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

Chapter 361 Lies
Mountain city, ground.

Standing atop the tallest building, overlooking the rolling Yangtze River below, Chen Jian asked:
"Have the demolition sites been arranged?"

Hearing his words, He Shuo, who was standing to the side, replied:

"Everything has been arranged."

"Two nuclear bombs with a yield of two megatons each, one near Changchun Bridge on the Jialing River and one near Wangjiaxi on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River."

"The explosions at these two locations can damage both the surface and underground water systems. According to the estimated effect, the water supply in the mountain city will decrease by at least 30%."

"However, the effect is short-lived."

"The data will be restored in two days—or at most three days."

"Nature's resilience is still very strong, and this is the limit of what we can do."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly.

"enough."

"A 30% reduction in water volume can result in a decrease in heat dissipation of at least 50%."

"Theoretically, the mountain city should lose more than 40% of its computing power, which would be devastating for them."

"Taking advantage of the window of opportunity while computing power is compromised, we can also try to launch a strong attack on the underground."

"Regardless of the outcome, at least we should find out the way forward first."

"clear."

He Shuo nodded slowly, then said:
"I will have Guo Xu make the arrangements—this group of religious defenders can be put to good use."

Chen Jian's eyes flickered slightly, and he looked at He Shuo and asked:
"Will this cause unnecessary casualties?"

"What I mean is that those Christian guards don't have experience in close combat and aren't so easy to adapt to new weapons."

"Letting them in is no different from simply sending them to their deaths, is it?"

"There are still differences."

He Shuo shrugged and replied:

"I will arrange for the expeditionary force to cooperate with them in combat, to improve combat effectiveness and security as much as possible."

"This in itself is a kind of tempering for them; sacrifice is necessary."

"clear."

Chen Jian nodded slowly.

Then he gave the order:

"Then let's prepare for the explosion."

"We can't afford to waste any more time—only by resolving the problems in the mountain city as soon as possible can we enter a period of rapid development!"

"receive."

He Shuo saluted solemnly, then turned and left.

Chen Jian stood there for a while, and through the drone's perspective, he saw the expeditionary force carrying out the hoisting and blasting tasks at the actual designated blasting point.

Most of these people don't actually understand how destructive a weapon they are setting up is.

Even those few who understood didn't comprehend why the regimental commanders of the Chinese army would deploy such weapons in such a place.

But they have developed a habit of obeying orders.

There's no need to ask why, just follow the orders!

Following orders is the most effective way to survive.

The team worked quickly, completing the deployment of the nuclear bomb in less than an hour.

Once the detonation device was tested and in place, everyone evacuated back into the mountain town.

Two hours later, the entire team had arrived.

Led by He Shuo, the group entered the underground civil defense project, which served as a temporary shelter, in an orderly manner.

This is the most dangerous moment. If the mountain city launches a surprise attack during the window of time before the nuclear bomb is detonated, then everything underground will likely be destroyed.

Therefore, Chen Jian did not waste any time.

Once he confirmed that everyone had arrived, he didn't listen for a second and immediately pressed the detonation button at the same time as He Shuo.

After a while.

"boom--"

A violent explosion came from afar, and the powerful wind pressure made the isolation doors inside the air-raid shelter rattle loudly.

The friars, who had never witnessed such a scene, gathered in fear and discussed the massive explosion happening outside in a chaotic manner.

However, Chen Jian did not give them time to panic.

He simply stared at the time on his watch in silence. After counting to two minutes and confirming that the shockwave from the nuclear explosion had dissipated, he immediately issued new orders.

"He Shuo!"

"Take a headcount!"

"Prepare for an attack!"

"understand!"

He Shuo's voice came from afar, followed by a series of orders.

Having prepared in advance, Guo Xu called out names one by one, and a team of nearly 50 people was quickly formed.

At the same time, He Shuo personally led an expeditionary force of thirty men, who were neatly arranged as a vanguard squad at the exit of the civil defense fortification.

