MDT Chapter 285 Part 1

Chapter 285 Part 1: "Let's Give the Miracle a Grand, Glorious Debut"

"Huh?" The password really was eight 8s. Biaozi stared blankly at the diary in his hands. He watched as the faint yellow question mark on its cover gradually turned into a green exclamation point. A panel materialized before everyone.

[Task Thirty-Four, completed by Zhang Yi.]

Standing to the side, Zhang Yi grinned, overjoyed. He scratched the back of his head, a little awkwardly, and pulled his brother into a hug. In that moment, he discovered something even more satisfying than stuffing things into a Refrigerator: using his brain. He decided. When he got back, he couldn't just train his body in the Combat Training Virtual Space; he had to work on his mind, too. He had a talent for this, and he couldn't let it go to waste.

"Quick, let's see, let's see." Lao Zhu eagerly leaned in. The group huddled around the notebook and began to read carefully from the first page, afraid of missing anything.

[April 27, 7257]: Today is my 27th birthday. I don't know what to do. The factory director found me and hinted that if I was willing to marry his daughter, he would give me his position as director. But the director knows full well that I have a girlfriend, and he knows I love her deeply. In my eyes, true love is something you encounter, not something you seek. This is a difficult decision. Starting today, I will use this diary to record my life.

[April 28, 7257]: I've thought it over. I dumped my girlfriend. She cried her heart out. I'm heartbroken too. I think I might have made the wrong choice, letting go of someone who truly loved me.

[April 29, 7257]: I married the director's daughter at the factory. The director was in a huge hurry. I don't know why. Even at his own daughter's wedding, he could barely crack a smile. He just kept rushing us to get pregnant and have a child.

[April 30, 7257]: The director is insane. Last night, he fed me an aphrodisiac. His daughter and I did it seven times in one night. When I woke up this morning, I felt like I was going to die. I have no idea what the director is trying to do.

[May 1, 7257]: I'm the factory director now.

[May 2, 7257]: Being the director is great. It's just that the old director keeps urging me to sleep with his daughter. I feel a sense of unknown dread.

[May 18, 7257]: I'm gradually learning how to manage the factory. But for some reason, orders have suddenly dropped off. We're an armory. The Mechanical Civilization and the Insectoid Civilization have supposedly been fighting for hundreds of years, and we've always had a massive number of weapon orders. Could the war be ending?

[May 31, 7257]: Fewer and fewer orders. The war really is stopping. I hope the war continues for another few hundred years! I just became the director, and I haven't even made any money yet!

[June 15, 7257]: After becoming director, I ruthlessly humiliated the old employees from the 'Processing Department' who used to give me trouble. Hehe, so satisfying. But I've never gone back to the Processing Department. That's where my ex-girlfriend and I met and fell in love. I'm afraid I'll regret my decision.

[June 15, 7257]: No regrets. My life now is heaven compared to before. How could I regret it? I wasn't fully awake this morning. No more writing in the diary in the mornings.

[June 30, 7257]: I'm starting to fear my new wife. She wants me several times every day. I asked her why, and she said her father demands it. Her father isn't some kind of pervert, is he? Did he hide cameras in my room? Does he like watching his daughter get...?

[July 1, 7257]: I searched my room thoroughly. No cameras. But my father-in-law came to rush me again today, and he sounded desperate, like he wished I'd do it right in front of him. I feel like my father-in-law is definitely hiding a lot of things from me.

[August 13, 7257]: The factory's 'giant gear set' broke today. The factory repairmen couldn't fix it, so I hired a specialist from outside. While he was working, his wife brought him lunch. I recognized her at a glance. It was the woman I love. When our eyes met, she looked away. For some reason, the moment I saw her, I wanted to give up everything I have now, just to hold her again.

[August 13, 7257]: I drank a lot. I might be drunk. I regret it. I really regret it. She's still so gentle. What's so good about being the director? If I could do it all over, I would only want her, not this damned position. But... but it's too late to go back. I can feel it. She still loves me. The one she loves is still me.

[September 1, 7257]: I built a secret room behind my office. The south wall is one-way glass. I started calling that repairman over to fix the equipment from time to time. And while he's fixing the equipment, I bring his wife into the secret room... to 'fix' his wife. Everything seems to be just the same. But it also seems like something has changed. She's changed. She's become... playing hard to get. Her morals tell her this is wrong, but the love between us makes her enjoy it. I'm furious. I'm venting my jealousy. I'm the factory director, and he's just a damn repairman. What right does he have to possess the woman I love, out in the open! The thought that I have to sneak around like this, while that lowly repairman can have her brazenly, fills me with rage. Jealousy is making me lose my mind. I think... I almost strangled her.

[September 10, 7257]: She's gradually relaxed. From not daring to even look at her husband fixing the equipment, she's now started to press herself against the glass and stare right at him. I've never seen this side of her. She used to be so loyal. I never thought I'd one day see her cheating side. And I never thought she would look so seductive while doing it. I feel like I'm sick. I think I'm a pervert.

