Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 945: Leaving the Team
"Leave here? Why, are you going to kill everyone in this safe house?" asked Soap.
"It's not me who wants to kill them. I only eat to dilute the corrosion in my body. If possible, I don't want to kill anyone. But in a while, a group of professional killers will come to our door... Of course, they may also be a group of monsters that are much stronger than the ones you have encountered before."
"You mean... the person sent by Zeus?!" Soap felt that he must be crazy. This self-proclaimed human monster had killed four people right under his nose and devoured their flesh and blood, but he actually thought he was right... "Crazy, I must be crazy! Damn it! Why? How do you know all this?!"
"Because that Zeus is the same kind of person as me." The clown said, "It's just that he couldn't withstand the temptation of power and completely sold his soul and body to that existence."
"I don't understand what you are saying... You know Zeus? Who are you? Who is Zeus?" Soap felt his mind was in a mess. "Wait, let's not talk about this for now. You have killed four people. This is a fact in front of us. How are you going to explain it to others? Do you think they will believe you?"
"Soon, this safe house and all the people inside it will be destroyed. Maybe one or two people will escape, but most will die." The Joker glanced at the bodies of the soldiers he had killed on the ground. "These few people just died a few hours earlier."
"How can you be so sure that everyone here will die?!" Soap's facial features were twisted together, not because of pain, but because of the brain overload caused by too much information that he could not understand. He felt a little hysterical. "Is there no chance of resistance at all?"
"You can choose to resist, but the outcome is certain. The 'things' that are coming are not something you can fight against with your strength."
"What about you? Will you die here too?" Soap stared at the clown and asked. Although he still had fear in his heart, emotions such as surprise, confusion, and doubt prevailed at this time, and there was even a hint of anger.
"I'm leaving here now. If other people find out about this, just as you thought, they will definitely treat me as a monster... As for my explanation, they probably won't listen. I don't want to kill them, nor do I want to waste my energy in unnecessary battles. I have more important things to do." said the Joker.
"Wait...you mean, if I want to live, I have to do the same as you and escape from this place right now?" asked Soap.
"I'll give you two choices... or two suggestions," the Joker said. "You can escape from this place by yourself. As long as you can avoid being hunted by those things and find a way to leave the Ark, you can survive. You can also come with me. I need the assistance of some people who believe in me. I will try my best to ensure your safety, but what I'm going to do is very dangerous, and I may not be able to take care of you. Of course, you can also make a judgment based on your own will and stay with these people, or just shout loudly and tell everyone in the team what happened here."
The clown paused, then continued: "It all depends on your own idea."
Soap hesitated. He wanted to weigh the pros and cons of these "options", but his brain was blank at this moment, as if he had lost the ability to think... After several seconds, he finally said, "If I choose to stay, will I definitely die?"
Joker: "In my opinion, yes."
"Which one will give me a greater chance of survival: if I run away alone or if I go with you?" Soap asked again.
"I can't give you a correct answer to this. I can't predict the future. It all depends on your luck." The clown stood up from the ground. The spine was completely hidden in his body. Except for a lot of blood on his body, he looked exactly the same as before.
"Even if I'm lucky enough to escape to the wilderness...where can I go?" Soap couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. "If I follow you, you're going to find Zeus, right?"
"Yes." The clown did not hide it. "What I am going to do is very dangerous. Bringing a few more assistants may increase the success rate. This is an operation to save human civilization. If we succeed, your name may be recorded in history. To use the Chinese idiom, it means 'leaving your name in history.'"
"I have no interest in saving human civilization. Leaving a name in history is just empty talk. People are dead, and what happens after death has nothing to do with me..." There was a hint of frustration in Soap's tone. "What I'm curious about is that if you want to save human civilization, why don't you tell General Maginot? Why don't you tell the rest of the team? If you can explain things clearly, they will probably choose to help you."
"That's the crux of the matter. I can't explain it to them clearly." The Joker's eyes showed a trace of helplessness. "You've said many times that the mutation symptoms are transmitted through cognition... In their eyes, I am now nothing more than a dangerous monster-"
"In my opinion, too," Soap interjected.
"If I want them to believe me, I need to explain a lot of things. Let's not talk about whether they will give me a chance to explain, or whether there is enough time... Even if I can tell them all these things, the 'dangerous information' contained in them is enough to turn most people into something like Ronnie - dying in pain, or turning into monsters without self-awareness. The helpers I need must believe in me completely and unconditionally without knowing the cause and effect. There are very few people who can meet this condition."
"Do you think I can trust you unconditionally?" Soap said with his mouth slightly opened, somewhat surprised.
"At least you haven't fired a gun or called for help until now." The Joker said, "Your fear that I will kill you may be the main reason, but I can feel that deep down in your heart, you actually believe everything I say."
"Fuck it, when did I ever say I believed you...Fuck it, fuck it." Soap cursed "Fuck" three times in a row, and then hung his head like a deflated ball, "Can you take that Giraffe guy with you? He has been my partner for many years, and I don't want to leave him alone to die...if they are really all going to die."
