bad seeds - Chapter 12
"imagination."
Do you think I lack imagination?
Why are you so adamant that all of this was the work of aliens?
"You mean..."
"What if they aren't aliens at all?"
I took the parchment from the table, pulled out the second one, and spread it out on the table.
“We,” I said to Liang Yingwu, “I mean Ye Tong and I, have never understood what was drawn on this parchment scroll, or what role it played in the ‘oracle’. But now,” I said, my tone becoming increasingly smug, “I can finally explain it to you.”
Ye Tong and Liang Yingwu both came over with great interest.
"The key to solving this mystery lies in your assumption. If you assume from the beginning that they are aliens, then this mystery will never be solved. However, once you adopt my premise, 'they are not aliens at all,' then everything will be solved!"
"How so?" Liang Yingwu asked.
"I think you've all heard of the concept of 'prehistoric civilizations,' right? Now its existence has finally been confirmed."
I pointed to the image in the upper left corner and said, “In this image, a meteorite is depicted impacting Earth. I suspect this meteorite brought the original ‘mother body.’ In the second image,” I moved my finger to the image in the upper right corner, “the ‘mother body’ and its branches are depicted scattered across the globe, possibly caused by prehistoric humans neglecting or exceeding the limits of their exploitation of these organisms to mine metallic elements. We can imagine the situation at that time: the global environment rapidly deteriorated, species went extinct, land became desertified, and the situation was out of control, hence the third image.” I pointed to the image below and continued, “After making their best efforts, prehistoric humans discovered that they were unable to eradicate these ‘evil seeds’ and save their Earth, so they finally made the painful decision.” I removed my index finger and held it up in the air, “Abandoning Earth! This image depicts them fleeing en masse in spaceships!”
“That’s interesting. What happens next?” Liang Yingwu asked.
"Then, coincidentally, the Earth began its periodic ice ages. As your research shows, prolonged global low temperatures caused widespread destruction of the enrichment capacity of all branches that had left the 'mother body,' and the 'mother body' also suffered severe damage. I believe that was the 'Quaternary Ice Age.' During the tens or even hundreds of thousands of years of glacial melting, both the Earth and the 'mother body' slowly recovered. In the late Quaternary period, new humans emerged."
“More than 8,000 years ago, during the Neolithic Age,” I began to speak with great seriousness, “prehistoric humans returned to their homeland—Earth. They were surprised to find that most of their branches had disappeared, leaving only the ‘mother’ still resilient. They also discovered that new civilizations were beginning to emerge on Earth. Presumably, they were living happily on their new planet and had no intention of returning to be the masters of Earth. However, out of their attachment to their homeland and their motivation to help future generations, they taught the humans of that time, through ‘divine pronouncements,’ to fight against the destruction of the environment by the ‘mother.’ You can see the tone of the wording on the first parchment scroll; the ‘god’ speaks as if he were an elder.”
"Brilliant!" Liang Yingwu exclaimed. "So, how exactly does 'God' teach humanity to combat the destruction of the environment by the 'Mother Body'?"
I was taken aback for a moment, then said, "I don't know!"
Chapter Seven - Demon
"You're wasting your time!" Ye Tong said. "Your reasoning doesn't help solve the problem at all!"
“At least our doubts have been dispelled,” I retorted.
“It’s helpful. At least we know there must be a way to fight against the ‘Matrix.’ We must find the method hinted at in the ‘oracle’ as soon as possible!” Liang Yingwu gave me an approving look.
"Dr. Liang!" The middle-aged man rushed into the tent, but hesitated again when he saw that Ye Tong and I were still there.
Liang Yingwu said, "They are all on our side. Just tell me what's on your mind."
"Dr. Liang, there's been a new discovery on the spaceship. You'd better come and take a look."
Ye Tong and I followed Liang Yingwu and took an elevator into an underground cave for our second visit to the spaceship.
The cave was brightly lit, with high-powered incandescent bulbs illuminating every corner, making it somewhat dazzling. Researchers were busy everywhere, and fully armed soldiers patrolled around. The spaceship no longer appeared lifeless due to running out of energy.
We entered the spaceship through the entrance opened by Ye Tong on the front. All the transparent partitions inside the cabin had been removed, creating a large cabin filled with researchers and equipment. It was difficult to distinguish which equipment belonged to the spaceship and which was brought in by the researchers, making it seem somewhat chaotic.
At the location of the second compartment from the right, a young girl beckoned us over.
"What did you find?" Liang Yingwu asked.
"A large number of alien and Earth plant and animal specimens; this is probably the specimen room," the girl replied.
"Oh, is there anything special about it?"
“We found this in a very conspicuous place. I don’t think it’s likely that it was placed in the wrong place. This spot is perfect for this box.” The girl was holding a box-like object. The upper part was transparent, and the lower part was made of a matte black material.
“The magic box, it’s the magic box!” I shouted. It was exactly the same as the “magic box” I had seen in my grandmother’s basement. The only difference was that the liquid in this box was covered with dark red flocculent matter.
Liang Yingwu took the box, examined it from all angles, and said to Ye Tong:
“If this specimen box is your ‘divine box,’ then I think I know how your people determine the uncontrolled cycles of the ‘mother.’”
"Unfortunately, we still haven't found a way to fight against the 'Matrix'," Ye Tong said.
"Dr. Liang, do you know what it means to find branch specimens here?" The girl seemed a little excited.
“I know,” Liang Yingwu said in his usual calm tone, “but I’m afraid we need to visit the site in person before we can draw any conclusions!”
Liang Yingwu's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and listened for only a couple of sentences before his face turned ashen. He shouted into the receiver, "Listen! Listen to me, Mr. He! Listen to me! All personnel must evacuate the Baigongshan area immediately! Request military support! Replace all the fences with wooden ones! Equip everyone with a radiation suit! Form groups of three and seal off a 1-kilometer radius around Baigongshan for 24 hours a day! No one is allowed to approach! I repeat, no one is allowed to approach! Increase the radiation intensity three times... yes, three times! If that's still not enough, increase it five times... I'm not crazy... I'm begging you! I'll explain later. Just do as I say, and I'll take full responsibility for the consequences..."
"Damn it!" he cursed, clearly indicating that the other party hadn't accepted his advice and hung up the phone.
He had been very calm until now, but at this moment, he had completely lost his gentlemanly demeanor and became somewhat agitated.
Inside the command post tent.
Liang Yingwu kept scratching his head, staring at the simulation on the computer screen. He had transformed from an energetic and composed leader into a disheveled, somewhat neurotic scientist. This sudden change made me hesitant to ask him what had happened.
Finally, he looked at me with a somewhat desperate expression and said:
"The thing I feared most has finally happened!"
"What happened?" Ye Tong asked anxiously.
"The 'mother body' has lost control and has started to grow wildly!" Liang Yingwu's tone became very calm again, but unlike his previous confident and calm tone, this was a kind of helpless calm. "Within one hour, the rate at which it enriches metals and metal salts has increased by nearly 70 times, and its branches are the same. The situation is very serious."
He grabbed his hair again and pointed at the computer screen, saying:
"It's estimated that within two days, Tosu Lake will be filled with precipitates of iron oxide and iron hydroxide. Within three days, it will affect Krug Lake, causing mass deaths of aquatic life. The nearby important water source, the Bayin River, will likely also suffer. The explosive enrichment capacity of the 'mother body' is terrifying; the enrichment rate is still increasing… Within a week, it will impact the nearest farms. In the worst-case scenario, if its branches spread, the area of the Gobi Desert could expand by a significant margin within just one year."