Chapter 291: The Era Has Changed
After Earthlings transmigrated to the Other World, they faced the invasion of the zombie virus and uncovered the potential in their genes. The depth and scope of their research into viruses surpassed what the virology on Earth had reached.
There were more than one hundred virus research centers in Dragon City, and gene medicine was connected to viruses as well.
After the zombie catastrophe sifted out the weak, the surviving humans had much stronger immune systems, and they were not afraid of most viruses.
But to ensure that the zombie catastrophe would not happen again, when legitimate virus research centers modified brand new viruses, they had to set up defensive precautions to ensure that the viruses would not be infectious to humans.
“So, this means that this is a viral infection created by surgical means, and it was used specifically to target Spirit Creations Creatures?” Meng Chao was contemplative. “So, what’s the deal with the Giant Sandworm suddenly swelling up several times its size and obtaining a brand new skill? It evolved from a monster to a superbeast. How did that happen?”
Gao Ye was just about to answer when the monitor monitoring Trash Site 4 suddenly screeched, and an entire patch of land suddenly collapsed.
The surface of the land had been created by a mountain of trash, and there were a lot of holes in it because of the Giant Sandworms crawling underground. It had long since become incredibly brittle.
The workers had accidentally touched a fragile part underground while they were dragging the carcass of the super Giant Sandworm out, and quite a number of equipment was crushed.
“I’ll take command,” Gao Ye said through the communication channel.
Then, he sat down in a chair in the lab that looked like the examination chairs in a dentist’s office. It was also bound with all sorts of dense pipe wires.
His brain was gradually enveloped by a superbrain.
The pipe wires shone when mental strength gushed out endlessly through his temples and forehead. Then, through the internet, it went straight to Trash Site 4.
Something amazing happened.
A rather clumsy Giant Sandworm suddenly looked up. With movements that were way more agile than they should be, it crawled into the drainage pipe.
It was like a scalpel that cut straight into a lesion and accurately found the spot with the super Giant Sandworm. It ate the trash and rocks that blocked the workers from going forward, which soon cleared up a tunnel.
As someone slowly spun a winch, a steel wire rope finally dragged the super Giant Sandworm’s carcass to the surface, which was covered by a soft cloth.
The workers cheered.
Gao Ye sighed in relief. He removed the superbrain and stared at the super Giant Sandworm on the screen. “It’s too beautiful…” he mumbled.
“Director Gao, were you controlling the Giant Sandworm just now?” Meng Chao asked with great interest. “I never knew that monster controllers could control biochemical beasts from so far away.”
“The internet in Dragon City has become incredibly steady. 9G technology is enough to transfer human brainwaves and mental strength. So, monster controllers and biochemical beasts don’t necessarily have to stay together. Of course, it’s only when your mental power is strong that you can control creatures remotely,” Gao Ye answered casually.
He looked at the drainage pipes on the screen and pondered it for a while before he added, “When I controlled the Giant Sandworm, I noticed quite a lot of industrial sewage water and mud soaked by chemical waste.
“I think that the Giant Sandworm ate this complicated mud while being stimulated by the mutated rabies, which is why it experienced this unknown mutation.
“This is something that we’ll only be able to figure out once we take samples of the industrial sewage water and the contaminated mud. We’ll need to conduct tests and examinations.
“No matter what, this super Giant Sandworm is definitely a miracle. It’s so large and beautiful. This is the perfect machine of flesh and bone. Compared to those crude scrap metals from Heavenly Works Machines, it’s much better. This is the future of our civilization!”
Meng Chao stared at Gao Ye for a long time. “Director Gao, you seem to… be really averse to runic symbol technology.”
Gao Ye smiled. “The graduates of Monster University are all very averse to runic symbol technology, don’t you think?”
“True.” Meng Chao thought about it and agreed. “Runic symbol machines use up more crystals, their failure rate is higher, and they cause more pollution. In many situations, they can’t compare to biochemical modification technology in terms of being environmentally friendly, efficient, and producing no pollution.
“Aside from that, there is one more major problem with runic symbol machines. As the development of automatized technology continues and all sorts of runic symbols with new functions are discovered or developed, they will gradually take over the positions of most normal people.”
Once they found the super Giant Sandworm, Gao Ye became really happy and much friendlier. He looked incredibly excited and like he was seconds away from declaring Meng Chao as his bosom buddy.
This was how many eccentric people acted. They usually kept their thoughts tightly locked in themselves, but once their mouths were unzipped, they started talking without stopping.
“Right now, Dragon City is in a very awkward conflict,” Gao Ye said. “On one hand, the higher-ups know very well that it’s impossible for us to conquer the vast and endless Other World with just tens of millions of people. If they want to effectively rule the place, they can only continuously develop the internet and automatized technology to use runic symbol machines and superbrains to replace humans.
“On the other hand, before we can even expand outwards and obtain enough survival space for ourselves, Dragon City will end up being unable to provide enough jobs for tens of millions of citizens that would give them dignified lives.
