Chapter 702 “Animal World” and “Bible”

  Chapter 702 “Animal World” and “Bible”

  Jin Gallon Port.

  A drizzling rain washed away the dust on the street, and a few wisps of mist rose from the dark red square bricks, making the port, which had not yet been fully illuminated by the sun, hazy in the mist.

  On the cargo ship near the dock, the sailors were cleaning the deck, and the merchants in silk robes were checking with the port affairs officer about the goods that needed to be handed over to the warehouse.

  After a short period of order vacuum, the order of this port has been restored, at least the order in this area of ​​the port has been basically restored.

  Including the Guard Bureau, Fire Station, Port Authority, Clinic, Court and other institutions are re-performing their work under the coercive wrists of the “Iron Men”.

  After all, having a job to do and a salary to receive is much more comfortable than squatting in a warehouse without even a bed.

  The “Dolphin” nuclear-powered submarine docked at the dock again, this time not only bringing supplies from the French Fries Port, but also bringing researchers from the scientific expedition team.

  Previously, the players of the Burning Legion seized a large number of relics left over from the prosperous era at the Governor’s Mansion, which needed to be appraised. The scientific expedition team was the only unit that was interested in these “holy relics” and could legally purchase them from the players.

  Sometimes Fang Chang couldn’t help but think maliciously, whether these guys would deliberately lower the price by relying on their “franchise rights”.

  But even if they lowered the price, he actually had no way to do anything.

  These spoils were submitted as “mission props” and were not freely traded goods.

  Even if they were given less, he could only accept it.

  However, the offer given by this broad-minded researcher lady did not disappoint him, and it was even a little higher than he expected.

  ”… A total of 9.17 million silver coins.”

  After finally completing the photo registration of the last piece of spoils, the researcher stretched out his index finger and tapped twice on the unfolded holographic screen to archive the collected data.

  ”Hiss…” Fang

  Chang, who was standing aside, heard it and couldn’t help but take a breath of humid air. The researcher happened to hear it, so he cast an inquiring look at him.

  ”What’s wrong?”

  Fang Chang said nonsense seriously, hiding the snicker on his face.

  ”Nothing… I mean, this is too little. We spent a lot of effort to get these things. Can we have more?”

  The researcher said teasingly.

  ”For the unplanned recycling projects, we have a strict calculation formula and audit process. No matter how much effort you put in, it will not affect their added value. I advise you to give up.”

  ”Okay.”

  Fang Chang gave up decisively.

  This person is called Han Mingyue. She is a popsicle recovered from the ruins of the Great Desert by the Thorn Corps stationed in the Kaituo City area.

  The reason why she is called a popsicle has nothing to do with her age, but the time displayed on the hibernation capsule is 81, which is less than a century.

  There are five pages of background information on her official website, which is mainly edited by players active in the Kaituo City area.

  Fang Chang took a simple look and extracted about three lines of key information-

  she was once a resident of the abandoned Shelter No. 288.

  Her major is data repair and archive organization.

  Probably influenced by the Thorn Corps Captain Rama, she is currently mainly engaged in the research of the sociology of the Borneo Province.

  Both the “Borneo Province” and the “Sociology Direction” are relatively unpopular fields in the scientific expedition team.

  However, it is precisely because of this that Yin Fang still sent her here, as one of the few talents in this field who can take on important tasks, even though she is still young.

  Turning her eyes back to the spoils that filled half of the warehouse, Han Mingyue stretched out her gloved right hand and picked up a silver-gray memory card from the shelf.

  The memory card was only the size of a thumb.

  Her eyes flashed with interest.

  ”… But to be honest, I didn’t expect you to find this thing.”

  Fang Chang stared at her fingertips and took a look. The thing looked like a memory card, placed together with other colorful game cards.

  ”Is there anything special about this card?”

  ”More than special!” Han Mingyue said happily, “Let’s put it this way, the project I’m researching is just missing this piece of the puzzle… about the origin of the Thousand Clan and Thousand Gods.”

  The origin of the Thousand Clan and Thousand Gods? !

  Fang Chang’s eyes suddenly showed a strong interest, and he immediately said.

  ”I would like to hear more about it.”

  Han Mingyue did not speak, but took out a holographic computer pen, connected the expansion interface, and inserted the old memory card.

