Free Web NovelChapter 134: Chapter 134: High-Frequency Noise
(The end of the previous Chapter has been revised. Please refresh.)
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The various methods recorded in the book, *Nanomechanical Principles*, targeted different models of nanomachines.
After all, nanomechanical organisms would continuously develop various resistances through constant iteration. A single trick couldn’t be expected to work forever.
For example, the very first generation of Nanomechanical Insects were even afraid of water, as their internal micro-circuitry could be damaged by water molecules.
This problem, however, was perfectly resolved in later iterative models.
According to the deductions in *Nanomechanical Principles*, with constant iterative evolution, these Nanomechanical Insects would eventually become near-perfect organisms with almost no weaknesses.
However, strong electromagnetic pulses were effective most of the time.
"Sir, I... what should I call you?" Billy asked Shen Feng, who was behind him, as he walked cautiously in front.
Although this young man was at least human, unlike those robots, he showed no mercy when it came to killing.
Shen Feng said flatly, "My surname is Shen." frёeωebɳovel.com
"Alright, Mr. Shen..." Billy said with a fawning smile. "Mr. Shen, which Hibernation Pod did you wake up in? Was it one of the Immortal Race’s pods? If so, Mr. Shen must have been a social elite, one of the top figures of human civilization..."
’The Immortal Race?’
Shen Feng asked with a blank expression, "What is the Immortal Race?"
Billy was taken aback and asked in surprise, "You don’t know?"
Seeing that Shen Feng didn’t reply, he immediately recounted everything in detail.
The so-called Immortal Race were actually people who, after deep-space hibernation technology became widespread, wanted to use it to travel to the future.
These people weren’t prisoners, but they were obsessed with deep-space hibernation technology.
Some had certain diseases, while others pursued immortality, believing that future human technology would break the barriers to eternal life, or at least greatly extend one’s lifespan.
Others simply wanted to enter the world of the future.
There were even those who chose long-term hibernation simply because they were disappointed with the societal development of their time, believing future humans would solve everything.
These people were known in society as the "Immortal Race."
All they had to do was buy a set of deep-space hibernation equipment—that is, a Hibernation Pod—connect it to a power source, and periodically replace the hibernation fluid inside.
In the world of this mega-structure, there were also many humans in individual hibernation.
Hearing this, and combining it with everything he had seen in the hibernation prison, Shen Feng quickly made a few deductions.
’First, the Nanomechanical Insects don’t kill humans who are in hibernation.’
’Perhaps it’s because hibernating humans show almost no signs of life, making them seem more like ordinary raw materials.’
’But that alone doesn’t make sense, because the Nanomechanical Insects also devour ordinary materials.’
’Considering some of the installation art and the presence of water I’ve seen along the way, there are probably only two possibilities:’
’One, the Nanomechanical Insects don’t devour objects submerged in liquid, perhaps because they have some difficulty absorbing liquids.’
’Two, these Nanomechanical Insects treat the Hibernation Pods containing humans as some kind of decoration, which is why they’ve been preserved.’
’After all, the Gray Tide’s initial directive was simply to build structures.’
’But there’s another problem here.’
’So many years have passed. How is the nutrient fluid in the Hibernation Pods being replaced?’
’Could it be the Gray Tide?’
’But that would contradict the Gray Tide’s fundamental premise of being chaotic. It seems more like there’s a unified will controlling it from behind the scenes.’
Shen Feng then asked Billy, "What floor is the place we’re going to on?"
Billy quickly replied:
"The two-thousandth... no, close to the three-thousandth floor... According to the guy who escaped and made it back, the expedition team he was on ran into other people near the three-thousandth floor. They seemed to have been living here all along, not like they’d woken up from Hibernation Pods, because there were two children... But they were immediately attacked by those mechanical monsters, so they couldn’t talk to those people. In the end, he was the only one who survived, and he broke his arm..."
"And then?"
"Later... because his arm was badly broken and he kept screaming in pain, Mike... Mike had us eat him..." Billy said cautiously, sneaking a glance at Shen Feng.
Shen Feng nodded but said nothing more.
