Ash Civilization

The sky is bright and light rain is falling.

The black and gray off-road vehicle was speeding through the open fields. Water droplets hit the windshield and were quickly swept away by the wipers, revealing the outside scenery.

Perhaps because of the popularity of flying cars, the roads here are not very wide. From time to time, there are one or two potholes, causing the off-road vehicle to jolt violently.

A row of cedar trees were planted on both sides of the road, with their branches crossing and casting green shade.

Outside the metasequoias, there is endless grass. Occasionally, you can see some ponds, groves, thorn bushes and the like.

Every once in a while, there is a conspicuous yellow standing sign with signs such as Biological Hazard, Toxic Warning and Chemical Weapons.

There was a barbed wire fence in the distance, and there was smoke slowly rising from the ground. The smoke was yellow and green, and it seemed that it was not a normal gas.

In the off-road vehicle, Zhou Zhen looked out the window quietly.

Ghost No. 024 in the main driver's seat concentrated on driving and said nothing.

The three ghosts in the back row, 080, have been staring at the screen of his mobile phone. As he moved his fingers, patches of green light hit the visual sensor he was wearing, reflecting the K-line charts that were spiraling thousands of miles; 041 He was playing the game with concentration, and the exciting sound effects sounded almost continuously. The game had just started, and the record was already 0-5.

Ghost No. 056 turned his head slightly and observed Zhou Zhen carefully. Seeing that Zhou Zhen's mood was always stable, he suddenly asked: What exactly is the case at Binhai Central Hospital?

Zhou Zhen came back to his senses and saw that a member of the ghost team finally asked him about the case, and immediately replied: While I was on duty, I received a call from the general team requesting support, and then I immediately went to the Central Hospital with Team Leader Jin... …”

Soon, he told the entire case process.

Of course, not a single word was said about the side effects of [Plane Transition] and the photos and videos of girls on the phone...

In addition, he also mentioned a little bit about the personality of Chu Jingyan...

Based on the information that Ghost No. 017 just told him, he already knew that when the ghost team arrived at the scene, they were all attacked by him.

He didn't want to help Chu Jingyan take the blame...

After listening, Ghost No. 056 nodded and said with a very serious expression: The [God-Creation Plan] of the 'Twilight Trial' is to write the 'Digital Forest' into the 'Digital Domain' of the compatible.

The 'ring' you just mentioned is indeed a 'digital forest'!

In other words, the experimental subject of the 'Twilight Trial' is the patient named 'Ji Yuantao'?

Zhou Zhen nodded immediately. According to the information he currently has... the Twilight Trial should have sealed off Binhai Central Hospital!

The fact that he was able to receive a call for help from the ordinary team was entirely caused by the Ash Order!

The Ash Order wanted to collect the battle data of the two experimental subjects, so everything that happened that day had been planned in advance!

After a brief pause, Ghost No. 056 spoke again: We have cleaned up the scene, but in the ruins of the entire hospital, we have not found the body or part of the body of the patient named 'Ji Yuantao', nor have we found any remains of him. 'Digital energy'.

Hearing this, Zhou Zhen frowned and immediately asked: You mean, he escaped?

Ghost No. 056 shook his head and said very seriously: No!

At the central hospital site, we only collected the 'digital energy' you left behind.

Until just now, I thought you were the experimental subject of the 'Twilight Trial'...

Now it seems that this patient named 'Ji Yuantao' has been devoured by your personality named 'Chu Jingyan'!

We have all seen the 'digital forest' of the 'ring' you just mentioned.

At that time, your personality called 'Chu Jingyan' used this 'Digital Forest' to catch us off guard...

Pity!

If your main personality, 'Zhou Zhen', controls that 'Digital Forest', then no matter how big your problem is, the higher-ups will definitely make an exception and recruit you into the ghost team!

This is equivalent to a successful case of the 'Twilight Judgment' [God-Creation Project]!

Although the government has always strictly prohibited experiments by extremist organizations like the 'Twilight Trial', the world now needs such decisive results!

