Volume 13 Ancient Bronze City Ruins Chapter 634 History
"You've been telling me so much just to prove that the residents on the Ark are all those β-type replicants?" Ke Lan didn't show any surprise on her face. "Then how do you explain those people over 40 years old living on the Ark now?"
"Not all of them are clones created in bulk," the prophet said. "Copies are just a means to fill the population gap. Most of the clones are used as consumables in frontline combat troops and high-risk jobs such as miners and off-board maintenance personnel. The turnover of personnel in these jobs is very high, and few people work in the same position for more than three years. Because of this, it is difficult for others to realize the true identity of these clones, and the aftermath of their 'use period' can be handled in a very secretive manner."
"Do you know why the undead crew would rather choose the unethical method of cloning replicas instead of using robots to fill those vacant positions?" the prophet asked again.
“Because of the cost?”
"No... If the answer is this, it would be too simple." The prophet shook his head. "The reason why they chose clones is simply to deceive themselves... You may not know that the humans on the Ark are irreversibly heading towards extinction."
"What's the meaning?"
"The β-type replicator was successfully developed in 750 of the New Era, but at that time, the ship was in the peak period of riots. The people in the Undead Crew were worried that publishing this technology would stimulate the emotions of more people and add fuel to the fire... Therefore, this technology was sealed up as a taboo, and the scientists involved in the project also signed the most stringent gag order."
"Of course, even though they signed a gag order, many of them died in various 'accidents' in the following years. Until the year 762 of the New Era, the last biologist who participated in the β-replication, Mary Jerant, was stabbed to death with a fruit knife by her husband 'accidentally' during a family conflict. After her death, the only people who knew about this project were the members of the Undead Crew."
"Did you come here just to tell me these stories?" Ke Lan couldn't help but ask.
He always felt that the other party was trying to delay time, but he had no way to do anything about it.
"I am just telling you a story while stalling for time." The prophet said, "This space can only limit you for a period of time, but for me, this period of time is enough."
“…”
"Let's get back to the original topic. In the more than 100 years since Mary Jerant's death, this technology has been dormant like the countless abandoned projects in the research institute. It was not until the year 840 of the New Era that the Ark detected the location of Alpha Planet."
The prophet paused for a moment, then continued, "In the year 875 of the New Era, amidst the long-awaited expectations of the people, the Ark finally arrived at the Alpha Solar System. The following year, it entered Alpha's low-Earth orbit."
"In the same year, Ark sent an advance team to explore Alpha. In the year 880 of the New Era, the top management of Ark decided to land the Ark on Alpha. After twenty years of preliminary preparations, the Ark successfully broke through the atmosphere in January of the year 900 of the New Era and landed on the equator of Alpha. The things you mentioned are all test points in the compulsory history courses in the compulsory education stage. Anyone on the street can recite them." Ke Lan said.
"Then you should also know that in the first few years after the Ark landed on Alpha, the Field Corps... oh no, it shouldn't have been called that at the time... suffered unbearable losses. It was precisely because of the shocking number of casualties that the human body modification bill, which had been resisted, was passed."
"…What do you want to say?"
"Along with the human body modification bill, the proposal to restart the β-type cloning program was also passed...but this proposal was not put forward in the United Parliament, but voted on within the Undead Crew Council." The prophet said.
"How do you know these things? To be honest, I doubt the truth of every word you say."
"It doesn't matter how I know these things, and it doesn't matter whether you believe what I say. You just need to listen to me continue. At the beginning, the β-type replicators were only used to fill the gap in the number of cannon fodder troops... In the year 903 of the New Era, the total number of β-type replicators was less than 100,000, accounting for only 0.2% of the entire population of the Ark. But in the year 910, this proportion had risen to 7%... Do you know what proportion of the 50 million people in the Ark are β-type replicators now?"
"How many?"
"Thirty percent." The prophet shrugged. "Fifteen million of the residents on the Ark are secretly cloned replicants. They can only live to around forty years old and die from various diseases caused by mitochondrial collapse. Of course, these data will not be released to the public by the authorities... The activity of these replicants' promotion cells is very low. Even if they combine with normal humans, it is difficult for them to give birth to the next generation... You should have noticed that in recent years, there are more and more specialized hospitals and clinics for treating infertility, right?"
“…”
"But even with the current medical level of mankind, the only way to solve this 'disease' is gene editing surgery... or simply borrowing other people's promoted cells to create a test-tube baby. But the problem is that not everyone has enough money to do such a surgery."
“…”
"Logically, the Undead Crew should have realized that this is a vicious cycle with serious consequences. But for some reason, their attitude is still very negative... At the same time, in order to prevent panic, they have never made the truth public. The only measure they have taken is to 'create' more β-type replicants to fill the gap caused by the decline in the number of natural births."
"So the proportion of clones is increasing year by year. Is that what you want to say?"
"Do you remember what happened twenty years ago?" The prophet suddenly changed the subject.
"Twenty years ago?" Ke Lan was stunned. If he had to say what big event happened twenty years ago...it would only be "that event".
The memetic crisis that occurred not long ago was the second "full ship lockdown" order in the history of the Ark, and the first one occurred twenty years ago.
That year, an indigenous creature called the "Iron Skeleton Flying Insect" broke through the fleet's defenses and rushed directly into the Ark through several airports that had not yet been closed. Although the Ark's upper echelons promptly executed the order to block the entire ship, more than one million people still died in this tragedy.
