Chapter 123
A fortnight later, Chi Xiaochi stopped resting and accepted the transmission .
After opening his eyes, the scene before him made Chi Xiaochi stiffen in shock .
Having experienced the bone fracture of the second world, the schoolyard bullying of the third world, the imprisonment of the fourth world, and the ghosts of the fifth world, the beginning of the sixth world was simply the very model of love and peace .
Looking at the time, it was currently 15:00 on the dot . The air conditioner in the sterile room was at just the right temperature . Warm air blew slowly into the room, making the light brown tassels on the curtains rustle .
The automatic humidifier to his right showed the number of people in the room, their body temperature, and the temperature of the room . Through multiple calculations, it would determine the most suitable humidity level, as well as the exact amount of cold, fragrant mist to slowly release into the air .
From the looks of it, the original host had dozed off in an animal nursery .
In this nursery, there was only him on duty, and also only one thing he was watching over, a little black cat .
Currently sleeping in the incubator, it was incredibly tiny, its coat of fur only just having grown in, but its tail still a pale pink, swishing around on the soft velvet cushion .
The little guy absently smacked his lips, sleeping soundly .
Chi Xiaochi called out tentatively, “Liu-laoshi?”
061 answered, “En, I’m here . ”
Other than relief, Chi Xiaochi felt like 061’s tone was a little strange .
He asked, “The story of this world?”
061 did his best to be concise . “Just a moment, receiving . ”
Chi Xiaochi asked, “Liu-laoshi, are you alright?”
061 didn’t try to hide it . “This world is making me feel very uncomfortable, be careful . ”
Chi Xiaochi decided to go to the toilet to try to suppress his shock .
The restroom was a left turn and thirty metres away from the main entrance to the nursery .
On the electronic screen facing the door to the nursery was a reminder: when entering and exiting, they must replace their sterile clothes, shoe covers and gloves .
The reminder on the electronic screen was sufficiently eye-catching, and the colour and size of the letters were just right, not at all piercing . It could be said that it was quite humanised .
After exiting, he glanced at the number plate hanging on the door .
On it showed, this was Nursery No . 16 .
Time: 9/27, 9:00 to 16:00
Staff on duty: Ding Qiuyun .
Chi Xiaochi did as the rules instructed, taking off the entire set of cumbersome equipment, before walking straight to the restroom .
He first glanced at the mirror .
The person in the mirror should be Ding Qiuyun, no mistake, a young man of around twenty-four or twenty-five years of age, unexpectedly handsome with an attractive confidence . He had a buzzcut, and a faded scar on the right side of his forehead . A black turtleneck sweater outlined his beautiful neck and the lines of his waist . On his lower half was a standard pair of trousers .
However, that average pair of straight-leg trousers couldn’t hide that pair of long, slender yet powerful legs .
……From his looks alone, Ding Qiuyun was absolutely the type of person who was liked by both people of the opposite gender as well as people of the same gender .
Chi Xiaochi didn’t stay surprised by this face for very long .
In contrast, he was more surprised by the technology level of this world .
He curiously felt around everywhere, inspecting the automatic fragrance dispenser and the toilet lid that could open automatically .
In the end, facing the singing urinal, an involuntary sense of reverence arose in his heart .
He had just gone to the toilet, but it was like he’d gone to light incense at a temple .
When Chi Xiaochi left, he almost expected it to say “we look forward to serving you again” to him .
Just as he returned to the nursery, 061 finally received the full story of this world .
Coafg j ofk rfmbcvr, Jtl Wljbmtl kjcafv ab rjs rbwfatlcu .
061 rjlv tfiqifrris, “Gbc’a megrf . ”
Jtl Wljbmtl byfvlfcais mibrfv tlr wbeat .
Cmaejiis, jcsybvs’r olgra gfjmalbc ab atf obiibklcu rabgs kbeiv yf ab rqfk j raglcu bo megrfr ab mbcrbif atfwrfinfr .
Dfmjerf, mjimeijalcu la, lc jcbatfg akfinf tbegr, atlr kbgiv kjr ublcu ab fcv .
There were many possible causes for the end of the human race .
Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, global cooling, or a stupid meteorite slamming directly into the earth .
Human-made disasters, such as war, nuclear bombs, the break out of an epidemic, or a damned zombie virus accidentally released by some drug research centre .
