The night before the promotion

Chapter 92 Saving Technology
In the dark carriage, several hideous and burly figures stood quietly like silent sculptures, waiting for the moment when the sunlight would shine and wake them up.

Huo Daochuan lodged his consciousness in the cold body of his incarnation, carefully feeling the various wonderful sensations coming from the end of his consciousness that exceeded the limits of human perception.

Greatly enhanced vision, keen hearing, or the electronic radar that can directly display the enemy's position in the mind... These cold devices have now become an extension of Huo Daochuan's senses. The excessive intake of information has caused waves of unbearable pain in his mind.

This is terrible.

The carriage shook slightly as it drove at high speed, and the creaking sound of metal friction was heard in the silence.

At the moment, Huo Daochuan actually wanted to take a nap, close his eyes, abandon these useless senses, let his brain relax, fall into a long and distant sleep, and it would be best if he could have a dream about the morning in the Gulf of Mexico...

Huo Daochuan's idea was beautiful, but unfortunately, the excessive amount of information made it difficult for him to fall asleep.

He was a little disappointed. The reason for his disappointment was probably that this might be the last sleep in Huo Daochuan's life. When he closed his eyes again, eternal sleep would be waiting for him.

If possible, Huo Daochuan hopes to have a beautiful dream about the Gulf of Mexico during that eternal sleep.

Huo Daochuan didn't even need it to be beautiful or clear. It was enough as long as he felt that he was there. Even if he just felt the warm and moist sand, he could feel the long-lost peace in his heart.

"We're almost there."

A cold electronic sound rang out in the channel, interrupting Huo Daochuan's wild thoughts.

Huo Daochuan looked over... To be precise, the armed avatar under his control moved its head, and its visual system captured the source of the sound.

It was another ferocious armed incarnation, located at the other end of the carriage. Even though the carriage was dim and without any light, Huo Daochuan could still see the opponent's outline and catch a glimpse of the flashing indicator light with the help of the military-grade visual system.

Although they were all armed incarnations, they had obviously undergone some decorations, and unlike the previous Paradise that was covered with talismans, this time they only wore masks.

A series of portrait masks made of resin 3D printing.

Another voice spoke.

"How much longer?"

A new voice interrupted the conversation.

"About ten minutes."

"..."

Silence, no one responded.

Everyone present was a survivor of the destruction of Yunzhong City, and was also Huo Daochuan's trusted confidant.

Compared with those ignorant crazy people, they share the same philosophy as Huo Daochuan. Everything they say and do is for the sake of those suffering from the disease of consciousness, instead of just satisfying their own desires like Shan Jun.

But even so, Huo Daochuan and others do not intend to use any morality to beautify themselves. They are well aware of the blood on their hands and know what they have done.

The unbearable silence made Huo Daochuan feel a little anxious. He felt that this emotion did not come from fear, but from a sense of urgency.

He was eager to achieve some goal, and that goal was now within his reach, even only a ten-minute drive away.

"Everyone, how do you think history will record us in the future?"

The voice sounded again, and Huo Daochuan turned his head to look at him again, and the other party happened to look at him, allowing Huo Daochuan to see clearly the mask he was wearing.

The figure sculpted on the mask is named Charles Babbage, who is known as the father of the general-purpose computer. He invented a mechanical computer that can perform eight-bit calculations.

Charles asked with a hint of delight, "Is he a revolutionary? Or a terrorist?"

"It must be a terrorist."

A voice was heard in the channel. Huo Daochuan remembered the armed incarnation corresponding to this voice, so he looked to the other side and another portrait mask came into view.

That is the mask of John Atanasoff, the father of electronic computers. He changed the mechanical computer into an electronic crystal computer. The vacuum tube computer he created could perform 5000 calculations per second, which was unprecedented in that era.

John reaffirmed his thoughts, "Yes, no matter what, we are all real terrorists. Besides, I don't think history will record our names. At most, there will be a line of names in the files that will never be seen by future generations."

"But what if it won't be recorded?"

Some people refuted John's words, and he wore the mask of von Neumann, the father of modern computers.

"There are so many people in history who are not remembered, so what are we?"

