"You're going to the East 9th District?" After Ke Lan hung up the phone, Zofia walked up to Ke Lan, her tone full of worry, "That's where the Arasaka Group's headquarters is located... If you go there now, wouldn't that be like sending yourself to their door?"

"I don't think the Arasaka Group has the guts to attack me under the noses of the garrison... Of course, if they really dare to attack me under such circumstances, then I think there is no safe place on the Ark. Instead of hiding here and there, I might as well go directly to join General Maginot's troops... Now the outer area of ​​​​East District 9 should be regarded as the place with the most concentrated military forces in the entire Ark except for the core area." Ke Lan smiled, "With so many guns blocking me, I feel a little more confident."

"Then you must be careful... By the way, wait a moment." Zofia said, and suddenly walked to an empty wall. She stretched out her hand and pressed her palm on the wall.

Accompanied by the sound of a mechanism moving, a mini safe embedded in the wall appeared. Sofia took out an exquisite metal box from the safe and handed it to Ke Lan.

"Take this with you, it might be useful."

"What is this?" Ke Lan opened the metal box with a hint of curiosity.

Inside were five well-made transparent syringes. The syringe tubes were made of hollow shells of high-quality energy crystals, and the outer layer was wrapped in a circle of special engineering plastics for anti-slip and heat insulation. A large amount of Nino alloy was mixed in the needle tip, which could pierce not only human skin, but even the chitin exoskeleton of the thunder beast.

Inside the syringe, there is a light pink fleshy fiber as thick as a hair, quietly suspended in the clear filling liquid...

Every few seconds, this strand of flesh fiber would twitch slightly. Although the amplitude of the twitching was extremely difficult to detect, Ke Lan still noticed it... This thing is alive.

"The living cells of the 'flesh-eating worms'... are produced by the Security Bureau and are specifically used to deal with erosion seeds in the acute or mature stages. Each one has a unique number. Whether it is transportation, storage or use, it must be reported to the Security Bureau..." said Zofia.

"The living cells of flesh-eating worms..." Ke Lan picked up a syringe and took a look. Sure enough, there was a string of digital codes etched on it by laser on the glass bulb at the end that was used to store compressed gas.

"Because each one contains only a small number of living cells, it can only have a killing effect if it comes into direct contact with the 'core' of the Seed of Erosion..." Zofia added.

Before, Maginot had told Ke Lan that the official Ark had four main classifications of the Seeds of Erosion, which were "latent", "parasitic", "rapid change" and "mature". The latent period mainly refers to the period when human cells have been invaded by the Seeds of Erosion, but no tissue mutation has yet occurred. For example, when Ivan was just infected, he was in the latent period. When alienated tissue appeared, it meant that the Seeds of Erosion had grown to the "parasitic period". The "container" missionary and Ivan when his arms turned into tentacles, they were in this "parasitic period".

The seeds of erosion in the "latent period" and "parasitic period" do not have a "nucleus". During these two periods, they are still part of the host's body tissue and are not considered an independent life individual.

The "acute phase" is the shortest period among the four levels, lasting only a few seconds at the shortest and no more than fifteen minutes at the fastest. When the "container" dies (whether all nutrients are sucked dry by the erosion seeds in the body, or the "container" commits suicide or is killed, or other circumstances lead to accidental death), the erosion seeds in the "parasitic period" will mature rapidly and separate from the body tissues of the "container". During this process, a "nucleus" will be produced in the body of the erosion seed. At this time, the erosion seed can be regarded as an independent life individual.

As for the "mature stage", it is the independent form after the end of the "rapid change stage", which is the monster that Ke Lan encountered on that strange deserted island.

In Ke Lan's memory, there is also a detailed description of the growth process of the Seed of Erosion, which is basically the same as the information analyzed by the official Ark - except that the containers chosen by the Alphas are various indigenous creatures on this planet, not humans.

"So the conditions for use are quite harsh... but thank you anyway." Ke Lan thought about it and accepted the box of living cells. Although he already had a prop called "Stone Cone" that could restrain the Seed of Erosion, it was hard for him to explain why he had to take it out in front of everyone. In comparison, the living cells of the flesh-eating worms were much more convenient to use.

"No need to thank me, but you have to promise me one thing." Zofia looked directly into Ke Lan's eyes and said, "Don't die easily."

"Yeah." Ke Lan nodded, but when he realized that Sofia was about to speak, he suddenly made a stop gesture, "Okay, stop talking."

"What's wrong?" Sofia blinked in confusion.

"I'm afraid you'll say something like we'll get married when I come back from this trip. If that happens, I'm afraid something bad will happen..." Ke Lan smiled and scratched his head, "I'm actually quite superstitious."

“…”

Hearing Ke Lan say this, Zofia rolled her eyes at him speechlessly. On the contrary, Caroline on the side muttered softly: "This self-conceited guy..."

"First Officer Caroline, I'm not being sentimental. I just don't like being flagged." Ke Lan turned around and said.

"Flag?... Flag? Plant a flag? What does this mean?" Caroline asked.

"I'm curious about how you spend your leisure time after work?"

"Target shooting, physical training, training new security department employees... What's wrong, any problems?"

"That's okay..." Ke Lan walked to Caroline's side and patted the shoulder pads of her power armor. "I'm leaving now. Zofia's safety is in your hands."

"Of course, this is my job... But what does flag mean?"

"I'll tell you when I come back..." Ke Lan was about to say, but suddenly changed her mind and said, "Even if I come back, I won't tell you. By the way, can you lend me one of your cars?"

"...Take it." Although Caroline wanted to get angry, she was stopped by Zofia's eyes in time. She had to take out a key card from her pocket and threw it to Ke Lan.

"Thank you!"

Catching the key card thrown by Caroline, Ke Lan glanced at his watch. It had been eleven minutes since the power outage. If the Arasaka Group had made any move, it should have started by now.

And the voice that had been calling him from deep in his mind was becoming more and more urgent...