This Game is Too Real

  Chapter 702 "The Animal World" and "The Bible"

  Golden Gallon Port.

  A heavy rain washed away the dust on the street, and a little bit of mist rose from the dark red square bricks, making the port that had not yet been fully illuminated by the sun become hazy in the fog.

  On the cargo ship by the pier, the sailors were cleaning the deck, and the merchant in silk robes was checking with the port affairs officer about the goods that needed to be handed over to the warehouse.

  After a short period of order vacuum, the order of this port has been restored, at least the order of the port area has basically been restored.

  Institutions including security bureaus, fire stations, port authorities, clinics, courts, etc. are all resuming their work under the coercive means of the "iron men".

  After all, there is a job and a salary that can be done, and it is much more comfortable than squatting in a warehouse without even a bed.

  The "Dolphin" nuclear-powered submarine docked at the pier again. This time it not only brought supplies from the French Fry Port, but also brought researchers from the scientific expedition team.

Players of the Burning Legion seized a large number of relics from the Prosperous Era in the Governor's Mansion before and needed to evaluate them. The Scientific Expedition Corps is the only unit that is interested in these "holy relics" and can legally purchase them from players. .

   Sometimes Fang Chang can't help thinking maliciously, whether these guys will deliberately lower the price by relying on their "franchise rights".

  But even if the price is lowered, he actually has nothing to do.

  These trophies are submitted as "mission props" and are not freely traded commodities.

   No matter how little the offer is, he can only accept it.

  However, the quotation given by this broad-minded lady researcher did not disappoint him, and it was even higher than he expected.

   "...a total of 9.17 million silver coins."

  Finally completed the photo registration of the last trophy, the researcher stretched out his index finger and tapped twice on the unfolded holographic screen to archive the collected data.

   "Hiss..."

   Fang Chang, who was standing aside, couldn't help but gasped for a breath of moist air when he heard it. The researcher happened to hear it, and cast him a questioning look.

"What's wrong?"

  Hiding the joy on his face, Fang Chang spoke nonsense in a serious manner.

   "Nothing...I mean, it's too little, we've worked so hard to get these things, can we have more?"

  The researcher teased.

   "We have a set of strict calculation formulas and audit procedures for unplanned recycling projects. No matter how much effort you put in, their added value will not be affected. I advise you to give up."

"OK."

   Fang Chang gave up decisively.

  This person's name is Han Mingyue, and it is a small popsicle recovered from the ruins of the great desert by the Thorn Corps stationed in the Kaifeng City area.

   The reason why it is called a little popsicle has nothing to do with her age, but that the time displayed on the dormant cabin is 81 years, which is less than a century.

  The background information about her is five pages long on the official website, and it is mainly edited by players active in the Pioneer City area.

  Fang Chang took a brief look, and the key information he extracted was about three lines—

  She used to be a resident of the abandoned Vault 288.

  Professional data restoration and file organization.

   Probably influenced by Rama, the leader of the Thorn Corps, she is currently mainly engaged in research in the direction of sociology in Borneo Province.

  Whether it is "Borneo Province" or "Sociology" itself, they are relatively unpopular fields in the scientific expedition team.

  But it is precisely because of this that, as one of the few talents in this field who can handle important tasks, Yin Fang still sent her here even though her qualifications are still relatively young.

  Returning his gaze to the trophies piled up half the warehouse in front of him, Han Mingyue stretched out his gloved right hand and picked up a silver-gray memory card from the shelf.

   That memory card is only the size of a thumb.

  Her eyes sparkled with interest.

   "... But to be honest, I didn't expect you to find this thing."

   Fang Chang stared at her fingertips. It looked like a memory card, which was put together with other game cards with colorful covers.

   "Is there anything special about this card?"

   "It's more than special!" Han Mingyue said happily, "Let's put it this way, the project I'm working on is just missing a piece of the puzzle...about the origin of thousands of races and gods."

  The origin of thousands of races and gods? !

  Fang Chang's eyes suddenly showed a strong interest, and he said immediately.

"Appreciate further details."

  Han Mingyue did not speak, but took out a holographic computer pen, connected it to the expansion interface, and inserted the old memory card into it.

  Looking at the light blue holographic light beam with anticipation, Fang Chang originally thought he would see something surprising, but he didn't expect that it was a strong yak that caught his eyes.