Billy hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. "Mr. Shen, we didn’t bring any food. It’ll take at least a few days to get there. Should we go back and get some meat, to, uh... serve as food?"
Shen Feng said flatly, "No need."
’Does this person have other food in his backpack?’
’That can’t be right. His bag should be full of weapons. Unless...’
At this thought, Billy suddenly trembled all over and quickened his pace.
’There’s still me!’
’I’m walking food!’
’And I won’t spoil!’
’I’ll stay fresh!’
’No, I have to lead this person to that damned place as fast as possible. Even being eaten by those mechanical monsters is better than being gnawed to the bone bit by bit by a person!’
Seeing Billy suddenly speed up, Shen Feng felt a little confused.
But for him, the faster, the better.
Soon, they had ascended past the one-thousandth floor.
Everything around them became much more orderly, no longer the chaos of the lower floors. This area was more like a mix of an ordinary office building, a hotel, and a residential tower. There were far fewer of those metal structures of various shapes.
It seemed that the higher they went, the more orderly the Nanomechanical Insects making up the Gray Tide became through iteration, gradually shedding their initial chaos.
Suddenly, the sound of water came from not far away. Billy quickly said:
"Mr. Shen, there’s a water source nearby. We can stock up on drinking water here."
Shen Feng nodded. "Alright."
Billy led the way. The two walked through a long corridor where everything now looked even more like the inside of a hotel, except that the carpets, the ceilings—everything—was made of metal and engraved with patterns.
Billy led Shen Feng through various turns, occasionally checking marks on the walls, and soon brought him to a certain place.
What appeared before them was, surprisingly, a place resembling a washroom. Outside were three metal sinks!
As if presenting a treasure, Billy walked up, turned on one of the faucets, and a stream of clear water immediately flowed out.
"Look, Mr. Shen, the water here is drinkable, it’s very clean! Sometimes, when we’ve had enough of the nutrient fluid from the Hibernation Pods, we come here to drink water."
Billy’s face was covered in a sycophantic smile.
’Too bad there’s only water and no food here...’
Shen Feng scooped up a handful of water, sniffed it, and lightly touched it with the tip of his tongue. It was the same as the water from the waterfall he had encountered on the lower levels.
’It’s drinkable.’
He took out his canteen, filled it up, and drank his fill. Then he looked up at the pipes above.
’Where is the water coming from?’
’Maybe if I follow these pipes, I’ll find something new?’ ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Thinking this, Shen Feng raised his Electromagnetic Pulse Gun and fired a shot at the sink.
Some metallic dust crumbled off, but not much.
’Trying to blast a way up through here is basically a lost cause.’
The models of Nanomechanical Insects that made up the entire mega-structure were varied, and their resistance to electromagnetic pulses also seemed to differ.
If the mega-structure was constantly developing upward, then the higher he went, the newer the models of Nanomechanical Insects he would encounter.
Just then, a rapid CLICK-CLACKING sound came from the corridor. A humanoid Nanomechanical Cluster, apparently disturbed by the gunshot, was seen rapidly crawling toward them along the ceiling.
"Discovered: primordial building material... Discovered: primordial building material..."
Red light flickered in the Nanomechanical Robot’s eyes as it emitted a cold, electronic voice. In the blink of an eye, it had rushed in front of Shen Feng.
Billy’s eyes went wide. He said:
"How could... These mechanical monsters rarely ever appear in this area. What’s with today..."
If these things were everywhere, they would have all been wiped out long ago.
Shen Feng chuckled darkly. "Just in time... Jingwei, get to work."
In an instant, the robot was before him. A high-frequency noise suddenly burst from the silicon-based framework in Shen Feng’s chest.
BZZZT—
The advancing Nanomechanical Robot abruptly fell from the ceiling, landing heavily in front of Shen Feng.
With the excited look of a hunter spotting its prey, Shen Feng grabbed the temporarily immobilized Nanomechanical Robot and began to release electromagnetic waves from his Silicon-Based Brain, preparing to forcibly hack into its core control hub.
The first time he’d encountered these things, it had been too rushed. He had wiped them all out with an electromagnetic bomb, leaving no opportunity to hack their controls.
"Come on, let Daddy see what you’re really made of..."