"set off!"

At Chen Jian's command, the unmanned combat unit used for reconnaissance set off first.

The expeditionary force followed closely behind, while the Christian defenders lagged behind in a loose formation.

As the group left the underground fortifications, everything they saw when they returned to the surface had changed.

In the distance, a high-yield nuclear bomb had created two large holes in the weakest point of the riverbank.

The water overflowed along the broken riverbed, flowing into a deep pit on the side of the river, and then flowing to a lower point further away.

Under the erosion of flowing water, the high-speed water flow continuously widens the gap, while the soil and rocks that are thrown and pushed away squeeze the original river channel just right, forming an almost "natural" earthen dam.

For a time, the downstream sections of both rivers almost dried up.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned.

For them, this is the power to move mountains and fill seas.

But now, such power is truly before our eyes.

It seems that the team I belong to has also become part of this great power.

He Shuo intentionally had everyone regroup on the platform and made detailed battle plans.

He wanted everyone to see the process of the river gradually drying up; that was the effect he wanted.

Morale is something that often seems elusive when it's spoken of.

But when it actually appears, the morale and spirit of a team can be instantly boosted in a very short time.

At this moment, even Guo Xu realized that his followers had undergone subtle changes.

They were no longer timid and hesitant; in fact, they even became more upright.

They raised their heads, straightened their backs, and stared excitedly at the underground passage below, where an opening had been made.

That's where the battlefield is located.

Perhaps someone will die there.

But who says that person will definitely be me?
The combat mission was quickly deployed, and He Shuo gave a final look at the ranks of the soldiers before issuing his orders:

"set off!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the group quickly walked towards the entrance of the underground passage.

Before them, drones and unmanned combat units responsible for reconnaissance, opening up routes, and establishing network communications had already entered the area.

The advance was swift and resolute, with He Shuo closely following behind the group, descending along the wide but winding passage.

The passageway was eerily quiet, with only the echoing sound of hurried footsteps.

The footage transmitted back by the drone was completely empty; there were no enemies, and not even any moving objects.

The expected resistance did not materialize.

He Shuo's brows furrowed tightly.

He suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.

It was as if a great danger was lurking ahead.

But that kind of danger does not come from any "tangible" object.

"Slow down!"

"The drones will continue to penetrate deeper!"

He Shuo gave the order.

And in that instant, a figure suddenly appeared in the frame. Almost without him needing to make any decision, the drone opened fire.

But the figure nimbly leaped to the side to dodge, and then, a sound received by the drone's microphone came through his earpiece.

"Don't shoot!"

"it's me!"

"I am Lin Yu!"

An hour later, inside the temporary command post.

Chen Jian looked at Lin Yu sitting opposite him, who had taken off his flexible armor and changed into ordinary clothes, and fell into a long silence.

Their eyes met, Chen Jian took a deep breath, and asked:
"So... are you Lin Yu, or Ling Xi?"

"Or, let me ask it another way."

"Are you Lin Yu, or a personality of Lin Yu simulated by a quantum computer?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a hint of surprise flashed in Lin Yu's eyes.

He shook his head and answered:

"Sir—Commander, I understand what you mean."

"But in fact, I don't know everything about the mountain city, its technology and knowledge."

“If you mention Lin Xi, I can assure you that I am not him now.”

"He does exist, but at this moment, I am the one controlling this body."

"He guessed you would ask this question, so he gave an answer as well."

“'Lin Xi will not participate in this negotiation. This is not an empty promise, but because long-term stable signal transmission will bring the risk of reverse intrusion.'”

He said that after giving this answer, you would trust me.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly.

But then he asked again:
Why does it have to be you?

"What about the others in the mountain town?"

Upon hearing Chen Jian's question, Lin Yu sighed deeply.

He then answered:

"This is a long story that I need to explain to you and to all of you slowly."

"can."

Chen Jian glanced at his watch and replied:
"I have time."