  The yak was running, its strong muscles agitated the breath of life, and there was billowing smoke and dust around it, but the ground under its feet could not be seen.

  At this time, the camera began to zoom out in front of it, gradually showing the herd of cattle behind it and the vast grassland as far as the eye can see.

  Then, the powerful, deep and convincing voice began to sound.

   "On the grasslands by the Everflowing River, the most deadly thing is not the claws of hyenas and the teeth of lions, but the running cattle. Even the most ferocious beasts have to retreat when they encounter them..."

   There is one thing to say, as a documentary, these short shots are quite shocking, and the narration is quite satisfactory.

  Especially considering that these images may have been displayed by immersive virtual reality equipment two hundred years ago, the actual expressiveness may be more shocking than the holographic projection of the third-person perspective.

But…

  What does this have to do with thousands of races and gods?

  Fang Chang was a little confused.

  Standing beside him, Han Mingyue stared straight at the flickering holographic light and shadow, as if staring at a cultural relic.

"The original image of "The Mystery of Nature: The Yak Chapter"...Although the data is still a bit lost, it is already the most complete memory card we can find so far. It's a good thing it can be saved so well! Please try your best in the future Look for more similar places."

"I will, if conditions permit..." Fang Chang couldn't help asking, being confused by the name of the documentary, "It's just that I don't quite understand... the 'Animal World' has something to do with thousands of races and gods. what relationship?"

  Han Mingyue narrowed her eyes slightly, and said with a smile

   "Cows running in the hot sun... don't you think this looks familiar?"

  Fang Chang froze for a moment, then blurted out.

   "...the sacred cow carrying the sun."

  Han Mingyue gave him a look of approval.

   "Your understanding is very high."

   What the hell? !

  Fang Chang was dumbfounded.

"But…"

   Seeing his hesitant expression, Han Mingyue could guess what he was thinking without asking, so she smiled and said.

   "You want to ask how the popular science documentary became the origin of thousands of races and gods?"

  Fang Chang nodded with a strange expression.

   "Maybe my imagination is not enough, I really can't fully imagine this process..."

   "This is actually not difficult to understand. You can understand things like 'holographic cassettes' by abstracting them into 'things that cannot be explained by knowledge and experience'."

  Looking at Fang Chang, who still had confusion written on her face, she paused for a moment, then continued.

"In ancient times, a forest fire or a flash of lightning was enough to make an ape-man with superior intelligence or luck enough to become a prophet or priest of the tribe. When people gradually mastered the ability to make fire, they lost their awe of the flame that burned everything. , Prophet, Priest, Fire Keeper, etc... These occupations endowed with sacred meaning have gradually stepped out of the center of the historical stage.”

   Fang Chang frowned slightly, thought for a moment and said.

   "You mean to say that some people have used these popular science images, such as the blue coat or something... They have packaged themselves as priests or prophets to confuse the survivors in this land."

   It's not surprising that he would think so, Han Mingyue said in a gentle tone.

   "This is a relatively utilitarian interpretation, and of course this possibility cannot be ruled out, but the existing evidence is more inclined to another diametrically opposite explanation."

   "...what an explanation."

   "This is not something that someone deliberately did, but a group formed unconsciously and spontaneously during the long-term social evolution process."

   Fang Chang was slightly taken aback.

   "Spontaneous formation?"

   "Exactly."

  Han Mingyue nodded slowly, looked at the holographic image played intermittently, and continued.

"A work of art can be completed by one person or several people, but the culture that is widely recognized by people is usually formed spontaneously in the process of social evolution. If you want to find out the origin of the "thousands of tribes and gods" in Borneo, you must From the survivors who first fled to this land."

  Fang Chang asked puzzledly.

   "Are there no native survivors in this land?"

  Han Mingyue froze for a moment and looked at him strangely.

   "Are you kidding me? In the Era of Prosperity, this is an ecological reserve...Except for a small number of tourism practitioners and scientific research personnel, how could there be such things as native survivors? Would you want to sleep with lions and bison?"

  Fang Chang: "...?"

  Looking at the ignorant Fang Chang, Han Mingyue sighed, turned off the "Animal World" that was being screened, and spoke slowly.

