Chapter 724 Slums
The factories on the black streets are operating day and night. The thick black smoke emitted from those towering chimneys shrouds the entire city in a lingering haze. Standing high in the city, you can even see the hazy black veil. The usual sight of clouds and mist slowly falling from the sky: this smoke makes everything in the neighborhood dyed a dirty gray and black color, which is one of the origins of the name of the Black Street. In this modern era where nanomachines are spread all over the world, there are still many heavy industries that are unable to get rid of the traditional factory production line production method due to technical limitations. Large machinery and arms factories are the two most important ones.
In the black streets, these two types of factories are the most numerous.
Hao Ren walked out of the narrow and cramped slum and saw the tall factory buildings at the end of the wide and dirty streets. Huge reaction towers and pressure vessels of unknown purpose were built directly in the city. The roar of machinery was heard coming from the factory. Passers-by can be seen in a hurry on both sides of the street, most of them poor people wearing shabby clothes and numb eyes. They had just finished eating inadequate portions of synthetic food at home and were now flocking to the factory like a colony of ants: a mechanical behemoth that devoured their lives while also continuing their lives. Some people covered their faces with a rag, using this method to filter the dust and mist in the air, which was better than nothing. However, those dark rags were not much cleaner than the surrounding air, and their lungs were still irreversibly diseased. , corroded, polluted, and after the age of thirty or forty, they had to live a life of barely surviving with a swarm of nanomachines, and then died quickly.
"Since nanomachine clusters are still in use, why has no one thought of using these things to solve the city's pollution problem?" Hao Ren muttered to himself.
A hoarse and deep voice came from the side: "Control pollution? Such people died out decades ago. Now is the time to live one day at a time."
Hao Ren unexpectedly turned his head and found Ulanov appearing behind him at some point: "Oh, when did you come?"
"This is a place I often come to. I'm very familiar with the slums." Ulanov looked up at the factory not far away. "Yesterday someone reported that you disappeared into the dark alleys of the slums after leaving the station and stayed away all night. No. Lan asked me to collect your body - but I didn't expect to see you in a daze on the First Street when I got here. Not bad, you spent the first night in the dark alley area safely? What interests you here? "
"It's nothing, just wandering around casually," Hao Ren knew that the other party was still wary of him, so he replied with a relaxed expression, "I said that I can't stay with you all the time, so I have to find a place where I can stay. Don't worry, Even if I have any purpose, I will not go after the gray fox."
"Nolan doesn't care about this, I'm just minding my own business," Ulanov said noncommittally to Hao Ren's reply, "It's best not to come to this neighborhood too often. There are many guys here who have bad relations with Gray Fox. Are you here?" benefit."
Hao Ren waved his hand to express his understanding, and then brought up the question just now: "You haven't said it yet. Are there any additional costs for using a nanomachine cluster to solve urban pollution? Isn't that a self-sufficient thing?"
"The nanomachine cluster can indeed be self-sufficient, but their control center costs money, and the bigger cost is these -" Ulanov said, raising his finger and pointing to the poor people walking in a hurry on the roadside, "You don't need a healthy body to operate the factory machinery, and the city doesn't need old people. These slags are born to be exploited in the factory until they are forty-five years old, and it is best not to even know a few people. Factory owners They don’t like workers who are too strong and too smart, and they don’t like guys who need to be taken care of in old age, so there is no need to let them live too long. As for the factory owners and big warlords... they have their own ecological houses, isolated from the outside world, I heard There will also be one or two small lawns, which are inexpensive, quick to build, and enough to enjoy.”
Hao Ren listened with eyes wide open. Being from Earth, he couldn't understand this kind of thinking: "Just maintaining the status quo...isn't it a bit short-sighted?"
"Short-sighted? What do you mean by long-term vision?" Ulanov laughed hoarsely, "Comprehensive improvement of the environment? Rebuilding a vibrant and sustainable society? I remember that many people decades ago I thought so, but it turns out that no one can live to complete such a feat. I heard that every political power in the world can only last an average of four and a half years, so no one will invest in a business that lasts longer than this cycle. .”
