"I think you may have guessed it." Machino picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and continued, "They implanted the biological weapons made by the Alphas into the human body... The monster you encountered in the exile settlement before was a 'container' of biological weapons, and the epidemic in the North Nine District... is actually not an infectious disease at all."

"That man on the train..." Ke Lan took a breath of cold air... Although the surprise was pretended, there was no trace of deliberateness in the expression on her face.

He even suspected that he might have chosen the wrong career... Becoming an actor might have a better future than being a relic hunter.

"He should also be a 'container', which is why I said that your handling method is very professional. If you accidentally kill that man, or let him commit suicide, the biological weapon parasitic in his body will break free, and the people in the entire carriage, including my soldiers, will probably not survive."

"But the question is, what is the connection between this thing and the underwater city and the 776 Special Forces Team?" Ke Lan asked.

This time, he was asking the question sincerely - the answer to this question was the most important missing pieces of his "puzzle".

"This is about the relic hunter who came into contact with the taboo... Logically speaking, the biological weapons created by the Alpha civilization are difficult for humans to control. Even the experts in the Ark Research Institute, who represent the highest level of human technology, would need dozens or even hundreds of years to figure out the secrets. But a relic hunter who has only received basic cultural education was able to 'safely implant' this biological weapon into the human body. Don't you think it's strange?"

"Indeed... this doesn't make sense." Ke Lan nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to know why?" Maginot's expression suddenly became extremely serious.

"think."

"The following conversation will involve the Ark's top secrets. You must promise to 'forget' it immediately after getting off the car, and then I can reveal it to you."

"……I promise."

"Okay." Makino seemed to have made a great decision. He stared at Ke Lan and nodded vigorously. "The real content of the inheritance that the relic hunter received was actually the language and writing of the Alpha civilization... As for the biological weapon called 'Seed of Erosion', it was just a gift from the relic."

"......!!" Ke Lan's eyes suddenly widened - this time, his expression was not fake.

The language and writing of the Alpha civilization...isn't that an ability I gained accidentally?

So, isn't he another human being who has obtained the "inheritance"? !

Makes sense! This totally makes sense!

Thinking of the strange information that emerged directly from the depths of his memory... Ke Lan suddenly understood that the man must have such ability, but compared with Ke Lan, his ambition was too terrifying... Ke Lan only thought about self-protection, but that man, after obtaining the inheritance, actually wanted to use the power of Alpha civilization to bring humans under his own rule!

"That biological weapon is probably just one of the many cards he has in his hand."

Ke Lan knew that what Maginot said was by no means alarmist - in fact, if he was given enough time, with the help of this almost incredible ability, he would also be able to discover many "bug-level" props from the ruins of the Alpha civilization that could completely crush the level of human technology, and use them for his own benefit.

But the problem now is that another inheritor has already done so, and the progress seems to be very smooth.

"So how did you find out about him... and his organization?"

"It wasn't us. It was the Security Bureau who found him... But when the Security Bureau was preparing to carry out the arrest operation, the man escaped from the Ark the day before the operation."

"The Security Bureau just let him escape like that?" Ke Lan felt that the development of the situation was simply outrageous - since they were already preparing to arrest him, the target must be under the Security Bureau's surveillance at all times. In this case, how could he still get away?

You know, this is different from the scenes in those police and gangster movies in the old era. With just a few commands, the 2.2-meter-thick alloy gates can directly separate and block the various areas of the Ark. Even if that person possesses the power of the Seed of Erosion, it is impossible to break through these layers of obstacles in a short time... To catch someone in that situation, it is most appropriate to describe it as "catching a turtle in a jar."

But if someone escapes from the Ark and reaches the wilderness of Alpha, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find him again...

"Just one day before the operation, the headquarters of the Security Bureau was attacked. Thirty-six fully liberated Seeds of Corrosion rushed directly into the Security Bureau through the main gate... The agents who gathered at the headquarters and prepared to participate in the capture operation the next day were almost all slaughtered by these monsters..."

"this……"

"The Security Bureau and the garrison paid an unimaginable price to kill all these monsters, and in order to prevent the spread of the infection, we had to deal with the injured comrades ourselves..." At this point, Maginot's eyes also showed a trace of sadness, "Nick is an officer of the field force, he doesn't know about this... But I was one of the three front-line commanders of the cleanup operation. I still remember that when I signed that last order, my hands were shaking the whole time."

