Chapter 18: Congratulations, You Got It Right Again

Ye Chao activated the Redmi device, projecting that rough three-dimensional map: “Since I have a way to keep all the terminals connected, naturally I also have a way to confirm the exact location of each terminal and display it on the map.”

He tapped lightly a few times on the map, and several spots lit up.

With a gesture in the air, several yellow, green, and blue lines connected together—simple, direct, and clear.

“If any team needs help, let me know. I can immediately send the nearest person to support; I can also keep updating this map with signal positioning and your descriptions to gather more information.”

“Well... then there’s just one problem... It seems we don’t have that many available terminals.”

“Wang Zhi, congratulations on learning to answer so quickly.”

“Get lost, I don’t need your congratulations!”

Why the cursing? Every time the cooperation is so seamless... Could this be what Alpha Ji called being tsundere? It must be.

“The problem of not having enough terminals is easily solved. We’ll split into three groups first!”

Ye Chao tapped on the map, highlighting three areas that were somewhat square and clearly bore traces of artificial construction.

“These places are man-made buildings. There must still be plenty of damaged terminals left undiscovered. For each one we repair—well, it’s best to have a backup, so two terminals per team. Once a team is equipped, they set out.”

Nothing could be more efficient or reasonable than Ye Chao’s plan—anyone with a discerning eye could see that.

Comprehensive, meticulous, almost flawless; not even Wang Zhi, with all her effort, could find a single flaw.

There was no helping it—physical strength was unreliable, abilities were unreliable, but Ye Chao had always convinced others with his intellect.

Thus, Ye Chao settled the plan, and Xu Tiange, following the tactical squad model, organized the teams. Nearly three hundred people from nine classes split into three groups and set out.

Communication was left to Alpha Ji. Though she still found Ye Chao insufferable—his voice alone made her nauseous—she was someone (or rather, a program) who kept her word.

As the teams set out again, Ye Chao’s status underwent a dramatic transformation.

Everyone crowded around him, lingering like restless puppies—a treatment previously reserved for Xu Tiange alone.

“Ye Chao, those pages of notes just now, were they real?”

“Yeah, yeah, I didn’t get enough...”

“Not enough? They were so short, how could we tell if they were real or not!”

“That’s right! Dare to show them again and let us judge?”

In the end, it was Xu Tiange who couldn’t stand it any longer and forcefully dispersed them: “Is this really the time to be thinking about reading? Scatter, all of you!”

After driving everyone away, she turned and poked Ye Chao: “If I win this round of exams, you have to let me see your notes.”

“Alright, sure...” Ye Chao nodded, a bit bewildered and confused.

This round of exams... Xu Tiange knew?

Of course she did—anyone quick-witted had figured it out. Those who hadn’t, would know as soon as someone told them.

He was the only one who still had to guess.

==========

“There’s a silicon chip here! Careful, don’t break it!”

“I found one too!”

“Hurry, fix it and see what it is!”

The man-made building zone was indeed bountiful; everywhere the teams searched, they found treasure in abundance—helmets, armor, sniper rifles, medical kits, all plentiful.

Thinking about it, it made sense. Ever since the dawn of the network age, household network devices had multiplied exponentially, eventually reaching the era of the Internet of Everything.

Smartphones, desktops, laptops, wireless routers, smart TVs... Who didn’t have these at home? Often, not just one of each.

Not to mention smartwatches for kids, refrigerators with TVs, internet-connected robot vacuums, smart air conditioners, smart washing machines, smart speakers, and so on...

As long as it could connect to the internet, it had the potential for communication.

Daytime searches had been superficial, yielding little. But once the map confirmed the types, they filtered through like panning for gold—one silicon chip after another quickly surfaced.

But...

“Why are there only silicon chips?” Alpha Ji couldn’t help but ask.

Occasionally, there were glass panels, but complete electronic devices, or at least something resembling their outlines, were rarely seen.

“All the plastic and metal has been corroded,” Ye Chao replied succinctly.

Electronic products are mainly made of metal, plastic, and various chips.

It was understandable that metal would corrode, but plastic...?

“Legend has it that before the Cataclysm, plastic could last a long time. It would weather and degrade, but very slowly—sometimes preserved for years, isn’t that right?”

Years?

At the very least, several years; at most, hundreds or even thousands of years. There was even a term for it: the plastic crisis. Do you know that, young one?

Alpha Ji thought to herself, but didn’t say it aloud—she wouldn’t give this annoying guy a chance to mock her, especially since something was clearly wrong.

She asked calmly, “Isn’t that the case anymore?”

“No. Since the Cataclysm, biological evolution has accelerated tens of thousands, even millions of times. Plastics and other high-molecular organics just can’t last; at least, that’s what the textbooks say. If you don’t use abilities to repair and maintain them, they’ll deform in days...”

Biological evolution, tens of thousands to millions of times faster!

So that’s what a natural disaster meant?

But what did that have to do with plastic being useless?

Fortunately, Alpha Ji came from the Institute of Biocomputer Research, with expertise in both biology and programming. Otherwise, she might not have understood at all.

Before explaining, let’s ask this: do you know why there is coal on Earth?

Many know that coal was formed from the accumulated remains of trees and plants from hundreds of millions of years ago, transformed over long and complex biochemical processes.

The trees from hundreds of millions of years ago became the coal we use today; so, in theory, today’s trees should become new coal in hundreds of millions of years...

Is that possible?

Just walk into a forest. If a tree falls and is left untouched...

Rain will soak it, mist will moisten it, and moss and fungi will soon cover its surface, turning a healthy tree into rotten wood.

Soon, insects will lay eggs inside, feeding on moss and fungal threads.

Birds, hunting insects, will drill holes into the wood, allowing moss and fungi to invade deeper and hasten the decay.

There will be termites and other creatures that feed directly on the rotten wood...

In the frigid north, a fallen tree might persist for decades or even centuries before finally decomposing; but in a lively rainforest, it might last only a few years before vanishing without a trace.

If nothing remains, how could peat, lignite, bituminous coal, or anthracite ever form?

So why did ancient trees become coal?

It’s simple: hundreds of millions of years ago, when trees evolved lignocellulose to grow taller and dominate the earth’s surface, no living organism had yet evolved the ability to break down lignin.

Back then, lignin was like modern plastic.