306: Chapter 306: How Long Can the Traces of Civilization Persist?

"Indeed, based on the current rate of human civilizational development, within 140,000 years, we could develop civilization more than 20 times."

"However!"

He shook his head with regret.

"In the current archaeological and geological records, these 140,000 years are a blank; no cities, no writing, no metal smelting—not a single trace of civilization."

Jiang Zhe suddenly thought of something and asked curiously, "Xiaoyu, actually, it's not just these 140,000 years. Look further back—millions of years ago, hundreds of thousands of years ago—what were humans doing all that time?"

Seeing Xiaoyu's troubled expression, he simply continued:

"According to mainstream evolutionary theory, for millions of years, our ancestors were picking fruit in trees and eating raw meat on the ground."

"From Australopithecus to Homo habilis, from Homo habilis to Homo erectus, and from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, it took three million years just to learn how to use fire."

"Three million years for fire."

"Hundreds of thousands of years to grind stone tools from rough to smooth."

"Then, suddenly, in just ten thousand years, we shot from the Stone Age to the Space Age."

As he spoke to this point, he nodded slightly, his gaze deep. "Xiaoyu, do you think this is reasonable? Is it fair?"

"Why were we stagnant for millions of years, only to skyrocket in the last ten thousand?"

"Do you think this is the accumulation of knowledge? Does the accumulation of knowledge need millions of years to build up?"

Xiaoyu swallowed hard and shook her head in disbelief.

At this moment, in the livestream room, many viewers were also stunned.

"This question from the Big Brother is making my scalp tingle."

"Yeah, why is that?"

"Eating raw meat for millions of years, then going to space in 6,500 years—the proportions are wrong. Even if it were slower, it would be fine; civilization should be gradual, not an explosion, right?"

"Could it be a technological explosion? Didn't the Big Brother say before that 10,000 years of technology would be developed suddenly in 2045?"

"..."

Kyoto, Qingfeng Temple.

Wen Jingqiu's eyes grew brighter as she saw the bullet comments about the technological explosion.

"This 'J' has a very sharp angle on Xiaoyu's question!"

Zheng Ming was a bit nervous and asked timidly, "Professor Wen, is he right?"

Wen Jingqiu said softly, "This question has been debated in academia for decades."

"Some say archaeology just hasn't dug it up yet, some say it was environmental constraints, and some guess that we aren't the first."

"But as for what it specifically is, no one can provide an answer."

Hearing this, a smug smile gradually appeared on Zheng Ming's face.

On the big screen.

Jiang Zhe's question sent Xiaoyu's thoughts racing, making her head buzz.

A 140,000-year blank period, millions of years of stagnation, ten thousand years to start developing, and then a frantic explosion within the few hundred years from the Industrial Age to now!

She looked curious, yet hesitated to speak.

Jiang Zhe looked at her expression and smiled slightly:

"Xiaoyu, in this hypothesis, there is actually a problem."

"If there really were an advanced civilization, then why haven't the ruins, buildings, culture, aircraft, and technology of that advanced civilization left behind the slightest bit of wreckage?"

Xiaoyu was momentarily dazed by his words and began to think seriously.

True, if there really were an advanced civilization and everything had vanished by now, how much time would that require?

During the 140,000-year blank period, it's impossible for humans not to have developed; even the ancient humans from millions of years ago, did they really not develop at all?

Why is it only in the last 6,500 years that human civilization began to develop cities, artifacts, and technology? This is clearly unscientific.

She asked what everyone was thinking, "Big Brother, if a civilization were to have all its traces vanish without a trace, how much time would it take?"

Facing Xiaoyu's question, Jiang Zhe changed his tone, shifting it to that of a radio broadcaster.

"Xiaoyu, your question can actually be categorized under a larger question."

"After all of humanity disappears, how much longer can the traces of our human existence survive?"

As he spoke, everyone sat up straight.

Listening to her brother's voice, Xiaoyu's beautiful eyes instantly lit up, and her expression became much more serious.

Jiang Zhe spoke slowly:

"Xiaoyu, suppose one day, all of humanity suddenly disappears—not extinction, but instantaneous evaporation; everyone vanishes without warning, leaving only everything we created on Earth, but with no people left."

"Then, what would happen?"

Xiaoyu and the viewers frowned in deep thought.

If all humanity vanished globally overnight, the things that would happen then...

With their existing knowledge, it was clearly impossible for the people of this parallel world to fully grasp it.

They could only think of water and power outages and food rotting; as for anything more, they would need to consult more professional individuals.

In Principal Fu's office, Principal Fu looked at Old Wang, who shook his head repeatedly. "This is a question for the professionals."

In the History Staff Quarters, Professor Chen Runzhi looked at Professor Liu Guangyi. Professor Liu Guangyi speculated, "Food rotting, electricity vanishing, water starting to flood the cities, wild animals proliferating... this isn't something that can be explained on the spot. It would require a meeting of many, many experts to reach a conclusion."

To this, Professor Chen did not press Professor Liu, simply continuing to focus on the big screen to see how Jiang Zhe would narrate it.

Jiang Zhe looked at Xiaoyu,

"Xiaoyu, let's start with the most basic: electricity!"

"After humans disappear, power plants will still be running, but there will be no one to maintain them."

"If you were an ordinary office worker, the lights in your home would still stay on for 72 hours; after that, the power grid would collapse, and the whole world would fall into darkness."

"At that moment, if you were still alive, you would see the most spectacular sight of your life: the lights of the entire planet, within the span of a single week, going out one by one. You would initially wonder why, until you walked out onto the street and found everything empty—no car noises, no hustle and bustle. You would only hear the frantic cries of dogs inside the houses."

Xiaoyu listened blankly, feeling a very desolate sensation.

