Volume 15 Gray Fog Forest Chapter 783 "Cognition is Pollution"
"Can you understand what I'm saying?" Sanshisan asked excitedly. He had almost given up hope just now, but when the familiar Chinese syllables came out of the other party's mouth, even though the tone sounded weird and awkward, Sanshisan still felt a sense of inexplicable familiarity.
“If you…came in…from outside…why…” But the other party did not answer Sanshisan’s question. Instead, he asked Sanshisan a second question.
Although the other party did not show any hostile behavior, and the tone and intonation did not change... but for some reason, Sanshisan always felt that this "thing" that was talking to him... seemed very nervous.
Why?
A huge question mark popped up in Thirty-Three's mind... If there was anything nervous, it should be me who felt nervous, why did it feel nervous?
Could it be that it sensed the black flying blades hidden in the shadows and pointing at its vital parts?
Thirty-three hooked his little finger slightly and calmly withdrew most of the flying blades, leaving only the last two about ten meters behind the opponent.
"Why...you...come into...the forest...you shouldn't..." the human figure covered by thick fog continued, speaking a little faster than before.
"I..." Thirty-three originally wanted to answer that he went into the forest to look for the crashed battleship, but if he said that, he would probably be mistaken by the other party as someone sent by the undead crew. When he couldn't be sure whether the other party had hatred towards the Ark's top leaders, if he chose the wrong camp, he might start a fight without a single word. This kind of development was definitely not what Thirty-three wanted to see.
But if they said that they were being chased by indigenous creatures and were forced to flee into the Gray Mist Forest... Let's not talk about whether this despicable lie would be seen through by the other party. The most crucial point is that, assuming that they were forced to enter the forest, their primary goal must be to escape from here, which is completely contrary to their original purpose of going to the core area of the forest.
Rather than falling out after your lies are exposed, it is better to make things clear now.
" I want to go to the center of the Gray Mist Forest." Sanshisan said seriously, "We want to find out the secrets hidden in this forest... But I'm separated from my companions, and I don't know how I was teleported to the interior of this battleship. If you have been on this battleship before, you should know that this battleship has been bombing a certain area in the forest before it crashed for the second time... That's right, its target of bombing is us."
After explaining everything in one breath, Sanshisan let out a sigh of relief, then stared at the other person intently - next, it depended on how this "person" who was suspected to be a former crew member of the "Genoa" would react.
“No… Never… Never… Try… To explore… Anything… Any secrets…” After hearing Thirty-Three mention the secret of the forest, the other party suddenly became excited. His two arms, which still looked skinny even wrapped in a thick fog, waved vigorously, “Forget everything… Forget everything in this forest… And then flee from here… Never… Never come back! And don’t let anyone… Don’t let anyone in!”
"Why? What secrets are hidden in the forest?" Thirty-three frowned. "Is there anything that cannot be told? How about you tell me what you know first? If this secret is really not suitable for public disclosure, I will naturally keep it to myself."
“No… Once you know… everything will be irreversible…” The other party shook his head repeatedly, causing the steel pipe inserted in his chest to shake.
"Why is it that once I know everything, it is irreversible?" Thirty-three's inner doubts became even heavier. "No matter how shocking the secret is, even if it can subvert the entire human civilization... I can't do anything now that I know it. I'm just an ordinary person who is curious. I don't have that much power."
“No, no, no… You misunderstood… You misunderstood what I meant…” The figure wrapped in the gray fog squatted down, and the steel pipe in front of his chest fell directly down and hit the ground, making a crisp sound of metal clashing.
It seemed to be recalling something painful, with its head lowered and its arms tightly wrapped around its head.
"What misunderstanding? You didn't even tell me what the secret is, and you asked me to forget everything... I don't even know it yet, how can I forget anything?" Thirty-three asked in some confusion.
“Cognition… Cognition is pollution…” the other party murmured, as if he was talking to himself or to Thirty-Three, “The root of everything comes from that place… That is the source of pollution… No matter what method… The pollution will spread… We must… leave this place immediately…”
"The source of the pollution? Do you mean the core area of the Gray Mist Forest?" Thirty-Three grasped the key information in the words and asked.
“No… no…”
"Where is the source?"
"Don't ask... don't know... forget everything..." The other person buried his head even lower.
"I think I understand what you mean... 'Knowledge is pollution', you mean that as long as you know that information, you will be polluted, right? What does pollution mean?" Sanshisan's eyebrows suddenly raised, and he subconsciously held his breath, "Could it be... 'pollution' means becoming what you are now? You let me forget everything to protect me?"
The other party did not reply, probably agreeing with Thirty-three's statement.
"But the purpose of our trip is to explore the secrets of the core area of the Gray Mist Forest... and, as far as we know, there is a possibility that a 'lumberjack' has entered the core area before us. Oh, by the way, the lumberjack's name is Mo Zhuorui, and he was once a member of the 'Special Operations Fleet'... But a fleet has at least several thousand people, and you and he are not on the same warship, so it is very likely that you have not heard of him..."
"Mo Zhuo... Rui... No, I know him..." The figure covered by the thick fog suddenly said something that surprised Sanshisan, "He is... a member... of this battleship... He is the information control officer... of the Genoa... I remember him..."
