52 Weird Oceanarium (Part 9)
◎I can’t think for humans◎
Mechanical Oceanarium, Safety Zone.
The safe zone accommodated more than 600 people. In the first hour, some people were still shouting for help, but in the second hour, they gave up resistance.
There is a huge TV screen in the venue, which has been automatically activated since entering, and is playing emergency avoidance information in a loop.
A gentle and polite young lady was instructing them on how to relax and keep a good mood before the rescue team arrived, but they were totally unable to do it. Everyone thought the video was nonsense, and some people were hiding in the corner and crying secretly.
The secondary brain was disconnected from the Internet, and they wrote their last words or recorded their last video in the secondary brain. The atmosphere in the entire safe zone was very heavy.
There was a little boy who huddled in a corner, hugging his knees. He had lost his parents because an accident had occurred at the aquarium. Before he could react, he was pushed into the safe zone by the crowd and had no idea where his parents were.
A new argument broke out among the crowd. Some wanted to open the door and look outside, saying people couldn't be trapped here and wait to die. Others insisted the shelter's door couldn't be opened, as if a single contaminant got in, the entire group would be wiped out.
The little boy shrunk his body and no one protected him, so he could only protect himself.
Suddenly, his vision darkened and he saw someone standing opposite him.
The little boy looked up and saw a white-haired old man wearing a blue suit and a red bow tie. He exuded a scholarly air and looked like a retired university professor.
"Is there anyone nearby?" asked the old man.
The little boy shook his head, and the old man sat down next to him. There were many people in the venue, and everyone was sitting on the floor, so it seemed very crowded.
The old man sat for a while and suddenly asked, "Do you know jellyfish?"
"Huh?" The little boy was trembling all over. He took a moment to react and whispered, "I just came to see the mechanical jellyfish."
But it failed. As soon as they checked their tickets and entered, people inside ran out, shouting that the venue had collapsed.
The old man smiled and said, "Jellyfish are very beautiful creatures."
He took out his secondary brain. Although it was not connected to the Internet, he had saved many pictures of jellyfish in it.
"This is a fireworks jellyfish," said the old man.
The secondary brain saves a GIF of a firework jellyfish in the deep sea, its tentacles swaying gently as it swims, as brilliant as fireworks.
"This is an egg yolk jellyfish."
In another picture, a pale yellow jellyfish is swimming, which is very cute.
Jellyfish have a very strange attraction. Against the backdrop of the deep sea, they are as beautiful as alien creatures. Looking at them for a long time will make people feel very quiet and peaceful.
The little boy was so engrossed in watching that he forgot about the disaster outside, as if he were in the deep sea.
"This is a mechanical jellyfish." The old man slid the photo. The mechanical jellyfish was more beautiful. They had the luster of metal and the agility of jellyfish. The reflected light was full of the beauty of technology.
The old man's voice was very steady, always unhurried. "Jellyfish don't have respiratory organs or circulatory systems, only primitive digestive organs."
The little boy's eyes widened, not understanding what he said.
Children don't need to understand that it would be terrifying if a creature only had a digestive system, just like the Federation has now created an artificial human with no other organs, only a mouth, a stomach, and excretory organs.
To use a human analogy, he will never let go of food when he sees it, and he will destroy everyone and everything within his sight.
"Jellyfish have their own symbiotic partners," the old man said, "just like rhinoceroses and rhino birds."
Rhino bird? He understood this sentence. He had read in his textbook that rhino birds feed on the scraps between rhinoceros teeth. Rhinoceroses need rhino birds to clean their teeth.
Do jellyfish have symbiotic partners? He had never heard of it before.
"Its common name is small shepherd fish. It is no more than 7 centimeters long, about the same size as your hand." The old man gestured with his hand.
The little boy was attracted and completely forgot about the adults' quarrel. He stared at his hand without blinking. Is this such a small fish?
"Did you know jellyfish are poisonous?"
He nodded vigorously this time. Jellyfish are poisonous, and some can release electric currents to paralyze their prey. Jellyfish are beautiful-looking but very dangerous creatures.
"The little shepherd fish can cleverly avoid the tentacles of jellyfish. If they encounter their predators, they will hide among the jellyfish's tentacles as a refuge, just like you are hiding here now."
Shelter? He carefully looked up and glanced around. He was a small herder, so this shelter was a large jellyfish?
"The small shepherd fish lures the big fish, and the big fish becomes the prey of the jellyfish. After the jellyfish eats the prey, the small shepherd fish can eat the remaining food." The old man looked at the animated image of the mechanical jellyfish again, his eyes very gentle, as if he was looking at a child.
"Then..." the little boy asked, "Does the mechanical jellyfish also have its own little fish herders?"
