Alien Relic Hunter

Chapter 196 The Second Investigation Team
"Officer Victoria... I, I seem to have heard... screams..." an agent next to him said cautiously.

"Did you hear anything?" Ke Lan patted Major Ashkani on the arm.

"Okay, there seems to be some sound... But I can't tell whether it's crying or screaming." Ashkani said hesitantly.

"How do I feel, this voice seems to be getting farther and farther away..." Victoria frowned and said... This is one of the few "original" human organs on her face. A scar with deep bone can be seen from the forehead to the It goes down through the eyebrows and the bridge of the nose, all the way to the edge of the maxilla.

"... ran away?" Major Ashkani looked at Victoria, then at Ke Lan, "Could it be an illusion? I don't hear any sounds now... those sounds just now seem to have never appeared Same..."

"It's not an illusion. One person's words may be explained by auditory hallucinations, but we can't all have auditory hallucinations." Ke Lan denied it.

"But... if there is a sound, why did Mr. Ke Lan hear crying, but Commissioner Victoria heard a sharp scream? It doesn't make sense," Ashkani said.

"Maybe it's because the structure of my sound receiving device is different from that of human ear canals?" Victoria asked suspiciously. She suddenly turned her head and looked at the agent who just said that she also heard the screams. "You just heard What's the sound? Crying? Or screaming?"

"...It should be a scream... No, it's not right... Now that I think about it, it seems to be a cry..." The agent pressed his forehead with his hand and said with a troubled expression.

"What the hell is that sound?" Victoria asked again with a slightly accentuated tone.

"Sir..." the agent said with a bitter face, "I really can't remember...that voice was very mysterious, and I could hear it for a while...and when I tried to listen When it is clear it disappears, and when I focus on other things, it gradually becomes clearer...I..."

"Okay, I see." Victoria waved her hand, interrupted him, and then looked at Ke Lan again, "Are you sure what you heard was crying?"

"Yes, it's a deep cry. More precisely, it should be a woman's whimper, very hoarse..."

"The sound I heard was completely different from what you described. It was a very sharp and piercing scream. The creature that made this sound seemed to be suffering from great pain... Although it was somewhat similar to crying, it was definitely not low-pitched. Hoarse," Victoria said.

Ke Lan shrugged and said, "I don't need to lie about this kind of thing. Besides, did you find anything?"

"what?"

"After this mutant species, it has been a long time since a 'container' has been attracted by pheromones... If the Arasaka Consortium has been controlled by that heretic sect...the huge East Ninth District, more than 160 million people There are not only three 'containers' in the permanent population, right?"

"What's more," Ke Lan continued, "don't say three 'containers' like this, as long as one is thrown into a densely populated area, it can infect thousands of people... But, these people are all Where did you go?"

"Yeah... I've always been unable to understand this question." Ashkani nodded again and again, "Today is still the weekend, so it stands to reason that there will be a large number of tourists from outside the district who come here here in Kabukicho First Street. But these people all disappeared within a few 10 minutes after the power outage, so it’s impossible for them to be arrested by the Arasaka Foundation, right?”

"I had two phone calls with General Maginot on the way here. As far as I know, not only in Kabukicho, but also in other neighborhoods. The people who ran out of the area... These people seem to have evaporated out of thin air at the moment the power was cut off." Ke Lan took Ashkani's words and said, "I have a question about this. I don't know if Ms. Victoria Can you tell me the answer."

"You ask," Victoria said.

"The pheromones released by the flesh-eating worms can attract the Seed of Corrosion, so is it possible for the 'container' parasitized by the Seed of Corrosion to suppress this desire with its own will?"

"...The Security Bureau has conducted related experiments, and the answer is no. When the erosion seed in the 'container' receives the pheromone from the flesh-eating worm, it will immediately enter a catastrophic period, devouring the self of the 'container' itself Consciousness, and then drive the 'container' desperately to the source of the pheromone." Victoria replied.

"Then there are only two possibilities: In the entire East Ninth District, within the reach of the flesh-eating worm pheromone, only these three 'containers'...or, only these three 'containers' have the ability to move freely , while the other 'containers' were imprisoned by physical means."

"Prison a large number of 'containers', and then release them at the right time... If they are allowed to break through the blockade, the consequences will be unimaginable..."

After thinking for a moment, Victoria made a decision: "You stay here, I will take my people to check the situation first, and if we can't come out after an hour, send this thing to anyone in the Security Bureau immediately intelligence officer."

She took out a memory card from her pocket and threw it to Major Ashkani.

"What is this?" the major asked subconsciously.

"The record of the battle just now and the recording between me and this person." Victoria pointed to Ke Lan, "Although I can't guarantee that the people above will believe what he said like me, at least they must be aware of the problem. Seriousness."

"I want to go in with you." At this moment, Ke Lan suddenly stood up and said.

"What did you say?" There was a hint of surprise in Victoria's eyes, "You should know how dangerous it is."

"I know, that's why I'm going in." Ke Lan said, although he didn't know how to explain to Victoria and the others, but he seemed to hear a hint of pleading in the vague sobs just now... ...the voice calling for help...

And the most important point is that amidst the weird sobbing, Ke Lan couldn't feel any hostility.

As a hunter, when exploring in the ruins, you often have to face a lot of choices, and when you can't measure the pros and cons of the choices rationally, you have to rely on your intuition... and Ke Lan has always trusted his own intuition.

