The sun is high

Right now, the scene in the hall is really weird.

In this bright and empty hall, wrapped in the dry corpses with different postures, Xiuge dragged a special "tablet" with his hand and quietly watched the images from distant time and space.

When the kind language and the slightly familiar northern accent reached Xiuge's ears, the last remaining lucky guess in his heart was completely wiped out.

Xiuge knew that the figures in the image, or the dead people surrounding him now, were all closely related to him.

And the man who left the video image is enough to be called his "comatriot".

So, while the man was chattering, Xiuge sighed. He moved slightly and leaned his body against the cold metal operating table next to him. Then he held the tablet in front of him and began to seriously Watch what's inside.

The man in charge of the video talked a lot and always had a smile on his face, but Xiuge could clearly feel his embarrassment and uneasiness. However, so far, Xiuge didn't quite understand the specific source of the other person's embarrassment.

Is it because he doesn't like to act in front of the camera? Or is it for some other reason?

"Okay, okay... the interpretation system is already working normally. I hope it can indeed cope with most language systems. It's funny to say that when this system was first established, it was for normal chatting with aliens. I didn’t expect it to be used here now.”

The man checked the condition of the device in his hand. After telling a joke that was not very funny, he adjusted his facial expression and said seriously: "Okay, let's not talk about that. I'll just assume that everything is working normally." ”

"I am a senior official within the United Defense and Resistance Organization, and I am also the second-in-charge and chief engineer of this stronghold, or this base...According to the culture of my hometown, you can call me 'King' Engineer."

"The main reason why this video was recorded is that... the home that is used to carry our lives and civilization has now reached its worst situation. All evidence shows that we are most likely the only ones left in this world. The last batch of survivors, then according to the original plan, we need to do everything possible to implement the final plan."

Having said this, the man breathed a sigh of relief. He turned the device in his hand and took pictures in the direction of the gate and fortifications: "Now, more than two months have passed since the facility was completely locked, but that kind of The strange stasis phenomenon has begun to affect this place. Although the spatial rules here are still stable under the influence of energy, the time scale we are accustomed to has begun to fail little by little."

"So, we have just made this situation fully public and launched the final vote... Haha, well, actually voting is meaningless, it is just a formality. After all, everyone who enters here has already thought it through. ”

The camera turned back. At this time, Engineer Wang had entered the state. His expression became calm and his voice no longer trembled. He was like a tour guide, using equipment to take pictures of the surrounding situation while explaining: "The place you see now is the only one among the nearly a thousand large bases we have established that does not use a code name...it has its own name."

"It's called the 'Continuation Base' or also the 'Place of Continuation'. Well, the religious connotation may be a little stronger. I don't like it anyway, but 'continuation' is indeed its ultimate mission."

Xiuge noticed that in the video, many people at work noticed the chief engineer's shooting. Facing the camera, these workers from different ethnic groups and countries smiled and took the initiative to face the camera. The camera waved.

They were obviously not very happy, and even a little anxious and nervous, but no one wanted to give up this opportunity.

A precious opportunity to announce one's existence to future generations.

"Since you are able to come here, I think your understanding of the outside world should be very profound, so I will introduce it to you from the source...why our world has reached this point."

For Engineer Wang himself, this is definitely not an easy topic, but he has obviously already accepted the reality.

After clearing his throat, Engineer Wang slowly said: "The Continuation Base is twenty years older than me. One hundred and sixty-nine years ago when it was officially established, a... subtle incident broke out in our world. And an interesting war, it was completely different from our past two wars. At that time, the war swept the entire world in a relatively mild and slow manner... In that conflict that lasted for more than ten years, a Strange minerals that we had never heard of before were accidentally discovered.”

As Engineer Wang explained, he took the equipment to a huge equipment next to him. Through the transparent window on the equipment, Xiuge saw the magic crystal mines that he was very familiar with. Judging from the color and light of these ores, The concentration of magic power in these crystallized minerals is extremely astonishing. Even the most expensive and rarest type of crystallized minerals in Van En cannot compete with them.

What surprised Xiuge even more was the strange lines that constantly appeared and disappeared in these crystal mines.

Shuge had seen these lines before.

In the large crack that swallowed up the entire rugged hilly land, similar "ores" appeared, but they appeared from the soldiers and mages who had transformed into human-shaped crystals. According to Wei Lin, these lines In fact, they are a manifestation of consciousness and thought. To a certain extent, they can actually be regarded as "words".

"I think I don't need to introduce them to you too much about their characteristics? Maybe you know them better than we do?"

After showing the ore in the base, Engineer Wang continued to move forward as he continued: "In short, it has once again triggered a 'revolution' in our world, the kind that is between the intangible and the tangible. The miraculous power has completely and completely subverted our understanding of the world, and of course, it has also catalyzed new developments."

"However, rapid progress on the material level is always inseparable from the development of the spiritual and conscious levels... Ah, I'm sorry, I don't know if you understand what I'm talking about. The general situation is that new technologies and energy catalyze the creation of A brand-new production method, and this rapid change has caused terrible damage to the inherent structure of the entire world, and the post-war golden development period that everyone originally thought has not really arrived."

