69novels Page 164
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The high-level zombie immediately made a retreating gesture, indicating that it possessed intelligence. However, these zombies had already fallen into the trap set by the players. Entering was easy, but escaping was definitely out of the question. As soon as it made a move to leave, the surrounding players pounced on it and pinned it to the ground.
The leader of the zombies struggled desperately, but to no avail. In the end, he was kidnapped. There were more than three hundred other zombies who suffered the same fate. They were all packaged up and transported to the laboratory that Qin Shan had arranged for them.
This laboratory is located on a deserted planet, and beneath it lies enough antimatter bombs to annihilate it.
The laboratory artificially simulates Earth's ecological environment to facilitate various biological tests on the zombies.
During the testing process, researchers quickly discovered that these listed individuals all possessed a certain level of cognitive ability; the higher the level, the more complete their thinking and the more capable they were of independent thought.
According to researchers' calculations, if a zombie reaches the fourth level or above, it can possess intelligence nearly indistinguishable from that of a human, indicating that the evolutionary speed of this creature is still very slow.
However, as compensation for the lack of intelligence development in the early stages, the first and second tiers of extraordinary zombies have very strong physical combat capabilities. Players have already experienced this in their battles with zombies. These things are generally incredibly strong, but their intelligence is about the same as that of NPCs in the game.
Sounds easy to bully, right? But don't forget, there's a race in StarCraft called the Zerg. They also have this kind of social structure. They are intelligent and powerful, and they are responsible for commanding the strong but mainly driven by biological instincts. Then they unleashed a terrible cosmic insect plague.
In the subsequent in-depth research, an unexpected discovery brought a unique race to the attention of the Human Revolutionary Alliance.
This is a peculiar population with a collective consciousness, and the basic unit that constitutes this population is a single-celled organism.
Section 63: Multiple Worlds, Total War
For the next period of time, Qin Shan was unable to focus on his research, because the Abyss Gate began to erupt on a large scale, as if everyone was on drugs.
The good news is that Qin Shan acted swiftly and quickly converted the vast majority of the Abyss Gates.
The bad news is that quite a few visitors from other worlds have still entered various worlds, causing some damage.
But it's only a certain degree of destruction. Don't forget, the current Human Revolutionary Alliance is also considered an interstellar civilization. Even if it's only half-baked, it's still an interstellar civilization, and in some aspects, it even far surpasses the rating of an interstellar civilization.
These standards were all set by the People's Revolutionary Party itself. On the path of civilized development, the stronger party sets the rules.
Interestingly, the People's Revolutionary Alliance encountered another People's Revolutionary Alliance this time.
That's right, it's the Human Reformation League from the Gundam 00 world.
What a coincidence! (Master Fan's voice)
However, after the two sides clashed, the Human Reform League was utterly destroyed. After all, their technology had long since gone astray. The real significance of Gundam works in reality is that they are interesting and fun, not really suitable for the battlefield, unless both sides have the same combat strategy and an irreversible deviation in their technological path has occurred during their development.
Once both sides have developed a mindset of habit, the idea of super-large humanoid war weapons will indeed have the upper hand, but the harsh reality of physics will slap them back hard, especially after their proud Minovsky particles become ineffective.
Even the creators of Gundam knew that long-range guided weapons had to be rendered useless first, otherwise Gundam would be an exquisite and expensive target on the battlefield, and could even provide a debuff that would allow the enemy to detect it in advance.
Don't be unconvinced. The technology that works on Gundam can also be used on other large vehicles, and it's more cost-effective and more effective. The joints of a humanoid structure just aren't as durable as a tank's body.
In reality, Gundams can only dominate in outer space at best. When they enter the land battlefield, massive armored formations would easily overwhelm them, because this is a reality enhanced by physics.
However, we cannot deny that other civilizations in parallel worlds have indeed chosen this path. Since they have chosen it, they must face the possibility of encountering a civilization that has chosen the right path and making physical corrections to their own future.
As for the space station, the Human Revolutionary Alliance's various drones, which completely ignored the interference of Minovsky particles, overwhelmed the elite forces of all countries. On average, one Gundam faced 30,000 unmanned combat units. Even if you were nuclear-powered, you couldn't completely annihilate the enemy if you overheated your gun barrel. Moreover, this was the average number. Most Gundam or humanoid weapon pilots were not capable of fighting 30,000 against one.
