bookbashuk Chapter 44 Bio-furnace
Chapter 44 Bio-furnace
After giving Old John his instructions, Lowe returned to the manager's office at the top of the tower.
The heavy mood did not dissipate because of the "incognito visit" just now.
The rot in this world is ingrained in its very bones.
He just saved three women with swift and decisive action, and he might be able to save thirty more, but he can't save everyone.
Unless he can completely change the living environment here.
Either establish an order that can function on its own even in the dark.
"consultant."
Father Alpha stood in front of the holographic map, but he wasn't looking at it.
His red, photoelectric eyes, modified with prosthetics, were intently watching a data panel in his hand, which was flashing at an extremely rapid frequency.
This means that its core processor is performing extremely high-load operations and is on the verge of overheating.
"What happened? Is that car fixed?"
Luo Wei took off his dusty coat, sat back in his chair, and wearily rubbed his temples.
"Repaired? No, 'evolution' would be a more accurate description. Although this evolution is filled with blasphemous beauty and deadly danger."
Father Alpha's mechanical tentacles trembled with excitement as they projected a set of microscopic images into the air.
In the image, dark purple metallic cells are frantically devouring and tearing apart a pale white chitinous structure.
However, the torn chitin quickly reformed into a harder crystal, which in turn pierced the metal cell.
"The 'Gluttony Wall' has gone out of control."
Father Alpha's voice carried a strange mix of fear and fanaticism.
"Previously, it was merely a product of the plague's power corroding the metal, representing a 'vicious cycle of decay and rebirth'."
"But this time, it absorbed the biomass of the gene-stealers: the Tyranids represent the ultimate in adaptation and evolution."
"These two forces engaged in a fierce battle at the microscopic level."
Father Alpha pointed to the constantly being created and destroyed cells and said quickly:
"The power of the plague attempts to corrupt the Zerg cells, dragging them into eternal stagnation; while the Zerg biomass attempts to decipher the plague, evolving to become immune to it and devour it."
"And the result?"
"The result was that they reached a terrifying dynamic equilibrium." The priest's tone turned somber. "Neither could destroy the other, so they began to seek more energy from the outside to sustain the war."
"This means that ordinary zombie corpses and low-calorie rotting flesh can no longer meet its maintenance needs. Its metal cells are shrinking due to energy overdraft."
"If high-energy organic matter is not provided, it will turn on the vehicle in order to obtain energy, and may even directly digest the living people in the cockpit."
Luo Wei remained silent for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
"This doesn't make sense, Alpha." Rowe's gaze sharpened. "If it were just a simple war of attrition, this structure would have collapsed long ago. The fact that they can still maintain their form means that these two forces have developed a new mechanism in the process of fighting each other."
Luo Wei stood up and walked to the projector.
"The plague endowed metal with the property of 'immortality,' allowing it to repair itself even when damaged. Meanwhile, the Zerg's genes gave it the ability to 'adapt,' enabling it to adjust its structure in response to different types of damage."
After speaking, Luo Wei fell silent again.
A moment later, as if an auditor had discovered a loophole in the accounts, he threw out a bold conjecture:
Is it possible that the current "Wall of Gluttony" is actually a biological furnace? What it lacks is not energy, but "fuel".
"It needs the heat generated by the combustion of high-energy organic matter to suppress the conflict between these two forces and forcibly forge them into a new alloy?"
Upon hearing this, Father Alpha trembled.
It was as if a bolt of lightning had shattered his logic circuitry.
"The bio-forge... uses thermal energy to suppress conflict... forging chaotic disorder and greedy evolution into orderly machinery..."
The priest began to mutter to himself as usual, his mechanical tentacles dancing wildly in the air, as if performing some kind of sacred calculation.
"Praise be to Om Messiah! If this theory holds true, we are no longer passive caretakers, but forgers wielding the hammer!"
Seeing the priest descend into a frenzy, Lowe did not smile.
He walked up to Alpha, reached out and pressed down on the priest's still trembling mechanical arm, forcibly interrupting his calculations.
"Alpha," Rowe said with unusual seriousness, "do you know what this means?"
The priest was stunned, and the red light in his eyes gradually stabilized.
"This means that you are about to embark on a path that even the Dark Mechanicus has never traversed. Even if they have, no one has ever returned alive."
Luo Wei reminded him with a serious expression:
"You are trying to use mortal wisdom to control the curses of the gods and the nightmares of the universe. This path is destined to be full of extreme danger and loneliness that is not understood by the outside world."
