Alien Relic Hunter

"I can't answer your question." Nieto repeated the sentence.

"Why this time? Those things shouldn't involve the 'dangers' you mentioned, right?" Ke Lan asked doubtfully.

"According to my calculations, if this information is disclosed to you, it will most likely trigger a series of chain reactions, causing disaster to strike again," Nieto said.

The way of thinking of this biological computer is very close to that of humans... Ke Lan thought, although the things he asked about had nothing to do with the "disaster" itself, he could piece together the "disaster" through various clues. Silhouette" comes...

If Arisawa Luo hadn't been watching from the side, Ke Lan would have thought that this biological computer named "Nieto" had invaded his mind and read his inner thoughts clearly.

In this way, Ke Lan's plan to tell a story was completely in vain... What Nieto said just now is probably all the information that can be revealed to him within the allowed range. If he continues to ask, it is estimated that the other party will not only continue If you refuse to answer, you will even undergo so-called "memory erasure procedures."

Ke Lan didn't know how she could clear her memory, but after all, she was on someone else's territory. Ke Lan didn't want to break up with Nieto unless she had to.

"Then what information is safe... can you tell me?" Ke Lan thought for a while, and instead of constantly testing it himself, it would be better to just let the other party tell him everything he can.

However, Nieto did not respond to this sentence. He just looked at Ke Lan silently. From her calm eyes, Ke Lan could not see anything.

Ke Lan didn't know whether Nieto's artificial intelligence only set up a passive question-and-answer function or his own questions had "crossed the line." He could only be patient and continue to think about those questions that could get Nieto's answers without It will involve those "disasters".

"Then can you tell me about the hive capital's authority level?" Ke Lan thought of the sentences that Ze Luo had deciphered before, and decided to use this as a breakthrough to see what information he could get out.

"Okay." Nieto finally said, "The hive city's hierarchical system was officially promulgated in the fourth year of the Ice Age. This system divides the residents in the hive city into six levels.

Permission level one is the owner of the hive. It has the highest authority and can directly control managers at all levels, including me;

Authority level two, managers, has a total of four places, located on the first to fourth levels. Among them, I am the second-level manager;

Permission level three, high-level residents can enter and exit all places at will except the fourth floor, and have the power to kill and kill residents of levels five and six;

Level four of authority, armed personnel, is responsible for protecting the residents of the hive city in the first three levels, maintaining the order of the hive city, and is commanded by the 'managers' of level two.

Armed personnel are mainly located on the second and third floors of the hive. They are strictly prohibited from leaving their garrison posts without permission.

The cadre class among the armed personnel also has the status of senior residents;

Permission level five, middle-level residents, are only allowed to move on the first and second floors of the hive city and are responsible for production work. However, they can become level four armed personnel through selection and training, with higher treatment and status.

Permission level six, lower-level residents are those with genetic defects, physical disabilities, or serious illnesses who are unable to work. In addition, middle-level residents will also be demoted if they lose the ability to work or violate the laws of the hive city. Bottom dwellers. Bottom dwellers are placed on the first level of the hive. According to records, the population of the first level of the hive city is generally around 40 million to 50 million, and the historical peak has reached 70 million. "

"Seventy million people who are unable to work..." Ke Lan muttered, "Although it may be a bit cruel to say this, the remaining people have to feed so many people who are not engaged in production, plus the armed personnel and soldiers who are also out of work. I’m afraid it will be very difficult for high-level dignitaries, right?”

The best solution is to exile those people who cannot feed themselves... Although the chance of survival on the ground is very low, it is at least better than staying in the hive and starving to death... This is just like the current situation in the wilderness. Among the exiles, even though the mortality rate is high and the quality of life is very poor, at least many of them survived and established a foothold in the wilderness.

Although Ke Lan's voice was so quiet that only he could hear it, and even Thirty-three standing aside was unaware of it, Nieto still answered his doubts: "No matter how many residents there are at the bottom, according to the regulations, the nest Only the minimum amount of food and other daily necessities for 10 million people will be supplied to the first level."

