Chapter 1422 Prosperity and Death

Ding--!

The sound of steel colliding awakened Lu Zhou from his trance.

It was the sound of iron striking.

When he came back to his senses, he was already standing in front of a primitive house made of wood, stones and some white fluff, and what woke him up was a strangely shaped forge next to it. Looking up to the distance, you can see the wall made of clods and wooden sticks at a little further distance, as well as the farmland with gratifying growth.

As General Reinhardt said, these bugs learned to walk upright, even learned to use tools, and developed the prototype of farming civilization.

Though even it seemed to him that the way they walked was as ridiculous as it could be.

Looking at the "pasture" surrounded by fences, and the fat and bucket-like larvae, Lu Zhou had a thoughtful expression on his face.

At this time, General Reinhardt walked to his side and asked a question jokingly.

"What kind of experience is it for tens of thousands of years when your mind wanders?"

I heard the ridicule in that tone, but Lu Zhou has no time to take care of these at the moment.

"We... tens of thousands of years have passed?"

General Reinhardt shrugged.

"You can understand it as fast forward, after all, I can't really let you stay in my memory for tens of thousands of years."

sweat!

Scared to death!

Lu Zhou thought he had slept for tens of thousands of years!

"..."

Without immediately responding to General Reinhardt's words, Lu Zhou looked around and looked at the village at the foot of the mountain for a while, before continuing to say, "...we have reached the Stone Age now?"

"Slightly farther than the Stone Age, they have learned to smelt metals... probably the Bronze Age."

"Did you teach them this?"

"No, their brains may be a little smaller, but they're not so stupid that they need my help to build houses and tame wild animals."

"But tell me, you 'enlightened' them."

"That's right, whether intentionally or not, it was the stele I left behind that taught them writing, and it is precisely because of the appearance of writing that their knowledge can be passed on. Isn't this hanging big enough? "

While he was speaking, there were bursts of mournful humming from the place, and the tranquility in the air was suddenly tainted with a touch of chill.

I saw cockroaches with metal horns on their heads rushing out of the woods, and under the cover of domesticated flying insects, they rushed towards the village at the foot of the mountain.

There were screams one after another, and the cockroaches in the village quickly armed themselves and began to fight.

The two groups of people quickly fought together. Seeing the cockroaches rushing in front of him—or the Martians, Lu Zhou subconsciously felt a chill.

Fortunately, General Reinhardt, who was standing next to him, raised his hand and flew the disembodied him into the sky, otherwise he was a little unsure if he would spit it out.

Looking down at the flames soaring to the sky and the bloody fight, Lu Zhou suddenly had an illusion that he was like God right now.

And in fact it is true, he is overlooking the life of civilization through the perspective of God...

"Do you feel like an omnipotent god?"

"kind of."

"It seems that you have gradually realized how I feel." General Reinhardt smiled faintly. "In fact, any higher civilization will have similar thoughts when facing lower civilizations. Sometimes think about it this way, It is estimated that the mentality of those observers when they look at us is probably the same."

While the two were chatting, the battle at the foot of the mountain was over.

The fight between the two groups of people finally ended with the victory of the invaders. The Martians, who were obviously bigger, divided the captives into two waves. One wave killed them, while the other wave tied the carapace and head with white velvet rope. part of the connection.

The victors set up a fire in the center of the village, lit the flames, danced to please the gods, enjoyed the plundered supplies, slaughtered the enemy's livestock, and even feasted on the captives...

Looking at the thoughtful Lu Zhou, General Reinhardt continued to speak expressionlessly.

"This is the first stage of evolution. Civilization and barbarism are doing their final struggle. At first the latter has the upper hand, but in the end the former catches up. The war is like a catalyst. The Martians on this land began to merge and merge into one. Overall. In order to manage a larger population, they transitioned from a tribal system to a feudal system, and then through countless reforms, even revolutions, to achieve the liberation of productive forces..."

Lu Zhou: "Then what role did you play in it?"

"Me?" General Reinhardt smiled lightly and continued, "I didn't play any role. When they contacted me again and fully realized my existence, it was already a matter of the electronic age."