   "It seems that I have to start with you from the most basic part..."

  …

  The biggest difference between the era of prosperity and the old era is not only reflected in the generational difference in science and technology, but also in all aspects from the way of production and life to the concept of ideology and culture. All aspects have undergone earth-shaking changes that were unimaginable in the old era.

  Among them the most typical is the administrative division.

Thanks to the free migration of population, the extensive development of outer space, and the integration of nationalities around the world, people's feelings for the land are not as strong as in the old days. They identify with the identity of "human" more than their own blood, and even began to study It raised whether to give the honor of "being human" to AI with "social attributes".

  People living on this planet are fully prepared for the future, and there is only one FTL engine away from stepping into the starry sky with both feet.

  Under such a background, out of the pursuit of efficiency in the allocation of land resources, the People's Federation canceled the old administrative divisions in the early prosperity era and replaced them with large divisions that are more tailored to local conditions.

  For example, Luoxia Province is a product of this "enclosure movement".

  It used to be a vast desert, but it has been transformed into a farmland that can satisfy the stomachs and taste buds of most people in the world by seawater desalination devices and endless energy.

  The situation in Borneo Province is similar, except that its planning direction is completely opposite to that of Luoxia Province, which was once a no-man's land.

  In the old days before the People’s Federation was established, there used to be the largest slum in the world, and the gap between the rich and the poor was the largest in the world.

  If the Luoxia Province is an uncultivated wasteland, then the Borneo Province is a rotten land spoiled by the locals.

   It is precisely because of this that when the People's Federation was finally established after several twists and turns, and the four major industrial zones in the central part of the Central Continent and the space elevator project started, the region immediately set off a protracted and unprecedented "population migration" movement.

A large number of poor people left their poor homes in pursuit of a better life, took the maglev train wave after wave across the Zhobal Mountains, and went to the dream land in the middle of the mainland. Together with immigrants from other administrative divisions, they completed the Human Union A historical miracle—a super-large city group built around a space elevator.

  In contrast, Borneo Province, which is empty of people, has ushered in a round of "de-urbanization" movement under the influence of the population siphon effect.

  In fact, a similar situation does not only happen in Borneo Province, but the performance here is even more surprising in terms of macro data because of many historical problems.

According to available data, by the middle of the Prosperous Era, the population of the entire Borneo province was only 0.3% of that at the end of the old era, and formed with the eastern and western provinces that still retain a large number of "urban agglomerations that can produce positive economic effects". There is a stark contrast.

Considering that instead of paying high operation and maintenance costs for local public facilities with extremely low utilization rate and letting local people live in "valuable dilapidated houses", it is better to give them a sum of money and a bus ticket and let them move to the central city Group enjoying life.

The People's Federation authorities simply set Borneo Province as an "ecological reserve", and under the banner of "We want to build not only a paradise for humans, but also a paradise for animals", under the intervention of administrative forces, they took the initiative to put an end to this unprecedented scale. Fast-forward to the end of the deurbanization movement.

As of the middle and late stages of the Prosperity Era, the de-urbanization movement in Borneo Province has ended ahead of schedule under the active intervention of the People's Federation. There are less than 50,000 people left on the 3 million square kilometers of land, and most of them are tourism practitioners and researchers.

After demolishing most of the old urban buildings and shacks, the People’s Federation returned this Fengshui treasure land spanning the three temperature zones of the tropics, subtropics, and north temperate zone to nature, leaving only a few cultural sites, sightseeing areas, and self-driving tour routes. and research facilities.

  The magnetic levitation track once built for the population migration movement has also been dismantled one after another with the completion of the population migration goal, leaving only a small number of underground lines that do not hinder the migration of wild animals.

  It's like a big safari park here.

   It was demolished long before entering the wasteland era...

  After briefly summarizing what happened on this land during the Prosperous Era, Han Mingyue paused for a moment and continued.

"...I don't need to talk about what happened later. The three-year war broke out, the space elevator collapsed, and the good life was shattered. The super city group located in the middle of the Central Continent became a situation that even the post-war reconstruction committee could do nothing about. living hell."

"A large number of survivors flocked from the four major industrial areas to the surrounding administrative divisions, such as Luoxia Province, such as Borneo Province... Due to the status of the 'ecological reserve' area of ​​Borneo Province, this land became the only survivor of that war Or, even if a brood fell from the Luoxia province, there is not a single one in this land of three million square kilometers."