[September 30, 7257]: The factory hasn't had a single order for seven days. For some reason, my father-in-law has stopped nagging me, too. The TV news says the Mechanical Civilization seems to be on a major offensive, winning victory after victory. I don't know what set my father-in-law off, but he's drinking heavily every day. Today, at the factory, he even raped a female employee in front of everyone. Has he lost his mind? He's acting like someone who just had a massive number of memory chips implanted all at once, leaving his memories scrambled. If he has needs like that, he could have just told me. I would have let him use my secret room. Luckily, I managed to keep the news contained within the factory. If this got out, he'd be sent to prison.

[October 11, 7257]: I've figured out how to break the 'giant gear set' in a way that the factory workers can't fix it, but without causing any major problems. I just need to hit the intake port seven times with a hammer, and then hit the exhaust port three times. I'm a genius.

[November 10, 7257]: Winter is here. My father-in-law is getting crazier. I haven't slept with my wife in ages. She seems very resentful, but I don't care. I don't love her. I've only ever loved one woman. These days, I have to call the repairman over almost every day. I'm finding it harder and harder to pull myself away from this affair. Even... from the initial inner conflict and struggle, I've now started to enjoy this scene. I'm starting to enjoy her seductiveness when she's cheating, to enjoy this side of her I've never seen, to enjoy... this moment. Everyone seems to have gone mad, but I'm very happy.

[November 15, 7257]: The factory hasn't had an order in two months. It might go bankrupt. Something major happened today. The Mechanical Civilization suddenly changed its calendar. So weird. The Mechanical Civilization's calendar has always been 365 days a year. The war with the Insectoid Civilization started before I was born, and it's been going on for almost 296 years. I'm used to seeing news on TV about the Mechanical Civilization winning another battle. The supreme leader of the Mechanical Civilization appeared on screen and changed all the databases. From now on, the Mechanical Civilization's calendar is: one day equals one year. What kind of bullshit calendar is that? What civilization has a year that's only 24 hours long? The Mechanical Civilization has existed for nearly 7,258 years, and they've used this calendar almost the entire time. How could they suddenly change it without any warning? But the supreme leader said it, so we have to obey.

[Year 2649170]: That's right. When I woke up this morning and the display automatically showed this year, I was so groggy I thought I'd time-traveled. What a huge number. As of last night, the calendar in the entire Mechanical Civilization's database has been modified. Originally, the war between the Mechanical Civilization and the Insectoid Civilization had been going on for 295, almost 296 years. And now— It's suddenly become 107,991 years. Almost 110,000 years! This is insane. What are they trying to do? All these extra digits are making me lose my sense of time. How am I supposed to calculate my age in the future? Do I age one year every day? This isn't some solution the leadership came up with to solve the short lifespans of the residents, is it? Then again, it does solve the problem.

[Year 2649171]: The news today was interesting. A lot of people are taking their Resident Cards, which now show them as being tens of thousands of years old, to apply for retirement and collect their pensions. So funny. Also. My father-in-law has completely lost it. He's truly gone mad. After he raped another male employee, he got drunk and pointed at my nose, cursing me for being useless, saying I can't even produce a child. He said I'm dead for sure, that only newborns have a chance to survive, and everyone else has to die. He said the only reason he picked me was because I have a strong back and could produce children. He cursed me out, filth. I'm furious. If I hadn't cleaned up his mess today, the Law Enforcement Bureau would have arrested him for intentional injury and thrown him in jail!

[Year 2749173]: I feel like life is getting dull, not exciting enough. Today, while we were in the secret room, she whispered to me that she thinks her husband might have found out. She said last night, when they were in bed, her husband was silent for a long time, then stopped what he was doing, rolled over, and went to sleep. Life is getting exciting again. Anyway, I have money. Even if he finds out, I can make it go away.

"That's it?" Biaozi looked at the last page, still wanting more. "This reads like a novel. I really want to know what happens next. Why'd it just stop here? Authors who drop a story like this deserve to have kids born without assholes."

"He can't have kids anymore!" Lao Zhu shot Biaozi an exasperated look. "Didn't you read what he said? The Mechanical Civilization fought the Insectoid Civilization for 107,991 years, and the Mechanical Civilization was wiped out after 108,000 years. That means when he wrote that last entry, the end of the Mechanical Civilization was only 5 years away."

"Oh."

"Meaning 5 days."

"The Mechanical Civilization changed its calendar right before it was destroyed. They probably felt it was embarrassing for word to get out that the Insectoid Civilization wiped them out in just over 200 years. 'One hundred and eight thousand years' sounds much better."

"If you ask me, they were too conservative. Should've made it one hour per year."

"That way, it would be 2.5 million years before they were wiped out. A long, drawn-out war like that makes them sound like a powerful civilization, an equal match for their enemy."

"In the next few days, this guy was definitely discovered, and then the repairman and the guy's wife killed him. That's the story."