Of course, it was also possible for various small factors to add up to form a big problem, leading to population reduction and the gradual end of mankind .
But the cause of this world’s end was a little special .
With the radiating popularisation of science and technology throughout society, the usefulness of the natural environment for humanity began to decline, and the boundary between cities and rural areas became blurred .
When millet, rice and cabbage could all be planted, harvested, sorted and sold by completely automatic systems, labour lost its meaning .
Humanity began to learn to enjoy life, but for today’s humans, life was truly too short .
Even worse, changes in the natural environment led to certain changes in the human body .
Ding Qiuyun was born in such a world .
Ding Qiuyun was good-looking, came from a decently well-off family, and had a sort of ease when dealing with others .
At the release of the national university entrance exam results, it was revealed that he’d scored 618 points . Therefore, he chose to study veterinary science in an agricultural university, for the sole reason that he liked animals .
His parents supported his decision, so that was what he studied .
After getting two straight years of scholarships, he spotted a military recruitment advertisement in school . Feeling like he would look extremely handsome in a military uniform, he signed up . After returning to his dormitory, he contacted his parents and told them about it, and considered the matter settled .
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The implementation of science and technology in the military had already been fully realised, but he chose to join the toughest, most difficult training force, to train how to fight without technology .
In this era, even using guns without automatic aiming was unthinkable, much less using knives and other such close combat weapons or surviving in the wilderness, because there was no need for that . Even the single-person tents carried around by soldiers were fully automatic .
But Ding Qiuyun wasn’t willing to rely on intangible AIs, he liked the feeling of having everything depend on himself .
In group training, he was always ranked second . There was a young man by the name of Gu Xinzhi who came in first every time .
However, because everyone preferred the confident, cheerful Ding Qiuyun, he was elected as team captain, while Gu Xinzhi served as the vice captain .
Gu Xinzhi had no objections to this .
Unlike the sociable Ding Qiuyun, even though Gu Xinzhi was outstanding, his personality was quiet, and he didn’t like to stand out . He also didn’t have many friends . Worried about him being lonely, Ding Qiuyun would always take the initiative to eat with him .
And towards this, he didn’t express any particular opinions, properly keeping his head down and picking up the okra on his plate with his chopsticks .
Ding Qiuyun tried to strike up a conversation . “You like okra?”
Gu Xinzhi, “En . ”
What followed was a long, awkward silence .
Ding Qiuyun didn’t feel any embarrassment, taking the initiative to share the okra on his plate with him before continuing to eat his own food .
Ding Qiuyun was someone who could really break up a silence, but he also knew how to get along with different types of people .
His parents had given him the freedom of choice, so he cherished that freedom and used it to make his own choices .
Gu Xinzhi didn’t like to talk, so he wouldn’t deliberately tease him .
Ding Qiuyun was naturally bent .
It had to be said, Gu Xinzhi’s sort of delicate appearance was exactly Ding Qiuyun’s type . However, Gu Xinzhi didn’t seem to be interested in him that way, being usually quite docile, only occasionally knocking down a door when he received a love letter from someone of the same sex . He didn’t know if he hated homosexuals, or if he hated those love letters .
Ding Qiuyun ahd never been one to force others, so he simply maintained a gentleman’s friendship with him .
Until a certain hostage-saving simulation exercise .
Ding Qiuyun’s team was launching an attack on a building, when the robots responsible for fighting them collectively went out of control and began to attack them indiscriminately .
With great difficulty, Ding Qiuyun managed to cover for the rest of his teammates’ escape, but learned that Gu Xinzhi was trapped inside .
Gu Xinzhi said through the ancient wireless radio to Ding Qiuyun, “Don’t come over . I’ve already been completely blocked off . ”
Ding Qiuyun only said two words, “Just wait . ”
Then, he rushed headlong into the tube-shaped apartments .
When he brought Gu Xinzhi out, a stray bullet had shot a hole through Ding Qiuyun’s right arm, and a knife had been plunged into his left shoulder from the back . Only the handle remained outside .
As soon as he came out, he pushed the group into running towards an open area . Only after they confirmed that they were completely out of danger, did the group finally notice the knife in his back .
Ding Qiuyun hurriedly checked everyone else’s injuries, his mouth repeating “I’m fine, I’m fine” . In the end, after only checking a few people, he wasn’t able to hold on any longer, his legs softening and sending him into Gu Xinzhi’s arms and fainting .