Fleet battles were even worse. Their weapons couldn't even break through the Human Revolutionary Alliance's fleet energy shields. Even if the Human Revolutionary Alliance drove their warships like dump trucks, they could still smash the enemy's entire fleet to pieces.
The Celestial Beings were no match for them. Ten minutes into the battle, all Celestial Beings members were captured. Those who dared to resist were killed on the spot. In the end, only three core members were captured. The rest either committed suicide or were killed. All of their core technologies were seized. They didn't even have time to self-destruct.
"You guys are a bunch of idiots who are digging your own graves."
This is Qin Shan's assessment of the Celestial Organization.
No matter how many explanations you have, or how reasonable they may be, the fact that civilization's development has been slowed down is a terrifying thing in itself. It means that if other civilizations infiltrate or want to do something, you will have almost no power to fight back, unless your technology is superior to theirs.
But the reality isn't that seven billion mad dogs have been unleashed. Civilizations capable of interstellar travel come with fleets immune to nuclear explosions of tens of millions of tons. Besides, so what if there's a nuclear explosion? Compared to simply dropping a neutron star, what good are your nuclear bombs? You don't even need a neutron star; you could drop a moon. Humanity is far too vulnerable in the face of nature.
In summary, many problems have arisen, but these dangers also present opportunities. On the road to fighting against the Reaper civilization, the more worlds we unite, the greater our hope of victory becomes. Moreover, the science and technology from multiple worlds have propelled the Human Revolutionary Alliance onto a new fast track of development. Everything is so wonderful.
Until World Three encountered the Reaper civilization.
Yes, the Reaper civilization appeared in World Three. Because the civilization level of that world was very high, Qin Shan did not deploy any troops in that world from the beginning. Later, he even took away most of the industrial planets in the Jiangye star system that Bei Zhai had been in charge of. After fully absorbing the various technologies of the region, only a blank space remained.
In general, the Human Revolutionary Alliance still maintains contact with the Moon of Resistance under the identity of the Divine Land Civilization, but its development of that world is almost non-existent, and the relationship between the two sides is more of a trade relationship.
But after the Reaper civilization took over, both Free Earth and the Moon of Resistance became a joke.
Under the Reaper's all-out invasion, their massive fleet vanished like snowflakes, and all resistance seemed like a joke.
However, as interstellar civilizations, the Resistance Moon and Free Earth still inflicted damage on the Reaper civilization. The battle between the two sides can only be described as brutal. Since the other side did not accept any prisoners, Free Earth and the Resistance Moon were forced to unite into the Human Civilization Alliance to fight against the Reaper civilization.
Because they had no other choice, fortunately, the Chinese civilization provided assistance.
This was an inevitable outcome. Who knows what the Reaper civilization's invasion logic is? What if they manage to reach other worlds under the rule of the Human Revolutionary Alliance through World Three?
This is a life-or-death struggle where the lips and teeth are interdependent.
A large number of players entered the battlefield and began an endless war of attrition with the Reapers, turning World III into a Warhammer 40K-like place. As far as the eye could see, the universe was filled with nothing but war, and battlefields that were about to become battlefields.
The good news is that after multiple rounds of technological upgrades, players can now share their superhuman abilities with their remotely controlled combat units via the system's network. The influx of a large number of superhuman units has made this world a highly sought-after prize for the Reaper civilization, and the battle between the two sides has begun to escalate. Even ninth-tier superhuman units have appeared on the battlefield.
These Tier 9 transcendent units are indeed very troublesome, possessing the power to locally change the course of a battle or break through a certain defensive line.
However, their numbers were not large, and the players dared to engage in head-on battles with these superhumans, using all sorts of bizarre tactics. As a result, after losing high-level superhumans multiple times, the frequency of high-level superhumans appearing on the Reaper side decreased significantly.
However, the Reaper civilization did not exhibit any communicative characteristics from beginning to end, which led researchers on the Revolutionary Alliance side to begin to doubt the existence of the Reapers.