"Ten million people? Then many people will starve to death every day, right?" Ke Lan couldn't help but frown.

"The corpse will be transported to the recycling device for decomposition and processing, and every part will be put to its best use." Nieto's answer was still emotionless.

The corner of Ke Lan's mouth couldn't help but twitch - he originally thought his idea was a bit cruel, but he didn't expect that the management of the hive city would be even more ruthless...

But Ke Lan had to admit that if he wanted to allow civilization to survive in the apocalypse, only cold and tough methods would do... A manager with a woman's benevolence would only bring the entire hive to ruin. Go into a situation of no return.

"Residents at the bottom also have the opportunity to restore their status as middle-class residents, or even directly become high-class residents." Nieto added.

"Join...the ground exploration team?" Although Nieto hasn't said it yet, Ke Lan has already guessed the answer.

"That's right." Nieto said, "As long as they can find resources of sufficient value on the ground, or information that is considered useful by management, the bottom residents who join the exploration team can be promoted based on their contribution. This is also the bottom level. The only way residents can escape their situation.”

"What is the survival rate of the ground exploration team?" When Ke Lan asked this question, he was also calculating the return rate of the ruin hunters on the Ark - of course, he was not calculating the return rate of the current hunters. It's the return rate of hunters in the years after Ark first landed on Alpha Planet.

In those days, the profession of ruin hunter was basically equated with outlaws, and few people who were not desperate would join this profession.

"According to archival records, a total of 619,559 bottom-level residents joined the ground exploration team. Ninety-three people were able to successfully return from the ground."

Nearly 620,000 people...only 93 people can return to the hive alive?

If you were a low-level resident of the hive city, you probably wouldn't join this "ground exploration team"...

The information Nieto disclosed this time was not small, and it was very complete and detailed. Ke Lan thought about it in his mind and gave each class a title of "Earth Civilization" in a more understandable way.

Level 1 "Emperor", Level 3 "Nobles", Level 4 "Army", Level 5 "Workers", Level 6 "Meat Animals"... As for Level 2 managers, they are obviously intelligent biological computers like Nieto. Strictly speaking, it can only be regarded as an extension of the "Emperor's" will and cannot be counted among the residents of the hive city.

"According to what you said, the hive has a total of four floors, right?"

"No, it's the fifth floor." Nieto corrected, "It's just that the fifth floor in the deepest part of the hive is no man's land, and there are only four floors that can accommodate humans."

"How about the fourth floor? Can you tell me this?"

"The first level is the 'bottom nest' located at the top of the hive city; the second level is the lower city area; the third level is the upper city area; and the fourth level is the 'cloud top'." Nieto answered.

Judging from the name alone, the structure of this hive seems to be upside down, but judging from the distribution of the power structure of the residents, it is completely consistent.

"One more question, why can I open the door to the hive city and enter the hive city? Is it because of my blood?"

Nieto didn't answer, but he didn't refute either.

In Ke Lan's view, this should be regarded as acquiescence to his own statement.

"The lifting platform stopped after it reached this level. It's because with my 'blood', I can only be regarded as a 'middle-level resident' with authority level five, so I can't go to the upper city, right?"

"Wrong." Nieto took a deep look at Ke Lan. Although her face was still expressionless, Ke Lan always felt that she seemed to be conveying something to him through her eyes. "The lifting platform cannot go to the third floor. It's because the third-level managers have completely lost control. As for your authority level, I can't judge."

"It can't be determined... Then how do you determine whether it's friend or foe?" Ke Lan asked curiously.

If it were the Ark, if an Alpha man accidentally broke into the interior of the Ark, even if he wouldn't open fire directly, he would definitely be surrounded by long guns and short cannons - the long guns and short cannons here refer to the real guns and cannons in consciousness. , rather than the microphones and cameras held by reporters and photographers.

But along the way, he and Thirty-three encountered no obstacles.

"Only those who harbor the seeds of 'disaster' will be considered enemies," Nieto said.

