Volume 12: Yaguna Kotor Chapter 595: Facing the Power of God
Large-caliber machine gun bullets continued to hit the giant shield, and the huge impact force forced Ke Lan to slow down his pace - it felt like a large truck was constantly hitting him. If it weren't for the support of the living armor, Ke Lan would probably have been blown away by this force.
In comparison, the giant shield that directly bore the impact was not in as bad a situation as he was - the surface of the bloody giant shield was not rigid, but a shape called "non-Newtonian fluid".
The so-called "non-Newtonian fluid" refers to a fluid that does not satisfy Newton's experimental law of viscosity... Of course, many people may feel confused when they hear this statement, but in fact, many substances that can be seen everywhere in real life are non-Newtonian fluids. The one that is most closely related to humans is the blood that keeps flowing in the body.
Viscous plasma is a very typical non-Newtonian fluid.
The moment the bloody giant shield is hit by the bullet, it will change from its original solid state to a soft and resilient fluid state, wrapping up the entire bullet. The biggest feature of non-Newtonian fluids is that their viscosity changes with the change of shear rate. To describe it in a Chinese proverb, that is:
"When you meet a weak person, you become weak; when you meet a strong person, you become strong."
In addition, due to the sandwich structure of the giant shield that imitates composite armor, these bullets completely stopped before reaching half the depth after being shot into the shield, and then were "spitted out" like melon seeds, and the shield surface returned to its original state in an instant.
Even if the hijacker's firepower was doubled, he would not be able to hurt Ke Lan behind the shield.
Facing the enemy's fierce gunfire, Ke Lan moved forward step by step - this is not an exaggerated rhetoric method, but a true description: every step Ke Lan took would leave a footprint about half an inch deep on the metal cabin floor... Only in this way would he not be beaten back by the dense rain of bullets.
The passage was more than ten meters long, and it took Ke Lan five full minutes to reach the end.
He directly blocked the muzzle of the heavy machine gun with a huge shield, and then, under the horrified gaze of the gunman, swung the shield and knocked him to the ground.
A crisp sound of bones being crushed came from under the giant shield, and the hijacker died without even having time to scream. Then, a large number of tentacles emerged from under the giant shield and pounced towards Ke Lan with their fangs and claws.
But Ke Lan's movements were faster - his arm penetrated the giant shield directly, grabbed the "core" of the Seed of Erosion, and crushed it directly!
The Seed of Corrosion, having lost its core, suddenly wilted. After a brief period of stiffness, its tentacles softened one after another, quickly necrotizing and decaying into smelly pus.
The blood of the false god contained in the broken "core" was naturally absorbed by the living armor.
The seed of corrosion that is parasitic in the body of this heavy machine gunner seems to be a mutant. The "nutrients" that the mutant provides to the active armor are obviously much stronger than the common "ordinary species".
The other hijackers screamed and cried hysterically, their fingers tightly gripping the triggers, continuously pouring bullets on Ke Lan - but with only the Type 01 assault rifles in their hands, it was impossible to penetrate the "weakened" living armor on Ke Lan's body.
In just a few seconds, Ke Lan had killed these people - along with the monsters that were parasitic in their bodies.
Ke Lan would not show any mercy to these people. From the moment they became containers , their remaining time was very short... and when they killed innocent people, Ke Lan no longer regarded them as "human beings".
They are traitors of the Ark and mortal enemies of mankind. They see themselves as "evolvers" who have obtained the power of God, but few people know that the Prophet only sees them as pawns that can be abandoned at any time.
Even their own leader did not treat them as human beings, so why should Ke Lan give them unnecessary mercy?
There were more than a dozen hijackers... or rather, members of a heretical sect blocking the cockpit door. Each of them was armed with an automatic weapon, and the weakest of these weapons was a 10mm caliber Type 01 assault rifle. Whether in terms of equipment, firepower or number of people, the crisis management officers on this plane were at an absolute disadvantage.
Ke Lan couldn't help but feel fortunate that Lin Qiming didn't take action before she broke into the plane, otherwise, all of them would probably have died in the passage outside.
Not only were these dozen or so members of the heretical sect equipped with firearms, but each of them, without exception, was a container for the Seed of Corrosion. After absorbing all the Seeds of Corrosion in their bodies, Ke Lan clearly felt that the power of the living armor had increased a bit.
"There are nearly fifty 'containers' among this group of hijackers alone... Could it be that so many 'containers' have been lurking inside the Ark all the time?" Ke Lan was a little confused - after more than a dozen investigations organized by the Security Bureau, the number of remaining heretical sects on the Ark has decreased a lot. Although those "hidden men" in high positions have not been removed yet, only one in ten of the lower-level believers are left. In order to deal with those captured believers, the Security Bureau even had to build three new prisons in the wilderness.
It's not so easy for ordinary believers, let alone the "container" of the parasite's Seed of Erosion in their bodies... With the development of technology, the detection procedure for the container of the Seed of Erosion is even simpler than detecting HIV. There is no need for blood tests. Just use a special device to take a picture of the pupil to confirm whether there are parasitic Seeds of Erosion in the person's body.
With the help of this new detection method, the Security Bureau was able to complete full-scale screening again and again in those areas with a mixed crowd and high population mobility. Those "containers" who usually hid in slums and some gray areas were pulled out one after another - these people would not be sent to prison. The fate waiting for them would be either execution on the spot or... being sent to the research institute to become experimental materials for those crazy people.
There will definitely be some fish that slip through the net, but there won’t be many... Nearly fifty fish that slip through the net, this is absolutely impossible.
