Volume 1 Glacial Relics Chapter 1: Crash
"This is such a 'comfortable' journey..."
Ke Lan complained secretly in his heart, and pressed his body as close to the cushion behind him as possible, holding the armrests on both sides tightly with his hands - the amplitude and frequency of the vibration were still increasing, and he felt a salty and fishy taste in his mouth, as if he had accidentally bitten his tongue just now.
But he didn't feel much pain. Compared with the feeling that his whole body was about to be shaken apart, this minor injury was nothing to mention.
He looked up at the altimeter in the cabin and saw that the value displayed on the dial was 2,840 meters. This altitude happened to be the place where the atmospheric convection on Alpha was the strongest. Even a medium-sized transport aircraft like the "Amran Class" with four pairs of balanced rotors could not maintain a stable flight in the strong gale.
"We are six kilometers away from the target location. Operators, get ready." An emotionless synthesized voice sounded in the headphones, accompanied by the "clang clang" sound of metal colliding with metal.
Ke Lan turned his head with great effort and looked out of the porthole. Everything he saw was white, except for a crack in the distance that ran across the foot of the glacier. There was no snow around it, making it extremely conspicuous.
The black crack was like a huge, deep mouth, quietly waiting for its prey to come - even from thousands of meters away, Ke Lan could feel the strong smell of danger emanating from it, which made people want to stay away involuntarily.
Be it the huge mouth of a prey or the dangerous breath, he knew it was all due to his own psychological effects, but one thing was certain, this damn place was indeed very dangerous.
That crack is their destination: Ruins A-087.
According to the official Ark naming criteria for ruins, this is the 87th A-level ruins discovered by humans on Alpha. However, the ruins were originally named C-364. It was not until the third advance team was annihilated in it - dozens of people died, and the exploration progress of the entire ruins was less than 10% that the official started the re-rating process and finally positioned the ruins at the A level.
Class A ruins are second only to Class S ruins, so there is no need to talk much about how dangerous they are. But relatively speaking, the rewards for exploring Class A ruins are so generous that they are enough to inspire people to take risks. Whether it is the alien technology left behind by the Alpha civilization or the precious resources hidden deep in the ruins, they can all be exchanged for a large number of credit points. If you are lucky, it is not impossible to become rich overnight.
But the prerequisite is that you have to get those things and get out of the ruins alive.
This kind of person is called a "hunter". Ke Lan is a hunter, and so are the other six people in the cabin.
Unlike the previous three advance teams, the seven of them were not a team, but seven lone hunters. In the hunting profession, lone hunters are often masters - because those who have no ability but want to monopolize all the harvests have long died in some corner...
"If you can't bear it, just parachute out. The nearest transfer station is only a few dozen kilometers away from here. You can crawl over there--" The big man sitting in the first seat suddenly said sarcastically. He was a biochemically modified person, and more than half of his body was mechanical prosthesis. Compared with Ke Lan and the others, his tolerance to tremors was obviously much stronger.
"Skydiving from this height... and suicide... are there any differences? How about... you jump first?" The one who spoke was the middle-aged man with an oversized hooked nose who was sitting opposite Ke Lan. He looked a little thin, with a pair of old-fashioned goggles on his face. His sagging cheeks under the goggles were shaking violently with tremors, and even his speech was intermittent.
"Old thing, you can't even speak clearly, yet you're still being sarcastic. I see from your small body that you look like someone who is going to get killed." The cyborg replied with some disdain.
"you……"
Just as Hook Nose was about to say something, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded, and the white light instantly switched to a dark red, symbolizing a warning.
"what happened?"
"An unknown strong magnetic field... We have crashed into a strong magnetic field... All the electronic equipment on the plane has failed, I am switching to manual operation mode... We... We may have to make an emergency landing..." The pilot's somewhat panicked voice came from the cockpit, which made the seven people's hearts sink.
Forced landing? In such weather conditions, it would be better to call it a crash. Manual operation alone would not even be able to maintain direction in the storm.
The transport plane was on the verge of stalling. Everyone in the cabin looked unhappy, but at least they were calm. All seven of them held on tightly to the seats beneath them - given the safety of the Amran-class transport plane, there might be a glimmer of hope if it crashed directly, but if they were thrown out during the fall, they would definitely be dead.