"How is this possible?!" Sanshisan couldn't help but widen his eyes. "Mo Zhuorui is clearly the CIC information control officer of another warship... I remember it was a 'Swallow-class' high-speed support ship called 'Favali', hull number B92013. Not this 'Flying Fish-class'... Whether it's the ship model, hull number or name, none of them match. The only thing that matches is his position. Could you have remembered it wrongly?"
"No... Mo Zhuorui... he is... the CI... C... information control officer of this ship..." said the figure covered by thick fog, "I won't remember it wrong... because he... is my superior..."
It was obvious that the human figure in front of him was once a member of the "Genoa" Combat Intelligence Center. Its tone was very firm and it didn't sound like he had remembered it wrongly.
"Could it be that the files on the Ark have been modified? But with Ke Lan's authority, she should have obtained the most original files, there is no way they could be wrong... For a small figure like Mo Zhuorui, it is impossible for him to be dead... Why would those big figures bother to hide him? If those big figures could notice this, Mo Zhuorui would never have left the Ark and entered the Gray Mist Forest so many times... Those guys should not have noticed Mo Zhuorui from beginning to end.
"No... There is another possibility. They have been observing Mo Zhuorui and treating him as an experiment... But this possibility is very low. According to Ke Lan's description, the control desire of the Undead Crew is almost abnormal. They don't like anything that is beyond their control... And letting Mo Zhuorui freely enter and exit the Ark and the Gray Mist Forest is like setting off a fairy wand in a powder keg. As long as there is even the slightest spark splashing, the consequences will be ...
"The possibility of the file being modified can basically be ruled out... Could it be that the staff who made the record made a mistake? But this mistake is too coincidental. First, because of a mistake, Mo Zhuorui's warship was mistaken, and then because of a mistake in the post-war registration, he escaped... No matter which situation it is, the registration information needs to be verified by multiple people. It is impossible for every staff member to make a mistake, right?"
For some reason, Sanshisan suddenly remembered the missing lumberjack "Dannin" - during that time, everyone had forgotten his existence, and when someone remembered him, he had really "disappeared"...
Could it be that the memories of the staff responsible for registration have also been tampered with?
But the problem is that these people have never even approached the Gray Mist Forest?
If the "mysterious power" in the Gray Mist Forest could affect the people on the Ark from such a distance, there would have been a big mess long ago...
Wait a minute…
The guy in front of me just said... "Knowledge is pollution". If we analyze it according to this line of thought, as long as we know certain things, we will become monsters and our thinking will be corroded... Is this the reason? !
Mo Zhuorui himself is already related to the secrets in the Gray Mist Forest, so his existence can be regarded as part of the "pollution". Even though those who are responsible for registration have never seen Mo Zhuorui nor have any form of direct contact with him, as long as they know of the existence of Mo Zhuorui, they can meet the conditions for the spread of the so-called "pollution"?
So it makes perfect sense that they would be affected by the mysterious power in the Gray Mist Forest!
Thirty-three suddenly felt a chill down his spine. If even the staff members were affected, then wouldn’t people like them have already been “severely polluted”?
No wonder this guy in front of me wants me to forget everything...
Thirty-three couldn't help but feel a little scared. When a person couldn't even trust his own memory, what else could he trust?
"Then Mo Zhuorui should have crashed into this forest with you and this battleship... Why did he appear on the Ark again? He even formed a team of 'lumberjacks' and tried to go deep into the forest again and again... Could it be that he originally came out of there?"
If Mo Zhuorui was "buried" in the Gray Mist Forest together with the "Genoa", then the "KIA" on his original file was correct and not a mistake.
But how did he come out of the forest alone?
The most crucial point is that there must not be any obvious changes in his body, otherwise he would not have been able to return to the Ark and live a "normal" life, and his daughter Mo Jue and his companions who lived with him day and night would not have failed to notice his abnormality.
Unless... unless he used the mysterious power of the Gray Mist Forest to "modify" everyone's perception of him, just like he "modified" his own file.
For example, suppose Mo Zhuorui's true appearance has become a monster with tumors all over his body, but under the influence of that mysterious power, anyone who sees him still sees him as a normal human being. Even if the photos and videos taken by other equipment truly record the image of the monster with tumors all over his body, other people who see the photos and videos will only subconsciously think that it is a normal human being.
It was as if everyone in the exploration team had "subconsciously" forgotten the existence of Denim.
"Hiss... I should have asked Mo Jue if he had a photo of his father... Even if we can't see the problem, Ke Lan and Ze Luo might be able to find some clues..."
“Don’t ask… Forget about him, forget about Mo Zhuorui…” The figure wrapped in the thick fog said in an almost pleading tone, “Forget everything about this forest… Maybe, maybe it’s not too late…”
"Okay," Sanshisan also squatted down, keeping his eyes level with the other person's head, "Even if you want me to forget all this, the problem is that I am now deeply trapped in this forest. We are now at a depth of about 35 kilometers. I can't even leave. How can I forget everything about this forest?"
The other party did not answer, obviously also stumped by Sanshisan's question.
"You see, this question has come full circle back to the original point." Sanshisan shrugged. "By the way, Mo Zhuorui... should be the only one among you who successfully left this forest, right? If you can tell him about the matter, maybe I can get out."