So, after obtaining his permission, Lin Yu began to recount all the information he possessed.

The meadow beside the village, the prosperous mountain town, the so-called "Entropy Beast," the tomb containing the soul, the Nuwa Project, Suiren, and the aggregate of consciousness.
These keywords continuously supplemented Chen Jian's understanding of the mountain city. Although he had already roughly guessed the conclusion, this was the first time he had heard such detailed and unreserved information.

When Lin Yu finally spoke of the consciousness aggregate, the collapse and destruction of independent consciousness, and that he had become the only virtual consciousness capable of using an independent computing module, Chen Jian's expression changed.

Not surprised.

It should even be said that it is a kind of "natural" relief.

When Lin Yu fell silent, he didn't immediately continue asking him questions, but instead turned to He Shuo sitting to the side and said:
"We should have guessed this would happen."

"If several different consciousnesses are carried by the same basic computing module, then fusion is only a matter of time."

"Then we don't need to dwell on the previous ethical dilemmas."

"When human consciousness begins to merge, the 'person' in that virtual consciousness will no longer be a person."

"Yes."

He Shuo nodded emphatically, while Lin Yu opposite him asked in astonishment:

"Why...are you no longer human??"

“I saw them. They are still there, but in a different form.”

"They have feelings and consciousness; they can talk to me, but..."

"wrong."

Chen Jian raised his hand to interrupt Lin Yu.

Then he began to speak:
"You've been deceived by Lingxi."

“This city is long dead, and so is that virtual city.”

"Do you really think it's because of the so-called security issue of 'unsplit computing power' that it wants you to negotiate with me?"

"no."

"Because you are the sole representative of humanity."

“You are the only thing in that virtual city that we can call ‘one of our kind’.”

"And your 'life,' besides information, is now its only bargaining chip!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yu froze on the spot.

He could understand every word Chen Jian said, but for some reason, when trying to comprehend them, he always felt a strange sense of stagnation.

"Nobody's here?"

"but why."

"the reason is simple."

Chen Jian interrupted Lin Yu once again.

"When human consciousness loses its autonomy, humanity ceases to be human."

"They are merely materials used to train AI and artificial intelligence neural networks!"

Chen Jian's voice seemed to resonate throughout the space, and Lin Yu even felt a faint pain in his eardrums.

He wanted to say something, but he couldn't open his mouth.

But while he hesitated, Chen Jian continued speaking:

"Why do you think that so-called Linxi has become so intelligent?"

"Is it really because of algorithm optimization?"

"no."

"That's the result of incorporating human consciousness!"

"Everything it presents to you is an illusion."

"It desperately tries to prove to you that there are still people living in that virtual city, desperately trying to prove that the humans there have simply transformed into another form."

"But it will never understand the fundamental difference between humans and machines."

"This is its weakness, and this is the essential difference between it and Fuxi!"

Lin Yu had completely lost the ability to think and judge. He sat there blankly, stammering and speaking haltingly:

"So what I saw was just an illusion created by a high-level machine spirit?"

"He's not even a high-level machine spirit."

Chen Jian let out a long breath.

Then he began to speak:
"But that doesn't matter anymore."

"At least now we know that our adversary is not human, but a newer life form."

"It also wants to live."

"So, what conditions did it offer in order to survive?"

At this moment, Lin Yu finally came to his senses a little. He tried hard to recall what Lin Xi had told him, then looked at Chen Jian and said, word by word:

"A circle!"

"It brings us the information of a circle."

"It wants to use this message to exchange for the survival of the mountain town."

"can."

Chen Jian answered without hesitation.

"So what exactly is a ring?"

"At the very least, it should answer this question and show us its sincerity, right?"

"Yes."

Lin Yu spoke again:

“He knew you would ask this question, and he gave you the answer.”

He told me that the ring is a kind of 'generating device'.

"An 'unstable time crystal generator'!"

(End of this chapter)