More and more vehicles and robots of all kinds appeared on the city streets, as if rushing in from every corner of the city. However, they had not yet clearly shown any hostility or intention to obstruct; they simply appeared around the group, following Hao Ren's team as they advanced, and constantly chattering. As they moved, the robots even continued their work—wiping the lampposts and guardrails along the road, sweeping the already spotless streets, and tightening the screws under the street billboards over and over again. They maintained these activities under any circumstances, with the sole purpose of keeping the city "alive," pretending that their masters were still living in this world.

Hao Ren already vaguely felt that there were no survivors on this planet at all.

A frisbee-shaped robot responsible for cleaning building exteriors flew around Yizaks, calling out in a cheerful female voice: "Citizen, does your apartment need exterior maintenance? Would you like to have your windows cleaned? Weijie Kali Company's r-33 is ready to serve you at any time."

Yizaks patiently waved the little robot away again and again: "No, we're preparing to leave this city."

"Citizen, your choice is very unwise. Leaving the shelter means death. The outside environment is not suitable for human survival," a billboard on the side of the road said in a high-pitched tone, following the group as they moved, the voice shadowing their every step. "Cold, vacuum, and toxic air near the engines. Even with protective suits, you can only survive for two hours—why not wait quietly in the shelter? In a thousand years, we will arrive at a stable new home. The planet will thaw, all things will recover, the planters will restore the surface ecosystem, and you... your descendants will live safely in this world."

"You're finally willing to say something meaningful," Yizaks turned to look at the street advertisement screen that was making the sound. "But that has nothing to do with us. If the controllers behind you have any logic or intelligence, they should come out and talk to us now."

The advertisement screen was playing a picture of a happy family—Hao Ren had seen this public service advertisement on the bus yesterday. After Yizaks finished speaking, the little boy in the public service advertisement immediately showed a sad expression on his face, wringing his hands as he stood in the center of the screen: "You will be hurt if you leave this city."

"I knew these programs were very strange." Yizaks grinned when he saw the strange situation on the screen.

Hao Ren connected to the line in space: "Terminal, what are the scan results?"

"This unit has scanned the entire planet and found no shelters that meet your requirements," the data terminal's voice sounded in his mind. "But this unit has other discoveries. Deep within the planet, there is a structure similar to an energy node. The energy flow from all over the planet converges in that place; it is like the heart of the planet. If you want to find something, you should go there and see."

"Tell me its location," Hao Ren said quickly. "Also, check the geological cavities around us. I need navigation, rough navigation."

The data terminal quickly transmitted the situation of the energy node into Hao Ren's mind. The latter couldn't help but whistle: "Great—it's close to the Earth's core."

The group arrived at the last intersection leading to the city border. In the memory of the Nangong couple, not far ahead was the largest city gate. However, a row of tall mechanical guards stood in the middle of the road, draped in traffic management signs.

The mechanical guard standing in the center raised his hand to Hao Ren: "Citizen, please do not pass. There is an accident ahead, the road is congested, and it is easy to be dangerous."

A large number of vehicles poured in from all directions, squeezing together in the intersection and all the surrounding roads, the sound of horns blaring. A large number of robots were interspersed in the gaps of the road, wandering around aimlessly, while maintaining their "work" in bizarre and ridiculous ways.

Hao Ren understood that these machines would not allow the residents of the city to leave this place, but they would do their best to maintain the "normal" order here in the process. A powerful, solidified logic was running in all these machines.

This kind of abnormal behavior was no longer like the result of human control, but like some kind of program that had gone wrong.

Hao Ren smiled and reached out to pat the steel chest of the robot police officer: "I know there is a controller behind you—maybe a mad human, or a broken mainframe. I want to talk to him."

The robot police officer was silent for a few seconds, and repeated mechanically: "Citizen, please do not pass. There is an accident ahead, the road is congested, and it is easy to be dangerous."

Hao Ren sighed: "We have no malice—we just want to know what's wrong with this planet."

As he spoke, he looked at the vehicles and robots congested on the road, suddenly raised his voice, and said loudly to a certain will behind these machines: "Listen, I know you are paying attention to this place. You should understand that we are from space, and there is an advanced spaceship hovering above this planet. We have no malice, and if you encounter any trouble, you can tell us. I am happy to provide help—provided that we talk openly and honestly."

No one jumped out to respond. Lily muttered next to him: "It's useless. Didn't I yell on the balcony several times before?"

Hao Ren shrugged: "But I think it worked."

The machines blocking the road did not disperse, but they did not crowd over anymore. The scene fell into a strange silence. The small robots running around in the gaps also stopped their work, quietly watching the small group of people who were surrounded. Hao Ren realized for the first time that the feeling of being "watched" by a group of machines was so strange, almost no different from being watched by a crowd.

Vivian tentatively walked forward. All the robots on the road immediately shifted their gazes following her figure, and countless steel bearings made a slight creaking friction sound at the same time, but in addition to these tracking gazes, no machines came up to intercept them.

This was a strange compromise, very different from human behavior.

The group moved forward in the gaps between the machines, and the sound of steel heads turning constantly came from both sides. The whole scene was like a bizarre horror movie. Hao Ren walked past a small cleaning robot, which followed him by raising its head and making a cheerful male voice: "Weijie Kali..."

"Weijie Kali Company, cleaning equipment manufacturing expert, I remember it." Hao Ren smiled and knocked on the head of the small robot.

They came to the outermost gate of the city.

A huge steel wall surrounded the city, the upper part of the wall directly connected to the rocky dome of the cave, and the city gate was embedded in this wall, a circular gate with a diameter of more than ten meters. Hao Ren stepped forward and knocked on the gate, turning his head to look at a robot watching him: "I guess you won't help open the door."

The robot did not say a word, and its electronic eyes flickered with an elusive light.

Hao Ren picked up his silver spear in his backhand. A burst of pale plasma light burst out from the tip of the spear, and he began to use it to cut the gate. Bright cutting sparks splashed out, jumping on the crystalline surface of countless electronic eyes, but the machines just watched all this quietly, without helping or stopping him.

It was as if a program had crashed.

When a crack was cut in the gate, Hao Ren felt a strange airflow rushing in. He handed two life-support necklaces to Nangong Wudi and Aier Sha: "Wear this, they can help you survive in a harsh environment. The outside environment is probably not very good, I suspect the life support system is limited to this city."

A hole large enough for two people to walk side by side was quickly cut out. Hao Ren kicked away the heavy steel block that had been burned red, revealing the deep and long passage behind. In the passage, there were dim, dark yellow lights, and faintly visible in the lights were some old machines that had been abandoned for many years.

Hao Ren compared it with the navigation map in his mind: "Starting from here, after passing through a transportation hub, there will be a series of downward passages. Our ultimate destination is near the Earth's core, where there should be something waiting for us."

"Have you thought about your speech?" Vivian glanced at him.

Hao Ren jumped into the passage first: "You have to believe in my impromptu eloquence!"

The others followed one after another, while Vivian shook her head and sighed: "I can believe you in other things..."

(Recommended a novel written by a reader, "Realistic and Super System," brain hole + science fiction, I hope everyone will support it.)