110: Chapter 109 The Vanished Green Soil and the Shape of Pressure

9 days after the verdict, deep underground in Mount Taihang, the core area of green soil.

Countdown: 01:47:33

The milky white biological material walls were losing their luster at a visible rate, changing from warm and jade-like to a dull greyish-white, with fine cracks beginning to appear on the surface. The fresh scent of rain in the air had dissipated, replaced by a slightly astringent smell, like that of ancient scrolls slowly oxidizing. In the central control room, the floating crystal core's light had grown as faint as a candle in the wind.

Elena stood before the console, her fingers operating rapidly, but her gaze couldn't help but drift repeatedly to the observation window—that ecosystem frozen in time. The protective film was losing its transparency, and the outlines of the strange plants and creatures inside were gradually blurring, like a fading dream.

"Energy output is stable at the critical value of 0.3%, and the resonance frequency broadcast intensity has decayed to 18% of its initial value." Chen Yu stared at the data stream, his voice dry. "The externally input energy can barely maintain the core from disintegrating instantly, but it cannot stop the overall exhaustion. It... its time is up."

The temporarily constructed consciousness frequency generator—essentially using green soil's own remaining ecological circulation system as a resonance chamber—had been running at overload for nearly ten hours. This had bought time for the Siberia reconnaissance team to evacuate and provided a faint but real "soothing background sound" for the world's turbulent emotions. The price was accelerating the death of green soil.

"Completion rate of the core memory's final full backup?" Elena asked.

"98.7%. The final 1.3% is highly fragmented real-time perception data, mainly recording its 'dying experience' over the past 72 hours, including our arrival, the activation of the frequency generator, and... its final perception of its children." Chen Yu paused. "This part of the data cannot be read in the conventional way; the consciousness waveform shows that its encoding method is extremely personalized, almost like... an emotional diary."

Elena fell silent. An intelligent facility that had existed for 800,000 years, taking care of an entire ecosystem, had recorded an "emotional diary" in its final moments of life. What kind of content would that be? Was it regret for unfinished duties? Was it nostalgia for its creator, Talos? Or was it complex and unfathomable thoughts about these latecomers who had suddenly broken in, clumsily tried to help it, and yet accelerated its end?

"Seal the emotional diary data separately and label it 'Talos's Final Memory'," she said finally. "Perhaps in the future, when we understand consciousness science better, we will be able to interpret it."

"Understood."

Countdown: 00:15:00

The lighting in the control room began to flicker. The rotation speed of the crystal core slowed down, and the galaxy of light flowing within became sparse and intermittent. A calm, less synthetic consciousness message was transmitted directly into the neural interfaces of Elena and Chen Yu. This was the first and last time green soil used this more "intimate" way of communication:

[Backup complete, very good.]

[The external frequency broadcast will stop in 147 seconds. At that time, my structural integrity will be unable to maintain itself.]

[Please, leave this place. The collapse will be gentle, but it is a collapse nonetheless.]

[Additionally, there is a preset message set to be sent to specific coordinates after I shut down. The recipient is... 'Blade' (current codename identification). The content is encrypted; you do not need to know it. This is my final promise to Alpha.]

Elena felt a shock in her heart. At the end of its life, green soil was still executing the order left by that grey-clothed person 500,000 years ago? Sending a message to "Blade," which might have already alienated into the "Pruning Faction"? This was too dangerous!

"Can the message be intercepted or decrypted?" she asked Chen Yu immediately.

"The sending protocol is hardware-level pre-set, and the trigger condition is the core shutdown. We cannot interrupt it without compromising its final structural stability. The encryption level... is extremely high, using the Sower Civilization's core military-grade encryption. With our current capabilities, the time unit required to decrypt it is 'centuries'."

Countdown: 00:00:00

The light of the crystal core extinguished completely.

It didn't explode or shatter; instead, like burnt-out embers, it silently turned into a small pinch of extremely fine dust, flickering with a final faint light, and drifted down slowly. The moment before the dust touched the ground, a data pulse, so weak it was almost undetectable, penetrated the rock layers, atmosphere, and even the fabric of space-time in an incomprehensible way, shooting toward an unknown coordinate in deep space.

Immediately after, the entire green soil facility began to "melt."

It was not an explosion or collapse, but the active biological materials that made up the walls, floors, and pipes, like a wax statue that had lost all support, began to slowly soften, flow, and then decompose into the most basic organic molecules, merging into the soil. Outside the observation window, the protective film of that massive ecosystem silently dissipated, and the life forms sealed inside for 500,000 years turned into the same fine dust the moment they touched the current underground air, leaving not even a sigh behind.