However, that 'Digital Forest' is now occupied by your infected persona, so to the people above, you are more dangerous than before...

Hearing this, Zhou Zhen was a little surprised, and then quickly returned to normal.

Ji Yuantao was devoured by Chu Jingyan... This should be the reason why he didn't see the new transfer student in that classroom.

After Chu Jingyan devoured Ji Yuantao, she obtained the opponent's Digital Domain, [Dream Kingdom]!

Moreover, according to the meaning of Ghost No. 056, Chu Jingyan has absolute control over [Dream Kingdom]!

In addition, as long as his personality obtains the digital domain of [Dream Kingdom], he can join the ghost group...

This is not difficult, just ask Chu Jingyan to copy the homework.

But his digital ladder is too low now. It is best to wait until the digital ladder is higher before doing it...

Also...Chu Jingyan explained the principles of [Dream Divine Kingdom] to him very clearly at the time, and it was completely impossible to tell that that personality was an infected person!

I don’t know if the ghost team made a mistake, or if there are other reasons...

While thinking about it, the off-road vehicle had already driven out of two electric iron gates not far apart and turned right into the outside road.

This area should be in the suburbs. There are large tracts of wasteland nearby, overgrown with weeds, empty and far away. It is very different from the city. There are no residential buildings in all directions.

The light rain was still falling, and the tips of the grass were slowly covered with crystal dewdrops, swaying slowly in the wild wind. The air that should have been fresh was mixed with a strong chemical smell. As they left the range of the barbed wire fence, they were moving rapidly. fade.

There are no pedestrians or vehicles passing by on the empty road. There are not even traffic lights, let alone surveillance.

Ghost No. 024 immediately began to speed up, the off-road vehicle's engine roared, and the scenery outside the window moved backwards like lightning.

I don’t know if the members of the ghost team deliberately chose a less traveled path. No other vehicles or pedestrians were seen along the way. Even the mid-air was empty without any flying cars passing by.

After driving for more than an hour, Ghost No. 056 asked Zhou Zhen some questions related to Binhai Central Hospital, and Zhou Zhen answered them one by one.

The journey was boring and peaceful. With the slight bumps in the car, both parties began to relax...

No one spoke anymore in the car. Zhou Zhen turned his head and looked forward, slightly dazed. Suddenly, he felt that the scenery outside the window seemed a bit familiar...

He immediately sat up straight and quickly looked outside the car.

On the right side of this road, the weeds are much sparser than on the left side. Looking carefully, it seems that there was originally a lane in the grass on the right side, but this lane was abandoned when the new roadbed was built.

Although the old asphalt roads are overgrown with weeds, they still hinder the development of a considerable part of the root system.

Among the dense vines extending from further away, there are several staggered steel pipes. The steel pipes have long been rusted, and some non-biodegradable plastic products are placed between them. The layout looks a bit like a former bus stop.

There are three or five broken walls left in the weeds near and far, and there are still vague traces of decoration on the walls. Some are residential buildings, some are shops, some are restaurants... Now they are covered with mottled moss, and occasionally there are some insects. .

Next to one of the broken walls, there was an old camphor tree, which was as thick as two people hugging each other. However, its upper half was cut off diagonally, and most of the crown was missing, leaving only a small half of the crown. It continues to grow vigorously in a skewed manner.

Behind the old camphor, a dilapidated school slowly appeared in the waist-high grass.

The school has obviously been abandoned for a long time. It is located below the roadbed, and part of the campus can be overlooked from an off-road vehicle.

Most of the walls have cracks, large and small, and there are traces of weeds growing in the cracks. The gate facing the road has been tattered by rust.

Looking in from the top of the wall, the planned horizontal and vertical campus roads are full of potholes, and the floor tiles are hidden among moss and weeds.

On both sides of the main road after entering from the school gate, the rows of crape myrtle trees can be vaguely seen as neat and elegant as they used to be. But now they are dead, with only three or two thin crape myrtle trees left, with three or two hanging on the treetops. The flower is still lingering.

