Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 346 Seeking peace?

Mountain city, ground.

The laser emission array, consisting of four laser emitters, has been assembled and is currently undergoing the final installation of the traction device.

Unable to find suitable materials in the mountain city, they could only transport tires and bearings by airdrop, barely managing to assemble a mobile launch system.

Next, they will continue to complete the laying and connection of power supply lines.

This was no easy task, but fortunately, the mountain town had no shortage of power supply equipment, so they could use whatever they could find on the spot.

This is why the line laying work is progressing very quickly.

To date, the road-paving team led by Ji Xing has completed 80% of the work.

The remaining 20% will also be completed within an hour.

Standing on the pre-cleared gun emplacement, Chen Jian gazed at the monsters moving in the distance, and a strange thought suddenly popped into his mind.

"So, was this monster bred or selected?"

After he finished speaking, Lei Jie, who was standing next to him, also frowned.

Cultivate, or select?
Theoretically speaking, these monsters could not have been produced through artificial breeding.

However, based on current intelligence...
The peculiarity of this thing is just too strong.

Although it is still a carbon-based organism, it possesses almost all of the most aggressive characteristics of natural selection.

Its enormous size, tough exoskeleton, venom sacs capable of producing corrosive liquids, parasitic spores, extremely high-decibel vocal organs that can even kill using sound pressure, flexible and supple tentacles, and sharp bone spurs.
This monster possessed almost all the characteristics of every monster he had encountered before.

Moreover, all these biological characteristics are harmoniously and appropriately integrated into this monster.

It is a perfect creation. Without humans, without the gunpowder and cannonballs they created, it would never have been dethroned by other creatures, even after tens of thousands of years.

It will forever sit on its throne at the top of the food chain until it is regarded by other creatures as some kind of "ancient god" from an unspeakable place.
-
So how could something like this be the result of natural selection or natural mutation?

Chen Jian's suspicions are reasonable.

Perhaps, this monster is a new species that the people of the mountain city stitched together and pieced together after studying the biological characteristics of monsters.

They should have that ability.

And they certainly had such a motivation.
Lei Jie shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then replied:
"Actually, it's not important."

"Based on the intelligence we have now, the so-called 'Level 1 monster' is far less terrifying than we had imagined."

"No matter how organisms evolve, they can never overcome the insurmountable barrier of 'delivery distance'."

"The ability to deliver supplies remotely is exclusive to intelligent social creatures."

"And once we master this ability, no matter how 'invincible' that monster may be at close range, we will eventually be able to take it down."

Even if it's just grinding them down little by little.

"I know."

Chen Jian nodded slowly.

"So, that's the problem."

"If we can think of this, it's even more impossible for the people of Chongqing not to."

“They will do everything in their power to obstruct our cleanup operation—and that is probably the biggest threat to us.”

"In operations against level one monsters, the main enemy is not outside the city, but inside the city."

At this point, Chen Jian paused slightly, then asked:

What's the situation with the surrounding underground entrances?

"The areas that could be found have basically been sealed off by explosives—the people in those mountain towns haven't reacted yet."

Reggie replied:
"However, given their engineering capabilities, no matter how much we close the passage, we can only delay them for a few dozen seconds at most."

"Once war really breaks out, it will still be a head-on confrontation."

"clear."

Chen Jian nodded again, then turned his gaze to the battlefield situation map on the smart goggles.

With only a few hundred meters of track remaining, he could already see Ji Xing and the others moving along the skyrail in the distance.

"We can now prepare to begin guiding the laser emission array."

"Let's go back first."

"We have to escort them the whole way—these two Nezha exoskeletons are currently our strongest defensive force."

"clear."

Lei Jie gave a brief reply, and then the two quickly jumped off the platform and headed back into the city along the staggered rooftops of the high ground.

Chen Jian finally experienced the "full power" of this exoskeleton for the first time, and finally understood why it was called a "weapon for urban warfare".
-
Nonsense, with this thing around, you often don't need to go into dangerous streets at all.