But at this moment, Ke Lan suddenly thought of something extremely important!
There is strong radiation on the surface of Alpha Star. The native creatures living on this planet have adapted to this radiation during their long evolution, but it is still deadly to humans. Every time they explore the ruins, the hunters will prepare protective clothing, anti-radiation drugs and detection equipment, but these equipment are too bulky and are not placed in the small cabin, but are all installed in the container-style cargo hold at the tail of the transport plane.
Once the cargo hold disintegrated during the crash, they would lose these equipment and would not be able to hold on until rescue arrived even if they survived the crash.
"Protective suit!" Ke Lan shouted loudly, but his voice was instantly drowned out by all the noise.
"Protective suit! We must get the protective suit!" There was no other way, he slammed the metal bulkhead hard and roared at the top of his lungs.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Ke Lan's abnormal behavior quickly attracted the attention of the big modified man. His voice was much louder than Ke Lan's. Immediately, the other six people focused their attention on Ke Lan.
"Protective suits! Protective suits in the cargo hold!" Ke Lan shouted while pointing wildly towards the cargo hold - the other six people were naturally not fools, and they immediately understood what he meant when he pointed.
"Damn it! Protective suit! I forgot about this!" the cyborg shouted. Although he had undergone biochemical transformation, his resistance to radiation was not much stronger than that of ordinary people. Even the delicate components of the mechanical prosthesis needed more protection from protective gear.
"Let me do it!" said the cyborg. He was the strongest among the seven people, and he was the only one who could move in the violently shaking cabin... But just when he was about to get up, he found that his mechanical body had completely gone on strike and was completely out of control!
"Magnetic field... It's a magnetic field! The electronic equipment on the plane has been disturbed, and the mechanical prosthesis will naturally not be spared..." Ke Lan looked at the immobile cyborg with some despair. At this moment, the others were all in a state of danger. The person most likely to get the protective equipment back was himself, whose seat was closest to the cargo hold.
"I'll get it!" There was no time for him to hesitate. After making the decision, Ke Lan immediately began to untie the seat belt tied around his body.
"What did you say?!" The cyborg's face turned red. He struggled in vain, but the strength of his original flesh was not enough to drive the mechanical body that had lost its power.
"He said he was going to get protective clothing!" The hook-nosed man sitting next to Ke Lan barely heard what Ke Lan said. He looked at Ke Lan with a complicated look, but did not make any move.
"Be prepared to pick me up! I will hook the safety belt to the equipment box. If the cargo hold disintegrates, you have to find a way to pull me and the equipment box back together!" Ke Lan had already unbuckled most of his safety belt. He clung to , using his hands and feet to move towards the cargo hold step by step with difficulty...
…
Just as Ke Lan had expected, the connection between the cargo hold and the transport plane had become seriously loose, and some of the more fragile places on the edge of the cargo hold were even torn apart, with strong winds constantly pouring in from outside.
This is the disadvantage of modular design. Although it is very convenient for loading and unloading and maintenance, its strength cannot be compared with that of an integrated structure... Four of the sixteen metal hooks have been broken, and the remaining twelve are also in danger. The cargo hold may fall off the transport plane at any time!
"Hold on to your seat belts! When I wave at you, pull the belts back hard!" Ke Lan turned his head and roared, but his voice was swallowed up by the strong airflow as soon as it came out. As for the communication device on his head, it had become a useless decoration when it was interfered by the magnetic field.
Fortunately, the hook-nosed man understood what Ke Lan meant at a glance. He pulled out the spare seat belt from under his seat and buckled it on the one Ke Lan pulled out. The other hunters who were sitting closer also followed his action.
Ke Lan nodded, then opened the door of the cargo hold, took a deep breath, and groped his way in.
The strength of the safety belts is completely sufficient. Ke Lan has seen the promotional video of this thing. With only four safety belts, the entire Amran-class transport aircraft can be lifted. The only thing he needs to worry about now is that the cargo hold must not fall off when he is carrying equipment, otherwise even if the safety belts are intact, his fragile flesh and blood body will be torn in two in an instant by the huge force.
"I hope... today is my lucky day..."
