Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 440 - 438: Path Dependence

Chapter 440: Chapter 438: Path Dependence

Royal City, Integrated Defense Control Center.

Unlike the usual achievement report meetings, the atmosphere in the conference hall was extremely grave this time. After listening to Gao Wei’s detailed explanation of the situation, all attendees sensed a whiff of crisis.

"It has been only six hours since we received the warning from Paradise, and similar accidents have already started to spread. Currently, six cities in Canada have experienced mechanical malfunctions. Moreover, we have just received reliable information that a city on the US-Canada border has had multiple chain-reaction car accidents, which can be seen as a sign of the malfunction spreading," Gao Wei summarized, "Both Canada and the United States have deployed troops to impose regional lockdowns, and the network communications of the affected areas have been cut off. We have contacted overseas correspondents from our news department, hoping they can continue to track the situation. After research, the Defense Control Center has tentatively named this phenomenon ’Machine Rebellion.’ It can be said... this is the first macroscopic impact on Earth from another world."

"Machine... Rebellion?"

"Most machinery doesn’t have intelligent components, how could they possibly be controlled?"

The crowd burst into a buzz of conversation.

"Is this intelligence credible?" asked Leader No. 2.

"Yes, although it sounds incredible, our research on this incident is more advanced than that of Western countries. Because of Comrade Xue Quan’s connections, Paradise is more inclined to cooperate with us, and he also has his own views on the matter," Gao Wei looked at Xue Quan, "In fact, the term ’Machine Rebellion’ was proposed by him."

Everyone turned their gaze to Xue Quan.

The latter spoke methodically, "You are all aware that the Otherworld possesses unimaginable forces, among which the divinities are the most vivid representatives. Among the many divinities, there is one known as the ’God of All Machines,’ which symbolizes the rise of a new generation of automatic machinery and steam constructs. However, it appears that the scope it can affect is far beyond what we had initially anticipated."

He then briefly recounted the war between the Longjiu Family and the Laurel Dynasty.

"This aberration occurred after the Longjiu Army took over Royal City Shengxia. Paradise speculates that it’s likely related to the Longjiu Family seizing a Divine Relic. Before the meeting, I also spoke on the phone with Mr. Zhao. He believes that the mechanical armaments of the Longjiu Army have the ability to infect, enabling nearby machines to be brought under the control of the God of All Machines, and that is why I referred to it as a rebellion. In summary, once the machinery on Earth acquires autonomy, regardless of whether it has intelligent components or not, it will exhibit independent behavior, and so far no method has been found to reverse this. The only way to make it stop is to destroy it."

Seeing that he had paused, Gao Wei added, "That’s why we’ve shut down all flights to Canada, to prevent any infected machinery from entering our country. But this measure is not completely foolproof, Canada may very well fall completely, followed by its neighboring countries. As the situation escalates, perhaps everything will revert to the way it was five years ago."

The attendees all knew what Gao Wei meant by the event five years ago.

Fortunately, having been through it once before, implementing measures again came with much more experience.

Leader No. 3 sighed with resignation, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already received a formal protest from Canada, saying we are overreacting."

Curious, Leader No. 2 inquired, "What reason did you use to cut off flight routes?"

"Terrorist attacks. That’s what Canada is publicizing anyway," replied the former.

Everyone let out a light chuckle, slightly easing the tension of the meeting.

Indeed, the Canadian officials had already held an emergency press conference, claiming that the country was facing numerous organized, premeditated terrorist attacks, and they strongly condemned this inhumane behavior. Even with the truth plainly in sight, their first thought was to cover up the facts and shift the conflict.

"Laugh all we want, but we can’t just let the crisis continue to unfold. Earth is only so big, and no one can save themselves alone," Leader No. 2 spoke again, "Regarding the intelligence about the God of All Machines, it will be temporarily classified as top secret. However, the news about machines infecting each other and causing malfunctions can be revealed to Canada at an opportune time. I also hope the Defense Control Center can send a team to Canada to investigate the nature of this infection."

"I’ll go," volunteered Professor Wang Shengli, "The research work on the other side has been progressing steadily recently, so my absence won’t have a major impact."

"Alright, I’ll arrange some personnel for you later," agreed Gao Wei.

"And me?" Xue Quan asked.

"Your most important task is still to maintain contact with Paradise. I believe Mr. Zhao must also be looking for a way to solve this trouble at this moment."

Just then, the avatar of Leader No. 3 lit up, "I’ve just received two pieces of information. One is from our embassy in Canada, and the other is from a hotline with the US military. The former has just issued an emergency caution notice, stating that casualties in many places in Canada have exceeded one hundred thousand, hospitals are turning away new patients, and they hope we can arrange for rescue planes to evacuate those domestically wounded who cannot receive treatment."

More than one hundred thousand...

This figure made everyone inhale sharply in unison.

Keep in mind, it hadn’t been half a day since the machine rebellion incident occurred, and the outbreak was in Canada, a vast country with a widely scattered population. If it were to happen in our country, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, the second piece of news was even more unexpected.

"The latter has informed us that at 1 AM tomorrow morning, which is 13:00 today Beifu time, they will launch a type 3 ballistic missile to carry out a non-nuclear strike on the center of M City, and they hope we will not misjudge the situation,"

Gao Wei raised his wristwatch and realized that the announced launch time was in just 30 minutes!

"Really?"

"Did Canada agree to this?"

"I think given the relationship between the two countries, it doesn’t make a difference whether they agree or not."

People couldn’t help whispering among themselves.

To prevent military misjudgment, major powers would inform each other when launching long-range strategic weapons, but in the past, these were mostly tests and drills. This kind of direct live fire attack on a densely-populated city was unprecedented!

"Perhaps they’ve also realized the severity of the problem, but this approach is indeed quite reckless." Gao Wei looked at Xue Quan, "If I recall, Mr. Zhao is currently in M City, right?"

"Yes," Xue Quan nodded, "I’ll call him right away."

...

Communications in M City were completely cut off at this moment, and Chaoyang received Xue Quan’s message through a satellite phone.

"What? Bombing a civilian area with ballistic missiles?" Upon hearing the news, Ailuodi was dumbfounded, "Have those people lost their minds? Even if the government has issued an evacuation order, there’s no saying how many people could receive the notice with the transportation collapse, no water, and no electricity. Plus, with all the crazed cars outside, who would dare to go out?"

Yet Chaoyang seemed somewhat unsurprised by this.

They had long since become adept at bombing civilians.

"Can the missile destroy the gate connecting to the Otherworld?" What K cared about was the efficacy of this plan.

"Mr. K, how could you..."

"If the gate remains open, more and more armed machines with the ability to infect will enter our world, causing destruction and casualties far beyond what one missile can inflict," K shook his head, his expression resolute, "My rational and logical unit tells me that this level of sacrifice is not unacceptable."

"But a normal explosion can’t destroy the gateway, right?"

"Theoretically, that’s correct—it’s not a real gate but rather a reflection of the two worlds mirroring each other." Chaoyang agreed, "Of course... Explosions are within the purview of Rot Divine’s power; with sufficient energy level, even the world itself can be changed... But nuclear weapons are too extreme for use against a city."

"In that case, let’s go stop the missile from landing!" Ailuodi pulled Chaoyang outside, "The neighboring country’s actions only add to the number of senseless deaths, serving no purpose!"

"We may not need to stop it ourselves." But a different idea surfaced in Chaoyang’s mind, "Perhaps for those machines that have awakened a sense of self, the missile is simply another machine."