Chapter 512 Unanimous decision

This is where?

who I am?

  In a hazy mist, Jiang Xuezhou opened his eyes and looked blankly at the surrounding haze.

  Suddenly, there was a slight tingling between her eyebrows. She raised her index finger and pressed it on the center of her eyebrows. The moment her fingertips touched, the vague memory gradually began to become clear.

   The first thing I thought of was my name, followed by the day of my birth. The surrounding environment also changed accordingly. The white haze turned into a vast snow.

   "It's a girl..."

   "...the activity of brain cells is good, the physical fitness is good, and the levels of various hormones are normal. It is a good seedling."

   "Thank you doctor!"

   "You're welcome, this is what I should do."

   "She looks like you."

   "Then...call her Xuezhou."

   "It would be great if I could pass the exam."

  The silhouette of memory flashed like a slide.

  She saw two groups of kind smiles, and saw the blurred outline stained with hoarfrost, and then watched the voice gradually turn into a sad expression.

   "Mom...Dad..."

   whispered in her mouth.

  I seem to be back when I was very young.

At that time, the family’s conditions were very difficult. Her father was in the garbage collection team, and her mother was in the garment factory. The staple food was potatoes and sugar beets, which can grow in cold regions. Although the settlements raised cattle, they were entrusted by the Science and Technology Committee for local management. Livestock, most people may not be able to eat meat once a week...

  She only remembered that her only wish at the time was to pass the assessment of the Science Committee and enter the academy to become a prospector.

  That is the only way to change fate other than wandering in the wasteland, and it is also the only way of life planned by the Science and Technology Committee for all survivors.

As long as any family can train an apprentice, they can get a huge subsidy from the Science and Technology Committee... That is a wealth that everyone will envy. Her parents can live in a bigger house, and her older brothers and sisters can also live in a bigger house. Change to an easier position and strive to contribute two more good seedlings to the Science and Technology Committee.

  And for the lucky one who became an apprentice, he will also live a rich and comfortable life from now on, without having to worry about trivial matters that are not related to scientific research.

etc…

   Haven't I already passed the assessment?

   And also became the researcher that countless apprentices dream of...

  Jiang Xuezhou's eyes suddenly showed a trace of panic.

I…

  How did you come back?

   Except for everything she saw in front of her eyes, she seemed to be unable to remember anything. An unknown force froze a certain part of her memory, restricted its flow rate, only allowed it to be released a little bit, and delved into it.

'answer me. '

  The voice in the dark sounded again, with a demagogic power.

   'Carefully recalled...'

  ‘Apart from your closest relatives, who is the most important person in your life? '

  The most important person besides close relatives?

   There was a moment of bewilderment in her eyes.

   There doesn't seem to be such a thing at all...

After entering the exploration team, people will leave every three to five times. She is used to jumping from one step to another, slowly forgetting the people she met in different stages of life... including the one who has not seen her for many years, and may still remember her. Honored father and mother, brothers and sisters.

  Thinking about it this way...

  Her life seems to be meaningless, just a program that was designed to be just right and has worked fairly well so far.

   It’s almost like…

   "NPC" same.

   It was beyond her expectation.

  She thought that the voice in the dark would be as disappointed with her life as she was, but what she didn't expect was that the voice seemed very satisfied with her dullness.

  A person on the fringes of society is undoubtedly easier to replace than a person standing in the center of the stage.

  People don't have much memory about her, and they won't be surprised by her sense of disobedience and changes.

  It's just too easy to replace.

  It's so easy that people can't help but wonder whether it is necessary to do so.

  At this time, the scenery in front of her eyes changed again. The cold wind passing through her neck made her tighten her neck, hugged her almost frostbitten arms, and squatted on the ground.

  It wasn't until then that she realized that she was squatting naked in the heavy snow, and the boundless wind and snow seemed to completely submerge her.

   In the distance, there are clusters of dark green rays of light, like the eyes of alien species, and also like the fire of the underworld shining on the way to hell.

  Maybe…

   This is my own ending.

