Chapter 8 Section VI

Thirteen of us were trapped in the library on the second floor of the basement, helpless. The ventilation equipment in the library has long stopped working, and we dare not open the doors and windows at all.The burning of books that lasted for several days filled the entire library with smoke.The smoke was billowing, making it difficult to see and almost impossible to treat people.We burned the wrong last book again and were caught between a rock and a hard place. "It's just smoke, and it's not a big fire! Send someone to cover your nose and rush up to grab a couple of copies, won't that be enough? If you don't dare to go, I'll go! I want you to experience the integrity of Xuanwu people!" Tian Xiao disapprovingly Waving his arms, instead of turning him into a philanthropist, the end of the world fueled his tribalism.Shao Xuecheng shook his head:

"It's useless, the passage above has been closed." "What's going on?" I asked, frowning. Shao Xuecheng said that he was the last one to enter the corridor.In order to prevent smoke from entering the passage, he closed the door, but he did not expect that the door is self-locking, and it will be locked automatically with a "click" once it is closed, and there is no button or door handle on this side, it is a bare side .In other words, as long as the door is closed, it is impossible to open it from the inside. "Is your blood useless?" I asked.

Shao Xuecheng smiled wryly and raised his palm. There was a new scar on it, and the blood was still there. It was obvious that he had already tried it.Since even his blood is useless, it seems that there is really nothing to do. Now we are only 101 points away from success, but this step stumps us all.There are loads of books left to burn in the library, just above our heads, but we can't get back.Those collections of books are like license plates in Beijing. In the past, the resources were abundant and within easy reach, but no one cherished them; only after the gates were closed did everyone realize its preciousness, but it was too late.

"Did you happen to have any books with you?" I asked everyone, and the others looked at each other and shook their heads.Everyone has been bored with staying in the library for the past few days. Even those who love books the most can only classify books into two categories: "combustible" and "non-combustible". Not to mention secretly hiding a copy and carrying it with you. "Li Chao, aren't you a Christian? You must have sneaked a Bible from the library, right?" I clicked on one. Li Chao looked like a martyr: "No, I was afraid you would be burned. I hid all the Bibles under a cabinet and forgot to bring them when I left..." I turned my gaze to Wang Dapeng again: " Dapeng, I remember you are a layman, right? Didn’t you secretly carry two Buddhist scriptures?”

"I'm sorry, I'm a Zen practitioner, and our Zen school doesn't have words..." Wang Dapeng muttered. "You believers were so devout when you should waver, but now that you should be devout, why are you all wavering!" Shao Xuecheng cursed angrily.More than a dozen people touched their pockets one after another, hoping to carry a book or two by accident, but they found nothing. After all, carrying a book is not like stealing private goods.The dilemma we face is not only that we must find a book to burn, but also that the score of this book must reach 101 points or more.This is the big problem.We already have a preliminary understanding of the designer's personality. His personality is distorted, and he has strong emotions for things he likes; while for things he hates, his hatred is not so extreme.So when he was burning books back then, he didn't get much bonus points for burning books he hated, but lost a lot of points for burning books he liked.In other words, we have to have a book in our hands that he loathes so much to have a chance of getting out.This probability is close to zero.

Shao Xuecheng and I looked at each other, and walked to the side of the heavily tied old Wang together.Lao Wang had woken up a long time ago, and had been silently watching us panic, but his cloudy eyes had no focus.Zhu Jiayin told us that although each doomsday base is fully automatic, it will be equipped with a special duty officer to monitor its normal operation, and to guide, guide, and teach survivors to use the doomsday base in an emergency.According to Zhu Jiayin's deduction, Lao Wang is obviously the duty officer of this Shaw building, but he has gone crazy for some reason, and he ignored his duties and blocked us from entering the base from the very beginning.

"Tell us how to get in." Shao Xuecheng grabbed Lao Wang's finger and said calmly, "We are in a desperate situation now, I don't mind using any method to torture you." , Pharaoh's right little finger snapped off, and the old man let out a scream.Even the kindest person remained silent, watching Shao Xuecheng torture with complicated eyes. "You still have nine chances. Tell me, how do you get in?" Lao Wang finally said with a hint of sarcasm: "Burning books, don't you guys do this all the time?" Shao Xuecheng was at a loss for words for a while, burning books was indeed the right way, But this road has been blocked by ourselves.

