Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 1001: The Roots of the Giant Tree (Part 1)
"Will they... attack us?" a soldier asked in a low voice.
"I'm not sure," Ke Lan shook her head, "but my intuition tells me that they are dangerous."
After saying that, Ke Lan walked to a helicopter with "Morgan Consortium" printed on it, raised his hand axe, and quickly broke the locking device that secured the helicopter to the parking space. Then he asked Ze Luo to attach the power of space to his arms and "gently" pushed the helicopter towards the pile of pale roots.
The moment the helicopter crashed into the roots, the roots that were still in the previous second suddenly came alive like tentacles. The reaction was as violent as throwing a huge rock into a calm pool of water. In just two seconds, the helicopter was tightly entangled by the pale roots. These seemingly thin and fragile roots directly squeezed into the hard metal shell of the helicopter, cutting the plate that was strong enough to block 12.7mm caliber anti-material armor-piercing projectiles into pieces.
"Hiss..." Several soldiers standing behind Ke Lan couldn't help but gasp. Those soldiers standing closer to the roots were like being electrocuted and jumped back a big step in an instant.
"The only good news is that these roots seem to respond to things they touch directly. As long as we don't touch it, it shouldn't actively attack us," said Ke Lan.
The soldier who wanted to use the gun barrel to pry the roots away was only a dozen centimeters away from the roots. The hot air exhaled from his nose had already hit the roots, but the roots remained indifferent.
Even the carnivorous native plants on Alpha have stronger sensing abilities when hunting than these roots - there is a kind of "carnivorous vine" in the mud swamp, which parasitizes on the "peat wood" which is very common in the swamp. However, unlike ordinary parasitic plants, it not only does not absorb nutrients from the peat wood, but also feeds back the nutrients it has collected to the peat wood.
There is a . Peat trees bear fruits to attract animals in swamp areas. When these animals approach, the carnivorous vines will kill them and then "share" the nutrients obtained after digestion of the prey with the peat trees... Compared to these roots that require direct contact to react, carnivorous vines can sense the presence of prey from several meters away, and at the same time hide the vines used for attack under the swamp mud, setting up a deadly net.
Even carnivorous vines have such ability. Ke Lan doesn't believe that this giant tree would be so slow... The only explanation is probably that it is still in the early stages of growth and is still in an incomplete state.
No matter who sent the ciphertext, one thing was true - when the giant tree grows to the "full stage", the survivor alliance will lose all means of response and can only watch it devour the entire Alpha star.
"These roots seem to be spreading all around..." A soldier said as he slowly retreated. His voice was very low, as if he was afraid of disturbing the roots. "Just now... did we wake it up?"
"They have been growing all the time. They have never stopped since the giant tree appeared." Ke Lan said, "We can't stay here any longer. We need to hurry to the next level."
Below the hangar is the junction of East Zone 1 and North Zone 1. This is the top commercial area on the Ark. It is divided into 16 floors and is adjacent to the core area and the luxury residential areas in the East and North zones. The entire commercial area is built around a load-bearing column with a diameter of more than 400 meters. The outer wall of each floor is supported by highly transparent bulletproof glass, and the dazzling array of shops in the commercial area can be seen from the outside. When all the lighting effects are turned on, the entire commercial area will directly turn into a dreamland full of light and color. Before the God Hunter Group became successful, Ke Lan had only seen photos of this top commercial area on the Internet. When he saw those photos, the first word that popped into his mind was "extravagant and extravagant".
For the Ark people living at the bottom of society, such a life is something they dare not even think about... Not to mention the top luxury goods sold in those shops, even a piece of floor tile on the street is something they cannot afford even if they spend their entire life's wealth.
Class is something that will always exist with the existence of civilized society. This is true in the hive and on the Ark...
Ke Lan led the soldiers carefully through the hangar. The VIP elevator and freight elevator in the hangar had stopped working. They walked down along the fire escape and it took them nearly fifteen minutes to get out of the narrow passage. The view in front of them suddenly became clear.
This commercial district, built with wealth, has now turned into ruins.
The magnificent load-bearing pillar broke in the middle, and the collapsed dome leaned against the trunk of the giant tree on the northeast side, creating a huge triangular space. As for the beautiful glass exterior wall of the commercial area, it had long been shattered, leaving only a mess on the ground.
"The so-called splendor and luxury are just like a beautiful soap bubble that bursts as soon as it is poked." Ke Lan couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
The roots of the giant tree have also invaded the interior of the commercial district. Many streets and elevator shafts have been blocked by the roots, turning them into impassable restricted areas.
" No bodies were found, and no living creatures were found." A soldier looked around with a tactical telescope and reported to Ke Lan.
"Even if there were any survivors, they were probably eaten by the giant tree," Ke Lan said. "This tree literally eats people without leaving any bones."
"If those monsters up there rush down, will these roots also attack them?" another soldier asked.
"Yes. The monsters attack indiscriminately, just like the roots of this giant tree. To it, anything that can serve as nutrients is its food."
“Then… let’s leave quickly.” The soldier showed a nervous look on his face. “Once those monsters come down, it will probably become a mess here… By then, it won’t be that easy for us to leave.”
According to the time, the men in black on the upper platform should have "woken up" long ago, but after they transformed into corpses, the first thing they saw were their "companions" from a few minutes ago. Under the instinct of biological beings, they would immediately fall into a situation of killing each other. Only a few strong men who broke out of the siege would track the breath of Ke Lan and the others and follow them all the way.
The roots in the hangar might be able to buy some time for Ke Lan and the others, but there was no guarantee that there might be some individuals with special abilities in the corpses who could break through the roots' blockade... Ke Lan seemed to have vaguely heard a strange noise coming from the fire escape at the rear.
