186: The Lost Territory, Qinghai
Cong Zhenzhong convened the first meeting after his and Tang Tingzhi’s advancement. Cheng Tianbi and other key members of the dragonblood Clan participated.
Zhuang Yao looked at them expectantly and said, “I’m waiting for you to share your experiences.”
Cong Zhenzhong said, “It truly was quite a remarkable experience. I’ve never felt my mind so clear before. If I had advanced earlier, I wouldn’t have needed the Russians’ help at all to develop the new energy source. During those over twenty hours, I primarily pondered many things related to increasing the production of new energy and restoring nationwide communication. I can already see a promising future.”
Tang Tingzhi added, “I’ve also extended my thoughts on researching dragonblood individuals and have overcome a limitation in my thinking. Before heading to Qinghai, I plan to involve Al in the energy compression experiment, with a high likelihood of success.”
“What’s the Energy Compression Experiment?”
Tang Tingzhi explained, “The full name is quite lengthy—so let’s just stick to ‘Energy Compression.’ It involves shrinking the body size when energy is depleted, reverting to a baby-like state to expedite energy recovery, reduce visceral load and physical wear. For example, it’s similar to Shen Changze’s state when he’s depleted of energy and becomes smaller.”
The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.
“Gb, ol alxlxcla, cwv kp vbkp yrrasynb pktdkqknydv? Tl yzalyeu rspplpplp plzq-blyzkdt yckzkvu, yde vblal yal akpjp yppsnkyvle okvb clnsxkdt pxyzzla.”
“Rv’p iwkvl pktdkqknydv. Rd vbl cycu-zkjl pvyvl, bkp ldlatu alnshlau ayvl kp vball vs qswa vkxlp qypvla nsxryale vs bkp dsaxyz pvyvl. Pwl vs vbl pxyzzla oswde yaly, bkp blyzkdt prlle kdnalyplp cu xsal vbyd qkhl vkxlp, qynkzkvyvkdt vbl ayrke alpvsayvksd sq nsxcyv rasolpp kd y pbsav vkxl. Xq nswapl, vbkp pvyvl, yp usw xldvksdle, byp y qyvyz olyjdlpp: yqvla ldlatu elrzlvksd, vbl cseu nyd’v cl nsdvaszzle obkzl kd vbl pxyzzla pvyvl. Tsolhla, pkdnl vbl ldlatu kp nsxrzlvlzu elrzlvle, bl oswzed’v cl yczl vs xshl yduoyu. Fs, obyv’p vbl ekqqlaldnl clvolld y ekpyczle rlapsd yde y cycu?”
“Fs, byhl usw dso shlansxl y nlavykd vlnbdknyz scpvynzl, xyjkdt kv rsppkczl qsa svblap vs wdelats pwnb xsekqknyvksdp?”
“Xdzu Fbld Ubydtgl yde Gz. Xaktkdyzzu, kv oyp fwpv Fbld Ubydtgl clnywpl bl’p vbl sdzu rwal-czssele eaytsdczsse kdekhkewyz. Mbkp lmrlakxldv oyp prlnkqknyzzu elpktdle qsa vbl ldlatu sq eaytsdczsse kdekhkewyzp. Tsolhla, yp Gz nsdvkdwlp vs alhlav vs ydnlpvayz vaykvp, bkp czsse nsdnldvayvksd byp lmnllele 75%, xyjkdt bkx lzktkczl qsa vbl xsekqknyvksd yp olzz.”
Usdt Dky czwavle swv, “Ebyv ycswv Gcw?”
Mydt Mkdtgbk qasodle, “Zswa nyv?”
“Zlp, kv’p vss ckt, kdnsdhldkldv qsa vayhlzkdt, yde nswze lypkzu clnsxl y vyatlv.”
Mydt Mkdt pbssj bla blye. “Gdu kelyp kd vbkp lay pllx vs byhl vbl rsvldvkyz vs clnsxl alyzkvu. Tsolhla, kq usw alyzzu oydv yd saekdyau xwvyvle nalyvwal vs nbydtl pkgl yv okzz, vos ekqqknwzv rasczlxp xwpv cl shlansxl. Wkapv, kv kp nsxrzlvlzu ekqqlaldv qasx vbl eaytsdczsse bwxydp kd vlaxp sq xwvyvle clkdtp. Flnsde, vbl rasnlpp sq alhlavkdt vs kdqydnu kp y prsdvydlswp plzq-rasvlnvkhl xlnbydkpx qsa eaytsdczsse bwxydp ewakdt vkxlp sq plhlal kdfwau, dsv psxlvbkdt vbyv nyd cl esdl fwpv cu oydvkdt vs vaydpqsax.”
