Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 817: Black Coffin
"It's useless..." Ke Lan sighed, "There are a total of sixty-four control consoles in the entire core power room, and each console has an emergency protection mechanism and self-repair capabilities..."
"Damn it, we have no way to deal with the enemies invading the ship, but this broken control console has so many tricks, it's obvious that it's a backdoor left for others... Is the name of this broken battleship Lu?" The hound couldn't help but curse.
"Are you trying to talk about a traitor?" Zhuo Ligetu seemed to have heard of this joke before and continued.
"Who cares if they're slaves of three families or dicks of three families? Is there really nothing we can do about it?" The Hound punched the table, and even the image on the holographic sand table was blurred for a few seconds. "People are dying outside every second now... The combat effectiveness of those invaders is superior to any special forces I know of. Although I don't want to say this, I still have to say it - we are no match for them at all... In ten minutes at most, the people standing here talking to you will not be us!"
"If it really doesn't work..." Ke Lan pondered for a moment and said, "You all should retreat to Block 1. I don't think these people will be able to seize control of Yaguna Kotor so quickly."
"What Ke Lan said is right!" Layton also advised, "Back then, even that damn prophet couldn't gain control, and had to rely on a substitute to trick Ke Lan in as a sacrifice. In the end, Ke Lan turned the tables... Now that Ke Lan is not here, it's actually good news..."
"How do you know there's no other Ke Lan among this group of invaders?"
The hound rolled his eyes at him, then looked at the ghost owl standing not far away, and continued in a voice that only he and Layton could hear: "If Ke Lan is really a clone created by the Undead Crew, then the Undead Crew must still have his gene sequence... If it is really necessary, they can clone a second, third... and countless Ke Lans. Even if most of these 'fakes' can only live for a few minutes, as long as there are enough of them, they will always win... With this probability, do you dare to bet?"
Just when Layton didn't know how to answer, Ke Lan's voice sounded again in the command room, but the tone of voice had changed significantly: "Hurry up! Old Dog, take everyone to Block No. 1, now, immediately, and quickly!"
The hound, who had been with Ke Lan for such a long time, immediately noticed the change in tone and asked in a high voice, "What's wrong? Do you have a solution?"
"Yes! But I'm not sure if this thing can distinguish between friendly and enemy targets, so it's safer for you to retreat to Block 1."
"Are you sure? You're not lying to us, are you?" The Hound confirmed with Ke Lan.
"There's no need for me to lie to you about this. If I were to lie to you, you would only be able to survive for a few more hours if you retreated to Block 1. It would be meaningless." Ke Lan urged, "Hurry up, the sooner you evacuate, the fewer casualties there will be!"
"Okay, I got it!" Hound stopped talking nonsense and slammed the all-commute button on the console, shouting, "Everyone, fire all the heavy weapons and ammunition in your hands. Don't hold back. After this round of suppression strikes, release all drones and remote-controlled weapons, and then follow Plan C and withdraw to Block No. 1 in order. The God Hunter Group will be responsible for covering your retreat!"
"After arriving at Block 1, immediately take the vehicle at the exit of the transmission channel to Base 4. The route has been saved in the vehicle's navigation system." After saying this, Hound turned off the call channel and turned to Layton and said, "You and Zhuoligetu will be the first to evacuate with the young lady. You are not needed to cover the rear!"
"You should take Miss Soma with you." Layton patted Hound's shoulder. "Block 1 has been cleaned up very well. There is no threat. It is a bit of a waste of combat power for you to send us on this mission."
"That's right, stop talking nonsense and retreat quickly." Zhuo Ligetu also said.
…
…
The core area of the Gray Mist Forest, Tower of Babel, second floor.
While watching the garrison troops withdrawn from the front line entering the transmission channel one after another, Ke Lan was trying to figure out the "message" that Yaguna Kotor had just sent him.
"It has been detected that the core module of this ship is threatened by an intruder; it has been detected that the conventional defense weapons cannot be activated normally; the current conditions have been met, the zero emergency procedure has been unlocked, and you have obtained the authority to activate it."
This message appeared when the invading force broke through the sixth line of defense of the garrison. At that time, several mass-produced Fallen Angels that took the lead had just entered the "final warning line" one kilometer away from the core functional array.
With the weapons equipped by these invaders, they can directly hit the crystal pillars in the core power supply array. For Yagunakotor, it has truly come to the moment of "life and death" - the most important thing is that the purpose of these invaders seems to be to destroy the battleship rather than seize it, otherwise, they should try their best to ensure the integrity of the battleship during the battle... But in fact, more than one plasma cannon passed through the energy shield of the supply base and fell into the giant pit of the core power supply array.
The crystal columns in the energy array were not protected by energy shields, otherwise they would not have become the "food" of lava leeches... There were at least double-digit crystal columns that were shattered or broken, and as for those affected by the explosion, there were even more.
Even the flight system of the Yaguna Tor showed signs of instability.
But it was precisely because of this that Yaguna Tor handed his real trump card to Ke Lan.
Although Ke Lan had already gained control of the battleship, in fact many functions of the battleship had been locked, such as the "Emergency Procedure Zero".
Ke Lan searched the entire Yaguna Tor database, but could not find any relevant information except the name. He had no idea what would happen after he activated it.
To be on the safe side, it is better to let Hound and others leave this place first.
The retreat went relatively smoothly - just like when they faced Fleet Zero before, the invaders did not pursue the troops moving towards the transmission channel. Their goal seemed to be to occupy the supply base and control console, and concentrate all their forces on the front line in front.