Standing in an empty city, from the beginning of the street to the end, only the cries of dogs could be heard.

Jiang Zhe continued his narration:

"After 1 day, a problem you never thought of would begin to appear: the underground garage below your building would start to accumulate water."

"The subway station you drove past every day would become a water curtain cave after 72 hours; a week later, you would never be able to enter that place you commuted to for years again, because it would be full of water. With no light, it would be pitch black, while also emitting the stench of rust and silt."

"You would also never imagine that the underground world humans spent tens of billions to build would return to the water within a few days."

As he finished, the viewers felt a lonely fear for the first time.

"Holy crap, I never thought about this problem!"

"The drainage system, seriously, what happens when the power goes out?"

"Then all the basements will be flooded!"

"The subway becomes an underwater tunnel!"

"This is too terrifying!"

Kyoto, Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming listened intently and subconsciously looked at Professor Wen. "What about above ground? How long can the things on the ground last?"

Wen Jingqiu glanced at him but didn't speak.

On the big screen, Jiang Zhe's voice was magnetic, as if he were hosting a late-night program.

"After 5 days, you would start to smell a strange odor."

"You would follow the smell outside, and you would be surprised to find that it's the meat at the street stalls and in the supermarkets—it has all rotted."

"The cold storage has stopped, and the steaks, chicken legs, and fresh milk in the refrigerated cabinets have all rotted at room temperature. That nauseating stench of decay would fill the entire commercial street; flies on the street would be everywhere, and rats would crawl out of the sewers, squeaking as they brought their whole families to gnaw on everything edible on the shelves."

At this point, he shook his head with regret, his tone becoming somewhat low,

"But what truly breaks your heart isn't this."

"It's your dog."

Xiaoyu was taken aback: "Me, the office worker, the dog I raised?"

Jiang Zhe nodded. "The Golden Retriever you raised, or the Husky, or even the Rural Dog—they will die."

"Not from starvation, but from waiting."

"They will start to panic after you disappear, and then after night falls and the lights in the house go out, they will still be afraid for a while until dawn, when they will lie at the doorstep, waiting for you to come home."

"One day, two days, a week—the water in the house is gone, and they are so thirsty their tongues crack; the food is gone, and they are so hungry they are skin and bones. But they won't leave, because the most important thing they learned in their lives was to wait for their master to return."

"Some dogs will starve to death at the door; some dogs will be so hungry they can't take it and will open the door themselves to get out, even if they break their claws to escape. But you aren't out there—only empty streets and wild animals they've never seen before."

"Most pet dogs won't last a month."

These words made Xiaoyu and the countless viewers, teachers, and experts who had little dogs at home get red-eyed.

Then Jiang Zhe's tone shifted.

"However, there is one exception: the Rural Dogs in the countryside."

"That is, what we often call 'Native Dogs.' They have strong wilderness survival skills, can adapt to the environment, hunt small animals, and survive in a world after humans have disappeared."

"As for cats, the situation is much better."

"Your cat might be tougher than you think."

"Stray cats are naturally wild, with the instinct to hunt carved into their genes. Even if all humans disappear, they can quickly forget their masters. They can survive by preying on birds and rodents; especially those cat colonies that are already semi-wild—they will instead experience a population explosion."

"And as for rats, the situation is a bit more complicated."

"Those city rats that depend on humans for survival, living in kitchens, warehouses, and sewers, will die in large numbers. That's because without human food scraps, they can't find enough food to sustain their survival."

"But those rats in nature, like field mice, wood mice, and other rodent species, will live very well. After all, they have lived from the age of dinosaurs until now; without humans, they get along just fine."

Xiaoyu's beautiful eyes sparkled as she listened; at least so far, it was okay. Except for the part about the dogs being a bit hard to accept, the rest were imaginable situations.

"Rural Dogs are awesome!"

"I said it long ago, if you're going to raise a dog, raise a Rural Dog."

"The rat says: When my ancestors were hanging out with dinosaurs, you humans didn't even exist yet!"

"The Big Brother's deduction perspective is too realistic!"

"I never thought about how dogs would be like this after humans disappear. It's so sad; they might even go extinct!"

"..."

Kyoto, Qingfeng Temple.

Zheng Ming's expression was a bit complex as he looked at the screen. He couldn't help but look at Wen Jingqiu:

"Professor Wen, does what he's saying make sense?"

Wen Jingqiu nodded, her eyes full of admiration.

"It's completely logically sound. He explains the chain reaction after humans disappear very thoroughly, and even the emotional aspects are described very delicately. He is a scholar with insight, a soft heart, and great attention to detail!"

"These questions aren't textbook knowledge, but deductions based on common sense. Being able to think of these shows that his thinking is very rigorous."

Zheng Ming was stunned and didn't say anything more.

Huaqing University, Physics Department Professor Dormitory.

Ouyang Baili, Wu Ming, Guan Jingming, and Li Mo sat on the sofa, staring at the big screen, their faces somewhat moved.

Ouyang Baili murmured, "I never thought about this problem..."

Wu Ming couldn't help but shake his head. "I have a black Golden Retriever at home. Hearing this makes my heart feel blocked."

Guan Jingming was silent for a moment. "He explains it very thoroughly—so thoroughly it makes people feel that this isn't just a hypothesis, but a prophecy."

Li Mo said with some emotion, "The key is that these questions—even we, and people in the whole world, haven't thought about them. But with one 'remedial lesson' of his, he's covered them all."

The four of them looked at each other and remained silent.

On the big screen, Jiang Zhe took a sip of a sugar-free drink and continued to tell the story smoothly, "Xiaoyu, all of the above are just the appetizers."

"Next is the real problem."

"The 30th day after humans disappear—the most serious problem appears."

Xiaoyu's heart nearly stopped, her expression solemn. In the livestream room, everyone held their breath.