We took everything away.
We must ignite the fire seed.
For Chen Jian, these two sentences did not surprise him at all.
The information about the fire seed project was something he had long known, and the expression "took everything away" was also not beyond his expectations.
"This world is being filtered"?
The shock of this statement far exceeded everything Chen Jian had seen since arriving in this world.
The word "filter" made him involuntarily think of the so-called "Great Filter theory."
Instant population extinction, collapse of beliefs, endless secondary disasters, civilizations that haven’t redeveloped in the entire three-hundred-year span...
This indeed resembles a Great Filter.
Chen Jian’s expression turned grave, while Ji Xing beside him asked with some puzzlement:
"Captain, what does filter... mean?"
Lei Jie exhaled deeply and answered:
"It’s a macroscopic hypothesis used to describe universal civilizations... You don’t need to understand its full scope, but I can explain it with a simple example."
"You see, now towns where humans gather are scattered around the world, but these towns, regardless of distance, will eventually be connected by merchants and travelers."
"Even if a town is completely isolated and merchants can’t reach it, as long as the people there have mastered radio technology, they can still hear the chaotic radio waves from interactions happening far away."
"Now here’s the problem."
"If there’s a town that has never received any signals or collected any clues of other similar beings, what do you think the reason would be?"
"...Is it because there’s simply no humans around it? There are no other humans left in this world?"
Ji Xing tentatively asked, and Lei Jie nodded, responding:
"That’s a very possible answer."
"But now, a new question has arisen."
"The people in this town didn’t do anything special, nor do they possess any special constitution. They survived, why didn’t people elsewhere survive?"
"From a cosmic perspective, this question becomes... Why does humanity exist, yet in the vast, observable sky, no other intelligent beings exist?"
Lei Jie’s words left Ji Xing slightly puzzled. To her, the topics of cosmos, starlit skies, and the development of civilizations were too grand.
But even so, she largely understood the example Lei Jie provided.
"So... the meaning of the Great Filter is..."
"Either all other humans have been wiped out, or the humans who can use the radio and manifest their existence in this world have already been wiped out?"
Lei Jie nodded, and the expressions of Ji Xing and the others became somewhat uneasy.
All along, the greatest disaster in their cognition was the so-called "Great Cataclysm," and the most formidable enemy was the monsters.
But now, out of nowhere, there’s a so-called Great Filter??
Or perhaps, the Great Cataclysm and monsters were inherently part of the Great Filter?
Ji Xing looked blankly at Chen Jian, who shook his head and said:
"It’s meaningless to dwell on this."
"They said they took everything, but I don’t believe they would move everything out."
"We must see what’s inside... Maybe they’ll leave us some other important information."
"Fu Xi, attempt to intervene in the 001 construction network, and open the door directly!"
"No signal from the construction network found."
Fu Xi’s voice sounded in the headphones.
"Chief, there’s an enclosed weak electrical box to the right of the construction door, you can directly access the internal network from there."
"You can try connecting directly using the portable micro station interface."
Chen Jian gave Lei Jie a look, who immediately stepped up, using the strength provided by the exoskeleton to violently dismantle the outer protection of the weak electrical box, and then began attempting to connect the cables.
Throughout the entire process, the intelligent system of the 001 construction made no response at all.
Its "Mechanical Soul" had already left.
What’s left here is just a soulless shell.
A moment later, the cables were connected.
Soon after, Fu Xi’s voice sounded again.
"I have taken control of the 001 construction, the power supply is normal."
"The intelligent system of the construction has completely collapsed, the construction is presumed to be in a semi-destroyed state."
"Preparing to open the door."
"Understood, open the door."
As Chen Jian finished speaking, the heavy isolation door slowly opened.
The "Holy Father" behind them stared at this scene in shock, trembling as he walked forward, seemingly itching to explore the secrets behind the door.
But as the isolation door fully opened, he instinctively lowered his head as if controlled by instincts.
He dared not to look.
For decades, he had ruled the ranks of the Holy Blood as the "Holy Father," pursued the same secret for decades, and was stuck in an unsolvable mystery for decades, his mind has long been tied to this so-called secret.
All of his actions seem to be no longer aimed at "seeking answers."
On the contrary, the act of "seeking" has become his purpose.
So, as the mystery is about to be revealed, he instead becomes more fearful, more uneasy.
Chen Jian and the others have already stepped into the construction.
Fu Xi controlled the network communication system struggling to run and turned on all the lights inside the construction.