Chapter 354: Ring

Chapter 354: The Ring

One hour later, the Mountain City, the surface.

After the great war, the Mountain City lay riddled with wounds, countless buildings reduced to ruin, the aftershock of nuclear blasts sweeping across, the scorching air tinged with a faint charred odor, carrying radioactive dust that gnawed at the flesh of every unshielded soldier.

But there was a sliver of relief: those few nuclear warheads remained in surprisingly good condition; even after three centuries, the chain reaction within the nuclear fuel had proceeded quite fully.

The post‑explosion radiation dose was high, yet not instantly lethal.

They could still live at least twenty more years?

In the wasteland, that was already a remarkably “longevous” figure.

Chen Jian had already engaged the Nezha exoskeleton’s life‑support system; once the electromagnetic pulse’s echo faded, communications were restored.

And this time, he no longer had to rely on fickle radio waves; he could converse directly with Fuxi through the sprawling mesh network.

“Fuxi, report the current situation.”

“Have you already obtained the specifics of the Mountain City’s underground?”

“Report, commander, progress is limited.”

Fuxi’s voice resonated in his headset.

“I have penetrated the Mountain City’s surface system, but the opponent’s quantum firewall reacted swiftly, isolating the infected sector.”

“The compute block lost power within ten seconds; the data I could retrieve is scant.”

“Nevertheless, it is now clear that the entire Mountain City is a virtual metropolis built upon quantum computing power.”

“This explains why they require a multitude of quantum computers—extrapolating from current data, sustaining a virtual city of this magnitude would demand computational capacity far beyond what a single subterranean disaster‑recovery facility can furnish.”

“Understood.”

Chen Jian exhaled a long breath.

At this moment, the mystery surrounding the Mountain City finally received a preliminary answer.

Why they seized the quantum computer from Facility 006, why they withdrew to a secluded enclave, cutting off contact with the outside world, why they would spare no cost to crush other factions that had risen in the wasteland—

All of it traces back to divergent paths.

They chose to pour human consciousness into endless quantum streams, to abandon flesh, to achieve eternity within a world forged of computational illusion.

What blasphemy this is!

Chen Jian’s brows knit tightly, and at that instant, Lei Jie—who had just finished treating the wounded and re‑established the defenses—approached.

“The situation isn’t bad.”

He spoke:

“The expeditionary force suffered heavy losses, but Fuxi’s intervention was timely, averting further casualties.”

“Those tier‑one monsters are effectively neutralized—only two remain, and their so‑called ‘protocol’ has been shattered.”

“Soon, driven by instinct, they will abandon the Mountain City.”

“The portal is open; we can soon commence a large‑scale deployment.”

“Copy that.”

Chen Jian looked at Lei Jie, his expression sincere, and said:

“You’ve worked hard.”

“You too have endured.”

Lei Jie waved his hand, then asked:

“So, what exactly are these bird‑people?”

“Why did they choose to retreat underground? Why abandon their bodies?”

“Is this a choice any normal human could make? Surely no one with a modicum of sense would do this, right?”

“Not necessarily.”

Chen Jian shook his head slowly, then continued:

“The last message Lin Yu sent before entering stasis concerned ‘entropy increase.’”

“It is likely that the Mountain City’s denizens believe entropy rise is the key to the great cataclysm.”

“Only by throttling the rate of entropy can the cataclysm be averted.”

“That aligns with the data we gathered earlier—over the past two centuries, the frequency of cataclysmic aftershocks has markedly declined.”

“They must be right, at least on this point, they must be right.”

His words hung in the air, and Lei Jie instantly furrowed his brow.

“Entropy increase causing the cataclysm? Some sort of great filter theory?”

“Exactly.”

Chen Jian gave a brief reply, while Lei Jie pressed on:

“But no theory has ever proven a link between entropy and the human body—this sounds like an ancient theological notion, not a speck of basic physics, does it?”

“You ask me, I ask whom?”

Chen Jian spread his hands.

“That question should be directed at you, Professor Lei!”

Having finished his sentence, Lei Jie let out a helpless sigh.

“I don’t grasp it, but at least their prior actions can now be explained in terms of motive.”

“So what’s next?”

“What are we to do now?”

“Negotiate with them?”

The question made Chen Jian pause, taken aback.

“Negotiate?”

He had never entertained such a possibility before.

The instant he confirmed the beast tide’s link to the Mountain City, his stance toward it had already become ‘other than us.’

Later, upon seeing the unmistakably engineered androids, he grew even more certain that the outcome between his side and the Mountain City could only be—

It could only end in one death and one survival.

Because they have betrayed humanity, transmuting themselves into a wholly different creation.

Between two species, only one can endure; that is the cold, hard order of nature.

——

But now, the situation seems to have shifted.

If those Mountain City dwellers truly made their choice out of some unavoidable compulsion, if they arrived at this path after repeated cycles of trial and error,

does that not imply that initiating communication with them, to glean further information, is also a viable option?

Chen Jian blinked instinctively, and at that very moment, Fuxi’s voice sounded again beside his ear.

"Preliminary data decryption is complete."

"Most of the data at the Mountain City Computing Center has been encrypted with quantum algorithms, though a small portion of segments still rely on traditional RAS encryption."

"I have obtained some intelligence and have begun a preliminary compilation."

"Commander, please review."

As the words faded, Chen Jian's smart ocular display automatically streamed the information decoded by Fuxi.

Chen Jian fixed his gaze; the bulk of the data were merely useless log files.

Yet among them, the key entries highlighted in red by Fuxi instantly seized his attention.

They were a series of "failure records."

To be precise, they were failure logs from the data simulations.

The citizens of Mountain City had tried every conceivable method to evade the apocalypse—extreme industrialization, genetic engineering, population bursts, breakthroughs in fundamental physics, massive disaster preparedness, technological castration, even the notion of a "starship exodus."

But each of those attempts ended in catastrophic defeat.

They truly exhausted every possible avenue.

Only one endeavor remained, lingering in an "unfinished" state.

Chronologically, that simulation occurred after "consciousness virtualization," and once they had chosen the path of mind uploading, they ceased seeking any other escape.

"Activate the Ring."

Chen Jian whispered:

"Mountain City once attempted to activate the so‑called 'Ring.'"

"But what on earth is this thing, exactly??"

(End of Chapter)