Alien Relic Hunter

Chapter 21 Mercury Lock

"I'll go." Asano Akira stood up and said.

"Let me go. Although Asano, you are the strongest among us, but..." Ke Lan did not continue, but everyone present could understand what he implied.

After all, Asano Akira is blind, no matter how sensitive his other senses are, blindness is always a problem - many things cannot be solved by hearing and touch alone... Otherwise, with his ability, he will not be able to solve it. Will be forced to retire from the army.

"Okay." Asano Akira didn't say anything, but took a step back happily and gave up his seat.

"Ke Lan, are you alright?... The side effects of the drug won't affect you, right?"

"It's okay, it's just rock climbing."

Although most of the equipment of the hunter team was swept away with the cargo compartment of the transport plane, fortunately Ke Lan also carried a pair of climbing suction cups with him. The prototype of this thing comes from a reptile called gecko on the earth. The attraction of this kind of sucker can be adsorbed on the wall of various materials, and can withstand up to [-] kilograms of heavy objects. As long as the power is sufficient, even the fully equipped Layton can hang.

Carrying a backpack full of energy crystals, Ke Lan climbed up the giant gate like a Spider-Man, and the others were responsible for lighting and vigilance on the ground-after getting rid of the previous panic and tension, the elite The professionalism of the hunters is immediately reflected, there is no need for someone to take the initiative to command, everyone performs their own duties, and the tacit cooperation with each other makes it impossible to see that this is a temporary team formed by loners. squad.

……

After 10 minutes, Ke Lan finally climbed onto this small platform of one meter square.

On the platform stood a circular stone pillar half a meter high, with a heavy metal basin placed on top of the pillar.

"What's up there?" The hound's voice came from the earphones.

"A stone pillar with a basin on top of it." Ke Lan said truthfully, he took a step closer, looked into the basin, and saw that it was covered with fine cracks, and it looked as if the whole metal basin had been attacked by someone. Pieces put together like.

"Ben? Haven't heard of this type of energy tank?" There was a hint of doubt in the Hound's voice, "Try throwing a crystal in it and see?"

"Yeah." Ke Lan took out a crystal from the backpack. Judging from the fineness, it should be a six-level crystal, equivalent to 243 units-in a more intuitive way, that is enough for the "Amlan" '-class transports took them from the Ark to here on a round trip.

But for a giant gate of this tonnage, a piece of Grade [-] crystal is only a drop in the bucket...

The energy crystal lit up as soon as Ke Lan placed it in the center of the metal basin, and even the tiny cracks on the metal basin emitted a soft white light.

"Reacted."

"That's right!" There was a hint of excitement in the Hound's tone. "Put a few more pieces to try. For such a big stone gate, it will take thousands of units to say less."

"Wait... The metal basin seems to have changed..." In just a few seconds, the sixth-grade crystal had turned into a worthless piece of waste crystal, and the metal basin that had absorbed the energy turned clockwise. Half, and then... split into six.

However, when Ke Lan saw what was exposed under the metal basin, his expression suddenly changed...

"Hello? Ke Lan? What happened to the metal basin? Why is there no sound? Hello?" The hound couldn't help but get anxious after not receiving any news from Ke Lan for about ten seconds.

"Mercury lock." There was a hint of despair in Ke Lan's voice.

"What did you say?"

"Mercury locks... A set of mercury locks are hidden under the metal basin."

"……Grass!"

The short silence was followed by a dirty word with anger and anger. The hound took several breaths, and then said to Ke Lan in a calm tone: "Ke Lan, calm down, be calm... Don't worry... ...you tell us first, what level of mercury lock is it?"

"... Seventh order."

"...Grass! Hastily! It's over! It's all over!"

Mercury locks, which are not very common security measures in Alpha civilization, are often set in important areas of the ruins.Generally speaking, a complete set of mercury locks consists of mercury droplets, crystal columns and balls. When the mercury lock is triggered, the mercury droplets located in the crystal column will slide to the bottom at different speeds, and the "unlocker" must The sliding speed of the mercury droplets is adjusted by the ball, so that the mercury droplets in each crystal column reach the bottom of the crystal column at the same time, and the cracking is successful.

Otherwise... the mercury lock will start the ruin's self-destruction program, burying all the intruders in the ruins.

Generally speaking, a mercury lock with two crystal pillars is a first-order mercury lock, four is a second-order, and eight is a third-order... As for a seventh-order mercury lock, there are a total of 120 eight crystal pillars!
It only takes five to 10 minutes for the mercury drop to slide from the top to the bottom. Moreover, the balls used to adjust the speed of the mercury drop have neither marks nor scales. How to adjust it depends entirely on the unlocker's personal feel. Error, even if it seems to the naked eye that every mercury drop falls at the same time, it is still considered a failure.

The most powerful unlocking master among human beings has cracked the fourth-order mercury lock at most. As for the seventh-order mercury lock, he has never even seen it!
Of course, another possibility is not ruled out...that is, the hunters who have seen the seventh-order mercury lock, none of them can walk out alive...