With a complete monitoring system and high-intensity screening, it is difficult for these "containers" to find a place to stay on the Ark... Nearly fifty "containers" are lurking on the Ark without being discovered. If this news is confirmed, the first thing the security official in charge of this work will probably do is to draft a report of resignation.
Could it be that these hijackers came from the wilderness?
No, if they were exiles from the wilderness, then they should be illegal immigrants without legal status. Illegal immigrants cannot enter Yong'an Port - let alone enter the airport, even close to it is impossible. But except for a few security gates at the airport entrance, other facilities were not damaged, and the security checkpoints on several roads near Yong'an Port did not submit any reports of abnormal conditions.
In other words, before entering the airport, this group of hijackers all held a "legal identity certificate".
To provide fake identities for so many people in such a short period of time, I'm afraid only the Security Bureau, the Crisis Management Department and the Undead Crew would have the ability to do so.
If one wants to keep the information absolutely confidential, then the first two organizations can be ruled out, leaving only the Undead Crew.
Is it possible that there really is a traitor among the crew ?
No... Regardless of whether there was a traitor within the crew, Ke Lan suddenly remembered an omission that was enough to overturn all his previous speculations.
People who make a living in the wilderness will not have skin as delicate as the residents of the Ark due to various factors such as climate, environment, and radiation - just like the priestess that Ke Lan encountered in the exile camp.
These hijackers disguised as flight attendants and the priestess who died tragically... they were all people who had lived on the Ark for a long time!
If a person has rough skin, many scars from sunburn or frostbite, or even suffers from radiation sickness, you cannot tell whether he is an exile or a legal resident of the Ark - because among the latter, there are many people whose jobs require long periods of exposure to the wilderness environment; but the opposite is true. A woman with delicate skin and exquisite features is definitely not an exile who has lived in the wilderness all year round.
No matter how stunningly beautiful a woman is, her beauty will be greatly reduced after living in the wilderness for three to five years - the erosion of the skin by the harsh environment cannot be reversed by skin care products and cosmetics, not to mention the living conditions of exiles who are struggling to survive.
The origins of this group of people are very questionable.
But before returning to the Ark, even if Ke Lan knew they had a problem, he couldn't find the answer.
"Well... let's finish the work at hand first."
Ke Lan glanced at the cockpit door that was so close at hand and stretched out his hands.
The nearly ten-centimeter-thick metal door was cut open like a piece of cardboard under the sharp claws of the living armor. Ke Lan ducked and crawled through the cut hole, walking into the cockpit, which was extremely spacious compared to other aircraft.
Thanks to the size of the Hercules transport aircraft, this cockpit does not look like the cockpit of an airplane, but rather looks a bit like the bridge of an airship.
At the front of the cockpit is a hemispherical display screen - although there are no windows, the real-time scene outside can be displayed on this screen without any error. If Layton were here, he would definitely tell Ke Lan that this technology was developed from the omnidirectional cockpit of the mecha, but because of its high cost, few flying vehicles adopt this design.
Most aircraft still use transparent windows and radar observation mode, while those fully enclosed cockpits use a combination of AR and VR to minimize costs as much as possible.
But in terms of visual effects, the approach of covering most of the cockpit with screens is more shocking.
There were four people in the cockpit - three people and a corpse, to be exact.
The seats for the two pilots were set at the junction of the screen and the floor. Both of them were concentrating on operating the plane and ignored Ke Lan who was invading the pilot's seat. Not far from the driver's seat, there was a corpse kneeling face down.
The hands and feet of the corpse were tied up, and its head was sticking to the ground. There was a black bullet hole behind its head, and the blood flowing from the bullet hole had coagulated with the hair - this person had obviously been dead for some time.
Judging from his attire, he should be the second missing crew member - Captain Lawrence.
Ke Lan originally thought that this captain would be a member of a heretical sect like Longchuan Ximei, but now it seems that he guessed wrong.
The last person was standing at the edge of the cockpit, staring straight at Ke Lan who had intruded.
This was a young Asian man, wearing an airport attendant uniform, but at this moment, he found a loose black robe from somewhere and put it on over the uniform.
"Are you the Cardinal in Black?" Ke Lan looked at him fearlessly.
"Since you know my identity, aren't you afraid?" The other party's expression was a little strange. He looked up and down at Ke Lan, his eyes full of confusion - obviously, the living armor on Ke Lan caused him quite a shock. A character like this should not be in this operation.
"Do you think I'm scared?" Ke Lan pointed at the screen hanging on the top of the cabin. "There are surveillance cameras installed outside. You should have seen how I killed your men so easily... If you don't want to become like them, my advice is to give up resistance and surrender. I can guarantee your safety."
"Guarantee my life?" The black-robed cardinal suddenly sneered, "Does that mean you want to send me to the research institute and turn me into a half-dead specimen by those demons in white coats?"
"I can't help you thinking that. But I think you are different from those 'vessels' that are parasitized by the Seed of Corrosion... Your body is no different from that of a human. What you have mastered is just a method, a method to summon the power from a certain existence... If I'm not mistaken, it should be a 'language', right?"
"You know a lot." The black-robed cardinal nodded, "Then you should also know that those who can receive this kind of gift will never betray the great god."
"Alright." Ke Lan nodded. "Then stop talking nonsense. I don't have time to argue with you. Hurry up and use all your powerful moves. I promise I won't interrupt you."
Ke Lan's straightforwardness made the black-robed cardinal stunned for a moment, but then his expression became fierce again: "Foolish fellow, do you really want to... face His majesty?"
"Yes, hurry up, I'm in a hurry." Ke Lan nodded.