  Fang Chang looked at her in surprise,

   "Not one?!"

   "Yes," Han Mingyue nodded, "Obviously the residents of the colony don't think it is necessary to take special care of this zoo, not to mention that there is no concrete building as a petri dish, and it is actually not suitable for slime mold to multiply quickly."

   Paused, she continued.

  "Due to the absence of special care from the brood and the relatively comfortable climate, many survivors chose this place as the first choice for escaping...According to my research calculations, at least nearly 100 million people managed to escape here at that time."

"Obviously, this de-urbanized land cannot support so many people. Food, medicine, energy, housing, and even security have become scarce. In order to compete for the chance of survival, people began to emulate the people on this land. Beasts, in their hunger, leave the modesty of civilized man behind."

"At first it was just poaching, and later it was robbery and even cannibalism... I may be euphemistic, but according to the information I collected in the desert, this place may be more important than the eastern provinces and western provinces under the care of the War Construction Committee." Enter the wasteland of complete disorder."

  Can imagine the scene of the end of the world, Fang Chang swallowed unconsciously.

   "What about the local garrison?"

  Han Mingyue said concisely.

"The army of the People's Federation was established in a very short period of time. There are places where firefighting is needed everywhere, and it is necessary to maintain a front five light years away. It is conceivable how many people can be assigned to this 'zoo'...According to According to my research, the People’s Federation has some troops entering the area, but the order that can be maintained is only limited to a few mild climate areas on the east and west coasts of Borneo Province.”

"Besides, due to the loss of organization and supplies, their own survival has become a problem. You can't expect those people to always hold the balance of order. They are on the balance themselves. It would be good if they could crush it a little slower. gone."

   Paused, she continued.

"What the army did at that time is not the focus of my subject research. Going back to what I just said, the 3 million square kilometers of land may have entered the wasteland earlier, and completed the transition from a disorderly society to an organized society earlier. The evolution of an orderly society, and large and small settlements were born in the process. These settlements are distributed along the banks of the Yongliu River in the form of tribes, and gradually expand outward..."

"Due to the barriers of the Zhobal Mountains and the Borneo Sea, the mutants and most of the mutants failed to migrate to this area, and the aquatic mutants also stopped east of the Baiyue Strait. The pressure on the local survivors is mainly some wild animals. Animals and a small amount of alien species."

"Although civilization has undergone systematic retrogression, there are still a lot of old-age experience and technology left here. This group of survivors with low literacy but rich survival skills expanded their territories faster than primitive people Many, they soon formed feudal kingdoms, large and small, just like the survivors of Luoxia province."

   "And in the process, they not only expanded their population rapidly, but also found something to place their souls..."

   Saying that, Han Mingyue took off the memory card from the computer pen and waved it in front of Fang Chang's eyes.

"Belief."

"Whether the worship is an abstract **** or a dogma, in the classical period before the Enlightenment, it was almost the only tool to unite the ignorant majority, and it could temporarily give up the question of 'who am I' and 'where do I come from? ’, ‘Where are we going?’ These three things, restrain the primitive instinct, and keep a huge system running like a gear.”

  Fang Chang's Adam's apple moved.

  Although it was something he had expected, he still felt a little shocked when he heard the professionals unravel it.

   "So the Thousand Races and Thousand Gods is a lie?"

  Han Mingyue said in a relaxed tone.

"It's not a lie, it's more like an accident... There are a lot of holographic projection equipment left here, mainly to introduce tourists to the wild animals in Borneo Province. With the help of energy storage equipment, they are likely to be in the wasteland era. Ten years has been running for a long time, and it is understandable to be regarded as a miracle by the second and third generation survivors who opened their eyes on the wasteland. After all, the only parents who can explain it to them over and over again average life expectancy to thirty."

   "You may wish to try to bring into the situation of the survivors at that time. You are a survivor who has lived in a world of ice and snow since the day you were born. You are curled up at the ticket gate of a certain cultural museum with your father's relics to avoid the snowstorm."