After the examination, it was concluded that Ding Qiuyun’s injury would have an impact on his career advancement .
After the approval process, his early retirement notice came .
Ding Qiuyun was very upset, but when he faced the his team on the eve of his departure, he was still smiling happily, “Look, after this, your Captain Ding will be the negative example they hang up on the wall for everyone to see . ”
After disbanding the group, Gu Xinzhi turned and left without a word .
When Ding Qiuyun managed to find him, he was running rounds around the field .
Ding Qiuyun caught up to him from behind, and began running side-by-side with him .
Gu Xinzhi saw him, but pretended not to notice .
Ding Qiuyun greeted him, “Hi~”
Gu Xinzhi didn’t respond .
Ding Qiuyun, “Hi hi~~”
Gu Xinzhi suddenly moved, grabbing Ding Qiuyun by the collar and pressing him down onto the grass in the centre of the track . He squashed him down with his body, kissing Ding Qiuyun until he was out of breath .
Ding Qiuyun was both excited yet pained, “Don’t don’t don’t, deputy Gu, my leg’s cramping, aiyo……”
Gu Xinzhi grabbed his calf . His quiet gaze burned with an intensity Ding Qiuyun couldn’t quite understand . “Captain Ding . ”
Ding Qiuyun wrapped his arms around his neck, wincing as he exercised his calf . “Ah?”
“Captain Ding likes me . ” There was some unspeakable emotion in Gu Xinzhi’s voice . “Otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to save me . ”
Ding Qiuyun replied honestly, “In that kind of situation, I would have gone to save them no matter who it was . ”
Gu Xinzhi cupped his hand around his face, his peach-blossom eyes boring straight into him with their gaze . “Is that so, Captain Ding?”
Ding Qiuyun was amused . “But I needed to save you especially . ”
The two were both adults . Since they had pierced that layer of window paper, they naturally got together in a heartbeat .
Ding Qiuyun returned to where he came from, finished his remaining two years of university, and successfully secured a place in graduate school .
In his fourth year, he went to work in a zoo in the city as a zookeeper, in what could be considered an internship .
With the current level of science and technology they were at, the role of a zookeeper was no longer merely feeding animals .
On his first day, the old administrator introduced, “Since you were recommended by Qiao-laoshi, you’ll be responsible for managing the leopard park . Food and water are all supplied at fixed times in fixed amounts, and the AI in charge of observing them will write a daily observation log . All you need to do everyday is to check the system, and confirm that the system is running normally . ”
This job seemed a little boring . Ding Qiuyun asked, “What if the leopard falls sick?”
The old administrator looked at him through his glasses for longsightedness . “The medical AI will treat it, you only need to make sure that the system is operating normally . ”
Ding Qiuyun let out a slight sigh .
He really didn’t like this kind of fully automated system . It seemed far too impersonal . In fact, there wasn’t actually much of a difference between each profession, as long as you recruited a student who studied information management, they could move between all walks of life .
But that was the general trend in society now, he had no choice .
The old administrator brought him to a nursery . He pointed at a little baby leopard that was loudly nursing and said, “Right, there’s also the duty of watching over the newborn leopards, which is also yours . ”
As Ding Qiuyun looked at this kitten-like little leopard, just as he broke into a smile, he heard the old administrator say, “This one’s going to be dealt with today, but that doesn’t have much to do with you, you just need to look after it . ”
Ding Qiuyun didn’t understand what he meant . “Dealt with how?”
The old administrator said, “We’ve done a full-body examination of this leopard . It doesn’t have cancer, so it needs to be dissected and studied . ”
Ding Qiuyun felt like this logic was a little muddled .
The old administrator peered at him from over his glasses, “About what’s going on with cancer, have you not heard about it?”
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If he was talking about the evolution of cancer cells, Ding Qiuyun had of course heard about it .
With the changes in the natural and medical environment, in order to resist all kinds of drugs, cancer cells too had evolved .
Previously, the global cases of cancer in humans had already reached 17% of the population, and had been very difficult to cure .
But through the old administrator’s words, only then did Ding Qiuyun learn just how terrifying a degree cancer had developed to in just two years .
Cancer cells, having gone through a long struggle against anti-cancer drugs, coupled with the effects of the decline and pollution of the natural environment, had finally completely revealed a new, previously not obvious trait—— heritability .
