Did the world end today?

Chapter 438 Prism Underwater Waterfall Immigration and Irrationality

"fire?"

In the world of Destiny Stone, Lin Xu, having returned, sat in a pre-arranged car. Jiang Xingye, sitting beside him, asked in confusion:

"You mean, when you left that world, you saw fire through a higher-dimensional portal?"

"Yes."

Lin Xu pressed the button on the protective suit, which was meant to be "just in case." The flexible memory material immediately relaxed, the magnetic lock was released, and he easily took off his coat.

"call"

Letting out a slight breath, Lin Xu continued:
“It’s strange—I don’t know where that passage leads, but it existed for a very short time and covered a very large area.”

“Looking inward from a higher-dimensional perspective, you can see light that looks like flames.”

"Could that passage lead to the Earth's core?"

"Unlikely."

Jiang Xingye shook his head and said:

"If the passage leads to the Earth's core, then what you're seeing shouldn't be fire."

“The high-dimensional channel presents a 'plane' with a three-dimensional cross-section. If it were really the Earth’s core, you should see a complex halo, like a prism.”

"After all, the Earth's core isn't just magma."

"Too."

Lin Xu frowned deeply.

So what is it?

Intuitively, he felt that the thing resembled something he had seen before.

For example, in the Alliance era, there was the plasma storm generated when the giant accelerator placed in geosynchronous orbit exploded.

For example, the aurora borealis triggered by the Moonsurge Project.

However, compared to these two things, the fire I saw was purer and more in line with human intuition about flames.

Perhaps it's some kind of new technology?
Lin Xu had no clues and could only put aside his questions for the time being.

"How is the limiter array doing?"

Before leaving, Lin Xu had already given the fleet the task of "allocating a portion of the production capacity to quickly complete the construction of the limiter array".

Theoretically speaking, during the three days I was away, the fleet should have already been put into construction.

With the support of a "black box" and a large amount of basic mechanical infrastructure equipment, their progress should be an epic leap forward.

"It went smoothly, but it wasn't exactly smooth either."

Not going smoothly?

Lin Xu looked up at Jiang Xingye with a puzzled expression and asked:
"How could things not go smoothly?"

"Smooth sailing is external, while setbacks are internal."

Jiang Xingye replied:

"On a material level, things should go smoothly."

"With so many new technologies and mature infrastructure, if we still can't build the limiter array, then this fleet is truly unworthy of its name."

"But on a spiritual level."

Jiang Xingye paused for a moment, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat serious.

She exhaled softly, then said:
“I have a feeling that we are experiencing a cultural and ideological storm.”

"How to say?"

Lin Xu sat up straight instantly.

A storm of consciousness?

A shock of consciousness from another world?

He had considered this issue before, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

As Wu You later reported, just as he had thought, Jiang Xingye had indeed considered the impact of the "new humans" on the world.

Therefore, Jiang Xingye set up a simple safety measure in the brain-computer interface they commonly use.

This program will be activated upon arrival in the new world, using their in-depth research into brain science to precisely interfere with a portion of brain signals.

Its manifestation is that it "burns through" the memories of these crew members.

They do not lose long-term memories, but they do lose "habitual memories".

In other words, their dependence on "order" will be completely eliminated, and they will return to this world, which has not yet formed its own ideology, in a more appropriate manner.

Theoretically speaking, this is a fairly safe option.

It has fundamentally eliminated the culture shock.

But now, Jiang Xingye says that such a culture shock could still happen?
Why is that?
Seeing Lin Xu's expression, Jiang Xingye explained:

"We—not just us, but also me in another world—have overlooked one problem."

"Culture shock is not necessarily caused by the sending party; it can also be caused by the receiving party."

"In the very beginning, when we first made contact with the fleet, our information control was inadequate."

"This has led to a large amount of information from that world spreading to the general public."

"They have already seen that world and have a knowledge of its form."

"Such perception is like a mirror—or more accurately, a distorted lens."

"Looking at the so-called 'fleet civilization' through this mirror—yes, some have even expelled the fleet from humanity—the image of fleet civilization is severely distorted."

"Such distortions lead to prejudice, and prejudice, in turn, leads to defensiveness and alienation."

"Of course, if it is just a simple conflict of consciousness and culture, it is not enough to cause too serious problems."

"But coincidentally, three major events occurred during the three days you were away."

"Which three?"

Lin Xu asked the question subconsciously, then quickly realized what he meant.

"and many more."

"If I'm not mistaken, the first thing should be the first disaster recovery planet being locked."

"Yes."

Jiang Xingye replied:

"The fleet has already cleared the first disaster recovery planet and started construction."

"They are making rapid progress; the living quarters have been fully established, and the fleet crew members have become the first immigrants."

Undoubtedly, such progress will widen the gap between "fleet civilization" and "ground civilization".

When physical distances exceed the current limits of human capabilities on the ground, the sense of insecurity among people on the ground begins to amplify exponentially.

They were afraid of being left behind.
-
But strangely enough, this fleet was originally an "unexpected surprise" for them.

Perhaps, only by gaining something first and then losing it can one cause the greatest disappointment.

That's easy to understand—but what about the second thing?

Lin Xu pondered for a moment, then said:
"Unemployment wave".

"That's right, the large-scale riots were caused by the wave of unemployment."

Jiang Xingye sighed again.

"In fact, the unemployment wave has not yet truly arrived; what has arrived is the expectation of an unemployment wave."

"The world's production capacity structure is about to undergo a drastic change. At this stage, all the old production capacity we hold will be eliminated." "This is no longer a matter of technological iteration - the industries we have accumulated over thousands of years will crumble in the face of a completely new production logic."