Just as General Reinhardt was talking about this, the ground beneath the two of them changed again.

I don't know when, the low thatched hut disappeared, replaced by a house made of red bricks, and a well made of granite.

The bonfire also collapsed, replaced by soaring chimneys and factories covering hundreds of acres.

Carloads of steel products were shipped out of the factory, loaded onto the train, and with the roar of the siren, drove to the distance.

Not far away, a circle of houses rose from the ground, and the outline of the city began to appear, and it spread rapidly.

"Is it shocking?"

"Yes..." Looking at everything that happened on the planet under his feet, Lu Zhou was silent for a while, and then said, "Just one thing, I don't quite understand it."

"I don't understand anything."

"Since the Martian civilization is nearly three billion years ahead of ours...why did the Observer civilization not choose them, but pin their hopes on three billion years later, a civilization that is inferior to the Martian civilization in terms of resources and environmental conditions of us."

In Lu Zhou's view, the initial resources of these Martians can be described as a perfect start.

Unlike the human civilization that has experienced countless small ice ages in history, this group of insects living in the greenhouse has hardly encountered the baptism of natural disasters. Underground world, get enough food.

"This question is actually very interesting. Taking the earth as a reference, will the most fertile land be able to breed the most powerful civilization?"

Looking at Lu Zhou who was lost in thought, General Reinhardt continued.

"In fact, although the Gaia planet has an ecological environment that is the envy of all organic life forms, it is not the most suitable breeding ground for civilization."

"A rich environment means that you don't need to put in a lot of effort to get the basic materials you need to survive. Although the Martians have the same curious qualities as you, their culture doesn't know what hard work is, and they don't have the genes for pioneering And the most deadly thing is that tens of thousands of years of evolution have allowed them to fully adapt to the ecological environment of Gaia planet, and this kind of picky to almost harsh habitable conditions makes it difficult for them to find an acceptable second in space. home."

"Imagine, if the ecosystem on the earth can accommodate 20 billion people, or even 30 billion people, and the abundant resource reserves cannot see the day when they will be exhausted, you will still think about giving up your current good life to explore the moon , Mars, or even worlds beyond our solar system?."

"In contrast, those harsh and extreme environments are more likely to breed powerful and aggressive civilizations. You can remember this, and you may use it someday."

Looking at Lu Zhou who seemed to understand and nodded, General Reinhardt continued.

"As for time... let alone, a civilization with a long history may be developed, but the reason for its development must not be because of the long years. Many things that seem inevitable, in fact, cannot be simply drawn and waited. No. And I didn’t know these things until I arrived at the center of the Milky Way.”

In just a few minutes, the ground under his feet has been filled with vicissitudes.

The endless grassland was gone, and the forest border continued to shrink, shrinking, and finally disappeared on the horizon, swallowed by high-rise reinforced concrete buildings, and steel covered almost every inch of the planet.

At this moment, Lu Zhou finally understood where the rust all over the surface of Mars came from.

There are also those hematite veins and silicate sedimentary rock formations with strange structures...

All of that turned out to be the "corpses" of the Martian civilization city!

"Unbelievable, how did they finally get to...that step?"

Looking at the planet whose landscape has been completely changed by artificial objects made of steel and concrete, as well as the neon lights and countless prosperity on the streets, Lu Zhou's eyes could not help but be stained with complicated emotions.

Although the development has not changed the ugly image of those Martians in his eyes, so far, he has not seen any signs of decline.

If he hadn't seen what Mars would look like billions of years later, he would never have believed that this powerful civilization did not set foot on the starry sky, but eventually declined...

"There are many reasons, and even many coincidences."

"Aside from these things, let's make a hypothesis. If cancer cells know that they will continue to expand endlessly, and eventually die with the host one day, do you think it will consider proliferating in a relatively gentle way?"

Lu Zhou asked subconsciously.

"Is that still a cancer cell?"