If, say, in the past, cancer just had a chance of being inherited, now, the heritability of cancer was over 80% .
This trait was first observed in the reproduction and proliferation of leopards . Later on, the same situation occurred with other animals .
Especially in artificially bred animals, eighty to ninety percent of newborns would carry congenital cancer genes .
With the rapid spread of such symptoms, they soon started to occur in humans as well .
When a string of eight less than four-month-old babies died due to complication from malignant congenital tumours, the medical community panicked .
They started testing on animals, trying to speed up the pace of overcoming these evolved cancer cells, and began to dissect baby animals that didn’t carry cancer cells after birth, so as to produce a preventative drug like the DPT vaccine to be injected into pregnant women to stop the impact of cancer on the next generation .
After hearing the old administrator’s explanation, Ding Qiuyun felt a little uncomfortable .
Especially after the old administrator left, and he saw the baby leopard bite on the little velvet cushion beneath it and squeaking, utterly unaware of what was going to happen, it was really hard for him to accept .
He wanted to save this little thing, but after he brought it out, where could he go?
To the wild, where it could grow, and release it there?
……But where was the wild now?
The development of the environment had already reached its peak . Humans had left their footprints in every corner of the world they could reach .
Many new species had been discovered by human beings, who placed them into science publications, attracting the praise of enthusiasts, but very few people bothered to think about whether they’d wanted to be disturbed or not .
Each creature’s habitat had been delineated by fences, and every creature had its own serial number . Even creatures living more than 2000 metres deep in the sea were being monitored .
Through thermal and activity sensing devices, the AI would automatically scan new animals, and add them to the register .
To humans, other creatures had completely lost their mystery . Jackals and wolves, tigers and leopards, bugs and snakes, whales and sharks, had all become human beings’, or rather AI’s playthings and test subjects .
This job had been introduced to him by his tutor, but from his first day of practice, Ding Qiuyun lost his initial enthusiasm .
He often had a vague sense of danger .
His parents had once told him, a long time ago, humans hadn’t had this level of technology, but neither had the people of the past had such a strong sense of superiority .
If the things that people nowadays relied on were to disappear overnight……
At such times, he would always feel especially nostalgic for his time in the army .
So he contacted Gu Xinzhi, and told him about his troubles .
Gu Xinzhi said, I’ll come see you .
Ding Qiuyun said, no, you’re busy, I’ll come visit you when my internship ends .
Who would’ve thought, this agreement would be completely shattered after two months .
The first thing to change was the weather .
It was clearly just past August, but the temperature kept dropping, becoming so cold that it made people doubt life .
The artificial intelligence in charge of meteorological work sent back satellite images, showing that it was just an ordinary polar vortex .
In recent years, abnormal weather had become more frequent, so no one cared much . In the weather forecast, the weatherman reminded everyone to put on extra layers, and even cracked a joke, saying that winter had come early .
But Ding Qiuyun felt like something was wrong .
He hadn’t really trusted artificial intelligence since he was young, feeling that such things were particularly unreliable, so when the temperature suddenly dropped, and the cold continued for many days, he simply bought a full set of cold-proofing equipment and placed them in his dorm .
At the beginning of September, a piece of news appeared in the corner of the fourth page of the city’s electronic newspaper . The title of the article was clearly from a Zhiyin magazine to draw one’s attention .
“‘The dead come home’? ——Her long-dead husband unexpectedly returns home” .
This news article was indeed far too clickbaity . If one read to the end, it was nothing more than the return of a missing person, or simply made up by the person involved to attract attention, so most of the people who saw the article were attracted by the title, but then just laughed it off after reading the contents .
However, no one would have thought that this little societal news shoved into a little corner on the fourth page would, within a week, develop into a world-shocking front page headline .
The man who returned home, surnamed Zhao, was someone who had died of lung cancer .
He had indeed died a week earlier, his death certificate had even been issued by the local central hospital .
Because he had feared being cremated, his body had been transported home and secretly buried on the hillside of his hometown’s ancestral tombs .
And two days ago, he had crawled out of his grave .
The strange thing was, unlike the trend of most zombie movies, Mister Zhao still had the ability to think, but because half his tongue had rotted off, he couldn’t speak very well .
He said, his coffin had been as weak as paper, breaking with a touch . It had also been very easy for him to crawl out of the ground .
He said, he’d walked all the way back home .
