Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 232 Birth Factory?

We took everything with us.

We have to light the fire.

To Chen Jian, these two sentences were not too unexpected.

He had known about the Spark Project for a long time, and the statement "took away everything" was not unexpected to him.

But
"The world is being filtered"?
The horror of this sentence definitely far exceeds anything Chen Jian has seen since he came to this world.

The word "filter" made him involuntarily think of the so-called "Great Filter" theory.

The population was wiped out instantly, faith collapsed, and secondary disasters emerged one after another. The civilization failed to redevelop for three hundred years.
It really is like a big filter.

Chen Jian looked solemn, while Ji Xing beside him asked with some doubt:

"Captain, what does filtering mean?"

"The Fermi Paradox."

Lei Jie let out a long breath and answered:

"This is a macro conjecture used to describe cosmic civilization. You don't need to understand what it says, but I can illustrate it with a simple example."

"You see, the towns where humans gather now are scattered all over the world. However, no matter how far apart these towns are, sooner or later they will be connected by merchants and travelers."

“Even if a city is completely isolated and merchants cannot reach it, as long as the people who founded it master radio technology, they can hear the chaotic radio waves of radio exchanges around the world from a very far distance.”

"Now here comes the problem."

"If there is a city that has never received any signals from the beginning to the end, and has not collected any clues about the existence of any other similar city, what do you think is the reason?"

".Is it because there are no humans around it? There are no other humans in this world?"

Ji Xing asked tentatively, Lei Jie nodded and replied:

“That’s a very likely answer.”

“But now, new problems arise.”

"The people in this city didn't do anything special, nor do they have any special physical conditions, but they survived. Why didn't people in other places survive?"

"On a cosmic scale, the question becomes: Why do humans exist, but no other intelligent life exists in the vast, observable universe?"

Lei Jie's words made Ji Xing a little confused. To her, topics such as the universe, the starry sky, and the development of civilization were still too grand.

But even so, she roughly understood the examples given by Leijie.

“So, the Great Filter is…”

"Either all other humans have been wiped out, or all humans who can use radio and show their existence in this world have been wiped out?"

"clever."

Lei Jie nodded, and the expressions on the faces of several people, including Ji Xing, became a little helpless.

From the beginning to the end, the biggest disaster they believed in was the so-called "Great Cataclysm", and the most powerful enemy was the monster.

But now, a so-called big filter suddenly appeared out of nowhere? ?
Or is it that the Cataclysm and monsters were originally part of the Great Filter?

Ji Xing looked at Chen Jian blankly, and the latter shook his head and said:
“There’s no point in dwelling on this.”

"Open the door."

"They said they took everything away, but I don't believe they took everything away."

"We have to see what's inside. Perhaps they'll leave us some other important information."

"Fuxi, try to intervene in the 001 fortification network and open the door directly!"

"No fortification network signal found."

Fuxi's voice sounded in the headphones.

"Commander, there is a closed weak-current box on the right side of the fortification gate, from which we can directly access the fortification's intranet."

"You can try to connect directly using the micro base station interface you carry."

"clear."

Chen Jian gave Lei Jie a look, and the latter immediately stepped forward and used the power provided by the exoskeleton to violently remove the outer layer of protection of the low-voltage box, and then began to try to connect the cables.

During the entire process, the intelligent system of Fortification 001 did not respond at all.

Its "machine soul" has left.

What remains here is just a body without a soul.

After a moment, the cables were connected.

Immediately afterwards, Fuxi's voice sounded again.

"I have taken over Works 001 and the power supply is normal."

"The intelligent system of the fortification has completely collapsed. It is estimated that the fortification is in a semi-destroyed state."

"Be prepared to open the door."

"Understood. Open the door."

As Chen Jian finished his words, the heavy isolation door slowly opened.

The "Holy Father" behind the crowd stared at the scene in amazement. He walked forward tremblingly, as if he couldn't wait to explore the secret behind the door.

But when the isolation door was completely opened, he subconsciously lowered his head as if controlled by instinct.

He didn't dare to look.

For decades, he has been leading the Holy Blood Army in the name of "Holy Father", for decades, he has been chasing the same secret, and for decades, he has been trapped in an unsolvable mystery. His mind has long been firmly bound to this so-called secret.

All his actions seemed to no longer be aimed at "finding answers".

On the contrary, "pursuit" itself has become his goal.

So, when the mystery was about to be solved, he became more and more frightened and uneasy.

Chen Jian and his companions had already walked into the fortifications.

Fuxi controlled the barely functioning network communication and Internet of Things system and turned on all the lights in the fortification.

A blinding light shone out from the door, rendering a glaring white in front of the man's eyes.

He subconsciously stretched out his hand to touch the white color, but when the light was actually projected onto his hand, he retracted his hand in panic as if he had been electrocuted, and the whole person retreated back into the darkness.

Confused thoughts filled his mind.

He didn't know where to go.

Until the voices of the Chinese army came from inside the door.

"Damn, this isn't even a half-destroyed fortification!"

"This is a fortification that has already been used!"

The man raised his head instantly.

At this moment, he finally made up his mind.

He stepped into the open door, and after the glare disappeared in an instant, everything that appeared before his eyes made him stand there in a daze.

"This is."

He didn't know how to describe what he saw.

Everything was something he had never seen before.

Strange equipment, translucent chambers one after another, and intricate pipes.
He looked in the direction of Chen Jian, as if wanting to get an answer from him.

But at this moment, Chen Jian also looked confused.

"Are these things hibernation chambers?"

"No."

As Chen Jian finished speaking, Fuxi's voice rang out in the headphones.

“It’s an artificial womb.”

"To be precise, this is a life support system for extremely premature infants." "It was born in 2036 and the technology will be mature in 2040."

