Chapter 381 - 349: Massive Stock Consumption

Chapter 381: Chapter 349: Massive Stock Consumption

"Hurry up! Let’s see if they dare to stop us."

"There are so many of us, what’s there to be afraid of!"

"Lots of angles on this. How many livestreams are running? I’ve already come across a dozen different channels."

On all the major livestreaming platforms, broadcasts of this operation had appeared.

The footage was all the same: a long line of over a thousand people, holding hands, walking step-by-step toward the defensive perimeter formed by soldiers at the very edge of the Landing Site.

Their goal in livestreaming was to use the watchful eyes of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of viewers to deter the soldiers at the perimeter from acting rashly or using violence to stop them.

Public opinion online was strongly against the questioning, so many people watching the livestreams naturally supported the protesters’ actions.

Faced with the gradually approaching crowd, the soldiers at the outer perimeter were indeed at a bit of a loss.

For previous small-scale raids or forceful breaches, they could directly intercept them according to regulations. If the other party used violence, they would immediately counterattack and shoot to kill on the spot.

But now, this procession of over a thousand people, all holding hands, didn’t seem to have any intention of a violent charge. This made things difficult for the soldiers.

The field Commander had no choice but to urgently contact Sikokun, who was at the core of the Landing Site. Upon receiving the report, Sikokun naturally contacted Governor Yelena at once to ask for her decision.

A few seconds after she finished her report on the private communications channel, Yelena gave her reply.

"Have the soldiers on the outer perimeter start making arrests. If they resist violently, handle it according to the existing regulations."

"Governor, according to the outer Commander’s report, these people all appear to be civilians from various countries. While we can’t rule out the possibility of malicious actors in disguise, still..."

"The regulations are the regulations. They don’t change based on the violator’s identity."

"Yes, ma’am."

Sikokun switched communication channels and notified the outer Commander to carry out strict arrests of those attempting to breach the perimeter.

Guan Tong, who was also on the private channel, found the situation a bit strange when he heard it.

’Trying to cross the perimeter like this... isn’t it a bit naive? It’s not just Sisiya; the entire Human Federation would never approve of such an act.’

’Without the Human Federation’s support, a mere thousand people are nothing in the face of elite soldiers.’

At that moment, the Commander at the outer perimeter, having received Sikokun’s instructions, immediately used a bullhorn to shout at the approaching crowd.

"Listen up! Disperse and go back immediately! If you advance any further, we will arrest you in accordance with the Human Federation’s blockade regulations!"

Upon hearing this, some in the thousand-strong crowd showed hesitation, but Louis, standing in the very center, rallied them by shouting a slogan: "To the Landing Site!"

Hearing this, the few agitators from the Fire Worship Cult immediately joined in the shouting, whipping up everyone’s emotions.

"To the Landing Site!"

The thousand-strong crowd marched forward, shouting the slogan, their momentum impressive.

At the same time, the scrolling comments on all the livestreaming platforms went wild, spamming "To the Landing Site."

Seeing that these people were ignoring the warning, the Commander knew a clash was inevitable. He ordered, "Arrest them according to regulations!"

"Yes, sir!"

The soldiers immediately rushed forward to stop and arrest them.

They didn’t open fire, but they didn’t hesitate to use their rifle butts to strike those who resisted arrest.

The protesters hadn’t expected the Sisiya soldiers to actually hit and arrest people. The procession of a thousand was immediately broken up and scattered.

Although numerous, they hadn’t intended a violent breach, so they collapsed almost instantly upon being charged by the soldiers.

Many of the less resolute simply turned and fled. It wouldn’t be long before those who remained were all arrested.

Just then, the members of the Fire Worship Cult in the crowd exchanged glances, stealthily drew hidden pistols, and fired repeatedly into the crowd.

"BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG BANG!"

The moment the shots rang out, people died—and not just the people from the town, but Sisiya soldiers as well.

This caused the situation to spiral out of control instantly. The soldiers thought the townspeople were shooting at them, while the townspeople thought the soldiers had fired first.

"Who fired?!"

"Someone’s been killed!"

"Dammit, open fire!"

Witnessing the deaths of their comrades, the soldiers immediately abandoned the arrests, fell back, raised their rifles, and opened fire. The scene instantly descended into chaos.

The livestreaming platforms immediately cut the live feeds, leaving only screens full of exclamation marks.

「Ten minutes later.」

Sikokun received a report, her expression darker than storm clouds.

She relayed the results to Yelena.

"Governor, the conflict on site spun out of control. Someone in the crowd had a gun, and the soldiers had to return fire to ensure their own safety... resulting in heavy casualties. The rest have been taken into custody."

"Who fired the first shot?" Yelena asked calmly.

"The outer Commander is reviewing the on-site surveillance footage. We can also request that the livestreaming platforms send us backups of the live feeds for a joint investigation."

"This matter isn’t so simple. There might be a conspiracy behind it, likely related to some people who have recently infiltrated Sisiya. I’ll hand the investigation over to others... Teacher, that companion of yours, she’s been staying in the town recently, hasn’t she?"

Yelena had suddenly directed her question at Guan Tong, asking about Shangyuan Zi.

Guan Tong wasn’t surprised. After he and Shangyuan Zi entered Sisiya, they hadn’t made any special effort to hide their movements. As the Governor, Yelena could easily find footage of the two traveling together if she was so inclined, especially after meeting him.