However, in the mouths of some scholars who study such theories, this ability cannot be simply summed up in the word "intuition", and they created a brand new term for it: "inspiration".

This inspiration does not refer to the kind of inspiration that erupts during literary and artistic creation, but is used to describe "human beings' sensitive ability to perceive strange phenomena", which is closer to the sixth sense, the super-sensory perception, But compared to the erratic sixth sense, the trigger frequency of this ability is more frequent.

Generally speaking, hunters with high inspiration are more likely to find some hidden secret passages and treasures with high value than hunters with low inspiration, but this does not mean that high inspiration is necessarily a good thing—a hunter with high inspiration , In the ruins, it is also easier to bump into those inexplicable evil visions. If you are not careful, you may step into a situation where there is no life.

Moreover, the higher the inspiration, the easier it is to be confused by some illusions, and the easier it is to break down and fall into madness.

Ke Lan belongs to the kind of people with high inspiration, especially after coming into contact with the inscription on the sarcophagus and inheriting the language of the Alpha civilization... He always has an illusion that the relationship between himself and the human race The distance seems to be getting farther and farther, and sometimes he even feels that the language of the Alpha civilization is more like his mother tongue than the human language.

But this time, his "intuition" has been vaguely telling him that the creature whimpering in the depths of East Ninth District...is not his enemy, and will not cause him any harm...

Although Ke Lan himself knew that this cognition was extremely outrageous, the hint from his subconscious was so strong that he couldn't restrain his desire to enter the East Ninth District at all.

"Mr. Ke Lan! This is too dangerous! If General Magino knows, he will definitely stop you!" Hearing that Ke Lan wanted to follow the agents into the East Ninth District, Ashkani hurriedly dissuaded him.

"But the voice I heard is obviously different from all of you." Ke Lan said, "I think this question can only be answered by walking in by myself."

"It's not worth risking your life for an answer," Victoria said indifferently.

"That's right... The agents of the Security Bureau are all elites who have received professional training. They have rich experience in handling such things, but we are different... Mr. Ke Lan, if you insist on finding out , I think it’s better to wait for the order from above to let large troops move in before going in, it’s safer if there are more people.” Major Ashkani said.

"I'm afraid it will be too late." Ke Lan suddenly lowered his voice, "Since you, Major, are General Maginot's confidant, then...you should know about the Leviathan incident, right?"

Ke Lan knew that relying on "inspiration" and "intuition" alone would not be able to convince Ashkani and Machino, but apart from this, he had another reason, which was enough for them to let him enter East Nine Area……

"Uh..." Ashkani was startled again, "I know about Leviathan, but this and now..."

"If the commander of the First Fleet hesitated at that time, instead of commanding the flagship to crash into Leviathan, but decided to wait for the arrival of the other fleets before conducting encirclement and suppression operations..." Ke Lan paused, "I'm afraid What we have to consider now is not about the East Ninth District."

"Why?" Major Ashkani was a little puzzled. Although he had read the relevant reports on the Leviathan incident, he certainly didn't know as many details as Ke Lan, who had witnessed it.

"Because as long as the First Fleet hesitates, what we will face may be a fully revived Leviathan."

"..." Major Ashkani opened his mouth slightly, but couldn't say a word for a while.

"And now, I suspect that the voice I heard is not from the same source as Ms. It is quite possible that more than one gathering point was set up...if we miss one of them, imagine the Major - hundreds of 'containers' tearing through the blockade and pouring into the adjacent residential area..."

"...Okay." Major Ashkani seemed to have made some major decision in his heart, clenched his fist with his right hand, and thumped his chest hard, "Since Mr. Ke Lan is willing to risk himself for the people, then I We will definitely protect your safety!"

"Uh... do you want to go in with me too?" Ke Lan was stunned for a moment and asked.

"Of course." As he spoke, Ashkani picked out a dozen non-commissioned officers, and equipped each of them with a syringe gun and a syringe filled with active cells of flesh-eating worms to form an elite team. In addition, he transferred two more "Bloodhound" mechas from the rear. Together with the previous four, a total of six mechas were also incorporated into the team.

As a result, the specifications of this team suddenly became "bloated": in addition to Ke Lan, Ashkani, and Victory, there were also 14 people, an agent of the Security Bureau, and a non-commissioned officer of the garrison. 16 people, plus six mechas... counting the operators inside the mechas, the number is more than twice that of the previous scouting team. As for the firepower configuration... the firepower of this team even exceeds The troops staying on this side of the blockade.

"Hurry up, we have to go." Victoria urged, and she herself jumped onto the "Bloodhound" leading the battle, and fixed herself firmly on the top of the mecha with the claws of her prosthetic leg. .

Ke Lan asked for an extra injection gun from an agent, and pressed the active cells given to him by Zofia into the launch slot. He just inserted the syringe into his side pocket, Turning around, he saw Major Ashkani quickly crossing himself on his chest.

"Major, are you religious?"

"Well... I am a Christian... Although there are not many people who still believe in old-age religions these days, my father and grandfather are devout believers... Of course I also know that God does not actually exist , but when I'm nervous, I can't help but pray," Major Ashkani replied.

"Then you should be praying to your father and grandfather, they will bless you." Ke Lan patted him on the shoulder, "Also, I have reservations about the existence of God..."

"Don't tell me...do you believe that there are gods in this world?"

"I don't know...but the Alpha civilization seems to be very devout to their gods." Ke Lan said.

(End of this chapter)