  Looking at the light blue holographic beam with expectation, Fang Chang thought he would see something surprising, but he did not expect to see a strong yak.

  ​​The yak was running, its strong muscles pumping the breath of life, with billowing smoke and dust floating around it, but the land under its feet could not be seen.

  At this time, the camera began to pull away from the front of it, gradually revealing the herd of cattle behind it and the endless grassland.

  Then, the powerful, low and convincing voice began to sound.

  ”On the grasslands by the Yongliu River, the most deadly thing is not the claws of hyenas and the teeth of lions, but the running cattle. Even the most ferocious beasts have to retreat when they encounter them…”

  To be honest, as a documentary, these short shots are quite shocking, and the narration is quite standard.

  Especially considering that these images may have been displayed by immersive virtual reality equipment two hundred years ago, the actual expression may be more shocking than the holographic projection from a third-person perspective.

  But…

  what does this have to do with the Thousand Clans and Thousand Gods?

  Fang Chang was a little confused.

  Standing next to him, Han Mingyue stared at the flickering holographic light and shadow with his eyes, as if he was looking at a cultural relic.

  ”The original footage of ‘The Secret of Nature – Yak’… Although there is still some data loss, it is the most complete memory card we can find so far. It’s a pity that it can be preserved so well! Please try to find similar places in the future.”

  ”I will, if conditions permit…” Fang Chang couldn’t help asking after being shocked by the name of the documentary, “It’s just that I don’t quite understand… What is the relationship between this ‘Animal World’ and the Thousand Clans and Thousand Gods?”

  Han Mingyue narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a smile,

  ”The herd of cattle running under the scorching sun… Don’t you think it looks familiar?”

  Fang Chang was slightly stunned and blurted out.

  ”…The Sun-carrying Divine Cow.”

  Han Mingyue gave him an approving look.

  ”You have a high level of understanding.” What

  the hell?! Fang Chang

  was completely dumbfounded.

  ”But…”

  Looking at his hesitant expression, Han Mingyue could guess what he was thinking without asking, so she smiled and said.

  ”You want to know how the popular science documentary became the origin of the Thousand Clans and Thousand Gods, right?”

  Fang Chang nodded with a strange expression.

  ”Maybe my imagination is not enough, I really can’t fully imagine this process…”

  ”It’s not that difficult to understand. You can understand it if you abstract something like ‘holographic cassette’ into ‘something that knowledge and experience cannot explain’.”

  Looking at Fang Chang, who was still confused, she paused for a moment and continued.

  ”In ancient times, a forest fire or a lightning bolt was enough to make an ape-man with superior intelligence or good luck become a prophet or priest of the tribe. When people gradually mastered the ability to make fire and lost their awe of the flames that burned everything, prophets, priests, people who guarded the fire, etc. These occupations that were endowed with sacred meanings slowly walked out of the center of the historical stage.”

  Fang Chang frowned slightly and thought for a moment.

  ”You mean, someone took advantage of these popular science images, such as the blue coat… They packaged themselves as priests or prophets and deceived the survivors on this land.”

  It was not surprising that he would think so, Han Mingyue said in a gentle tone.

  ”This is a relatively utilitarian interpretation. Of course, this possibility is not ruled out, but the existing evidence is more inclined to another completely opposite explanation.”

  ”…What explanation.”

  ”This is not something that someone deliberately did, but it was unconsciously formed spontaneously by the group in the long-term social evolution process.”

  Fang Chang was slightly stunned.

  ”Spontaneous formation?”

  ”That’s right.”

  Han Mingyue nodded slowly, looking at the holographic image that was playing intermittently, and continued.

  ”A work of art can be completed by one or several people, but a culture that is widely recognized by people is usually formed spontaneously in the process of social evolution. If you want to find out the origin of the ‘Thousand Tribes and Thousand Gods’ in Borneo Province, you must start with the survivors who first fled to this land.”

  Fang Chang asked puzzledly.

  ”Are there no native survivors on this land?”

  Han Mingyue was stunned and looked at him strangely.

  ”Are you kidding? This is an ecological reserve in the Prosperous Era… How could there be such a thing as native survivors except for a small number of tourism practitioners and scientific expedition personnel? Would you want to sleep with lions and bison?”

  Fang Chang: “……?”

  Looking at Fang Chang who knew nothing, Han Mingyue sighed, turned off the “Animal World” that was being shown, and spoke slowly.