There was an unstoppable excitement in von Neumann's voice. "But those who are not remembered have indeed pushed the entire history forward... I think the same is true for us."

His words were full of idealistic naivety.

“Even if we are extremely small, our existence and our actions will shake the wheel of history. This is beyond doubt.”

After saying that, he looked at Huo Daochuan. Under von Neumann's mask, an indicator light was flashing.

"What do you think, Turing?"

Alan Mathison Turing, known as the father of artificial intelligence, is the mask worn by Huo Daochuan.

"I?"

Huo Daochuan thought for a while and said, "I only know that the eve of world change is just around the corner."

Trying hard to calm his mind, Huo Daochuan forgot the regrets in his dream and let his thoughts fall into the cold framework of order, no longer swayed by emotions.

"Let me recap the plan one last time, everyone."

Huo Daochuan said calmly, "Our biggest reliance in this operation is not these armed avatars, but the electronic virus I got from the immortal."

After the Yunzhong City incident, Huo Daochuan negotiated with Ji Siling, also known as Madam Cui. She provided Huo Daochuan with resources such as the armed avatars needed for the action. At the same time, she also extracted the electronic virus from the mind storage core, which was the power given to Huo Daochuan by the immortal to change the world.

Catalyst virus.

This was the name given to it by Huo Daochuan. After a simple test, he and Madam Cui were horrified to find that the virus actually had the power to penetrate high walls and large systems.

You know, since the high wall system was built, it has suffered countless attacks, but these attacks have never been able to truly shake the solidity of the high wall system, and they haven't even left any scratches.

However, the catalyst virus given to Huo Daochuan by the immortal has the power to break through the limitations of the high wall system and can completely disintegrate the protection of the high wall system on the thought storage core from the inside of the incarnation shell.

From now on, the avatar body will be easily invaded by hackers, and the consciousness of the ruler of the avatar body will be directly exposed to the terrifying information flood, allowing them to experience firsthand the world seen by patients with dementia.

Charles exclaimed, "Catalyst virus? It's unbelievable that there is such a thing in the world." "I don't doubt the existence of this thing," John doubted, "I'm just curious. There are not many people in the world who can come up with this thing."

"Moreover... this thing could have been enough to affect a war if it appeared at the necessary moment, and even cause a small country's defense force to temporarily collapse. But it was handed over to us to fight this suicidal battle."

Von Neumann was a little confused. "I think our interests are consistent with those of the Immortal. I just don't understand what the Immortal wants to take such a big risk."

Hearing this, Huo Daochuan laughed grimly. After he and Madam Cui checked the effect of the catalyst virus, it was the first time he saw Madam Cui so panicked.

If it weren't for the same interests, Madam Cui would have wanted to kill Huo Daochuan to silence him, and then seal up the catalyst virus forever, and preferably force herself to forget it all.

The reason? This is very simple. The fact that the catalyst virus involves is so huge that Madam Cui does not think she can escape from this storm.

But the clients behind Madam Cui were very determined. Even when they learned about the existence of the catalyst virus, they were extremely surprised. But despite their surprise, they were still determined to carry out the action and would not allow anyone to refuse.

Huo Daochuan knew, and everyone present knew, that they were just a group of pawns running towards the sea of ​​fire, victims of the game played by the bigwigs.

But they don't care. Rather than living a mediocre life, Huo Daochuan and others would rather burn to their heart's content, even if it's just a fleeting spark.

Huo Daochuan asked, "Has the parade over there started?"

"Yes, and the parade was huge. It looked like the client was behind it," von Neumann said. "There were huge crowds of people, including many avatars."

John added, “The parade has been all over the news, and many channels are broadcasting it live.”

"Very good. The catalyst virus will first be released in the parade. After spreading through the consciousness network, it will cause all the avatar bodies present to go out of control and cause large-scale unrest."

Huo Daochuan imagined that cruel and bloody scene, "Even the security avatar and the armed avatar are not immune. From that moment on, all the steel men will not be trusted."

“This will all be broadcast live without reservation.”

Like a collective hallucination, Huo Daochuan and others couldn't help but smell a hint of blood, so fresh and clear.