There is a rectangular fountain at the end of the road. The sprinkler pipe above the pool still maintains a jagged shape, but the sprinkler head has long been covered with a thick layer of rust.

The teaching building painted light blue stands quietly behind the pool. The above-ground part of the main teaching building is 7 stories high. Most of the windows have curtains drawn, so you can't see what's going on inside.

The stairs are neat and smooth, there is no external balcony, and the front is H-shaped.

On both sides of the H are buildings with an elevated attic, and the top is similar to the design of a bell tower.

The slogan Pursuing truth, admiring beauty, working hard with determination embedded on the stairs is missing arms and legs, and its original bright red color has faded into a pale pinkish white.

The whole school was quiet, and from time to time I heard the call of a wild bird.

Zhou Zhen looked past the old camphor and stared at the school.

He had no memory of ever visiting this place, nor any memory of this school.

But that feeling of déjà vu is becoming more and more intense as the distance between the off-road vehicle and the school gets closer!

The off-road vehicle galloped all the way, very fast, and soon came to the school wall. At this distance, every trace of the erosion of the years on the wall was very clear, and the feeling of desolation and abandonment was also particularly strong.

In just a blink of an eye, the school gate appeared not far away.

Looking at the school door that was closed and shaking slightly in the long grass, Zhou Zhen suddenly realized something, and he hurriedly said: Stop!

squeak……!

A sharp brake sound sounded, and Ghost No. 024 braked urgently. The tires drew a black shadow on the road. The huge off-road vehicle paused heavily before stopping in front of the school gate.

The four members of the ghost team looked at Zhou Zhen at the same time.

The screen of Ghost No. 041's mobile phone fell into black and white again, and the screen was filled with fragrant greetings from his teammates.

Facing the gazes of the four people, Zhou Zhen took a deep breath and said, I want to visit this school!

It won't take long, I just need to go in and walk around.

Ghost No. 056's expression suddenly became solemn, and Zhou Zhen's behavior suddenly became a little abnormal. In order to prevent accidents, he could not let the other party get off the car!

Moreover, the other party has to take care of the [Digital Tranquilizer]!

However, just as this idea appeared, Ghost No. 056's thoughts changed inexplicably... Zhou Zhen should be asked to go to the school and take a look!

This is every citizen's freedom!

Even if he is a member of the ghost team, a citizen's personal freedom should not be restricted!

In addition, since Zhou Zhen made the request alone, then Zhou Zhen can go to the school alone, and the four of them don't have to follow!

Thinking of this, Ghost No. 056 immediately replied: Okay!

Then we'll wait for you in the car.

Listening to the words of Ghost No. 056, none of the other three ghosts raised any objections.

Without hesitation, Zhou Zhen immediately opened the car door and walked out, striding towards the main entrance of the school.

Crunch…

Although the school door is locked, the door lock has long been eroded into a fragile shell by the passage of time.

With just a normal push, the door lock fell down, and the iron door groaned and retreated, opening the door to the school.

Sand, sand, sand...

Zhou Zhen stepped on the weeds and walked on the dilapidated main road with one foot deep and one foot shallow. The rustling of insects, mice and other small animals quickly leaving the grass could be heard from time to time.

There are many bare tree trunks standing on both sides of the road. Occasionally there is a half-dead crape myrtle tree that is still alive and struggling to bloom light purple-pink flowers.

The original beautifying flowers and plants in the flower bed have disappeared, and they have all been overtaken by wild flowers such as Arabian flowers.

Walking alone on this desolate campus road, Zhou Zhen felt more and more familiar here as he walked, as if he had lived here for a long time!

He continued walking inside and soon came to the fountain.

At this moment, there is still some water in the fountain, but there is a thick layer of moss floating on the water. It looks sticky and gives off a fishy smell. I don't know if it is the wind or other reasons. The moss is slightly It was turbulent, as if something unknown was dormant under the water.

Zhou Zhen walked around the fountain and walked into the teaching building.

Step, step, step... The teaching building was covered with dust. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time. The corridor was dark, and the classroom doors on both sides were locked.