"New contradictions, conflicts, coups, wars and even massacres... Even my own hometown, which has always been known for its stability, has inevitably been impacted and affected."

"But these are just the beginning of a new disaster."

Engineer Wang raised his finger and pointed at the soldiers on duty and the large war machines that were helping to carry, load and unload various materials and equipment, and said: "These weapons you see were indeed used in the internal struggles of our world at the beginning. , However, with a large-scale mining, the enemy that we really need to face finally emerged."

"No one can imagine that these special ores are not natural 'gifts' at all, but a cage used to bind and isolate destruction."

He stomped his feet heavily: "I guess you must have seen them on the way here. Those weird shadow-like monsters coexist with these ores and have been isolated by them. However, we But he dug a hole in the vein by himself... Haha, that hole is quite big!"

At this point, Engineer Wang's expression became a little distorted, his voice became a little weird, and Shuge's extremely friendly curse words also appeared in his sentences: "X damn, it's like blowing up the cesspool of a bitch. , and it spurted out from below with a pop! X!”

Going forward, even if Engineer Wang doesn't need to introduce it, Xiuge can basically make a guess.

In the video, Engineer Wang finished describing the desperate situation. After briefly stating the establishment and goals of the "United Defense and Resistance Organization", he raised the device so that the visitor who did not know when he would arrive could see it. Look towards the dome of the hall and towards the grand passage reserved for the light beam.

Xiuge instinctively raised his head, but at this time, all he saw was the dazzling color like sunlight.

"Eighty years after the start of the United Defense Operation, the spread of shadows has become unstoppable. They have successfully occupied most areas of our world... After devouring and assimilating enough victims, they even evolved internally. There is a terrible trend of thought.”

"Yes, thoughts... countless contact records show that they have regarded the behavior of devouring and assimilating as the evolutionary process of the entire world. They not only hope to bring all living things under the same power and will, but even desire to assimilate the entire world. The world, let it also become a part of the shadow completely.”

"Finally, they became powerful enough. They truly became the masters of this world, and we became the only bright spots in the darkness."

"Six months ago, world communications were completely blocked."

"Four months ago, the X-289 base closest to us used backup means to briefly restore communications and sent us the final message - the Joint Defense and Resistance Headquarters had been swallowed up, and there were very few operational strongholds left. The containment operations were forced to terminate, and they asked the 'continuation base' to carry out the mission according to the original plan. Subsequently, the X-289 base issued a self-destruct signal and communications were interrupted."

“After that, we completely sealed off the base and started making final preparations…but the invasion still happened, and after sacrificing a considerable number of personnel, we shrank here and made final preparations with the only remaining manpower and resources. "

"Now, everything is ready."

In the video, Engineer Wang has already arrived in front of the huge metal base. During the entire process, he did not lower his voice, and the engineers and scholars who were immersed in inspecting the equipment were not affected at all.

Shuge saw a woman with flaxen hair busy organizing work. She seemed to be the person in charge of this important module, and other people nearby were constantly reporting to her.

"I would like to introduce to you that this lady is the leader of the 'Continuation Beacon', um... she is also my lover, don't get me wrong, she is not the number one person in charge here... that person has already sacrificed, and she was just before we evacuated On the way here.”

Engineer Wang chuckled twice: "My part has been verified. Next, as long as the final inspection of the 'beacon base' is completed, the plan can officially start."

"Continuation beacon?"

Xiuge silently repeated the word from the other party, as if he saw Xiuge's confusion. Engineer Wang explained: "This thing may be very troublesome to explain from a theoretical level, but well, you can start with it." understanding at the functional level.”

"The so-called continuation beacon, its ultimate purpose is to continue the civilization, traces and all populations of our entire world... In the entire plan, it is the last link and the least optimistic project in the past."

"However, those shadows, their methods of action have gone beyond the scope of our past cognition. For them, the rules of space have been completely broken. Distant long-distance interstellar voyages may have been an option, but with our Ability is not enough to completely escape their pursuit. The sailing fleet may also face the pursuit of those monsters..."

"So, after all options were confirmed to be in an unstable state, the 'continuation beacon' was activated."

"Although it is called a beacon, it is actually a very crude cannon."

"The extracted energy will become an invisible carrier, and what it needs to carry will be countless precious information and knowledge collected by us."

"From the tiniest fragments of life, to macroscopic records, and even the characteristics and combination laws of life itself are the contents... They are not even just messages, but objective entities that exist based on the invisible force. According to the past Judging from the experimental results, when these powers carrying specific messages hit a specific target, they can even fundamentally change the target's existence and form."

The engineer sighed: "The first people who proposed this idea hoped to use this method to reproduce our race and its matching knowledge and memories in another world, but in my opinion, this is simply not possible. possible."

"The journey they have to face is too long, and the unknowns in it are impossible to calculate. Even if it does reach the target, the fragments it carries are likely to be lost, confused or even randomly combined..."

"But it doesn't matter...after all, this universe itself is scary enough."

The man in the image gave a bitter smile: "It's really unimaginable that what destroyed us was actually a group of imprisoned prisoners... The entire planet is their prison, and we didn't know the 'dian' until the end. It’s really ironic what kind of existence the warden is.”