The journey was much tougher than planned. In addition to blocking the roads with vehicles, the trio also need to carefully navigate various dangerous industrial areas and ports. It's hard to find this difficult, because the towns and villages of the Yangtze River Delta are densely packed with factories of all kinds, in addition to the chemical plants, steel mills and oil refineries that I have seen before, which are extremely dangerous, and the metal products factories and textile factories are also high-quality sources of fire. Stocks in various warehouses and logistics centers are also not insured, but fortunately, people disappeared and took with them the cigarettes burning in their hands, and the accident happened between lunch and dinner, so there was not much gas to ignite, otherwise there would be little safety in this densely populated area. Still, there were sporadic explosions along the way, entire residential areas were scorched by flames, the roads were filled with black-hulled cars, and the air was often filled with the smell of charcoal and smoke. The previous plan to bypass the bustling area of Zhangjiagang from the north was disrupted long before the trio had to turn south west of Jiangyin to escape the large number of hardware, textile and cement factories along the Yangtze River. However, on the way forward, he almost entered the industrial zone in the east of Changzhou City, which may be polluted, and had to turn to the east. At this time, the sky had begun to darken, and Luo Zhi was secretly anxious to find a temporary residence to spend tonight.

The road to the famous village of Huaxi is congested, with luxury cars piled up and even fragments of helicopters and small civilian monoplanes scattered across the river. Many bridges are impassable at all, and there are occasional groups of pet dogs gathering on the paths, and once in order to avoid a sudden husky, Luo Zhi almost crashed his car into a house on the side of the road.

In Zhutang Town, south of Huaxi Village, the three found a small hotel and moved in. There are no generators here, so you have to rely on flashlights for lighting. To save battery, they just fumbled their way into the room and turned off the flashlight. For the first time after the accident, Luo Zhi spent the night in a strange place where he couldn't see his fingers, and although he couldn't think of any possible danger, the three of them still felt nervous. Luo Zhi was tired and wanted to fall asleep, but he didn't dare to relax his vigilance too much. He and Liu Xuejuan said yes, the two of them were on duty for half a night, and they slept for a few hours first, but the barking of dogs soon woke him up, and some dogs barked like wolf howls, which were even more poignant and treacherous at night.

It was easy to stay up until dawn, Luo Zhi got up and turned on the radio station, trying to search for radio waves. Nothing to gain. The three of them hurriedly ate something and set out on the road. The further they went, the more difficult it became, and sometimes they couldn't get around the river, forcing the trio to venture through dense factory areas. Liu Xuejuan insisted that she should drive and forced Luo Zhi to rest in the back seat. It was raining lightly today, and the fog in the morning had not completely dispersed, so Liu Xuejuan could only move slowly at a speed of less than 20 kilometers per hour. At a small river, they even saw a baby elephant, not followed by an adult elephant, who was drinking the murky water by the river itself. After all, there are animals running out of the zoo, there are baby elephants, there may be carnivores, and it won't be long before captive animals that return to nature will occupy the periphery of the city, establishing an endless ecological cycle. Due to the seepage of the aquifer, dark rivers will sooner or later form in the underground passages and pipe galleries, and the slightly higher places on the sides will be infested with rats. Together with cockroaches and termites, they will gnaw on wooden structures, destroying objects and buildings, and bringing various diseases. The number of mosquitoes grows exponentially, and within a year or two the plants climb the building and slowly plant their roots in the foundation. Without massive human construction and repair, a large city like Shanghai would be almost like the African savannah in a few years. Modern human beings are already fragile under the protection of vaccines and antibiotics, and if we want to stay healthy in such an environment, we must do as much hygiene as possible in a small area. It is also necessary to grow crops, raise and hunt animals, clean water, build up arms, synthesize potions, keep fires, and refine fuels...... These are just the needs of survival, if we want to restore human civilization, we must also reproduce as much as possible, build schools, carry out production, there is a lot of work to be done, and there are only five people known now.

Luo Zhi was lying in the back seat, his heart fluctuating. He thought far ahead, thinking of the heavy responsibility of the continuation of human civilization, which may be carried on the shoulders of a very small number of people. He thought of a piece of news that used to be in the past: an Australian man who went on a long trip and left a dozen cats uncared for, after eating all the food he could find, began to kill each other, and when he was found, only one survived. In extreme cases, this may also be a portrayal of the remnants of humanity. Strangely, he didn't feel nervous about it, but instead surged with a strong sense of self-confidence. He believes in his ability to take care of those around him and explores ways to grow the community. The environment will train him to be a man of steel, capable of handling every eventuality. Two million years ago, when Australopithecus struggled to survive in the hills and grasslands of South Africa, weren't they one of the few small groups? It was in Tangshan, which had just left, that fossilized skulls of Homo sapiens more than 200,000 years ago were also found in the gourd cave on Leigong Mountain. If they can all survive and thrive until human civilization is born, they will definitely be able to do the same.