The lamp above the head has long been damaged, and the breathable window, which is only about one person high, receives a little light from the sky, barely illuminating the surroundings.

Zhou Zhen observed his surroundings as he walked. The corridor was clear at a glance, and there was not a single figure. Occasionally, he could see one or two broken tables and chairs thrown in the corner, or some books, stationery and the like, also covered with a layer of dust. Full of a sense of desolation that has long been unpopular.

He walked through the first floor and up the stairs.

The dust in the stairwell was disturbed and slowly began to stir.

For some reason, Zhou Zhen did not enter other floors to check, but went directly to the 7th floor, walked through most of the corridor, and came to a classroom with a signboard for Grade 3 (8). He pushed open the door and walked in. .

This is a very ordinary classroom, with dead incandescent lights overhead and six symmetrical ceiling fans.

Before I had time to wipe off the formulas and symbols on the blackboard, eight large characters Study hard and make progress every day were posted high near the roof.

The podium, tables and chairs are a bit old, and there are signs of repair everywhere. There are also some messy scratches on the tabletop, including cheat sheets, rare characters, and strokes similar to XX is a bastard.

this……

Zhou Zhen's eyes suddenly opened wide. Everything in this classroom was exactly the same as the dream he had been having...!

The classroom in his dream was based on this class!

Understood!

This...is the that place he has been looking for!

He, Luo Yuchen, and Huang Xurong have all been here!

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhen gradually calmed down, and he suddenly realized something was wrong.

No. 056 and other four members of the ghost team were clearly responsible for escorting him to a high-risk city. Why did they allow him to get off the bus midway and not follow him?

Also, with such an obvious abnormality, why didn't he feel anything was wrong just now?

Zhou Zhen did not hesitate and immediately ran out of the door. But as soon as he took the first step, the classroom door was pushed open and a strange figure strode in.

This figure wears a white coat and a white doctor's hat on his head. He looks like a doctor, but his exposed face, neck and palms are all black and white horizontal and vertical lines, without any flesh and blood. Mark of!

On the left side of his chest, there is an upside-down scepter embroidered on his white coat. On top of the scepter is a two-headed snake that spits out a message.

When Zhou Zhen's eyes touched this symbol, his pupils suddenly shrank.

This sign...he had seen it when he woke up from that underground clinic!

In the Binhai Central Hospital case, the two members of the Ash Order also had this mark on their bodies!

A member of the Order of Ashes!

Zhou Zhen's expression changed, he stopped immediately, looked at the figure who suddenly appeared, and asked seriously: 'Ash Order'?!

The other party seemed to smile, but the sound he made was a series of subtle electric sounds. Then, the figure bypassed Zhou Zhen, walked to a desk not far away, stopped, and replied calmly: My name is Fu Shangjing, you can call me...'doctor'!

※※※

Binhai Art Institute.

This institution of higher learning has a history of nearly two hundred years and covers an area of ​​dozens of hectares. The campus is full of lush vegetation and is dotted with buildings of various styles, some antique, some modern, some gorgeous and elegant... A famous person with a beautiful appearance Good students shuttle back and forth, full of vitality.

Girls dormitory building.

This is a modern building with a vermilion exterior wall and a small white balcony. The entrance door is made of polished marble and metal materials, using diagonal and zigzag lines to create a sense of future technology.

It's class time now, and the tall and spacious foyer is relatively deserted. There are only a few girls in a hurry, but they all have delicate looks, and there are no beautiful beauties that are eye-catching.

Thump thump thump…

There was a sound of slow footsteps, and Shi Xiaoli, accompanied by a middle-aged female teacher wearing a white silk shirt and a navy fishtail skirt, walked out of the lounge on the first floor of the dormitory building.

The middle-aged female teacher is about to retire. Although she has fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, her temperament is very elegant and demure, and her body still maintains the slimness of a girl.

She straightened her back, stretched out her hand to guide Shi Xiaoli, and said, Deputy Team Leader Shi, this case is a complete farce.

There is no trace of any voyeur at the scene.

The so-called 'hidden filming case' has already had a very bad impact on the school.

