40,000 Years of Cultivation

"The residents of District 10084 do not have the concept of'work at sunrise and rest at sunset.' They have not seen the sun for 10,000 years, so they all use the'three shifts' never-ending schedule."

Li Jialing said with deep feeling, "Early and early every day, they have to get up to fertilize various underground plants, mosses and mushrooms-these crops do not originally grow underground, even if they are genetically modulated, they are quite delicate. The weak, they need to mix various minerals ground into fine powder in the rock worm's feces to become fertilizers and growth agents, and sow them in different ways in order to thrive. If they are not careful, they will wither in large areas. It was a disaster for the entire town.

"Having finally waited for the vines, moss and mushrooms to grow, and risked their lives to climb the rock wall, enter the crevices to collect them, and then transport them to the cave to chop them up and feed them to the rock worms. When eating, they have to painstakingly massage the rock worm. The skin of the rock worm is extremely tough. The massage force is not enough. You must use the force of a great deal to activate its flesh and blood. Busy for more than a dozen hours without stopping, there is almost no second, it is not exhausted.

"With such trembling, sweating and busying for several years, only one rock worm can mature into flesh, and hundreds of rock worms can be carried to a four-digit town more than a few thousand meters in exchange for only a handful of magic weapons. And energy, and a can of ultra-high compressed air that is worthless on the ground.

"Let’s not talk about the problem of not having enough to eat. Because of the serious shortage of fresh air, the residents here never even dare to get too emotional, because whether it’s crying, laughing or making a fuss, it will increase the consumption of oxygen and give the towns The total quota of fresh air in China has brought unnecessary losses. Over time, they become such a dead-hearted, ashamed face, and unsmiling appearance.

"Only carefree children who are ignorant and don't know the preciousness of fresh air will laugh unscrupulously and consume oxygen that is more precious than spar.

"This is still no accident. The condition of being able to survive peacefully and reluctantly makes life worse than death, and it is miserable, let alone in case of the invasion of savages and monsters deeper underground, or the collapse of the entire town due to an earthquake, or The magma shot out, causing everyone to turn into ashes in an instant. These natural disasters, all of which are sharp blades hanging high above their heads, might fall in the next second, bringing them all-time and ubiquitous mental pressure.

"This is a natural disaster, and there is also a man-made disaster, that is the accidental discovery of mineral veins or ancient ruins!

"It should be a good thing to discover mineral veins and relics, but the residents here are too weak, and the upper-level towns are stuck in the throat of oxygen supply. They have no ability to protect themselves. If mineral veins and relics are really discovered, it is very easy to attract them. Come to the gangsters in the upper towns that are unpredictable and difficult to fill, or the cultivators in the shallow underground and on the ground.

"At that time, they will be arrested to serve as slave laborers and cannon fodder for exploring relics, and at worst they will not even have the qualifications to be slave laborers and cannon fodder. They will either be expelled to deeper underground and become savages, or they will be killed. ——Cultivators naturally have more powerful and well-trained slave laborers who can take their place.

"This kind of tragedy has never been encountered in District 10084, but it has been encountered many times in other five-digit towns. If a town finds valuable mineral veins and ruins, it often means destruction. Over time, most of the five-figure towns have learned their lesson and stayed honestly to plant mushrooms and raise rock worms in their one-acre three-quarters of land. Residents are strictly forbidden to go out to explore and take risks. Whoever finds something new The veins and relics, even the things that are suspected to be veins and relics, are often killed mercilessly, leaving the secrets in the dark forever.

"Brother Yao, from Xinghai Republic to the real human empire, no matter how the political situation and social changes on the ground, these underground people have always lived this kind of life for thousands of years. If they really retain strong emotions. , That emotion has long been condensed into the word'pain', if they really have desire, the only desire, that is, to live, continue to live in despair.

"Brother Yao, you just said that I was fooled by Sister Long. I also thought about it carefully. I don’t think Sister Long’s approach to brainwashing is correct. I can only say that if there are really many underground residents willing to accept Sister Long’s practice. Brainwashing, washing away most of my emotions, then I understand their practices very well, because what they wash away is nothing but pain that can never be resolved, and despair that can never be reversed."

Li Yao was silent, lost in thought.

