Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 851 "Industrial Zone"
"Is the class system of Alpha Civilization so strict?" Thirty-Three asked in surprise, "Or is it limited to the era when this 'sanctuary' was used?"
"Not sure." Ke Lan shook his head. "Although some of the sealed memory fragments were unlocked after entering the nest, the content is too little, and a lot of key information is missing."
"So what you're saying is that as long as we keep descending along this lift platform, we can reach... um, the noble district?" Thirty-three asked.
"That's the theory, but I don't know what the third-level nest looks like."
…
…
Noah's Ark, core area.
When Roronoa, the only "visible" level nine enhanced human agent in the Security Bureau and the leader of the fifth field team, fell, both of Zeus' arms were cut off at the root, and there were several deep gaps in his chest and abdomen where the bones could be seen. The internal organs and intestines that had lost their support were hanging outside the body, and some were even dragged on the ground, leaving dirty bloodstains.
Around Zeus, there were piles of corpses like mountains, including security agents, garrison soldiers, and even more were the clone troops in black clothes and armor.
"So powerful... Are all members of the Undead Crew this kind of monster?" Lin Qiming's subordinate took a deep breath and muttered.
But when he looked at his boss, he found that his boss frowned and shook his head, saying: "No... No, it's not strong at all, but too weak... This is not right."
"What do you mean too weak? Who are you talking about, Boss... Roronoa?"
"No, I'm talking about the target." Lin Qiming said.
The subordinate was stunned for a moment. If it wasn't the wrong timing, he really wanted to touch Lin Qiming's forehead to confirm whether his boss had a high fever and was confused.
"It's true that Roronoa is a level nine enhanced human, but in front of the target, the strength of a level nine enhanced human is far from enough... According to my expectations, it would be the limit for him to be able to touch the target, but the problem is that not only did he successfully attack and hit the target, but he also severely damaged the target before he died... This is not right." Lin Qiming said in a deep voice.
“Isn’t this a good thing?” The subordinate asked in confusion, “Perhaps the target is just strong on the outside but weak on the inside… According to this trend, we don’t even need those blocking lines behind us. We can stop the target by ourselves—no, not only stop him, we may be able to kill him!”
"Have you noticed one thing..." Lin Qiming held the sniper rifle, and the crosshairs in the center of the scope were locked on Zeus' head, but he did not pull the trigger.
"What's up?"
"Roronoa's first strike almost severed the target's neck, but now there is only an inconspicuous white mark on the target's neck. The horrific wound that almost decapitated him has long since disappeared... But since when, the target has lost that amazing ability to recover. Not only has his broken arms not regenerated, but even the several fatal wounds on his chest and abdomen have not recovered. He just keeps bleeding... Now the bleeding is not because the wounds have healed, but because the blood in his body has dried up."
"Then its... target... is dead?" The subordinate glanced at Zeus who was standing in the center of the battlefield in the distance. He had not moved for more than ten seconds, but the casualties on the blocking position were also heavy, and it was difficult to organize another wave of attack.
No one dared to rush forward... Anyway, the order from above was to just stop the target. Since the target had stopped moving forward, their mission was accomplished... Although the soldiers would not resist orders, it did not mean that they could be completely fearless of death - except for the clones.
However, as the first batch of cannon fodder thrown into the battle, the clone troops had already been used up by this time. Looking around, there was no soldier in black clothes and armor still standing.
"I don't know." Lin Qiming took a deep breath and tried to pull the trigger several times, but he didn't do it in the end - the trigger of the gun that had just been maintained yesterday seemed to be rusted and did not move at all.
It’s not that Lin Qiming didn’t dare to shoot...but he was worried that if he really blew up the target’s head, something unexpected would happen next, causing the situation to get completely out of control - from a certain perspective, maintaining the current stalemate can be said to be the most ideal state.
As for how the incident will end, that is something the people above need to consider, and they just have to follow orders.
But just when Lin Qiming was thinking about whether to send a report message to his superiors for instructions, the order from the Undead Crew came down first, and it was a direct communication from Demeter.
This scared Lin Qiming. It was the first time that a formal member of the Undead Crew Club gave orders directly to him, the deputy chief, bypassing the chief of the Crisis Management Section. He knew with his heels that it must be a very important and urgent order.
"This is the first line of defense, crisis management department, Lin Qiming, the target has stopped moving at this time—"
Lin Qiming's report was not finished when Demeter mercilessly interrupted him: "The target has been moved. What remains in front of you is a substitute. According to the last images taken by the monitoring equipment in various parts of the ship before they were destroyed, and the route predicted by the computer based on the target's movement trajectory, the target's new target should be the underground ice storage at the former site of the West District 1 Research Institute."
"Is that a substitute? When was he replaced... why didn't we notice it at all?" Lin Qiming's communication device was turned on the external speaker, and his subordinates beside him naturally heard Demeter's words and exclaimed.
"It's not important. The key is... the underground ice storage." Lin Qiming's face looked ugly. As the deputy chief of the crisis management department, he naturally knew what incredible things were stored in the underground ice storage. Compared to the black well which only had hard drives and core brains, the underground ice storage was the real threat... If the things inside were released, whether alive or dead, it would be a disaster.
A disaster with unpredictable consequences.
"That's right, the underground ice storage is Zeus's real target. Black Well and the core brain were just bluffing, and we were all fooled by him." Demeter spoke quickly, completely ignoring her usual elegant and noble temperament. "I have urgently dispatched troops to stop him, but compared to here, the defense of the underground ice storage is too weak. From now on, all crisis management officers will be ordered to defend Black Well and rush to the underground ice storage. If you can catch up with Zeus, hold him back at all costs... If Zeus has already entered the underground ice storage when you arrive, then seal the entire underground ice storage and never let him out!"
