Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 61: The Extraordinary Ideology that Ascends by Stepping on the Right Foot with the Left!

After reviewing the seven options, Zhang Qiming paused his finger in front of the light screen. These things would determine the national ideology of future Martian thought.

In Stellaris, ideologies are the underlying markers of a civilization's path. The ideology a player chooses at the start of the game will influence their subsequent quest inclinations, skill pool, feat pool, faction events, and career progression.

Those who lean towards the omnipotent faction will find their missions focused more on cybernetic bodies, engineering, machine spirits, and ship maintenance; those who lean towards the mystical faction will find their opportunities focused more on psychic energy, rituals, anomalous knowledge, and supernatural events.

But now, for Zhang Qiming, his thinking is no longer limited to the individual player's task preference.

It will influence a civilization's internal political structure, diplomatic stance, war decisions, contingency options, and the national ideology of the Martian people for decades to come. Subsequent player missions, career advancements, skill trees, and national events will also revolve around this path.

More importantly, it also determines the bonuses to civilization coefficient and trait coefficient.

Ideological trends and national values ​​determine not only the orientation of tasks, but also the underlying values ​​of the entire civilization.

In Stellaris, the core resources of professionals are based on four fundamental coefficients: life coefficient, constitution coefficient, omnipotence coefficient, and psionic coefficient.

Health points, stamina, mechanical power points, and psionic power points are all inseparable from these four underlying coefficients.

For example, a professional's physical strength is determined by physical strength = endurance × body mass index.

If your individual constitution coefficient is 10, then 30 points of endurance can be converted into 300 points of basic stamina.

The civilization coefficient is a coefficient bonus based on this formula, which is [stamina × (constitution coefficient 10 + civilization bonus 2)]. For example, with the same 30 points of stamina, the base stamina of an individual with the civilization coefficient bonus will directly become 360 ​​points.

Civilization coefficients provide a comprehensive boost. As long as a person belongs to this civilization system, their life coefficient, physical coefficient, mechanical coefficient, and psionic coefficient will all receive a civilization bonus on top of their original values.

This is why many players in the past desperately wanted to progress to a great civilization.

While smaller factions offer individual freedom, easier tasks, and seemingly attractive rewards, their weaker base stats, narrower career paths, and lower civilization coefficients make them easily obsolete in the later stages of the game.

Although the Great Civilization has many rules, long and tedious quests, and annoying faction restrictions, its strength is truly worthwhile.

Of course, Stellaris wouldn't allow players and professionals to switch factions at will. If Stellaris weren't so strict about faction affiliation, players would have all gone to the Great Civilization to farm coefficients long ago.

For an individual to break away from their original civilization, they need to complete a lengthy process of faction settlement, contribution redemption, and identity cancellation. In other words, if you want to become a "runren" (a type of human being), you have to squeeze every last drop of value out of your original civilization.

In addition, to join a powerful civilization, one must meet multiple conditions, including race, lineage, political background, career path, and compatibility with civilizational ideals.

Advanced civilizations, in particular, often only absorb their own people, local vassals, those with special merits, or those officially recognized as naturalized groups. For ordinary players who want to benefit from the coefficient bonuses of a major civilization, the threshold is ridiculously high.

In addition to civilization coefficients, individuals can also consume civilization trait coefficients.

Civilization coefficients provide bonuses across all areas, while trait coefficients only enhance a specific area, such as the [Cybernetics Creed] now unlocked on Mars.

Before choosing a focus point, Zhang Qiming opened the [Empire] option on the Gaia module to check the current civilization coefficient and trait coefficient of Mars.

Current civilization coefficient: 2

[Note: Civilization coefficient is determined by the level of civilization development, and is influenced by the size of the controlled planet and star system, administrative efficiency, technological level, ascension level, and overall national strength of the empire.]

[Prosthetic Creed: Ten Thousand Machine Coefficient +2]

[Note: The Cabinet agenda [Prosthetic Advancement] can now be initiated. Upon completion, you will receive +1 to the Universal Machine Coefficient.]

[Current municipal turn requirement: 100 turns]

Zhang Qiming looked at the Empire Coefficient template; the Ideology section was still in an undetermined state.