“And we didn’t even have any transition time at all.”

"This is terrifying—even though the authorities have urgently introduced policies to temporarily protect old production capacity, this is not a long-term solution."

"Because everyone knows that protection is temporary and short-term."

"At some point in time, all of this production capacity will be phased out."

"And this time won't be too far off."

"Because the pressure of the apocalypse is too great, it is destined that it cannot be 'dragged down' for too long."

indeed.

This is a waterfall even more terrifying than "higher-dimensional divine authority".

If the higher-dimensional divine authority is still merely at the level of information and knowledge, and it will take time for knowledge and information to be transformed into reality, then at least it still leaves ordinary people with a faint glimmer of hope for descending downwards.
This waterfall was formed directly from the inverted seabed.

With immense water pressure all around, there was nowhere to escape, and it was impossible to ever reach the top of the waterfall.

Lin Xu's heart sank.

The current situation was actually within expectations, but when the problem actually occurred, I still felt immense pressure.

the most important is
It came too fast.

This issue is not isolated; it is also affected by the "Disaster Preparedness Planet" event.

Of course, there's one last thing.

After regaining his composure slightly, Lin Xu continued to ask:
"What is the third thing?"

"The division within the fleet crew."

Jiang Xingye replied:

"As I said, when we are biased against the fleet, they will be biased against us in the same way."

“All the crew members had their memories burned through, but the perception of ‘having their memories burned through’ cannot be erased.”

“They can remember what they used to be like, so they also know why they have become different.”

"It's like..."

"Looking back at your past self, you find that you were naive, foolish, and ridiculous, but you will never forget who you were back then."

"This leads to a serious psychological problem—a feeling of being dominated."

“Some crew members felt that their freedom was being taken away.”

"Of course, given the certainty of the apocalypse's existence and the understanding that humanity has more important things to accomplish, they did not make any excessive demands."

"They were just trying to ask if the burn-through operation could be reversed, and let them choose whether or not to accept it."

"This request was reported to a higher level as a destabilizing factor, and if we had been lucky enough, it could have been handled properly."

"But we weren't so lucky this time—the information was leaked."

"public?!"

Lin Xu asked in astonishment:

"You mean, their demands were made public?"

"Yes."

Jiang Xingye nodded emphatically.

Lin Xu closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and asked after a moment:
"Who did it?"

"It's obvious."

Jiang Xingye replied:

"A powerful figure in a country that has just completed a transformation at a terrible cost, but is now told that everything he has worked so hard to achieve is about to be abandoned."

"He has been arrested by the GDRF in cooperation with the US authorities, but there is not much point in holding him accountable."

"After all, even if we catch one of him, many more will surface."

"Conflicts are bound to escalate. The question now is how to deal with them after they escalate."

What about the original plan?

As previously planned, this world had anticipated the arrival of a support fleet and had made preparations for it.

The world knows it will inevitably face shocks, and therefore has developed a series of strategies to cope with them.

From the most basic upgrade of universal education to the most complex solutions for diversified labor consumption after the integration of strong artificial intelligence.

Each solution is designed to prevent the technologically upgraded world from disintegrating under the impact of massive surges.

"Not radical enough."

Jiang Xingye replied:

"We once thought the original plan was foolproof, but what has happened in the last three days has undeniably proven a basic fact."

That is, all our considerations are based on the premise that "the world is largely governed by reason".

"But in fact, we are far from being completely rational."

"In fact, the Buenos Aires disaster had already proven this point, but the subsequent success of domestic disaster preparedness efforts diluted its lessons and prevented people from further exploring the deeper implications hidden behind that disaster."

"So today, we have no choice but to face this test with a 'forced' attitude."

"clear."

Lin Xu nodded slightly, and after a moment's thought, he said:
"So what we need in the end is an immediate solution."

"The depth and total scale of the impact have not changed; what has changed is the intensity of the wave impacts."

"In our original plan, the impact should have been gradual and progressive."

"But now, the first peak we encounter may very well be the highest peak."

"Therefore, once this peak is dealt with, the subsequent problems will not be so difficult."

"Indeed it is."

Jiang Xingye nodded, then asked:
"How about it, any ideas?"

"Not yet."

Outside the car window, the scene was exactly the same as what Lin Xu had seen in another world: a huge, invisible, yet visible gravity tunnel, made visible by the busy cargo transport, pierced down through the clouds, massive amounts of raw materials were transported upwards, and then, the finished equipment descended from the sky along the tunnel.

From a distance, the sight was so magnificent it resembled a miracle.

Imagine a business owner finally catching up with the times, replacing their factory with brand-new intelligent equipment, industrial-grade artificial intelligence systems, and milling machines with more robust and durable heads. But then they look up and find that the "allies" of that fleet only need to deliver pig iron, or even ore directly from the mine, to that passage, and when they return, all the necessary equipment will be there.

How desperate would he be in this situation?

If it's just a "riot," then it's actually quite restrained.

Perhaps some of them, even if they only had stones in their hands, would wish they could shoot down those spaceships in the sky.

The car continued forward, and the two people inside fell into a long silence.

When the convoy finally stopped in front of the coordination group office building, Lin Xu finally snapped out of his long period of contemplation.

"There is a way to solve this problem quickly."

"Don't we need radical solutions? Nothing could be more radical than this."

"Help me call a meeting."

"The meeting focused on suggestions for soliciting nominations from the public for the next batch of support fleet personnel."

(End of this chapter)