Chapter 90 Save AI7, City of Wisdom
Wu Wangwang's current perception range is not very large, after all, she has to prevent the referee from noticing. Within her limit, the trees are intertwined and cannot be seen to the end, which means that the entire vegetation will not collapse just because some branches are removed.
It's like going into a tropical rainforest, where after you cut down some of the towering trees that block out the sun, the trees next door still stand tall.
However, to avoid damaging nearby vegetation, it is best to use cold weapons.
So Wu Wangwang patted Ling Yuanshan's shoulder again: "Use your knife to cut a hole big enough for two people to go in. Go down and take a look. The branches nearby are intertwined, so it won't collapse so easily. Even if it does, your knife can only cut a small area, so it won't collapse too much."
Ling Yuanshan put away the light screen, pondered for a moment, and nodded: "I'll try it first."
Others felt that this method was purely a bold attempt, and since they couldn't really be trapped here, they should try any method they could find.
So when Ling Yuanshan made his move, all the players except Wu Wangwang ran a little further away and clung tightly to the thickest branch they could find.
The long sword was inherently sharp, capable of killing both humans and ghosts. However, it lacked any additional buffs and was simply a pure sword. Cutting tree branches was like slicing through mud, with clean cuts that didn't even cause the nearby branches to vibrate. It quickly cut out a round pit.
Finding that nothing around them had collapsed, Wu Wangwang used her scissors to poke out the excess large branches one by one, but soon her arms were not long enough.
Ling Yuanshan held his longsword and gestured to indicate the distance, saying, "Fifth Brother, move aside a bit, let me try to break through in one go."
Wu Wangwang nodded and walked to the side.
Then Ling Yuanshan took the knife in his hand and threw it into the tree pit like a javelin. The sharp knife, accompanied by a gust of wind, quickly shredded the branches below into pieces. About five seconds later, the knife returned to Ling Yuanshan's hand. It had returned by itself; it was unclear whether it had cleared the hole.
Ling Yuanshan looked down and observed for a while, then turned and said, "It's too deep. We'll probably have to go down and come back again to completely clear it. I don't know what the situation will be like when we go down. Second sister, what's the progress on your end?"
The old and new hands were practically sparking from rubbing each other, and she said helplessly, "We're still a little over two short."
She had been rushing along the way, and the road wasn't easy, so her speed was greatly reduced. She only picked up a little more now that she had arrived here.
Wu Wangwang indeed sensed that the vegetation barrier was almost the same as the underground level, so she said, "In that case, let's rest here for a while and conserve our energy. We don't know what the situation will be like down there, and the weapons that Second Sister made are very important."
Everyone nodded in agreement to take a break. There wasn't a single robot nearby, so the third and fourth brothers didn't need to keep watch. They had been traveling all day without even getting any sleep. Even experienced players would get tired if they suddenly relaxed.
Ling Yuanshan stood guard by the pit, taking out the light screen to continue observing the situation outside. Wu Wangwang sat down next to him, and he operated it.
Since they disappeared, more people have come to buy information. These buyers should have known their identities long ago, but each had their own ulterior motives and never reported them. Seeing that they were trying to make money by selling information, they knew that they were short of money to survive and watched them make a fool of themselves like a cat playing with a mouse.
But if they lose their trail, the joke is over, yet they can't bear to give up the real benefits they have, so they rush to buy them, trying to find their information through news of their sale.
After all, the price is so cheap that you won't lose out or be cheated.
After selling another copy, Ling Yuanshan said, "Soon they'll realize we're selling the same message, and then nobody will buy it anymore."
“I know. You keep an eye on the number of people coming to buy each day. Once the number drops significantly, I’ll release a different message, and then you can switch between them.” Wu Wangwang quickly provided a backup plan.
“…If we get caught selling things like this, we’ll really be beaten to death.” Ling Yuanshan felt that this behavior was no different from stirring up trouble.
Wu Wangwang was puzzled: "How could that be? When I buy things online, the sellers always say that the styles will be shipped randomly. If I get something I don't like, I can only accept my bad luck, right? Besides, there are blind boxes, and the sellers haven't been killed yet."
After listening, Ling Yuanshan remained silent for a long time, then sighed deeply: "Modern society is still too advanced..."
They stayed in the woods for three days. The second brother finally finished crafting the weapon by hand. After a quick cleanup, Ling Yuanshan jumped down from the tree pit to destroy the last cover, and the others followed closely behind.
After breaking through the entire vegetation layer, they fell onto an empty street with some warm lights hanging around them. The temperature was just right, and there were many plants growing on the street. They could grow normally even without sunlight underground, probably thanks to these warm lights.
There were no robots nearby, but the house remained empty, and the steel and concrete showed signs of wear and tear.
The third and fourth brothers were quite cautious. After coming down, they first scouted the area and then came back to say that there was no one nearby. They asked which way to go.
At this moment, the leader took out a map, observed it for a while, and said, "The underground situation has never been recorded. Fortunately, the streets have not been changed. If we go left now, we will reach the city. If we go right, we will reach the checkpoint and the protective wall. However, if you wish, you can continue to go down one more level."
