Volume 12: Yaguna Kotor Chapter 601: Exposure
"But judging from the physical strength of the target, I'm afraid conventional means cannot destroy it." The staff officer said with difficulty.
Among the conventional weapons deployed by the fleet, the only one with greater power than the tactical nuclear warheads is the plasma main gun on the heavy cruiser. However, judging from the current performance of the tactical nuclear warheads, even if the plasma guns were used, the results would probably be the same.
Ke Lan even began to wonder if this black mummy was also carrying something like a "meme"...
If the entry for Seraph is "cognition is contagious", then the entry for this thing should be "indestructible" - the temperature at the center of a nuclear explosion can even reach hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius, and the black mummy is unharmed in such an environment. Even if it is launched into the sun, it will still not be harmed.
"I have an idea." Another staff officer said, "We should find a way to launch the target into low-Earth orbit. In a vacuum environment, it has no way to gain support, and it has no power source of its own. It can only fly around the Earth continuously along the orbit, which is almost equivalent to permanent imprisonment... just like 'Kaz'."
"Kaz" is a primitive creature located in the low-Earth orbit of Alpha. When humans discovered it, they almost mistook it for an asteroid captured by Alpha's gravity...but further research found that it was a super giant beast that had fallen into a long sleep. It had slept for so long that its flesh had shown signs of petrification, and only a trace of extremely difficult to detect signs of life remained deep in its body.
According to experts' speculation, it is very difficult for the primitive species "Kaz" to wake up from its dormant state - although it is still alive, all that remains is a trace of the ember of life, which cannot burn into a raging fire again. It can only gradually extinguish and cool down with the passage of time... until it completely turns into a cold stone.
The staff officer's proposal was obviously based on the situation of the primitive species "Kaz", and he wanted to "exile" the black mummy into the vacuum of space.
"I don't think this is a good idea." Ke Lan shook his head. "Don't forget, this thing has its own magnetism. Although its magnetism is no longer increasing... But based on this point, we can't be sure that 'it doesn't have its own power source'. No one can guarantee that it will become the second 'Kaz'. There are too many unstable factors in low-Earth orbit. Even with 24-hour uninterrupted monitoring, it's hard to feel at ease."
"Indeed." Cao Ge nodded. "We still know too little about the target. It is not a wise choice to just throw it into space so hastily."
"Or... let the people from the research institute deal with this thing?" the staff officer said cautiously.
"I don't like those people in the research institute." Cao Ge said very directly, "What's more, the research institute is facing an incident now, and I'm afraid they don't have the energy to deal with this thing... Moreover, even if they are handed over to them to deal with it, they will most likely propose to move the target to the underground ice storage, which I absolutely cannot accept... They dare to put any dangerous things on the Ark. Where do these lunatics put the safety of the people?!"
As the commander of the First Fleet, Cao Ge obviously knew the inside story of the "memetic contagion" incident, and from his words, he was quite dissatisfied with the institute's style and attitude, and he almost cursed it out loud.
In fact, not only Cao Ge, but most people in the military are quite unhappy with what the institute has done - a privileged organization that can ignore the laws of the Ark to a certain extent, and the military as the largest violent agency on the Ark, the daily friction between the two is bound to be more, not less.
"It's not going to work if this continues. I'll find someone to clean up the mess." Ke Lan said to Cao Ge, "Commander, do you have any communication equipment you can lend me?"
"Yes." Cao Ge handed a microphone with a dialing function to Ke Lan. "This phone can directly contact the entire fleet, and can also contact the people on the Ark through the transfer station... But who are you looking for?"
"The guy the crew will be with." After Ke Lan said that, under Cao Ge's somewhat stunned gaze, he dialed the emergency communication number Pan left for him.
"Yo yo yo... Let me guess, someone has messed up and wants me to help clean up the mess?" The call was connected almost as soon as it was plucked out... without even going through the staff at the transfer station to transfer the call.
On the other end of the phone was Pan's jumpy, sarcastic voice - the volume of the microphone was a little loud, and Pan's voice was loud enough that Cao Ge, who was standing nearby, could also hear Pan's voice.
The astonishment in Cao Ge's eyes became more and more serious, and there was also a strong suspicion in it... As a high-ranking officer of the Ark who had dealt with the Undead Crew several times, he could not imagine that a member of the Crew would say such a thing in such a tone.
The person on the other end of the phone...is he really a big shot from the Undead Crew?
Why did it feel like the person who answered the phone was an unusually young and arrogant boy... In fact, he was much younger than the relic hunter named Ke Lan in front of him.
Although Cao Ge knew that the age of the Undead Crew members could not be judged by their voices, all the crew members he came into contact with were taciturn, frugal with words and calm. The first sentence the other party said after answering the phone completely overturned this fixed image in Cao Ge's mind.
He was very confused, but he didn't dare to ask - he knew that Ke Lan had no reason to joke with him about such things... In other words, the person on the other end of the phone was indeed a member of the Undead Crew.
"Did you call up the surveillance camera in the early warning command plane?" Ke Lan asked unhappily, "Normally, it would take at least a few seconds for the relay station to process the communication signal back to the Ark , but the call was connected almost instantly... Moreover, I just said the word 'wipe your ass' ten seconds ago... I have every reason to believe that you have been staring at me since I boarded this 'Albatross-class', waiting for me to call you, right?"
As soon as Ke Lan said this, Cao Ge suddenly raised his head and saw that the three closed-circuit cameras in the command room were all turned in this direction. The indicator lights next to the lenses flashed a bloody red light. Although these were just a few lifeless cameras, Cao Ge felt an indescribable majesty for some reason...
