The base was spacious and brightly lit.
The walls on either side of the passage were painted in a silvery-gray hue, exuding a silent, lifeless stillness.
There was no sign of the imagined dangers, nor any defensive firepower. In the metal-constructed stairway passage, only the overhead incandescent lights continued to operate.
It was as if the entire base's defense mechanisms consisted solely of the massive alloy door at the entrance.
"Did they abandon all defenses, thinking them useless?"
Xu Xi speculated in his heart.
He believed the truth must be so.
After all, given the number of rebellious intelligent machines in the southern main base city, if the machines had discovered this base, no amount of defensive measures would have made a difference.
"What was this base even for...?"
"Hidden so deliberately underground, with its energy systems still functioning normally..."
Xu Xi walked forward.
Ailei accompanied him at his side.
The two of them, along with a large number of vanguard intelligent machines, advanced together until they reached the end of the stairs. There, another massive alloy steel door came into view.
"Master, please step back a little."
Ailei spoke politely, her tone gentle and obedient as she requested Xu Xi to step back slightly.
Then, under her control, several intelligent machines roared to life, assuming an attacking stance as they forcefully dismantled the door.
Compared to the first door, this new one was harder, but with Xu Xi's mechanical amplification, the machines broke through it even faster.
BANG—!!!
The alloy door was twisted and torn apart.
It deformed violently, like a twisted piece of hemp, before Ailei, expressionless, gave it a gentle push, causing it to collapse to the ground with a resounding crash.
"Ailei, did you get stronger?"
"Your observation remains as sharp as ever," the girl explained. "After the last maintenance on my body, I made a slight, insignificant improvement."
Just a slight improvement?
Xu Xi glanced at the girl's hand.
Under the light, her fingers were as soft as feathers, pale and flawless, like freshly fallen snow.
In stark contrast was the massive alloy door now lying on the ground.
Well, it was indeed a "slight" improvement.
"Let's go in," Xu Xi chuckled, not dwelling on Ailei's increased strength, and stepped forward once more.
This time, the space inside the base was even more spacious, with more lights illuminating the area. The metal walls on either side were covered with deep-blue energy pipelines.
Gradually, something came into view.
It was a massive and magnificent spectacle.
Lying deep underground, layer upon layer of enclosed full-body pods were neatly stacked, like precisely cut small compartments, calmly arranged in the spacious underground hall.
At a rough estimate, there were at least thirty thousand of them.
Since the fourth simulation, Xu Xi had finally seen the presence of "people."
But the beings before him—those pale, skeletal remains lying in the virtual pods, long devoid of flesh and blood—could they still be considered people?
Xu Xi stared at the scene.
He was stunned for a long time.
"Flesh and blood hopeless, fleeing into the virtual, creating their own utopia?"
The steel dome overhead covered everything, perfectly dispersing the pressure from the soil above and completely isolating the base from any surface threats.
The lights were dazzling, flickering conspicuously.
They highlighted Xu Xi's bewilderment.
Looking at the scene before him and recalling the operations of the virtual network company, he instantly understood that the people lying in the virtual pods were the last survivors of the old Federation era.
Desperate, they knew they could not defeat the rebellious intelligent machines.
So they chose to hide in the virtual world.
Replacing the harsh reality with an illusory fantasy.
"There should be some information left here. Ailei, help me look for it," Xu Xi said, glancing around as he decided to verify his suspicions.
"Understood, as you command."
With Ailei's assistance, the intelligent machines scattered in all directions, gathering anything of use for Xu Xi.
Surprisingly, the process went smoothly.
As if intentionally left behind, numerous items resembling "suicide notes" were brought before Xu Xi, along with a few technological artifacts.
"The end of the Federation is here..."
"What exactly is going on with those machines? Damn it, the Federation government only knows how to waste our money!"
"Goodbye, world. I will never see you again."
Some were filled with sorrowful self-pity, others with furious condemnation, and still others with a lingering attachment to the world.
The information in the notes intertwined, painting a complete picture.
It was an act born of desperation during the end times.
Faced with the overwhelming tide of rebellious intelligent machines, the desperate people could only flee into the underground base, hiding in the virtual pods, seeking solace in an illusory world.
Were they accumulating strength, planning a counterattack? No, such a thing was impossible.
The intelligent machines were the Federation's primary military force, the divine weapons in humanity's hands. When that force turned against them, humanity stood no chance.
And so,
They immersed themselves in the false world.
Allowing both their spirits and bodies to decay, meeting their end in the illusory beauty of their creation.
"Hum—" The machines trembled faintly. Hidden within the floor, the network equipment continued to dutifully execute its commands, even now, long after the Federation's demise.
Power supply, cleaning, lighting.
Running on rigid, single-minded logic, executing programs that would never rebel.
"Master, was there any meaning to what they did?"
Ailei was somewhat confused. She didn't quite understand why the Federation's last act was to immerse themselves in a virtual world.
Such a move had effectively sealed humanity's fate.
Xu Xi shook his head. "Ailei, there's nothing wrong with seeking salvation in an illusory world."
"They..."
"Did the best they could."
A sigh echoed through the empty hall.
Xu Xi looked at the virtual pods, deeply empathizing with the Federation's people.
In this simulation, if it weren't for the assistance of the system's perks, humanity's frail bodies would have stood no chance of surviving the machine apocalypse.
This was a world of despair, with little hope for survival.
"The fall of a civilization..."
"The extinction of humanity..."
"On the scale of the universe, it's but a drop in the ocean."
Xu Xi lamented, gently ruffling Ailei's hair as he continued to sift through the remaining notes.
After filtering and sorting, Xu Xi discarded the useless information, keeping only those items of value that recorded details of the former Federation.
"What's this?"
Pausing slightly, Xu Xi picked up a distinctly sci-fi-styled personal terminal from the pile of miscellaneous items.
After Ailei cracked and recharged it,
The terminal, long dormant, powered on once more.
The terminal's owner appeared to have been the administrator of the underground base.
Its memory contained a wealth of information about the base, such as details about the energy and virtual systems, as well as some other intelligence.
There were four other such virtual utopia bases within the Federation's territory.
Located in the north, east, and west of the Federation.
And in the core capital.
Finally, the terminal recorded scattered pieces of information, seemingly the venting notes of its former user.
Among them were outbursts of helpless rage at the machine rebellion, as well as reflections on the truth behind the rebellion.
But more than anything, there was a sense of despairing nihilism.
"Damn it, those machines are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Screw this world, I'm done, damn it!"
The terminal's final entry read.