The high-level council members in North America had already discussed how to deal with the insects. The simplest method was to use nuclear weapons. With nuclear strikes, no matter what kind of insects they were, they wouldn't survive. However, using nuclear bombs had a prerequisite: gaining the consent of the majority.
After all, nuclear bombs were a double-edged sword. While possessing immense destructive power, they also had adverse effects on the environment. The areas around nuclear explosions would become barren, filled with massive amounts of nuclear radiation that would persist for hundreds of years. Especially, many radioactive dust particles would spread to distant places with the atmosphere, eventually falling to the ground with rainfall, ushering in humanity's nightmare.
Simply put, radioactive elements cause cancer. Large amounts of radioactive elements could destroy human flesh in an instant, causing skin to fester and bodily tissues to become irreparable, ultimately leading to death with pus oozing from the body. Smaller amounts of radioactive elements would cause ordinary people's bodies to develop cancerous changes.
These council members were all aware of this. They were unwilling to bear such consequences. After all, dying in battle against insects at least left a body that could be buried in a church. But if nuclear weapons were used, no one knew how many people would die from radioactive elements. Who could bear such a consequence?
Under these circumstances, many people revealed a long-kept secret: the secret of aliens.
It was then that countless people finally understood that aliens had discovered Earth long ago, and the reason for the doomsday on Earth was that aliens had sent a meteor. This meteor landed on Earth, subsequently causing the mutation of various life forms on the planet.
At this point, those who advocated for the use of nuclear bombs seized the opportunity to propagate: "Humanity's evolutionary speed must be accelerated. We cannot be surpassed by these damned insects. The meteor thrown by aliens might not be for humans, but for the species that evolves fastest after mutation. If the insects' evolutionary speed surpasses ours, then humanity is doomed. This is for the sake of all humanity, so any species showing a tendency to surpass human evolutionary speed must be nipped in the bud."
This reason, presented as being for the sake of all humanity, was indeed very well-chosen, as no one could refute it. After all, it was for the survival of humanity. If anyone dared to object at this time, they would be considered someone who did not care for humanity, an anti-human element.
Furthermore, the state councils of North America took the opportunity to announce new objectives: "Although these aliens have become extinct, the cards sent by these aliens indicate that humanity must acquire the ability to traverse the universe before Earth's resources are depleted. This way, we can continue to reproduce and progress."
"Our ultimate goal is for all of humanity to board spacecraft and travel to other planets. This goal can be achieved within 50 years." Someone then excitedly stated their objective.
Many ignorant civilians cheered upon hearing this goal, as they could see their future. In the future, they would surely be able to navigate freely in the vast expanse of space.
However, anyone who had read even a little and understood the vastness of the universe would not believe this. Because at humanity's current fastest speed, 50 years was not even enough to fly out of the solar system; they would likely only reach Mars.
"These damned politicians are drawing a blank check again. Traversing the universe in 50 years, they really have a good imagination. They can't even fly out of the solar system and talk such nonsense. It's all for their own purposes, trying to weaken everyone's impression of nuclear bombs!" intellectuals said disdainfully.
However, these more rational statements could not be heard by others, as countless people believed this goal could be achieved. If these people still wanted to obstruct it, all online platforms would silence them. It was that simple to deceive the masses: just silence the educated people, prevent them from speaking, and ordinary people would not have access to correct information.
After the nuclear explosion, the military immediately announced it as their achievement, stating that they had launched a nuclear bomb and eliminated a giant insect nest with just one.
"This is humanity's victory. All species that wish to surpass human evolutionary speed will be annihilated under nuclear strikes!" the military stated seriously.
Yet, countless members of the lower class, blinded by deception, now shouted their support for this action upon hearing the military's words.
"Continue launching missiles, kill all the insects, and then we will have peace. Then we can live in peaceful times," countless people shouted loudly, hoping for more nuclear bombs to be launched.
Ordinary people had no idea of the power of nuclear bombs. In their eyes, they were perhaps just bombs with stronger explosive damage. In reality, after a few months, they would understand what nuclear explosions meant. However, they were now frenzied, seeing hope for an end to the doomsday.
Meanwhile, geologists observed an interesting phenomenon: the hot springs in Yellowstone had not erupted for some time. Simultaneously, intelligence from Southeast Asia and Europe reported that many volcanoes had stopped erupting at the same time.
"It must be that the magma activity on Earth has entered a dormant period, so the volcanoes are no longer erupting. This means the mini ice age will end in a few years, and the Earth's temperature will rise again!" a geologist made such a judgment.
