The two people on the sand table fell into a prolonged silence.
Lin Yu realized that Lin Xi had designed a deadlock for him.
As long as it was within the rules, there was no way to make the village’s strength surpass that of the monster.
There was only one correct direction.
Completely retract and hide.
Either prevent the monster from discovering.
Or hide somewhere it can’t attack.
And the latter was clearly impossible.
The range of the monster’s attack is the entire village, and in the real world, that is the entire planet.
Can you still leave this world?
Lin Yu already knew that humans had the ability to leave the so-called "Earth" and fly into the vast sky.
But, in the universe, which resembles a desert, where is there a place for humans to survive?
Even stepping back, such a strategy is not feasible.
Because the net cast by the monster is not only aimed at capturing "Earth."
It’s casting a net over the entire galaxy, destroying thousands, millions of civilizations at once.....
"Is there really no other way?"
Lin Yu asked in a slightly somber tone.
Lin Xi gently waved his hand, and the sand table disappeared.
Immediately, the two returned to space, overlooking Earth below.
This time, however, Lin Xi zoomed in, allowing Lin Yu to see more clearly.
"Now, our conversation can officially enter its final phase."
"I think you have understood everything and realized how vast and severe the problems we face are."
"But I guess, even so, you still feel we have a slim chance of survival, am I right?"
"You’re still thinking, perhaps somewhere we haven’t discovered yet, there’s a master key that can solve all problems, just waiting for us to find it, right?"
Lin Yu nodded heavily.
Lin Xi chuckled and zoomed in on the ground.
"This actually is indeed a question."
"We’ve considered the same options before."
"Is it better to survive first, even if it means living incompletely?"
"Or to take a gamble on that one-in-a-million chance?"
"We chose the former."
"You don’t need to question our choice yet, just watch the results of the countless simulations of the two plans first."
As he spoke, images before them began to flicker.
One after another, cities rose from the ground and gradually prospered with time.
Buildings grew taller and vegetation gave way to human habitation; night lights gathered into halos.
Mankind entered a rapid development phase, seemingly on the brink of breaking free from the web.
Yet, in an instant, a dim light flashed across the sky.
Cities started to decay and perish.
Lights disappeared, vegetation regained dominance.
A catastrophe hit again, mankind reverted to square one.
---- Of course, not everyone died from the catastrophe.
"We are a colony of ants."
"Every time an elephant steps on the anthill, it utterly destroys the home we’ve painstakingly built."
"But, it cannot completely kill us."
"We survive laboriously in the crevices beneath its feet, painstakingly reproduce anew."
"The anthill is rebuilt once more."
Accompanying Lin Xi’s exceedingly plain narration, human civilization repeatedly develops and is destroyed.
This seems to be an unsolvable cycle.
But Lin Yu suddenly noticed that each time civilization rebuilt, the scale until its next destruction shrank slightly.
Until the last time, humans could no longer rely on the power of ’heritage’ to counter the powerful threats above.
The last "person" perished at the paws of the monster.
Lin Xi magnified this process.
Lin Yu clearly saw the result of the final demise of human civilization.
His body was pierced, blood gushed forth.
The monster greedily sucked the blood, tore his corpse.
These monsters seemed unable to grasp the significance of their hunt; they only knew they could finally have a hearty meal.
But they didn’t realize they were swallowing the last remnants of a civilization.
Humanity was extinct.
Lin Yu’s gaze flickered slightly.
"Show me the other outcome."
As his words fell, the images began to change again.
A vast city stretched underground, cold silicon-based chips spread out like twinkling stars.
Cooling water ran through grooves outside the server rooms, drawing away the immense heat generated by chip operations.
This city became a true "anthill."
It ran silently and secretly.
Hundreds of years passed, and this city maintained its original appearance.
But apparently, some things within the city subtly changed.
More quantum chips began replacing silicon chips from centuries ago, more channels were built.
The second city slowly took shape, a massive cable connected the two cities together.
Then came exponential growth.
The city grew larger, representing ever-increasing "computing power" figures.
Electronic life residing in the virtual city observed the world in their own way, constantly reproducing within the city through ’copying.’
Lin Yu furrowed his brow.
After a moment of thought, he asked:
"So, this so-called result means humans have completely abandoned their bodies?"
"No, definitely not."
Lin Xi shook his head and continued:
"Haven’t you already seen our bodies?"
Lin Yu suddenly realized.
Those Mountain City People!
He looked incredulously at Lin Xi, who nodded slowly.
Meanwhile, in the images, the city’s development finally hit a wall.
A dim spark never visited this world; it seemed the monster had utterly forgotten this place.
The perspective continued to zoom in.
In a moment, a figure emerged from underground.
He wore the flexible armor Lin Yu once saw.
As he stepped into the sunlight, he removed his helmet.
A handsome face was revealed.
"At the appropriate time, our bodies will reemerge onto the surface."
"But that must be a long time from now."
"So now, can you understand what we’re doing?"
Lin Yu exhaled deeply.
"This is a long... hibernation!"
Lin Xi nodded contentedly.
"Your wording is quite apt, this is indeed like hibernation."
"However... actually, we prefer to call this plan....."
"The Nuwa Plan." The rightful source is novel(ꜰ)ire.net
"In the future, the first person to step onto the surface already has a name."
"He’s called... Suiren!"