Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 248 The Robot's Mouth and Believers Nationwide

In mid-September, the second offline meeting of the People's Federation was held in the Somali Empire.

The main purpose of this meeting was to confirm the previous cooperation achievements and to set the agenda for the next stage of cooperation.

As the host, Somali representative Mary arranged a steak dinner for the other delegates before the meeting.

This puzzled the committee members from various countries, who sat in the restaurant looking at each other in bewilderment.

"It's not easy for me to come all this way to Solmar. Instead of spending my precious time in meetings, I'm here leisurely waiting to eat some steak. Really..."

"Yes. We're not here for sightseeing."

"What on earth is Mary up to in Soloma?"

Most of the committee members were not happy, and Gao Liangwei was also there, his brows slightly furrowed.

He traveled all the way from Beixing, not just for steak. However, he felt that Mary might have had other intentions in arranging this meal, something more than just eating steak.

Shortly after, the hostess, Mary, appeared.

She didn't come alone; she was followed by two attendants. To everyone's surprise, the two attendants, a man and a woman, were dressed in waiter uniforms, but their mechanical heads, flashing with blue dots, indicated that they were robots.

"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting." Mary smiled as she walked to the table. A male robotic attendant gracefully pulled out a chair for her, while another female attendant set out cutlery for Mary.

These movements appear ordinary, yet they are incredibly smooth, indistinguishable from human movements. If these two robots wore headgear, no one would doubt that they were not real people.

The Black Flag Nation's representative exclaimed, "Soroma's robotics technology has always been advanced, but I never imagined it had reached such a level where the detailed movements are indistinguishable from those of humans."

Mary smiled and said, "Let me tell you, everyone serving us today is a robot. Including the chefs grilling steaks in the kitchen, the bodyguards outside the door, the drivers, etc., they are all robots."

Everyone was taken aback at first, and then their faces showed surprise.

Because from the moment they got off the plane, they traveled by car under the protection of bodyguards to this restaurant. Throughout the entire journey, they never suspected that the bodyguards were robots, as they all looked like real people!
“Committee Member Mary, are you saying the drivers and bodyguards outside are also robots? But they—”

“That’s right, we customized a full set of realistic silicone skin for them, so they look just like real people.”

"..."

The delegates from various countries exchanged glances, each harboring a vague suspicion about the purpose of the meal. While ostensibly a steak dinner, it seemed more like a show of force.

Gao Liangwei thought to himself, "I didn't expect Soroma's robotics technology to have become so widespread. And they've actually made it human-like."

Many countries, including Beixing, have reserves of robot-related technologies to varying degrees. However, due to various restrictions and risks, laws stipulate that robots must have clear markings, and even if the technology is advanced enough, they cannot be made to the point where they are indistinguishable from real people.

But now, looking at Solmara's side, they have completely broken through this legal restriction.

Gao Liangwei asked directly, "Won't doing this cause confusion?"

"Chairman Gao, haven't you heard that if robots can reach a level that humans can't distinguish, then they can be treated as humans? Besides, without them to fill the cities, people would feel even more saddened by the current state of the dwindling population."

The bald committee member from Sissia, gripping his knife and fork, burst into laughter: "Using robots to populate the population, how could you Soroman even think of that!"

“Yes, this is just self-deception; it doesn’t solve any real problems,” another country’s representative said.

Mary did not refute, but simply smiled and remained silent.

Before long, the robot waiter brought out the steak dinner.

"please."

Everyone picked up their knives and forks and started eating. The steak was certainly delicious, but no one was in the mood to savor it. They were all wondering what Rome's purpose was in showcasing its robotics technology so ostentatiously.

After a half-hearted meal, everyone went to the conference hall on the second floor to hold a meeting.

The committee members first discussed the results of cooperation in dealing with secondary disasters following the earthquake over the past few months.

Before discussing further cooperation, Mary finally revealed her true intentions, stating that Soroma was willing to donate a large number of embodying intelligent robots to various countries to help them solve the problems caused by insufficient population.

Since it was given away for free, everyone was naturally willing to accept it. Including Gao Liangwei, although Bei Xing didn't lack it, it was still necessary to take it apart and study it.

Afterwards, the countries also discussed the population issue.

After the "Earthquake Reversal" rule was implemented, countries were busy with disaster relief, relocation, and dealing with secondary disasters, and could not immediately count the number of casualties.

Now, several months later, the preliminary statistics have been completed.

Although countries publish population data annually, there may be some discrepancies between the published data and the actual figures.

Now that the Federation of Peoples' Associations has been established for almost half a year, although it has not been able to completely replace the official institutions of various countries, it has indeed played a significant role in making the relations between member states much closer.

For further cooperation, it's essential to share some real data, including population figures. Mary was the first to publicly state that Soroma currently has a population of around 40 million, but if robots are included, the total could reach 100 million.

Upon hearing this statement, Committee Member Cissia couldn't help but retort: ​​"How can robots be counted in the population!"