Can a civilization that doesn't even engage in communication and only engages in plunder truly be considered a civilization?
Of course, you could argue that a mute person is also a human being, but civilization is a complex entity, unlike the nature of an individual. No civilization can completely sever its connection with the outside world during its development, regardless of what kind of beings they are. This is the most basic need for survival, but the Reaper civilization has clearly castrated this characteristic.
Even the Devourers in Warhammer 40 had units that could communicate with each other, but what's going on with the Reaper civilization? It can't be that during their evolution they only retained power and the intelligence related to becoming stronger, and discarded the rest.
“We now suspect that the Reaper civilization is more like a program that operates according to a specific pattern than a civilization.”
The researchers' speculations are meaningful, but they do not directly help the frontline fighting.
Both sides still need to use force to thoroughly communicate. The various resources lost every day are frantically devouring one galaxy after another. However, there is another thing to pay attention to in inter-world communication, which is the replenishment of cosmic mass. After all, this is a flow of matter between two worlds. If it cannot be exchanged equally, one of the universes will be in a state of mass loss. Considering the total amount of matter exchange between interstellar civilizations, this data will be quite terrifying.
What would happen if the universe lost a large amount of matter?
It could collapse or disintegrate, but either way, it's best not to try it.
Therefore, when the People's Revolutionary Alliance provides aid to the Human Civilization Alliance, it tries to use local resources as much as possible. If that's not possible, it will bring back the same amount of resources from the other side to achieve a balance.
In the early stages, they might do some calculations to see if it was suitable or not, but later they just stopped caring about anything and simply lured the planet away, placing it in a universe where it was not currently disturbed by the Reapers. They left the rest to the local star to handle. If you have the ability to make it your satellite, then you can handle it yourself. Eat as much as you can, since the more you work, the more you get. Just don't let the Reaper civilization benefit from it.
Because the Human Revolutionary Alliance has discovered that the Reaper civilization also engages in quality warfare during wartime, exploiting resources in surrounding star systems—it's absolutely outrageous!
That's all my money!
Adhering to the principle that if I can't get it, the enemy can't get it either, the People's Revolutionary Alliance quickly formed a planetary transport team.
As the name suggests, the main job of this unit is to transport planets and take them away directly using traction fields. They don't care what's on them; as long as the enemy isn't there, they're guaranteed to make a profit.
As a result, the universe of World Three began to lose a large amount of matter. No problems were visible in the short term, but as time went on, the background radiation of the entire universe began to show problems. All indications showed that if this continued, the universe itself would collapse and disintegrate.
Of course, the universe must have a system for replenishing matter. At least at this stage, no one knows what kind of world exists outside the universe, but the universe can indeed replenish itself to a certain extent after a loss of matter.
But now, what Qin Shan wants is to use the collapse of an entire world to dismantle the Reaper civilization.
Anyway, he had already discussed it with the Human Civilization Alliance and prepared a new world for them. The first batch of immigrants had already been transferred there. Now this world could be used as a super-sized self-destruct bomb to give the Reaper Civilization a surprise.
Section 64: A Century-Long Tug-of-War
"This is really unexpected."
According to the intelligence Qin Shan just received, the Reaper civilization is continuously refilling the mass of World Three, which has lost its mass.
This in itself is nothing special, but during the backfilling process, the Reapers continuously released massive amounts of supernatural creatures onto the newly placed planets and arranged these planets in orbits that were at a suitable distance from their stars.
"Are they... cultivating extraordinary life forms?" Lexington looked at Qin Shan, his face filled with disbelief.
At first, everyone thought that the harvesters' purpose was simply to harvest, but now it seems that their purpose is not just to harvest. After all, the premise of sustainable exploitation is that you have to ensure that there are resources in the local area that can be continuously plundered, and even if it is plundering, it is not a complete eradication of resources.
This behavior, how should I put it, is more like that of a farmer.
They take what they need from the farm, and they don't care about the crops' reaction, nor do they care. When the farm is in danger, the harvester civilization will take the initiative to maintain the farm's stability and will even send more good things.
Okay, American farmers are farmers, and if Black people eat fried chicken, it's considered an improvement in their lives, but can you say this is a wonderful world?
