlike Xiaotian, was a graduate who had stayed on at the academy.
Guan Tong had heard from Xu Xiaotian before that so of the first academy graduates would stay on as faculty or staff like counselors. Since Fang Qian was here, it ant she was one of them.
But this didn't matter much to him. The past was the past. He hadn't acted then, and he wouldn't bring up old grievances now. Even if they t again, there wouldn't be any further interaction.
After all the academy's faculty and staff had arrived, Dean Zhou Qinfeng began speaking.
He summarized various situations since the sester began, improvents compared to last year, current shortcomings... Perhaps it was a common ailnt from his previous role as a university president, but he used a lot of formulaic language. Listening to it made Guan Tong drowsy, his thoughts already flying far away.
It wasn't until Zhou Qinfeng brought up matters related to the recent rule that Guan Tong snapped back to attention.
Zhou Qinfeng said, "Everyone knows the students have established Mind Networks that exclude us faculty and staff. This is definitely problematic."
"We must understand that these academy students are future pillars being cultivated with national priority. If they collude and cause trouble leading to problems, it becos our responsibility, failing the trust placed in us by the official Higher-ups. Therefore, soone from our faculty and staff must also connect into the students' Mind Networks, to know what they are saying and thinking."
After Zhou Qinfeng finished speaking, many faculty and staff mbers expressed agreent.
"That's right, it should be done."
"These students are no easy bunch; we really need to keep an eye on them."
"But coercion might not be good. How about finding a top student who gets along well with teachers and having them pull a faculty mber in?"
"Hmm, coercion is definitely inappropriate. It's best if soone can actively infiltrate." Zhou Qinfeng scanned the room, his gaze settling on last year's graduates who served as counselors.
"Is there anyone among you who can accomplish this task? You are last year's graduates. As senior students, it should be easy for you to blend in with this year's students. I think having you connect into the students' networks would be the most convenient."
The counselors looked at each other, their eyes collectively turning to Fang Qian, as if she was the most capable among them. Although Fang Qian's expression showed so reluctance, she helplessly raised her hand: "Dean, I can do this."
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