Infinity Throne

"No! Grandpa!"

Bella's tears burst out from her eyes, and she cried and threw herself at the elder.

Bella looked thin, but her weight was close to 40 kilograms anyway. This pounce almost took the elder away.

"Cough cough cough - the old man is not dead yet!"

The elder pushed the crying Bella away with all his strength, and said feebly: "What are you doing?"

Bella looked at the elder who opened his eyes again and was stunned: "Grandpa, you are not..."

Bella felt that it was unlucky to say the word "death", so she stared, raised her index finger, and hooked it, which meant: fall down straight.

You can't blame her.

After a long speech, close your eyes and look like you have no regrets. Everyone will think about the end of your life, right?

Bella's face turned red, knowing that she had misunderstood.

The two stopped talking.

The only sound left in the room was the beep of Neil scanning the historical text.

One copy, one copy, one copy, one copy, another copy, extremely efficient.

Twenty-four volumes of historical texts were scanned in just over ten minutes, and all were turned into e-book files, which were properly encrypted and stored.

As I said before, Neil is not responsible for understanding the content of the "historical text", she is only responsible for paraphrasing it.

[Two tasks. 】

[Task 1, obtain historical text (√). 】

After completing the first main task assigned to him by his brother, Neil did not delay, stood up, bowed to Bella and the elder respectively, and said goodbye.

"Neil's leaving."

What a polite kid.

Although Alice's humanoid skeleton is still in tatters at this moment, Neil's behavior is becoming more and more human-like, polite and reasonable, which makes the elder more and more satisfied.

He looked at the neatly stacked historical texts in the box, hesitated for a moment, and then ordered someone to bring a brazier. He personally threw each historical text into the brazier and burned it to ashes.

Bella expressed disbelief at the elder's abnormal behavior. The elder is the "keeper of history" of this generation and is responsible for properly preserving historical texts. The next generation is naturally Bella. But when Neil scanned the historical text, the elder went crazy and burned it all. Not only Bella, but others who witnessed the elder throwing ancient books into the brazier with his skinny palms were also puzzled.

In this regard,

The elder had only one sentence to explain.

"They've accomplished their mission."

…

Neil used maintenance tools to perform simple self-inspections and repairs on the "Alice Type".

She was very stubborn and said that only her younger brother could tear it apart, so only her younger brother could tear it apart.

No one else can dismantle it.

"Humans call this behavior 'loyalty'."

Neil has his own understanding and stubbornness.

After the maintenance, Neil came to the surface, first returning to the old site of the Morning Star Mine.

As a former mine owner, other omnics may not know it, but she knows it best.

There is actually a "black box" underground in the mine, which records all the operation logs of each mine, including the "resident ID" corresponding to each "biological battery" in the illusion world. This data must be backed up because it involves the distribution of husbands, wives, and children in the illusion world.

Once this data is wrong or lost, it will cause chaos in the world of illusion.

For example, a couple gives birth to a child, and later accidentally discovers that the father of the child is actually someone else.

Or in the setting of "couple", due to an operation error, the wife entered the wrong room, recognized the wrong husband, and slept in the wrong bed.

The residents in the illusion world only think that it is the loss of morals or the distortion of human nature, but in fact it is the fault of the managers, and fate has played a role in people.

Familiarly, she found the passage leading to the black box from the scorched earth. Under the bombardment of the sparks, the entrance of the passage seemed to be mushy with high temperature. At this moment, Alice was full of energy and directly used the "Thermal Knife" to cut out a passage leading to the dark box. Small paths, drill into passages.

There was no light in the dark passage. Neil found the "black box", linked it, and copied all the data in the black box.

The data recorded in the black box is updated every hundred years, corresponding to a large cycle of the biological battery.

After leaving the Morning Star Mine, Neil embarked on a journey to find other "black boxes" without hesitation.

The environment, which is very harsh for human beings, with violent snowstorms, severe radiation cold, and air pollution, is just playing house for Neil. Apart from being too quiet, which made Neil feel a little lonely, there were no other crises during this long journey.

During this time, Neil also thought about whether there was a way to "defeat" Nemesis hidden in these black boxes.

But after thinking about it for ten days, Neil gave up in frustration.

Because she knew very well that the black box only contained records of the operation of the "mine" and could not contain the method of defeating Nemesis.

I don’t know what my brother wants the data for.

In a blizzard.

A human-shaped ice sculpture cracked.

Neil walked out of the ice sculpture and calmly brushed the snow off his body.

"Who makes my brother like it?"

"If he wants it, give it to him."

On the deserted snow.

Debris everywhere.

Empty.

A lonely omnic, with a long trail extending from behind into the darkness.

…

About a month later.

Neil returns.

Fortunately, the surface was plowed by "Spark", and the simple terrain made Neil's journey smooth sailing.

After 42 days of jetting and speeding, she finally visited all the mines and copied all the information in the black boxes.

