Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 909: "Wetware" and Ring City
"Is this... the core brain on the Ark?" Chi Hanfeng's eyes widened, his face full of shock.
Although none of them had actually come into contact with the legendary "core brain", Ke Lan had described the shape of the core brain to the members of the God Hunting Group, and it was exactly the same as the giant brain in the tank before them.
Most of the residents on the Ark knew about the existence of the core brain, but in the imagination of most of them, the core brain was an electronic computer that integrated the most cutting-edge technology of mankind - neatly arranged silicon chip arrays, intricate cables and optical fibers, plus heavy heat dissipation and power supply devices... These elements piled together formed the image of the core brain in the minds of most Ark residents.
Only a very few people know that the core brain is actually a "living thing".
"So, the life reaction that Valentina saw outside... was actually this thing?" A thoughtful look appeared on Zhuo Ligetu's face, but he did not put down his shield, and his body still remained on guard.
Chi Hanfeng's breathing was still rapid, but Hound was relatively calm. He walked over and patted Chi Hanfeng on the shoulder, saying, "In fact, the core brain of the Ark was originally dug out from the Alpha ruins..."
"What? The core brain of the Ark was dug out from the ruins of the Alpha civilization?" As an experienced old hunter, Ghost Owl did not show much shock when he first saw the giant brain in the tank, but when Chi Hanfeng shouted "core brain", his expression became interesting, and when the hound said "the core brain was actually dug out from the ruins of the Alpha civilization", his expression became no different from Chi Hanfeng's.
"This is impossible..." Ghost Owl continued, shaking his head vigorously as he spoke, "The core brain is the most important part of the Ark. It is the core control hub that existed when the Ark was built. It existed more than 900 years ago. How could it be dug out from the ruins!"
"During the interstellar drifting era, the core brain did use 100% human civilization technology, but after landing on Alpha, everything changed... Just like the alien technologies found in the ruins were widely used in the daily lives of the Ark residents, the core brain also underwent a substantial transformation... Haven't you noticed that every time the core brain is shut down for maintenance, its performance will be greatly improved?" The Hound explained, "Well, although a rough guy like me can't feel this change, in the eyes of Ke Lan who often deals with computers and networks, these changes are simply obvious. Ke Lan told me that it is impossible to achieve that level of improvement with human software and hardware technology ."
The Hound paused and continued, "Since neither the hardware nor the software works, we can only rely on wetware."
"Wetware" is a concept that has existed . It refers to the part of a computer system other than software and hardware. It generally refers to the operator of the system, that is, the "person" standing in front of the screen and using a keyboard, mouse or other input devices.
The word “wet” in “wetware” actually means “living organism”.
Today, when cyborg technology is extremely advanced, the meaning of "wetware" has naturally extended to biological tissues that are "installed" into computer systems. If human body modification is to install machines into the human body, then "wetware" is just the opposite... For example, if the cyborgization of a modified person is less than 50%, then it can be regarded as installing those artificial parts on the human body. If the degree of cyborgization exceeds 50%, or even higher, it is actually equivalent to putting a person into a machine, and the biological part of the modified person can be regarded as the wetware on "it".
The "living CPUs" sealed inside the mass-produced Blasphemers are also a type of wetware.
Concepts such as "biological computers" and "brain-computer interfaces" that often appear in science fiction works can all be classified as "wetware".
"But, but, if we use the technology of the Alpha Civilization for something as crucial as the core brain... if something goes wrong, the consequences will be disastrous..." muttered the Ghost Owl.
"I don't know what those people in the Undead Crew are thinking. Maybe they have already done corresponding experiments in other places?" The Hound curled his lips and spat on the ground. As soon as the saliva fell to the ground, a disc-shaped machine like a sweeping robot drove over from the corner and cleaned the contaminated ground as bright as new in just a few seconds.
"Sure enough, this kind of 'computer room' that houses biological computers has very high requirements for cleanliness..." said Chi Hanfeng.
"Hmph... If we talk about dirty things, we, the living ones, should be the ones who should be eliminated the most. I don't know what's going on in this brain. There's actually no movement at all." The hound sneered.
"To be honest, I still have some doubts... Have you really seen the core brain of the Ark?" Ghost Owl couldn't help but ask again, "If... this is another 'brain', then which ruins was the brain on the Ark dug out from?"
"A-063 Ruins 'Ring City'." The Hound said in a deep voice, "This is Ke Lan's guess, but after listening to his reasons, I basically agree with his judgment."
"Ringed City..." Ghost Owl knew much more about the famous ruins on Alpha than Thirty-Three did. Especially since this was an A-level ruins, after hearing the name, he quickly fell into deep thought.
Compared to Thirty-three, who only knew the brief introduction of the Ring City Ruins, Ghost Owl knew even more than Ke Lan...
"What's wrong? What do you know...about that 'ring city'?" The Hound noticed something was wrong on his face and asked immediately.
"Ring City... a team of hunters under my command went there. After they came back, Ark signed a confidentiality agreement with them. The hunting group headquarters also granted them a six-month long vacation... but as far as I know, the conditions of these hunters later on were not very good." Ghost Owl recalled.
"Why is it not good? Tell me in detail." Hearing that the Ghost Owl's people had been to the Ring City, the Hound suddenly became interested - after all, the things under the Ring City were very likely the same kind of thing as the giant brain in the tank in front of them.
"That was a team of ten people. Not counting the two logistics personnel who were responsible for the reception outside the ruins, there were a total of eight people who entered the ring city. Two of them died inside the ruins, and only six returned to the Ark alive." Ghost Owl continued, "When they first came back, I realized that something was wrong with them, but I could see that they were trying their best to cover it up and make themselves as normal as possible... I also knew that the Ark had signed a confidentiality agreement with them, and the consequences of breach of contract would be very serious, so I didn't ask too much, but asked the hunters from other teams to keep an eye on them on weekdays and help me keep an eye on the six of them."
