Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 862 Another Human Civilization
"So this is why the Hive is located under the Undersea City..." Thirty-Three muttered, "The people living in the Hive were completely desperate in the face of the 'Disaster', so they chose to dig the Hive deep into the seabed and seal the 'Disaster' here ... But this person recorded so much, but he didn't write clearly what this disaster is about?"
Thirty-three took a breath and continued, "From the literal meaning, the disaster seems to be the erosion, over-erosion and human body erosion caused by the 'forbidden knowledge'. However, judging from the description of this recorder, there seems to be something different."
"I think he deliberately didn't write it clearly, using the word 'disaster' to refer to that thing, which in a sense can block the spread of 'disaster'." Ke Lan thought for a while and said, "'Cognition is pollution', he left this record to warn later generations. If he describes the 'disaster' in detail, later generations will probably be swallowed by the disaster when they read this record."
"That's true." Thirty-three sighed. "This note seems to reveal a lot of information to us... but in fact, there is very little useful content. He mentioned again and again that these 'tunnel dwellers' have found a way to resist disasters, but the problem is that these 'tunnel dwellers' themselves have become half-human, half-rat monsters... Are their methods really worth referring to?"
Ke Lan did not respond immediately. Instead, he turned around and observed the tunnel dwellers who were frantically hitting the space cage, and fell into deep thought.
Thirty-three did not disturb Ke Lan. He was also thinking about the contents of the notes just now. However, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was "simply unsolvable" - that kind of desperate atmosphere, even after more than 500,000 years, he could still empathize with it... That feeling that no matter what he did, it would be useless. Thirty-three had experienced it once, and he didn't want to experience it again.
Thirty-three shook his head vigorously and kicked a small stone at his feet in annoyance.
"I seem to have been infected by that emotion..." Sanshisan muttered to himself. Although he did not directly see the words and sounds in the note, these contents had already had a huge impact on him just through Ke Lan's retelling.
Faintly, he seemed to be able to feel that he had touched a period of history that lasted more than 500,000 years... despair, disorder, blood, madness... He could easily imagine how those who were swallowed by the disaster spent the last moments of their lives after the fall of the entire nest... but he didn't want to think about it.
He knew that if he kept thinking about it, even if the degree of erosion did not worsen, his mental state would probably have some problems.
"The Undead Crew should know about this note. I even think that they have obtained the records and data of the experiments conducted with the 'Tunnel Dwellers'." Ke Lan, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said.
"Why do you think so?" Thirty-three was stunned. "It's possible that they have seen the memory fragments in your head, but how could they get anything related to the Tunnel Dwellers? The Undead Crew has never been to the Hive City. Apart from us, there are only the officers and soldiers on the crashed battleship of Heruni. But they were unable to return to the Ark until they died, and they had no contact with the people on the Ark... This doesn't make sense."
"The method of the 'Tunnel Dwellers' is probably to block the physical mutations caused by the 'Disaster' from a certain level through gene rewriting... In layman's terms, it's a bit like fighting poison with poison... Because the conditions in Channel No. 4 are limited, the only genetic samples they can get are those mutant creatures living in the channel... But for the Undead Crew, their range of choices is much larger." Ke Lan said slowly, then pointed at himself.
Thirty-three opened his eyes wide, opened his mouth, and spoke after a long while: "You...symbiote...symbiote is the product of mixing and compiling the genes of Alpha humans and humans! You are the successful sample! No wonder...no wonder you have been exposed to so much 'forbidden knowledge', but still haven't broken through that critical point!"
"Yes." Ke Lan nodded, "But we cannot rule out another possibility, that is, someone in the 'other' nest has also made similar attempts and brought the results out."
"I feel more and more that this world... seems a little unreal." Thirty-three smacked his lips and said, "According to what you said, in fact, we humans came to this Alpha planet as early as 500,000 years ago... or even earlier, and built multiple 'nest cities' on this planet. Until this immigrant civilization was destroyed by the 'disaster', those Alpha people who came out of nowhere took over the nest and became the masters of this planet. Even the two most critical resources of the Alpha civilization, energy crystals and Nino alloys, are actually the legacy left to them by this 'human civilization'... But, 500,000 years ago, the humans at that time..."
Although human history dates back millions of years, the history of human civilization is very short. Even if we count the nine hundred years that the Ark drifted in the universe, it has not exceeded ten thousand years. Humans five hundred thousand years ago had just learned to use stone tools and fire, let alone interstellar travel. Even if a modern person living in the twenty-first century traveled back in time, he would be worshipped as a god by these primitive people.
"It's not impossible." Ke Lan held up his chin and said, "I once had a hypothesis, that is, hundreds of thousands of years ago, a group of primitive humans on Earth were abducted by an alien civilization - this alien civilization could be any powerful and unknown civilization in the universe, or it could be that 'great god'. For some reason, such as for an experiment, these abducted humans were kept in captivity on Alpha... and these primitive people gradually developed their own civilization on Alpha... Due to different environmental conditions or the interference of alien civilizations, the development speed of this human civilization far exceeded that of their counterparts on Earth..."
Ke Lan paused, then continued, "You must have heard of the controlled variable method, right? The humans on Earth are like the control group without interference, while the humans on Alpha are the experimental group with added variables... When most humans on Earth were still eating raw meat and drinking blood, the humans on Alpha had already entered the glorious industrial age.
However, after experiencing one thing, I completely denied this speculation. "
"What's the matter?" Thirty-three asked.
"In the Super Dream video of the 776th Special Forces, I saw the inscriptions of 'Huaxia Heavy Industry' on some steel structures inside the ruins. The inscriptions were engraved in Chinese, not the characters found in the nest." Ke Lan continued, "Two human civilizations separated by who knows how many light years, even if they have the same roots, it is difficult to develop exactly the same characters. Moreover, Huaxia Heavy Industry is such a famous company on Earth. Do you think there will be an existence with the same name on Alpha?"