"You are so familiar with this place, there must be other ways!" Shao Xuecheng asked again, but this time the momentum was much weaker.Zhu Jiayin chimed in and said, "Yes! Such an important base cannot have only one way to enter." Lao Wang snorted coldly, closed his eyes, and did not answer.I put on a red face, and said kindly to Lao Wang, "Now everyone is desperate, and they are going to die anyway. If you don't tell us the way to enter the base, then forget it, at least tell us the reason why you don't let us in, and let us die." You really understand, right?" I tried to induce him to speak, as long as he speaks, things will turn around.It's a pity that Lao Wang didn't fall for the trap, he just tilted his head.I saw his lips suddenly turned up, clearly showing a kind of relief.My heart moved, and I followed his gaze and looked inside.Through the transparent door, I saw that the big screen inside the base was actually turned on, showing a map of China, with many strange numbers and icons changing beside it.

"This old guy must be playing tricks and tricks again!" Shao Xuecheng couldn't hold back his anger, grabbed Lao Wang and yelled, his eyes flashed fiercely, "Since he refuses to say, then let him be fulfilled. I I assure you, he will be the first among us to start dying and the last to finish." At this moment, a voice rang out among us: "Okay, enough of you, Old Wang really doesn't know how to enter .” We looked left and right, and were surprised to find that the source of the voice was Sister Zheng.Ever since she was knocked unconscious by Lao Wang with the Encyclopaedia Britannica and we woke her up, she has kept silent.

At this time, she had changed from her former philistine, with a serious expression, and even a touch of sadness.We were all silent, looked at her with suspicious eyes, and automatically moved out of the way.Sister Zheng walked slowly to Old Wang, squatted down, and held his hand: "Old Wang, you have won." Old Wang looked at Sister Zheng with a calm expression, and put his hand on his chest.Sister Zheng said: "You are doing your own work, your son will not blame you." Lao Wang shook his head with a wry smile. "Sister Zheng, what's going on?" I asked.Sister Zheng got up and said: "I am also responsible for the situation that has evolved to this point, and I will give you an explanation." She stood up straight with her arms folded, and said slowly: "First of all, I want to tell you that Lao Wang is not from this doomsday base. I am the person on duty." Zhu Jiayin stood up abruptly, her face livid: "How...how is it possible! According to my calculation, Lao Wang meets all the characteristics of a person on duty." Sister Zheng smiled: "You are so Good at conspiracy theories, have you never thought that as a duty officer of the doomsday base, you must often appear near the base without attracting attention. How can you do this? Give you a hint, Lao Wang hit people The broom I used belongs to me." "You...you are..." Zhu Jiayin opened her mouth wide and couldn't help taking a step back.Shao Xuecheng grabbed his shoulder and asked him what's wrong.Zhu Jiayin said in a trembling voice: "I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, I thought it was just an urban legend, I didn't expect these two things to be related. My practice is still not enough, and I haven't seen such an obvious connection." The more Shao Xuecheng listened, the more confused he became.Zhu Jiayin suddenly grabbed his arm: "Don't you understand? All the guardians of the Shaw Tower doomsday base are legendary sweepers! That's why they are everywhere, but no one pays attention to them; that's why they are like this." So proficient, but hidden!" Hearing what Zhu Jiayin said, everyone looked at Sister Zheng completely differently.She smiled proudly: "Sometimes, my colleagues will give advice to people around them and leave all kinds of legends - of course, this is against the regulations and should not be encouraged." Shao Xuecheng But with a gloomy face: "Since you are on duty, why are you pretending to be a ghost? What's the matter with Lao Wang?" Sister Zheng's eyes were slightly cold: "My job, like the burning book system, is not only to guide survivors into the base , and the quality of the survivors must be comprehensively assessed so that they can adapt to the complex environment of post-disaster reconstruction." "The civil service exam is nothing more than that, do you even have to take the exam for survivors?" Someone mumbled.