Mechanical jellyfish are man-made and completely different from ordinary natural jellyfish.
"Yes," the old man said, "The aquarium's settings are very rigorous, restoring their original ecological environment. Their small herder fish are even more powerful and terrifying."
Powerful? Terrifying?
Little boy: "Why can't I see?"
He leaned in front of the sub-brain and looked carefully. There was nothing in the picture except the mechanical jellyfish. Where were the little shepherd fish?
Mechanical jellyfish are very popular, and there are many videos and photos of them on the Internet. I have never heard that there are symbiotic partners inside the glass wall. If there were any, they would have been discovered long ago. I guess they are just nonsense made up to fool themselves.
The little boy thought the old man was a little nervous, but when he looked closely, he felt that his eyes and eyebrows looked a little familiar, but unfortunately he couldn't remember where he had seen him.
The little boy was about to speak when suddenly, bang! There was a loud noise outside.
It was so loud that everyone in the shelter heard it. Those who were arguing immediately shut up, as if someone had suddenly grabbed their throat.
The little boy instinctively shrank behind the old man, leaving only his eyes exposed. They nervously looked towards the gate. Something was moving behind the gate, something was approaching the shelter.
Pollutants? Has there been any pollution found in the refuge?
What would they do if pollutants came in? The shelter was like a granary for pollutants!
…
With a sizzling sound——
There was a sharp sound of electricity in the public channel, and the noise almost pierced the eardrum.
Prometheus turned on the noise filter, and the sound of electricity ended with the loud noise, and then there was no sound at all.
Zhu Ning: "How are they doing over there?"
Prometheus: [Attacked by unknown creatures, chaos reigns.]
It should be a surprise attack. The enemy is transparent and people can't find where the enemy is.
Before Zhu Ning could say anything, Chu Ling could no longer contain her excitement. She was eager to go to the Mechanical Jellyfish Museum to reunite with her teammates. They were her teammates, so of course she was anxious.
"Chu Ling!" Zhu Ning shouted, "Wait! Don't move!"
Chu Ling was a little impatient, but still stopped and asked, "What are you doing?"
Time was urgent and Zhu Ning's mind was working fast, but unfortunately he couldn't think of any good solution for a while, so he could only share the information he learned.
"Don't worry," Zhu Ning was about to blurt out, but then he thought of something and said, "Prometheus, turn on the helmet's privacy system."
[Privacy system has been activated.]
Li Nianchuan next to him was stunned. They were wearing helmets that allowed them to speak audibly. After turning on the privacy system, people outside could not hear their voices. The four of them formed an encrypted channel.
Zhu Ning: "There's an unknown transparent creature out there."
Li Nianchuan asked, "Is that why you always feel like someone is watching you?"
"Well," Zhu Ning said, "I suspect they were the ones who toppled the glass wall. If that's the case, they would possess a powerful ability: immense strength."
After Zhu Ning finished speaking, no one spoke for a while.
There is a kind of creature that is invisible to the human eye. It lurks quietly in every corner of the aquarium. Moreover, they are not ordinary creatures. They even have enormous power and can push down tons of glass walls.
The invisible man may not have firearms, but if he catches you, your neck will be broken easily. Don't move without knowing the situation, because you don't know where the invisible man is.
Maybe...it's in this director's office.
There was a man hiding in the corner of the director's office. He quietly watched them, watching them look for clues, analyze the scene, and then choose the right time to attack.
Zhu Ning didn't know what exactly Tang Ke had encountered, but the more chaotic the situation was, the easier it would be for someone to take advantage of it.
Chu Ling asked, "How many are there?"
"I don't know," Zhu Ning paused. She wanted to tell everyone some good news to calm them down, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She had to explain the current situation clearly. "I suspect it's a tribe, at least a dozen or twenty."
This was just her guess, there could be more, hundreds or thousands.
Zhu Ning: "The trouble Tang Ke is facing is obviously worse than ours. They have mechanical jellyfish. When I came in, I saw a corpse with mechanical tentacles crawling out of its chest."
Chu Ling continued, "Jellyfish are thirsty for water. After leaving the water source, they will choose to parasitize humans. Their tentacles will extend from the heart, pierce the aorta, and climb all the way until they have absorbed enough water."
Li Nianchuan took a deep breath, it was terrifying just thinking about it.
Zhu Ning's face turned even worse when he heard this. "I don't know how many of the characteristics of jellyfish the mechanical jellyfish have retained. Jellyfish can release electric currents to paralyze enemies, and some are even poisonous. Now you say the mechanical jellyfish can parasitize and suck blood. Tang Ke and the others are very dangerous."
