Shocked by the gunfire, the crowd around the station came to a halt.
The blood that boiled because of fear started to cool off. It was only at this moment that people began to re-examine the power armors in front of them, and the deadly muzzles that exuded a chilling vibe.
If it was an unknown person that stood in front of them, maybe they would have continued to push forward.
“Where are you going?”
Jiang Chen spoke, word by word, against the halted crowd.
“Earth? Jupiter’s moons? Or out of the solar system?”
“Look at what you look like now.”
“The tentacles of that bug haven’t even reached out here, but you have already killed a few of our own people. Look at the blood under your feet, pick up your mobile phone, mirror, or any other reflective object, and take a look at your own hideous face. Take a good look at what kind of trash the people who sacrificed themselves in the orbit of Pluto protected.”
“If you want to go back to Earth to see your family for the last time, line up by ID number, you’ll be evacuated in batches.”
“If there are any more rioters, they will be executed immediately.”
“The army can withdraw, but it must be after all civilians have evacuated.”
“As for me.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
After Jiang Chen left those words, as well as the silent crowd, he walked towards the armored vehicle parked next to the station.
Lilith looked blankly at the crowd that stood under the stairs, then put away the silver blade hidden in her sleeve.
…
Hong Zewei commanded in the city hall. Inside the armored vehicle, there were only two people, Jiang Chen and Lilith.
Lilith watched Jiang Chen stare at the sea of clueless people outside the window, then asked.
“Were you serious just now?”
“Which sentence are you referring to?”
“You are not going anywhere.”
“If you are worried about the self-destruction program, you can rest assured. I will transfer the authority to Sun Jiao depending on the situation.”
Even if the authority of that thing is transferred to Sun Jiao, if you really have an accident, I will probably be sacrificed by that woman anyway.
Lilith complained silently in her mind.
But the critical part of the problem was not here.
For an artificial intelligence without the concept of being “alive”, what bothered her was not whether or not she could continue to exist. While this interpretation may be somewhat confusing, there was one thing that could not go wrong.
Compared with these eight billion boring samples, she hoped that Jiang Chen would survive.
Well, it was just a conclusion drawn from the efficiency of the experiment.
Even if the eight billion samples survived, it would be nothing more than repeating the same boring life. There was no essential difference between them and those bugs. No matter which side survived this hunt of natural selection in the end, this would not change in any way.
At least in the eyes of Lilith.
“If there is no chance of winning, I suggest you give up on this side,” Lilith said blankly.
“Why? I remember you said that you like this world very much,” Jiang Chen looked away from the window and glanced at Lilith unexpectedly.
“…Just a recommendation based on reasonable considerations, that is the most applicable to the current situation. You can also ignore it, but if you ask me, I will still give you this response. You don’t need to do this for them.”
“You rarely say such incomprehensible things.” Jiang Chen smiled, “Also, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, I will not give up.”
“Why?” Lilith asked.
“Because…” Jiang Chen closed his eyes and spoke slowly after a long time, “Because I am going to be a father soon.”
Jiang Chen didn’t want his children to be born in a devastated world as soon as they opened their eyes. They could only see everything his father had seen from nursery rhymes and picture books. They would exhaust their entire childhood to struggle to understand the “civilization” that their father narrated, and enviously imagine that world.
Regardless of which world he choose to inherit in the end, Jiang Chen hoped that they could be born in a beautiful world.
Lilith still looked at Jiang Chen, with a rare, puzzled look on her face.
Jiang Chen laughed suddenly and shook his head.
“Let’s not talk about this, you can’t have children anyway, it’s impossible to understand this feeling.”
“…You’re indeed right, although it’s a bit enviable.”
Jiang Chen did not hear the second half of Lilith’s sentence.
Because her voice was very low.
So low that only she could hear it.
…
The news of the defeat of the Earth Fleet spread from the distant Kuiper Belt.
At this moment, the self-confidence that was originally inflated by the advancement of aerospace technology and the extravagant hope of the word “civilization” in Harmony civilization were all torn to pieces by the cruel reality.
They did not come with peaceful intentions.
And now, the last resistance force of the Earth Defense Alliance had been torn apart by the bugs.
Almost as soon as the bad news came, the whole world changed.
People flocked to Xin frantically, flocked to the two space elevators, flocked to Celestial City.
Air tickets, ferry tickets, space elevator tickets… were sold out as soon as the tickets were issued. The websites of many airlines were overwhelmed, and Celestial Trade Shipping Department was even forced to close the space elevator ticket windows.
SS Origin, the only ship docked in Celestial City, seemed to have become the last hope of human civilization…
On Coconut Island, Ayesha reported the situation on Earth to Jiang Chen.
“The heads of all countries require us to share all starships and allocate escape quotas based on funding.”
Escape quota?
This term is indeed novel.
But Jiang Chen didn’t do anything to stop it and as if he didn’t take this matter to heart, he said.
“You can promise that to them.”
In the face of the threat of death, there was no use in rationality.
If his answer was no, it was possible that before Harmony’s space colonization ship arrived on Earth, the humans on Earth would have self-destructed. If Celestial Trade decided to escape alone, then all the countries would not hesitate to fight against Celestial Trade, which was the only company that possessed interstellar navigation technology.
Those with the consciousness to sacrifice themselves were definitely not those with power.
“Is this really good?” Ayesha hesitated.
“There is nothing not good, even if they stay here, they will get in the way. Do you expect SS Origin to resist the colonization ship? Stop dreaming.” Jiang Chen smiled and shook his head.
Ayesha was silent, then spoke after a moment.
“I see.”
“If they want to evacuate anyway, they can evacuate their way and we can evacuate our way.” After a pause, Jiang Chen continued, “Take Xia Shiyu and Sun Jiao to Coconut Island… No, go directly to the apocalypse and wait for my news there.”
Ayesha was slightly taken aback and said hurriedly.
“Wait, what do you mean, aren’t you leaving?”
“I’m still going to give it a try.” Jiang Chen sighed and said, “If it doesn’t work, I will come back.”
Ayesha bit her lower lip and said in an almost pleading tone.
“… Promise me you will never do anything stupid.”
“What silly thing to say,” Jiang Chen smiled and was silent for about two seconds before he continued in a relaxed tone, “Wait for me over there. Wait for my good news.”
He quickly hung up after the call, leaned back against the chair, and let out a long breath of air.
His expression was far less relaxed than his tone.
The current situation facing Earth civilization was almost equal to a dead end.
There seemed to be only one chance left…
No, it was not even a chance.
However, it was the only thing he could do for this world now…
As Jiang Chen stared at the metal ball on the table and he recalled the so-called deal mentioned by Golovin I.