“Hence, when the runic symbol machines with the newest superbrains replace humans in more and more jobs with an efficiency that is ten times higher than that of humans, there will be millions and even tens of millions of youngsters who won’t be able to find jobs.
“If runic symbol technology and automatized technology continues its development, what will happen?
“Only 1% of the population are superhumans. They can use spirit energy to change their nerves, and their neural information transmission speed is ten times or even one hundred times faster than that of a normal human. The difference between superhumans and normal humans is just like the difference between a normal human and an insect.
“To superhumans, instead of handing out tasks to normal humans, it would be better to use their unparalleled mental power to control drones, spider-shaped fighting vehicles, and all sorts of automatized machines through 9G or even 10G internet. Even if they have to fish out money from their pockets to take care of the idle humans after they finish their tasks, it’s better than letting the clumsy humans cause problems.
“As time passes, normal people will lose their ability to work. No matter how hard they try, even if they’ll be willing to study and work, they won’t be able to work day and night nonstop like machines in crystal mines with incredibly high radiation.
“Gradually, normal people will no longer find a place in their own civilization, and for the first time in history, 99% of human beings will become useless. Don’t you think that such a future is very terrifying?”
“It’s… It’s not as bad as you make it seem, right?” Meng Chao forced himself to smile. “I studied history before. During the industrial revolution, there were also a lot of people who were worried that machines would replace humans. The workers even rushed into factories and destroyed the rumbling machines. In the end, even after three hundred years passed, humans were never replaced by machines. In fact, they developed into a brilliant civilization, and it gave them a lot of brand new jobs.
“Don’t you think… you’re haunted by unnecessary fear?”
“The industrial revolution was accompanied by a bloody colonization. Your so-called brilliant civilization was born from the blood, sweat, and tears of millions of normal people thrown between the cogs of the machines. When the age of colonization reached its limit, civilization also reached the limit of its growth. Two world wars and the Great Depression were needed to begin anew,” Gao Ye said faintly,
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not some kind of moral teacher who pities the fate of man. I don’t have any opinion when it comes to colonizing the Other World and turning all living creatures in the Other World into our servants, then squeezing every last drop of their blood dry.
“I just wonder whether the resistance of the creatures in the Other World will be as weak as those of the backwards civilizations on Earth. The industrial people were able to conquer countries filled with gold with just dozens of muskets. Would something that good really happen to Dragon Citizens?
“If it’s not possible, then while we face a limit of space and resources, the 99% normal people in our city will turn into a burden, baggage, and trash.
“Don’t go thinking that this is all alarmist talk, and don’t go thinking that since the first industrialization didn’t wipe out the meaning of existence of normal people, the second, third, fourth, and fifth industrialization won’t do that. We’re in a world where the evolution speed is a hundred times faster than on Earth. There is no creature that will never be eliminated in the struggle to survive. Even humans, who claim to be at the top of all living creatures, are not exempt from that.
“In truth, there is an essential difference between the machines with runic symbols, those fired up by crystals, and those with superbrains or the ‘thinking machines’, which are the central nervous systems of monsters, implanted in them, and the machines made during the first industrial revolution.
“The latter couldn’t replace 90% of human functions. They still needed to be operated and maintained by humans.
“But if we continue developing the former, they will be able to work on their own and even perform their own maintenance. In fact, some of the unmanned factories that operate with more automatized technology will have runic symbol machines producing runic symbol machines. No human will be needed in the entire process.
“More importantly, the humans nowadays are completely different compared to the first industrial revolution.
“On Earth, no matter how great the difference between normal people and those at the top were, there was something that made them the same—their bodies of flesh and blood.
“No matter how smart those at the top were, it was impossible for their thinking ability to be one hundred times greater than that of a normal person.
“No matter how strong those at the top were, they couldn’t defeat hundreds of normal people with their own strength.
“Even if those at the top had hundreds of the most advanced machines in their hands, they would still need thousands of normal people working for them. Perhaps they would even need hundreds of guards to monitor these people. And these workers and guards would have families, and their family members would all be normal people. Just like that, with thousands of normal people’s strengths gathered together, they would be able to fight against those at the top and their machines.
“Because of this, those at the top would not be able to overlook the existence of normal people.
“Those at the top would have to rack their brains to maintain the balance between themselves and normal people. They would have to placate them because they feared the wrath of normal people or just because they wanted to gain benefits from normal people.
“Even if you reverse time by thousands of years and go back to the bloodiest and darkest era of slavery, the slaves still had value when they were turned into slaves and their value was squeezed out of them. The existence of that value allowed slaves to fight against the slave owners. This is how those grand stories that evoke praises and tears were born.
“But times have changed, Meng Chao. Times have changed.
“Superhumans themselves aren’t terrifying, and fully automatized runic symbol machines with superbrains aren’t terrifying, either. But when they are combined, they can take away the value from 99% of the normal people in our population. They would become completely useless!