High mobility gives users the ability to traverse terrain with significant elevation differences, and good visibility at all times makes even the most dangerous sneak attacks virtually impossible.

It took them half an hour to return to their temporary starting position at full speed.

Meanwhile, the laser emission array had been loaded onto the vehicle and, driven by an extremely rudimentary motor, began to move toward the gun emplacement.

"Everyone, prepare to meet the enemy."

Chen Jian gave the order:

"Ji Xing and Li Shi, occupy the high ground, establish high-altitude firing positions, and advance alongside the convoy."

"Guo Xu, Zhang Chao, Liu Hao, and I will explore the front line and clear away any potential threats ahead."

"Lei Jie and Yu Qian led the volunteer squad to provide close protection."

"Note that the mission is 11 kilometers long and is expected to take 1 hour and 40 minutes to complete."

"Everyone, remain on high alert! A battle could break out at any moment!"

"understand!"

"Roger that!"

As replies came in, Chen Jian took a deep breath, nodded to Lei Jie, and then walked forward without hesitation.

Guo Xu and the other two followed closely behind him, their faces showing a hint of nervousness.

However, after several days of fighting, they had gradually adapted to the rhythm of the Chinese army.

Without even needing Chen Jian's instructions, they spontaneously organized themselves into a three-man formation and began to advance rapidly while taking turns providing cover.

Chen Jian watched their movements with satisfaction, no longer focusing on specific commands, but concentrating on using the exoskeleton's built-in intelligent fire control system to monitor everything that was happening on the road ahead.

"Safe 500 meters ahead."

Ji Xing's voice came through the headphones.

"It's permissible."

"Understood, it can be passed."

Chen Jian simultaneously relayed instructions to the convoy, but at that moment, a strange movement suddenly flashed before his eyes.

"boom--"

A crashing sound came from a distance.

Immediately afterwards, Ji Xing's slightly hurried voice rang out.

"The underground entrance was impacted."

"They're coming!"

"Roger that!"

Chen Jian's gaze instantly turned towards the direction from which the sound came.

There, dust and smoke rose from the collapsed entrance.

"Get ready to meet the enemy!"

Chen Jian shouted the order.

next second.

Gunfire rang out.

the other side.

on the grass.

"So, the mountain city is indeed a tomb for humankind?"

"Were those buildings on the ground really constructed by you solely for 'commemorative purposes'?"

That's not entirely accurate.

The voice from the void rang out again.

Immediately afterwards, an incredibly realistic human figure suddenly appeared beside Lin Yu.

He was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. At first glance, Lin Yu even doubted whether he could remember the man's face.

But inexplicably, he felt that this face had a special kind of approachability.

"After thinking about it, I think I might need to sacrifice some computing power to talk to you as a real person."

"This should make you more comfortable and more receptive to what I'm about to say."

"So, how about we get to know each other?"

".Can."

Lin Yu nodded slowly.

"My name is Lin Xi."

The man extended his hand to Lin Yu.

"Lin Xi? You also have the surname Lin?"

It's just a homonym.

Lin Xi shrugged dramatically, shook Lin Yu's hand once, and then continued:
"You just asked me what our purpose was in building this city on the ground."

"In fact, this is less of a 'commemoration' and more of an experiment."

"Let's continue with our story. After we locked our souls in the tomb, the speculation about the 'Entropy Beast,' that is, the monster, was not confirmed."

"Therefore, we need further verification."

"We need to verify whether information entropy is generated by human consciousness, that is, the human soul, or by actions dominated by consciousness." "To verify this, we need to change the surrounding environment."

"Initially, we simply continued to expand the city's underground space, building a complete system to maintain the operation of the mausoleum."

"But we soon realized that this method could not effectively verify our ideas."

"Because all our actions are simply to maintain the existence of an information hub, without generating a large amount of new information in the process."

"So, we started trying to do some 'manifestation' work."

"For example, we have interfered in the world outside the mountain city, and we have also spread the knowledge and technology we have acquired to various places."

"Although the Cult of the Machine God and the Holy Blood Temple are both native forces in the wasteland, we actually played a part in their development."