However, Shangyuan Zi’s face had not been revealed.

Ever since Mizusawa Chun’s death, when the scales started to spread across her face, she had always kept her face covered when she went out, revealing almost no skin.

"Yes, she’s waiting for me."

"Could you ask her to assist by providing some clues? These people all gathered from the town, so perhaps she knows something. Someone who travels alongside you, Teacher, surely can’t be an ordinary person."

"I can. However, she doesn’t like interacting with strangers. If there are any clues, I’ll be responsible for relaying them. But I’ll need an undisturbed communication channel."

"Of course, I will arrange for the communication channel. Sikokun."

"Present."

"Don’t get distracted by these matters. Just focus on your duties in the core area of the Landing Site. I’ll handle the aftermath."

"Yes, Governor."

After the communication ended, Sikokun, just as Yelena had instructed, focused her attention on the questioning scheduled to begin at ten o’clock.

Just like the previous times, soldiers began to unload the Parasites, which served as food, from the vehicles and place them in the feeding area.

As the time approached, the designated questioner from the Human Federation got out of a vehicle. He had probably heard about the fate of the previous questioner who had violated the rules, and his expression was a little tense.

"What’s the question this time?" Guan Tong asked Sikokun.

Besides the questioner, a few other people on site also received the question in advance.

For example, the current Commander-in-Chief, Sikokun, and the snipers on the watchtowers. This was to prevent the questioner from secretly changing the question at the last minute.

The stakes were so high that they had to be overly cautious. Even if the questioner misspoke a single word, measures would be taken against them immediately.

In response to Guan Tong’s inquiry, she didn’t hide anything: "There are two questions this time. The first is related to the connection between human brain neurons and digital chips. The second..."

When she mentioned the second question, she paused. She had found it very strange when she received the information from the Human Federation.

"The second is to ask about the content of the next rule."

"The content of the next rule?"

Guan Tong was slightly taken aback by this. It was unexpected.

’The first question I can immediately connect to the Human Federation’s potential plan to advance something like a "digital life" project.’

’But this second question involves something that hasn’t happened yet.’

’Is the Human Federation trying to use this question to determine if the Alien Intelligence can predict the future?’

"I find it strange too," Sikokun said. "But since it was a resolution passed by the Human Federation, we just have to execute it."

"Are the two questions to be asked consecutively?"

"The Human Federation’s decision is that it depends on the amount of food consumed for the first question. If the first question consumes no more than one-fifth of the food supply, we will proceed with the second question. If it exceeds one-fifth, we will wait for more Parasites to be transported here before asking."

Guan Tong nodded.

"It’s time."

At ten o’clock sharp, the questioner walked up to the Alien Intelligence on schedule.

"I would like to ask..."

The questioner’s voice was steady as he posed the technical question he had memorized until he knew it by heart.

"With humanity’s current technology, how can we stably and continuously convert the brainwaves produced by the collective activity of human neurons into digital signals that can be expressed using specific classification parameters?"

Most of the people present only half-understood this type of question, which involved a specialized field. They could grasp the surface meaning, but they were clueless about the specific technology involved. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Upon receiving the question, however, the Alien Intelligence began to move rapidly, starting to devour the food in huge "gulps."

Watching it eat, Guan Tong had a question that many others shared.

Where did all the Parasites it ate go?

When humans eat, they digest and excrete.

But this Alien Intelligence, from its initial deployment to this day, had already consumed nearly ten thousand lives in total.

After eating so much, it had never excreted anything, and its overall size didn’t appear to have increased upon visual inspection... Why was that?

In human understanding, even alien life should be bound by the laws of the universe. And one of those laws is the conservation of energy.

The body of each Parasite was a human body. The energy from thousands of human bodies had been transferred to this Alien Intelligence, yet it showed no discernible change. This undoubtedly violated the law of conservation of energy.

Some scientists had posted their opinions online, all believing that the law of energy conservation must be an unbreakable iron rule. This alien black ooze must be converting the consumed energy in some way unknown to humanity.

They also called for the Human Federation to consider asking a related question. However, this question didn’t seem to offer any benefits to humanity, so it wasn’t added to the list of potential questions.

"Quick, bring out more!"

The food was being consumed at an extremely rapid pace. It had already devoured nearly five thousand Parasites and still hadn’t stopped. It was clear that the answer to this question would come at an enormous cost.

The soldiers continued to bring more, wave after wave.

The question was asked at ten o’clock, but by eleven, then twelve, two hours had passed, and it still hadn’t finished eating.

This made everyone on site a little anxious. Although they had stockpiled a considerable number of Parasites this time, it definitely wouldn’t be enough if the consumption continued at this rate.

After so long, Guan Tong had stopped counting how many it had eaten. Only Sikokun kept a silent tally in her mind.

The moment it finally stopped, Sikokun took a deep breath. "27,395. This question actually consumed... nearly thirty thousand Parasites!"

Nearly thirty thousand...

Hearing this number, Guan Tong turned his head and glanced at the massive transport vehicles that held the Parasites.

The remaining stock was low. They probably wouldn’t be able to ask the next question right away.

Having eaten so much, the Alien Intelligence now gave its answer.