This is a feeling of being watched by a superior. Cao Ge had been "received" by the Undead Crew twice. Although it was called an interview, he had never seen the true appearance of the crew members. They appeared in the form of mechanical puppets - mechanical puppets were also lifeless dead objects, but Cao Ge did not dare to look them in the eye... And on these cameras, Cao Ge actually had a sense of déjà vu.
He knew that this was most likely due to his own psychological effects, but since he had this feeling, it meant that he had actually believed the identity of the person on the other end of the phone... A big shot in the crew was watching everything in the command room at this moment.
But Ke Lan seemed to not care about his image at all. While holding the microphone and talking to the other party , he sat down on the edge of the table. Even the holographic projection on the table was blocked by him.
"Since you already know everything, I won't waste any more words. I'll just say it straight. I can't solve this thing. If you have any solution, just use it quickly. If you don't want to care, then I won't care either. Anyway, with the speed of this thing, it can't pose any threat to me." Ke Lan said.
"You're just going to start right away?" Pan's tone was a little mocking. "I thought you would try a few more options... This is not like your style."
"What else can I do if I don't give up? Even a nuclear explosion with a temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees can't do anything to this thing, so what can I do?"
"You can't do anything about it, but there's someone around you who can easily get rid of it." Pan deliberately slowed down his tone and said meaningfully.
The moment he said this, Ke Lan's heartbeat quickened, but then he immediately controlled his body and tried his best to make himself look normal.
"Who are you talking about, the person next to me? The commander of the First Fleet?"
"You're good at playing dumb, but what's the point when both you and I know the answer?" Pan said with a smile, his tone sounding very relaxed.
"I don't understand what you mean." Ke Lan shook her head, "I really don't understand."
"You are such a hypocrite. You clearly can't stand the fact that the research institute brought all kinds of dangerous specimens to the Ark and stored them in the underground ice storage...but you brought the most dangerous thing on the Ark...In terms of destructive power, I guess all the collections in the ice storage combined wouldn't be even one ten-thousandth of what she has, right?"
“…”
The entire command room fell into an eerie silence - Ke Lan had a gloomy face and no one could see his expression clearly; Cao Ge looked at Ke Lan in confusion, then raised his head to look at the camera on the ceiling... As for the staff officers, they were complete outsiders and did not even have the qualifications to interrupt.
The silence lasted for a full minute, during which Pan also did not make any sound.
"If you don't want the Ark to be destroyed, you'd better not disturb her." Ke Lan said in a deep voice, "I know she is dangerous, but at least I can still control her."
"Do you really think you can control her?" Pan's voice seemed to be stripped of all emotion, and it sounded like a cold, mechanical synthesized voice. "Just relying on those books, movies, anime, and simple and boring video games for her? Are you playing a cultivation game here? Are you planning to cultivate a being with the power to destroy the world into a godsister with the attributes of a two-dimensional otaku?"
"She once told me that she wanted to experience life as a human being," Ke Lan said.
"Do you believe her, then?"
"I...have to believe it." Ke Lan said honestly .
Yes, he had to believe it. Rather than saying that he had already controlled Ze Luo, it would be better to say that Ze Luo was just cooperating with him obediently... As long as Ze Luo's mind changed, he would have no power to stop her at all...
Pan was right. She was far more dangerous than all the collections in the institute's underground ice storage combined...
Ten thousand times.
Maybe more than that.
"Actually, you did the right thing." What Ke Lan didn't expect was that Pan's attitude suddenly changed 180 degrees. He was questioning Ke Lan one second, but the next second he turned to praise, "The way you chose to deal with it is the most correct among countless possibilities - at least that's the case for now."
"so……?"
"The Undead Crew will not interfere in this matter for the time being. You can continue to train her towards the direction of a nerd. However, I suggest that you take her into the pit of COSPLAY. It's rare that she has such a good foundation. I think she can COS any role perfectly, right? If I'm not mistaken... she should have the ability to change her form at will, right?" Pan said.
"Do you have any serious illness?" Ke Lan couldn't help but complain, but the conversation between him and Pan made Cao Ge, who was standing beside him, shudder with fear - he always felt that he seemed to have accidentally heard some extremely important secret, and this secret seemed to be enough to affect the survival of the entire Ark and even all mankind.
I... shouldn't be silenced, right?
Cao Ge suddenly felt a little regretful. He regretted that he should not have eavesdropped on Ke Lan's conversation out of curiosity, but should have stayed away from her when Ke Lan dialed the number, the farther the better.
"I'm just making a suggestion," Pan said indifferently. "Let's get back to the point. If you want to completely get rid of that stupid thing that's bumping around in the mountain below, you should be able to do it easily with her help. Even if that thing has a high physical strength, it can't withstand the cutting on the spatial level."
"…Can I ask a question?"
"Just ask, I'll try my best to answer whatever I can." Pan was very generous.
"When did you discover her existence?"
"From the first day you brought her back to the Ark." Pan said.
"Chiron told you that?"
"No, Chiron is trustworthy. He did not betray you... But on this ship, nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the crew."
"Nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the crew, so what about the prophet?" Ke Lan retorted.
"I haven't finished yet. Why are you so impatient to interrupt me? Ahem... Let me say it again - on this ship, nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the crew... except the human heart."
"...Okay, so you guys have figured out her abilities? As far as I can remember, apart from me, Zofia, and the people from the God Hunters, no one else has ever had close contact with her, right?"
"Depending on data... the main source of data comes from the puppet you destroyed."