"And then?"
"Two people took their share of the rewards to the high-end commercial district in South District 4 and spent money like crazy to vent their anger... This is nothing. Hunters often do this to relieve stress, especially those single hunters without families or relatives... But after they spent all their money, they jumped directly from the tallest building in South District 4 and fell into two pools of meat paste on the main road."
"The third man's behavior was similar to these two, except that his way of venting was to visit the red-light district... After three days and three nights of madness, he cut the neck of the girl who accompanied him on the bed, then turned the knife and stabbed it into his mouth, reaching his brain."
"The fourth person left the Ark and disappeared in the wilderness. The fifth person locked himself in his house and never went out again. According to his neighbors, he started talking to himself like a madman from the second day, sometimes wailing and sometimes laughing wildly. On the sixth day, he suddenly stopped making any sound, and there was no movement until the ninth day. The neighbors felt something was wrong and called the police. When the sheriff's department broke into his house, they found that he had committed suicide by taking drugs. He took the sedatives distributed by the hunting group... In theory, the distribution of this drug is strictly controlled, and the dose that a single person can receive will not be lethal. Moreover, this drug has a short shelf life and cannot be stored... At that time, I also went to the crime scene, and I found that the sedatives for the other members of the team were given to him, and he took the dose for six people."
When the ghost owl said this, he sighed and a sad look appeared on his face.
These hunters trained by him personally had a good relationship with him, and the relationship between the two sides was that of both a master and a father. Seeing these juniors die unexpectedly, Gui Owl felt very uncomfortable.
"What about the last hunter? What happened to him? Is he dead too? Or is he like the fourth person... missing?" Chi Hanfeng asked.
Although the fourth hunter did not die, he disappeared alone in the wilderness, which was actually no different from being dead... Unless he had contacted the exiles in a certain settlement in advance, the extreme environment and indigenous creatures in the wilderness alone would be enough to be fatal, not to mention those exiles who hunted their own kind as prey.
"He didn't die. He joined a heretical sect." Ghost Owl shook his head. "I only saw him on the wanted list online... But with the many clearing operations that followed, I guess he was in danger. After that, I was full of curiosity about the things in the ring city, but I never had the courage to explore it myself. I could only use money and connections to find out information about the ruins... I found that all hunters signed a very strict confidentiality contract with Ark. Not only that, the endings of these hunters were the same as theirs, either committing suicide, disappearing, or simply staying in a mental hospital... At first I thought that this was a means for the Ark's top management to silence them, until I found a way to enter a mental hospital and contacted the former hunter who came back from the ring city, I realized how terrible the ruins were."
"Ke Lan once bought information about the Ring City from a powerful information dealer. He said there was a huge 'brain' hidden underground in the Ring City... Well, that's the thing we see floating in the tank now. But the giant brain under the Ring City seems to have gone out of control and has broken through the constraints of the culture tank. It is growing wildly like cancer cells, almost filling the entire underground space."
The hound took a breath and continued, "The Ring City Ruins have never been closed to the outside world, but every hunter who enters it must sign a confidentiality agreement... I don't know where the information dealer got the information from, but he revealed a crucial piece of information to Ke Lan: the hunters' task is actually very simple. They only need to cut off a part of the living 'brain cells', put them in the freezer and bring them to the surface, and they will receive a generous reward."
"So that's how it is... That crazy hunter kept muttering that what he brought out was the body tissue of a demon... Could this be what he was referring to?" Ghost Owl murmured.
Chi Hanfeng, who was standing by, frowned immediately after hearing this. "But, this kind of work can be completely handed over to machines, right? Letting the relic hunters do it is not only inefficient, but also requires a lot of compensation... Moreover, according to the description of the ghost owl, these relic hunters basically have no good end. It can be said that they are using people as disposable consumables... If you want to say that some mines that are difficult to mine with machines use cheap manpower to replace expensive machines, I can understand it, but training a relic hunter is much more difficult than training a miner, right? Isn't this... too 'wasteful'?"
"Just like the bottomless cenote... Those hunting groups knew that sending people down to mine the stone tablet would drive them crazy, but they still sent a large number of temporary workers and rookies..."
The hound was interrupted by the ghost owl before he could finish his words: "No, it's different. I know about the bottomless pit. It's true that the stone tablets sent to mine at that time were all newcomers, but the exploration requirements of the ring city are very strict. It is implemented according to the standard A-level ruins. If a hunter with less experience proposes to explore the ring city, it will be directly rejected by the Ruins Exploration Association. If you explore privately, it will be a felony."
"Damn... If we had known earlier, we should have gone to the ring city first... By the way, have you met the hunter who was locked up in the mental hospital? Did he say anything to you?" The hound looked at the ghost owl and asked.
"What he said was very confusing and incoherent... but he repeated one sentence many times." Ghost Owl said, "He said that those things were alive. In just a few minutes of communication, he said this sentence at least twenty times."
"Those things are alive..." The Hound touched his nose. "This sentence seems to be the key, but it's actually useless... We all know that the giant brain in the tank is alive. Besides, didn't the Ark officials also require them to bring out tissue cells that are 'in a living state'? If they are dead, I guess Ark won't pay for it, right?"
"To be honest, old dog, what I'm most worried about now is whether we will follow in the footsteps of those relic hunters..." Chi Hanfeng touched the hound's arm, looked at the giant brain in the tank and whispered, "Those hunters committed suicide and went crazy, which is obviously related to those things..."