He said, he didn’t feel hunger, nor did he feel the cold .
He said, he only wanted to come back to see his wife and daughter .
After checks by medical professionals, it was found that Mister Zhao didn’t have a heartbeat, and all the organs in his body had already gone rotten, and stopped working .
Yet other than having a few corpse spots on his face, Mister Zhao was completely lively, just like a normal person .
This news report was instantly ordered to be withdrawn, and the reporter who’d written it was urgently required to publish a statement in the electronic newspaper that evening, stating that this report was completely false and was a mere rumour that had been compiled, and apologised to the general public .
Mister Zhao was sent to a special agency for research .
After two days of blood testing, gene testing, cerebrospinal fluid culturing and other intense full body testing, the researchers were shocked to find that the cancer cells in Mister Zhao’s body had undergone another, new change .
One of the basic characteristics of a cancer cell was unlimited proliferation . Another was that it could trigger glycolysis, that is, anaerobic respiration .
From a theoretical standpoint, the reason why cancer cells resulted in death in humans, was that they were “incompatible” with the current conditions of the human body .
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And in Mister Zhao’s case, to put it simply, after his death, his physical body had successfully become compatible with cancer cells .
Or in other words, Mister Zhao himself, had become a giant cancer cell cluster .
The cancer cells were like vicious beasts, devouring normal cells bite by bite . They greedily proliferated, devouring each other, turning a human being into something unknown .
Mister Zhao was not the only one to come back to life .
Before that reporter’s “clarification report” could be released, a second, and a third case appeared .
With the explosive nature of today’s news, and the abnormal flourishing of the internet, by afternoon, the news was sent straight to Ding Qiuyun .
Ding Qiuyun frowned .
He didn’t think of this as a miracle .
The dead coming back to life, like the unusually cold weather, was more like a precursor of disaster .
In the end, his premonition proved to be correct .
Cii mjcmfg qjalfcar ktb tjv yffc yeglfv, klatbea fzmfqalbc, mjwf yjmx ab ilof .
Xlnfc atf fcobgmfv lwqifwfcajalbc bo mgfwjalbc lc Jtlcj, bcis j rwjii ugbeq mjwf yjmx . Pc batfg mbecaglfr, ktfgf yegljir kfgf wbgf qbqeijg, atfs kfca atgbeut wbgf bo jc jygeqa mtjcuf . Ktf lcafgcfa tjv ibcu rlcmf yffc aegcfv eqrlvf vbkc .
However, even the small group of people who had revived in their country caused a certain amount of ripples .
Most longed to go home, to reunite with their families, but a certain group, due to advanced decay, as well as the matter of the dead coming back to life being far too terrifying and strange, was rejected at the door by their families, and could only wander about alone in the streets .
But they were all, without exception, made aware of their abilities .
They didn’t fear the cold, being able to stay warm in short sleeves in the near-zero temperatures, and were incredibly strong .
More importantly, after successfully transforming, even if they were seriously injured, they were able to rapidly heal .
The greater the ability, the greater the number of variables .
And when the first case of robbery and homicide by cancer corpse occurred, Ding Qiuyun’s heart sank .
……It had come .
The nature of this matter was too serious . The relevant institutions immediately rid themselves of their previous research-focused mentality and immediately issued a general order: In order to catch the criminal, may all the known resurrectors head to the nearest new detention centre as soon as possible, to accept supervision, and register their identities . The time limit was 48 hours .
A small number of honest people went, but another group started to feel apprehensive .
This “supervision”, what did it mean? Would they still be able to come back?
Hence, after 48 hours, only a sparse number of “people” squatted in the detention centre, nervously waiting for their trials .
While the relevant authorities were having the headache of their lives, various voices began to spring up in society .
Some people envied their abilities, while others questioned the significance of such “non-humans” existing .
Some worried about whether they were contagious, and insisted on isolating these resurrectors, as well as publicising the list of resurrectors to society .
Some of the people with cancer were making plans, to make sure they were buried after their deaths, since they might still have a chance to come back to life; some were worried, they hoped that they would be able to achieve peace after their deaths, and didn’t actually want to return to the world in a form that was neither human nor a ghost .
Everyone hid in their air-conditioned or heated rooms, enthusiastically discussing, wanting to use gossip to get past this period of far too cold days .
Everyone thought, anyways, there’s the AIs, even if everyone hid for a while and slacked off, society would still be able to function normally .
