Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 848: The Gate of the Hive
"Nest City?" Ke Lan and Sanshisan looked at each other and saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.
The first time they heard the word "hive city" was from the mouth of the corpse on the "Genoa" high-speed support ship. After that, Ke Lan and Sanshisan both believed that the hive city referred to by the corpse was the Tower of Babel standing in the "eye of the storm in the thick fog" in the core area of the Gray Fog Forest.
But now, the inscription on this round door made of a large amount of Nino alloy told the two that their guess was wrong.
The Tower of Babel is not the "Nest City", this "Nest City" refers to something else.
"Could it be that the 'Eclipse' had also been to this place before? But he is not a symbiote, so how can he understand the Alpha text on this door?" Thirty-Three muttered.
"People who are corrupted can often hear some strange whispers, which are irresistible... No matter if you plug your ears or knock yourself out, the whispers will appear in your dreams..." Ke Lan explained that part of this information comes from memory fragments unlocked deep in his mind, and part of it comes from his own personal experience. "Most of these whispers are meaningless murmurs, but they also contain some 'forbidden knowledge'. This knowledge is both precious and dangerous... It may also contain the method of interpreting the language and writing of the Alpha civilization."
“Damn it!” Thirty-three cursed in a low voice. “Last time I dreamed, I seemed to have dreamed of a voice mumbling something in my ear, but in the dream, no matter how I turned my head, I couldn’t see the person who was talking, and I couldn’t catch him even if I reached out my hand… As for what ‘it’ said, I forgot it after I woke up. The only thing I didn’t forget is that I can be sure that I heard every word it said in the dream very clearly.”
Thirty-three tapped the top of his helmet in annoyance and smacked his lips. "Tsk, that feeling is like knowing there's an itchy spot on your back, but you can't scratch it no matter how hard you try. It's so uncomfortable."
"I understand this feeling." Ke Lan nodded. If you say it's uncomfortable, it's because there are so many fragments of memory sealed in his head... Many things can make Ke Lan feel familiar, but he just can't remember them. This is the most uncomfortable thing.
If it were a patient with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, he would have been driven to death long ago.
Fortunately, Ke Lan has gradually become accustomed to this feeling.
"Don't think about those things. Sometimes, forgetting is the best way to protect yourself." Ke Lan said, "At least, you haven't grown any strange tentacles or anything like that on your body yet."
"That's true." Thirty-three pointed at the round metal door on the ground. "So, behind this door is... that hive city?"
"It should be." Ke Lan nodded. What puzzled him even more was the "Corrosion Corpse", Heruni and others. How did they reach the underwater city? Although the water pressure here is not as terrifying as the three thousand meters deep "Underwater City No. 1", it is enough to crush a living person into a meat patty. Ordinary vehicles cannot dive to this depth at all.
If the crews on the "Genoa" and "Shaojiang Modified" could still use the resources on the warships to piece together and modify some deep-diving equipment, then the situation of the 776 Special Forces Team made Ke Lan even more puzzled.
According to normal logic, the 776 Special Forces Team should have been sent to the uninhabited island by the triggered teleportation device after completing the blasting mission. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but the problem lies in Collins' diary.
On page 22 of the diary, there is a sketch of the underwater city called the "Giant Eye Pillar"...but with the equipment carried by the 776th Special Forces Team, they could never dive to that depth.
No... not necessarily...
Ke Lan thought about it carefully and roughly came up with three possibilities.
The first possibility, which is also the most likely one, is that all members of the 776 Special Forces Team have been contaminated by Him, just like the crew members on the crashed battleship. The "forbidden knowledge" they have obtained may contain images of the underwater city.
For example, I had a nightmare about this stone pillar, and then I drew it in my diary based on my memory.
Given Sergeant Collins' mental state when he wrote his diary, he should not be surprised by anything that appeared in his diary.
The second possibility is not as likely as the first one, but it is not low either - Sergeant Collins or someone in the 776 Special Forces Team has been contaminated by the cells of the Seed of Erosion, or the degree of erosion has exceeded the critical value, turning into some kind of Seed of Erosion mutant or Erosion Corpse that retains some sanity. With the physical strength and ability of this kind of monster, it should be possible to dive to a depth of several hundred meters underwater.
As for the third possibility, it has the lowest probability, but Ke Lan cannot rule it out...especially after experiencing that kind of "environment replacement" type of mechanism.
Perhaps, when Heruni, Collins and others came to the underwater city "City No. 2", the ruins of this city were not yet the "Underwater City".
Ke Lan felt that her imagination could be even bolder. For example, the platform that carried this underwater city was actually a man-made lifting platform, which could allow the city to sink to the bottom of the sea or float up to the surface of the sea... Maybe other people came here when the city floated up to the surface of the sea.
“This door… To be honest, I’ve explored so many ruins, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a massive door made of pure Nino alloy.” Thirty-Three exclaimed.
"We also saw a door like this in the glacier ruins. It was similar in style, but much smaller than this one." Ke Lan recalled, "There were also many words of the Alpha civilization engraved on it..."
"The text of the Alpha civilization?" Since knowing that Ke Lan could read these texts that seemed like incomprehensible books to ordinary people, Sanshisan has been extremely sensitive to such clues. "What is written on that door?"
"I can't remember." Ke Lan shook her head. "At that time, I hadn't yet acquired the ability to decipher the Alpha script. Moreover, after I saw those words, I had severe hallucinations in my head, accompanied by a severe headache, so I didn't remember any of the words engraved on the door."