  Like most of the prospectors who stepped into the ruins in a daze, and died silently with confusion and regret, they still couldn't get rid of their boring fate after all.

   Just when she was about to close her eyes and accept her fate, a figure suddenly walked in the feather-like snow.

  He was wearing a jet-black exoskeleton, and the bulletproof plate on his chest was dented by the impact. The howling wind seemed to have had a considerable impact on him, and every step forward was very difficult.

  Who is this guy?

  The hidden voice also seemed to be confused, and did not answer her inquiry.

  The man called her.

"Hello."

  A trace of panic appeared on her face, and she even forgot that her whole body was frozen, and she slumped backwards on the icy snow.

   "Don't pass—"

   "Stop talking nonsense, how long do you plan to sleep here." The man walked up to her without stopping, ignored her reaction, and grabbed her arm.

  Jiang Xuezhou instinctively wanted to struggle, but the man didn't intend to pay attention at all, and pulled back forcefully without any explanation.

"gone."

   Those were the last words she heard.

  The surrounding scenery changed rapidly like the window of a train, and the world built by the fragments of memory collapsed in an instant.

  In the blink of an eye, she seemed to have come to another world, and blocked memories flooded into her mind like a flood.

   This feeling is like being pulled back to the shore from the deep sea, and the incomplete five senses also return with the big mouthful of gasps.

   At this time, one hand took off the glasses on her head.

"ah!!"

  Jiang Xuezhou uttered a startled cry, quickly shrank to the wall and hugged his arms tightly, only then did he realize that he was fully clothed.

   His fair face gradually turned into the color of a lantern.

   Fortunately, the person who took off the neural connection device on her head was not looking at her at the moment.

   "Is that all right? I'll do my best if it's okay." Ye Shi said to Yun You, who was on the side.

   Yun You, who put away the tablet, nodded and said with a smile.

   "Well, you have successfully separated, and you are doing very well."

   "Really?" Ye Shi glanced suspiciously at the girl sitting in the corner with a flushed face, and muttered, "But why do I feel that there is something wrong with this guy's head?"

  Yun You froze for a moment.

   "Maybe...after a while?"

  According to that Zhuang Lan, if the xinxing is not strong enough, taking off the glasses directly is easy to cause schizophrenia, unless it is closed through normal channels.

   That is, wearing a neural connection device and connecting it with a memory extraction device, entering a dream constructed from her memory fragments, allowing her to wake up from the dream on her own initiative.

  Ye Shi didn't want to be so troublesome at first, but the "Sacred Mother" from Ideal City said that she couldn't leave the little girl alone.

  In order not to affect the follow-up plot, he had no choice but to go to the entertainment room in the living area to find a neural connection device with a universal interface and come back, and played a copy online with Classmate Jiang.

  Speaking of it, this guy seems to have had a very long nightmare, in which there are alien species, mutants, predators and so on...

  He counted and cleared at least six copies just now.

  But in the end, the customs clearance was unexpectedly simple, so that he felt that he had done nothing at all, but just gave her a hand.

   Then she woke up.

  He thought there would be some kind of BOSS battle, but he was still looking forward to it for a few seconds.

  By the way, just before he took the virtual reality device and went online to play a copy, the time bomb stuck to the floor-to-ceiling windows had already been dismantled by him and Yun You.

  That thing turned out to be a miniature nuclear bomb with an equivalent of 10,000 tons.

  Choose to detonate near the reactor. It seems that the Enlightenment Society intends to completely destroy this place after taking away the data here.

   Gradually recalling the whole story, Jiang Xuezhou slowly let go of his grip on the collar, blushed and lowered his head and whispered.

"…Thanks."

   "You don't need to thank me, I just gave you a hand, thank you if you want to."

  Ye Shi pointed to Yun You next to him with his chin, "She did a lot of work, and I can't understand those codes."

  Jiang Xuezhou blushed and nodded, and whispered a thank you to her.

  Looking at this polite little girl, Yun You, who folded her arms, smiled and said in a relaxed tone.