Li Jialing seemed to pour out all the depression that had accumulated for ten days or even ten years, and continued: "Brother Yao, I heard that in the world of Xinghai Republic more than a thousand years ago, there was a kind of The concept of'humanism' believes that when a person is terminally ill and falls into pain that is absolutely impossible to get rid of, he has the right to end his life, which is called'euthanasia'.

"In our true human empire, it is also advocated that when a cultivator can no longer contribute to human civilization, for the dignity and decency of the cultivator, he should die generously and leave resources to others.

"When I accepted Li Lingfeng and Wu Yinglan's modulation that life is better than death, I didn't even think of death once. For me at that time, death was not pain, but a kind of relief.

"The most precious thing for human beings is life. If we all agree that in the face of unstoppable and unbearable suffering, people can choose to give up life on their own initiative. Then, if we only voluntarily give up some emotions, desires and free will, what can't What? It must be a violation of ethics, completely unacceptable, or even completely incomprehensible?"

"These are two different things."

Li Yao pondered for a long time, and finally slowly said, "I admit that as individuals, you and I have the right to end their lives when they endure unresolved pain-this is indeed in line with the spirit of humanitarianism.

"But it's one thing for individuals to choose to end their lives, and it's another thing for a supreme authority over the masses to end everyone's lives on a large scale.

"Individuals can withdraw, give up and surrender in the face of pain, but any responsible highest authority should never use'mass euthanasia' to solve problems-this is not to solve the problem at all, but to solve the problem. People'!

"To put it simply, if faced with a shortage of resources, Long Yangjun or the highest authority of the Shengmeng will require individuals to suppress emotions and desires as much as possible, and reduce resource consumption to the limit. This and the occurrence of food shortages require people to tighten their pants. What is the difference between the belt? If there is a shortage of food, find a way to produce a variety of grains. No matter how tight the belt is, people still have to eat. No matter how strong the seal of the three basic principles is, people still have emotions and desires. Existence is called the spirit of all things!

"So, I can't agree with Long Yangjun or the'resource shortage solution' of the Shengmeng authorities. This solution is too lacking in technology, too irresponsible, and can't solve the fundamental problem at all-even if the underground people are really real. All emotions and desires have been obliterated. They still have to eat and breathe fresh air. At most, they consume a little less. What's the point besides delaying the inevitable destruction?

"Of course, what you just said is not unreasonable. The tip of the iceberg shown by Long Yangjun has made me understand a little why so many people are willing to be branded with the three original laws. Then, let me continue. Go ahead.

"We have seen enough of the 10084 area. Where is Long Yangjun's specific coordinates, let's go to her and ask her clearly!"

Li Jialing inserted a special chip into Li Yao's wrist crystal brain, saying that it would be able to connect Li Yao and Long Yangjun's wrist crystal brain together.

Long Yangjun went deeper underground to mediate the war between the savages, and promoted her "relentless and desireless" road. Naturally, her whereabouts were erratic, and only this chip could lock her precise coordinates.

Li Yao moved in his heart and asked Li Jialing curiously, why is there still a large-scale war in the underground world?

Li Jialing nodded and said yes. Generally speaking, if it is an established town with a civilized system, there are few large-scale wars between each other. The main reason is that the fresh air of the underground world is too precious, even if it is usually sweating and heavy manual labor. People are cautious not to gasp, even if they hold themselves until their lips are blue, they dare not breathe deeply.

And war is the most oxygen-consuming thing. Only one incendiary bomb that has no destructive power on the ground is enough to deplete the oxygen in the entire several tunnels and large underground cavities, let alone an upgraded version of the thermobaric bomb. such as.

Therefore, once two five-figure towns go to war, it is often a tragedy that hurts both sides, and no one wants to seek benefits.

But this does not mean that humans can completely abandon their nature and stop fighting each other.

If an extreme natural disaster occurs, for example, an earthquake will crush most of the towns, magma will destroy all moss, vines and mushroom plantations, or a sudden plague will cause the death of all rock worms. Once faced with this kind of extinction , The survivors have no choice but to flock in droves like crazy, fighting against the neighboring towns.

This kind of hastily assembled offense ended in disastrous defeat in nine out of ten. The loser had nowhere to go, so they had to venture deeper into the ground, a dark death zone without a number.

99% of them will be reduced to a delicious meal for savages and monsters, and 1% of the "lucky ones" will lose their nature, wipe out their wisdom, and become a new generation of savages before long.