"In the best-case scenario, this system could advance the survival time of extremely premature babies to 16 weeks, or four months."

"The fetus only needs to live in the mother's body for four months, after which it can be removed through non-invasive surgery and transferred to the artificial womb."

"This is a purely medical device, but due to its special functionality, it always faces huge ethical dilemmas."

"So, this equipment was not fully popularized until 2045, when the catastrophe occurred."

“But there are so many here”

"Obviously, this was created after the Cataclysm."

"This may be a fertility factory."

Birth factory.

When Fuxi said these four words, Chen Jian immediately got goose bumps all over his body.

He had only heard this word in some dystopian cyberpunk works, and the cruel and inhumane meaning contained in this word made him shudder.

Is this really something that our own people can do?

Chen Jian subconsciously reached out and touched the glass cover of the artificial uterus in front of him, but at this moment, he suddenly discovered something unusual.

The living quarters occupied by the so-called "artificial womb" are not cold.

All of those devices are hung with pendants with unique symbolic meanings.

The wooden sculptures that have long since decayed, the stuffed toys that crumble into dust at the touch, the cartoon rabbits that have faded in the corners of the glass, and the names that clearly carry high hopes and represent the baby's identity.
This is not what a "factory" should have.

People who once lived here still hold warm and optimistic expectations about the idea of "childbirth".

“This isn’t a factory.”

Chen Jian said firmly:
“This is a hospital.”

“A hospital with research attributes!”

"This must have been a prosperous settlement. Keep going down!"

After Chen Jian's order was given, everyone immediately bypassed the chaotic equipment and went to the next level according to Fuxi's guidance.

The intelligent system and network communication system in the 001 fortification have been paralyzed, and many devices can no longer be used. Their progress has not been very smooth.

But finally, after descending two floors in a row, they finally saw what they wanted to see most.

Smart workshop.

And the moment he saw those old equipment through the glass, a flash of lightning seemed to pass through Chen Jian's mind.

It is obvious that this workshop has been opened a long time ago.

Moreover, it has been used to the point where it is close to the limit of its lifespan.

This is indeed a "semi-destroyed" fortification.

However, the word "damaged" is actually inaccurate.

The word "wear and tear" seems more appropriate.

".The potential of this fortification has been completely exhausted."

"But this doesn't make sense at all. If the fortifications were indeed developed, why is there no record of it in Fuxi's system?"

"No, that's not the point."

"This is Fortification 001. If the entire fortification has been fully utilized, how could they not have left more traces?"

“We have only just opened 011, but now we are already planning coking plants, steel mills and more industrial facilities.”

“Didn’t they leave more industrial facilities behind? Didn’t they?”

"No, you're wrong."

Lei Jie suddenly interrupted Chen Jian's question, then took a deep breath and said:
"What if - I mean, what if this fortification was opened right after the Cataclysm?"

"What if, in a very short period of time, the survivors in the north have been organized, activated the 001 fortification, and are ready to start the reconstruction of civilization?"

"At that time, most of the surrounding industrial facilities were still available, and there was no need for them to waste precious resources on rebuilding industrial facilities."

"This means that they will not change the surrounding 'industrial environment'."

“They left no new traces because they were using the heritage that was above ground, not the heritage that was below ground.”

“That makes a lot of things make sense.”

"What they lack most is people, so they built a large hospital here."

"Think about it, what is the most important thing in the process of human reproduction?"

"It's mother."

"If the mother's gestation period can be shortened from 10 months to 4 months, and the shorter recovery period brought by small gestational age delivery is added, how high will their reproductive efficiency be?"

"To be honest, I really don't want to mention the word reproductive efficiency."

"But it is very likely that this is the most realistic problem they face."

After Lei Jie finished speaking, Chen Jian fell into a brief silence.

After a moment, he nodded slowly.

"In this light, Huadu's fertility worship seems much more reasonable."

"Lin Jing's records repeatedly mentioned the importance of childbirth, which even surpassed what she called the 'Fire Plan'."

"Is it possible that the information she obtained was originally one-sided?"

"She only knows that she wants to have children, but she doesn't know why she wants to have them."

"Probably."

Reggie sighed heavily.

At this moment, everyone seemed to see the struggle of those extremely strong individuals after the catastrophe.

Faced with an unknown disaster, these people united together.

They tried to continue civilization in the simplest way, even at the cost of taking methods that would never be understood by certain groups in order to speed up the reproduction process.

They have no scruples.

But such recklessness makes people have to respect him.

Chen Jian led the team to continue downwards. Along the way, he discovered more and more traces of the people who once lived here.

Some crude but useful tools, rotten fabrics, and various daily necessities that were obviously discarded during the evacuation.
These things have been weathered and corroded, but looking at them, Chen Jian felt like he was witnessing a living piece of history.

Finally, the team entered the computing layer of the fortification.

Just as he expected, the quantum computers here have been dismantled and moved away.

This is the most important thing in a fortification. Obviously, the people who originally lived here would never give it up as long as they had the energy to spare.

But why did they leave?

The doubts in Chen Jian's mind were like thick fog that was difficult to dispel, but at this moment, Fuxi's voice suddenly sounded again.

"Commander, I have successfully accessed the fortification storage system."

"They took away all the computing equipment and storage devices in the 001 bunker, but missed the storage devices in the nuclear bunker."

"I read the log records backed up in the underground nuclear facility command room."

"The log has been transferred to your PDA, please check it."

Chen Jian's heart skipped a beat.

Then, a piece of text appeared before his eyes.

“2046年12月31日10点36分：我已进入核工事指挥室，该工事运转良好。”

“2046年12月31日10点36分：001明白，从今天开始，那里就由你和你的队员负责值守了。”

(End of this chapter)