   "You're welcome, although we have been together for a short time, we can be regarded as partners who have experienced life and death together."

partner…

  Jiang Xuezhou silently glanced at Wal-E lying on the ground, and Xiao Wang who was scrapped beside him, bit his lips lightly, wanting to say something but didn't know how to say it.

  Ye Shi walked over, took Wal-E's arms, and lifted the Willant from the ground.

  Although people are already cold, they still have to give the legion an explanation.

   "Let's go, don't keep everyone waiting too long."

  …

Living Area.

  Su Ming, Meng Liang and Pangolin, who had gone to the manager's office earlier, have arrived here, and they are sitting silently at a dusty table at the moment.

   Especially Su Ming.

  After watching the previous video of Lujan, he seemed like a different person, and he didn't say a word all the way from the manager's office to here.

  Sitting between the two of them, Meng Liang smiled wryly, silently praying in his heart for his partner to come back quickly...

   Just then, the door next to him opened.

  Three people walked in from the outside.

"I kept you waiting for so long." Sitting at the table, Yunyou glanced at the three people at the table apologetically, and then looked at Jiang Xuezhou, "Sit down too... what we are going to say next is very important. "

  Having understood the whole story on the way here, Jiang Xuezhou didn't say a word, and silently pulled out a chair and sat down.

  Ye Shi temporarily placed Wally in the corner, clapped his hands with a hey, and went back to the table to find an empty chair.

   "...Let's discuss about the Torch Project and this 'Vault Zero'."

  Su Ming coughed lightly, and was the first to break the silence in the room, looked around at everyone present, and said.

   "I can't represent the position of the company, but... as a citizen of Ideal City, I think we should destroy this place."

   Paused, he continued.

   "Physical destruction."

   The air was quiet for a while.

   "I voted yes."

   Pushing his glasses, Yunyou looked at everyone sitting here seriously and continued.

  “…With the current level of mutual trust between the various forces in the wasteland that doesn’t even have communication channels, once this evil weapon is unearthed, even if it’s just a blueprint…everyone will fall into the prisoner’s dilemma.”

  Ye Shi was taken aback.

"…What's the meaning?"

  Yunyou smiled, and was about to explain to this silly but not bad-minded kid, but Jiang Xuezhou on the side was half a step faster than her, and said with a complicated expression.

"It means that whoever 'presses the button' first will get the most benefit, so even people who have no interest in this weapon at all have to join the race, because no one can guarantee that others are not secretly doing this plan."

   Seeing that someone had already said it for him, Yunyou coughed lightly and said.

   “…just like she said.”

   In reality, the prisoner's dilemma is not absolutely unsolvable.

  Prisoners become prisoners only because there is no channel for information exchange. If the channel for information exchange is opened up, many problems will naturally be solved.

  However, this is the difference between the wasteland and the real society.

  Not to mention the Internet here, there is not even a telephone line between the highest level of the enterprise and the college, and there are huge differences between the parties from the collective social form to the individual thinking logic.

  Even organizations like the Alliance, whose management scale is not very large, have problems with who to contact when they meet with companies for the first time.

   Not to mention the academy and the legion, which are huge organizations that focus on one route and have developed alone for a century and a half.

  Once you enter the prisoner's dilemma, there is almost no solution.

  Jiang Xuezhou stared at Yunyou intently.

   "But how can we ensure that you didn't get those research data, and only proposed to destroy this shelter because you didn't want others to get it."

  Su Ming frowned, stared at Jiang Xuezhou and stood up.

   "Are you suspicious of us?"

   "It's just a reasonable doubt, but your current reaction makes me feel more suspicious." Stared at by that murderous gaze, Jiang Xuezhou's face was not very good-looking, but he did not back down in the slightest.

   It's not about her anymore.

   But the fate of many...

  Ye Shi glanced at her unexpectedly.

  I always feel that this guy seems to be different after he came out of that dream.

  Looking at the angry Su Ming, Yunyou coughed lightly and said in a calm tone.