"But those hallucinations were not entirely correct, because during the subsequent exploration, I saw what appeared in the hallucinations - the high platform used to place the 'sarcophagus'." Ke Lan continued.
"What a pity! If we could decipher the words on that door, we might be able to get some valuable clues." Thirty-three sighed.
"The situation at that time did not allow us to make rubbings of the door. Old Dog and Layton only took photos, but the cameras were damaged in the subsequent incidents, so the photos could not be preserved. As for the 'original' door, the subsequent explorers did not have time to dismantle it and transport it back to the Ark. The glacial ruins collapsed, revealing the bottomless sinkhole hidden underground. The door also fell into the abyss under the sinkhole and could not be found at all."
The incident that Ke Lan mentioned was naturally the attack of the heretic sect on the battleship that rescued them. Although the team members finally returned to the Ark safely, most of the equipment they originally carried was turned into ashes along with the battleship under the death ray cannon.
"It seems that we have no choice but to bite the bullet and cross the river by feeling the stones." Thirty-three shrugged.
"Crossing the river by feeling the stones" is definitely not a happy thing for relic hunters. In high-level relics, what you touch is often not a stone, but a sharp dagger, or a bomb that is about to explode, or even something more bizarre and deadly.
"Since the corpse knows that there is something in the 'Hive City' and thinks that we came to the Gray Mist Forest for that thing, it means that it must have been there. There is a high probability that Heruni and the others have also entered the 'Hive City'. Even they were able to return safely, so with our configuration, there shouldn't be much danger." Ke Lan said.
“Returning safely… I don’t think so.” Thirty-three shook his head. “Maybe they looked like that because they had been to this place.”
"How about I go in by myself and you stay outside?" Ke Lan glanced at Sanshisan. "I can ask Ze Luo to create a space for you that is isolated from the sea water. I can at least ensure that you can stay in it for a week."
"What about a week later? If you don't come back, will I just wait here to die? Rather than staying here, I'd rather go in with you." Thirty-three smiled and shook his head, "To be honest, I don't even care about life or death anymore. Do you think I'd still be afraid of this kind of thing?"
"Okay, let's go together." Ke Lan nodded and focused his eyes on the door that fit perfectly with the surrounding ground.
“But I really do have a favor to ask of you.” Sanshisan suddenly said, “If… I mean if, I become a monster, please help me just like you helped Mo Jue, one last time.”
Ke Lan turned her head, looked at him steadily, and then said, "Okay."
"I'm not sure if I can still keep my sanity in that situation , so I'm saying hello to you first, so you don't have to hesitate." Thirty-three smiled again, "Okay, let's think of a way to open this door. By the way, how did you open the similar Nino alloy door you found in the glacial ruins?"
"That door has a 'self-service' activation device. Just put an energy crystal into the groove and it will open." Ke Lan said.
"Tsk..." After hearing the words "self-service starting device", Thirty-Three showed an expression of understanding.
Mechanisms like this, which "put in energy crystals as 'tolls' and then open the passage," are not uncommon in the remains of the Alpha civilization. Although this mechanism does not pose a threat, it can be regarded as a "dangerous omen."
Even though the gate made of pure Nino alloy was very heavy and required tremendous strength to move, and even though the devices in the ruins had been idle for many years and the energy stored in them had been severely consumed, the mere act of opening the door would not consume so many energy crystals - of the crystals used by the hunters to open the door, only a small part of the energy was actually used to open the door, and most of the energy was used to activate "other mechanisms".
This is equivalent to digging one hole after another for yourself, and then jumping into it without hesitation.
Hunters know this in their hearts, but in most cases they have no choice.
"But there is no groove on this door for inserting crystals." Thirty-three said as he walked around the edge of the hive gate.
This door is really big. The diameter alone is more than 20 meters. As for the thickness, according to Thirty-three's detection, it is even larger than the diameter.
"Rather than a door, I think this thing is more like a plug," said Thirty-Three.
It is simply a fantasy to use violent means to open such a large volume and mass of Nino Alloy. Even Ze Luo's spatial ability cannot be used... What's more, the noise caused by opening the door violently will definitely be a lot. If the guy in the Abyss Hatchery is alarmed, it will be a lot of fun.
"Why not try digging a tunnel and bypassing this door?" Thirty-three suddenly had an idea.
He stepped on the ground at the edge of the door and said, "Although the ground is also very hard, rock is always easier to dig than Nino alloy, right?"
"It's a solution, but it's a last resort. We can put it a little lower on the priority list." Ke Lan commented, "I don't think the Alphas would be so stupid as to not consider this kind of problem."
"That makes sense." Thirty-three crossed his arms, "Then can you think of another way? Not the best plan or the middle plan, but a plan that is better than my worst plan will do."
"Wait a minute, let me try." Ke Lan said.
He remembered the liquid door he encountered when he was chasing Dr. Renee. He took a deep breath and said to the door in front of him in Alpha language: "Open the door."
There was no response from the "Hive Gate".
"Open, open, open the hole, open it for me, open sesame, let me in, let me have a look--" Ke Lan changed the way he said it several times, but there was no change in the "Gate of the Nest City".
"What are you doing?" Sanshisan looked at Ke Lan strangely and asked.
The language of the Alpha civilization is not spoken with the mouth, so Thirty-Three naturally didn't know about Ke Lan's previous attempt.
"Thinking." Ke Lan smiled faintly, suppressing the embarrassment in her heart as much as possible.
"Have you thought of a solution?"
“Not yet.”