It's just that reproduction requires both sexes, Luo Zhi looked at Liu Xuejuan in the driver's seat, and a tingling pain flashed in his heart, her task will be very important and arduous. Of course, if nothing else, Liu Xuejuan will also be willing to give birth to offspring, even if it is not for the great responsibility of human reproduction, motherhood is also one of the nature of women. However, if there are only a few females, she may have to give birth to as many males as possible in order to reproduce more and to generate more genetic possibilities. This will not only go against Liu Xuejuan's wishes, but even Luo Zhi himself will find it difficult to accept. Moreover, these descendants also had to ......

What role does ethics play in the face of civilization? Luo Zhi didn't dare to think about it. He saw that the illusion of his "iron will" was sometimes nothing more than mud and dust in the face of deep-seated ideas and feelings.

He didn't want to think about it anymore, but the more he refused to think about it, the more thoughts popped into his mind.

There is also the political structure, or there is no politics yet, just a matter of the organizational relationship of a small group of people. What kind of society do people need to build?

In the study of paleoanthropology and social history, there are many examples to learn from. For example, matrilineal clan societies. This would be to abandon all the social standards established by modern humans and start from scratch. Liu Xuejuan will become the common grandmother of the entire clan. Clans live together, with matrilineal blood as a bond, and people only know who their mother is, and they don't know anything about the paternal blood. Genetic diversity takes time to build. After dozens of generations, the diversity of human society will be enriched again, and these few people will be collected as ancestors for future generations to exhibit. In this social structure, women have more power over resources than men, because children are the core of the clan's existence and maintenance, and children can only recognize their mothers. But this structure is likely to be firmly opposed by the majority of men in the remaining human race, and no matter how feminism has flourished in the world before, the overall viability of the male group must be greater than that of women in the current situation. As for the patrilineal blood of children, there are many ways to solve it.

If a patrilineal clan society is established, women will gradually be reduced to the appendages of men. Of course, women are intellectually equal to men, and their contribution to the survival and reproduction of mankind will never be small. But the problem is that with such a small population, the group is very vulnerable. Whether it is from an objective point of view or people's subjective wishes, for the sake of the survival of the group, a centralized system will eventually be formed, and democracy can only be considered and used to an extremely limited extent. Luo Zhi firmly believes this. Science fiction writer Liu Cixin's famous book "The Three-Body Problem" has a very accurate description: when human beings have really entered outer space and it is impossible to return to their homeland, it only takes five minutes to centralize power. This is not only a rational reflection for the sake of survival, but also a profound grasp of human nature. It may take longer for you to live in your environment, but the end result must be the same. Centralization, where men have greater control over resources, will inevitably lead to a decline in the status of women until they become appendages. This does not conform to the logic of modern thinking. Luo Zhi definitely didn't want to see such a situation, but he calmly considered that maybe one day he would change himself and become a fanatical male power claimer. It just takes time, and when the habit becomes the reason, the perception will change.

Rationally speaking, the clan is the form that must exist. In addition to genetic enrichment, population growth is a prerequisite for the existence of a group. Older people like to advocate having more children because they are worried about the survival of the family name, and if there is only one boy in a generation, it is a big question whether the family name will continue in the next generation. Now the situation has expanded, and if the remaining humans do not have many children, the survival of the group is a problem. Multifertility, in addition to disgusting ethical issues, the rest is the inevitable existence of the clan structure. So, how should property be divided in a clan society? Co-owning, co-using? Of course, in conditions of extremely limited resources, people will naturally do so. But in reality, there will be a lot of exceptions. This question is explored in the South African film "God is Crazy": the Bush people in the Kalahari Desert in Africa live together in harmony in the form of primitive tribes, and have never had the concept of "private property". One day, a pilot threw a glass Coke bottle into the desert in the sky and was picked up by the Bush people. This never-before-seen thing has been studied for various functions, such as rolling snake skin, twisting clothes, handling food, printing patterns, etc., and people are vying for it for a while. The concept of "private property" derives from a certain degree of scarcity. If resources are too scarce, people will automatically gather together and use resources together, and private property is not allowed. But human desires are endless, and as long as there are enough resources to survive, even if they are only temporarily sufficient, it will give rise to other desires, which will give rise to the idea of "owning" the additional resources. This is the current situation: survival resources can support a normal life for several people, and more resources can be obtained by putting in the effort, how are these additional resources allocated? The struggle for resources is the essential origin of war, and the will of all kinds of conquering rulers is only a superficial cause. The slightest carelessness in the structure of the economy can lead to small-scale wars, which can disintegrate small-scale human society.

So, when even you are so confused, how can you educate your offspring? In a small way, should they be taught to reproduce with their brothers and sisters who are related to them? In the big picture, what about the inheritance of culture?

Luo Zhi shook his head. If science is passed on to future generations, how can it be explained to them about the present situation? What will they say about consanguineous marriage? How can literature and art be passed on? How will love and beauty be experienced by future generations? All human feelings arise naturally in the process of natural development, and the cause and effect of the front and back must not be reversed. And now this cause and effect is reversed, and the first generation of people has had the feelings that humans have developed over thousands of years, but their descendants cannot experience it and cannot pass it on.

Where is humanity headed? These head-wrenching questions haunted Luo Zhi's mind so much that he forgot where he was. After a long time, he raised his head and looked out the window, the sun was already overhead, and a roadside sign read: Welcome to Taicang.