Chapter 1540: Blasphemy
In an abandoned factory, the smell of blood was permeating.
Even though the exhaust system was operated to its limit, it was still impossible to erase the crimes that had happened here.
Looking at the bloodstains on the ground and the body bags that were carried on the transport truck, w.a.n.g Peng had a blank face, but his fists were tightly clenched.
1,024 people…
One percent of the permanent population of Guanghan City…
In this civilized era, he could not imagine what a h.e.l.lish scene it was. But one thing that was certain was that he would make those people pay the price.
“They will pay for their sins…”
The eyes of Captain Xing, who was standing next to him, were also full of anger.
The situation eventually still developed to this point.
Even before, he had believed that those bionics might hold the idea of coexistence and start negotiations or dialogue with them. But now, it seemed that this war had developed from a conflict of consciousness to a racial level.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would not have imagined that such a scene would happen today in the 22nd century…
“They don’t have blood, but I will pull their memory chips out of their chests and use a furnace to melt them into waste.”
After Li Gaoliang cursed a few words, he reached out and clicked on the helmet twice, closing the exoskeleton armor mask.
He looked at w.a.n.g Peng beside him. He was silent for a while. He then calmed down and continued, “I heard from Old Li that you have also come to this era. I wanted to go to Earth to find you, but I didn’t expect so many things to happen. Although there is a lot to say, I will wait until we return to Earth.”
w.a.n.g Peng nodded and said, “Yeah, wait until everything is over.”
Without any more small talk, Li Gaoliang took his two guards, turned around, and left the factory.
The factory became quiet again.
Everyone was gone, except for the soldiers who endured the physical discomfort and cleaned up the battlefield, war reporters who used cameras to record all this, as well as agents from the Security Bureau.
After answering the call, Xing Bian returned to w.a.n.g Peng’s side and said in a serious tone, “Two minutes ago, the Pan-Asian Cooperation has declared a state of emergency, requiring citizens to take the initiative to shut down their robots and pull out the memory chips and batteries.
“In order to avoid a lone wolf attack, armed police in various cities have set up checkpoints at the entrances and exits of public transportation to carry out security checks on pa.s.sing pedestrians in order to find the fishes that missed the net.
“Once a robot wearing a safety collar is found in a public place, compulsory measures will be taken to destroy the robot.
“If the ALPHA virus cannot be eliminated in a short period of time, not only will it damage our economy, but the daily life of ordinary people will be affected.”
Once robots were excluded from society, labor costs would rise sharply. In this age, no one wanted to engage in manual labor. Everyone just wanted to sit in the office, enjoying the air conditioner and drinking milk tea, instead of sweating in front-line positions.
“We have experienced the time when there were no robots.” w.a.n.g Peng said, “It doesn’t matter if the days are tough, as long as the people are still there.”
“You don’t understand.” Xing Bian said, shaking his head, “Once society has developed to this point, it is impossible to go back again. It is impossible for most people to go back and live the life of a century ago.”
An agent of the Security Bureau suddenly walked over from the direction of the stairs.
He stopped in front of Captain Xing and reported in a serious tone.
“We found a secret door on the second bas.e.m.e.nt floor of the factory. Behind the secret door is a staircase leading to the third floor. After entering, we found a computer inside and a row of unfinished blank memory chips.”
Blank memory chips?
Captain Xing’s face changed slightly.
This is not a good sign.
Those robots have already begun to make their own kind!
“Take me over there right now!”
The agent nodded immediately.
“Come with me!”
…
In a dark bas.e.m.e.nt, three people with flashlights came to the computer mainframe in the center of the bas.e.m.e.nt.
Like his subordinates said, this was like an underground robot production base. Not only were there unfinished memory chips, but there were also unfinished robot soldiers lying on the operating tables.
Captain Xing walked to the computer, reached out, and pressed the power-on b.u.t.ton.
He just wanted to give it a try; he didn’t expect to actually turn on the computer.
The blue light beam was released from the top of the case, and a screen was quickly rolled out.
However, the three people standing in the bas.e.m.e.nt were stunned by what was happening in front of them.
They saw a white cubic s.p.a.ce in the holographic window. And in that cubic s.p.a.ce, a group of people was looking around with a dazed expression, wondering what had happened.
“What’s this…?”
Captain Xing gulped. A terrible idea suddenly appeared in his heart.
The look on w.a.n.g Peng’s face gradually changed.
“Judging by the number of people, there are around a thousand people here…”
Although this statement might sound ridiculous, the numbers matched.
“Call Old Liu here,” Xing Bian said in a commanding tone. He looked back at the agent beside him. “Bring him over!”
“Yes, sir!”
After receiving the order, the agent immediately went out of the bas.e.m.e.nt.
Soon, a tall, thin man with a suitcase walked into the bas.e.m.e.nt.
As an information technology expert a.s.signed to the task force by the headquarters, although his ability to conduct scientific research was not as good as those academicians in the Academy of Sciences, he was still quite strong in the application field.
“Team Xing, were you looking for me?”
“Help me take a look at this thing.” Captain Xing pointed his chin to the computer in front of him as well as the screen projected on the holographic image. He continued, “I want to know what this thing is for.”
“I’ll try.”
Without waiting around, the man named Old Liu skillfully opened the suitcase and put it on the desk.
After pressing several b.u.t.tons, he quickly connected the computer to the computer in the bas.e.m.e.nt.
After waiting quietly for more than a minute, Xing Bian, who had been observing the expression on Old Liu’s face, suddenly noticed that the look on the face of the expert gradually became serious.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Did you find anything?”
“Yeah…” Old Liu nodded solemnly. He took his hands off the keyboard and said, “If my guess is correct, these people… should be the prisoners who were executed.”
“Those robots… uploaded their consciousness to the computer?”
“It looks like so.” Old Liu moved his gaze to the unfinished robots and the blank memory chips next to him. After a while of silence, he continued, “Their next step should be to inject their consciousness into those memory chips, but obviously… They lost the war before they could do so.”
Perhaps because of the connection of the two computers, there was some interference in the virtual s.p.a.ce inside the cube, and the people staying inside realized the existence of the outside world.
Looking up at the ceiling, a man in a suit and leather shoes shouted loudly, “Hey? Can you hear me? Can you figure out a way to get us out…?”
“These a*sholes…”
w.a.n.g Peng slammed his fist on the table, shocking the little people inside the computer. Some people sat on the ground, some hugged each other and wept together, while others fled in panic.
These robots…
Uploaded the consciousness of these deceased people into the hard disk of a computer!
They even planned to put them in metal bodies!
This was no longer a war. He didn’t even know what word to use to describe this evil act!
Standing next to w.a.n.g Peng, Xing Bian’s face was expressionless. The moment he heard the news, his mood sank to the bottom of his heart.
He thought that more than a thousand deaths would be tricky enough.
But now, it seemed like he was being too naive…