At the same time, adjust the mercury droplets in the 120 eight crystal pillars so that they land on the ground at the same time. Even the supercomputer on the ark can't achieve success once...but as long as they fail once, they will lose their start. Opportunity.

The mercury drop has already begun to move, and the one that falls the fastest has even passed one-third of the crystal column...

"It's over... I didn't expect that we survived the crash, escaped the cleft-jaw worm, got poisoned, and survived the cold... Finally, we will die on this broken door..." The hound cried and kicked the giant door fiercely Above, "A seventh-order mercury lock! 120 eight crystal pillars! Even if Ke Lan is a god, he can't handle it!"

"Is there really no chance? If I run now, is it still too late?" Ivan's hands were clenched tightly, the blue veins bursting out of his forehead jumped wildly, and the residual toxins in his body caused the capillaries on his face to burst. The whole face was red as if it was about to drip blood.

"It's too late, it's too late, at most 10 minutes, the self-destruct system inside the ruins will activate, even if we are lucky enough not to be killed by the bombing, we will be buried alive under the ruins." The hound shook his head feebly.

"I'd rather be happy than be crushed under the stone to die." Layton sighed, if the ruins were destroyed, then the whole snow-capped mountain would have a large-scale avalanche and landslides, and they couldn't wait at the belly of the mountain. To the rescue from the ark - it will take at least several years just to dig the ruins out of the broken rock.

Asano Akira, who was holding the scabbard, did not speak, but let out a slight sigh.

A mortal situation.

At the same time, on the platform.

Ke Lan looked at the 120 eight crystal pillars in front of him, cold sweat kept oozing from his forehead, rolling down his cheeks, his hands were shaking all the time, stretched out and retracted, retracted and stretched out...

There are a total of 120 balls, each of which corresponds to a mercury drop in a crystal column, and he has no idea where to start—the fastest mercury drop has already reached the middle of the crystal column, while the slowest mercury drop has reached the middle of the crystal column. It was barely moved.

This time... are you really going to die here?

If this scene in front of me is also an illusion, how wonderful it would be...

In a trance, Ke Lan seemed to see the high platform in his dream again. There was a huge sarcophagus on the high platform. Everything seemed so familiar...

No, this is not the same as last time!Ke Lan was surprised to find that he was standing in the huge sarcophagus, looking down at the pieces of meat below who wanted to climb the high platform...

Those pieces of meat are still climbing, and he has already stood at the top...

He felt that he was full of strength, and he seemed to be able to mobilize every muscle and bone of his own at will... He could hear the screams and roars of every piece of meat clearly, and he could make every corner at the same time. Close your eyes...

It seems that he is no longer in human form, but a near-perfect creature... He has the ability... to destroy everything in front of him in the blink of an eye!
A sudden shock brought Ke Lan's thoughts back to reality, but when he looked at the mercury lock in front of him, he was completely stunned——

Each drop of mercury lay quietly at the bottom of the crystal pillar, but the ruin's self-destruction system was not activated, there was no explosion, no collapse, and nothing happened.

"I did it?" Ke Lan noticed that his finger was resting on the last ball, and he didn't even know when he put his hand on it.

It's unbelievable, but...it just happened.

"I... I seem to have solved it..." Ke Lan said to Mai after calming down.

"What did you say?"

"I said I... unlocked... the mercury lock." Ke Lan repeated.

"What did you say?!" A "pop" came from the earphone, as if the hound had slapped him.

"I unlocked the mercury lock... the seventh-order... 120 eight crystal pillars."

"How is this possible?! How did you do it?!" The hound almost roared, and even without headphones, Ke Lan could hear him shouting from below.

"I don't know either, but we don't have to die." After wiping the sweat on his face, Ke Lan, who was completely exhausted, supported the stone pillar and sat down... He vaguely remembered that he seemed to have a dream, and the mercury lock , seems to be unraveled at that time...

What exactly is going on?

"You're not lying to me, are you? Is it really a seventh-order mercury lock?"

"Look for yourself." Ke Lan took a photo of 120 eight crystal pillars and passed it on.

The Hound fell into a long silence again.

"...Grass! My old dog never admires anyone, but I have to say something today - you are awesome! Seventh-order! This is the seventh-order mercury lock, how on earth did you unlock it? ?"

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't know it myself?" Ke Lan said helplessly.

"To be honest, don't say this, I can't even believe that we survived when we encountered a seventh-order mercury lock, I can blow this thing for the rest of my life... Hey! This door! This door is moving. It's gone!"

Needless to be reminded by the hound, Ke Lan, who was on the platform, was naturally the first to notice the movement of the giant door. Although the range was small, the two 200-meter-high door panels were indeed slowly sliding towards the sides.

It took half an hour for a gap to appear in the middle of the giant gate, enough for humans to pass sideways.

Ke Lan had already climbed down from the platform, but he noticed that, except for Asano Akira, the eyes of others looking at him had changed more or less.

"I didn't expect you...you're so hidden! The seventh-order mercury lock can be cracked. It's too strong!" I owe you my life!"

　I, Ke Lan, didn't hang up!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)