Alien Relic Hunter

Chapter 548 The Third Line of Defense

"What you said is true?!" The hound showed an unbelievable look on his face, and it took him more than ten breaths to digest the news...

He took a step back and looked Ke Lan up and down: "Are you sure they didn't lie to you? Then why didn't we have any influence when we got along with you for so long...?"

"Maybe it's because my cloned cells fused with Seed of Corrosion's cells, and there was a second mutation." Ke Lan raised his hand and looked at his palm—there was a pale white mark, which he and the group of heretic sects had previously mutated. When a member of the team was fighting, his palm was accidentally cut by the rough metal zipper on the opponent's collar.But now, the scars are no longer visible. It only takes a few days for the pigment to settle in the new light-colored cortex, and the white scar will become exactly the same as the surrounding skin.

"To be honest...I'm not even sure, biologically speaking, am I still a human being?"

"Why don't you count?" The hound glared at him and shouted, "Do you have a few more arms or one more eye than us? Why are you not human? Don't forget how you enlightened Ivan before. Yes, why did you start thinking wildly when it was your turn?"

"I'm not thinking wildly, but this incident really happened because of me. If I don't deal with it, if the 'thing' inside has mutated three or four times, I'm afraid the whole ark will suffer." Ke Lan said.

"You're sure you won't be infected by that thing?" the Hound asked.

Ke Lan nodded.

"But how can you guarantee...that group of people outside, they are not using you?" The hound suddenly changed the subject, "Don't think they haven't said a word about your abnormality now, it's because only you can solve it now Tricky trouble, they need your help, so they pretended to be like this... After you get rid of the 'thing' inside, I'm afraid this group of people won't be so easy to talk to."

"I don't think so..." Ke Lan shook his head. The abnormality of his body had been manifested as early as Yagunaktor, but the Undead Crew Club didn't go into it. Instead, it issued a ban on him. An order to conduct an investigation—and this "meme pollution incident" was also caused by the people in the research institute secretly conducting experiments related to themselves in violation of the ban.

Ke Lan felt that the Undead Crew Association might have foreseen such a result long ago, so they issued such a ban... It's a pity that they still underestimated the persistence of the lunatics in the research institute.

"Curiosity killed the cat"...it never refers to the cat's own curiosity, but human beings want to know "whether cats really have nine lives" out of their own curiosity, so they take cats from high places Throw it away... And now, Ke Lan feels that he is that unlucky cat.

If it weren't for the suppression of the Undead Crew, it is estimated that the gang of lunatics in the research institute would have used all available armed forces to go to the Zero Fleet to arrest people.

"You don't think so?" The Hound repeated in a rhetorical tone, "I know more about the faces of those high-level people in the Ark than you. As long as there are enough interests, any promise is no different from a fart to them. What's more, they didn't make any promises to you, they just expressed an attitude ambiguously. Even if this attitude changes 180 degrees by then, you have nothing to say! "

Seeing that Ke Lan didn't seem to listen to what he said, the hound immediately became angry: "Ke Lan! You should have seen the blockade outside by now! You are not stupid, you should be very clear about what is inside. , It can’t be stopped by guns and mechs, so who do you think these things are prepared for?”

"..."

"The cunning rabbit dies, the lackey cooks, the birds are exhausted, and the good bow is hidden! This is a proverb of you Chinese people, haven't you heard it? What's more, for them, no matter whether it is value or threat, you must be in it Above that 'thing' you know?! Now you want to go in and they make way for you, but when you want to get out, do you think it will be so easy?"

"I...I really fucking hate iron but not steel!" The hound said and smashed it on the door of the toilet cubicle next to it, and a hole the size of a bowl appeared on the aging and brittle polymer door. .

"Hate iron but fail to make steel is an idiom that doesn't work like this..." Ke Lan was interrupted by the hound as soon as he opened his mouth.

With a "click", there was another hole in the door of the toilet cubicle.

A crack more than half a meter long connected the two holes, and the entire door panel was crumbling.

"I can use it however I like! The problem now is that the group of people who call themselves the Crisis Management Section have arranged their pockets. Don't you know who the pockets are for catching? Are you going to drill in so obediently?" The hound jumped.

"Actually, if they wanted to arrest me, they would have already arrested me." Ke Lan sighed, "They know more than we imagined."

"They? Who are they?" The expression on the hound's face froze - he had heard the overtones in Ke Lan's words: "they" did not refer to the people in the "crisis management department" outside, nor did they research The Academy and the Security Bureau, not even any class or organization he knew.

"An organization called 'Undead Crew'." Ke Lan sighed, and finally said the name, "They are the hidden power holders. The so-called highest decision-making organization 'United Parliament Group' is actually just It’s just a puppet they pushed to the surface.”

"The United Council...just a puppet?" The hound froze. He always felt as if there was a mouthful of thick phlegm stuck in his throat, and he couldn't spit it out or swallow it. It was so uncomfortable that he wanted to go crazy.

"This...the undead crew...what kind of people are they?" The hound took a deep breath, "Why are they hiding in the dark?"

"They..." Ke Lan recalled "Pope" Chiron's body like a mountain of meat, and couldn't help but pause, "Maybe they are not human."

"Not a human?" The hound froze for a moment, apparently not expecting such an answer from Ke Lan.

"It's not a human... What could it be? Computer AI? It can't be an alpha human, right?" The corner of the hound's mouth pulled out a somewhat absurd smile, "This joke is not funny at all, don't tell us that it is actually the ruler of human beings It's a group of Alpha people, hehe, then I just feel that I haven't woken up yet, and now I'm dreaming, an extremely absurd dream."

