Global Freeze: I built a doomsday safe house

"die?"

Freeman tilted his head, the eyes on the screen blinked, and he even added an "unbelievable" effect to himself.

"I'm a visionary."

"The human body can't adapt to this place, so I've switched to one that's more suited to it."

"This project has taken me decades!"

He spoke of this with great pride, pointing to his head and saying, "From brain-computer interfaces to physical modification, step by step I've transformed my flesh and blood into a mechanical body. Now, theoretically, I've achieved immortality!"

Zhang Yi remained silent. He had already witnessed what silicon-based civilizations would become in their later stages.

Immortality is impossible, but it is certainly possible to live longer. However, what's the point of living like that, without a physical body and unable to enjoy the pleasures of being human?

At this point, Freeman suddenly lowered his speaking speed, as if he were talking about something very solemn.

"You have to stay in order to see 'it'."

Zhang Yi's expression darkened.

What did you see?

"The Ideal State".

Mechanical Freeman stretched out a hand and pointed to the towering black tower in the distance.

A red light shone from his knuckles, as if he were using a cursor to highlight Zhang Yi.

"That's the place! You came here because you wanted to get to that place, right?"

"That place is the core of the Sandstalker civilization, the central hub of the entire Martian world."

"This is the answer for all of us humans who want to live longer, live more easily, and never again be constrained by Earth's politics and resources!"

"Only the existence of a more advanced civilization can solve the existing problems on Earth."

He spoke with such intensity that his eyes were almost glowing, even if it was just a glimmer of light composed of pixels.

Zhang Yi listened without any expression on his face, only nodding slightly.

Elon Freeman probably has no idea about the changes on Earth right now!

He didn't want to expose the truth, because the shattering of a dream is too cruel for anyone.

"So you came here and transformed yourself into a lump of iron, squatting there for twenty years, just to squeeze into the tower?"

"I wanted to figure out how to get in there first."

Freeman raised his hand and made a helpless shrug.

"The mechanical lifeforms here are so xenophobic, damn it, they've tried to kill me countless times!"

"So I have to become a part of them first in order to hear any really useful inside information."

"To this end, I transformed myself into a mechanical life form of the same type as them, replacing the mechanical core of a Sandslayer."

He smiled, his face full of pride, and with a longing that Zhang Yi couldn't understand.

"Humans are tourists here, machines are residents."

"Tourists can only take photos in the park, while residents are allowed to enter the archives."

As he spoke, he chuckled to himself, as if he were talking about a judgment he was proud of.

Zhang Yi looked at him for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"If you don't treat them like family, why should they open the door for you?"

Freeman's screen face showed an expression of "great minds think alike," and he nodded vigorously.

That makes perfect sense!

"When I said I was going to establish a second life base on Mars, Tong and his gang of old foxes just thought I was doing utopia. Only I knew that Earth's ceiling had been reached."

"Resources, religion, power, race—these conflicts are becoming increasingly apparent. If the Earthlings continue down this path, they will inevitably head towards self-destruction. In the end, everything will have to be reshuffled in a higher order."

"So I need to serve it early."

"I don't want to wait to be invited; I want to walk in myself."

Zhou Ke'er looked at him and frowned slightly.

"What about the others? There were over two hundred volunteers who came to Mars with you. Are they... still alive?"

She was referring to the group of volunteers who came with him back then.

A brief stutter flashed across Freeman's screen, as if someone had suddenly lowered the frame rate.

He was silent for a few seconds before smiling.

"They're not used to it."

"Some people were swept away by the sandstorm, some dug down into the abyss, and some saw things they shouldn't have seen."

"Mars was never meant for them."

He spoke casually, but there was a hint of cold, metallic sarcasm in his last laugh.

Yang Xinxin flew up from the ruins below. She had been recording the energy spectrum down there and had only just put away her equipment. Her expression was solemn.

Where is the key you mentioned?

She looked at Freeman.

"You just said that to enter that core area, you need to get the key first."

“We can reach other areas of this world, but that tower is the only one we can’t even confirm the coordinates of, let alone get close to.”

Freeman blinked at the screen, as if admiring their professionalism.

"Your analytical skills are far superior to those of the group I brought back back then."

"So I'd be happy to work with you."

Freeman's eyes were very bright as he stared at Zhang Yi and the others, as if he had seen a glimmer of hope.

"I knew that as long as I existed long enough, a new batch of Earthlings would eventually arrive. I just didn't expect that people would come after only twenty or thirty years!"

"I can help you find the key, but you must agree to one condition!"

Elon Freeman told Zhang Yi that he had lived here as a sand raider for nearly thirty years and had thoroughly studied the place.

However, he did not have enough ability to obtain the key to enter the core area.

The condition he proposed to Zhang Yi surprised Zhang Yi greatly.

He said that once they entered the core area, Zhang Yi needed to help him find someone.

a woman.

On his head, the display screen switched to a different image—a portrait drawn using AI.

A woman whose appearance is almost indistinguishable from that of a human, with only subtle differences, such as her unrealistically exquisite face and her silky smooth silver hair.

"Who is she? You gave up everything to come to Mars, just to find her?"

Zhang Yi stared at Freeman's mechanical life form with a lot of questions on his mind.

"A large part of the reason is her."

Freeman changed back to his own face, and his voice was full of emotion.

"She is the source of my strength to go to Mars at all costs!"

Zhang Yi, Yang Xinxin, and the others looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Elon Freeman, the richest man on Earth more than 20 years ago.

At that time, humanity was far from possessing the technology to survive on Mars.

How could he possibly have a connection with a woman from Mars?