As if applauding Lu Zhou's intuition, Reinhardt nodded and said, "That's right, so it is fundamentally impossible to expect civilization to restrain itself and achieve common prosperity with nature. Just like the human valley Just as hope will expand, so will the needs of civilization. Only by expanding to a more distant world is the only way for civilization to survive, just like the first fish jumping on land."

"However, due to the problem of habitability, the Martian civilization did not take this path in the end, but chose to continue to ask for it. Usually, the capacity of Gaia planet is able to meet their needs until...they finally do did something stupid."

Lu Zhou's Adam's apple moved slightly.

"...what a stupid thing."

"They built a geothermal well, dug from the bottom of the ocean down to the mantle, and extracted heat and minerals from it to build and feed their city."

"They're crazy..." Lu Zhou froze for a moment, "Didn't they think of... another way?"

"Any other way? Like controlled nuclear fusion?" General Reinhardt smiled lightly, "Don't forget, Mars was only a few hundred million years old at this time, including the entire solar system is still very young, but There is no accumulation of deuterium-tritium in the oceans like the Earth does."

"It's not that the Martian civilization has invented controllable nuclear fusion technology, but for their situation, this is not the cheapest option. In contrast, as arthropods, they are more attractive to explore downwards, after all Burrowing is almost part of their survival instinct."

"A large amount of mantle material is pumped to the surface, and the energy in the core is released. In fact, this is a very slow process, including the cooling of the core and the weakening of the magnetic field. For Mars, which has only a short life span of more than 20 years As a human being, the vast majority of people spend their entire lives without necessarily feeling that their environment has changed."

"And when the core temperature finally fell below a certain critical value, and the weakened magnetic field could no longer resist the high-energy rays from the universe, it was too late. They watched the atmosphere being blown away in despair, and pieces of their compatriots were blown away. Dying from cancer, cities turned into ghost towns, and they were forced to evacuate everyone from the surface to the underground world."

"However, even in the underground world, there is no place for them. At that time, Mars was like an old man who was dying, only one death certificate away from death."

"Before the civilization is about to perish, they can be considered to have made certain efforts... such as the ignition plan and the seeding plan."

"About the ignition plan, I have already told you that they begged me for help, hoping to detonate the zero point energy in the energy module by sending my engine to the Earth's Mansphere, so as to return the heat borrowed from the earth's core. Going back. They hibernated part of their brethren and woke up in turn to finish the job, but ultimately failed."

"As for the seeding plan, it's more interesting."

Having said that, General Reinhardt smiled.

"Probably because they were stimulated by the drastic changes on Mars, they finally realized their weakness in adapting to the environment, so they cut down their genes substantially through genetic modification."

"It's just a pity that genetic modification is a very sophisticated technology, and they are obviously immature in this respect. They can only forcefully improve their habitability at the cost of weakening other parts. Created by this method The new Martians are not only mentally deficient, they cannot even accept that these little morons are their own kind."

"But no matter how you say it, this is the only hope for survival, and I think optimistically that after hundreds of millions of years of evolution, if one day these new Martians re-awaken the genes of their ancestors, wouldn't it be equivalent to recovery their civilization?"

"Holding this idea, some people set their sights on the earth, which is your home planet. Although the earth was still in chaos at that time, they tried to detonate nuclear weapons, release acid-resistant, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, etc. Man-made methods , accelerated the process of the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere."

"I don't know if this is within the plan of the observers, or an allowable error. In a sense, they have made some progress."

"The new Martians who have been genetically modified and frozen into hibernation were sent to the earth by their compatriots, and those Martians hope that those little guys who are smaller than them can rebuild the glory of Martian civilization one day in the future. "

Seeing Lu Zhou with shock written on his face, and the extinguished neon lights and prosperity on the surface, General Reinhardt revealed a regretful expression on his face, and said softly.

"As for the result, you should already know."

"It took them billions of years to cover a distance of hundreds of millions of kilometers..."

"...Finally succeeded, and turned into a cockroach in your eyes."

...

Earth.

University of Oxford, Bodleian Library.

An old man in his sixties with a stooped figure was crouching in front of a wooden table, carefully checking the typed draft in his hand.

