Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 17 New Types of Radiation
Lu Zhaoming picked up the scanned copy of the chart and pointed to one of the data points, saying, "This is the radiation level measured by the relevant equipment in the death environment, which is approximately 22 microsieverts per hour."

This level is significantly higher than the radiation dose of about 0.1 microsieverts per hour in normal environments, but to be precise, it is not actually that high. It is only about 4.5 times the radiation received by an aircraft during the cruise phase, which is not enough to cause a noticeable reaction in the human body in a short period of time. It may only slightly increase the long-term health risks.

For a healthy human to die from acute radiation sickness within just two minutes, the radiation dose would need to be increased to approximately 3000 sieverts per hour—a figure shown in the chart—1.3 million times the ambient radiation level at the time.

Lu Zhaoming raised his head, his aged eyes filled with a sense of bewilderment: "This level of radiation usually only occurs in extreme environments such as the center of a nuclear explosion or inside the core of a nuclear power plant."

Furthermore, in this environment, all electronic devices would fail within a very short time. This is because the excessively strong radiation would rapidly destroy the internal circuitry of electronic devices.

However, it is clear that, as Comrade Jiang Yang described, when the apocalypse arrived, all electronic devices inside the No. 7 Doomsday Base were functioning normally and were not destroyed by the intense radiation.

This also provides evidence that the initial radiation level was only 22 microsieverts per hour.

Upon hearing Professor Lu Zhaoming's explanation, Jiang Yang's brows furrowed slightly as well.

There is no doubt that the cause of the apocalypse was acute radiation sickness. This is because, in the previous cycle, the verification points set up at the national level were not limited to just one entity.

Hundreds or even thousands of people, living in different environments such as the seabed and underground bases, all died for this reason.

Jiang Yang asked cautiously, "Some kind of new type of radiation? A new type of particle that we don't yet know about, that exceeds our current physical theories?"

During his previous life's cycle, his interactions with scientists like Lu Zhaoming had given him some understanding of relevant physics. Furthermore, given his background in science in university, it wasn't difficult for him to formulate reasonable conjectures based on his understanding of Lu Zhaoming's words.

Human-made radiation detection equipment can only detect known types of radiation. The cause of the apocalypse was indeed acute radiation sickness, meaning the human body was exposed to a large dose of radiation in a short period. Combining these two factors, the answer seems obvious: some new type of particle, undetectable by human equipment, a new type of radiation, caused the deaths.

Unexpectedly, Professor Lu Zhaoming directly denied this speculation: "No, human body monitoring data shows that all the radiation that kills people is conventional radiation that we know, including alpha radiation, gamma rays, X-rays, beta rays, neutron radiation, etc."

The radiation energy provided by these particles and radiation is consistent with the lethal dose for humans, and is also consistent with the type of radiation we detected, which, although still at a low level, exceeds the normal environmental background.

We do not need to introduce new particles and new radiation to explain death.

"Are you saying that the radiation that causes acute radiation sickness and death in a short period of time is the kind of radiation we have detected, with an intensity of 22 microsieverts per hour?"

Lu Zhaoming murmured, "I can't be sure. But considering the existing clues, what else could it be? As the saying goes, after eliminating all the impossible, the only remaining option, no matter how bizarre it seems, must be it."

But why? ..."

Jiang Yang pondered for a moment and asked, "Since it's highly likely to be that, is there any way to protect ourselves? For example, by wearing protective clothing or something like that?"

Lu Zhaoming smiled wryly: "Even hundreds of meters thick rock layers and thousands of meters deep seawater cannot block this kind of radiation. Do you think you can rely on a layer of protective clothing for protection? It's impossible."

"In that case, we need to focus on two issues."

First, why did 22 microsieverts per hour of radiation appear simultaneously in various different environments? No matter whether these environments are underground or underwater, and no matter how much protection we take, we cannot stop these radiations from appearing.

Second, why could such a low level of radiation cause acute radiation sickness?

The experience of facing life and death made Jiang Yang's thinking clearer and smoother: "If we figure out these two things, we may be able to know the truth about the end of the world."

Professor Lu Zhaoming nodded slightly: "That's true." Jiang Yang looked at Sun Changhe: "Director Sun, I suggest we adjourn the meeting temporarily so that the experts have time to exchange ideas and organize their thoughts."

"Alright. Then I declare a five-hour recess. During these five hours, the encrypted network conference room will remain open to all experts, and you are free to find colleagues to discuss with."

If we need to bring in other experts, we can submit an application to Commander Gu, who will then arrange for someone to bring the expert into the meeting room.

After saying this, Sun Changhe hurriedly got up and disappeared. Jiang Yang sat in his seat, frowned and pondered for a moment, and finally sighed.

He knew that the experts invited at this moment represented almost the highest wisdom of the entire human world.

"Hopefully the experts can figure out what's going on, or... at least find a way to figure these things out."

Five hours passed quickly. When Jiang Yang logged back into the conference room, he saw that the number of attendees had increased from less than 400 to about 700.

Sun Changhe also returned and reappeared on the screen.

"Before the meeting continues, I would like to announce a few decisions."

First, establish the Doomsday Plan Command Center, with Comrade Jiang Yang serving as the commander-in-chief.

He looked at him with a solemn gaze: "Comrade Jiang Yang, your identity as a 'time traveler' and your ability to loop through time are the most powerful weapons our country and our human world have against the apocalypse."

From this moment on, the fate of our nation and civilization rests on your shoulders. We hope you can lead us to find a way to perpetuate our nation and civilization.

I assure you that in this war, the entire nation will stand behind you, obey your orders and commands, and spare no effort to carry out any of your instructions.

From this moment on, the entire nation stands behind you.

Jiang Yang knew that in the past few hours, the national level, represented by Sun Changhe, must have obtained a lot of intelligence, and this intelligence must have once again proven his identity and the authenticity of his words.

From this moment on, my level of trust has risen from the "personal" level to the "state apparatus" level.

While it may still be impossible to reach 100%, it is certainly already at an extremely high level.

At this moment, Jiang Yang felt a little dazed.

For me, it was less than a month ago; for these attendees, it was just a few hours ago. I was just an ordinary employee.

Now, the entire state apparatus has become his backing. The resources and power he controls have surged to an unbelievable level in an instant.

Jiang Yang truly had a feeling.

"The fate of the nation and civilization rests on my shoulders..."

(End of this chapter)