Chapter 140

He had to put on a white shirt, tie a black tie, apply hair wax to his head, and put on shiny leather shoes;

Neighbors picked up and dropped off four children to school;

The usual breakfast, freshly squeezed milk, bread from the town bakery……

If it weren't for the crazy people breaking into the town, if it weren't for the young people his age starting to indulge in lust, if it weren't for all kinds of strange rumors circulating in private.

Everything looked quiet and peaceful.

Obviously, such days could not last.

The camera shifts, and the numbers representing the date become a bit larger.

One day, Joel was awakened by a sudden sound.

"State of emergency notice—"

"Respected citizens: Due to riots, our city is facing a serious crisis. In order to ensure your life and property safety, we have decided to carry out emergency evacuations in some areas……(Zhao)"

The police cars and radio stations in the town broadcasted evacuation notices day and night; yesterday's reason was still the plague, today it became riots and terrorist attacks, perhaps tomorrow a new nightmare will appear?

Joel exhaled violently, emptying the gas in his lungs, then inhaled sharply, smelling the unique scent in the room.

The meaning of his life remained here.

——He had no intention of leaving home.

……

The dim room was only illuminated by a weak incandescent lamp. Joel was calculating how many days his stockpiled supplies would last, but the most urgent thing at the moment was that his brother, who was in another state, was talking to him.

Joel held the receiver with his shoulder.

"Hey, Joe, how are you doing?"

The other party's tired voice came through the receiver:

"Very bad, this might be the last time I talk to you recently?"

Joel put down the pen he was writing and drawing with, focusing on the chat:

"What happened?"

Joe sounded like he was whispering, his tone weak, and he sounded extremely haggard.

"Don't worry, my dear Joel, it's just a wildfire. Doesn't our country often have wildfires?"

"……But this fire is not right. I feel that the fire is alive; it is hunting for gasoline and trees."

The sound of Joe breathing deeply came from the receiver.

Then, he said:

"The thing I'm going to tell you next sounds crazy. Listen, this thing is really crazy, but it's true."

"My God, you can't imagine what I saw…… that fucking thing is a fire man at least 6 meters tall. It just walks like that, and then flames swallow everything……"

Before he could finish speaking, Joe's voice disappeared completely.

A chill rose from the bottom of Joel's heart, as if falling into an ice cellar.

He was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to do, and then grabbed the receiver and shouted desperately:

"Joe? Joseph?"

On the other end of the phone, there was no response.

"Is there a possibility that the Foundation's containment measures failed, just like Dr. Kondraki riding 'The Immortal Lizard' to destroy most of the site?"

"Impossible, Dr. Kondraki destroyed the entire site to that state, and no SCP broke containment. Mere anomalies, the Foundation can definitely handle them."

"Very possible. Before the SCPs became SCPs, they attacked the Foundation's site in clusters, releasing high-risk SCPs in groups, which is enough to cause the end of the world."

"Doesn't this mean the Foundation is like a trash can? As long as the trash can is broken, the whole world will be flooded by trash?"

"I like your description, remember to write your will."

The Foundation's video is still continuing.

The characters in the picture are no longer the confused Joel, but instead, a group of people dressed differently.

They are either fully armed, wearing combat uniforms, or dressed in glamorous, expensive suits, or dressed ordinarily, like passersby seen everywhere……

Everyone has a serious expression, their steps never stopping, moving forward in a hurry.

The surrounding plants are lush, the peaks are towering, the canyons are magnificent, the grasslands are open, and the sound of waterfalls is endless, as if the apocalypse has nothing to do with this place.

[Yellowstone National Park].

The audience knows the name of this place through the letters, and questions follow—how do the Foundation people have the leisure to come to the park?

Are they here for a walk?

It couldn't be to take a dump, right?

"'SCP-2000' is here? Good location."

Welt Yang looks at the screen, silently pondering.

The world before he traveled also had an attraction called [Yellowstone National Park].

In an inadvertent moment, Welt Yang thought he had returned there.

From this, he suspects that the world where the Foundation is located has a deep connection with the planet he once protected.

It is very likely the same planet in different worlds!

His thinking continues, and he hears a violent sound of mechanical operation; the park ground begins to shake violently, like an earthquake.

In shocked eyes, the ground of [Yellowstone National Park] appears with huge cracks, separating to both sides, revealing a passage downward.

No one hesitates; the Foundation members descend in an orderly manner, entering it.

Everyone walks down the steps; on both sides of the passage, unknown devices are densely packed.

Reaching the bottom, a heavy metal door blocks their way.

"Authentication in progress: Ganymede Protocol has been implemented, security system unlocked;"

"Permission unlocked: Allow any Foundation personnel to initiate 'Program CYA-009';"

"Identity verification: Identity verification passed."

"Ssh—"

Several electronic sounds ring out one after another, the heavy metal door slowly opens, the interlocking tooth structures move away from each other, revealing the internal scene of "Deus Ex Machina."

An underground city!

Before this, no one would doubt that "Deus Ex Machina" was a large facility, but no one would have thought it was so huge.

"How long has the Foundation been preparing for the end of the world……"

"Unimaginable……"

The entire underground has been hollowed out, the distance between the dome and the deepest part is no less than 2 kilometers, each building-like structure is an instrument, and countless pipelines crisscross within it.

Here is an underground city far larger than a first-tier metropolis.

After seeing this scene, Fu Bai Xuan cannot help but praise it.

The most spectacular thing here is not these building-like facilities, but the neatly arranged chambers, like giant bird eggs.

In them, there are people with different faces, clean bodies, all soaked in pale yellow liquid, floating up and down, sleeping soundly.

The next moment.

The alarm sounds, echoing in the lonely city, like a ghost town that has triggered an alarm.

"Click—"

"Click—"

"Click—"

Pieces of lights turn on, and the roar of machines resounds.

In the containers, one human after another opens their eyes, confused and helpless, like newborn cubs.

……

"6, I guess the Foundation has been preparing to build this 'SCP-2000' Deus Ex Machina from the first day of its establishment. This thing must have spent a considerable amount of time and resources to build."

(bbda) "I have a way to save effort—I can use reality warpers like Zhao Zhao Zhao Zena to create things out of thin air. Wouldn't that be faster to complete the construction?"

"Don't worry, everything you can think of, the big bosses of the Foundation must have thought of. Don't forget, no matter how terrifying the end of the world is, the Foundation still has the Administrator sitting in command. Perhaps humanity has perished, but the Foundation itself will still exist."

"But even if the Foundation has enough mechanical equipment to replicate humans, how can they ensure that the replicated people won't notice that the world has been reset? The Foundation must spend a lot of time replicating everyone on an entire planet. What does the Foundation plan to do during this time window?"

"Don't forget, the Foundation has memory-clearing means. If they notice something is wrong, they can just clear all memories."

"What you say makes so much sense, I actually can't refute it."

……

The heavy rain stopped, and the dark clouds dispersed.