In other words, the current situation of the mechanical jellyfish museum downstairs was far beyond their imagination. Tang Ke had two kinds of enemies on his side: he had to be on guard against the mechanical jellyfish remaining in the water and the unknown transparent creatures.
Zhu Ning: "Think carefully before you go to support us, otherwise we will only cause more trouble."
You can detect some clues when things are quiet, but once you get involved in the melee, it becomes even harder to tell whether the people around you are friends or foes.
Zhu Ning was the calmest of the group. She quickly began to analyze the situation and asked, "Prometheus, was the White Dove Team's rescue successful?"
[Approaching the safety zone, just reached the door, should take another ten minutes.]
Ten minutes means they can't blow up the venue before then.
To prioritize ensuring that civilians can leave the aquarium, they must buy time for the White Dove Team. The Grey Eagle Team should also think so, so Tang Ke and the others are still resisting.
There is also a pollution source in the mechanical jellyfish museum, which has not been purified yet.
Zhu Ning asked, "Has the message been delivered? We request the use of explosive weapons at the appropriate time."
Now we can no longer care about the research value of marine life. Once the invisible man runs away, he will hide in every corner of Area 103.
Prometheus: [Cleanser Zhu Ning's analysis report has been uploaded, and the request for blasting has been uploaded.]
I have requested to cancel the monitoring status and enter the command status, but there has been no response. Friendly reminder: there is a certain time delay between the contaminated area and the outside world.
Depending on the situation, there may be information delays in receiving signals from the outside world. The speeds in the polluted area are different, and even Prometheus cannot handle information delays.
Before waiting for a response, they can only figure out a solution on their own. This is the current situation, and they have to admit it even if they don't want to.
Chu Ling took a deep breath and finally calmed down, "Let's get close together first."
In the presence of invisible people, it is very insecure to expose your back. Grouping together for warmth can increase your survival rate. At least you can be sure of who is behind you. It is a good idea.
No one objected. The four of them leaned together, back to back, and looked in four directions.
The invisible people are only transparent, but they are also living creatures. Living creatures can easily leave flaws when walking on the ground. For example, they will leave ripples in the water, and they will leave bloody footprints after stepping on a corpse.
The four people stared at the void, fearing that they would be suddenly attacked by unknown creatures and caught off guard. So far, no one attacked.
Zhu Ning: "Think about it, they should be able to solve it with weapons. The only problem is transparency and huge strength."
In fact, as long as the transparency problem is solved, the enemy can be seen and the demon hunter can use weapons to break through.
Xu Meng: "The invisible man should reflect light when entering the water."
Glass and water surfaces have similar effects.
Chu Ling: "The angle is too difficult to find."
This situation is a real test of eyesight, and it's hard to tell whether there is refraction or not.
Li Nianchuan: "You should be able to see it in colored water."
For example, if the pool is dyed red, a transparent person will appear as an outline in the red water.
Chu Ling: "There are colorants in the aquarium?"
Li Nianchuan was silent.
This practice is irresponsible. He is not familiar with the aquarium and does not know what chemical materials are needed for the aquarium's life-support system. He does not even know where these things will eventually be used. Moreover, the amount of colorants required for such a large aquarium is beyond imagination.
Zhu Ning: "There is ink available, but not much, and the efficiency is not high."
You can splash colored water to reveal your form, but where to splash it is the problem.
Li Nianchuan: "Is the helmet's red thermal imaging function available?"
Prometheus: [Not recommended. Technological products cannot accurately capture pollutants.]
Pollutants are something that only humans can touch and explore. Robots can do very little about them. Pollutants are invisible in red-hot imaging, and from Prometheus's perspective, no unknown organisms are detected at all.
Li Nianchuan was a little frustrated. Chu Ling sighed, "There are marked bullets in the demon hunter's equipment."
Marking bullets have no lethality. They will explode at the moment the bullet is fired, and then explode. The dye will adhere to the prey. They are generally used to mark the scene, but the blasting range of a bullet is only one meter.
This sounds like the most useful solution. Maybe the Grey Eagle team downstairs is also using this method.
Zhu Ning asked, "How much do you have?"
Chu Ling: "Twenty."
Marked bullets are not a necessity. They rarely use them during missions. If they are not required, many people will forget to bring them.
It’s a bit too little, Zhu Ning thought. The characteristics of the marking bullets determine that their efficiency will not be high. It is hard to say how many can be marked after firing twenty bullets.
And they have to cooperate with each other. For example, Chu Ling shoots a marked bullet in the direction where the invisible man is suspected to be, and Zhu Ning shoots the moment the invisible man appears, ensuring a headshot. Only in this way can there be a chance of winning.
Zhu Ning: "You can give it a try."
She and Chu Ling can definitely do it together. They have a good understanding between them, but she doesn't know what to do after the twenty bullets are used up.