"One thing that is certain is that they used to be human beings. As for what they are now... I can't tell. It's probably a 'thing' similar to me." Ke Lan said.

The hound stopped laughing, looked at him steadily, and asked, "A...'thing' like you? I probably understand..."

"This is just my guess. In fact, I have never seen the true face of the Undead Crew. Among the people I have contacted, all who know their existence have never seen their real bodies. Including Schroeder and Lin Qiming . . . and that Maginot transferred to Mukakh."

"Magino also knows that this undead crew will?" Hound asked.

"He knew the crew existed, but not much."

The hound suddenly let out a long sigh, shook his head self-consciously and said, "Damn it... so that's what happened... no wonder Maginot took the initiative to contact you at that time, so this fat pig knew from the beginning ...fuck, if I hadn't left the army, I should have access to this information by now..."

"Old dog?" Ke Lan called out worriedly.

"I'm fine, I just need a little time." The hound waved his hand towards Ke Lan, and didn't care whether the floor in the toilet was dirty or not. He squatted down and gently rubbed the dangling spots on both sides of his forehead with both hands. cranial hole.

"Actually, I have always known that you have something to hide from us, but I know that you must have your reasons for not telling us... Now that I see it, it must be this matter."

"I didn't intend to tell you about the existence of the Undead Crew...they have too much energy. I can't guarantee that they will take any extreme measures for their own privacy. In their eyes , The life of an ordinary person is just a number, a number that can be used as a chip on the scale." Ke Lan said while standing.

"I know." The Hound nodded, "You are right... Now I know about it, oh, and Akira Asano outside, he must be able to hear it... As for the others, don't tell them gone."

He stood up from the ground, and for a moment, Ke Lan felt as if he was ten years older.

"I just never thought that it would be such a group of people who decide the fate of mankind." The hound said slowly, "So, you should join them in the future, right?"

"They have already sent me an invitation. As long as I can pass the test, I can become a member of the Undead Crew Club." Ke Lan said, "The task in the Molten Mine Area is the assessment content of the first stage of this test."

"Ke Lan, can you promise me one thing?" the hound said suddenly. ,

"what's up?"

"Even if you really become one of them in the future, don't forget that you are a human being, not some monster."

The hound paused, and continued: "The power of life and death is easy to be addicted to... I don't know what you will become by then, and I also know the truth of'kindness does not command soldiers'... But in After you become a chess player, don't forget your days as a 'chess piece'."

The hound rubbed the muscles on his face vigorously, and adjusted his emotions: "It may be too early to tell you this... In fact, I don't have anything to feel emotional about. I would rather have someone more capable to lead us... But you... have to be careful, those things, even if they treat you as the same kind, but the same kind and companion have different meanings..."

His words were a bit incoherent, but Ke Lan still understood most of the meaning in them.

"I know." Ke Lan nodded.

"We shouldn't be a burden to you, right?" the hound asked with a smile.

"Not counting."

"That's fine, you go in with confidence and boldly, if these little bastards from the research institute dare to come up with any bad ideas when you come out, I will be the first to take their nest."

"Okay, but their old nest seems to have been taken away..."

"Grass, just grow a fucking mouth, right? If you can't speak, don't open your mouth." In just a few seconds, the hound has returned to its usual state, as if the conversation just now had never happened Same.

"...Then I won't say anything."

"By the way, those members of the crew, even if they have already sent you an invitation, it may not be sincere, but you need to distinguish the specific situation yourself. We can't help you in this regard... leave one more My heart is always right, I never mind thinking about others with the greatest malice... especially people like them, who are in a high position and have an overview of the whole situation. They can see many things that we can't see, just like me before As it is said, they are chess players, and we are chess pieces——chess players can see the whole game, but we can only see the scene of a few squares around us, maybe the next move, we will be regarded as sacrificial pieces Give it away."

……

……

Between the third line of defense and the headquarters of the research institute designated as a "contaminated area", there is a "blank area" with a width of 300 meters.

In order to prevent individuals infected by the "meme" from using buildings as cover to infiltrate in front of the defense line, all the buildings in this circle were wiped out by some kind of amazingly powerful weapon. Standing on the edge of the blank area, Ke Lan could only You can see the exposed foundation and the metal material that flowed like magma after being molten, and then condensed again.

At the end of the blank area is the super energy shield like an inverted giant bowl.

The third line of defense does not have any personnel stationed, and the entire defense line adopts a fully automatic control system-as long as there is any moving object trying to pass through the blank area, those densely packed forts will immediately lock it until It was so blasted that there was not even a slag left.

At the same time, in order to prevent the spread of information with "memes", all communication lines in the entire West Second District have been cut off, and only the internal wired network of the Crisis Management Section can be used.The power armor worn by Ke Lan and Asano Akira is equipped with two sets of communication devices-the wired communication device is connected to the command post at the end of the defense line through a six-kilometer cable. If the cable is cut off, they Laser communication can also be used... Of course, the premise is that there are no obstructions in the path of the laser emission.

"The automatic firepower of the third defense line will be turned off in fifteen seconds. You have a window of 5 minutes to pass through the blank area ahead. Are you ready?" Schroeder's voice came from the headset.

"Let me make it one last time. I have the right to fire at will, right? I'm not responsible for breaking any priceless bottles and cans." Ke Lan said.

"...The experts of the research institute said that they hope to minimize the damage." Schroeder said, "After all, they are all precious scientific research materials..."

"Try, I can only say that I will try my best."

(End of this chapter)