Hao Ren stood on the riverbank made of metal, looking at the endless gray river in front of him. The viscous, slowly wriggling liquid reminded him of the Blood of Origin, with an unsettling sense of danger. All the mercenaries kept their distance from the riverbank in fear. Only Hao Ren, Ulyanov, and Nolan stood in front. Ulyanov's hoarse voice came from inside the helmet. "The end of the world is only a step away."
"This is the Nanomachine Swarm?" Hao Ren looked down at the viscous liquid in the Gray River. "This … scale."
"Everyone knows that the Gray River is composed of the Nanomachine Swarm." Nolan glanced at Hao Ren. "When you escaped from the Naturals to the Lawless Zone, you should have crossed one of the Gray River. Didn't you notice it?"
"One of them?" Hao Ren frowned and changed the topic. "No, it was a critical situation. We were separated from the main force. I didn't have much time to pay attention to the surrounding situation. How are you going to cross the river? Rowing? "
"Wait for it to solidify." Nolan turned away and began to order loudly. "Everyone, rest in place. We will cross the river after dusk! Kim, Lorraine, make sure the armored vehicles are ready to start at any time. I want all electromagnetic hibernation devices to be turned on twenty-four hours a day. If anyone has a problem with the electromagnetic hibernation device, report immediately. "
The mercenaries immediately took action. They rested next to the armored vehicles and took out compressed rations from the vehicles to replenish their energy. Karl walked among the soldiers and reminded them loudly. "Don't touch the soil directly with your hands! Look after your water bottles. Discard any damaged ones immediately! Inject another antidote after half an hour. Double the dose for those who feel burning breathing! "
Ulyanov swayed as he walked to the armored vehicles. "Ah, I don't need antidote to deal with the air here. My lungs have already rotted away."
"He's actually a very optimistic guy," the unrestrained female mercenary said casually as she passed by. "But he's a pain when he jokes about internal organs. By the way, good man, I heard that you have come out from the shadows? Don't you want to start a new relationship in a new environment? "
As she spoke, she rubbed against Hao Ren. The latter stepped aside slightly. "Do you want me to throw you into the Gray River to calm you down?"
"Tch, boring."
After the others left, Hao Ren turned around and returned to the armored vehicle. He remembered that there was a computer in the vehicle that was always online, and the basic query function was open to everyone. He had also seen how Nolan operated the terminal in the carriage. After a while, he successfully connected to the internet and began to search for information about the Gray River and the ruins of the Northern Lands.
Needless to say, the ruins in the north referred to the entire area that was destroyed after the Nanomachine Swarm went out of control sixty-five years ago. This area included three dissolved cities and the vast wilderness between the cities. Hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land was turned into a forbidden land. The target of their trip, the Northern Ring Tower, was located in the south of the center of the ruins. As for the Gray River, it was the residue of the Nanomachine Swarm.
The Gray River was not a single river — Hao Ren had always misunderstood this point. The real Gray River referred to a large number of 'rivers' around the ruins of the Northern Lands, spreading like radial turtle cracks. Excluding the smaller tributaries, there were hundreds of large-scale Gray Rivers, intersecting like a spider web and blocking the entire ruins of the Northern Lands. Looking down from the air, the ruins of the Northern Lands looked like a bloodshot eyeball, and the Gray River was the blood around the eyeball. To get to the Northern Ring Tower, they had to cross the Gray River.
According to the rough map found on the Internet, several main routes between the Naturals' city-states and the lawless zone also needed to pass through one of the Gray River basins. No wonder Nolan thought that Hao Ren had seen the Gray River.
Although the Nanomachine Swarm had dissolved everything in this area, it did not cover 100% of the ruins of the Northern Lands. In fact, the remnants of the Nanomachine Swarm were concentrated in the numerous Gray River, and the Gray River was divided into countless islands. These islands were full of the wreckage of the Nanomachine Swarm. The soil was full of toxic substances produced after the Nanomachine Swarm's programming went haywire, and the terrible gray 'mucus' was everywhere. But in the ruins of the Northern Lands, these islands were the only safe footholds.
