Eternal Night

Chapter 508 Global Upheaval
How can these androids be considered human?

Their physical bodies are made of biochemical materials and mechanical processes, their consciousness is simulated through chips and programs, and most importantly, they do not possess a soul.

In particular, the dialogue that Beelzebub recalls reveals that the great figures in the myth conducted an experiment of unknown origin, and their final conclusion was that unless they possessed the "power of reincarnation," they could not create real life and souls.

Even the beings in mythology cannot create souls, so how can a world with not-so-exaggerated technology mass-produce artificial humans with souls?
That doesn't make sense.

Wu Pifu naturally didn't know the answer either, but he had this feeling when he fought the golden skeleton before. That is, he was not the target of the Lost Contamination. Except for the time when he was attacked when he first came into contact with the Lost Contamination, the targets of his battles after that were the contamination derivatives or the golden skeleton, the Lost Contamination entity. The real Lost Contamination was no longer targeting him.

After all the androids were shut down, the Lost Contamination around the camp began to dissipate as if it had lost its target, proving that it was not the target of the Lost Contamination's attack.

This kind of Lost Pollution was indeed mentioned in the soul echoes emanating from the golden skeleton. Lost Pollution only applies to living beings; it is a kind of pollution and erosion that only living beings can suffer from. Although it is unknown why he was not actively attacked, non-living beings do not need to worry about being affected by Lost Pollution.

"...So all the answers are indeed on the moon."

The next morning, all the androids were powered on simultaneously, and each one stood up safely again. The overnight shutdown had not caused them any harm, and the Lost Contamination did not seem to appear during the day.

"...The central processing unit has actually returned to normal!?"

All the androids were astonished, especially since all the anomalies from last night had disappeared, their self-built programming and logic systems had been completely restored, and everything beyond their comprehension had vanished. This was what surprised them the most.

"What is the principle of this?"

The androids were utterly baffled. This was completely different from the scientific knowledge stored in their databases. Why could they repair the central processing unit by gathering around a campfire and then shutting it down for twelve hours?

"What's so difficult about that?"

As Wu Pifu walked along, seemingly unconcerned, he said, "I once heard my father say that when he was a child, almost every adult knew how to repair machinery. For example, when a television malfunctioned, you would hold your hand at a 45-degree angle and slap it with about 5/10 of your strength, repeating this several times. That would fix the television. And the same goes for radios, washing machines, and so on..."

The numerous androids looked at each other, each seeing confusion and bewilderment in the other's eyes.

A1 asked softly, "So it's similar to human CPR? Humans have a similar resuscitation method for machines and androids?"

Wu Pifu naturally knew this was impossible. Although he was labeled as a pure-blooded human by the main brain, to be honest, whether he was even human was still questionable. As for repairing mechanical bodies or high-tech objects like androids, it was absolutely impossible to repair them with just a few taps. Humans really don't have that kind of special ability.

But at this point, he couldn't explain in detail, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Yes, that's how it is. Humans... are amazing, right?"

Many of the androids nodded in agreement.

Their physical bodies are virtually indestructible, their strength is enough to trigger tsunamis and earthquakes, and they can repair intricate chips and programs simply by slapping them with their bare hands…

No wonder humans were the dominant species on Earth back then!

Having finally managed to get away with it, Wu Pifu led the androids in vehicles to search for any possible resistance camps in the surrounding area.

After traveling for a while, around noon, the seven members of the Wakaba unit were all taken aback, then their faces lit up with joy. A1 immediately spoke on behalf of the other six to Wu Pifu: "Sir, we have a signal! Although the signal is a bit intermittent, the communication function is gradually being restored. We will soon be able to inform the headquarters, the Human Council... no, the unified information processing center for androids on the moon will respond to your call immediately!"

Wu Pifu remained noncommittal, simply watching the seven members of the Ruoye unit stand silently with their eyes closed, and began to contact the artificial human command center in space.

Since learning about the strange changes that had occurred in this world, Wu Pifu has no good feelings towards the extinct humans. Their crazy experiments at the time of their extinction can only be described as inhumane. Of course, they did not do evil for pleasure; their fundamental purpose was to ensure the continuation of their race. Therefore, Wu Pifu just doesn't like them, but doesn't think they are not human.

However, the true nature of the android core, which set up Project Veil and concealed the truth of humanity's extinction, remains unknown, and it is already prepared to fight its way to the moon.

Unexpectedly, after the seven members of Wakaba's unit closed their eyes for several minutes, they received neither an order denying his existence nor an instruction to welcome him, but something else entirely...