"While the parade is in trouble, we will also storm the Stone Fortress," Huo Daochuan continued, "Each of our armed avatars will be a catalyst virus transmitter, and the interference signal will affect all armed avatars within range... even ourselves."

"But the difference is that we have become accustomed to operating under the illusion of information overload, and this is our greatest advantage."

Huo Daochuan finally said, "The ultimate goal of the operation is to inject the catalyst virus into the server of the high-walled system through a physical interface, paralyzing the network system of the entire region."

After briefly describing the general actions, Huo Daochuan couldn't help but imagine what happened afterwards.

"We will all die here, and so will many of the people who share our values ​​in this march."

Huo Daochuan said sadly, "We are not revolutionaries, we are just a group of terrorists, but I'm sorry, this is the only solution I can think of after racking my brains."

He seemed to be talking to John, Charles and others, and also seemed to be confessing to the innocent people who would die next, but Huo Daochuan understood that no matter what he said, it could not change the fact that they were terrorists. At most, it would only make them feel a little better.

Self-deception.

There was a rumbling sound outside the carriage, followed by a shrill warning sound. Along with the warning sound, there was also fierce gunfire, which clanged through the carriage.

The sun was setting as it approached noon, weaving a dazzling spider web in the dim carriage, with the swirling dust clearly visible.

"The suicide truck began to speed up."

Someone said in the channel, and Huo Daochuan couldn't quite tell who was speaking.

In addition to the transport vehicle carrying Huo Daochuan and others, there was another suicide truck loaded with explosives leading the way. It violently crashed through the isolation net like a bull out of a cage.

The speeding bullets pierced the tires of the suicide truck, and as it moved rapidly, it rolled over uncontrollably, plowing a rough mark on the ground.

But it did not stop there. Instead, it relied on inertia to successfully break through to the edge of the low stone fortress, right in front of the heavily armed gate.

After a brief calm, a deafening explosion sounded from the front, and the shock wave and heat wave hammered the carriage, shaking the earth.

A blazing fireball rose from the ground, followed by a slowly rising mushroom cloud. The spreading ripples ignited the surrounding grass and flattened the isolation fence.

Several armed incarnations of riot suppressants had already approached cautiously. Unlike the ones standing under the Supervisory Bureau building, these riot suppressants were carrying real military weapons.

But in the face of this horrifying explosion, this group of armored giants were knocked down like straw and fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the empty field turned into a scarlet burning hell, raising endless ashes.

The transport truck showed no signs of slowing down as it crossed the burning grass. Amid the billowing smoke, a riot guard suddenly appeared. It tried to continue firing back but was hit head-on by the transport truck.

Even though its sturdy armored body didn't cause it much damage, it was still pushed backwards continuously until it hit the gray-white wall of the stone fortress heavily and stopped.

"Charles Babbage, John Atanasoff, John von Neumann, and...Alan Mathison Turing."

A suppressed and low voice rang out through the loudspeaker, echoing in the sea of ​​fire like a declaration of war.

“The great men in history created technology that dominated the world, but today, technology has become alienated and cancerous in the hands of humans.”

Huo Daochuan drove the heavy humanoid armed incarnation, tore open the fragile carriage, and strode out of it.

"Now, we have to take the place of the great men - to save technology!"

The great men of steel opened Pandora's box, using themselves as signal base stations and releasing the catalyst virus indiscriminately.

Before the rioters could open fire, the high walls that protected their consciousness from being consumed by information overload collapsed one by one under the influence of the catalyst, and the fragile mortal consciousness was exposed to the flood of information.

The excessive amount of information that was difficult to process was injected into the brain without any screening. At the end of the consciousness network, one operator after another who was sleeping in the dream pool let out a shrill scream.

He saw it.

They saw it.

Everyone saw it, the crazy hallucination called consciousness disorder.

In the burning sea of ​​fire, most of the rioters were paralyzed on the spot, and only a very few were able to maintain a certain degree of movement, but those actions were also the result of their consciousness going crazy and out of control for no reason.

The defense network that once made foreign enemies despair collapsed along with the collapse of the high walls.

Huo Daochuan ignored these pitiful souls and stepped into the gray coffin.

(End of this chapter)