"Yes!" Lin Qiming responded immediately.
After the communication ended, in addition to the Crisis Management Section, people from several other units on the defense line also began to stir - it was not just Lin Qiming who received the order. The leaders of the few surviving field teams of the Security Bureau and officers above the colonel level of the garrison troops all received the same order.
A roar came from overhead. Lin Qiming looked up and saw several transport planes flying over the battlefield close to the dome, heading towards the West District 1. These transport planes were carrying troops from the rear defense lines. Originally, after Lin Qiming defense line was breached, it would be their turn to face the rebellious crew member.
They had been on standby all the time, so their transfer speed was much faster than Lin Qiming's and his crippled troops. The positions of the guards and forwards were swapped at once.
"Let the medics stay behind and let the lightly wounded take care of the seriously wounded. The rest of you, find a vehicle nearby and prepare to rush to West District 1!" Lin Qiming said to the subordinate operator, "As for those clone troops... don't waste medical resources on them. Their brains have been burned by the control chip. If they are revived, they will just be vegetables."
"Then...what about the substitute? How to deal with it?" Lin Qiming's subordinates pointed at "Zeus" who was still standing in the center of the battlefield and asked.
Without thinking, Lin Qiming picked up the sniper rifle and pulled the trigger that he had not pulled before -
"Bang!"
The clear sound of sniper rifle gunfire resounded throughout the battlefield. "Zeus"' head exploded like a watermelon, and the headless, armless body fell straight backwards, mixing with the mutilated corpses on the ground.
"Let's go!" Lin Qiming put away his sniper rifle, turned around and ran quickly to one side. At the entrance to the right side were two bulletproof air cushion vehicles. Those were the vehicles they took when they came. The equipment boxes on the roofs were filled with weapons, ammunition, and medicines, and even a number of heavy firepower weapons that were "prohibited from use inside the Ark."
Lin Qiming opened the car door and jumped into the driver's seat. He glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that all sixteen members of his team had filed into the back compartment, not one missing - compared to the heavy losses suffered by the Security Bureau and the garrison troops, the casualties of the Crisis Management Department were almost negligible.
"It's going to be a tough battle, so be prepared...be prepared." Lin Qiming originally wanted to say "be prepared to sacrifice", but on second thought, he swallowed the word "sacrifice".
Although he and these operators knew very well that the survival rate of this mission would be very low, they still held a glimmer of hope in their hearts... It is better not to say some unlucky words if possible.
People who often experience life and death, even if they are atheists, will always be a little "superstitious".
It’s just that what they believe in is not God, but fate.
Lin Qiming's thumb slid across the fingerprint lock, and the engine of the bulletproof air cushion vehicle roared suddenly.
…
…
Hive City, second level, "Industrial Zone".
The lift stopped.
"Why is this? Why isn't it moving?" Thirty-Three asked in confusion, and did not leave the lift platform immediately.
"I used my blood to activate this lift... Maybe my blood is only enough to take us to this level." Ke Lan speculated, "Going down further, it should be where the dignitaries and managers of the nest city live."
"If I remember correctly, the undead crew would call people like you 'symbiotes', right?" Thirty-three suddenly turned the topic to Ke Lan.
"To be precise, the term symbiote comes from the Alpha civilization, not the Undead Crew," Ke Lan corrected.
After all, he had “personally” heard the word “symbiote” uttered by the Alpha survivor in the wreckage of Engine No. 92.
"It's all the same. Symbiote means that a fragment of Alpha's gene has been embedded in your genes, right?"
Ke Lan nodded.
"It seems that the Alpha gene fragment in your body is not from a noble, and your bloodline is not high enough." Thirty-three shrugged, "But at least it's better than those living on the first floor. It's probably considered the... working class in Alpha society?"
"Maybe." Ke Lan did not comment. "Since the lift can only take me here, let's start exploring from this floor. As of now, this nest city does not seem to be dangerous."
"That's right. Even Heruni and his gang were able to return to the warship safely... For us, the biggest threat in this place should be the 'forbidden knowledge', right?" Sanshisan suddenly stopped talking and waved to Ke Lan, "Ke Lan, come over here quickly, there are words carved on the ground."
Ke Lan immediately walked to the side of No. 33, and saw a string of inscriptions engraved on the ground at the edge of one of the tracks of the lifting platform. The inscriptions were badly worn, but fortunately they were engraved in relief and had not been completely worn away.
"You should be able to understand it, right?" Thirty-three asked anxiously, "What's written on it? Apart from the word 'Nest City' on the lift platform, this is the only text we have seen since we came in."
"I... don't understand." Ke Lan shook her head.
"No way? There are times when your ability is not useful?" Thirty-three said in astonishment.
"These characters don't seem to be the words of the Alpha civilization...but I feel somewhat familiar with them, as if I have seen them somewhere..." Ke Lan muttered softly.
"Isn't it the text of the Alpha Civilization?" Thirty-Three let out a breath from between his teeth, making a "hissing" sound. "Could it be that this nest city was not built by the Alpha Civilization? You said you felt familiar with it. Have you seen such text in other ruins before?"
"Other relics..." Ke Lan's pupils suddenly trembled, "I remember, I saw this kind of text in the Molten Mine Area, on a piece of Nino alloy scrap."
"On the scraps?" Thirty-three was confused. "What scraps?"
"It is the scraps left over from the rough processing of Nino alloy raw materials in the Molten Mine... But now we all know that these Nino alloys, whether standard materials or scraps, actually come from Yaguna Kotor. So the inscription on this scrap should have been engraved on Yaguna Kotor."