Imperial ideology requires consuming all three ideology points to combine from four sets of opposing axes. These eight ideologies are: authoritarianism and egalitarianism, xenophobia and pro-foreignism, militarism and pacifism, and materialism and idealism.

In addition, there is a special ideology that he cannot choose now—Gestalt consciousness.

That's a route that only a hive, a swarm of wills, a mechanical mastermind, or a super-large unified consciousness can carry.

Mars is now dominated by human civilization. They are neither the Hive Will nor the Mechanical Brain. Therefore, neither Gaia nor Alaya could possibly mold more than 200 million Martians into a Gestalt.

The next key focus will determine the future direction of thought on Mars.

-

[① Separation of church and state: Dismantle the mechanical church's monopoly on administration, military affairs, education, technical censorship, and the path to cyborg advancement, strip the authority of faith from the national governance system, and allow mechanical faith to retreat to the level of social culture and personal belief.]

[Effects: Increased national administrative authority, reduced penalties for church interference, accelerated reorganization of old church institutions, and transfer of the technical censorship system to secular government. Increased openness of Martian scientific research and reduced obstacles to career advancement in various professions, but increased dissatisfaction among old clergy and conservative believers.]

[Optional Ideology: Authoritarianism]

[②Centralized Authority: Establish a unified military and political system with the Skyward Provisional Revolutionary Government at its core, integrating the three major districts, the remnants of the Covenant Army, the Royal Guard Fleet, local councils, and industrial hubs, ending the long-standing factional divisions and loss of control over district autonomy on Mars.]

[Effects: Improved administrative efficiency, faster troop deployment, faster progress in counterinsurgency operations, and enhanced wartime mobilization capabilities. Local military and political nodes will be integrated into the central command chain more quickly, but conflicts may arise with local self-governing forces, old council elites, and some reformists.]

[Selectable Ideologies: All selectable ideologies (Note: The central government's decisions are paramount!)]

[③ Corporate-led: Unleash the production capacity of Mars industrial giants, military contractors, and orbital shipping groups, using corporate governance to drive post-war production recovery, market restoration, military expansion, and the reconstruction of orbital trade.]

[Effects: Industrial capacity recovery accelerates, military manufacturing costs decrease, market tax revenue and trade profits increase, and production efficiency for prosthetic bodies, weapons, and ship components improves. The influence of corporate groups rises, leading to increased wealth inequality and the risk of capitalist interference in politics.]

[Selectable Ideological Schools: Materialism, Pro-Foreignism]

[④ Freedom of the People: Expand grassroots deliberation rights, trade union autonomy, local organization rights, and civic technical education rights, replacing the old covenant control with mass mobilization, and allowing the Martian people to regain organizational capacity from the censorship system of the College of Cardinals.]

[Effects: Increased public cohesion, more local development tasks, improved task rewards for players and grassroots organizations, and increased efficiency in public education and vocational training. Increased difficulty in short-term administrative control, and an increase in local demands, union negotiations, and mass movements.]

[Selectable Ideologies: All ideologies except authoritarianism and militarism]

【⑤ Overclocking Vision: Promoting rapid breakthroughs in hyperspace technology, advanced artificial intelligence, prosthetic neural interfaces, machine soul engineering, and deep space industrial systems, enabling Martian society as a whole to accept more radical technological expansion and cognitive upgrades.】

[Effects: Increased research speed; initiation of pre-space technology missions; and accelerated progress on projects related to advanced artificial intelligence collaboration, prosthetic overclocking, and deep space industry. Martian populations show increased technological acceptance and a greater inclination towards contact with external civilizations and interstellar exploration; however, the probability of research accidents, prosthetic malfunctions, and ethical issues related to technology also increases.]

[Optional ideology: Materialism]

[⑥ Network Supervision and Control: Ares, Zhishilang, and Tianqu Network Systems reconstruct the Mars public information security framework, unifying the management of communication, public opinion, intelligence, military and political data chains, and anti-infiltration systems.]

[Effects: Increased counter-infiltration capabilities, enhanced national governance, reduced difficulty in counterinsurgency operations, and faster speeds for public communications, military deployment, and intelligence analysis. However, decreased social freedom and impacted local trust levels; excessive regulation may trigger anti-surveillance protests and a backlash from underground networks.]

