Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!-Chapter 215 - 84: Speculation on the Causes of the Catastrophe_2

Chapter 215: Chapter 84: Speculation on the Causes of the Catastrophe_2

"In the second year after the leak of quantum computing technology, which was 2042, the Fu Xi Project began to shift."

"Or rather, it can’t be called a ’shift’, but an ’expansion’."

"Its purpose was no longer simply to expand productivity or to use the explosive growth of productivity and new modes of production to cover up the pale echoes left by the collapse of the old order."

"It began to assume the attribute of disaster preparedness."

"To quote one of your statements from back then: If a project could be called Project Zero, it should have the function to allow us to grow rapidly from nothing."

"The Fu Xi Project ultimately evolved into such a form."

"A golden key that allows us to rise swiftly even after experiencing some unwanted cataclysm or a colossal war that destroys everything."

"Have you heard that joke?"

"The joke goes, I don’t know what weapons will be used in World War III, but I know that in World War IV, they will be stones and wooden sticks."

"And the Fu Xi Project is the final assurance that can save us from stones and sticks."

"So now, do you understand what the Fu Xi Project really is?"

"...I understand."

Chen Jian exhaled a long breath, momentarily unsure of what to say.

The information Fu Xi provided him was overwhelming, too much information all at once.

Impending wars, explosive technological developments, a glorious era, omnipresent crises...

He truly regretted not having experienced that era.

But it seemed, now upon his shoulders sat an even heavier goal?

Has the Fu Xi Project been successful?

----Wait a moment.

Before the great catastrophe, were there any other disasters?

Chen Jian immediately asked:

"Did that great war eventually break out?"

"No."

Fu Xi answered:

"As I said, by 2045, we had discovered the final piece of the puzzle, which was the room-temperature superconductor."

"In fact, as early as 2040, we had already discovered this piece of the puzzle, it just took us 5 years to officially grasp it."

"And it was precisely because of this piece that humanity effectively slowed its march towards a great war due to a subtle tacit understanding."

"We continuously released information about this piece to the outside world, and combined with the continuous breakthroughs in fusion technology and various new values made possible by the applications of quantum computing and artificial intelligence, the wheels of war wobbled to a halt at the cliff’s edge." freewebnσvel.cøm

"Although various medium- and large-scale conflicts continued to occur, although the concept of so-called ’proxy wars’ had been fought to a degree of non-existence, indeed, no one took the final step."

"Of course, we did not let our guard down----we had already learned our lesson by then."

"So, the Fu Xi Project did not stagnate because of this; rather, it accelerated its development."

"Many underground structures like Facility 011, where we are, were established, and even some of the ’towns’ on the surface began to start operations experimentally...."

"Wait!"

Chen Jian interrupted once more.

"You mentioned towns?"

"What’s going on with Mountain City?"

"Mountain City is the location of Facility 004, but I’ve lost contact with it."

Fu Xi replied:

"Facility 004 is also one of the facilities that was not activated after the great catastrophe, theoretically, it should be operating stably like Facility 011."

"...No, at least based on the information I have, the situation in Mountain City has completely changed."

Chen Jian slowly shook his head, paused in thought for a moment, then continued to ask:

"So, how much do you know about the situation outside? Do you know what happened out there?"

"I know some things."

"Through quantum communication nodes, I can keep in contact with most of the facilities that have nodes set up."

Fu Xi’s tone remained calm.

"On October 19, 2045, the great catastrophe occurred."

"After the catastrophe, the surviving humans opened numerous shelters and underground facilities, the resources, knowledge, and technology within these facilities enabled a noticeable recovery of human civilization in a short time."

"But unfortunately, not every facility under the Fu Xi Project could reach the level of 011 and 004."

"Moreover, internal divisions occurred among humanity, leading to some unforeseen diversions in routes."

"The pace of human development was relatively slow, and by 2080, they had still not established a unified government with a high degree of organization."

"Of course, if given more time, they would eventually be able to ignite the spark of civilization into a prairie fire."

"But in 2085, 40 years after the great catastrophe, secondary disasters occurred."

"The recovering embers were almost extinguished, and from that point on, I could rarely obtain more useful information."

"But I know that secondary disasters did not happen just once, perhaps several times."

"After confirming this piece of information, I also attempted to activate the facilities preemptively, switching to an intelligent operation mode to create a habitable environment before humans arrived."

"But I soon discovered that a civilization without humans is almost impossible to sustain."

"Facility 009 was accidentally destroyed due to such an endeavor, and since then, I’ve only done one thing, which is wait."

"I knew that someone would eventually arrive here to take on the burden I hold."

"But I did not expect it to be someone as.....unique as you."

"....I didn’t expect it either."

Chen Jian’s eyes were slightly darkened, seemingly aware of his mood, Fu Xi spoke to comfort him:

"Don’t be disheartened, commander."

"From 2042 to 2045, I communicated with you a lot."

"Although most of these exchanges were about trivial, insignificant information, I know your abilities exceed what I, as a ’machine’, can anticipate."

"The things I cannot achieve, you surely can."

"Let’s hope so."

Chen Jian slightly shook his head, dispelling the somewhat chaotic thoughts in his mind, and spoke once more:

"Let’s return to the most fundamental question."

"Do you know what caused that great catastrophe?"

"I don’t know."

As Fu Xi’s words fell, Chen Jian was taken aback.

"You don’t know either?"

"Yes, my database is limited, and the time when the great catastrophe occurred was too short----although it wasn’t short for me, it left humans pitiably little time to react."

"The effective information I ultimately received was very little, or rather, the effective information that humans ultimately received was very little."

"Based on this information, I cannot make any valuable judgment on the cause of the great catastrophe."

"But, I can rule out the wrong answers."

"So what are the wrong answers?"

Chen Jian immediately asked.

"Viruses, rays, aliens - those most easily considered as causes of the great catastrophe are wrong answers."

"This great catastrophe seemed more like a chaotic disaster manifested on a fundamental theoretical level, just that its external manifestations happened to resemble certain elements we more easily understand."

"Understood."

Chen Jian nodded slightly, then asked again:

"Then what are your conjectures? Do you have any conjectures about the cause of the great catastrophe? Even if they’re unreasonable, you can share them."

"That would be overly broad. Do you really want to hear them?"

"Or would you prefer to start with the tasks at hand and have me brief you during your free time?"

"Just a few brief points, then let’s start working."

Chen Jian stood up.

In fact, although he was curious about the true ’cause’, it wasn’t something he had to know.

The threats at hand are real, and the work to be done is mountainous.

Blindly pursuing the so-called ’truth’ is not always rational.

In one word, the priority isn’t that high.

And after receiving his response, Fu Xi began to speak:

"From my perspective, the cause of the great catastrophe might have to be examined at an extremely foundational level, such as Higgs Field phase transition, proton decay, quantum gravity vacuum reconstruction, or Kaluzha-Klein dimensional collapse...."

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on fre(e)webnov(l).com