"At this time, the AI ​​recognized your existence, and the endless warm grassland appeared in front of you, and then the majestic voice began to tell you the past. In the past, the Borneo province was a place where even mice could live. Taste of heaven…”

  Trying to bring in the situation faced by the survivors at that time, Fang Chang thought about it for a while, but still couldn't make it into it, and finally shook his head.

   “…I will never consider myself descended from rats.”

  Lions or tigers are possible.

  Han Mingyue laughed and joked.

"Of course, the ancestors of humans cannot be animals, but you can worship it as something similar to the deer god... Don't overestimate yourself. The reason why you didn't do this is because you have a good education. And really understood what I learned.”

   Unexplainable holographic light and shadows are just the beginning.

  When miracles become reality, miracles are no longer just miracles, but prophecies descended from the gods.

  What's more, the picture in the holographic image did become a reality later.

  In the 50th year of the Wasteland Era, the cold winter ended, and the ecological environment of Borneo gradually returned to what it was half a century ago.

  For the survivors who lived by the Yongliu River at that time, this was undoubtedly the apparition of the totem they enshrined.

  Although the end of winter is just a normal climate change, it has nothing to do with their prayers...

   "I know," Fang Chang said quite emotionally, "but then again, it turns out that thousands of races and gods are really divided by humans."

   After all, two hundred years is still too short, and it is not enough for a group of people to form a new race through natural evolution.

   Unless it is pure black technology like the Willant or mutants.

   Without the help of scientific power, they need at least a thousand years of racial segregation to make a clear difference in characteristics between the Japanese and the Moon.

  As if he had obsessive-compulsive disorder, Han Mingyue corrected his imprecise statement and continued.

"To be precise, it is a limited range of self-identity formed under the collective unconscious behavior. You can find that their skeletal characteristics are actually not much different from the survivors who fled to Luoxia Province. Excluding nutrition, air humidity, and the amount of light It can be said that they are the same kind of people.”

  Fang Chang nodded thoughtfully.

   Actually, let alone other players.

  It is the experience that he himself occasionally brings into the earth subjectively, but in fact, if you think about it carefully, you know that reality and games are two completely different dimensions.

  The wasteland of Borneo Province is probably considered a "classic opening".

   That is, a typical wasteland formed purely by the collapse of order without the intervention of supernatural forces such as shelter residents, strategic weapon strikes, mutant slime mold nests, mutants, etc.

  As for the Xilan Empire, it was a wave of ups and downs.

If there is no external interference, the survivors here may continue the tradition of hundreds or even thousands of years until an accidental "Renaissance" or "historical discovery" of the past allows them to find a new spiritual sustenance and replace it. With the development of productive forces, the "theory of a thousand races and a thousand gods" has gradually become outdated.

  But another extreme possibility is not ruled out. The local survivors have fallen into another spiral in the long cycle of reincarnation. By continuously learning lessons from the previous reincarnation, they nailed the loopholes that broke the reincarnation with oak boards and nails, so as to establish a set of "government theory" with a more permanent structure and stricter logic, so that the water of the Eternal River can be completely controlled. no longer flow.

   As for which possibility is greater, there is no way of knowing.

  After all, only the history that has happened is the necessity in history.

   And what will happen in the future, only the people in the future will know.

  In short, for the scientific expedition team, they are a good observation sample.

   Putting the memory card storing the "Original Textbook" into the storage box, Han Mingyue looked at the port outside the warehouse door and said energetically.

"...Not surprisingly, there should be traces of early survivor settlements or shelters nearby. This may help me complete the part of the project that I haven't covered before. The influence of the evolution of indigenous society."

  After listening to Han Mingyue's words, Fang Chang said subconsciously.

   "You mean Camp Lowell?"

   "Wait, the Rowell camp is here?!" Han Mingyue widened her eyes in surprise, and then said in surprise, "Great, can you take me to see it?"

  Fang Chang nodded.

"no problem."

  Due to the advance of the second phase of the offensive, the current camp is just under their control. Before the emperor of the Xilan Empire takes action, they may still enjoy a period of calm.

  If you want to engage in scientific research activities, now is the most suitable time.

   Just when Fang Chang was about to call a vehicle to take her there, the dog took the good name and suddenly walked towards this side.

  His footsteps were hasty, his face was full of seriousness, and before Fang Chang asked, he spoke quickly.

   "Something happened at the Lowell camp!"

  (end of this chapter)