[Selectable Ideologies: Authoritarianism, Materialism]

【⑦ Wetware Network: Reconstruct and legalize the wetware network, transforming it from a black-box project of the old religious authority into a regulated supercomputing, medical, machine soul interface, and fleet relay system.】

[Effect: Significantly increases the computing power of civilized beings, improves fleet relay efficiency, enhances the auxiliary computing capabilities of machine spirits, and provides additional bonuses to prosthetic medical care, memory restoration, and brain-computer interface projects. This route will greatly increase public resentment, ethical controversies, and the risk of internal divisions within the reformist faction.]

[Selectable Ideologies: Authoritarianism, Materialism]

-

Looking at the seven points of focus and the possible ideas they brought, Zhang Qiming, without much hesitation, pointed directly to three of the options.

—Separation of religion and state, centralized power, and a world beyond the ordinary.

Of these three options, centralized power is almost a must-choose. The revolution has just been victorious, and although the old regime has been purged, local military and political nodes have not yet fully submitted. At this time, as long as the central power loosens its grip even slightly, Mars will immediately turn into a bunch of fragmented forces vying for the fruits of the revolution.

Zhang Qiming certainly could not tolerate this situation.

Revolution can be won by the masses and players, but political power must be taken over by a strong central authority.

Without centralized authority, the Skywards cannot reorganize the Covenant forces, reform local councils, unify industrial operations, or face the Fourth Fleet, Terra, and Starship forces in the future.

As for the available ideologies, he made a decision quickly: authoritarianism, militarism, and materialism.

Authoritarianism was used to ensure the supreme command of the Skyward Provisional Revolutionary Government, militarism was used to maintain high-intensity mobilization and fleet expansion after the Mars War, and materialism was used to develop hyperspace technology, strong artificial intelligence, machine soul engineering, prosthetic neural interfaces and deep space industrial systems.

As for other ideologies, especially xenophobia... if they are not strong enough, or if you don't have a powerful ally to rely on, it's best not to easily choose xenophobia.

[You have chosen the golden focus: separation of church and state, centralized power, and a higher-frequency vision.]

[You have chosen the following schools of thought: authoritarianism, militarism, or materialism.]

[Intelligence log mission in progress...]

[Task chain related to the separation of religion and state is being generated...]

[The task chain related to centralized power is being generated...]

[Overclocking Vision related task chain is being generated...]

The next second, Gaia's interface dimmed slightly.

Behind the crimson outline of Mars, the phantom of a giant gear slowly emerges, with countless mechanical circuits extending from its edges like blood vessels, spreading layer by layer along Mars' orbit, industrial zones, fleet, prosthetic factories, and the network of omnipotent professionals.

[Cosmic Meme: The Way of All Machines Begins to Watch You—]

[You have received both the blessing and the curse of the Path of Myriad Functions!]

[Blessing: Martian Civilization Basic Multiplier Coefficient +1.]

[Blessing: All-encompassing professions receive enhancements to their civilization path, and related judgments receive additional corrections!]

[Note: With the development of Martian mechanical civilization, fleet expansion, advancement of the Machine Soul Project, and refinement of the cybernetics creed, the 10,000-machine coefficient can continue to increase.]

[Curse: When a civilization actively promotes a high-powered situation outside the mechanical age, it will be rejected by the Way of the Myriad Machines. When you actively develop other extraordinary ideologies, especially the path to transcendence and sainthood, you will be shunned by the Way of the Myriad Machines!]

[The ideology of a transcendent civilization has been established!]

[The Extraordinary Ideology of Current Civilization: The Way of Myriad Functions!]

Looking at the prompt, Zhang Qiming revealed a unique smile.

"Here comes the curse and blessing of myriad machines..."

The next moment, Zhang Qiming's own expertise was triggered.

[Specialty: Dual Thinking Triggered!]

[Special civilization structure detected: Holy Terra—Mars has not yet completed its unified construction.]

[Dual civilization master version detected: Terra/Mars.]

