After the issue of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm was "temporarily" resolved, the remaining topic for discussion was the "sail" that Sun Hang had seen. After watching the high-definition video shot by Sun Hang’s equipment, the Dubhe Tower higher-ups couldn’t suppress their research-mad nature, and they intensely debated in the conference room.
"I think it’s highly likely a mirage phenomenon, or a phenomenon-type apparition with a similar mechanism," a professor cleared his throat and said solemnly. "Especially given Egypt’s current climate, the likelihood of a mirage appearing is very high. Plus, the camera cannot determine the mass of the filmed object, so I think..."
"Professor Sak, there’s something I need to clarify with you," Professor Cao squinted, his tone slightly hostile. "We’re not engaging in academic discussion or research now... Even if what Sun Hang saw was just a mirage, we must treat it as real."
"Exactly." General Liao nodded emphatically, "Even if there’s only a one in a billion chance it’s real, we can’t dismiss it as a mirage. When strategizing a response, we must consider it real."
"I... I was just conveying my thoughts," Professor Sak awkwardly rubbed his nose and looked at Professor Cao, "You don’t need to target me like this, Professor Cao?"
"I’m not targeting you, I have no interest in fools." Professor Cao clearly didn’t have a good relationship with Sak, leaving no room for courtesy.
"Alright, alright, can you two calm down, we’re still in a meeting?" Another high-ranking Dubhe Tower member spoke up. "This matter boils down to two possibilities: survivors in the Surrendered Area, or humanoid apparitions. The subsequent discussions just need to follow these two directions."
"I don’t believe there could be survivors in the Surrendered Area," Professor Sak spoke immediately. "Everyone knows the environment there, the meme concentration is extremely high. Accidentally touching something might lead to infection... Even if there were survivors, they’d quickly become infected and hunted by the Sinking Sand Giant Worms... Even in the days of Egypt’s coalition forces, there were only dozens of ’Nephthys’ devices. Even if those devices were preserved and functional now, the chance of survival in such a resource-scarce place is slim for dozens of survivors."
In such an environment, the fewer people trying to survive, the harder it becomes; being alone almost certainly leads to death... Because of this, although the "figure" in the video is solitary, the attending experts unanimously agree that if there are survivors, they must be tribes or multiple tribes within the Egyptian area, not solitary individuals.
After finishing his remarks, Professor Sak looked around at the attendees of the conference, then with a somewhat ostentatious expression, he took a sip from his teacup and continued, "So I believe, this silhouette must be an apparition, at worst, a special infected."
"Special infected? Wouldn’t that be human survivors? Professor Sak, your statement is somewhat contradictory," said the Dubhe Tower member who had earlier mediated.
"Special infected, the key is the word ’special,’ not ’infected,’" Sak put his teacup down. "Natural selection, survival of the fittest, even apparitions in the Surrendered Area are the same. They must have ’evolved’ some special abilities, like ’Nephthys’, to evade the Sinking Sand Giant Worms and survive in such an environment."
"That’s not necessarily the case," Professor Cao also sipped his water and smacked his lips, "Sak, you just said humans in the Surrendered Area easily get infected, what’s the premise?"
"High meme concentration in the environment, why, any problem? Isn’t this common knowledge?" Sak shrugged. "Old Cao, your research on the Surrendered Area is deeper than mine, do you really need to ask me such a simple question? Are you wasting everyone’s time?"
"Why is the meme concentration high in the Surrendered Area?" Professor Cao looked at Sak and asked, "Before rushing to refute and question, answer my question first."
"Of course, because... there are many apparitions in the Surrendered Area!" Sak was somewhat puzzled by Professor Cao’s questioning intent but still responded, "The Surrendered Area isn’t like the regions humans occupy; anything within view could be an apparition, and the probability of direct contact with apparitions is exponentially higher than within federal boundaries, infection probability is naturally high!"
"What if... all these readily visible apparitions get eradicated by the Sinking Sand Giant Worms?" Professor Cao shifted his tone, presenting a critical counter-question.
"This..." Sak’s expression froze instantly.
"It’s quite simple, let’s ask the only person who has actually been there." Professor Cao turned to Sun Hang, "Sun Hang, from your personal feelings, in the place the ghost train took you, suspected to be Cairo, was the meme concentration in the environment high?"
Sun Hang pondered for a moment and then shook his head, "About the same as where we are now."
"Then the question is answered," Professor Cao said. "Though it’s the Surrendered Area, due to the presence of the Sinking Sand Giant Worms, the ’apparition ecology’ is quite barren, with no ’apparition diversity’ to speak of... As long as survivors can solve the issues of evading the Sinking Sand Giant Worms and obtaining food and water, they really can live there."
"Furthermore, judging by those sails, they’ve obviously found their own survival path." A female professor chimed in, "The friction coefficient of the Desert Sea sand grains produced by the Sinking Sand Giant Worms is extremely low, using wind power for ’land sailing’ is certainly a decent mode of transportation."
"When Egypt declared surrender, how many people didn’t manage to evacuate?" asked yet another Dubhe Tower member.
"I just checked, during the outbreak of the apparition war, Egypt’s population was about 11 million, and when Cairo fell, according to the data on remaining towns and villages not yet attacked, there were at least 600 to 800 thousand survivors left on that land," answered the female professor who spoke previously.
"Six hundred to eight hundred thousand..." Professor Cao nodded, "Given human wisdom and environmental adaptability... In an area like Egypt with such a unique Surrendered characteristic, having survivors doesn’t surprise me at all."
"We’ve a question," Sun Hang suddenly stood up.
"Which do you think is stronger, the Sinking Sand Giant Worm or the Sphinx?"