Sister Zheng said: "The book-burning system tests your mastery of knowledge points. What I want to test at the end is how you, as a team, can integrate order, optimize decision-making efficiency, quickly deal with emergencies, control Internal conflicts, etc. If you take the civil service exam as an example, the burning book system is a written test, but mine is an interview." No wonder she wanted to get all the food first, and she was very stingy. It turned out that she was testing our resource allocation. flexibility. "Then we are unqualified?" I looked at the closed gate of the base and asked.Sister Zheng hesitated for a moment, but changed the topic: "When the country was building this doomsday base, there were disagreements. Some people believed that this base should be used to protect survivors; It is used to improve the surrounding natural environment and save more human beings. The former is called the Hinayana sect, and the latter is called the Mahayana sect." "It sounds like there is no difference. I don't read much, so don't lie to me." Xu Cong Pat on the head. "The difference is big." Sister Zheng sneered, "The number and energy of the base are limited. The energy of its design and planning can only meet the requirements of one direction: either become a completely self-sufficient doomsday base; or become a base. The high-power heat source will increase the temperature of the surrounding environment and end the severe cold as soon as possible. If you choose the first option, the survivors will become a nest of happy moles, huddled in the warm underground for a lifetime, and the outside world will be boundless permafrost; choose The second is that the survivors will lose everything and return to the original, but the ice age will be shortened.” Hearing this, everyone pondered in their hearts to see which side they were on.Sister Zheng went on to explain that the two factions had been arguing endlessly during the design stage, and the result of the compromise was to install a selection mechanism in each base.If no survivors enter within a certain period of time, the base will automatically switch from survival mode to survival mode. I pointed to the large screen that was turned on behind the glass door: "So what is displayed on this large screen now, has it been switched to heat source mode?" "Yes, all conversion procedures will be completed soon." "Is it reversible?" "Reversible." Sister Zheng gave us a meaningful look. It seems that Lao Wang belongs to the Mahayana sect, and he is still extremely fanatical.He's desperately trying to stop us, just to allow the base to switch to heat source mode undisturbed.No wonder Big Sister Zheng said that he didn't need to know how to enter the base, as long as he didn't let others in, he'd be done. Zhu Jiayin raised her hand and said, "But I have a question. No matter how powerful this doomsday base is, it can only improve a small area at most. It is too weak to fight against the power of nature. What is the practical significance of the heat source model?" Is it?" Sister Zheng said: "Everyone gathers firewood and the flames are high. Don't forget how many Shaw buildings there are in the country. The choice of construction site has been carefully studied and calculated. If all the bases are activated as heat sources, then it will It will interfere with specific atmospheric nodes, thereby affecting the entire atmospheric flow and changing the situation of the Little Ice Age." Zhu Jiayin wanted to ask again, but was stopped by Shao Xuecheng, who narrowed his eyes and said: "In other words, Both you and Lao Wang are the duty officers arranged by the state at the doomsday base." "In fact, in every base in the country, in order to balance disputes, there will be two people: the duty officer of the Hinayana sect, and the interference of the Mahayana sect like Lao Wang Old Wang’s authority is lower than mine, but he can interfere with you in various ways, I can’t interfere, I can only watch it as a test for you. Whether the survivors can enter the base depends on their own Ability, the second depends on whether you can eliminate the interference... What a pity you are, you are only a little short." Sister Zheng showed a regretful expression. "This old thing wants to make trouble, and there are so many reasons!" "For the greater good!" Lao Wang raised his head and let out a weak cry, and was immediately punched back by Shao Xuecheng.Sister Zheng said displeased: "It's just that the views are different, you don't have to be so rude." Shao Xuecheng said: "He caused so many of us to suffer a lot. Even if I don't kill him, I have to beat him until his son can't recognize him. He is coming!" Sister Zheng sighed quietly: "His son has passed away. Did you know that the book burning system in this base was developed by his son. There was a conflict between their father and son, and before it could be resolved, his son died of illness. Old Wang felt guilty, so he took the initiative to come here to be a disturber, hoping to be closer to his son. You are