Machino went on to say, "But the Security Bureau is not a pushover. After the cleanup operation was over, they used all their remaining strength to track down clues related to that person... The Undersea City and the 776 Special Forces Team are two of the clues the Security Bureau found."

"Didn't Special Forces Team 776 disappear forty-eight years ago? Why is it related to that inheritor?" Ke Lan asked curiously.

At the same time, he was thinking in his heart: Could it be because of the Seed of Erosion?

Judging from the abyss incubator in the underwater city, that place is obviously one of the bases used by the Alphas to cultivate "biological weapons", and that deserted island has an inseparable relationship with the underwater city... So, that person had already been to that place before me?

Ke Lan's breathing became a little rapid.

"According to the information shared by the Security Bureau... Special Forces Team 776 is likely the first group of humans to have come into contact with the Seed of Corrosion... That's why we want to know what exactly you saw on the seabed."

"A cave." Ke Lan was silent for a moment, then said slowly.

"A cave?"

"Well, after I went into the water, I encountered underwater turbulence, which you must know, Lieutenant General. Then I was swept into a cave... As for the specific location of the cave, I am not very clear myself." Ke Lan said.

Ke Lan once read in a book on psychology: lies are mixed with fragmented truths, coupled with deliberate inducement that meets the other party's expectations. Stories made up in this way are more likely to be believed by the other party than facts.

"Go on."

"Due to the structure of the cave, a part of it is hollow and there is no sea water... It was there that I saw the remains of the 776 Special Forces Team. In addition to Liao Xing, there were Collins, Connelly... Oh yes, there was also a guy named Kino. Their equipment was scattered next to the corpses. In order to survive, I picked up some of the usable ones and took them with me." Ke Lan deliberately concealed the matter of the stalagmite. After all, among the things he brought back, the antique equipment was the most eye-catching, while things like stalagmites were not very eye-catching.

"Can you tell the cause of their death?" Maginot asked impatiently.

"It was suicide."

"Suicide? ... Then ... have you found the body of Captain Ken? Where is the black box?"

"No." Ke Lan shook his head, and at the same time he was relieved in his heart. Fortunately, the black box was lost when he was "washed" to the surface of the sea by the undercurrent. Otherwise, this lie would be impossible to cover up.

"So what happened next? What was your next move after you found those bodies?"

"I collected some useful equipment and continued to explore the cave. However, not long after I went, I found myself accidentally entering a maze."

"Underground maze?"

"Yes, it's the kind of underground maze that makes all relic hunters' scalps tingle... When I wanted to back out, I couldn't find the way out, so I had to bite the bullet and keep going forward until--"

"Until what?"

"Until I walked into a dead end, I saw a stone pillar standing in the dead end. The top of the stone pillar was carved with a pattern that looked like an eye, and in the position of the pupil, there was a glowing radioactive ore embedded."

"Stone pillar...eye statue..." Maginot fell into deep thought, his hand holding the wine glass frozen in mid-air.

"Then I pried the ore off."

"Huh? Pried it off?" Makino looked at Ke Lan in surprise.

"Professional habit... After all, I am a relic hunter..."

"What happened after you pried it off? What happened?"

"The whole cave started to seep water, and seawater came out from every hole and crack in the rock. I started to run back, panicking... But I couldn't find the exit until the seawater covered my head."

"Then how did you get out?"

"I don't know... Just when I thought I was dead, the current washed me directly to the surface of the sea near the Pioneer... But now that I think about it, I think it makes sense... After all, if the cave has an exit to the outside, the water will definitely flow to the exit."

"But the Pioneer has used sonar to scan the area where you appeared at least dozens of times, and has not found any caves at all."

"Then I don't know." Ke Lan shrugged. "I have already told you, Lieutenant General, everything that happened to me... So, you won't choose to silence me, right?"

“Are you kidding me…” Maginot twitched his lips, causing the fat on his cheeks to tremble. “Of course the military will not harm you… but the security bureau may not. That’s why I told you at the beginning that you need our protection.”