"Once exposed, the Martian Casting General will personally order you to be dismantled into parts; your name will be etched on the pillar of historical shame and cursed by the world."
"You might also be abandoned by the god of machines."
This time, Father Alpha remained silent for a long time.
He looked down at his hands, which were made of steel, and after a long while, he slowly said:
"Advisor, when I first saw the metal grow like flesh on that harvester, I knew I could never go back."
The priest raised his head, his voice regaining its usual calmness, and solemnly said:
"Truth often lies hidden in the deepest heresy."
"If protecting this granary, the lifeblood of the empire, requires someone to leap into the abyss to steal the spark of life, then... why can't it be me?"
He extended his mechanical tentacles and gently grasped Rowe's hand.
The cold metallic touch brought a warmth that Luo Wei had never felt before.
"I have a request, Loewy."
This was the first time the priest had addressed him by his first name, without using the title "advisor."
"As you already know, my core logic contains a supreme protocol called 'Loyalty'."
"But I am also made of flesh and blood, and my brain can still be corrupted by the whispers of the warp."
Father Alpha pointed to the blue-glowing interface slot on the back of his head.
"If one day my desire for power surpasses my reverence for truth."
"If the power of darkness overwhelms my loyalty to the Emperor, and the self-destruct mechanism within me fails..."
The priest pleaded almost humbly:
"Please kill me with your own hands. Don't hesitate, don't show any mercy. Use your explosive gun to smash my core of logic, along with this head."
"I don't want to become one of those monsters that only ooze pus and glorify decay. I want... to die cleanly as a human being."
Luo Wei stared at the face, half flesh and half steel, and remained silent for a long time.
He didn't offer any cheap words of comfort like "that day will never come."
In this world, promises are as thin as waste paper; only death is eternal.
Rowe simply placed his hand on the holster of his explosive pistol at his waist, his fingers lightly stroking the rough leather, and said in a deep voice:
"I promise you, Alpha."
This is a man's promise to another man.
It's also a madman's assurance to another madman.
Upon hearing this, the only remaining corner of Alpha Priest's mouth, covered in oil stains, twitched stiffly upwards.
"Sizzle, sizzle, ha-ha-"
Intermittent noises from gear friction emanated from his speaker unit.
Loewy doesn't know whether Alpha retained the emotional module called "laughter" when it underwent the Mechanicus's transformation and had its so-called "weak emotions" removed.
But this strange sound, accompanied by electrical noise, actually sounded really fun.
After the "laughter" stopped, Father Alpha quickly reverted to his cold, technical demeanor.
"Furthermore, advisor, according to calculations, our fertilizer reserves will run out next month as heating resumes and the population increases."
"Without chemical fertilizers, the yield of fungal greenhouses will plummet. At that point, we won't even be able to drink green soup."
Fuel was available, but a new shortage emerged.
This is an endless loop.
Luo Wei walked to the map, his gaze passing over the boundary of the Seventh Granary, over the dangerous swamp, and finally settling on a red dot.
The Ninth Granary.
"Case, retrieve the data for the Ninth Grain Depot."
The holographic projection transformed, and a magnificent industrial complex emerged.
"The Ninth Granary, the original seed and fertilizer base," the electronic voice of the Case server explained, "is also the largest primary processing center for corpse starch in Abundance II."
"Due to insufficient local population, there is a small rail elevator receiving station here, which is specifically responsible for receiving 'organic waste' from the outside world, namely corpses, as well as high-energy organic residues from the chromium refinery."
Lowe's eyes narrowed.
High-energy organic residue.
Corpse starch.
fertilizer.
These are precisely the three things he lacks most right now.
To feed the greedy "Gluttony Wall".
If we want the land to continue producing food...
To maintain the fragile prosperity that has just been established.
The Ninth Grain Depot is a strategic node that must be captured.
"What's the situation there now?" Rowe asked.
"That's strange," Case Server replied. "According to remote thermal imaging scans, there's no large-scale live population activity in the Ninth Grain Depot. Unlike the Fourth Grain Depot, which is teeming with zombies."
"But?" Lowe understood the unspoken meaning in the words.
"But the temperature there is unusually high."
Case pulled up a heat map. The entire Ninth Grain Depot area was a dazzling deep red.
"The temperature in the core area exceeded 80 degrees Celsius and remained very stable."
"It's like..." The Case server seemed to be searching for the right word.
"Like a giant oven?" Rowe said for it.
"Yes, consultant. An oven that's baking something..."