Then, the ground dried up and became barren again. Countless years passed before the clouds gradually dispersed, but by then, the earth was devoid of life.
It's as if...
The scene at its very beginning!
Then, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and water reappeared in the world. Life reappeared in the water, single-celled organisms reappeared, multicellular organisms reappeared... and then they evolved into more advanced forms...
Upon seeing this, Chen Xiao couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Reincarnation...reincarnation?"
Chapter 172 [I've Chosen You]
"Yes, it is reincarnation."
The voice answered very clearly.
Chen Xiao was silent for a moment, then asked loudly, "Why! Why are you showing me these things? These things, the later ones, are beyond our current era! Did you predict this?"
The other party was silent for a while, and then gave a reply that left Chen Xiao speechless: "According to the records, such a cycle has occurred on this planet before, and more than once."
Chen Xiao was stunned for a moment: "So that means..."
"In other words, your current civilization is not the first time it has appeared. Long before you, there were similar civilizations on this planet. Then... according to the trajectory of this cycle you see, they were destroyed, everything was reduced to zero, and then it started all over again."
The voice seemed to hesitate for a moment, then relaxed a bit: "I found a vivid analogy in your brainwaves: just like the computers you humans use now. When they are first installed, the system is clean. But when the system ages or gets infected with a virus, it has to be reinstalled. And after the reinstallation, the system will return to its initial state!"
"System restore...initial state..."
Chen Xiao frowned.
Then something suddenly occurred to him: "And what about you? What are you? Why do you know these things? Why did you record them?"
At this point, Chen Xiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration and shouted, "Ah! I know! You are a relic left behind by the previous civilization!!"
The voice remained calm: "According to your logic, that's one way to understand it."
Chen Xiao slowly sat down on the ground.
"Where...where is this place..." He swallowed hard.
Before the other person could answer, Chen Xiao suddenly jumped up: "Ah! Could those houses outside also be ruins from this place?"
He immediately clutched his head, frowning in deep thought: "No, no... If it's a ruin, how come the woman who was chasing me is here too! She's the one who locked me up here! Could it be... could it be that she's from here?"
"Before our civilization was destroyed, it left behind a number of record points in this world. Some fourth-type identifiable and non-renewable independent organisms, like myself, were created and transmitted to this world and were given the mission of preserving some of our civilization's data in order to wait for the opportunity to continue our civilization."
On the screen, all the images disappeared, and then the face reappeared. Chen Xiao looked at the face and felt something was strange. After all, the face was a simulation based on his own face, and it felt like he was talking to himself.
"There were about 10,000 such record points in total."
Ten thousand?
Chen Xiao couldn't help but gasp: "So many?"
“Yes.” The “Category IV identifiable non-renewable independent organism” calmly replied, “Unfortunately, due to the extremely harsh external environmental conditions after the destruction of civilization, most of the record points were destroyed. Based on my contact and confirmation, and after the second civilization was re-established and gained the ability to scan the surface, I can confirm that this is the last preserved record point on this planet.”
The only remnant left by Earth's last civilization!
Chen Xiao's heart skipped a beat.
"You mean, your mission is to continue your civilization?" Chen Xiao frowned, looking at the guy with some wariness. "Could it be... that you left behind a lot of advanced technology and civilization here? And want to retake Earth?"
Finally, this "fourth type of identifiable, non-renewable, independent organism" told a joke.
"Respected human, I think you've watched too many science fiction movies." A slight mockery tinged his voice as he continued, "There's no such thing as advanced technology. Although the beings of the previous civilization I encountered had technology more advanced than that of humans on this planet, they didn't leave behind any of the advanced technological products you might imagine. Due to the extremely harsh external environment and the immense environmental impact of the final, devastating war, more than a million years have passed since the last civilization, according to your human calendar. Even the most advanced technology can't survive for a million years! Please understand this."
“Then… I don’t understand.” Chen Xiao frowned.
"Because of the war that destroyed the world, our civilization, in its final stages, realized that what sustains civilization is not advanced technology, but culture! It is religion, thought, philosophy, and other materials that represent the symbols of civilization. In your human terms, if human civilization is destroyed, then as the last survivor, which of the following two situations do you think would be more helpful in rebuilding civilization? Giving you a few guns, or giving you a batch of books on human culture?"
Chen Xiao thought about it carefully and had to sigh: "I think... it's the latter."
"Life is the foundation of everything." This "Fourth Type Identifiable Non-Renewable Independent Organism" slowly said, "What I preserved here is not the advanced technological products of the previous civilization that you might imagine—weapons, machinery, or anything else… but rather some data and archives, representing some of the most important cultural products of our previous civilization. Of course, the most important of these is a batch of biological embryos that we preserved in order to perpetuate our culture. With the current technology at this record point, these biological embryos can be completely catalyzed and nurtured into mature organisms, and what will emerge are the humans of the previous civilization."
Chen Xiao understood that as long as life was preserved, a new batch of "humans" from the previous civilization could be cultivated, and then combined with the culture, ideas, and other materials of the previous civilization, the seeds of a new civilization could be sown!
"But unfortunately, life is fragile."
Surprisingly, a hint of frustration crept into the guy's voice.
However, Chen Xiao strongly suspects that this emotional expression is likely a simulation created by the other party after intercepting his brainwaves.
"The life embryos left behind, here at this record point, a total of ten thousand embryos have been left behind. If they all survive, they will successfully cultivate ten thousand humans as the seeds to continue our civilization... However, a small accident occurred during this process."
"Accident?"
Chen Xiao asked a question.
“Yes, it was a technical accident.” The voice of this “Category IV identifiable non-renewable independent organism” carried a hint of helplessness: “Because I am not a natural organism, but a created organism, I overlooked the most important issue when I initially preserved the embryo samples.”
"What's the problem?"
"Gender." Its voice turned strange: "The reproduction of you natural creatures requires the mating of two sexes to produce offspring. But I am a created, independent being, and I overlooked this important issue. So, when I initially collected embryo samples, all ten thousand embryos I kept were of the same sex... In your human terms, they were all... female!"
puff!
Although it was inappropriate for Chen Xiao to laugh at this moment, he still couldn't help but choke and spit out a mouthful of saliva.
Ten thousand women?