  ”It seems that I have to start with the most basic part…”

  …

  The biggest difference between the Prosperous Era and the old era is not only reflected in the generation gap in science and technology, but also in all aspects from the way of production and life to the concept of thought and culture, which have undergone earth-shaking changes that were unimaginable in the old era.

  The most typical of these is the administrative division.

  Thanks to the free migration of population, the extensive development of outer space and the integration of nations around the world, people’s feelings for land are no longer as strong as in the old days. They identify more with the identity of “human” than their own blood, and even begin to study whether to give the honor of “being born as a human” to AI with “social attributes”.

  The people living on this planet are fully prepared to welcome the future, and they are only one FTL engine away from stepping into the starry sky.

  Against this backdrop, in pursuit of the efficiency of land resource allocation, the Human Union abolished the administrative divisions of the old era in the early days of the prosperous era and replaced them with more localized large divisions.

  For example, Luoxia Province is the product of this “enclosure movement”.

  What was once a vast desert has been transformed into farmland that can satisfy the stomachs and taste buds of most people in the world by desalination equipment and endless energy.

  The situation of the Bora Province is similar, except that its planning direction is completely opposite to that of the Luoxia Province, which was once an uninhabited area.

  In the old days before the establishment of the Human Union, there was the world’s largest slum, and the gap between the rich and the poor was the largest in the world.

  If Luoxia Province is an uncultivated wasteland, then the Borneo Province is a rotten land that has been ruined by the locals.

  It is for this reason that when the Human Union was finally established after many twists and turns, and the four major industrial zones and the space elevator project in the central part of the Central Continent began construction, the region immediately set off a long-lasting and unprecedented “population migration” movement.

  In pursuit of a better life, a large number of poor people left their poor homes and took maglev trains across the Zhuobar Mountains in waves to the dreamland in the central part of the continent. Together with immigrants from other administrative divisions, they completed a miracle in the history of the Human Union – a super-large urban agglomeration built around the space elevator.

  In contrast, the deserted Borneo Province ushered in a massive “de-urbanization” movement under the influence of the population siphon effect.

  In fact, similar situations are not only happening in Borneo, but the performance here looks more shocking in macro data due to many historical problems.

  According to available data, by the middle of the prosperous era, the population of Borneo was only 0.3% of the late old era, which formed a sharp contrast with the eastern and western provinces that still retained a large number of “urban clusters that can produce positive economic effects”.

  Considering that instead of paying high operation and maintenance costs for local public facilities with extremely low utilization rates and letting local people live in “priceless broken houses”, it is better to give them money and a ticket to let them move to the central urban clusters to enjoy life.

  The People’s Union authorities simply set Borneo as an “ecological reserve” and took the banner of “We must not only build a paradise for people, but also a paradise for animals”. Under the intervention of administrative power, this unprecedented de-urbanization movement was actively fast-forwarded to the end.

  By the middle and late prosperous era, the de-urbanization movement in Borneo had ended ahead of schedule under the active intervention of the People’s Union. There were less than 50,000 people left on the four million square kilometers of land, and they were mainly tourism practitioners and researchers.

  After demolishing most of the old urban buildings and shacks, the Human Union returned this Feng Shui treasure land that spans three temperature zones, tropical, subtropical and northern temperate, to nature, retaining only a small number of cultural relics, tourist areas, self-driving routes and scientific research facilities.

  The maglev tracks that were once built for population migration have also been gradually demolished as the population migration goals have been completed, leaving only a small number of underground lines that do not hinder the migration of wild animals.

  This place is like a large wildlife park.

  It was demolished long before the wasteland era…

  After briefly summarizing what happened on this land during the prosperous era, Han Mingyue paused for a moment and continued.

  ”… I don’t need to tell you what happened later. The three-year war broke out, the space elevator collapsed, and the good life was shattered. The super-city cluster located in the middle of the Central Continent became a hell on earth that even the post-war reconstruction committee was helpless to deal with.”

  ”A large number of survivors flocked from the four major industrial areas to the surrounding administrative divisions, such as Luoxia Province, such as Boluo Province… Due to the status of Boluo Province as an ‘ecological reserve’ area, this land became the only survivor of the war. Even though a mother nest fell in Luoxia Province, there was not a single one in this four million square kilometers of land.”