"This Wang Ziru really is a piece of shit," Biaozi sighed.

"That repairman was just living his life, honest and hardworking. Who did he bother? The whole civilization was about to be wiped out. To let the guy find out about this... now he can't even die in peace. If you're going to cheat, at least hide it well so nobody knows. Everyone could have just played around for a few days and waited to die. At least that would have been a clean death, right?"

"I hate two kinds of people most in this life. First, moochers who live off women. Second, people who cuckold others."

"This animal is both."

"Despicable!"

"Despicable, my ass. They give you one compliment and you lose your mind again." Lao Zhu smacked Biaozi on the head with the notebook and strode forward. "What are we here for? To be film critics? Why don't you go write a long review on Douban?"

[TN: Douban — A Chinese social media website, similar to Goodreads or IMDb.]

"Hurry the hell up and complete the mission with me! We're running out of time!"

"Right, right." Biaozi hurried to catch up. "Got a little too into the story. Let's go, let's go. And I'd never go to a place like Douban, don't insult me."

Soon, the group arrived at the factory's core area. Biaozi grabbed a soft hammer from the ground and handed it to Lao Zhu. "Vice-Captain Zhu, seven hits on the intake port, three hits on the exhaust port. You want to do the honors?"

"Why are you giving it to me? You hit it."

"No, you do it. I've performed a little too well this time, completed too many tasks. I don't want to complete another one. Seems a bit showy."

"..."

Lao Zhu expressionlessly took the soft hammer, stood before the giant gear set, took a deep breath, and swung. Seven times on the left, three times on the right.

The next moment—

[Task Thirty-Five, completed by Lao Zhu.]

"One last task." He looked down at his watch. "37 minutes left. Everyone spreads out and finds the last task. This is it, make or break!"

…

Inside the Control Car.

Chen Mang glanced at the nearly one thousand Level 17 zombies outside the window. The zombies had surrounded the train, but the train's Armor was Level 18, and they couldn't break through. The "Doomsday Autocannons," which he had been saving, finally began to roar, precisely picking off one zombie after another.

In the sky, the "Viper Unmanned Fighters" also roared.

When these zombies died, they didn't drop any items. Not even Corpse Flesh.

"Whew..." Chen Mang looked at the progress and the countdown on the control console screen and let out a breath of relief. 37 minutes left, and only one task remaining. As long as they found and completed it, they would clear this!

Damn it.

This was the hardest Encounter Map he had ever faced, bar none!

Especially since this place had a no-fly zone. Thankfully, it only banned the train from flying; otherwise, his unmanned fighters would have been useless.

But fortunately, they had plenty of time. This was clear in the bag.

He chuckled, lit a cigarette, and leaned back in his chair. His tense nerves finally relaxed a bit. Only then did he begin to carefully review the diary entries displayed on the screen.

This diary actually hid a lot of information.

For example, that light screen at the start of the second level said the Mechanical Civilization had been defeated after 108,000 years of bitter war. That was complete bullshit. The last thing they did before their imminent defeat wasn't to tell the populace the truth, but to change the calendar.

It's an interesting way of thinking.

It's really hard for a normal person to think like that.

It's like... after being sent flying by a car, your first instinct isn't to call for an ambulance, but to quickly delete your phone's browser history. As if reputation is more important than life. Even a post-mortem reputation had to be stubbornly preserved.

Why did the civilization's defeat collapse so catastrophically?

Just days before the Mechanical Civilization's defeat, this factory had no idea what was happening. So how could everyone die the moment they were defeated? Even if the defensive lines were breached, with so many inhabited planets, it should have taken time to kill everyone. How could they be instantly massacred?

How did they die so fast?

He naturally believed the news of the Mechanical Civilization's great victories was real. It's just that the Insectoid Civilization's victories were more numerous, but they weren't reported.

The poor Mechanical Civilization...

Such good guys.

Even after being wiped out, they still passed down the Mechanical Civilization's techniques, giving civilizations like theirs—which completely lacked the ability to leave their planet—a slim chance of survival when facing an Insectoid Civilization invasion.

He also learned that even in the Mechanical Civilization, humans seemed to be the majority, and robots the minority. Or at least, robots weren't in charge.

Chen Mang shook his head, smiled, and didn't dwell on it.

He was in no mood to mourn for the Mechanical Civilization. He felt that in a few years, he'd probably have to start mourning for human civilization. The poor, pitiful human civilization...

The Mechanical Civilization, at its peak, couldn't stop the Insectoid Civilization!

How could human civilization, which had only inherited the Mechanical Civilization's techniques, stop the Insectoid Civilization? When the main Insectoid Civilization army... no, even if just a small detachment of their regular army arrived at Aquamarine Star, they would be completely annihilated. The Insectoids on Aquamarine Star probably didn't even count as vanguard; they were irregulars.

However—

The Mechanical Civilization didn't seem to have his Level 0 clearance.

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