"Emergency evacuation order!"

"All androids in the Earth Sphere, proceed to the evacuation point immediately!" "To reiterate, this order is issued by the Lunar Human Council. All androids must proceed to the evacuation point as quickly as possible and leave the Earth Sphere in batches!"

"Forty-eight hours later, all personnel who have not evacuated will be considered to have been infected with the electronic virus or have surrendered to the mechanical lifeforms, and will be completely eliminated as hostile targets!"

The seven members of the Wakaba unit looked astonished. They simultaneously read out the communication content. A1 immediately said to Wu Pifu, "Sir, this is a one-way encrypted communication signal. The entire Earth Sphere has been blocked by the artificial human command in space. Apart from this one-way communication signal, we will no longer receive electronic communication signals from within the Earth Sphere. We were unable to inform the command about your existence..."

"It doesn't matter..."

Wu Pifu thought for a moment, then immediately asked, "What about the retreat point? Is it far from us?"

B8 explained from the side, “Not far, sir. Each area has at least one evacuation point. The headquarters dispatches space escape ships to land on Earth, which generally cover an area of ​​about twenty to twenty-five resistance camps. There is one near us. At our current speed, we should arrive by around six o’clock at the latest!”

Wu Pifu then said to everyone, "Then let's speed up and head towards the evacuation point as soon as possible, and try to leave Earth and head to outer space by dusk!"

With Wu Pifu in the group, the morale of these androids remained extremely high. Naturally, they all responded with a roar. Some drove, some rode, and the maintenance personnel were already prepared. They all obeyed Wu Pifu's orders and sped towards their destination.

On the way, Wu Pifu's lips moved slightly, and only Beelzebub could hear his voice. He asked, "Has the Lost Pollution completely erupted? Has it spread globally?"

Beelzebub also said in a very low hum, "It might not just be global; it's estimated that even the android spaceships in outer space have been affected. Otherwise, they wouldn't have set up one-way communication and blocked all communication signals from Earth. The android command center in space probably thinks this pollution is some kind of electronic virus that can spread through communication... The situation is very bad, Wu Pifu. Be prepared. Although I don't remember the specific characteristics of the Lost Pollution, all pollution, including the root pollution, has the characteristic that the larger the scope and the deeper the pollution, the stronger its pollution effect, and the more terrifying the pollutants that are derived from it!"

Wu Pifu didn't say much, but just stayed in the vehicle with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep, waiting to reach the evacuation point.

Around noon, more than ten vehicles carrying over a hundred androids headed towards the evacuation point. The journey was smooth, and no strange phenomena caused by the Lost Pollution occurred even in broad daylight. However, when the convoy reached around 3 p.m., they noticed something amiss: several truck-like vehicles were seen moving ahead.

This was standard equipment for the androids during their retreat. These trucks should have been full of resistance androids, but strangely, judging from the open cargo compartments, there wasn't a single person on them. Only a few empty trucks were driving forward.

All the androids are very strange.

If the resistance suffered heavy casualties in the battle against the machine lifeforms, with only a few survivors, then it would be impossible for them to drive several vehicles. One vehicle could carry everyone, so isn't it contradictory to drive an empty vehicle?

As everyone wondered what was happening, their vehicle drove past the trucks, and then...

Empty!
There wasn't a single person in either the driver's seat or the passenger seat!

Moreover, once someone saw the driver's seat and the passenger seat, the trucks slowly came to a stop and remained motionless on the side of the road, as if the previous driving had been a complete illusion.

Even though the androids think with chips and programs, this situation still incomprehensible to them, and...terrifying.

However, now that they had seen it, they couldn't just leave like that. So, led by Wu Pifu, the group stopped. Wu Pifu held a knife in front, followed by seven members of the Ruoye unit, and then the maintenance personnel and mechanical engineers.

They searched several trucks and, after repeated inspections, confirmed that they were three old-fashioned delivery trucks that did not have automatic driving capabilities. In fact, their driving mechanism was the oldest type of manual transmission truck that required pressing the accelerator to start. In other words, without a driver, these trucks could not even start automatically, let alone move forward along the road.

So... where is the driver?

And what about the passengers on several large trucks?

Where are they?!

All the androids who inspected the truck looked at Wu Pifu with horror and fear; at that moment, they truly resembled humans.

Wu Pifu remained silent for a while before saying, "Don't tell anyone about anything here. Just say it's an automated vehicle, and the people on board probably got off early or were attacked by mechanical lifeforms. Then we'll get to the evacuation point as soon as possible!"

We must arrive before dark!

(End of this chapter)