This huge amount of information filled her to the brim, and there was no room for anything else.

The impact of "formatting" was so complete that Neil could be sure that the only real living humans on this planet were the thirty-six people in the main base of Ark No. 11.

They are the last surviving humans in this world.

Buzz buzz——

There are still dozens of kilometers away from the entrance to the main base of Ark No. 11.

The sound of the reconnaissance omnimachine wings vibrating came from the sky.

Neil just raised his hand, ejected the gun barrel, turned on radar scanning, searched for enemy aircraft, and prepared to shoot down the reconnaissance aircraft.

At this time, her brother's teachings rang in her mind.

Do as you should, this is the way to be a human being.

"The way to be a human being."

Neil made a quick decision, lowered his arms, hid in the shadows, and turned on the anti-detection device.

Beep beep beep.

Pieces of red light were cast in the sky, and they seemed to be searching for something.

One after another, the "egg"-shaped capsules broke through the atmosphere and broke into this dead planet. In mid-air, the space capsule disintegrated and broke into countless reconnaissance aircraft, scattering in all directions.

"It's "Reconnaissance Mother H-008". "

Neil analyzed the functions and functions of those "egg-shaped" cabins. Their main role is to transport batches of "reconnaissance aircraft". After completing their purpose, they will disintegrate on their own and give birth to small aircraft like their descendants.

In just one hour, "reconnaissance matrix" like meteors arrived here.

Neil secretly thought that fortunately, he had been trained by his younger brother and knew how to deal with these situations calmly.

Due to the interference of the reconnaissance aircraft, Neil took three times longer than planned to return to the Ark main base.

The pipeline leading to the Ark's main base is a passage converted from an "abandoned subway" in the previous generation, and is guarded.

Neil's appearance shocked them, but there were only thirty-six people alive in the Ark. Everyone had seen Neil. After Neil reported his identity, Neil returned to the Ark smoothly.

Unexpectedly, the separation lasted for half a year. When I returned to Ark, the entire base was filled with a depressing atmosphere.

The news of Neil's return seemed a bit uneventful, and only Bella came to greet him.

Bella's thin and delicate body was wrapped in a cloak made of rags. Her whole body looked dirty, with a face covered in dirt and a look of melancholy in her brows.

"You're sad, Bella."

Beep beep beep.

Neil can interpret human expressions and hormone levels. "Human emotions" have no secrets in front of Neil.

"It's been half a year and we haven't been able to find any more food. Grandpa fell ill."

Regarding an omnimachine, Neil actually expressed his true feelings: "Grandpa, he might not be able to survive it."

"Is he going to die?"

Neil stepped forward, a cold humanoid skeleton, lowered his head and stroked Bella's short hair: "My condolences."

Bella sighed softly: "I don't know why, it's you who comes to comfort me at this time, but it makes me feel even sadder."

"Why?"

Neil asked, tilting his head.

"You do not understand."

Bella's lips moved, and after she said something, she forced out a forced smile: "Has your mission been completed?"

Neil nodded: "It's done."

Bella's eyes lit up: "Can we humans be saved?"

"I don't know." Honest Omnic told the truth: "On the way back, Neil discovered that the 'Reconnaissance Mother H-008' entered Area 11 again. According to speculation, there is a 45.1% probability that they are preparing for the final cleaning work. , there is a 50.3% probability of preparing for reconstruction work, and a 4.6% probability... unknown." Neil expressed her thoughts: "Their systems are all equipped with 'thermal energy induction', they are more like looking for survivors... Looking for you."

"Oops!"

When Bella heard this, her face turned pale suddenly, and she quickly dragged Neil to the elder's room.

In the dim room, the elder was lying on the bed, breathing smoothly, with a square towel placed on his forehead.

"Body temperature: 39.2℃, heart rate: 123 beats/min. He has a fever..." Neil's eyes lit up: "It's pneumonia, he needs 'antibiotics'."

"Um."

Even if Neil didn't say anything, Bella understood the elder's current situation, but Neil's analysis was more data-based. After omnics took control of the universe, "antibiotics" became a luxury more precious than energy. "Biobatteries" spent their entire lives growing old, sick, and dying in the life-support cabin, eating, drinking, and drinking. Under systematic monitoring, they rarely got sick. Once they got sick, they rarely got sick. They won't treat them and just throw them into the waste disposal station for "disposal". Antibiotics are "treasures" that only humans can use and cannot be obtained in this world.

The elder was already old and frail, and after the arrival of the Spark, the earth turned into a scorched earth, and there was a lack of food and fresh water. Multiple blows caused the old man to collapse.

On the hospital bed, the elder opened his eyes slightly, curled his dry lips to both sides, and said with a relaxed smile: "Neil, I hope to hear good news."

Neil nodded: "I have completed the mission of 'L' and am ready to log in to Phantom Light to join 'L'."

The elder smiled even more.