"Damn it, what exactly is the Reaper Civilization?" Qin Shan was already scratching his head.
It seems like you're only a thin sheet of paper away from the truth, but that thin sheet is what blocks out the truth behind it.
"Admiral, should we continue with our plan?" Saratoga asked.
"Keep going. I want to see how many resources the Reapers are willing to invest in fighting us to the death!"
Thus, the Reapers, the Human Revolutionary Alliance, and the Human Civilization Alliance engaged in an even fiercer struggle for control of these additional planets on World Three. They frantically plundered the universe's resources while simultaneously refilling it, turning the issue into a matter of how much water to take in and how much to drain, and when the tank would run dry.
Currently, the amount of water entering the system is significantly greater than the amount being released, and the power behind the harvesters is staggering.
It seems that this civilization is indeed capable of traversing this world. Considering that Qi has existed for a very long time, no one knows exactly how many worlds the Reapers control.
Judging from the current progress, it's only a matter of time before the Allied Forces lose control of World Three. However, this has given Qin Shan other ideas.
What technology does the Reaper civilization use to travel to other worlds? I'm very curious.
If I could interfere with or even destroy the other side's technology, wouldn't it be easy to divide and surround the Reaper civilization in various worlds, and then harvest it bit by bit? Wow, I'm such a genius.
Of course, this idea is just that at present. With the front lines filled with artillery fire and countless warships, even a tenth-level superhuman could be overwhelmed and killed. This is not the time to look for opportunities. Please cherish your life.
Now that the Human Revolutionary Alliance has already clashed with the Reapers, the development of other worlds and the process of uniting allies must be accelerated. After all, if this battle is not fought now, it will be fought by future generations, and the Reapers will surely kill your whole family then.
The People's Revolutionary Alliance will not delve into your strength of neither refusing to cooperate, but future development projects will have nothing to do with you. You should stay on Earth obediently. When the Reapers come to kill you, we will run away and you will not. Don't blame us for not taking you with us. We will not participate in peacetime, but we will follow you closely when you run away. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Over the next century, the Human Revolutionary Alliance repeatedly explored new worlds, waged war against the Reapers, united more allies, and incorporated the new worlds into its own. Parallel worlds continued to appear in the public eye, and the players' identities were no longer a secret, as they had become the main force on the front lines against the Reapers.
With the official adoption of the new dimensional calendar by the Human Revolutionary Union calendar, human civilization has entered a new era.
Amidst the constant gunfire and overtime work, there was also a sense of tranquility – it had a touch of Warhammer 40K.
The technological level of the Human Revolutionary Alliance has made great progress and development. The technology of faster-than-light spaceships has become more and more mature. Now it is possible to cross hundreds of billions of light-years in just one hour. Crossing the entire Milky Way is no longer a dream. Moreover, the technology is constantly being upgraded. The battle situation on the front line has become increasingly fierce as the Human Revolutionary Alliance continues to grow stronger.
As the Reaper civilization also began to increase its military strength and upgrade its technology, they became like a mirror, growing stronger along with the Human Revolutionary Alliance. Although there was a gap in strength between the two sides, the gap was never large enough to overwhelm the other side.
How should I put it? It feels like we're practicing martial arts and giving each other pointers.
In the first century of the new calendar, the Human Revolutionary Alliance and the Reapers fought to a standstill, but overall the Reapers were on the offensive while the Human Revolutionary Alliance was retreating in an orderly manner. However, these lost worlds could not be filled by more newly developed worlds, and these Human Revolutionary Alliance worlds discovered by the Reapers had long been transformed into fortresses, fighting to the death against the invaders.
In this environment, all the worlds under the rule of the Human Revolutionary Alliance began to be fortified. Every star, every planet, and even every asteroid of suitable size was transformed into a weapon of war, piled with turrets and engines, and then roared toward the enemy to slow down their offensive.
In some localized battlefields, the sudden appearance of the enemy caused severe losses, forcing players to charge into the fray with their main characters armed with guns. They had to survive this initial wave before being transferred to other worlds to log back in and participate in new battles, fighting to the death against the enemy.
Any place can suddenly become the front line, then the front line becomes the rear, and then the story of yesterday repeats itself.