Nolan seemed to know the best route, which should be a series of continuous lands. She only needed to cross a few Gray Rivers to reach the ruins of the Ring Tower.
"Don't you think it's a little strange?" The voice of the MDT sounded in Hao Ren's mind. "All the information mentioned that the Nanomachine Swarm was out of control, but no information mentioned how they were controlled. These things could have destroyed the whole world, but why did they stop in the Gray River?"
"I can't find it on the Internet. Maybe someone erased it," Hao Ren said, turning off the computer and leaving the carriage. "I'll talk to Nolan. How do you feel staying in the Dimensional Pocket? "
"Not bad. I found the place where you put the gravity generator. Now I've built a standard 1.0G floor and am practicing walking," the MDT sounded happy. "I feel that this body is just so-so. I still feel like I have cerebral thrombosis when I walk. Training doesn't help. Probably the compatibility has reached a bottleneck."
"… Well, as long as you're happy. Just don't touch my arsenal."
Hao Ren found Nolan, who was standing alone on the riverbank. Facing the darkening sky, the figure of the gray-haired girl looked unusually thin in the dim sky. He approached her from behind. When he was about a dozen meters away, he saw Nolan's ears twitching slightly. What a vigilant mercenary leader.
When Nolan turned her head, Hao Ren waved his hand. "Why aren't you with the others?"
"The Gray River is about to solidify," Nolan said, pointing at the river with her chin. The flow of the viscous liquid was getting slower and showed signs of solidification. "After dusk, the Nanomachine Swarm will temporarily stop its activity and become a flat surface like an alloy block, big enough to carry armored vehicles. Of course, the premise is that the electromagnetic hibernation device is not shut down. Otherwise, these things will wake up in an instant. I have a group of people who died like this. "
Nolan seemed to be in a good mood, or a little excited. She was not as cold and distant as before, but patiently explained to Hao Ren. The latter thought it was a good time to ask questions. "How did humans stop these out-of-control Nanomachine Swarm sixty-five years ago?"
"Stop?" Nolan shook her head faintly. "No one stopped them. The Nanomachine Swarm stopped spreading by itself. At that time, many people thought that the world was about to end. All countermeasures and safety devices were useless. Everyone here was waiting for death. It was the Nanomachine Swarm that suddenly stopped and spared human lives. Do you see these riverbanks? "
Nolan stamped her feet on the metal ground. The shape of these 'riverbanks' was like natural rocks, but the material was metal.
"These seemingly barriers are not man-made. They are made by the Nanomachine Swarm themselves. They have delineated their own range of activity, so humans can survive and continue to fight outside the territory of the Nanomachine Swarm. Originally, the Nanomachine Swarm should cover the entire world, constantly proliferating and devouring until the planet becomes a mass of mud. But they have made themselves a complex container and put themselves in it. "
Hao Ren's eyes widened. "How did this happen?"
"Who knows? Even scientists can't tell. "Nolan's mouth curled up slightly." You should ask Ulyanov. He is an expert in this field. But I guess he won't like this topic. "
"Ah, now that we are here, I don't mind talking to you about this." Ulyanov's voice suddenly came from the side. He came to Hao Ren's side and quietly looked at the Gray River that was getting calmer. "Some people speculate that the 'master' computer had successfully sent the last control signal before it crashed, stopping the proliferation of the Nanomachine Swarm. Some people suspect that the 'master' computer is still running. They are buried deep underground, powered by a nuclear reactor. In theory, it can run until now. If you consider that it controls the Nanomachine Swarm to maintain itself underground, maybe it will run forever."
Ulyanov paused and then continued in a mocking tone. "There are even crazier speculations. The mutants who call themselves the Rangers believe that the Nanomachine Swarm has evolved into intelligence. They have made the decision to preserve the world based on some superhuman wisdom and logic, just to observe the evolution of human beings. The Rangers regard the Nanomachine Swarm as the new master of the world. They show their evolutionary superiority by attacking other humans indiscriminately, and think that they can gain a place in the new world when the Judgment Day comes. There are countless such sayings. "
(I've been out all day, and finally finished this chapter at night. Besides, since I have nothing to do, I might as well ask for monthly votes. =)
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