actually burning his son by burning books." "Well, these two fathers and sons are causing trouble for us, and they are punished together. !" Shao Xuecheng yelled, swinging his fist to hit him.Sister Zheng wanted to stop it, but was stopped by him: "You have time to be righteous, why don't you tell us how to open this door?" It is impossible to open the door upstairs. And the only way to enter this base is by burning books, there is no other way." Tian Xiao jumped up angrily: "Then we are all dead ends?" Shao Xuecheng died Staring at her deadly: "I don't understand, why didn't you remind us earlier? If we can't get in, you will die too. Lao Wang is a Mahayana sect and is not afraid of death. Your sister Zheng is a Hinayana sect, so you are not afraid Sister Zheng smiled contemptuously: "Do you know what qualifications are required to be a duty officer at the doomsday base? High-energy physics, precision mechanics, electronic engineering, meteorology, probability theory, psychology, organizational behavior, you have to learn Things must at least span multiple fields. I have read so many degrees one by one, and even become a female doctor, are you still afraid of death?" When she said this, Shao Xuecheng lost the reason to do it.Liu Yue and Xiaoying suddenly burst into tears.Death is not terrible. The key is to die in a place separated from the warm world by a wall. This is the most frustrating thing.Others did not go to comfort them, and everyone was at a loss.Zhu Jiayin lowered his head and tuned the radio; Wang Dapeng and Xu Cong sat slumped on the ground, holding their heads in their hands; Li Chao closed his eyes while reading the Bible, but he always recited it wrongly; Tian Xiao patted Xu Qi's shoulder: "It's already at this time, I won't fight with you." Xu Qi squinted and said, "Who wants to fight with you. In fact, my grandma's family is also from Xuanwu, and I have half of Xuanwu's blood..." Tian Xiao held Holding his hand, the eye sockets are a little moist. In this gloomy mist, Lao Wang suddenly raised his head and said again: "Did you misunderstand something? Even if you switch to the heat source mode, you will not die. You will just go back to the wilderness, back to the past, lost It’s just ready-made delicious food and warm and comfortable beds, but what you get is a whole new world! With the interference of the heat source mode, the Little Ice Age will soon pass. You will be like burning books in a library, and you will need to find resources yourself , collect fruit by yourself, self-reliance, hard work. The whole of China is your Nanniwan. It will undoubtedly be hard work, but you will survive, and your descendants will live, just like our ancestors did, not shrinking I spent the rest of my life in the base, and then the corpse fell into the icy darkness along with the entire human civilization..." "Damn it, you made us suffer so badly, and you still talk so much nonsense!" Shao Xuecheng punched him again.This time, Lao Wang became agitated, with a smear of blood on the corner of his mouth, and stubbornly raised his head: "Are you willing to be like mice in the ditch without seeing a little bit of the future? Are you willing to spend the rest of your life in fear and despair without making any achievements?" Is it? I abandoned my family, abandoned my ideals, sacrificed my son, and lurked here to be a disruptor, not to harm you, but to help us all!" In the voice of Lao Wang, everyone fell silent , even the sobs disappeared.This is probably the so-called "Mahayana" point of view.To be honest, I agree with what Lao Wang said.At this time, Zhu Jiayin murmured: "What's the use of talking about it now? We can neither go back nor enter. There is no food or drink in the tunnel, only a few posters, and we can only wait for death. What ideals are we talking about... ..." Lao Wang calmly said: "Actually, I know a way to allow you to enter the base. But you must promise me that you will sacrifice your ego, fulfill your ego, save the whole of China, and not return the base to survival mode." This time Shao Xuecheng didn't hit anyone, he stared at Old Wang for a long time, then suddenly turned his head, walked up to Sister Zheng, and asked wearily: "Is there really such a way?" She shook her head blankly, expressing that have no idea.Shao Xuecheng thought for a while, and then asked: "I want to know, how many doomsday bases need to be switched to heat source mode to completely change China's severe cold climate?" "Almost all." Sister Zheng replied. "That is to say, even if we decide to switch to the heat source mode, it may not work. If others choose to hide, the glacier will not ease, and we will die." "Yes." "Interesting, old Wang, this is a It's a big gamble, and we have almost no bargaining chips..." The corners of Shao Xuecheng's mouth turned up slightly, and he leaned against the glass wall with his hands in his pockets, "Then, the last question: why me?" "What?" Sister Zheng seemed Even more at a loss. "Why are only the descendants of the Shao family able to open this base? Could