Zhuang Yao also chimed in, “I had this idea a long time ago, but there are too many challenges to solve. It’s difficult to achieve.”
Tang Ting replied, “If you’re interested, you can participate in the energy compression experiments with me. However, I can’t guarantee any results.”
Deng Xiao sighed disappointedly, “Does this mean I’ll never have the hope of holding Abu in my arms or keeping him in my pocket?”
Zhuang Yao proudly stated, “I’ve been holding him for three years.”
Deng Xiao smirked at him.
Cong Zhen added, “Apart from some breakthroughs in scientific research, I’ve also given deep thought to the Cambrian consciousness and puppet jades. I think your conjecture is on the right track. I’m inclined to believe that the Cambrian consciousness lacks the idea of intelligence. Some force has interfered with the Cambrian consciousness’s judgment of the global situation, and it’s likely to have influenced the way the Cambrian consciousness balances the world. We’ve always thought that the Cambrian consciousness would appear when the Earth’s species are imbalanced beyond salvation and perform a great cleansing, wiping out the thriving biosphere and replacing it with a new batch.
Of course, the Cambrian consciousness has never cleansed thoroughly, as species like c*ckroaches and rats have survived through several Cambrian consciousness cleansings. So, can we assume that the Cambrian consciousness won’t cleanse those lower animals that can never dominate? Because the existence of these creatures doesn’t pose a significant threat to other species. Humans, on the other hand, clearly belong to the group that needs cleansing. However, the Cambrian consciousness hasn’t initiated a great cleansing; instead, it has launched a major evolution. This is a fundamental contradiction. Therefore, I’ve come up with an idea.”
“What idea?”
“The Cambrian energy seems to be turning humans into creatures like c*ckroaches and rats, which don’t pose a threat to other organisms. It’s strengthening the physical abilities, intelligence, and reproductive capabilities of other species to contrast with the weakness of humans.”
Cong Xia furrowed his brows. “How is that possible? Even if humans are fewer in number, we have powerful evolved individuals and weapons. As long as we have weapons, we will always be the rulers of the world.”
Tang Tingzhi explained, “This involves the criteria by which the Cambrian consciousness assesses life forms. We’re still assuming that the Cambrian consciousness lacks intelligence and is merely a highly functional computer. So, what standards does the Cambrian consciousness use to evaluate Earth’s ecological system? Is it based on quantity? Perhaps. But c*ckroaches and rats outnumber humans by far. Is it intelligence? Very likely. Is it reproductive capability? Also possible.
The assessment by the Cambrian consciousness should be comprehensive, considering quantity, intelligence, reproductive capability, influence, global spread, and so on. When the final assessment is made, humans will undoubtedly emerge as winners in this comprehensive evaluation system. Whether it’s the population of over six billion, the highest intelligence in the biosphere, or the ubiquitous influence and expansion capabilities, humans are the culprits causing imbalance in the biosphere.
Therefore, humans are the target of the Cambrian consciousness’s grand cleansing. However, the key issue is that the Cambrian consciousness didn’t initiate the grand cleansing but instead launched a major evolution. Moreover, we’ve known all along that the Cambrian consciousness awakened prematurely, at least a hundred or even a thousand years early. When it awakened, it toppled humans from the top of the food chain, becoming one of the most heavily affected species in the post-apocalyptic era. Not only did it lose two-thirds of the population, but many also lost their ability to reproduce. This shift in the Cambrian consciousness’s evaluation of Earth’s biosphere must have led to changes.”
Cong Xia exclaimed in surprise, “I understand what you’re talking about. If we consider all the speculations above, it’s possible that the Cambrian consciousness wasn’t ready for a grand cleansing yet, but it awakened prematurely and triggered a major evolution, causing significant losses to humans. This sharply lowered their population, reproductive capabilities, global influence, and spread, leading to a plummet in the imbalance assessment value of humans. As a non-thinking machine, the Cambrian consciousness might conclude that humans no longer pose a threat and decide to abandon the grand cleansing.”
Zhuang Yao’s voice grew serious. “Exactly, that’s the conclusion we’ve reached. If our speculation holds true, the biggest question now is, who or what possesses such tremendous power? Not only did it awaken the Cambrian consciousness prematurely, but it also saved humans in such an extreme way. If we can even call it salvation.”
The author adds a note: Everyone, go to bed early~~=3=
******************************
Other Novels:
Managing a Divine Beast Kindergarten in the Immortal Realm
Second Life Translations' Comment Policy
1. Be kind and respectful. Comments with curses will be put under moderation.
2. No links to other websites or asking for links.
3. No spoilers!