  Fang Chang looked at her in surprise.

  ”Not even one?!”

  ”Yes,” Han Mingyue nodded, “Obviously the residents of the colony also felt that there was no need to take special care of this zoo, not to mention that there were no concrete buildings as petri dishes, and this place was actually not suitable for the rapid reproduction of slime molds.” After a pause

  , she continued.

  ”Because they were not given special care by the mother nest and the climate was relatively comfortable, many survivors chose this place as their first choice for escape… According to my research, at least nearly 100 million people successfully escaped here at that time.”

  ”Obviously, this piece of land that has been de-urbanized cannot support so many people. Food, medicine, energy, housing and even safety have become scarce. In order to compete for the opportunity to survive, people began to imitate the beasts on this land and threw away the reserve of civilized people in hunger.”

  ”At first it was just poaching, then it was robbery and even cannibalism… I may be more euphemistic, but according to the information I collected in the Great Desert, this place may have entered a completely disordered wasteland earlier than the eastern and western provinces that were cared for by the War Construction Committee.”

  Fang Chang swallowed unconsciously, imagining the scene of the end of the world.

  ”Where are the local garrisons?”

  Han Mingyue said concisely.

  ”The Human Union’s army was formed in a very short period of time. There were fires everywhere that needed to be put out, and they also had to maintain the front line five light years away. You can imagine how many troops could be assigned to this ‘zoo’… According to my research, the Human Union did have some troops enter the area, but the order they were able to maintain was limited to a few areas with mild climates on the east and west coasts of Borneo province.”

  ”And due to the loss of organization and supplies, their own survival has become a problem. You can’t expect those people to always hold the balance of order. They themselves are on the balance, and it’s good enough if you can crush it a little slower.”

  After a pause, she continued.

  ”What the army did at that time is not the focus of my research. Back to what I said just now, this four million square kilometers of land may have entered the wasteland earlier, and completed the evolution from a disordered society to an orderly society earlier, and in this process, large and small settlements were born. These settlements are distributed along the Yongliu River in the form of tribes and gradually expanded outward…”

  ”Due to the obstruction of the Zhuobar Mountains and the Borneo Sea, mutants and most alien species have not been able to migrate to this area, and aquatic mutants have also stopped east of the Baiyue Strait. The pressure faced by local survivors is mainly some wild animals and a small number of alien species.”

  ”Although civilization has undergone a systematic regression, there are still a lot of experience and technology from the old times. This group of survivors with low literacy but rich survival skills expanded their territory much faster than primitive people. They soon formed large and small feudal kingdoms like the survivors in Luoxia Province.”

  ”In the process, not only did their population expand rapidly, but they also found something to place their souls…”

  As he spoke, Han Mingyue took the memory card off the computer pen and shook it in front of Fang Chang’s eyes.

  ”Faith.”

  ”Whether it is an abstract god or a dogma, in the classical period before the Enlightenment, it was almost the only tool to unite the ignorant majority. It can temporarily make people give up thinking about the three things of ‘who am I’, ‘where do I come from’, and ‘where am I going’, restrain primitive instincts, and maintain the operation of a huge system like a gear.”

  Fang Chang’s Adam’s apple moved.

  Although it was something he had expected, he was still shocked when he heard professionals unraveling it.

  ”So the Thousand Clans and Thousand Gods is a lie?”

  Han Mingyue said in a relaxed tone.

  ”It can’t be considered a lie, it’s more like a coincidence… There are a large number of holographic projection devices left here, mainly used to introduce the wild animals of Borneo Province to tourists. Relying on energy storage equipment, they are likely to have been operating for a considerable period of time in the first fifty years of the wasteland era. It is understandable that they are regarded as miracles by the second and third generation survivors who have been in the wasteland since they opened their eyes. After all, their fathers who can explain to them over and over again have an average life expectancy of less than 30 years old.”

  ”You might as well try to put yourself in the situation of the survivors at that time. You are a survivor who has lived in a world of ice and snow since the day you were born. You are huddled at the ticket gate of a cultural center with your father’s relics to avoid the blizzard.”

  ”At this time, the AI ​​recognized your presence, and an endless warm grassland appeared in front of you, and then a majestic voice began to tell you about the old days. The Borneo Province in the past was a paradise where even mice could live happily…”

  Fang Chang tried to put himself in the situation faced by the survivors at that time, but he couldn’t put himself in the situation after thinking about it for a long time, and finally shook his head.