"Yes, that's it." The prophet seemed to have guessed what Ke Lan was thinking from his expression. "In fact, the Iron Skeleton Flying Insect Invasion was completely led by the Undead Crew, and the actual damage caused by these insects was not that great."
"That is to say..."
"That's right, twenty years ago, when the first batch of Type β replicators were approaching the end of their 'service life'." The prophet nodded.
When the β-type replicators were "created", they were already adults in their twenties. Although they could "live to forty", their actual lifespan was only about twenty years. If a large number of "forty-year-old" residents died at a similar time, even if their causes of death were different, it would arouse people's speculation and suspicion... But if they died in a "natural disaster", then everything would become very reasonable.
"Now you know why the undead crew is so eager to start a war?" The prophet chuckled strangely, "After all, the second 'twenty years'... is coming soon."
The second twenty years, that is, the deadline for the second batch of "β-type replicants"... No one knows how many new replicants the Undead Crew will invest in to resume production after the Iron Skeleton Flying Insect Invasion... But for replicants like this that are invested in large quantities at one time, their "death date" is basically the same...
If what the prophet said was true... Ke Lan didn't dare to think about it anymore...
"Even so, you still don't want to join me?" The prophet spread his hands towards Ke Lan, "Or to put it in a more appropriate way... abandon the dark and join the light, what do you think?"
"How can you make me believe your one-sided statement?"
"Don't the things that the undead crew members told you count as one-sided statements?"
"Even if what you said is true, I will not join a heretical sect... This is not considered abandoning the dark and joining the light. If you don't know how to use an idiom, don't use it randomly."
"I still have a lot of things I haven't told you... Not only the Ark, but also this Alpha planet and the disappeared Alpha civilization, all hide many secrets. If you knew these secrets, I believe you would change your mind." The prophet said calmly.
"Then you might as well tell me these secrets. You tell me and I listen. As for whether I believe it or not, or whether I will change my mind, that is another matter."
"Then you may not be able to fulfill your wish. This space will soon disappear... and my ceremony will soon come to an end." The prophet took a step back and disappeared into the white light.
"What ceremony? Explain it clearly!"
Faintly, Ke Lan seemed to hear what the other party was saying, but before he could hear clearly, the surrounding environment began to change - the thin layer of water on the ground suddenly gathered from all directions, forming a huge water tornado in just a few seconds.
Ke Lan was right in the center of the waterspout. Looking at the water curtain getting closer and closer to him, he could only try to turn his living armor into anchors and drive them into the ground... But the next second, the ground disappeared.
Having lost his footing, Ke Lan was instantly swept into the air by the water tornado.
"Fuck." Ke Lan couldn't help but curse in his heart. He simply imitated the previous cyborg and turned the living armor into an egg-shaped shell that covered his entire body.
He didn't know how long he had been swaying in the turbulent water. When he realized that everything had stopped, he had changed from the mysterious reset space to the platform on the top of the core tower.
However, at this moment, the area of this platform has expanded dozens of times, and is almost the same size as the core control area below.
In addition to Ke Lan, Asano Akira, Layton and others, as well as the mobile force soldiers who entered the tower, also appeared on this platform.
In the middle of the platform, a prophet in a black robe stood on a copper pillar about two meters high. Almost endless sticky blood flowed out from the groove at the bottom of the copper pillar and spread across the platform.
"The goal has been achieved." The prophet glanced at Ke Lan and said, "I have to thank the crew for providing me with so many sacrifices. Otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to fill the appetite of this 'relic' in such a short time."
"What exactly are you going to do?" Ke Lan asked loudly to the prophet.
"You will see it with your own eyes soon." After saying this, the prophet slowly raised his arms and chanted obscure prayers in the Alpha language.
No! Ke Lan's eyelids twitched wildly, and a strange sense of fear suddenly occupied his heart - "We must interrupt his ritual!" He shouted to the others, "Even if it will cause a time and space storm, it will be too late! Otherwise, when the ritual is completed, everything will be too late!"
"What ceremony? What is this guy doing?" asked Layton.
"Don't ask that for now! Just kill him!" Ke Lan didn't bother to explain, and directly condensed the living armor into a three-meter-long, high-speed rotating drill, and rushed towards the prophet -
“Bang!!”
A loud bang exploded on the platform, and Ke Lan flew backwards. Around the prophet, a circle of energy arc appeared, which was so solid that it seemed real.
"It's a reactive energy shield!" Layton exclaimed.
Reactive energy shields are also the creation of the Alpha civilization, but due to the special mechanism of their generation, this type of energy shield is difficult to miniaturize, and even carrying it on a warship is difficult to do. This type of energy shield is basically used in the defense of large ruins. Up to now, the Ark has discovered no more than ten reactive energy shield generators.
The biggest difference between this type of energy shield and ordinary energy shields is that it has the ability to counterattack. Any external attack will cause a powerful one-way explosion, which is very similar to the reactive armor invented by humans. That is why it is named "reactive energy shield".
If the living armor had not protected Ke Lan's entire body instantly when he caused the explosion, his body would have been torn to pieces by the shock wave generated by the explosion.
Even a light armored vehicle that was a little closer was overturned to the ground by the aftermath.