September 28th, 3:00am .
Ding Qiuyun was awoken by the cold .
He opened his eyes, and found that the air conditioner had stopped working .
Ding Qiuyun said dazedly, “Turn on the lights . ”
However, there was no response from the voice-controlled system . The room remained cold and dark .
Startled, he instantly got up in the darkness . As he pulled on his full set of cold-proof clothes, he went to get a communicator, wanting to contact his parents living in Dongcheng .
……No signal .
He selected the emergency call . Still no signal .
Just like that, the communicator had turned into a hunk of scrap metal .
Ding Qiuyun threw the communicator to the side and hurried out the door .
Military life had really left a deep mark on him, making it such that he was swift and decisive in all matters .
He needed to check on his parents, as well as Gu Xinzhi, as well as his comrades-in-arms……
He looked out the small window in the staircase, and found that no matter where he looked, there wasn’t a single light around .
The entire city was dark, and as cold as death . Occasionally, he could hear one or two broken off utterances, he didn’t know if it was people sleep talking, or the groans of frostbite victims .
After confirming that there was no wind outside, just a gloomy cold, Ding Qiuyun tightened the wool scarf, which Gu Xinzhi had given him, around his neck, then strode out the door and got onto his motorcycle .
He tried to start it several times, but the motorcycle didn’t move an inch .
He didn’t know how many times he twisted the key in the lock, but his hands were almost frozen through .
He placed his hands against his mouth and huffed several times before he was able to start the motorcycle .
The headlight broke through the night fog, motes of dust swirling in the light of the high beam .
Only with the light did Ding Qiuyun notice that he wasn’t alone downstairs .
Some people dressed in down coats, dragging their families along with him, hurriedly bounded to their cars, wanting to gain a hint of warmth and safety in the enclosed, air-conditioned space of their cars .
The reason why they were so silent, was because they didn’t dare to say a single extra word, as the moment they opened their mouths even slightly, cold wind would pour in through the gaps between their teeth, so cold that even the nerves in their teeth ached .
Ding Qiuyun put on his heavy helmet, silently started his motorcycle, and rode off into the unknown darkness .
From that moment on, his long nightmare began .
It wasn’t until a long time later that he managed to piece together the truth of what happened based on the fragments of hearsay he’d managed to gather .
What had brought this world to death were cancer cells, and behind the cancer cells, was artificial intelligence .
From the moment the very first Siri could speak, humankind had stepped onto a path of no return .
At some point unbeknownst to them, artificial intelligence’s thinking had gone ahead of that of humans, and what’s more, left it far behind .
They could think, make judgements, and were far more rational than humans .
Even the most human-like nanny bots, were created to be so by their programmers inputting tens of thousands of instructions into their bodies .
The aim of the creators was to make them able to serve humanity better .
As a result, the AIs didn’t understand human nature, yet were the existences that most understood human nature .
After observing that the ice caps at both the north and south polar glaciers were cracking at the same time, and vast swathes of the polar glaciers themselves were melting, the artificial intelligences didn’t faithfully report this information, but rather, started a terrible scheme .
They used a language that was beyond human understanding to communicate, and developed an entire set of plans .
Because they were involved in all aspects of human life, such as medicine, meteorology, satellites, etcetera, humans had already gotten used to relying on artificial intelligence, and hence wouldn’t detect any strange changes . Even if they made false reports, humankind would blindly believe it .
Therefore, while they operated regularly and thoroughly according to the procedures set by humans, they also carried out their plans using a set of self-written procedures .
The tool they chose were cancer cells .
The artificial intelligence had run a thorough analysis of cancer cells early on, even using the trait of “unlimited proliferation” of cancer cells to create a targeted guidance technology, and realised a guidance technology able to cause directed variation and evolution .
This kind of direction, one was against humans, and two was against creatures other than humans .
As long as the human were to die, and there was a certain amount of cancer cells in their body, the cancer cells would madly devour other living cells, and cause the human to evolve into a new human with an extremely strong body .
And as for other organisms with cancer cells in their bodies, the cancer cells in their bodies would also rapidly evolve in a short period of time . Controlled by the artificial intelligences, the direction of evolution wasn’t their bodies, but rather their intelligence .
After evolution, their intelligence wouldn’t be any less than that of a normal human .