"But it's not enough."

"Then, perhaps because of the 'loneliness' unique to us souls trapped in the tombs, we began to try to recreate our former homes on the ground."

"As you know, humans have a deep attachment to their home."

"When you no longer have to worry about survival, you will always want to build a home that belongs to you."

“This is how the mountain city was born – just as you said, it does have a ‘commemorative’ attribute.”

"understood."

Lin Yu nodded slowly.

"If what you say is true, then I certainly am."

He frowned, wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

"What do you mean, 'we shouldn't be too harsh on us,' right?"

The man who named himself "Linxi" asked in response.

".That's right."

Lin Yu let out a long breath.

“You are just trying to fight the cataclysm in your own way, just like what we are doing.”

"Whether it's the Holy Blood Temple, the Mechanical God Cult, or the Chinese Army, even in Huadu, which has already been destroyed by the Chinese Army, everyone is doing the same thing."

"It's just that some people did it wrong and some people did it right."

"That's it, that's right."

A relieved smile appeared on Lin Xi's face.

“I’m glad you understand us.”

"Happy."

Lin Yu couldn't help but give a wry smile.

"So, after your soul is imprisoned, can you still feel emotions like 'happiness'?"

“It depends on how you define it.”

Lin Xi shrugged.

"If you're referring to the pleasure derived from the secretion of hormones unique to living organisms, then we certainly don't experience that."

"But, since we have already been able to preserve the soul on a silicon-based carrier, we have of course taken this issue into consideration."

"In fact, we have already consumed a lot of computing power to conduct deep learning on human emotions."

“In scenarios where we should be happy, we will use an algorithm that induces joy, allowing the souls living here to experience emotions just like everyone else.”

"We should be happy."

Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat.

"If even emotions are controlled by your so-called 'algorithm,' then the soul truly does not exist, and so-called personal will also does not exist."

"Not always."

Lin Xi shook her head.

"The way neurons respond to things is essentially just a more complex algorithm—of course, you might not understand what I'm saying."

"In short, the 'philosophical speculation' we mentioned earlier has not yet reached a final conclusion."

"It's just that, based on the current evidence, we are closer to the correct answer."

"clear."

Lin Yu suddenly stood up.

"So, what was the point of telling me all that?"

"If everything you've told me is true, according to your logic..."

“You should not welcome newcomers.”

"Just like that village, it shouldn't welcome newcomers."

“You should completely eliminate the newcomer before he arrives, or confine him to what you call the ‘low-acceleration entropy increase’ state.”

"Indeed, that's what you've always done."

"Use the beast tide to eliminate those rapidly developing forces that could potentially destabilize your plans."

"Furthermore, it involves being an enemy of the Chinese army."

"Yes."

Lin Xi also stood up.

"But we have now discovered a new problem."

"The Chinese army you're talking about is unlike any of the problems we've dealt with before."

"They are extremely difficult to deal with."

"And they are really very powerful."

"Just like we used to be."

"With such a force already in the mountain city, it is indeed very difficult for us to completely eliminate them."

"Why? Didn't you consider the possibility that they could break in?"

"boundary."

Lin Xi replied:
“I have boundaries. On some issues, I cannot cross those boundaries to think, and this also leads to the fact that the souls in this world cannot cross those boundaries to think.”

"Could this also be considered a form of shortsightedness?"

"We really didn't expect them to be able to use long-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads, nor did we expect them to carry out an airborne operation under completely unknown circumstances."

"In short, the situation is not optimistic."

"For us, if we continue to speculate, the best outcome will be nothing more than mutual destruction."

"Therefore, we have to consider using a new solution."

"For example, peace talks."

"Then I understand."

Lin Yu chuckled.

"So the Chinese army has actually already invaded, right?"

"Their offensive has become unbearable for you?"

"Correct."

Lin Xi answered solemnly:
"I will not lie to you."

"Right now, as we are talking, a fierce battle is taking place right above us."

"We have mobilized all available and effective forces to try to clear out the enemy that has already entered the city."