it be that our Shao family is destined to be the savior in the last days?" Shao Xuecheng asked loudly, taking a step forward, with a strange brilliance in his eyes. This time, not only Sister Zheng, but even Old Wang showed surprise.Shao Xuecheng raised his hand: "The door of the library on the second floor of the basement and the portrait at the end of the corridor can only be opened with my blood. What is the relationship between Run Run Shao and me, Shao Xuecheng? Could it be that the story of Cheng Guangzheng really happened? "That..." Sister Zheng was a little embarrassed, "Electronic locks and portraits can be opened with anyone's blood. It was originally just a detector to prevent other creatures from entering. You drip blood, confirm human DNA, and detect Passed, standard procedures, anyone can." Shao Xuecheng froze all of a sudden, and the corridor fell into a terrible silence.I thought about it carefully, it seems that except for Shao Xuecheng, no one tried with his own blood.When we saw Shaw House, we took it for granted that the two of them were connected together, and then we always followed him, more or less because we thought he was The Chosen One in our hearts.I have to admit that even the most resolute atheist always has a fatalistic instinct lurking deep in his heart.It's just that Shao Xuecheng has suffered a lot, he has indeed shed a lot of blood... Hearing the news, Shao Xuecheng did not show the anger he expected, but instead showed a look of relief.He put down his right hand and let out a long breath: "Great, I thought I would be forced to bear some nasty fate or responsibility. It turns out that I am not your leader, and it has nothing to do with the Shao family in Hong Kong. You can do whatever you want now." " "Then what do you want to do?" I asked. "Before I thought I was the chosen one, and I had to take you guys away alive, but now I don't have to carry this burden." Shao Xuecheng looked around, "From now on, you don't listen to my orders, and I don't either. Instructing you, we only represent ourselves." After saying these words, Shao Xuecheng walked up to Old Wang and stretched out his hand to untie his rope.Old Wang looked at him in astonishment, thinking that this was some new method of torture.Shao Xuecheng said to him: "I still hate you, you have brought us too much trouble. But I think you are right. To be honest, I don't want cats in this underground cave at all. Even if there are 24 Hours of heating, hot water and massage girls, I am not interested. It is too stuffy, my heart is too broad, and no high-end birdcage can hold it. I would rather go naked in the snow to hunt the surviving older female youths and Tibetan mastiffs. Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to adapt to this unexpected turning point all at once.I was the second to stand up: "I agree with Shao Xuecheng's opinion. Even if other bases choose the survival mode and we die because of it, I will not regret it. At least there were a dozen people in China who were willing to work for the revival of the country and the nation. Choose to sacrifice. This is more meaningful than trying to survive." "Xuanwu people always take care of the overall situation!" Tian Xiao was the third to stand up. "Even for a righteous person, God will not destroy the city of Sodom. I hope that I can not be the reason why God still cares about this land." Li Chao solemnly made a sign of the cross. "I also agree. When I watched "What to Do" before, I saw this passage: When I look back on the past, I don't want to regret because of mediocrity and wasting my life, and I don't want to regret because of being despicable and vulgar. Guilty. I only hope that when I die, I can say, 'I have dedicated my whole life and all my energy to the most magnificent cause in the world, striving for the revival of mankind'." Xu Cong was the fifth to stand up. "Count me in. By the way, this is a sentence from Li, you are really uneducated." Xu Qi said. "That's the abbreviation!" "Don't be stupid, "What to Do" was written by Chernyshevsky! Oh, yes, I also agree." Liu Yue said, and then took Xiaoying's arm. Xiaoying said in a low voice: "The wheel of fortune is in its right place." No one understood what she meant, and they probably didn't object. Long Aotian and Wang Dapeng nodded at the same time, expressing no objection. Zhu Jiayin was the only one who didn't express his opinion now, and he was still looking down at the radio.Everyone looked at him for a long time before Zhu Jiayin raised his head: "Do you know? This is a non-zero-sum game. We are now in the prisoner's dilemma. Survivors in the national doomsday base are all in this dilemma. Choose the survival mode, Only oneself can be saved, and the country must be finished. If you choose the heat source mode, if other people do not cooperate, the country may not be able to be saved, and you will definitely be finished. To achieve Pareto optimality, all people must be isolated and have no communication. Just make the same choice as us. What do you think is the