And our School of Art requires students to live on campus until they graduate without special circumstances.

“Now students and parents are panicking, especially many female parents, who have collectively proposed to take their children to accommodation outside the school. However, there is a lack of professional practice rooms and equipment outside the school, and it is inconvenient for their studies and some activities...

I hope you can close the case quickly and let the public opinion calm down...

Hearing this, Shi Xiaoli nodded slightly, but she still felt a little strange in her heart.

The secret photography case at Binhai Art College was a case she took on while on duty the night before yesterday.

The cause of this case was that someone called the police and claimed that the girls' dormitory was haunted...

She rushed to the scene after receiving the call for help from the general team that night, checked all the surveillance cameras in the school, and searched the entire girls' dormitory building, but still found nothing.

She had a rest yesterday, and according to her colleagues' description, there was no further development of this matter.

Shi Xiaoli originally thought that this case was really just a farce, but by this morning, the more she thought about it, the more something was wrong...

After thinking about it for a while, Shi Xiaoli interrupted the middle-aged female teacher and asked: How many students are there in the art college?

The middle-aged female teacher immediately replied: We currently have 16,841 full-time students, including 7,689 boys and 9,152 girls. Those with bachelor's degrees...

Hearing this, Shi Xiaoli was not surprised. Since the digital rain 40 years ago, countries around the world have introduced policies to encourage childbirth. Faced with the crisis of ethnic groups and the greatly relaxed welfare, the childbirth has already stagnated or even regressed. The rate has begun to show significant growth.

Nowadays, it is not surprising that a university has tens of thousands of students, but...

There are 9152 girls?

Are they all in this building?

I just looked at the entire female dormitory building. The vacancy rate is very high, and in many dormitories, there is only one person living in it...

It doesn't look like there are so many students living there?

The middle-aged female teacher was slightly startled. She took out her mobile phone with some doubts, opened the school's internal APP, checked the data, and found that what she just said was correct. She immediately replied with some uncertainty: Maybe... the statistics are wrong. …”

Statistics wrong?

Shi Xiaoli shook her head, not only the number of girls was wrong!

What she felt was most wrong was that she entered the girls' dormitory building today and the day before yesterday. After checking up and down for a long time, she didn't see any particularly good-looking girls!

This is an art school, a place where beauties are not lacking!

But she didn't see the real beautiful girl!

The most important thing is that when this happened, neither she nor the entire school found the problem even after two days of delay!

Thinking of this, Shi Xiaoli did not explain to the middle-aged female teacher next to her, but directly dialed Lu Jun's number: Hey, Captain Lu, I'm Shi Xiaoli...

There are new developments in the case of Binhai Art Institute...

※※※

Abandoned school on the outskirts of Binhai City.

Teaching building, classroom of Grade 3 (8).

My name is Fu Shangjing, you can call me...'doctor'!

Fu Shangjing?

doctor?

Zhou Zhen frowned. The figure in front of him stopped where he was sitting in the classroom in his dream!

Zhou Zhen was highly concentrated and was ready to use [Plane Jump] to escape at any time. He watched the opponent's every move closely and asked tentatively: Is this school a 'Digital Forest'?

Fu Shangjing shook his head, and there was another bah, bah, bah sound of electricity coming from his head. He walked past the seat, pacing slowly on the aisle between the desks, with his hands behind his back.

Electronic sounds echoed in the dilapidated classroom: It used to be...

Moreover, one drop of the 'digital rain' 40 years ago fell here...

When you first enter this school, you need to pay attention to many, many rules...

You can't refuse the school beauty's confession, otherwise you will become the school beauty's breakfast...

You can't be alone with the school beauties either...

You can't be good-looking, and you can't behave differently than ordinary people, otherwise you will be photographed...

After class, you cannot be the first to leave the classroom...

You can't sit in other people's seats, and you can't eat snacks handed to you by others...

When the school bell rings, you must return to your seat immediately...

As he spoke, Fu Shangjing walked next to Zhou Zhen again. He turned his head slightly, turned to Zhou Zhen with a face full of black and white horizontal and vertical lines, and continued, But that was two months ago.