However, some people were also worried: "Volcanoes stopping their eruptions may not be good news, because volcanic eruptions are actually the Earth releasing energy. Now that they have stopped, the next eruption will inevitably be massive. If a supervolcano erupts, the whole world will be finished!"
However, such worries were clearly not reported by the newspapers. During the doomsday, most newspapers chose to report good news and hide bad news, informing everyone of good tidings to cheer them up, while hiding bad news whenever possible. Thus, no one paid attention to the volcanoes stopping their eruptions.
Following the use of nuclear bombs in North America, some countries in Europe and Asia also launched missiles to kill the insects.
Moreover, upon hearing the news of volcanoes ceasing to erupt and release acidic gases, people understood that once volcanoes stopped releasing these gases, the Earth's temperature would soon recover, thus ending the mini ice age.
Countless people saw hope for the end of the doomsday. Now, as long as these mutating insects were killed and their evolutionary speed was interrupted, they could enjoy peaceful times in the coming days. Humanity would return to its former peaceful era.
"Kill these hateful insects! We want a safe environment! We want to continue developing our technological civilization!"
"Humanity must ascend to space before Earth's resources are depleted and possess the ability to navigate in space!"
"End this damned doomsday! Whoever can end the doomsday will receive noble treatment in the future!"
At this moment, countless people shouted their innermost thoughts, as almost everyone was tired of living in survival mode during the doomsday. No one knew whether tomorrow or an accident would come first. If this life continued, everyone would live in despair every day.
Therefore, people now hoped for the doomsday to end as soon as possible, even if it meant launching nuclear bombs. As long as the crisis brought by the doomsday could be resolved, nothing else mattered.
In reality, humans are very short-sighted, especially when many people gather together. They become focused on immediate benefits and ignore long-term consequences. Just like everyone knows that nuclear explosions will bring endless trouble, yet now very few people are trying to prevent it from happening. This is because everyone knows that as long as these insects are killed, they can achieve a better life, so they are unwilling to change.
On the land of China, some people also voiced similar opinions, hoping that nuclear bombs could be used to resolve the current crisis and kill those damned insects. Especially those in the north who were struggling to survive, many harbored deep resentment towards the insects and wished for their swift extinction.
However, under these circumstances, He Qiuan of Yanjing voiced his opinion: "I don't care about other places needing nuclear bombs, but in my jurisdiction, nuclear bombs are strictly forbidden. Anyone who dares to detonate a nuclear bomb here will have to face my consequences."
Almost all of China's nuclear bombs were under the control of Jinling. What He Qiuan said was actually directed at the people of Jinling.
He Qiuan was well aware of the consequences of a nuclear explosion. It was imaginable that after a nuclear explosion, thousands of square kilometers of land around it would become unusable, and traversing it would be difficult. For the plains regions in the north, this would be a devastating blow.
Therefore, at this moment, He Qiuan would rather threaten Jinling than allow them to detonate nuclear bombs here. Even if the threat from the insects was great, they would not pollute the land. However, once nuclear bombs fell on the ground, it was unknown how many people would be harmed. Moreover, the land becoming unusable in the future would be an unimaginable devastating blow to the Chinese people who relied on the land.
Thus, Jinling, upon hearing this threat, immediately gave assurances: "Rest assured, although nuclear weapons are currently in our hands, we will not use them casually to cause you harm. Please be at ease."
However, feeling the pressure, He Qiuan then found Yue Hengyi and said, "You need to speed up your progress in killing locusts. Otherwise, the people below are constantly shouting for nuclear bombs. If nuclear bombs are really detonated here, I will become a sinner for all generations."
Upon hearing the need to speed up, Yue Hengyi replied irritably: "Why don't you try fighting these insects yourself? I am fighting desperately every day, all to avenge you. How many locust nests do I clear every day? You should also think of some solutions, like coming up with some highly toxic poison, but one that can degrade quickly. First, poison these locusts to death, then after natural degradation, plant crops on this land."
"We are already working on this. We heard that there is a rising star in Dian Province who can produce poison, and we are currently preparing to trade with him," He Qiuan quickly comforted.
Humanity's countermeasures against insects were actually very limited. Generally, pesticides were used for attack. Many insects were resistant to pesticides, and as long as pesticides were applied, these insects would quickly die.
As a result, during the doomsday, these insects also mutated and became resistant to pesticides. Now, killing insects was not that simple, unless poison was used, which would be more effective. However, once poison was used in the wild, it was likely to poison many innocent people.
Therefore, for safety, the poison used must be able to degrade quickly. After applying the poison, within two or three days, the poison could degrade in nature, thus not causing harm to humans, but the insects could still be killed.