   "Su Ming, Ms. Jiang from the academy is indispensable. There must be at least one person involved from all parties here...so sit down."

   "..." Hearing the unquestionable order, Su Ming didn't speak, and sat back silently.

  He didn't think about what to do to a girl, he just wanted to scare this guy, but he didn't think it would work.

  If the Academy dies inside, the conditions for blowing up the safehouse without any diplomatic risk are broken.

  Even if they could push the female researcher's death to the Enlightenment Society, whether the other party believed it or not, they were forced to prepare for the worst.

  After all, the results of the two postures are completely different between people dying inside without knowing why and coming out of it openly.

  Yunyou looked at Jiang Xuezhou.

   "What can we do to convince you."

   It's beyond everyone's expectations.

  Representatives from the academy did not put some embarrassing conditions on the opportunity.

   After staring into Yunyou's eyes for a while, she suddenly spoke.

   "I trust you guys."

  Yun You was stunned.

   Just when she subconsciously wanted to ask why, Jiang Xuezhou looked away as if embarrassed, and whispered to herself.

   "...If you want to own it alone, there is no need to go to such lengths to save me, right? Anyway, I'm just an insignificant little person."

   "So I trust you guys."

   "And hopefully... I won't regret my decision."

   "Hey... I told you earlier, it made us so nervous." Ye Shi breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned back on the chair.

  Jiang Xuezhou stared at him angrily.

   "Is it too much for me to think about such an important decision for a while?"

   Ignoring this "ungrateful" guy, Ye Shi simply raised his hand.

   "I, up vote."

  The reason is simple, the alliance cannot win this competition.

   This is an objective gap.

  Even if the research and development capabilities and scientific research personnel reserves of the legion are higher than them, the advantages accumulated over time cannot be filled in just a few days and months.

  It's like there is only a wall between self-confidence and arrogance, but the results are separated by hundreds of thousands of miles. He is still self-aware about this.

   Not to mention being dragged into a contest with no visible payoffs doesn't do the league any good.

   It is foreseeable that, except for the final weapon to restart the world, the plan will most likely not produce any phased results that have a positive effect on society.

   Having also considered this issue, Meng Liang nodded.

   "I agree with Ye Shi."

   Except for Ye Shi, everyone looked at the pangolin who didn't say a word from the beginning to the end.

  There is only one person left who did not express his opinion.

   But the latter answer did not surprise too many people.

   "Vote for Yes."

  Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief, his tense expression finally eased a little, Yunyou showed a happy smile on his face, and thanked everyone around him.

  In just a moment ago, they almost accomplished the impossible miracle in this wasteland.

  People from the four different places of Legion, Enterprise, Academy, and Alliance cast the same vote at the same moment on the issue of the future destiny of civilization.

   Just like those brave and ordinary people a few months ago, two hundred years ago, or even in the past...

   They made mundane and not simple choices.

  …

  The bomb restarts the timer.

   A group of people withdrew from the shelter.

  Before they left, they took a little time to move the twelve hibernation pods from the X-13 area to the entrance of the shelter.

  The crew of the Trailblazer have died.

  The people lying in it at the moment are all disciples of the Enlightenment Society. According to Zhuang Lan's confession, there is also a "guide".

  In the organizational structure of the Enlightenment Society, the "guide" is between the elders and the disciples, and is equivalent to the mentor of many disciples.

Although letting them die silently like this is cheap for these guys, but as the relevant personnel who have been in contact with the deleted data, let them bring the secrets in their stomachs and this city that should not have come to this world from the very beginning. Buried together in the refuge of the Earth, it is the best option for those who are still alive on the surface.

   As for Zhuang Lan.

   It stands to reason that it should be handed over to the Willanters. After all, she killed one of their commanders, but both Su Ming and Yun You resisted doing so.

   “…we will not extradite anyone to the Legion, which would be the equivalent of selling criminals to slavers.”

  The pangolin froze for a moment.

   "That's not good."

  Before the alliance was formed, they seemed to have sold the captured marauders to the mines in Red River Town, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

   He calls it efficient.

