Sword of Daybreaker

How long should a person be psychologically prepared before he can choose to classify hundreds of millions of lives as a "cost" to pay for the survival of civilization?

Gao Wen thinks that this answer is probably "permanent"-no one can prepare for this kind of mentality, no one can treat this as a mathematical problem with peace of mind, this is something that can never become "a matter of course", take refuge The scale of the urban agglomeration will destined that more than half of the world’s population will be blocked from the barriers and face the impact of the magic wave, and those survivors who come out of the refuge will spend at least a generation of time to slowly understand and Keep this price in mind.

But if there is no other choice, this bad option will still be an executable plan, whether it is himself, or Rosetta Augustus, or Belcetia and the two dragon leaders, all here Everyone knows a truth-most of the difficult choices in this world are not made in a "reasonable" situation.

You can be unwilling, but you can’t choose not. As Veronica once told Gawain, the appearance of every victim means the incompetence of the decision maker—but the decision maker will continue to make decisions, the victim It will always accompany the progress of civilization development.

It was in this situation that Typhon people gave their solution, and Gawain believed that Rosetta Augustus was fully aware of the meaning of this solution.

But this should not be the only solution.

"The Refuge Metropolitan Group plan bypassed the engineering problems of the planetary barrier, but the price is that the scale of its protection is limited, and there will be amazing sacrifices," Gawain tapped on the table lightly, "And I have a question about this... we We all know that the basis for generating non-directional thoughts is neural networks. We need a large number of'computing nodes' to be densely integrated into the network, and these computing nodes are all people...Where do you plan to arrange such a large number of'nodes'? Focus on building dedicated'node refuges', and use several cities to assume the function of'source', or distribute these computing nodes in various refuge cities?"

Speaking of this, he paused and began to explain his question: "If you focus on building a'node refuge', you can maximize the efficiency of the network and maintain a sufficiently strong mental unity field with as few nodes as possible. Correspondingly, we have to consider the safety and daily operation of the "node refuge". Since most people in the entire city need to access the network to maintain a unified field of mind, we have to leave dedicated and absolutely reliable personnel in the real space. Maintain the survival of these networked nodes while protecting the safety of the entire city.

"Considering the high concentration of computing nodes, in this case, once one or two node refuges have problems, the'strength' of the mental unity field may be greatly reduced, or even be penetrated by the demonic wave.

"And if the computing nodes are distributed to various cities, it can effectively reduce the risk of barrier breakdown caused by a large number of nodes being offline at the same time. In the case of equal computing power, even if a few shelters have problems or are in the wilderness Part of the line interruption will not affect the refuge groups around the world, and because of the abundance of nodes and high security, people who serve as computing nodes can also take turns to rest, but the shortcomings of this are also obvious-distributed in each The city’s computing center will incur a higher cost than the “node refuge”. At the same time, because each city has a complete set of node facilities, this reduces the “capacity” of each shelter in a disguised form, which will make more people lose their lives. Chance."

"We did consider these two different situations," Windsor Mapel gave Gawain a little unexpectedly. It seemed that he did not expect that the other party would be able to fully understand the structure of the refuge metropolitan group in such a short period of time. , And directly considered its two implementation options, and also considered it so in-depth, but she quickly adjusted her expression and answered with a very serious attitude, "At present, we prefer the second option, which is to put The computing nodes are allocated in each refuge city, and a complete set of supporting systems is built in each city.

"We know that this will reduce the'capacity' of a single shelter, but this is to ensure the safety of all shelters around the world to the maximum. Because once the demonic wave starts, each shelter will be closed, except for the communication based on neural networks. In addition, there will be no circulation of people and materials between cities...No one can go through the unobstructed wilderness to repair the failed node refuge, so the only way is to avoid the node refuge."

Windsor Mapel’s voice fell, and the figures at the round table were thinking about it at the same time. This is such a cold and realistic plan that even the leaders of the world’s most powerful country Every distraction needs to be exhausted to carefully weigh all the details in the plan and deduct all the possible variables in its realization.