You can set Terra and Mars as the unique dual-capital master templates for the future Holy Terra civilization.

[Effect 1: Mars can support the characteristics of civilizations related to the Way of the Myriad Machines.]

[Effect Two: Terra can serve as a focal point for events and ideological choices in subsequent civilization advancements.]

[Effect 3: Dualism can circumvent some penalties for conflicts with extraordinary ideologies and allows civilizations to add new ideological options under certain conditions.]

[Effect 4: Subsequent civilization expansion, planetary integration, and galactic governance will use the Terra-Mars dual-pattern as the core reference.]

Zhang Qiming's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he looked at the effects of the specialization.

"Just as I thought, dual ideology can indeed circumvent the forced alignment lock brought about by extraordinary ideologies. This way, I can not only keep getting stronger by stepping on my own side, but also benefit from the cold war between the Crimson Dawn and the Sky Alliance in the future..."

Extraordinary ideologies are one of the main culprits behind galactic turmoil.

It is essentially a civilization-level anomalous meme field. When a civilization organizes production, war, faith, technology and social order in a certain way for a long time, and enough individuals think, act, die and pass on the same narrative, this narrative will transform from ordinary thought into a super-metaphysical level—a civilization anchor.

The Way of Myriad Affairs is such a thing; its civilizational anchor covers the entire galaxy, while another civilizational anchor that conflicts with it is the Way of Transcendence and Sainthood.

The path to transcendence and sainthood and the path of myriad affairs are mortal enemies.

Their conflicts extend beyond the political and diplomatic spheres, penetrating to the very core of civilization, forming a kind of metaphysical meme field confrontation.

A transcendent ideology is like a riverbed dug out by the entire civilization itself. The current has already taken shape, and any attempt to reverse the flow or change course would have to withstand the pressure from the riverbed, the flood, and all the old structures on both banks.

It rewards civilizations that conform to it, punishes those that try to deviate from it, and is instinctively hostile to other supernatural ideologies.

The stronger one becomes in the Transcendent Realm, the more easily the bonuses related to the Path of Myriad Mechanisms will be suppressed; the stronger the Path of Myriad Mechanisms is, the more the progress of the Transcendent Realm path will be interfered with.

After Stellaris enters version 2.0 [Star Community], players will soon encounter two colossal super-ideologies that are at odds with each other within the community—Red Dawn and Sky Alliance.

The former follows the path of transcendence and sainthood, while the latter follows the path of managing all affairs.

The two are like the two polar camps in the Starry Sky Community, waging a long-standing cold war of extraordinary ideologies, and even localized hot wars in the galaxy, over the advancement of civilization, technological paths, individual liberation, mechanical enhancement, and extraordinary authority.

For a long time, players and other civilizations will have to choose sides between these two forces, or try to take a non-aligned route.

In their previous lives, Terra and Mars each developed two different human civilizations.

Terra went further and further down the path of human transcendence, gradually moving closer to the Crimson Dawn; Mars, on the other hand, developed along the path of mechanical theology, eventually joining the Celestial Alliance.

Zhang Qiming will not allow this division to occur again; he has now seen a path to ascension where he can step on his own feet to achieve victory.

For other civilizations, transcendence and the path of myriad affairs are two mutually exclusive paths, but for him, who possesses a dual mind, both can be placed within the same larger civilizational structure.

Mars carries countless functions, while Terra carries the extraordinary. The dual-capital master version places the two routes separately, which will then be unified and harmonized by the future sacred Terra.

He can benefit from the bonuses of the Way of Myriad Machines and will be able to obtain the rewards of transcendence and sainthood in the future. The curse of the Way of Myriad Machines has no effect on him, and the rejection of transcendence can be bypassed by dual thinking.

These two cosmic memes are like my wings that I spread wide!

By becoming stronger through transcendence and sainthood, the future Holy Terra will become even stronger; by becoming stronger through the Path of Myriad Machines, the future Holy Terra will also become even stronger. These two paths, which were originally mutually destructive, will instead become two pillars that mutually elevate the upper limit of civilization in Zhang Qiming's hands.

He can make two dishes out of one fish, stepping on his own foot to keep rising. This Zhang is truly a rare two-faced person in the world!