Mary chuckled and said, "If robots can do everything that humans can do, then what's the difference between them and humans? If they're no different from humans, why can't they be counted in the population?"

"How can you compare them!" Committee Member Cissia paused for a few seconds before shouting, "Humanity's most important ability is reproduction! Do robots have that?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Liangwei looked at Mary, whose expression seemed somewhat unnatural, as if she was trying to hide something, which made his heart sink.

Could it be that the Solomon Empire is secretly...?

“Even if robots can’t reproduce, they’re no different from humans now,” Mary said quickly and calmly. “In the current post-apocalyptic world, how many people in the world will reproduce? Probably close to zero.”

“…That’s only temporary,” Representative Sisya explained. “Once all forty-nine rules are in effect and the environment stabilizes, people will reproduce again. It’s only a few years of interruption; it won’t lead to the extinction of humanity.”

"So, in the next few years, it's okay for robots to behave like humans, right?"

“There’s no point in arguing about this; let’s get back to the main point.” Another committee member also released data about his country: “Our population is around ten million.”

With a somber expression, Committee Member Yingqi said, "We have suffered a severe population loss because many of our citizens refused to leave their island home and migrate. The total number is now less than five million."

A population that was once in the hundreds of millions a year ago is now less than five million, only one-twentieth of what it was, which is truly tragic.

However, the Black Flag Nation is even more outrageous.

Before the apocalyptic rules descended upon this country, its total population exceeded two billion, but now it has dwindled to less than twenty million, a mere one percent. Moreover, this one percent is scattered across a vast majority, and the Black Flag Nation's official government can probably only effectively govern a few million of them.

In other countries, the population of Cissia is around 20 million.

The population of Beixing Kingdom is now around 600 million.

In terms of population data, Beixing has the largest population, and a large number of people from various countries are still migrating to Beixing.

Although there are no specific statistics, a large number of people have been continuously pouring into Beixing since the beginning of the post-apocalyptic era. The influx of people only slowed down after Beixing declared a state of wartime administration.

After the establishment of the Human Rights Alliance and the opening of borders by member states, North Star experienced several waves of large-scale population influxes.

Of course, this was all a vote with their feet. Beixing first achieved a record of minimal casualties, which attracted people from all over the world. Although other countries' officials also had their complaints, there was nothing they could do. Even many government officials and wealthy businessmen had moved to Beixing, so what else could they say?

“A large population is a good thing,” Mary said to Gao Liangwei. “No wonder Beixing recently sentenced an excellent Ascendant to life imprisonment.”

Gao Liangwei didn't expect Mary to bring that up, and said, "Whether you're an Ascended Being or an ordinary person, you can't act recklessly in Beixing."

"I know, some ordinary people were accidentally killed. Heh, if this were here, we wouldn't waste an excellent Ascendant just because a few ordinary people died."

Gao Liangwei frowned, disagreeing with Mary's words.

The bald committee member from Cissia said nonchalantly, "We wouldn't do it like that in Cissia either. Ordinary people, to put it bluntly, will be eliminated sooner or later."

"Everyone, don't forget the name of our organization," Gao Liangwei reminded them in a deep voice, "It's the 'Human Union,' not the 'Ascended Union.'"

After a moment of silence, it was the committee member from Yingqi Kingdom who changed the subject and asked Mary, "By the way, how is your country's investigation into the matter with France coming along?"

At the last meeting of the People's Federation, it was mentioned that something was amiss with France and the United States. This former world power is suspected of being controlled by cultists who worship fire-stealers, which is absolutely unacceptable.

Unlike the warlords of the Tulip Federation who fight and kill each other for their own interests, their infighting has little to do with other countries. Therefore, the Federation, currently lacking the resources, has little incentive to intervene.

But the Fire-Stealers Cult is different. These cultists are no longer motivated by personal gain, but by some erroneous belief. Such an organization is undoubtedly a common enemy of humanity; if it grows too large, it will threaten all of humanity and must not be allowed to develop further.

The moment France was mentioned, the relaxed expression on Mary's face vanished instantly, replaced by a somber look.

"France and the Kingdom... it has now been confirmed that they are controlled by the Cult of the Fire Thieves. To be honest, we launched a decapitation strike in early September, hoping to dismantle the organization by eliminating the leader. But the result..."

"what's the result?"

“It must have failed,” Committee Member Cisia said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have that expression.”

Mary glanced at Commissioner Cissia with displeasure and said, "The operation was a success, but also a failure."

"What does it mean?"

“We successfully assassinated the leader, but the organization didn't collapse; instead, it quickly installed a new leader. This suggests that either the real leader is hiding behind the scenes and we only assassinated a decoy, or…”

Mary took a deep breath.

"Or the entire population of France and the country becomes believers in the fire-stealer cult, and even fanatical believers at that. In this case, it is not a problem that can be solved by eliminating a few individuals."

(End of this chapter)