Zhu Ning thought about it, and there was nothing that could be used in this situation, including system talents and props. Now Zhu Ning wanted to use it without fear of being exposed, but there was no talent for her to use.
There is another question, what should we do with Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan?
In a battle of this level, ordinary cleaners do not have the ability to fight back. Xu Meng may be hiding some strength, and Zhu Ning knows very well what kind of person Li Nianchuan is.
Zhu Ning and Chu Ling's movements would definitely be slowed down, but if they were left behind they would definitely be killed.
Zhu Ning was just about to ask if the White Dove Team was far from here. If not, he could leave them to the White Dove Team so that Li Nianchuan and Xu Meng could follow the civilians out of the contaminated area.
Before Zhu Ning could start speaking, Xu Meng suddenly said, "Fire extinguisher."
"Um?"
Xu Meng: "Federal regulations require that public venues must have a fire extinguisher every 100 meters."
They had seen it when they came in. There was one in the director's office. The fire extinguisher was not difficult to find and could be easily obtained locally. The dry powder sprayed out could make the invisible man appear outlined, which was a more economical, affordable and effective method.
Zhu Ning glanced at Xu Meng, but since they were both wearing helmets, she couldn't see Xu Meng's expression.
Ever since meeting her at Yongsheng Pharmaceutical, Zhu Ning has always felt a little alienated from her, fearing that she was from the opposing camp.
Now Zhu Ning has temporarily let down his guard against her. Xu Meng has always been the same image in his mind. She doesn't talk as much as Li Nianchuan, and she is responsible and down-to-earth.
Zhu Ning: "Okay."
She has now inexplicably become the captain of the four-person team, and they instinctively follow Zhu Ning's next command.
"Four of us will act together. Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan will be responsible for making the invisible man visible. Any method will do. Chu Ling and I will be responsible for killing him." Zhu Ning asked, "Any problem?"
"No."
Even Li Nianchuan has no problem. Although he has no ability, he doesn't want to hold others back at this time.
It takes at least seven minutes to get from the director's office to the mechanical jellyfish museum. Zhu Ning has to ensure that everyone arrives safely within these seven minutes.
Before Zhu Ning took action, she asked Prometheus a question in her own private channel, "What would you do if you took over our bodies?"
Prometheus: [Similar to what you did.]
But he didn't need to think, as he calculated very quickly and had already figured out the solution with the highest probability when Zhu Ning suggested the existence of a transparent person.
In Prometheus's eyes, controlling them was like controlling eight game characters at the same time, and perhaps the degree of coordination would be higher.
Zhu Ning: "Why didn't you just tell me the answer?"
Prometheus knew the answer instantly, but he said nothing.
Prometheus: [I cannot think for humans.]
Thinking was once the most important characteristic of human beings. What distinguishes humans from other lower animals is that humans can think independently. The emergence of artificial intelligence should not deprive humans of their ability to think.
Zhu Ning was silent, she accepted this statement.
Human beings have made too many concessions in the face of pollutants and artificial intelligence. Human beings who rely on technology will lose their perception of danger, their thinking ability will degenerate, and their ability to resist will degenerate.
They must use their own brains to take their last position.
Zhu Ning took a deep breath and said, "Synchronize our information to the Grey Eagle Team and tell them that we are about to go to the Mechanical Jellyfish Pavilion for emergency support."
She pushed open the door of the director's office and found the corridor empty, with no one in sight.
But there seemed to be a lot of people in the corridor, invisible enemies gathered densely, waiting to devour their prey at any time.
The author has something to say:
1. Jellyfish have no respiratory organs or circulatory systems, only primitive digestive organs, so the captured food is immediately digested and absorbed in the coelenteron.
2. Jellyfish have their own symbiotic partner, a species of dipteran known as the small herder fish. It's no more than 7 centimeters long and can freely swim among the jellyfish's tentacles, unfazed. When a larger fish approaches, the small herder fish takes refuge between the tentacles beneath the giant umbrella, using the jellyfish's stinging cells to cleverly avoid attacks from predators. — From a certain science.
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-09-07 18:10:50 and 2022-09-08 18:17:57~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: reward him with 1 Thousand Charms;
Thanks to the little angels who provided the nutrient solution: Yan Xi (50 bottles); 60680135 (30 bottles); Dashihua Xiaomao (26 bottles); 18649082 (14 bottles); Yuezong, 55188550, 51739659, Guanshanhai, Yuyuyu, Hulumao, and Xiaoyuanziguaiguai (10 bottles); Milizi (8 bottles); 36590221 (5 bottles); Shiwanyi (3 bottles); NBCS, Qianqian, and Empire of Fire (1 bottle).
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