Although the garrison troops had released all the drones, remote-controlled weapons and autonomous robots, the rearguard troops still suffered heavy losses. Even Layton had half of his mechanical prosthesis and both legs blown off. In the end, he was carried by Zhuo Ligetu and jumped into the transmission channel.
This was all thanks to the invaders who did not pursue them relentlessly... otherwise, none of the people responsible for covering their retreat would have been able to escape from the supply base alive .
The invaders quickly poured into the deserted supply base, but what surprised Ke Lan was that not only did they have no intention of touching the control console, they didn't even touch the computers in the supply base or the data files and samples that had no time to be taken away or destroyed... These soldiers in black combat uniforms and black full-face helmets remained silent throughout the whole process. There were no officers among them, but everyone seemed to know very well what they should do. The only sounds in the entire ruined supply base were the crackling sound of flames burning the ruins and the clattering sound of combat boots hitting the ground.
Ke Lan soon realized the intentions of these soldiers - they were installing bombs in various places in the supply base, and seemed to be planning to blow up the entire supply base!
"Blow up an evacuated base... why?" Thirty-three, who was watching the video, asked in confusion, "Even if the undead crew wanted to break up with us, they wouldn't have to mess with the supply base, right? Those exploration records and various precious samples brought out from Block 1 are all good things. Just like that... they were all blown up?"
"Although I don't understand what they are going to do..." Ke Lan shook her head, "But I think we can't let them continue."
"Do you have a way to stop these guys?"
"Emergency procedure zero, activated." Ke Lan did not speak, but issued an order to Yaguna Tor with his consciousness.
…
At the same time, in the core area of the Ark, the secret room.
"An abnormal energy reaction has been detected inside the Yaguna Tor. It has been preliminarily determined that 'Emergency Procedure Zero' has been activated." said a mechanized voice.
"Huh... Did it take so long to unlock it? I thought we had to blow up the entire core power supply array before Zero could be activated?" Another voice sighed, "Everyone, should we celebrate? We are one step closer to success?"
"Anyone who starts celebrating so early will most likely end up in defeat. This has always been the case in history," another voice criticized mercilessly.
"History? Humph, we are the creators of history! Why, do you also believe in those boring plots that only appear in movies and TV shows?"
"I don't have time to argue with you. If you are free now, you should check the next action plan again. When... you wake up, all steps cannot be missed."
"Don't worry, everything has been arranged... We just need to--"
Before the voice finished speaking, the mechanical voice at the beginning suddenly exclaimed, and the tone was completely different from the previous emotionless tone, but with a hint of panic: "No! No! What was unlocked is the black coffin, not the white coffin!"
"What black coffin?" The voice that was full of confidence just now suddenly became a little anxious. "Wasn't the container used to store his semi-deified body the white coffin? Where did this black coffin come from?"
"I don't know..." the first voice murmured, "Based on the frequency of energy fluctuations, the 'Emergency Procedure Zero' has indeed been activated... but what was awakened was an object stored in the 'Black Coffin'..."
"Could it be a mistake? Did you mistake the White Coffin for the Black Coffin?"
"No... That's right, it's the Black Coffin, even the storage location is different!" said the mechanized voice.
The secret room fell into silence for several seconds until a fourth voice sounded: "Where is the White Coffin? Is there any movement?"
"No... only the thing in the 'Black Coffin' was awakened. What should we do? Should we stop it?" asked the mechanized voice.
"Stop it? Can you stop it?" The voice that criticized his companions earlier sneered, "Don't forget how much we paid when we stole the 'White Coffin' and put it back."
…
Inside the Yaguna Tor, the core power room.
The exit of a transmission channel appeared without warning above the supply base. The next second, a coffin-shaped object that was five meters long, 1.5 meters wide and high fell out of the transmission channel and landed heavily on the square in the center of the supply base.
This huge "coffin" is pitch black, but unlike the "black" of the black fleet and the black troops, the black on the surface of the "coffin" is not so much a color as it is a visual effect similar to a black hole - any light shining on it will be swallowed up without leaving anything... The so-called pure black is probably this effect.
The black-clad soldiers, who were as silent as robots, seemed to have received some order. They put down their work of installing bombs and gathered in the square. Even the mass-produced fallen angels who were originally on guard outside the base jumped over the walls and buildings and landed on one side of the square.
The soldiers raised their guns and pointed them at the black coffin in the center of the square. But just when Ke Lan was wondering why these soldiers were so slow to pull the trigger, a soldier at the head of the team suddenly turned to ashes - but his clothes and weapons were not affected at all. The unmanned guns fell to the ground, and the clothes that lost their support collapsed limply... As for the body that turned to ashes, it seemed to be attracted by some special gravity and floated towards the black coffin that had smashed into the ground.
The first soldier who turned into ashes was like the first domino to be pushed down. In the blink of an eye, everyone in the square had followed his footsteps. All kinds of weapons fell to the ground, and occasionally there were sounds of accidental firing, but it didn't matter anymore - in this short second, there was no living person left in the entire supply base.
Even the living CPU of a mass-produced Fallen Angel could not escape this fate. The floating ashes passed through the Fallen Angel's solid armor and energy shield as if through a mold, flew into the black coffin without any hindrance, and merged with the pure black.
I don't know how long it took, but a long breathing sound came from the black coffin, followed by a heartbeat like a drum.
The lid of the black coffin slid down silently, and a young man who looked exactly like walked out slowly.
