Alien Relic Hunter

Chapter 640 Beta Replicants
This is... Zofia Soma's body.

Ke Lan is very familiar with this "thrilling" body.

He has touched every inch of skin on this body, that satin-like touch, once experienced, it will be difficult to erase it from his memory...Looking at this familiar body, he suddenly I felt a little dry mouth, and I couldn't help but feel an urge to step forward and hug her in my arms.

But reason is constantly reminding Ke Lan that these are all false, whether it is the gold bars that have just piled up into mountains, or this extremely beautiful body now... These are all illusions drawn from his memory.

"Is this... tempting me?"

In the next second, Zofia's body disappeared, replaced by a huge round table - Ke Lan noticed that on the edge of the round table, there were 22 gothic chairs with tall backs and exquisite carvings, among them There are 21 chairs with people sitting on them.But from Ke Lan's point of view, these "people" are all indistinct, not to mention their appearance, even their body shape and clothing are not real.

Only the chair closest to him was empty.

This was the only empty chair beside the round table, and it was placed upside down, facing his direction, as if sending a silent invitation to him.

"Stay empty..."

Ke Lan quickly realized that the 22 chairs corresponded to the 21 Major Arcana cards from number zero to number 22... The person sitting next to this round table was none other than the 22 members of the Undead Crew Club.

The empty chair should have belonged to the fifth "Pope" Chiron, but now...

"..." Ke Lan stood still on the spot and did not move forward.He is very clear about what these illusions symbolize... Wealth, love (or lust), power... These illusions are revealing the most naked desires imprinted in the human soul. Anyone has desires, even those otherworldly. Saints are no exception.

There is no such thing as a person who has no desires or desires in this world... Even the most basic desire to survive can be counted as a desire.

The existence of desire in the heart is not a shady thing. Naturally, modern society will not classify normal negative emotions of human beings into the "seven deadly sins" like the ancient Holy See. In many cases, desire can become a surging driving force— ——The reason why human civilization can continue to develop is that desire has played an extremely critical role in it... A race without any desire cannot create a brilliant civilization.

But what Ke Lan couldn't understand was why the images of these things appeared in this space?Is it for the temptation to step forward?

This is a trap?
However, Ke Lan's reason is sober - not only him, but anyone locked in this weird space can also tell that these things are illusory, and no one with a little brain can be fooled... ...What's more, this space has the ability to reset time, why do we need to use low-level methods like bait and trap?
"I do like money, and I also like beautiful women. Power... naturally, the bigger the better... But it's only limited to liking, and I don't want to lose my mind at all..." Ke Lan believes that even these things The illusion disassembled a blasphemer mecha and placed it in front of Layton. That big, mech-loving man couldn't possibly foolishly believe it.

As for Ke Lan himself, he suddenly discovered that he really didn't seem to have anything in particular he wanted...

As if he heard Ke Lan's inner thoughts, the round table disappeared, and those gothic high-back chairs and the figures sitting on the chairs also disappeared...

During the transition between light and shadow, Ke Lan saw a drop of bright red blood floating in mid-air, crystal clear like a jewel.

"……Blood?"

Ke Lan's brain has not reacted yet, but the blood in his body has already started to boil - no, no, it is not his blood that is boiling, but the part that is mixed in his blood and has not yet condensed into a solid body The "living armor"!
Not only the living armor in the blood, but even the living armor that has been condensed into a weapon outside the body also began to faintly show signs of instability.

It is agitated and longing... Although the living armor has no self-awareness, Ke Lan can empathize with that impulse...

I really want... I really want to swallow that drop of blood...

"Why did this happen?" Ke Lan's eyes twitched suddenly, "Could it be... that is a drop...'real blood of God'?!"

He tried his best to suppress the impulse coming from his body, and even retracted the shield and spear condensed by the living armor... He knew that the drop of blood was fake, but the living armor in his body didn't think so.

Ke Lan clenched his teeth, but the viscous red liquid continued to overflow from his nasal cavity, ear canal and even the corners of his eyes, and a fishy-sweet taste slowly rose from the depths of his throat... He was almost Using the strength of the whole body to contend with the out-of-control living armor.

Just when Ke Lan felt that his whole being was about to be torn apart by the internal force, everything suddenly returned to the original point.

Another seven and a half minute reset...on schedule.

Those illusions symbolizing "desire" have disappeared without a trace like bursting soap bubbles, but the white light is still suspended there. Ke Lan looked up and saw a tall and thin figure in a black robe emerging from the white light. Walked out slowly.

Ke Lan's direction is against the light, and he can only see the outline of the figure outlined by the white light, but he can't see the other person's face clearly. What's more, he is wearing an exaggerated hood with the brim of the hood always down to the tip of the nose.

Unlike the previous Zofia and the members of the Undead Crew, the texture of this figure is more like the real thing. The most important point is that when he stands in front of the white light, his body blocks most of the light source , and the previous illusions were all integrated with the white light.

Ke Lan's breathing quickened suddenly—even though the figure in the black robe hadn't made a sound or showed his face, Ke Lan had vaguely guessed his identity.

"You are indeed in this tower." Ke Lan said in a deep voice, "You mean... your real body."

"Papa papa." The tall and thin figure in black robe suddenly clapped his hands, "To be honest, this surprise attack by the Undead Crew Club really exceeded my expectations... It's just a pity, you are still slow step."