"In ten minutes at most, the captain of the Spear Squad should send someone up to check on the situation. Do you think you can get the others away and convince your companions to believe in a 'monster' that just killed four teammates in ten minutes?" A third voice suddenly joined in, which made Soap shudder and turn around abruptly.
The transport plane pilot was leaning against the wall of the corridor, staring at him with sharp eyes.
"When did you ..."
"He came up here with you," Soap was interrupted by the clown before he could finish his words. "He listened to our conversation completely, which saved me a lot of trouble."
"It seems that you have already discovered me from the beginning... Let me introduce myself again. My name is Noir. In addition to transport planes and fighter planes, I can also drive tactical mechas. If you take me with you, I might be useful." Noir looked at the clown and said, "But I'm a little curious, if I had chosen to shoot or shout just now, would you have killed me?"
"No," said the Joker, pointing at the soap, "but I might not be able to take him with me in time."
"You...you 'also' believe what he said?" Soap looked at Noir in disbelief, then turned to look at the Joker.
"My mind told me that I couldn't trust him, but my intuition told me that what he said was true," Noir said. "When flying a fighter jet, there are many critical moments that don't give you time to think. In that situation, I trust my intuition more... and I have survived 27 battles, which shows that my intuition is still quite accurate."
"Most of the guys I know who believe in intuition...end up dying miserably." Soap pursed his lips and said sarcastically.
"But you chose to trust your intuition this time, didn't you?" Noir crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin to Soap, "Time is running out. It's time to make a decision."
"Alright!" Soap gritted his teeth, "But... I have a request."
"You say." said the clown.
"You just said that killing these soldiers would only end their lives a few hours earlier. Does that mean the assassin sent by Zeus will arrive here in a few hours?"
"With Zeus' efficiency, it can only be faster, not slower. He has not yet completely controlled everything on the Ark, and he must nip all unstable factors in the bud. Although this team is not at all eye-catching and will not pose any substantial threat to him, he will still pay attention to it... I once admired his cautious style of doing things." said the Joker.
"You seem to be really familiar with him..." Soap took a deep breath and continued, "In that case, can we hide nearby and observe? I want to confirm whether those people sent by Zeus are really here to kill us."
"Although this proposal is a bit dangerous, in order for you to completely trust me, it's okay." The clown responded, "But we must ensure a sufficient safe distance, at least five kilometers away."
"That's enough. We can observe the situation of this safe house with a telescope from a distance of five kilometers." Noir nodded. "I also have a question... These unknown creatures that invaded the Ark should not be alien creatures, right?"
Hearing Noir's question, the clown couldn't help but look at him more and nodded: "Yes, Zeus is the instigator of all this... Of course, he is no longer the original Zeus. When his body is polluted by that existence, his consciousness and thinking are naturally not immune... He can no longer be called a human being."
"You mean, this incident... is a civil unrest?!" Soap only reacted at this time, his mouth wide open, a look of astonishment on his face.
"It's time to go." The clown said and walked to the window. The glass of this window had been removed long ago, and a rope hung down from the window.
"Aren't you going down first?" Soap looked at the clown standing by the window and asked puzzledly.
"The rope is for you. I don't need it." The clown shook his head. "I can already hear footsteps. If you don't leave now, it will be too late."
While Soap was still struggling, Nouval had already rushed to the window, grabbed the rope and slid down.
"Hurry up." The clown urged, "You have made your choice, so don't hesitate any longer."
"I know!" Soap clenched his fists tightly, silently said sorry to his old partner in his heart, jumped to the window, fastened the safety buckle at his waist to the rope, and raised his legs to step out of the window frame.
Although this building only has three floors, it is more than ten meters above the ground because of the high floor height. Soap held the safety buckle with one hand and his belt with the other, sliding down the outer wall... As soon as his feet touched the ground, he saw the clown floating to the ground like a ghost - not only did he not make any sound, but he didn't even raise any dust.
"Where are we going now?" Noir walked up and asked.
"Five and a half kilometers to the south, there is a water purification tower with a wide view, which is very suitable as an observation point." The clown said as he retracted the rope.
"Just go there," Noir said.
The three did not follow the main road, as that would easily expose their whereabouts. Led by the clown, they first turned into an alley, and then moved back and forth between the gaps in the buildings... Just when Soap was completely lost, the view in front of him suddenly became empty, and the water purification tower appeared in front of them.
“Huh… Huh… You seem… very familiar with this place?” Soap said while panting slightly.
"It's not that hard to memorize the map." The Joker shrugged and said disapprovingly, "You can go to the top of the tower now."
Soap and Nouval looked at each other, and they both climbed up the stairs to the top of the water purification tower, raised their binoculars and looked towards the direction of the safe house.
All the windows of the safe house have been sealed with bulletproof one-way glass, and heavy metal gates have been lowered at the entrances and exits. Obviously, after discovering the bodies of the four soldiers, the entire team has entered the highest state of alert, and the safe house's defense facilities have all been activated.
"In their eyes, we have either defected or turned into monsters." Soap said to Noir, "But it's better this way. At least we won't be caught off guard by Zeus's people."