Everything happened quietly and quickly. In just three minutes, a miracle that had existed for 800,000 years was completely erased from the world, leaving only a huge underground cavity that was being slowly squeezed and filled by the surrounding rock layers, and that final astringent scent that had not yet dissipated in the air.

Elena and Chen Yu stood beneath the closing hole, looking up as the last ray of daylight was blocked by the falling rocks. They had taken the data, taken the memories, and taken a small piece of the withered memory fern stem.

But they knew that some things had remained here forever.

For example, Talos's ideal of cultivating life.

For example, green soil's 800,000 years of silent watch.

For example, the full weight carried by Alpha's letter, sandwiched between ideals and blades.

Zhao Yan's voice came through the communicator; they had already returned safely to New Shanghai and were undergoing purification and quarantine: "Elena, how are things on your end?"

"green soil... has shut down. Completely." Elena's voice was a bit hoarse. "It sent an encrypted message to the 'Blade' civilization at the end. We couldn't stop it."

There was silence on the channel for a few seconds. Lin Shen's voice came in: "Understood. Withdraw to the base first. The exudation activity on the 'cold fang' side has become active again after the green soil frequency broadcast stopped, and the awakening progress has risen back to 25%. We need a new plan."

A new plan. Elena looked at the isolation box containing the memory fern stem. Besides the warning, did Talos leave any other gifts?

At the same time, New Shanghai, Institute of Social Dynamics, Long Kingdom Academy of Sciences.

Chu Yunshen was experiencing the most difficult "stress test" of his career. The tester was not a machine, but Liaison Coordinator.

This pearly-white auditor representative was currently standing in front of the institute's giant screen of "Global Social Emotion Real-time Heatmap." On the screen, the entire Earth was covered by a layer of dynamically changing colors: dark red representing anxiety, bright blue representing hope, orange-yellow representing anger, grey-white representing confusion... They were like spots of a viral infection, constantly spreading, contracting, and infiltrating each other.

"A very interesting visualization." Liaison Coordinator's black crystal eyes swept across the screen. "According to my observations, in the past 24 hours, the area of the blue region representing 'hope' has increased by 3%, mainly concentrated in the pilot cities where you are directly conducting the civil conversion of legacy technology and the East Asian regions that have received the influence of the 'green soil frequency.' But at the same time, the red and orange areas of 'anxiety' and 'anger' have also increased by 5% in other regions. The total entropy has risen by 2.1 percentage points."

It turned to Chu Yunshen: "This means that your technology dividend release and consciousness soothing attempts are effective locally, but at the same time, they have also exacerbated the relative deprivation and anxiety in other regions. It's like lighting a few lamps in a dark room; the illuminated areas are indeed clearer, but the shadows are therefore more concentrated and... restless."

Chu Yunshen did not deny it: "This is the inevitable growing pain of a technological and social transition period. Our roadmap includes global technology transfer agreements, popular education plans, and resource redistribution mechanisms, but these take time."

"Time." Liaison Coordinator repeated the word. "The thing you lack most. And the stress accumulation of the social structure has a critical point. When the 'anger' or 'despair' index in a certain region breaks through the threshold, it may trigger chain-reaction collapse events—violent conflicts, the rise of extremism, or large-scale irrational panic. And the strong negative emotional fluctuations generated by these events will, in turn, nourish existences like 'cold fang,' forming a positive-feedback death spiral."

It pulled up a prediction model, generated based on human historical social collapse data and current monitoring parameters. The model showed that within the next three months, there was a greater than 40% probability of severe social unrest breaking out in at least seven "high-risk regions" globally. Once the unrest began, the spread speed would far exceed the control capabilities of traditional means.

"Does your 'Civilization Ascension Roadmap' have a detailed contingency plan for this kind of internal collapse?" Liaison Coordinator asked.

Chu Yunshen pulled up a thick document: "We have seventeen contingency plans, covering everything from information guidance and economic intervention to limited order maintenance when necessary..."

"Maintaining it by relying on what?" Liaison Coordinator interrupted him. "Traditional state apparatus? In the context where legacy technology might be acquired by a few radicals? Or by relying on the new power you obtained from the legacy? The latter might be seen by the public as a 'tool of suppression,' further intensifying the conflict."

The question was sharp and realistic. Chu Yunshen felt the pressure like a mountain. He realized that Liaison Coordinator's audit was far more than just looking at reports; it was forcing human civilization to face its most fragile link—while obtaining immense power, how to ensure this power would not tear itself apart from within.