"So, the entire ruins of the ancient bronze city are actually a trap...through the hijacking incident, you deliberately exposed this stronghold in the field of vision of the ark, using your real body as a bait...could it be to kill these dozen people? Are you a soldier from the field service?" Ke Lan asked.

"What is my purpose...you will know soon." The Prophet shook his head, "But now, taking this rare opportunity, I have a few words to chat with you."

"Talk to me?" Ke Lan suddenly felt vigilant, "Could you still want to persuade me to join you?"

"That's right, you and I are essentially the same kind of people." The Prophet took two steps forward and stretched his arms to the sides, "We are all lucky and great evolutionaries...but those who hide in the The ones in the shadows just see us as guinea pigs in a test box."

He paused, and continued: "You should also know how to deal with the mice that survived the experiment in the laboratory? Even if there are lucky ones who survived in the end, they will be injected with enough blood at the end of the experiment. amount of cyanide...I just don't want to be branded a heretic after being sucked out of value and sent to the incinerator, don't you think it's funny? The way the sailors would do it, and the stupid and greedy in the middle ages What is the difference between the Holy See?"

"Based on what you and your subordinates have done, I don't think the name heretic sect has wronged you." Ke Lan replied with a look of contempt.

"What did I do? I just gave them strength... You should know that if you want to survive in the wilderness of this planet, strength is the most important thing? You go ask those who are suffering from hunger, disease, serious injury And the exiles who are dying, will they choose to be crushed into the dust like an ant, or will they sacrifice everything they have in exchange for greater power? The so-called human nature is just the fragility of human civilization It’s just a fig leaf... The thinking of the vast majority of people is actually still on that damned earth, but the only way to survive in this vast universe is to become stronger.”

"So? You implant the larvae of monsters into living people and make them your weapons... Don't think I'm so easy to deceive, why are exiles who are dying of hunger and disease, that kind of weak people? You can't become a container for the seeds of erosion, and you are not saving people, so don't embellish your behavior so noblely." Ke Lan retorted.

"I never said that I am saving people, I just want to become a better creature... I need to conduct a lot of experiments, a little bit closer to the goal called 'perfection'. But I will not look at them Instead of being guinea pigs in the lab, see them as martyrs, martyrs who died for the truth."

"It seems that after so many years of being a so-called prophet, your eloquence is good, but I don't want to talk to you at all." Ke Lan said, "For me, you are the enemy, and this will never change. ...If it wasn't for my good luck, I should have been killed by you several times, right? I am...a very vengeful person. "

"Then are you willing to be a pawn of the Undead Crew?"

"At least they don't want my life now."

"Have you ever thought about it, when they hand over the living armor to you, no one actually knows whether you can successfully integrate with it... They are completely experimenting with you. If you fail, you should be able to guess the result, right? ?” The Prophet suddenly sneered, “You don’t really think that they are helping you?”

"But if it's worse, I'd rather stand on the side of the ark." Ke Lan said, "At least, will the undead crew let the residents on the ark eat people?"

"It seems that you still don't know your life experience, poor guy." The prophet said every word, "From the moment you were born, the experimental subject with you as the core has been in operation. Everything I experienced was arranged by the script..."

"Where's the evidence?" Ke Lan stared at the figure of the other party - even though he held a dismissive view of every word the prophet said, he still had to admit that the statement of the other party coincided with A guess in his heart coincided with each other.

My own life... Maybe it is really controlled... Otherwise, there are so many coincidences, it is impossible to get together, and there is no way to get a reasonable explanation for many things.

"Not only you, but the vast majority of people on the Ark, their scripts are also carefully arranged by the crew... Except for a little improvisation by the 'actors', everyone is led by a thread For these poor puppets, when they are born, they can already see the day of death."

"Speak human." Ke Lan said blankly, "I don't like dealing with riddlers."

"Do you know why the population on the Ark has always remained at 50 million? So many people die every year, and the population that is 'consumed' is far greater than the new population, but there has never been a population crisis on the Ark. Is it? Even if babies born in public breeding centers can make up part of the gap, have you really carefully calculated the gap between the number of deaths and the number of newborns every year?"

"..."

"Don't talk about others, just talk about you—" the prophet changed the subject, "Ke Lan, do you still remember what you experienced when you were a child? Do you remember those classmates who used to go to school with you in compulsory education institutions? ?”

"Have you ever tried to enter the names in your memory into the archives of the Security Bureau... Are the people you find out based on their names really the ones in your memory?"

"Have you ever noticed that many of your memories before 16 years old are very vague, and you can't recall the details of some things no matter how hard you think... Have you ever doubted whether your memories are true or false... ..."

"Do you know something called a beta-type replicator?
It only takes 20 days for their embryos to develop into the state of a 16-year-old human being. Memory, emotion, and life skills can all be implanted into the brain through external devices...

It only takes one month for a young man who has just graduated from a compulsory education institution to integrate into human society...

Like any 'legitimate citizen of the Ark', there will be no loopholes in any of his identities...

The only flaw is that most of them don't live past 40 years old.After all, there is a fatal defect in the mitochondria of replicants, and the members of the crew have not yet solved this problem.

But it doesn't hurt too much. Anyway, these people are born as consumables. A replicant is used for 40 years old, and the cost of cultivation has already been recovered. "

(End of this chapter)