probability?" "I don't know, and we don't want to know." I said to him.Zhu Jiayin put the radio on the ground and raised her right hand: "If you want to achieve the most perfect result in the prisoner's dilemma, someone has to take this step. I don't want to be a tragedy in the Nash equilibrium." We stretched out our hands and held each other firmly.In such a cold place, everyone's hands are actually warm.Seeing that we all reached a consensus, Lao Wang smiled with relief, and two lines of tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. "Look at the screen!" Sister Zheng suddenly shouted.We rushed over and saw through the glass door that a large cylindrical beam of light appeared on the right side of the big screen in the room. The beam of light changed from cool to warm at first, and then changed from light blue to orange after a while.Even the most ignorant Xu Cong understood it. This meant that the heat source mode of the entire base had been converted, and it began to act as a gradually warming heat source, radiating heat energy around the snow-covered capital. At this time, on the map of China on the right side of the screen, a lone yellow dot suddenly lit up at the location of the capital. "Is this us?" Everyone was talking to each other, pressing their faces against the glass, unwilling to look away for a second.This is the imprint left by us survivors on the vast land of China, and everyone is extremely proud for a while. The screen continues to read information.Suddenly, I saw something flashing in the Shanghai location, and I looked carefully, and it turned out to be another small yellow dot that lit up.This means that after the cataclysm, someone in Shanghai made the same choice as us. "At least we are not the only ones so stupid." Zhu Jiayin murmured. "Look! Guangzhou is also on!" "Chengdu! Chengdu is also lit up!" "Urumqi! Urumqi!" "Taipei is also lit up!" The computer continued to read the information. That little yellow dot seemed to ignite a wildfire, and soon, more yellow dots appeared in the territory of the whole country, lighting up the whole of China almost instantly, and the map of China turned into a golden rooster, jumping off the screen above.It turned out that we were not alone. Survivors from all over the country made the same choice after entering the base: turning the base into a heat source.In the next few decades, they will hold up the greenhouse for the whole of China in the severe cold, gestating the revival.We cheered through the glass door, Zhu Jiayin wiped his glasses repeatedly, and kept muttering: "The Pareto optimality of thousands of prisoners is a miracle, a miracle! Anyway, I believe it, I believe it It's over..." "Very well, the next reconstruction is up to us!" Tian Xiao shouted vigorously, as if he couldn't wait. At this time, we heard a blunt impact sound behind us, and hurriedly turned our heads, only to see Pharaoh lying limply on the ground with a large pool of blood on the wall.Just now, while everyone was not paying attention, he used all his strength to slam into the wall.I picked up Lao Wang, and the bloody wound on his head was shocking. This man will not live long. I called out his name loudly, but his lips only moved slightly.Shao Xuecheng also came over, his expression changed drastically.Old Wang is our only hope of entering the base. If he dies, we will be finished. "Old Wang, what the hell are you doing? You haven't told us how to enter the base yet!" Hearing the voice, Old Wang forcefully opened his eyes, smiled with all his strength, and said intermittently to Shao Xuecheng: "My death... ...It is the way you enter the base. I owe my son too much for my career, and his mother died because of this. He has always hated me to the bone... This book burning system is... designed by him. My body, too There is a scoring chip... Huh, so now as long as I die, I will definitely get a lot of bonus points, and the door will be opened... Remember your promise... To live and open up new ones The future..." At this point, Lao Wang's head slowly drooped, and he died.At the same time, the scorer issued a rapid electronic beep, and everyone supported each other and looked up together.The number on the scorer was changing, from 99899 just now, to 99799 suddenly.What?Everyone thought they read it wrong, rubbed their eyes, and read it again. It was still 99799, which was 100 points less than before. "..." "..." "..." "What... what's wrong?" Shao Xuecheng asked repeatedly, and the continuous unexpected turns made him restless. "If my guess is right..." I lost my composure for the first time, and had to desperately press my temples to continue speaking, "...if my guess is right. This designer still loves him deeply in his heart His father——he forgave Pharaoh a long time ago. But he was too introverted and not good at expressing, so he hid this heart deeply in the chip scoring system. His father didn't realize the deep feeling until his death. The love of my son inside me—what a touching story." "And then?" "There's nothing more, the shy bastard!"