Volume 1 Glacial Relics Chapter 19 Mercury Lock
"I'll go." Asano Akira stood up and said.
"Let me go. Although you, Asano, are the strongest among us, but..." Ke Lan did not continue speaking, but everyone present could understand his implied meaning.
After all, Asano Akira is a blind man. No matter how sensitive his other senses are, blindness is always a flaw - there are many things that cannot be solved by hearing and touch alone... Otherwise, with his abilities, he would not have been forced to retire by the army.
"Okay." Asano Akira didn't say much, but took a step back readily and gave up his position.
"Ke Lan, are you okay? ... The side effects of the medicine won't affect you, right?"
"It's okay, it's just rock climbing."
Although most of the hunter team's equipment was swept away along with the cargo hold of the transport plane, fortunately Ke Lan still carried a pair of rock climbing suction cups with him. The prototype of this thing comes from a reptile called gecko on Earth. With the help of intermolecular attraction, this suction cup can be attached to walls of various materials and can withstand a maximum weight of more than 800 kilograms. As long as the battery is sufficient, even Layton in full gear can hold on.
Carrying a backpack filled with energy crystals, Ke Lan climbed up the giant gate like Spider-Man, while the others were responsible for lighting and alerting on the ground. After getting rid of the previous panic and tension, the professionalism of the elite hunters was immediately reflected. There was no need for anyone to take the initiative to command. Everyone performed their duties, and the tacit cooperation between each other made it impossible to tell that this was a temporary team formed by lone travelers.
…
Twenty minutes later, Ke Lan finally climbed onto the small platform that was one meter square.
On the platform stood a half- meter -high round stone pillar, on top of which was a heavy metal basin.
"What have you found up there?" The Hound's voice came from the headset.
"A stone pillar, and there is a basin on top of the stone pillar." Ke Lan said truthfully. He took a step closer and looked into the basin. He saw that it was covered with fine cracks. It looked like the whole metal basin was pieced together with fragments.
"Basin? I've never heard of this type of energy tank." There was a hint of doubt in the Hound's voice, "Try to throw a piece of crystal in and see?"
"Yeah." Ke Lan took out a crystal from his backpack. Judging from its color, it should be a level six crystal, equivalent to 243 units - to put it in a more intuitive way, it is enough for the "Amran" class transport plane to carry them from the Ark to here and back.
However, for a giant gate of this size, a level 6 crystal is just a drop in the bucket...
The energy crystal lit up as soon as Ke Lan placed it in the center of the metal basin, and even the tiny cracks on the metal basin emitted a soft white light.
“It’s reacting.”
"That's right!" The Hound's tone was a little excited, "Let's try putting a few more pieces in. A stone gate this big must have at least several thousand units."
"Wait... the metal basin seems to have changed..." In just a few seconds, the sixth-level crystal turned into a worthless waste crystal, and the metal basin that absorbed the energy rotated one and a half circles clockwise, and then... split into six petals.
However, when Ke Lan saw what was revealed under the metal basin, his expression suddenly changed...
"Hello? Ke Lan? What happened to the metal basin? Why is there no sound? Hello?" The hound couldn't help but get anxious after not receiving any message from Ke Lan for almost ten seconds.
"Mercury lock." There was a hint of despair in Ke Lan's voice.
"What did you say?"
"Mercury locks... There is a set of mercury locks hidden under the metal basin."
"……Grass!"
After a short silence, a swear word with annoyance and anger was uttered. The Hound took several breaths in a row, and then said to Ke Lan in a forced calm tone: "Ke Lan, calm down, you must calm down... Don't be anxious... Tell us first, what level of mercury lock is it?"
"...Level 7."
“…Fuck! Fuck! It’s over! It’s all over!”
Mercury locks are a relatively uncommon security measure in Alpha Civilization, and are often installed in important areas of the ruins. Generally speaking, a complete set of mercury locks consists of mercury drops, crystal columns, and balls. When the mercury lock is triggered, the mercury drops in the crystal columns will slide to the bottom at different speeds. The "unlocker" must use the balls to adjust the speed of the mercury drops so that the mercury drops in each crystal column reach the bottom of the crystal column at the same time, which is considered a successful crack.
Otherwise... the mercury lock will activate the ruins' self-destruction program and bury all invaders in the ruins.
Generally speaking, a mercury lock with two crystal pillars is considered a first-order mercury lock, four is a second-order, eight is a third-order... As for the seventh-order mercury lock, that means there are a full 128 crystal pillars!
It only takes five to ten minutes for the mercury droplets to slide from the top to the bottom. Moreover, the balls used to adjust the speed of the mercury drops have neither marks nor scales. How to adjust it depends entirely on the personal feel of the unlocker. As long as there is a slight error, even if every mercury drop appears to slide down at the same time to the naked eye, it is still considered a failure.
The most powerful unlocking master among humans can only crack a fourth-order mercury lock at most. As for the seventh-order mercury lock, he has never even seen one!
Of course, another possibility cannot be ruled out... that is, no hunter who has seen the seventh-level mercury lock can walk out alive...