"grandfather!"

There were no outsiders, so Bella called the elder "Grandpa" directly. She lay in front of the bed and told the elder what Neil had seen on the way.

After the elder heard the news of the landing of the "Reconnaissance Matrix", his pale face did not show too much surprise. He struggled to get up, coughed violently, and waved his hand: "Bella, hurry up, let Neil log in to the Phantom Light. .”

"But……"

"Go ahead, it doesn't matter to me."

The elder smiled weakly.

…

At this time.

There was a quarrel outside the house.

Vaguely, several young people were arguing about the "corpse".

"The corpse of our companion must be cremated. This is the elder's order!"

A woman shouted loudly.

"Elder? That old immortal is about to starve to death! He still adheres to these ancient dogmas!" A man sneered, but there was undisguised anger and contempt in his words: "We are the last survivors, we are the only ones. Only by living can you leave a fire for mankind! Now that the food is gone, what's the use of just guarding these broken dogmas? He wanted all of us to be buried with him before he died! The old immortal has long been It’s time to die!”

Another angry man gritted his teeth and echoed: "Tang, don't talk nonsense with these rotten guys! I've been hungry for more than half a month! I've eaten dried bark, drank all the expired nutrient solution, and even Even the ashes of burned 'historical texts' were mixed with water and drank! The ancestors said it well, people die like a lamp going out. They starved to death, that is life! If they are still alive, knowing their corpses can make us alive If you go down, you will wake up with a smile even if you die!"

Listening to the quarrel outside the door.

Bella clenched her teeth, blood pooling between her teeth. She suddenly put the rifle standing in the corner on her back, couldn't help it anymore, and prepared to rush out.

"Wait, Bella...cough cough cough!"

The elder stopped Bella on the bed.

"grandfather?"

"Help me out."

"But grandpa..."

"Don't worry," the elder hid the blood-stained towel behind his back, and in a calm and reassuring tone, seemed to be stating an ironclad fact: "They won't do anything to me."

Bella helped the elder step out of the residence.

Bella carried a heavy assembled rifle on her thin shoulders.

"The elder is here."

"The elder has recovered?"

"Hush! It's the elder..."

"The elder actually woke up!"

In the base square, a group of people gathered around, and two groups of people stood in two groups.

Like water and fire, when viewed from a high place, they are clearly distinct.

A tall and thin middle-aged woman held a rifle in her hand, but she did not dare to point the gun at her "companion" and pressed to the ground, her face flushed red in the quarrel.

Behind the middle-aged woman is a house in the main base of Ark No. 11, with no windows on all sides. In the past, after their companions died, they would hold a simple "mourning meeting" here to express their longing and sadness for their companions.

Neil watched quietly, standing in the distance, like a model, motionless.

It is not difficult to guess the cause of the matter. In the more than a month since Neil traveled, the main base of Ark No. 11 has been short of food, and even the basic food and clothing for a mere thirty-six people cannot be satisfied. Hungry, sick, sick, dead.

One month later, among the thirty-six survivors, three more elderly people died of hunger and disease.

The first two old men are old friends of the elder.

According to the custom, the elders sent them off with "cremation".

The third deceased, who died two days ago, was named Moxi, a fifty-six-year-old lame old man.

Starved to death.

His body was temporarily placed in the "mourning hall".

A group of thornheads headed by Tang En were so hungry that they couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to move the corpse.

With Bella's support, the elder came to the middle of the crowd.

"Old man, I can understand your thoughts."

"Leaves, after withering, will fall next to the roots of the big tree, nourish the soil of the big tree, and become 'nutrients'. In this form, they will become 'eternal'."

Tang En and the others' faces lit up, and they seemed to be in good spirits after hearing this.

"Gu Gu Gu——"

In the quiet square, there was the sound of intestinal peristalsis, like drums and bells.

"But..."

The elder smiled, and under Bella's astonished gaze, he broke away from Bella's hand and sat tremblingly in front of the mourning hall alone.

"Leaves are leaves, trees are trees."

"Even if it means starving to death, being beaten to death by omnics, or freezing to death."

"We are human beings."

"Born to be human,"

"When we die, the least we can do is die as one person."

The elder was sitting on the steps in front of the door, leaning on his crutches with both hands, as if he would fall if he didn't.

"If you are really hungry and can't stand it anymore, then just eat the old man."

…

The quarrel in the square looked like a farce to Neil.

She is an omnic.

She couldn't understand, let alone sympathize.

She actually agreed with Tang En's statement.

When humans die, they are broken down into the purest form of biomass.

In factories, biobatteries are also manufactured in this way.

Therefore, she could not understand what the elder said.

"Is this human?"

Neil thought about it. Although she didn't understand it, she still faithfully prepared to complete the task assigned by her brother, and came to the previous room alone.

The illegal port was still in place, and Neil connected the line skillfully and lay down in the cabin.