  But soon he remembered his undercover role, his expression changed, and he gave Su Ming a vicious look.

   "What do you mean?"

   Dare to blame me?

  Damn East Coasters!

  Su Ming ignored him directly, looked at Ye Shi who was holding back his laughter for some reason, and continued.

"One thing is one thing, this is our principle... At least in my opinion, it is the management of the Enlightenment that should be punished. Even if she killed the legion, but think of the things that the Weilante people did to the captives I still feel sick, they are not as simple as sending people to work in the mine... Want to hear it? I heard some from the merchants."

  Ye Shi coughed.

   "No more."

   Joyful games should not be so heavy, he is not the kind of person with bad taste.

   Besides, do you need to guess about this kind of thing?

  When they seized the Heart of Iron, they saved many poor people who were ruined by those big noses.

  A group of warlords who follow the system of enfeoffment can become a small closed kingdom as small as an airship or a manor, and the only thing that can restrain the behavior of these Weilantes is the moral sense of their immediate superiors.

   This happens to be the least reliable.

  Even if the legion conquers half of the Central Continent, the most civilized place may only be Triumph City under the command of their marshal.

  Even Triumph City is only relatively civilized.

   It is foreseeable that she will not be tried, and will end up being tortured to death by the governor named Cohen.

   "So let's leave it to you, anyway, we won't hand her over to the legion, you can do whatever you want." Su Ming shrugged and decided the fate of that person with these words.

  Ye Shi feels that this guy has said so much nonsense, but he just wants to throw the trouble on the alliance.

   However, such a result is not harmful to the alliance.

  Even if she is just a disciple, with the strength and speed of three-stage awakening and sent to participate in this kind of mission, she is at least an "elite monster".

  Put some thought into it and maybe you can get something out of her mouth.

  With so many refuges, and it also occupies the geomantic treasure of the Great Desert, there must be a lot of good things from the Enlightenment Society.

  Thinking of the wrong memory extraction device that he saw before, Ye Shi couldn't help showing a dark smile on his face.

   How about using that one?

   It is reasonable for him to return the other person's way.

   It is necessary to make a suggestion to the manager.

"Hello…"

  A voice from next to him interrupted Ye Shi's thoughts.

   Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw a D-level researcher from the academy standing there, looking like he wanted to say something.

   This guy has never given him a good face, and Ye Shi has no interest in her, so he asked a casual question impatiently.

"What's wrong?"

  Jiang Xuezhou didn't speak for a long time.

   Just when he was getting impatient with waiting, she said in a very small voice.

"…Did you see it?"

   "Huh?" Ye Shi replied without understanding what she wanted to ask.

   Seeing this guy pretending to be stupid, Jiang Xuezhou blushed, gritted his teeth, and finally suppressed the words that came to his lips.

"…nothing."

  Ye Shi: "???"

   Damn it!

  You have cat biscuits!

   Hastily changed the previous topic, Jiang Xuezhou continued.

"correct…"

  Ye Shi rolled his eyes impatiently.

"what happened again?"

  Jiang Xuezhou asked in a low voice.

   "That person... pretended to be me, right?"

  Ye Shi: "Yes."

  Jiang Xuezhou asked immediately.

   "How did you recognize me?"

   She wanted to ask this question before she came out of the shelter, but she just couldn't figure out how to ask it.

  Seeing the "worship" eyes, Ye Shi smiled embarrassedly.

  This one.

   I'm ashamed to say that he is a good player anyway, but there are too many talented people in the group, and he can't usually show it.

   Especially intuition.

   It's not that he's bragging, no one in the entire server is better than him. Even the old woman who lived for more than 200 years was taken aback, and he immediately identified it at a glance.

   "Hey, isn't that very simple... It's not like that at all."

  Jiang Xuezhou was stunned.

   "Not at all...like?"

  Ye Shi said bluntly.

   "Well, maybe my intuition is sharper. The moment that person stood at the door, I knew she was not you."

   "...as if I know you very well."