His name is Vernal, and he is an archaeologist. Although there has been a slight deviation in his research direction in recent decades, there is still no difference in essence.

As of today, thirty years have passed since that initial trip to Mars.

Over the past 30 years, the international community has not given up on digging the gates of hell. It was not until recently that the funding was cut again and again, and it stopped slightly.

Relying on his authoritative position in the field of Martian archaeology, he has been to Mars several times in the past 30 years, investigating the remains of the gate of hell, and at the same time investigating some newly discovered clues of Martian civilization.

And he also changed from a middle-aged man who looked older to a real old man.

By the way, space travel today is less of a mystery than it was thirty years ago, although it's not as simple as everyday life. Many well-to-do newlyweds will choose to spend their honeymoon on the moon to experience the wonderful experience in the weightless environment.

In addition, there are not many scholars like him who insist on using manuscripts and completing papers on paper in this era of extremely developed multimedia technology...

"Professor, I brought you your manuscript." Footsteps came from the door, and a young man with freckles was holding a stack of papers, opened the door and walked in.

As a result, because the stack of papers was so high that it blocked his sight, he almost didn't trip over the chair at the door.

Seeing how careless he was, Professor Vernal was so angry that he almost couldn't hold his breath, and stood up angrily.

"Be careful! You stupid groundhog! This is a precious historical document."

"But professor, they are just printed out..." With a helpless expression on his face, the young doctor continued, "If you need it, I can go to the printing room to get another copy for you."

"Whether it's Newton or anyone else, the manuscripts of any great man are brand new when they are first included in this library. By the way, electronic files have no soul." Stacking the documents in his hand, Vernal The professor skillfully passed them in batches and counted them one by one.

After confirming that there were no omissions, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well, it's all here."

Looking at his mentor with a strange expression, the young doctor wanted to complain, but he didn't say anything in the end.

His mentor stood up, walked to the coat rack at the door, picked up a khaki coat and put it on, then stood in front of the coat mirror and straightened his collar.

Looking at the old self in the mirror, a trace of nostalgia appeared in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by strong self-confidence.

today!

Just today!

His research will change history!

Taking a deep breath, Professor Vernal's voice became a little passionate.

As if singing an old English epic, he began.

"Go and get ready, Dr. Gilbert!"

"Take out the most expensive suit in your closet and iron it until the afternoon report begins."

"The whole world will forever remember our names for this astonishing discovery!"

Already familiar with the old professor's nervousness, Gilbert curled his lips and muttered submissively.

"Yes, Professor."

He now very much wants to write a thesis.

As for leaving the earth for a long time, will it damage the brain...

...

Compared to decades, waiting for a mere afternoon is nothing more than a blink of an eye.

Quietly waiting for the wall clock on the wall to come to the hour, Professor Vernal approached the microphone and cleared his throat.

The auditorium fell silent.

The pair of eyes stopped swaying left and right, and Qi Qi looked at the old professor on the podium, waiting for his opening remarks.

The report meeting has already started!

"ladies and gentlemen."

"I am very glad that you have participated in my academic report."

"I am here to announce to you an important discovery—"

"Martians have always been by our side!"

The moment the voice fell, people's faces showed surprised expressions, and the voices of discussions spread around.

The young people joked with each other with words such as "Are you a Martian?", "Me too, by coincidence", and some took notes seriously, or shook their heads with a sneer, expressing disdain.

Looking at the lecture hall full of discussions, Professor Vernal smiled slightly.

Satisfied with the surprise on people's faces, he continued.

"Although this sounds a bit unbelievable..."

"However, based on the fossil specimens we found in the Olympus crater and the various signs observed in other remains, we have been able to preliminarily judge that they belong to the order Insecta and Blattata...just like the American cockroach."

"Maybe the cockroaches we see today are actually the same species as the Martians billions of years ago! They even came from the same place!"

"All of this is possible!"

The moment the voice fell.

The entire lecture hall, whether it was people or the air, boiled in an instant...

-

(Thanks to the book friends "Mr. Stone Can Talk" and the leader of "Seven ** (Tail)" for the reward~~~~~ The next chapter is the second volume! ())