  ”…I would never think that I am a descendant of mice.”

  Lions or tigers are possible.

  Han Mingyue laughed and teased.

  ”Of course, the ancestors of humans cannot be animals, but you may worship it as something similar to the giant deer god… Don’t overestimate yourself. The reason you didn’t do this is simply because you are well educated and really understand what you have learned.” The

  inexplicable holographic light and shadow are just the beginning.

  When miracles become reality, miracles are no longer just miracles, but prophecies from the gods.

  Moreover, the images in the holographic image did become a reality later.

  In the 50th year of the Wasteland Era, the cold winter ended, and the ecological environment of the Borneo Province gradually returned to what it was half a century ago.

  For the survivors who lived by the Yongliu River at that time, this was undoubtedly the manifestation of the totem they worshipped.

  Although the end of the cold winter was just a normal climate change and had nothing to do with their prayers…

  ”I know,” Fang Chang said with emotion, “but then again, it turns out that the Thousand Races and Thousand Gods are really divided artificially.”

  After all, two hundred years is still too short, and it is not enough for a group of people to form a new human race under natural evolution.

  Unless it is pure black technology like the Weyland people or mutants.

  Without the help of scientific power, they need at least a thousand years of racial segregation to form a clear difference in characteristics between the Sun People and the Moon People.

  As if he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, Han Mingyue corrected his imprecise statement and continued.

  ”To be precise, it is a limited range of self-identification formed under collective unconscious behavior. You can find that their skeletal features are actually not much different from the survivors who fled to Luoxia Province. Excluding the influence of nutrition, air humidity, and light exposure, it can be said that they are the same kind of people.”

  Fang Chang nodded thoughtfully.

  In fact, let alone other players.

  Even he himself occasionally subjectively brings in his experience on Earth, but in fact, if you think about it carefully, you will know that reality and games are two completely different dimensions.

  The wasteland of the Boro Province is probably a “classic start”.

  That is, without the interference of transcendental forces such as shelter residents, strategic weapons strikes, mutant slime mold nests, mutants, etc., it is a typical wasteland formed purely by the collapse of order.

  As for the Xilan Empire, it is a wave in the rise and fall.

  If there is no external interference, the survivors here may continue the tradition for hundreds or even thousands of years, until an accidental “Renaissance” or a “historical discovery” of the past allows them to find new spiritual sustenance and replace the “thousand races and thousands of gods” that has gradually become outdated with the development of productivity.

  But it does not rule out another extreme possibility that the local survivors have fallen into another spiral in the long cycle of reincarnation. They constantly learn lessons from the previous reincarnation, and nail the loopholes that break the reincarnation with oak boards and nails, so as to establish a set of “rule theory” with a more permanent structure and more rigorous logic, so that the water of the Yongliu River will no longer flow.

  As for which possibility is greater, there is no way to know.

  After all, only the history that has happened is inevitable in history.

  And what will happen in the future, only people in the future will know.

  In short, for the scientific expedition team, they are a good observation sample.

  Putting the memory card containing the “original scriptures” into the storage box, Han Mingyue looked at the port outside the warehouse door and said excitedly.

  ”…If nothing unexpected happens, there should be traces of early survivor settlements or shelters nearby. This may help me complete the part of the project that has not been involved before, the impact of the only remaining order during the three-year war on the evolution of the wasteland society in the Borneo Province.”

  After hearing Han Mingyue’s words, Fang Chang spoke subconsciously.

  ”You mean Camp Lowell?”

  ”Wait, Camp Lowell is here?!” Han Mingyue opened her eyes wide in surprise, and then said in surprise, “Great, can you take me to see it?”

  Fang Chang nodded.

  ”No problem.”

  Due to the advance of the second phase of the offensive, the camp is currently under their control. Before the emperor of the Xilan Empire gets serious, they can probably enjoy a period of peace and tranquility.

  If they want to carry out scientific research activities, now is the best time.

  Just when Fang Chang was about to call a vehicle to take her there, the dog suddenly walked over here.

  His footsteps were hurried, his face was full of seriousness, and he spoke quickly without waiting for Fang Chang to ask.

  ”Something happened at Camp Lowell!”

  (End of this chapter)