"This can't be a coincidence." Thirty-three followed Ke Lan's words and shook his head solemnly.
"I don't think this can be a coincidence, so this first guess can only be completely rejected." Ke Lan said, "The other possibility is the 'paradox' on the timeline."
"Wormhole?!" Thirty-three's eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn't help holding his breath. "The entire interstellar journey took ninety years, and there were detailed records of events every year. There was no way there would be any problems... The only time that was not recorded was the time when the Ark passed through the wormhole!"
"Yes, the wormhole... is the bug of the entire timeline. Although in our understanding, it took the Ark less than a year to pass through the wormhole, who can guarantee that hundreds of thousands or even millions of years have passed outside the wormhole... Outside the Ark, there may be a group of Earthlings who escaped and reached Alpha in another way, and took root on this planet."
"If this is true, then why did the undead crew hide everything? And why did Hruni and the others feel that they couldn't reveal the truth to the public? Was it because of... the disaster?"
"I think so." Ke Lan nodded. "The Undead Crew wants to digest the legacy left by human civilization and Alpha civilization, but they don't want the 'seeds of disaster' attached to this legacy to spread on the Ark... Although there are still many things that are not clear for the time being, this point should be correct. At least this is definitely the original intention of the Undead Crew."
"But as insiders, there is no guarantee that the members of the Undead Crew will not be devoured by the 'Disaster'..." Thirty-Three frowned, "If they are all 'symbiotes' like you, then it's not a big deal. If they are just a group of ordinary humans who have been transformed... then they will inevitably become the 'minions of the Disaster' mentioned in the note."
"..." Ke Lan glanced at Thirty-three without saying anything, and fell into deep thought again.
"I think the Undead Crew may have had a plan to replace them with a 'symbiote' like you, so you were able to join the Undead Crew so smoothly. But now it seems that either some members are greedy for power and immortality, or some members have completely turned into... 'that kind of thing', which is why the situation is so bad." Sanshisan continued, "If possible, I really hope that you can replace the Undead Crew... At least you won't squander the lives of soldiers like us."
"That's not necessarily true." Ke Lan grinned and showed a bitter smile, "Don't meddle in other people's affairs if you are not in that position. If I were in that position, maybe my thoughts would be different from now. People's views and ideas will always change with their positions, status and responsibilities. It's easy to say "never forget your original intention", but how many people in history can do this?"
"At least you won't turn into a monster who loses his mind, right?"
“…That’s hard to say.”
"Well, let's not talk about this for now. What are we going to do next? Do we still need to go to the upper city of the hive city?" Thirty-three asked , "Based on the clues we have so far, this hive city has not been able to escape the fate of being destroyed by the disaster... It is estimated that it will be difficult for the upper city to find any way to fight against the disaster."
"Don't forget that we are not only in the 'Nest City' now... but also in the Tower of Babel." Ke Lan said in a deep voice, "The so-called 'trial' is still going on. Even if this Nest City has been destroyed, if we want to enter the next level, we can only keep moving forward. Moreover, I always feel that the Tower of Babel would set this place as a level in the trial, it must not be that simple."
"I almost forgot... Even if we don't move forward, there will only be endless sea water when we turn back. It would be better to see the remains left by this civilization that shares the same roots with us." Thirty-three looked at the "tunnel dwellers" trapped in the space cage, "What about these guys? Should we let them go, or... get rid of them?"
"I still need them to lead the way." Ke Lan said, waving his hand and releasing the space cage.
Those "tunnel dwellers" did not rush to attack Ke Lan and Sanshisan. Instead, they turned around and ran, diving into the darkness deep in the tunnel.
“Follow him!”
…
Although the tunnel-dweller can keep its two feet upright, it still runs on all fours like most wild animals when running at full speed. Its long and thick rat tail is erected high and constantly swings in small amplitude to help the body maintain balance while moving at high speed.
They were very fast, but unfortunately they encountered guys like Ke Lan and Sanshisan. Even without relying on Ze Luo's spatial power, the former could easily catch up with these tunnel dwellers with his body comparable to that of a level 9 enhanced human. As for Sanshisan, his way of moving was even more mysterious - he directly stepped on the hand axe made of Nino alloy under his feet to "fly with the axe". Although the turning was not very flexible and there was a risk of being thrown out, in the straight pursuit of the garbage channel, his moving speed was not inferior to Ke Lan at all.
Not long after, a ruin with a barely discernible outline appeared in the two people's sight.
This ruin is made up of dozens of shacks connected together, most of which have collapsed. Only a few shacks can still be lived in, but they are also covered with traces of repairs.
All kinds of garbage and white broken bones were scattered among the ruins. A faint fishy smell passed through the filter cotton of the breathing mask and reached Ke Lan's nasal cavity.
In addition to the "tunnel dwellers" who had just been let go by Ke Lan, there were still a dozen tunnel dwellers living in the ruins. As soon as Ke Lan and Sanshisan approached the ruins, these tunnel dwellers holding all kinds of weapons immediately surrounded them.
"It seems that fighting is inevitable." Ke Lan sighed. He was actually not very willing to fight with these tunnel dwellers...especially after reading that note.
"Since we can't communicate with them, we can only use force to solve the problem." Sanshisan stood beside Ke Lan, with hundreds of Nino alloy flying blades forming an inverted triangle shield in front of him. "Pay attention to the four o'clock direction. There is a tunnel dweller holding something that looks like a gun... Although I'm not sure if it can still be fired, it's always better to be careful."