This place now is just an ordinary school that has been abandoned for a long time.

You yourself should know why.

Why?

Because this digital forest has now been moved to his dream!

No, it should be in his spiritual world!

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhen frowned and looked at Fu Shangjing, and asked coldly: Writing the 'Digital Forest' into the spiritual world of the compatible people, is this your [god-making plan]?

Fu Shangjing immediately shook his head and replied in a calm tone: [God-Creation Project], that is the experiment of the 'Double Slit Man'.

My experiments and opinions are different from those of the 'double-slit man'!

Most of the members of the 'Twilight Judgment' founded by the 'Twin Slits' are from the West. Influenced by religion there, they like to call unknown things 'miracles'.

“‘Twilight Judgment’ believes that as long as a ‘god’ is created, ‘god’ can save the world!”

But in fact, 'gods' can't save the world. The only one who can save the world is humans themselves!

Hearing this, Zhou Zhen said nothing.

He didn't know the purpose of the person in front of him, but the last words he said...

In his memory, during his unforgettable trough period, his parents could not help him, his relatives could not help him, and his friends and colleagues could not help him... The only one who could really help him was himself!

Perhaps because of his empathy, Zhou Zhen suddenly felt some recognition of the member of the Ash Order in front of him.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhen came back to his senses and asked very cautiously: Then what happened to your 'Ash Order' experiment?

The abnormality on his body is obviously an experiment of Ash Order.

But if the purpose of this experiment is for the future of the entire human civilization... then the starting point of this Ashes Order is quite good, but it may just be more extreme in terms of means...

Fu Shangjing pulled out a chair from the side, sat down, and then asked: Do you know what is the fastest in the universe?

Hearing this, Zhou Zhen didn't know what the other party meant by asking this unrelated question, but he quickly replied: Not counting the speed of the expansion of the universe, not counting the 'thoughts' of brain teasers, it is the speed of 'light' .”

Fu Shangjing looked at him quietly, and let out another burst of laughter from his head. After a while, he said: At the speed of 'light', let alone traveling in the entire universe, even if it is just passing through A Milky Way takes 160,000 years!”

If there is an advanced civilization outside the Milky Way that wants to invade the Earth and drives a light-speed spacecraft... then how many thousands of years will it take them to reach their destination?

Advanced civilization?

Is it the civilization that blocked the earth with a digital virus?

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhen was about to speak when he heard Fu Shangjing continue: There are no two identical leaves in the entire universe.

Just like each of our 'equations', they are all unique.

“However, the emergence of ‘digital viruses’ has made everything that was impossible possible!”

According to current experimental research, if the 'equation' of a white mouse is changed to the 'equation' of a black cat, then the white mouse will become a black cat!

It will have the appearance of the black cat, the habits of the black cat, the bones and flesh of the black cat, the talent of the black cat, the memory of the black cat... At the same time, its consciousness will also become the consciousness of the black cat.

They are exactly the same. The original black cat can control everything about the white mouse just like it controls itself!

Because that little white mouse is now a black cat!

In the same way, advanced civilization represents the black cat, and we are the white mouse.

If advanced civilizations want to cross a distance of more than 160,000 years and land on the earth, they don't need to take a light-speed spacecraft, nor do they need a curvature engine, nor do they need space jumping technology. They just need to change the human 'equation' on the earth to their own By using the 'equation', they can appear directly on the earth across the entire galaxy, or even farther away, and become the new masters of this planet!

This is the infected person we are seeing now...

They are the 'equation' containers being produced by advanced civilization through 'digital viruses'! Their final form is the life form of advanced civilization!

And those of us 'digital compatibility' who have retained our own consciousness are actually failures of the 'equation' in the eyes of higher civilizations!

So, my experiment is not a [god-making plan].

But before the advanced civilization comes to the earth, we should first disguise ourselves as life forms of the advanced civilization and occupy all the equations on the earth!

The name of this experiment is called [Higher Dimensional Life]!

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