Chapter 53: Starting From Us
A few minutes later, the tree stump that had been moved inside the fortifications was carried back outside.
Chen Jian casually wiped the mud off his hands on Shen Yue’s clothes, then let out a long breath and said, “I really didn’t expect so many years had passed... Based on the corrosion I originally saw on those pieces of equipment, I estimated it would be around two hundred years or so.”
“But clearly, I was wrong.”
“Then again, even with rapid reproduction, twenty years per generation is almost the limit.”
“If it were only ten generations, civilization wouldn’t have declined to this extent.”
“Add another hundred years, and it becomes much more reasonable.”
“Once you pass that ten-generation threshold, many things change fundamentally.”
“Indeed,” Shen Yue nodded in agreement and added, “If that’s the case, many of our previous assumptions about this world need to be reconsidered.”
“Those newer bullets and equipment might not have been obtained from the surface or ordinary shelters and fortifications; some likely came from similar disaster-prepared bunkers by chance.”
“Looking at the equipment configuration in this fortification, they must have absorbed at least a small portion of knowledge.”
“But that small portion of knowledge didn’t transform into an effective social civilization.”
“Is it because it truly couldn’t be transformed, or was it strictly contained within a small scope? That’s a question too.”
“The bigger problem is, in such a vast fortification, there aren’t enough paper books or materials. If the people who opened it weren’t Lei Jie and couldn’t use smart terminals, then how was knowledge passed on?”
After Shen Yue finished speaking, He Shuo chimed in from the side, “It was probably too late—archiving and retrieving paper materials is too cumbersome, and sending them here wasn’t worth it.”
“I think libraries and archives across the regions switched to disaster-prepared mode locally, but even if the disaster-prepared archives were discovered, the locals here wouldn’t know how to utilize them.”
“The knowledge still exists, but there’s no one left who can understand it.”
“Reasonable,” Chen Jian nodded, looking toward the piled supplies on the first floor. He was about to organize a few people to unpack and inspect them when Lei Jie came up from the second floor carrying a large screen.
“Give me a hand, help me set this thing up.”
“I’ve already debugged the server and host; this monitor should still work.”
“Connect the cables; let’s see what’s inside this terminal!”
“On it,” Chen Jian responded, and a few people quickly moved over to Lei Jie.
They found a somewhat spacious spot to place the monitor. Lei Jie turned and went downstairs to fetch cables, while the others worked together to connect the keyboard and control panel according to the labels. A moment later, the underground fortification’s operational terminal was fully assembled.
Power was switched on, and the screen lit up.
After the system finished loading, a familiar yet foreign interface appeared before them.
Chen Jian had used a similar intelligent system built into underground fortifications before. Its function was simply to control various facilities inside the fortification.
Such as water circulation, air purification, disinfection and fire control, electricity, start and stop operations, and so on.
But this system was obviously evolved, more user-friendly than the one he was familiar with.
The system desktop was already quite close to a civilian interface, and on the desktop, a document was marked with a prominent icon.
Chen Jian initially thought it was an operation manual, but upon opening it, he found it was actually a “work log.”
A chaotic, unorganized work log compiled from various sources.
The first line identified the exact time when the disaster began.
And continuing down were a series of emergency response records:
[October 19, 2045, 16:32: Order received, Fortification 7025 switches to wartime disaster-prepared state.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:35: 7025, material transport initiated.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:39: Three Gorges, dam gate opening order issued.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:40: Daya Bay, AOP332, reactor shutdown but no fuel unloading.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:40: Qinshan, AP1000, reactor shutdown.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:41: Daya Bay, switching to AP1000, reactor shutdown.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:42: ****, level one combat readiness, upright and awaiting launch.]
[October 19, 2045, 16:43: Zhenhai, power and furnace shutdown completed.]
...
[October 19, 2045, 17:32: Dongte here, this is the last batch of steel!]
[October 19, 2045, 17:33: Nanfan still active, seedlings sealed.]
[October 19, 2045, 17:34: National Grid here, everyone, countdown one hour, prepare for power cut to protect the grid.]
[October 19, 2045, 17:35: National Library here, permissions issued, all terminals clearing load, disaster-prepared archives prioritized for download.]
[October 19, 2045, 17:36: This is Huaxi, data updated and uploading. Only me left, please Cooperate to receive permissions.]
...
[October 19, 2045, 18:41: 7025, isolation doors locked successfully.]
[October 19, 2045, 18:42: This is 401, we are surfacing, are you still there?]
...
The log stopped abruptly here, but everyone who read it gained a remarkably clear understanding of the catastrophe.
They truly had done everything they could.
Countless departments and teams had coordinated to minimize secondary disasters in their final moments of life.
Nuclear power plants shut down, dams released water, chemical plants powered down and stopped furnaces, emergency disaster-prepared fortifications were fully activated, and large quantities of supplies were delivered to those already suffering from organ failure, some barely able to walk, inside the bunkers.
And ordinary people had not given up either.
Who didn’t know the inevitable end was before them?
Yet the last person remaining was still thinking about how to upload the data in hand.
No one could blame them, nor could anyone have done better.
Chen Jian silently stared at the screen, while the returning Sacred Blood members behind him quietly watched him.
Perhaps to those Sacred Blood members, they could not comprehend the monumental struggle those people endured before the great disaster.
But Chen Jian felt they had a duty to know exactly how they had survived.
They deserved to know.
So, Chen Jian called the three over to the screen and spoke slowly:
“We still don’t know exactly how the great disaster came about, but now, I want to tell you what those ‘ghosts before the great disaster’ did to ensure you survived.”
“I must tell you, those who saved you were never gods, nor saints of the Sacred Blood Cathedral.”
“Of course, not even us so-called ‘chosen ones.’”
“Because what they did was beyond even gods.”
...
Half an hour later, the three Sacred Blood members, having endured a massive shock to their worldview, stood quietly in place, their eyes now shining with a light Chen Jian had never seen before.
Li Shi remained taciturn, his lips moving a few times but uttering no words.
Zeng Yi first glanced at Chen Jian, then turned to look at Xie Liu.
Then he asked, “Are we... going back?”
Xie Liu shook her head and answered, “No.”
“Don’t you understand? The Sacred Blood Cathedral and the Mechanical God Cult are all lies.”
“Since I was old enough to understand, I’ve doubted this.”
“Now it seems... they’re just a shattered mirror.”
“They only reflect a faint light from days long gone.”
“Why would we go back there? To follow their orders, to mate after nineteen and give birth to some freak—monster or Sacred Blood descendant?”
“That fate doesn’t belong to true humanity.”
“You can leave, but I’m staying.”
“This place might be hard, but at least the light here is real.”
“Understood...” Zeng Yi looked at Chen Jian and said firmly, “I’m a mole for Xu Lie.”
“But now, this life belongs to you.”
“Agreed,” Chen Jian nodded and continued, “You only get one chance to be honest. Anything else to say?”
“No,” Zeng Yi answered decisively, “If you don’t believe me, I can die right here.”
“But Li Shi and Xie Liu are innocent.”
“I can tell.”
Chen Jian waved his hand, his expression relaxing a little.
Then he stood and scanned the surroundings, speaking:
“All right, remember what you’ve seen, then focus on what we need to do.”
“The equipment on the first floor is what we need most and can use best.”
“Let’s get to work, open all the boxes and sort everything out.”
“If this fire is going to burn... it starts with us!”