During this process, the Reaper civilization also began to shrink its battle lines to some extent, because they were clearly unable to end the battle effectively and quickly. For a civilization that relied on harvesting and plundering for sustenance, the consumption of a protracted war was obviously too great, especially in terms of the efficiency of cultivating superhumans, which really could not keep up with the progress.
However, this forced form also had its advantages for the People's Revolutionary Alliance. Many technologies were rapidly integrated and developed, with efficiency taking precedence over everything. Anything that would hinder the war and victory was sidelined, and everyone was organized. In those worlds that were integrated, a group of middle and upper-class individuals were killed first. People like the "Mother Teresa," LGBT individuals, and those with extremist beliefs were all eliminated as long as they hindered the efficiency of the war. As for terrorist organizations, the People's Revolutionary Alliance even physically cut half of the Middle East off the map in a parallel world and threw it into the sun.
Come on, show me the extremes. Do you even have the extreme temperatures of a star?
Moreover, many extremist organizations use drugs and brainwashing to control their followers. Their level of inhumanity is beyond your imagination. For such beasts, it is already a great honor to have them serve as fuel for a star.
When a powerful civilization must concentrate all its resources on one thing, its style of doing things becomes brutal.
At least that's how it appears to other civilizations. So after doing it a few times in the early stages, Qin Shan completely changed his approach, deciding to let the worlds that encountered the Abyss Gates suffer the ravages of the Abyss first.
Of course, out of humanitarian spirit, the People's Revolutionary Alliance would first inform everyone at the United Nations General Assembly or other international organizations about the existence of the Abyss Gate, calling on them to unite against the enormous disaster, and expressing its willingness to provide assistance to the best of its ability, while also offering an ideal, but practically impossible, solution. This is our ancient wisdom; the People's Revolutionary Alliance's first offer is often the best for everyone.
But you didn't accept it, and then you were beaten to a pulp by the monsters that invaded from the abyss. You can't blame the Human Revolutionary Alliance for that.
It's an ironclad rule that every world that is descended upon by a Gate of the Abyss will subsequently encounter more Gates of the Abyss. I can't escape it, you can't escape it, nobody can escape it.
For the people of that world, all they knew was that when the People's Revolutionary Alliance arrived, it showed them the way, but the vested interests above them refused the Alliance's help for their own meager gains, ultimately leading to the most tragic situation.
Then they will become completely disillusioned with their own government and begin to seek help from the People's Revolutionary Alliance. Once the People's Revolutionary Alliance arrives again as a savior, it can stand on the moral high ground and point fingers at everyone.
At this point, the world had been ravaged to the point of barely clinging to life. Even a simple cornbread was a great blessing. Just like the Syrian people who had gained their freedom and had already recalled the flatbreads of the past, in the face of life-or-death crisis, they had only one thought in their minds. It was truly a simple and efficient way of educating them.
Experience teaches a lesson; you learn it in one go. A cruel and clear slap in the face is that convincing.
Next, the People's Revolutionary Alliance will thoroughly purge the ruling class and their families of the old era. The people, tortured to the point of being like demons, will be more than happy to report them and enjoy watching their agonizing cries on the guillotine.
With just this one move, many upper and middle classes in various worlds were slaughtered. After the management positions were replaced by players, they were quickly incorporated into the Human Revolutionary Alliance's management system. This was because most people in those worlds were too hungry to move, so they had no leisure to think about grand topics such as religion, faith, the future, or ideology.
All they wanted was to survive.
At this point, the People's Revolutionary Alliance, which holds the power to control food, weapons, and industrial goods, can demand secular reforms in various regions. Regions that do well can escape poverty and become wealthy ahead of time, while regions that do not will continue to linger on, refusing to change their ways, or even plotting terrorist attacks. In that case, those regions can be dug up and thrown into a star, where nuclear fusion will purify everything.
The whole process will take at least five years, and at most twenty years, until the whole world will be obedient and begin to follow the lead of the People's Revolutionary Alliance, becoming an inseparable part of it since ancient times.
As the strength of the People's Revolutionary Alliance continued to increase, the situation on all fronts finally shifted from an orderly retreat to a standoff.
Chapter 65: The World Reinforcement Plan