  Ye Shi waved his hand.

   "It doesn't need to be very familiar, it's just that you are you, and she is her... They are not the same person, how could they be the same."

  The fair face was gradually stained with a hint of red, Jiang Xuezhou stared at him and gritted his teeth, and finally walked away with a cold snort.

  Ye Shi stared at the guy's back inexplicably as he turned and left.

Hey.

   Really evil.

  At first, I thought I could trigger a hidden mission, or explode a gold coin because I was so grateful, but turned around and left.

  MMPD!

  When did I provoke this guy?

  …

  Not long after Ye Shi and Su Ming and his party evacuated from the industrial building, a deafening explosion engulfed Shelter 0.

  The 10,000-ton equivalent released inside is enough to completely blow up the entire unfinished shelter, at least enough to completely destroy the server part physically.

  The "plan" brought out from the shelter and the video left by Captain Lu are enough to explain what happened here.

  Although it is a pity that no treasure was taken away from it, this is still a barely satisfactory result for all parties.

   But to everyone's surprise, the chain reaction of the explosion caused the surface to collapse.

   Coincidentally, the location of the power room is just below the landing point of the Arbiter.

  Those Weilante people who escaped by hiding in the buffer cabin have not yet recovered from the shock, and the flames burst out from under their buttocks.

  Thanks to the 10,000-ton equivalent, the shelter itself absorbed most of the explosion shock wave.

  If the equivalent is higher, I am afraid few people will survive...

  In the camp.

   Adria found Chu Guang and said angrily.

   "What happened to the explosion just now?"

   Chu Guang looked at this guy strangely.

  What does it have to do with you?

  However, considering the other party's eagerness, he still coughed lightly, and comforted him calmly.

   "I heard that it was originally an unfinished shelter, maybe it was in disrepair... The reactor blown up."

  Hearing this sentence, Adria immediately sprayed.

   "How could the third generation of controlled fusion explode! The critical temperature of that thing is billions of degrees!"

   It may also be tens of billions of degrees, he can't remember.

   But he knew one thing, it was not a petrol can, the kind that could be ignited by throwing a lighter.

  Chu Guang shrugged and said without comment.

   "I don't know, I'm also very confused now... I only hope that my people have returned from the bottom, and they may know something."

  Different from the representatives of legions, enterprises, and colleges who were confused, he actually knew a little about what happened below.

  The pangolin could not wait to go offline and report the latest plot to him.

   Although he was surprised by the players' choices, he still respected them.

   The league really doesn't need that kind of thing.

   He did.

   He will stay with his inhabitants until the end.

  Looking at the furious Adria, Chu Guang smiled and continued.

   "By the way, if your airship can't be repaired—"

"no!"

   Before Adria could react, McLenne, who had rushed to answer in advance, pulled his arm and stared at Chu Guang vigilantly to answer.

   "We can fix it ourselves, we don't need your help!"

  Looking at the suspicious General McLenne, Chu Guang froze for a moment, then said dumbfoundedly.

   "I haven't said anything yet."

   McCllen said with a dark face.

"I do not want to know."

   Several Weilante people rushed towards the direction of the industrial building.

  Chu Guang reckoned that they should have gone to find Wali to find out the situation, but unfortunately that man had already been killed by the disciples of the Enlightenment Society.

  At this time, his personal guard captain Lu Bei came from the side.

  Holding his right fist to his chest, the young man said solemnly.

   "...My lord, the wolf cavalry of the Death Corps have locked on to the phaser guns attacking us, but they have not found the enemy's command post."

  Chu Guang frowned.

"could not find it?"

   Lu Bei nodded in shame.

"Hmm... According to a wolf cavalry report, the local headquarters should not be nearby. He found a signal tower in the area near the signal source. The signal tower seems to be connected to other terminals through a wired connection, and it seems that It is connected to a very far place.”

  —

   (Thanks to the leaders of "Enthusiastic Citizen Xiao Wang" and "Moxuan" for the reward!!)

  (end of this chapter)