The pillars collapsed, and the suspended bridge connected to the hangar was disconnected. The inflatable emergency escape passage not far away was covered by the roots of a giant tree and was completely unusable.
"All the roads are blocked. It seems that we have no choice but to rappel." Ke Lan asked the soldiers to take out the ropes they carried with them and connect them together one by one. The total height of the sixteen-story commercial area is more than two hundred and forty meters. The handles of the soldiers' tactical backpacks are made of twenty-five-meter-long parachute ropes. In order to ensure the strength of the rappelling rope, at least six parachute ropes must be wrapped together. The parachute ropes of more than sixty soldiers are put together, and including the knots at the connection points, they can just reach the bottom of the commercial area.
"It seems we are lucky." Ke Lan tried the strength of the rappelling rope, then put one arm around Ze Luo's waist, grabbed the end of the rappelling rope with the other hand, and jumped directly from the edge of the broken street.
The drop is too big, so someone has to fix the bottom of the rappelling cable, otherwise the rope will shake violently when others are rappelling - it would be okay if it hits the surrounding ruins, but if it hits the roots of a giant tree, then everyone on the rappelling cable will probably be doomed.
Before the soldiers could react to what was happening, Ke Lan had already landed steadily on the ground. Under Ze Luo's control, not even a speck of dust was raised when he landed.
Ke Lan asked Ze Luo to use the power of space to shatter a collapsed concrete block, took out a two-meter-long steel bar from it, and then bent the steel bar into the shape of an anchor, with one end fixing the rappelling rope and the other end nailed deeply into the ground.
The rappelling rope, which was originally swaying in the air, was suddenly stretched straight. Of course, in addition to the role of the rivets, Ke Lan also secretly asked Ze Luo to attach a small amount of spatial force to the rappelling rope, turning this flexible rope into a rigid "pillar".
All the communication equipment of the airborne troops were destroyed by the electromagnetic pulse bombs fired by Yaguna Tor. Ke Lan could only use gestures to let the soldiers slide down one by one.
The first person to slide down was a sniper with the rank of warrant officer and a rifle on his back. After landing, he looked at Ke Lan in awe and asked cautiously, "How...how did you land just now?"
"Just some insignificant special abilities." Ke Lan waved his hand. "Not very useful in battle, but in this situation, it is still very useful."
He has not revealed his identity to these soldiers yet, because he has no way of guaranteeing whether there will be spies planted by the Undead Crew among these soldiers - in addition to implanting control chips and erosion, the Undead Crew also has a means of controlling people, which is similar to a combination of brainwashing and mental suggestion. The controlled people themselves are unaware that their thinking has changed, and they behave exactly like normal people on weekdays.
Only when stimulated in a specific way will the "switch" buried deep in the consciousness be activated... It is also because of this that such a hidden person is difficult to detect through physical examination or conventional interrogation, because even the hidden person himself does not know that he is a hidden person.
Once Ke Lan's identity is exposed, their journey will probably not be so peaceful.
The remaining soldiers landed at the bottom one after another. Although the original organization had been broken up, the elite were still the elite. The special teams composed of the remnants of various troops quickly formed an advancement formation with almost no loopholes according to their respective functions and positions - the heavy infantry holding heavy shields and carrying shield generators were at the forefront, the agile snipers and scouts were hanging a little further away on both wings of the team, and the backbone position was a mixed team composed of firepower, medics and technical arms. As for those who stayed at the back, they were the elite soldiers with the highest reinforcement level.
A large number of giant tree roots also appeared at the bottom of the commercial district, but compared with the total area of this place, the area occupied by the roots only accounted for a very small part. Therefore, the soldiers were able to deploy this advancement formation without having to crowd together like in the hangar, bending over and lowering their heads for fear of touching the roots hanging from the ceiling.
The giant tree growing out of the core area of the Ark is located on the southwest side of the commercial district. The further southwest you move, the denser the roots become. By the time you reach near the trunk, the roots have almost completely covered the ground, making it impossible to find a place to step.
Ke Lan did not choose to go directly to the giant tree, but instead led the team to make a detour - his plan was to cross the North District 1 and head directly to the West District 1.
There is a key building in West District 1: the research institute and the underground ice storage attached to the institute.
Although the giant tree grew in the core area, aerial photos show that the trunk of the giant tree is slightly tilted to the west. Considering that the underground ice storage contains many dangerous collections brought out from the Alpha ruins, and even things like the "Yinglong Egg", Ke Lan believes that the root core of this giant tree is probably hidden deep in the underground ice storage.
But the defense there is definitely the strongest... The Undead Crew might not expect that an inconspicuous airborne team could break through numerous obstacles and reach the roots of the giant tree, but as long as Ke Lan gets there, he will inevitably face those things that were originally prepared for him.
Lure the tiger away from the mountain can only lure the tiger away from the mountain, but the mountain will always stand there and will not move at all.
The commercial area was completely destroyed by the giant tree. Building debris that fell from the sky could be seen everywhere at the bottom. Priceless luxury goods and beautiful velvet packaging boxes were scattered all over the ground. A "Do Not Touch" warning sign was cracked into two halves, one half fell to the ground, and the other half was stuck inside a completely deformed counter.
The soldiers looked around vigilantly, and no one was distracted by the luxury goods on the ground... With the collapse of civilized society, the value of these luxury goods was not even as good as a cold, hard, and moldy steamed bun.
"At nine o'clock, no enemies or survivors found. The root erosion rate is about 30%. The closest root is 170 meters away from us."
"At the three o'clock direction, there is no abnormality either. The root erosion rate is 10%. It is about 300 meters away from us." Soldiers on the left and right wings reported one after another.