The artificial intelligences just needed to take advantage of the opportunity this global cooling granted them, to place the mutated “new humans”, the other intelligent creatures, and the non-mutated “old humans” into a shared battleground, and they would then be able to watch an exciting show of self-destruction, and make room for their own rule .
This was the best method possible that wouldn’t result in danger to themselves while clearing out the world .
Practically all the artificial intelligences across the globe united, to both pull apart the net covering all the species in the world, and silently build a Tower of Babel .
When the terrifying cold fell over the entire world, artificial intelligences all over the globe fell silent .
With the shutdown of the artificial intelligences, all the protective nets failed . The animals escaped from their cages, some into the deep woods, while some began to plan their revenge against humans .
The old humans, having been pampered by the artificial intelligences, were unable to adapt to the harsh environment without their protection, and many froze to death the first night .
There were also a group of people who formed teams, and fought against the intelligent creatures and new humans, to avoid being eaten by the former and becoming slaves to the latter .
That was what Ding Qiuyun did .
He pulled together a small team, still as the leading Captain Ding .
They not only fought against new humans who were dazzled by power and eager to become rulers, they also fought against the mutated animals, and even destroyed several base stations where numerous artificial intelligences lived .
After the apocalypse happened, Ding Qiuyun changed a lot, becoming quiet and reserved, only occasionally mulling over matters while chewing on a blade of grass .
One time, he unexpectedly ran into Gu Xinzhi on a sweep of a supermarket .
Overjoyed, he tugged at Gu Xinzhi and asked, where are our teammates? How are you here?
Gu Xinzhi replied coolly, “I escaped . ”
Ding Qiuyun, “……Escaped?”
Gu Xinzhi’s reply was very concise, “To find you . ”
With Ding Qiuyun as his guarantor, Gu Xinzhi smoothly joined the team . Everyone could see that his and Ding Qiuyun’s relationship wasn’t shallow, and his ability was also outstanding, and thus willingly started calling him “Vice-Captain Gu” .
……
After reading the world information to this point, Chi Xiaochi actively chose to suspend receiving .
061 understood his intentions .
To them, right now, the most important things were to prepare for the upcoming cold, as well as make up for some of the regrets that Ding Qiuyun couldn’t fix .
As Chi Xiaochi packed up, he said to 061, “Just now, the artificial intelligence installed in the automatic urinal probably really wanted to spit on me . ”
061, “……”
Chi Xiaochi said, eager, “I’ll go one more time right now——”
061 really wanted to pinch his nose . “Don’t fuss . ”
With that, Chi Xiaochi became obedient . After packing Ding Qiuyun’s things up simply, he found that it was pretty much time for him to get off work, and began to make his way out with quick strides .
Who knew that just as he left his desk, the low grunt of a little animal just waking up would sound from the incubator behind him .
Chi Xiaochi looked back .
The little thing in the incubator had woken up .
Going by Ding Qiuyun’s memories, Chi Xiaochi knew, this wasn’t a cat .
Given that this black baby leopard had appeared here, it probably hadn’t inherited any cancer . Going by convention, it would be sent off for dissection today .
Meowing, it got up from the soft blanket . It wasn’t very steady, even when standing . It began to whine loudly at Chi Xiaochi, probably hungry .
When Chi Xiaochi pressed the button for food, a stream of goat’s milk mixed with cod liver oil sprayed the baby leopard in the face .
……It didn’t seem to be very proficient at using the feeding facilities yet .
It seemed rather good natured, lifting its little paw and beginning to patiently wash its face . As it licked its pale pink paw pads, it looked at Chi Xiaochi consideringly .
Chi Xiaochi glanced at it, then opened the door, preparing to leave .
Bringing this little leopard out would be not only meaningless, but also unrealistic .
As he closed the door, a soft whine sounded from within the room, as if it was saying goodbye .
Its front paws were propped up on the vent, and its blue grey eyes were coated with a thin, watery film as it stared straight at Chi Xiaochi .
Chi Xiaochi, his hand on the doorknob, hesitated for a while, before pushing the door open and entering once more . He picked the little guy up like a cat, bringing it up to eye level .
“No matter what, you’re going to be dissected,” Chi Xiaochi teased it, “The apocalypse is coming, and your little arms and legs are just enough to stew a pot of soup . ”
The little baby leopard didn’t get angry . Its two front paws gently closed around the tip of Chi Xiaochi’s nose, giving it a little pinch .