After Ulanov finished speaking, he patted Hao Ren on the shoulder: "Short-sightedness is necessary because most people will not live to see the future that they can see."
Hao Ren blurted out: "But you lived long enough..."
"Because I just live," Ulanov turned around. "From the day I was injured and could no longer shed a drop of blood, but could only shed electrolytes and nutritional media, my goal was to live. Only such people can live long enough."
Hao Ren was speechless. In a world where everyone is unable to protect themselves, thinkers and enlighteners are probably the first people to die, because they need to use the energy used to maintain their survival in other places, such as dreams. At this time, the data terminal muttered something in his mind that was even more accurate: "This is why all rare and rare herbs can be cultivated into immortals, while vegetables and fruits cannot even be transformed into spirits: make a vow to practice in the morning, and have someone give it to you at noon." It’s stewed. Who can have a dream if they can’t live until the day when their dreams come true?”
I have to say that although this guy is a bit arrogant, his summary ability is really strong.
Hao Ren followed Ulanov back to the Gray Fox station. When he turned a corner, he quickly took out a small silver-gray device from his personal space and threw it out while no one was paying attention. The small device looked like an inconspicuous piece of metal, but it made no sound when it landed on the ground, and quickly slid into a dark corner along the ground. This is the beacon transmitter that Hao Ren made in the morning using the ship-based factory of the Giant Turtle Yantai. It will automatically find a place with the weakest interference to deploy, and then send out a strong navigation signal to space - as long as the planet Zomu It is still located in the dream plane, and the detection drone group can quickly find it through this navigation signal.
Even though they are tens of billions of light years apart.
If there is more than just physical distance between the two parties...then the situation will be more troublesome. But at present, it seems that the situation is very likely to become troublesome.
At present, Hao Ren has no problem communicating with the Crystal Core Research Station and the detection drone group on the planet Zomu. This proves that the data link is smooth, but the key is that there is no way to determine the specific location of the signal transmission. This is equivalent to an anonymous address connection, and the functions of the crystal core research station and the drone swarm cannot crack this anonymous state in one direction, so Hao Ren needs to set up an active message on the planet Zhuom. mark. At the same time, Hao Ren also considered what to do if even the beacon failed: If this happened, he considered releasing a detector from here to see if it could reach the normal universe through space navigation. If it could, it would at least prove that Space was still continuous, and even if it wasn't, he could figure out the extent of the distortion. This is one of the "backup plans" he mentioned before.
After leaving the factory area, Hao Ren turned around and glanced at the tall black buildings: "This is really a desperate place."
"Maybe, but at least you can survive here. The factory is the only option for most people. The wasteland outside is worse than the situation here." Ulanov seemed to sigh, or it might just be a mute sound. Laughing, "The only hope for the 'slags' here is to be picked up by some mercenary group and used as cannon fodder. As long as they survive for a few weeks, they can live like human beings, and all diseases on their bodies can be cured." Did you know that it is actually very simple to cure their lung diseases and blood diseases? It is so simple that it only requires a tube of nanomachine cluster and thirty minutes. But this is the most precious resource in the underworld, and the ration is extremely limited. Everyone in the slums They are willing to use everything they have in exchange for this treatment opportunity - so I am still curious about the reason for Heaton's rebellion. When Nolan dragged him out of the slum, the guy's lungs were almost rotten, and his blood was With forty years of accumulation of toxins and failed inferior nanomachines, he was a standard useless man who missed the good age to be selected as cannon fodder, and Nolan gave him a chance to survive... He actually rebelled in the end."
Hao Ren thought of Heaton's diary he saw and muttered in a low voice: "Maybe he was brainwashed by something."
"Being brainwashed by the Rangers' crazy ideas?" Ulanov sneered, "Oh, it's probably possible, simple-minded guy."