As the caller and organizer of this meeting, Gao Wen looked at everyone on the scene with his eyes after thinking. He noticed that Bersetia and Verania were talking in low voices in a hurry. After a few minutes of communication, the Silver Queen suddenly raised her head to break the silence: "Let me talk about our plan."

The queen stood up, put her hands on the edge of the round table, and slowly spoke: "The Silver Empire plan also bypassed the unattainable goal of the'planetary barrier'. Similar to Typhon, we also tend to build The difference is that our plan should be able to save more people...and hopefully even everyone in the world.”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of everyone at the round table changed in an instant. Gao Wen thought of something vaguely, and subconsciously said: "What do you mean..."

"The Gondor Wasteland," the Silver Queen nodded, "We plan to repair and rebuild the sentry tower that was damaged in the previous war, restart the magnificent wall, and build the entire Gondor Wasteland into a refuge!"

As soon as this statement came out, there was silence around the round table. Even people like Rosetta August who always had a poker face opened his eyes slightly, and Bersetia clicked after a moment's pause. Nodding, began to explain this amazing idea in detail:

"The Sentinel Tower itself is a powerful force field projection device with a high-speed information transmission function. At present, a part of the communication link between the Silver Empire and the Cecil Empire relies on the remaining sentinels. The tower is used to complete the forwarding. We have realized the compatibility adjustment between the neural network and the sentinel link, so only a small amount of modification is needed, and the sentinel tower can be converted into a transmission node of the neural network and a projection node of the unified field of mind—and Their power will be enough to shelter the entire Gondor region."

"Wait, I have a question," Rebecca raised her hand as soon as the Queen Silver finished her voice. "The magnificent wall is a circular barrier, even if it can'enclose' the entire periphery of the Gondor area." Get up, what about the sky and underground parts?"

"This part depends on the'blocking wall' to complete," Bersetia nodded, apparently Rebecca's problem has been discussed on the Silver Empire side, "the two built in the previous wasteland war The barrier wall where the Tao runs through Gondor is still standing on the ground. Although the mana pollution in the waste soil has disappeared, the barrier wall itself has not been abandoned, and only a little modification is needed. The purification that constitutes the barrier wall The tower can then be used to guide and transform the energy field projected by the sentry tower.

"Everyone here has just experienced the wasteland war. We all know that the principle of the blocking wall is to interfere with the magical environment of the entire wasteland area through'frequency modulation'. Its core part itself is a kind of wide-area Force field projection and control device, and according to Master Verania’s calculations, if the operation of all sentry towers can be restored, coupled with the blocking wall, we will be enough to prop up a barrier covering the whole of Gondor-a barrier The coverage area includes the sky and the earth.

"In this way, only from the ‘scale’ of the sanctuary, the Gondor Sanctuary will be enough to accommodate the world’s population... at least the living space and the storage space for basic living materials are sufficient."

The Silver Elf came up with an amazing but attractive plan. Frankly speaking, even Gao Wen had to admit that this plan was completely beyond his expectation, and it sounded extremely feasible.

Restart the ancient magnificent wall, link the ancient barrier with the modern blocking wall, and finally turn the entire wasteland into a refuge for mortals. The ancient Gondor kingdom that was once destroyed in the "magic tide" will become a sanctuary. , The death and despair of the past turned into hope for the survival of civilization. This is not only a plan of refuge, but also a very romantic and dramatic plan.

Gao Wen even felt that if the Demon Tide had the will, he might have to admire the plan after seeing this plan-will you leave this to change home?

But he was not dizzy by this romantic and dramatic plan. He was more concerned about the shortcomings and risks behind this plan than sighed: "Have you considered the shortcomings of this plan?"

"Yes," the answer to him was the great astrology teacher Verania sitting next to the Silver Queen. The lady who had personally presided over the construction of the Sentinel Tower stood up and calmly met Gao Wen's gaze."' Although the scale of Gondor Refuge is much larger than that of the Refuge Metropolitan Group in Typhon’s plan, its ability to resist risks is lower.

