CHAPTER 316: CHAPTER 142: BIRTH FACTORY?

The blinding light shot out from inside the door, rendering an expanse of dazzling white before the man’s eyes.

He instinctively reached out his hand to touch that patch of white, but as the light truly fell on his hand, he shrank back in shock, as if electrocuted, retreating back into the darkness.

His mind was filled with chaotic thoughts.

He didn’t know where to go.

Until the voices of the Huaxia Army came from inside the door.

"Damn... this is not a half-destroyed facility at all!"

"This is a facility that has already been used!"

The man instantly looked up.

At this moment, he finally made up his mind.

He stepped through the open door, and once the sudden glare disappeared, everything that appeared before him left him stunned.

"This is..."

He didn’t know how to describe what he saw.

Everything was beyond his experience.

Strange devices, one after another of semi-transparent chambers, intricate pipelines...

He looked towards Chen Jian, seemingly seeking answers from him.

But Chen Jian was equally baffled at this moment.

"These things... aren’t they hibernation chambers?"

"No."

As Chen Jian’s words fell, Fu Xi’s voice sounded in his headset.

"This is an artificial womb."

"More precisely, this is an ultra-premature infant life support system."

"It was developed in 2036 and the technology matured by 2040."

"Under the best conditions, this system can push the survival gestation age of an ultra-premature infant to 16 weeks, or four months."

"A fetus only needs to live within the mother for four months, before it can be extracted through a non-invasive procedure and transferred into an artificial womb."

"Originally a purely medical device, due to its unique functionalities, it has constantly faced significant ethical dilemmas."

"Therefore, this equipment wasn’t fully popularized until 2045, when the Cataclysm occurred."

"But there are so many here..."

"Obviously, these were produced after the Cataclysm."

"This might be a birthing factory."

Birthing factory.

When Fu Xi uttered those four words, a shiver immediately ran down Chen Jian’s spine.

He had only heard this term in certain dystopian cyberpunk works, and the cruelty and inhumanity it embodied sent chills down his spine.

Could such a thing really be done by our own people?

Chen Jian instinctively reached out to touch the glass cover of the artificial womb in front of him, but just then, he noticed something unusual.

The living area filled with so-called "artificial wombs" wasn’t cold.

On every piece of equipment hung objects with unique symbolism.

Rotten little wood carvings, plush toys that disintegrate into dust upon touch, faded cartoon rabbits in glass corners, and names that clearly bear great expectations, representing the identities of infants...

This isn’t what a "factory" should look like.

The people who once lived here still held warm and optimistic expectations towards "birthing."

"This is not a factory."

Chen Jian asserted:

"This is a hospital."

"A hospital with a research attribute!"

"This must have once been a thriving settlement... onward!"

Following Chen Jian’s order, everyone bypassed the chaotic equipment and proceeded to the next level under Fu Xi’s guidance.

The intelligent system and network communication system within Facility 001 had collapsed, and many devices were no longer usable; their progress was not particularly smooth.

But finally, after descending two more levels, they saw what they had most wanted to see.

An intelligent workshop.

And in the instant when he saw those old devices through the glass, it was as if a spark flashed through Chen Jian’s mind.

Clearly, this workshop had long been activated.

Moreover, it was used to the extent of near the end of its lifespan.

This is indeed a "half-damaged" facility.

But to describe it as "damaged" would be inaccurate.

The word "worn-out" seems more fitting.

"...The potential of this facility has been completely exhausted."

"But this is entirely unreasonable. If this facility was indeed developed before, why is there no record in Fu Xi’s system?"

"No, that’s not the main point."

"This is Facility 001; if the entire facility was used to its full extent, how could they have not left more traces?"

"We’ve only opened Facility 011, and we’re already planning a coking plant, a steel mill, and more industrial facilities."

"Could they really not have left more industrial facilities behind? Are they quite...?"

"No, you’re mistaken."

Lei Jie suddenly interrupted Chen Jian’s questions, then took a deep breath and spoke:

"What if—I’m saying if, this facility was opened just after the Cataclysm?"

"If, in a very short time, survivors in the north were organized and activated Facility 001 to begin civilizational reconstruction?"

"At that time, most industrial facilities in the surrounding area were still usable, and they had no need to waste valuable resources building new industrial facilities."

"That means they wouldn’t alter the surrounding ’industrial environment’."

"They didn’t leave new traces because they used the surface legacy, not the underground one."

"In this way, many things become reasonable."

"What they lacked most was people, so they built a... large hospital here."

"Think about it, in human reproduction, what is most important?"

"The mother."

"If a mother’s pregnancy period can be reduced from 10 to 4 months, coupled with the shorter recovery period from premature delivery, how high will their birth efficiency be...?"

"Honestly, I really don’t want to mention the term birth efficiency."

"But possibly, this was the most realistic problem they faced."

As Lei Jie’s words fell, Chen Jian fell into a brief silence.

A moment later, he slowly nodded.

"This makes the fertility cult in Huadu appear much more reasonable."

"Lin Jing’s records repeatedly mentioned the importance of fertility, something that even surpassed her ’Flame Plan’ she spoke of."

"Could it be that the information she had was indeed one-sided?"

"She only knew to pursue fertility but didn’t know why...?"

"Very likely."

Lei Jie sighed heavily.

At this moment, everyone seemed to see the struggle of those incredibly resilient individuals after the Cataclysm.

In the face of unknown disasters, these people came together.

They tried to preserve civilization in the simplest way possible, even to the point of adopting methods some groups would never understand, to accelerate the process of reproduction.

They were unreserved.

Yet, such a lack of reservation commanded respect.

Chen Jian led the team further down, discovering more and more traces of people who once lived here along the way.

Somewhat rough but functional tools, already rotten fabrics, various everyday items obviously discarded during evacuation...

These things were already weathered and corroded, but to Chen Jian, they were like witnessing a living history.

Finally, the team entered the computing layer of the facility.

As he expected, the quantum computer here had also been dismantled and removed.

This was the most important asset in a facility, and obviously, as long as it was possible, the people who originally lived here would never abandon it.

But, why did they ultimately leave?

The mystery in Chen Jian’s mind was as thick as fog, but just then, Fu Xi’s voice suddenly sounded again.

"Commander, I have successfully accessed the facility’s storage system."

"They took with them all computing and storage equipment from Facility 001, but overlooked the storage device within the nuclear facility."

"I retrieved logs backed up in the underground nuclear facility command room."

"The logs have been transmitted to your PDA, please review them."

Chen Jian’s heart leapt.

Then, a line of text appeared before his eyes.

"December 31, 2046, 10:36 AM: I have entered the nuclear facility command room, and this facility is operating well."

"December 31, 2046, 10:36 AM: 001 understood, from today onwards, you and your team are responsible for guarding it."