Simultaneously adjusting the mercury drops in the one hundred and twenty-eight crystal columns so that they landed on the ground at the same time with no deviation, even the supercomputer on the Ark would not be able to do it successfully in one go...but if they failed once, they would lose the chance to start over.
The mercury droplets have begun to move, and the one that falls fastest has even passed through one-third of the crystal column...
"It's over... I didn't expect that we survived the plane crash, avoided the split-jaw worms, were poisoned, and suffered from the cold... but in the end we would die on this broken door..." The hound cried and kicked the giant door hard, "Seventh-level mercury lock! One hundred and twenty-eight crystal pillars! Even if Ke Lan is a god, he can't handle it!"
"Is there really no chance at all? If I run now, is it too late?" Ivan clenched his hands tightly, the blue veins on his forehead throbbing wildly, the remaining toxins in his body caused the capillaries on his face to rupture, and his whole face was so red that it seemed like blood was about to drip out.
"It's too late, absolutely too late. In ten minutes at most, the self-destruction system inside the ruins will be activated. Even if we are lucky enough not to be killed by the explosion, we will be buried alive under the rubble." The hound shook his head weakly.
"I'd rather die quickly than be crushed to death under the rocks." Layton sighed. If the ruins were destroyed, the entire snow mountain would experience large-scale avalanches and landslides. They were located in the belly of the mountain and would not be able to wait for rescue from the Ark - it would take at least several years just to dig the ruins out of the rubble.
Asano Akira, who was holding the scabbard, did not say anything, but let out a slight sigh.
A dead end.
At the same time, on the platform.
Ke Lan looked at the 128 crystal pillars in front of him. Cold sweat kept oozing from his forehead and rolling down his cheeks. His hands kept shaking. He stretched them out and then retracted them, then retracted them and stretched them out again...
There are a total of 128 balls, each corresponding to a mercury drop in a crystal column. He has no idea where to start - the fastest mercury drop has already reached the middle of the crystal column, while the slowest has hardly moved at all.
This time... am I really going to die here?
How nice it would be if this scene in front of me was also an illusion...
In a trance, Ke Lan seemed to see the high platform in her dream again. On the platform stood a huge stone coffin. Everything seemed so familiar...
No, this is different from the last time! Ke Lan suddenly realized that he was standing inside the huge sarcophagus, looking down at the pieces of meat below that were trying to climb onto the platform...
The pieces of flesh were still climbing, and he was already standing at the top...
He felt full of strength. He seemed to be able to move every muscle and bone of his body at will... He could hear the screams and howls of every piece of flesh, and he could see every corner at the same time...
He seemed to no longer be in human form, but a nearly perfect creature... He had the ability to... destroy everything in front of him with a wave of his hand!
A sudden shock brought Ke Lan back to reality, but when he looked at the mercury lock in front of him, he was completely stunned -
Each drop of mercury lay quietly at the bottom of the crystal column, but the ruins' self-destruction system was not activated. There was no explosion, no collapse, nothing happened.
"Did I do it?" Ke Lan noticed that his finger was resting on the last ball. He didn't even know when he put his hand there.
It's unbelievable, but...it happened.
"I...I seem to have figured it out..." After calming down, Ke Lan said to Mai.
"What did you say?"
"I said I...unlocked...the mercury lock." Ke Lan repeated.
"What did you say?!" A "pop" sound came from the earphone, as if the hound had slapped himself.
"I unlocked the mercury lock... the seventh level... one hundred and twenty-eight crystal pillars."
" How is this possible?! How did you do it?!" Hound almost roared. Even without headphones, Ke Lan could hear his shouting below.
"I don't know either, but we don't have to die." Wiping the sweat off his face, Ke Lan, completely exhausted, leaned on the stone pillar and sat down... He vaguely remembered that he seemed to have had a dream, and the mercury lock seemed to have been unlocked at that time...
What exactly is going on?
"You're not lying to me, are you? Is this really a seventh-level mercury lock?"
"See for yourself." Ke Lan took a photo of 128 crystal pillars and sent it out.
Once again the hound fell into a long silence.
"...Fuck! I, an old dog, never admire anyone, but I have to say one thing today - you are awesome! Level 7! This is a level 7 mercury lock, how did you unlock it?"
"If I say I don't know myself, would you believe me?" Ke Lan said helplessly.
"Honestly, let's not talk about this. I can't even believe that we survived the seventh-level mercury lock. I can brag about this for the rest of my life... Hey! This door! This door is moving!"
Without the hound's reminder, Ke Lan, who was on the platform, was naturally the first person to notice the movement of the giant door. Although the amplitude was small, the two 200-meter-high door panels were indeed sliding slowly to both sides.
It took a full half hour before a gap appeared in the middle of the giant gate, large enough for a human to pass through sideways.
Ke Lan had already climbed down from the platform, but he noticed that, except for Asano Akira, the way everyone else looked at him had changed to some extent.
"I didn't expect you to be so powerful! You can even crack the seventh-level mercury lock. You're too strong!" The Hound punched Ke Lan hard on the chest. "This time, all of us owe you a life again!"