"In our plan, the entire refuge is maintained by a large and complex sentry tower-blocking wall system. Considering the actual limitations of technology and production capacity, and the urgency of the magic wave, it is almost impossible for us to build it. With more sentinel towers or blocking wall nodes to serve as'redundant components', it is already the limit to complete the'refuge transformation' of the Gondor Wasteland in one and a half years.

"Therefore, after the start of the Gondor Refuge, the entire system is equivalent to operating at a critical point. Every sentry tower and every blocking wall node is extremely critical and cannot afford to lose... Maybe the blocking wall is okay. One point, we should still be able to squeeze out some capacity to build backup components, but the Sentinel Tower is definitely not redundant..."

"In other words, during the six months to one year that the Demon Tide lasts, there can be no problems with the sentry tower supporting the barrier," Rosetta said in a low voice, "Even if one of the towers is down, the refuge will be forever..."

"It's true," Verania nodded slightly. "Compared with the refuge metropolis, the disaster tolerance of the Gondor refuge scheme is almost zero, and its advantages and disadvantages are obvious-our scheme can protect as much as possible. Many people, but the price is multiplied risk."

"This solution is indeed very risky," Gawain said at this time, "and I think the biggest risk comes from the sentry towers... I'll be more blunt. We all know the situation of the sentry towers. It’s the euphemism to describe it as being in disrepair, and in previous wars, several sentry towers were completely destroyed under the attack of the Wasteland Legion. With the current capabilities of the Silver Empire, these can really be rebuilt. Are there high towers? Are there those remaining high towers that need to be'repaired', and can they be restored to their original state of prosperity after the repairs?"

Gawain’s words were straightforward, but Verania did not show any dissatisfaction with this. She just spoke calmly: "It must be admitted that the silver elves have no ability to restore the sentinel tower to its heyday, and'rebuild' the destroyed ones. The tower is actually a major repair of the wreck, coupled with some modern alternative technologies to restore it to operation, these repair and reconstruction methods are not reliable, but considering that the duration of the magic wave itself is not long, these unreliable repairs Patching becomes'reliable'."

At this point, Velania’s meaning is actually quite clear-the silver elves have lost the complete technology of building the sentry tower, but relying on the repair experience and the modern magic technology that has just been developed, they can make those in the war The damaged towers are temporarily restored to operation. In theory, they can guarantee that those towers will not have problems for half a year to a year when the magic wave lasts.

But if something goes wrong in this year or a half... then it can only be global GG.

In Gawain's view, the problem with this plan is actually more than that.

"The bigger challenge we have to face is the wasteland itself," Gao Wen said slowly after a moment of thinking. It will be a huge challenge.

"Although the chaotic magic power in the Gondor Wasteland has faded, the wasteland is far from being restored to a habitable state. At present, except for the marginal area and the purification zone affected by the giant Thorin tree, most of the ancient Gondor country The environment in the area is still poor. The slightly better places are wastelands, and there are still toxic water bodies and soil pollution in the places where it is almost. In order to ensure the survival of ordinary people... and it is only barely maintained.

"In general, the Gondor Wasteland is still a piece of'wasteland', and its natural environment restoration has just begun, let alone discussing infrastructure. There are no towns, no fields, and most areas have no communications and roads. There are primitive wastelands where order cannot be maintained everywhere. After countries migrate in, they will face huge chaos..."

Gawain shook his head when he said this, his tone was not optimistic: "Hundreds of millions of people have been squeezed into a primitive and barren zone. To be honest, even the Cecil Empire may not be able to maintain normal under this situation. Not to mention the small and medium-sized countries that had problems with their execution and mobilization capabilities.

"We will not underestimate the tenacious will of mortals when facing a crisis, but we also cannot overestimate the ability of the'group' to maintain rationality and order in a complex environment, especially when everyone has to be crowded in a wilderness. Survival resources must be carefully calculated, and the state institutions that maintain social order are almost in a state of failure..."