Everyone looked at the eldest brother, but there was some doubt on his face. The eighth sister spoke her mind and asked, "Elder brother, why did you stop talking?"
"Because the next level is the sewers. Every city has a drainage system. The place we're standing on is the original ground of this world. Everyone knows what the sewers are like. I'm not sure if the sewers are blocked, or what's down there after all these years. If there are still various pollutants and sources of infection, going down there would be suicide," the leader explained helplessly.
For ordinary humans, the dirty and unknown areas are far more terrifying than facing the enemy head-on; no one wants to die a miserable and humiliating death after being infected with the virus.
Wu Wangwang then said, "Since there are no people or robots nearby, why don't we ask the AI? It should know, right?"
The eldest brother's face lit up with joy: "That's right, there's this thing too. I've never used it before, and I almost thought it was dead."
Then the leader took out the AI and asked it for its current location, coordinates, a complete map, and whether it was possible to leave the main city through the sewers.
The AI replied: "Thinking. The required attachments have been sent to the specific inbox. Conclusion: Do not go through the sewers. The underground level is sealed with history. Reason for sealing: Disease. A disease that infects all living things, including humans, semi-humans, and electronic life. Recommendation: Leave immediately! Leave immediately!"
After hearing this, everyone was shocked. They never expected that there was such a reason for the initial overlay and reconstruction. If it weren't for the AI that recorded the most data, they probably wouldn't have known about this.
While the others panicked, Wu Wangwang quickly noticed something was wrong: "AI, you said this place has been sealed off due to the disease, so why are there still so many heaters? These are things that only humans can do, right?"
If no one is around, how would they make these kinds of heat lamps to make plants grow?
The AI was silent for a moment, then said, "Deep thinking...no relevant records."
"No relevant records?" Lao Ba repeated. "Could it be that someone started a new life here later? If they survived, they must not have been infected, right?"
The fourth brother cautioned, "Don't be too optimistic. It's possible that some infected people were left behind when this place was initially sealed off. They were able to survive because they developed antibodies. Don't underestimate the human will to survive. There are records of people surviving after developing antibodies or waiting for the virus to disappear on its own."
Ling Yuanshan nodded in agreement: "Yes, the humans who survive here are probably not what they are like. They have become accustomed to everything here, but we may not be able to withstand it."
As she spoke, the second sister had already made some gas masks and distributed them to everyone: "Put these on first. These are the highest level gas masks I made based on the data saved by the NPCs. I can't make a gas mask that matches exactly, so use them for now. They'll protect you for a while."
At this moment, the AI said, "The disease in the past was not caused by air circulation."
The group paused, their hands still on their masks. The second brother was speechless: "Why didn't you say so earlier? You made me use so many materials. How exactly did it spread?"
The AI only gave three words: "I don't know."
Players' legs are already trembling; nothing is more terrifying than those three words.
Old Eight's voice trembled: "You knew nothing, yet you directly sealed off this entire area? Why?"
"Because the casualties are out of control." After the AI finished answering, it suddenly pulled up a video, which extended onto a blue screen.
The video shows robots suddenly devouring human flesh, some even parasitizing human bodies without anyone knowing how. Then, their extended mechanical arms blast human flesh apart, and the operating robots constantly churn the human flesh, causing blood and human skin to drip down.
Some humans, armed with various weapons, were smashing and destroying robots, but they were also murdering their own kind. Completely electronic life forms were also devouring and beating up both robots and humans; it was a chaotic melee.
They had no reason. No matter what commands the AI gave, it couldn't stop the robots from killing. Even with their limbs broken, the humans continued to frantically chew on the robots and humans with their teeth, even when the metal pierced their mouths into a spider web.
Those who, even with broken teeth, would risk their lives to commit murder using only their bones, were living hell.
In purgatory, those who had not yet been infected with the disease helped each other escape. At that time, plants were still very common. When the fleeing humans rested, they would always look at the wildflowers growing in the corners of the walls and wonder if they still had such vitality.
The video was short, and considering the human's rational capacity to accept it, the AI quickly stopped the video and released soothing sound waves to comfort the user.
But the three newcomers couldn't help but run to the roadside flower bushes and vomit violently. The splattered blood, flesh, brain matter, and intestines were a sight they had never seen before. The fear of death of their own kind, deeply ingrained in human genes, haunted them, and they couldn't stand up for a long time.
Veteran players are alright, because they've seen far more terrifying and bloody scenes than this.
After chatting for a while, the fourth brother asked, "AI, why did you determine at the time that this was a disease?"
The AI's light flashed: "Because after examination, it was found that their brains or main control chips had lesions that could not be cured. Therefore, they were diagnosed with an incurable infectious disease. Even with current technology, we can only use isolation and containment to block it, but we cannot cure it."
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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]
Wu Wangwang: What are you babbling about? Give me two hundred yuan!
Ling Yuanshan: The jokes you've learned really span across time! [laughing and crying with facepalm]
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