"We..." Chu Yunshen took a deep breath. "We plan to launch a global immersive simulation project called 'Common Future.' Using neural interfaces and virtual reality technology, we will allow people from different regions, classes, and viewpoints to personally experience the various future scenarios that technological leaps might bring—good, bad, and in-between—in a controlled environment. Let them experience resource competition, ethical dilemmas, and external threats in the simulation, and find solutions together."

"The purpose is?"

"To release pressure in advance and cultivate 'community cognition'," Chu Yunshen said. "Instead of letting fear and suspicion ferment in an orderly manner in reality, it is better to guide and resolve them in a virtual world. At the same time, we will collect massive behavioral data generated in the simulation to optimize our social policies. This requires huge computing power and neural interface penetration, which we are accelerating."

Liaison Coordinator listened silently, its black crystal eyes revealing no emotion. After a long while, it said: "A bold attempt. The risk is that if the simulation design deviates, or is exploited by those with ulterior motives, it may backfire and become a hotbed for manufacturing panic and division. Can your technical and management capabilities handle such complex consciousness engineering?"

"That is exactly what we need to prove," Chu Yunshen admitted frankly. "It is also one of the core challenges of our roadmap: not just a technological leap, but a leap in civilizational governance capability."

Just then, Lin Shen's communication request cut in, with the highest priority.

"Consultant Chu, Liaison Coordinator," Lin Shen's voice rang out in the institute, "Sorry to interrupt. We have just received a reply from the 'Blade' civilization through a non-public channel—regarding the encrypted message sent by green soil."

"What is the content?" Liaison Coordinator asked immediately.

"The message itself is still encrypted, but it came with a plaintext 'receipt'." Lin Shen paused and read the content:

['Talos's Messenger' has been received. The price is known. The 'Gardener Chief' fleet is confirmed as a traitor to my faction, codenamed 'Eliminator' sequence. Its flagship 'pruning ship' core has a logical weakness. Relevant intelligence will be sent in 24 hours as part of the down payment for the 'Gardener Chief' information priority sharing agreement.]

['Additionally: We have detected intensified negative consciousness fluctuations on your planet, suspected of triggering 'cold fang' type units. Suggestion: Add an 'external consciousness entity interference' test scenario to the 'Common Future' simulation. Data can be shared with our side.]

['-- Blade - Seventh Execution Court']

The institute was silent after the message was read.

The message sent by green soil on its deathbed was not for the already fallen "Pruning Faction," but for the "Seventh Execution Court" within the "Blade" civilization that had not yet betrayed? They not only confirmed that the "Gardener Chief" was a traitor, but were also willing to pay intelligence in advance? Even... actively suggesting adding a simulation scenario to counter "cold fang" in humanity's social stability plan?

"Are they showing goodwill? Or setting up a deeper chess game?" Chu Yunshen muttered.

On Liaison Coordinator's pearly-white face, for the first time, an extremely subtle change in texture, similar to a frown, appeared. "Seventh Execution Court... In the council records, this is a faction within the 'Blade' civilization that still adheres to Alpha's original principle—'only prune plague civilizations.' They are in a state of semi-rupture with the mainstream forces that have evolved into the 'Pruning Faction.' Their intelligence is of extremely high value, but cooperating with them means you will be drawn into the internal divisions of the 'Blade' civilization, with higher risks."

Lin Shen's voice came through: "The risk has always existed. But now, we might have an opportunity not only to obtain key intelligence to counter the 'Gardener Chief' but also to obtain professional advice on countering 'cold fang' from the civilization that once understood these 'Hibernators' the best."

"The condition is that we act as their 'test field' in the simulation," Chu Yunshen added. "Providing data on the interaction between 'cold fang' and human negative emotions."

"A transaction," Liaison Coordinator summarized. "Using your society's stress test data in exchange for intelligence and technical advice to counter internal and external threats. It fits the pragmatic style of 'Blade'."

It looked at the color blocks on the giant screen that were still rolling and colliding.

"Then, Consultant Chu, your 'Common Future' simulation will likely have to go online ahead of schedule. And the difficulty will need to be adjusted directly to... hell level."

Chu Yunshen looked at the screen. The color blocks representing humanity's complex emotions seemed to turn into some kind of living, breathing, chaotic matter that was both fragile and contained infinite possibilities in his eyes.

The stress test for civilization's leap was no longer just theoretical deduction and contingency plans.

It would become a real dance on the blade's edge.

And beneath the dance floor was the abyss of hunger named "cold fang," and in the deep space, the scissors named "Gardener Chief" were slowly falling.