Seeds of disaster? Does it mean erosion? But both himself and Thirty-three should have been eroded, but it hasn't shown on the outside yet... Could it be that this seemingly awesome intelligent biological computer is actually a guy who "judges books by their appearance".

"What about Hruni and the others?"

"They are enemies, but they have not entered the second level of the hive, so I cannot clear them out." Nieto answered immediately, very simply and without any delay.

"What about the manager of the first level of the hive? Why didn't it get rid of Hruni and others, but put them back?"

"The managers on the first floor of the hive have been destroyed, and the entire first floor is currently without a manager. And my authority cannot be extended to the first floor, so I can only let them leave."

"So that's it..." Ke Lan nodded. Judging from the information obtained so far, the "Cloud Top" on the fourth floor of the hive city, which is where the people with the highest authority in the hive city live, should be where he came. destination, but the lift platform cannot go to the third floor, and naturally it cannot reach the fourth floor below the third floor.

"You just said that the third-level managers have lost control. What do you mean?"

Nieto didn't answer.

"Did it rebel?"

Nieto still didn't answer.

"The third floor...is it dangerous?"

"It's very dangerous." Nieto said, "There are still disasters there."

Remaining...disaster?

Does this mean that there are "corrosion" on the third level? Or is it that the managers of the third level were eroded and turned into monsters similar to "Erosion"?

"Wait a minute, I want to confirm something with you." Ke Lan suddenly had an idea and asked, "As the manager of the second floor, your authority is limited to the second floor. Things on other floors, You have no right to interfere, right?"

"correct."

"Then if I want to go to the third floor, even if I may cause the second 'disaster' on the third floor, as long as it is not within your control, you will not stop me, right?"

"My mission is only to ensure that the second level of the hive is not threatened by 'disaster'. After you leave the second level, I will not interfere with any of your actions." Nieto said.

good! Ke Lan shook his fist hard in his heart - this intelligent biological computer seemed very smart, but in fact it had a fatal flaw.

She only cares about matters on the second floor of the hive. As for the other floors, it has nothing to do with her.

To use an old saying, this is an AI that only knows how to "sweep the snow in front of itself."

I think the owners of the hive city designed these AIs in this way to prevent the managers of these layers from interfering with each other, and also for security-a management network that connects the entire hive city. The former is obviously more likely to fall into the management mode where the layers are separated independently.

"Then can you tell me, besides the lifting platform, are there any other passages to the third floor of the hive?"

Nieto was silent for a long time, seeming to weigh the pros and cons... It took more than half a minute before it gave Ke Lan a definite answer: "Okay."

Half a minute is already a "very long" thinking time for an intelligent biological computer. Ke Lan doesn't know what calculations Nieto did in this half minute, but in short, it is willing to tell another channel Himself, that Ke Lan's goal has been achieved.

"Go along No. 3 Street to the edge of the Lower City. Go all the way to the end. There is a garbage disposal plant. The garbage disposal plant has a one-way passage that connects directly from the Uptown to the Lower City. This passage was originally used to transport the Upper City. Domestic waste in the urban area is transported to Xiacheng District for processing, but now the one-way channel and the garbage treatment plant have stopped operating. As long as you can break the six one-way valves in the channel, you can reach the Upper City area in reverse."

Nieto's explanation was very detailed... It was as if its own will also wanted Ke Lan and the others to go to the upper city.

"Garbage passage..." Ke Lan pondered, "Yes, it is a bit troublesome to use the lifting platform to transport garbage... In addition to the lifting platform, the passage connecting the two levels of the hive city only contains garbage. Passages, ventilation ducts and the like.”

"There are two more things I need to tell you in advance." Nieto suddenly added.

"What two things?"

"The first thing, after arriving in the upper city, don't look up at the dome. The second thing, no matter what the manager of the third floor says to you, don't listen, don't believe anything she says, and don't accept anything she says. Suggestions or help.”

"Okay, I understand...but isn't the third floor under your control? Why are you telling me this?"

Nieto remained silent again. This time, she simply closed her eyes and stopped even looking at Ke Lan.