Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 956 Vodka and Medicinal Alcohol
"Mr. Ke Lan, do you mean... these unknown creatures come from inside the Ark?" Makino shuddered and cast a questioning look at Ke Lan cautiously, "Is it... the research institute ?"
"The research institute has long been defunct in name only." Ke Lan said, "If I tell you that these 'unknown creatures' are most likely from the Undead Crew, would you believe it?"
"I—" Makino's eyes were uncertain. After a long while, he said word by word: "I need evidence, conclusive evidence."
…
Yagunakotor, core area, joint exploration base, infirmary.
The hunched Thirty-Three was fixed to a cross with several polymer shackles. All the metal products around him, even the regular metal tools that did not contain Nino alloy, were moved outside the room.
"I just injected sixteen times the dose of sedative, and my physiological signs are temporarily stable." Ivan took off his nitrile gloves and placed several used syringes on the tray - these syringes were also specially made, and all the needles were made of special ceramics that do not contain metal. Not only the needles, but also the trays, scalpels, and some pliers, scissors and other instruments are either polymers or ceramics. There is no trace of metal in the entire medical room.
This is the advice given to Ke Lan by the Nest Master - the Thirty-Three Ability is to manipulate Nino Alloy. This ability comes from a clan civilization with silicon-based creatures as the main body. This clan civilization was destroyed in the war with the alien god clan. But the technology they left behind fell into the hands of the Alpha civilization. The Alpha civilization made many improvements to it and finally debugged this ability to a version that can be integrated with humans. However, because of the large restrictions and the lack of good actual combat effects, the project was finally abandoned by the decision-makers of the Night Watch, leaving only a few sealed laboratories.
The laboratory that Thirty-three broke into was one of these sealed laboratories.
The master of the hive told Ke Lan that Thirty-Three's ability was initially limited to manipulating specific materials such as Nino alloy, but if a mutation occurred, the manipulatable materials could be expanded to include most known metal substances. When this ability evolved to the highest level, it could even extract iron from the blood and calcium from the bones. For carbon-based creatures, enemies with such abilities would be fatal.
However, the one that destroyed this silicon-based civilization that believed in a foreign god happened to be a clan civilization created by carbon-based creatures.
The technological gap between the two sides is too big. The strongest silicon-based civilization can only manipulate these metal elements at a maximum distance of tens of thousands of kilometers, but the latter can launch an attack from hundreds of light seconds away. Before the former can react, the galaxy where the civilization is located has been completely destroyed.
There is also a huge gap in strength between the clan civilizations. Therefore, even if human civilization can really become His clan, the ending will most likely be destroyed by a clan of alien gods that is so powerful that they cannot resist at all.
Although Thirty-Three has not evolved to the level where he can extract metal elements from his body, Ke Lan believes that under the stimulation of those illusions, he is likely to break through to the second stage, so he ordered that no metal products are allowed to approach Thirty-Three to prevent accidents.
"Ivan, what do you think? Can Thirty-three still be saved?" Layton asked loudly, lying outside the transparent isolation wall.
As a cyborg, Layton has all kinds of metal parts all over his body. Many of them are made of Nino alloy for strength and durability. Among all the hunters in the group, he is the one who is least allowed to approach Thirty-Three and can only wait outside and worry.
"The situation is not optimistic, but at least there is no danger to life for the time being." Ivan pushed open the door of the infirmary with some fatigue, walked out, sat down on the steps, and took out a ceramic wine flask from the pocket of his white coat very conveniently. He unscrewed the lid and took a big gulp. "As long as Ke Lan is not nearby, his mood will be much more stable... For him, Ke Lan is a very sensitive stressor, which is probably related to Ke Lan's special abilities."
"I heard from Ke Lan that Sanshisan's perception has been completely distorted... In his eyes, Ke Lan is probably a very scary monster... As for us, it's probably because we are relatively weak and he doesn't feel threatened, so he behaves relatively quietly."
"That's the only explanation... This situation cannot be solved with existing medical methods." Ivan took another sip of wine. "I have studied medicine for most of my life, and I think I have some knowledge in biology and anatomy... But now I encounter 'symptoms', and this knowledge is completely useless. I can't help but start to doubt whether medicine is still necessary... I finally understand why the military doctor on the 'Shaojiang Reform' committed suicide."
"Don't be so pessimistic." Layton patted Ivan on the shoulder. "At least it's no problem to cure a cold or something like that... If there were no medicine, most of us would have died long ago... Just think about primitive society. If you accidentally scratched your finger, you might die from infection. But now, even some diseases that were considered terminal in the past can be cured. Isn't this the meaning of medicine?"
"..." Ivan looked at Leighton in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be able to comfort people."
"Well, this is not consolation, it's just the truth." Layton scratched his head, "Let's talk about the facts. If you hadn't helped me with the emergency surgery at that time, I would have died under the glacial ruins... As for Thirty-Three and those who were eroded, their symptoms should not be called "disease" at all, and should not be treated by doctors-"
"That's right," Ivan nodded. "Ke Lan also said that if Thirty-three wants to return to normal and regain his sanity, it all depends on whether he can struggle out of those illusions. External factors can only play a supporting role... Speaking of which, it's just like catching a cold. Most cold medicines can only relieve the patient's symptoms. To cure a cold, it ultimately depends on the patient's own immune system."
Ivan finished speaking and handed the wine bottle in his hand to Layton: "Would you like a sip?"
"This time, it's not filled with medical alcohol mixed with water, right?" Leighton took the wine jug and looked inside from the mouth of the jug with a frown.
"Don't worry, it's pure vodka, made from potatoes, distilled and filtered multiple times." Ivan licked the remaining liquor at the corner of his mouth with his tongue, and said with endless aftertaste, "If I sell it, it will really cost more than 8,000 credits per sip."
"Don't mention 8,000, even 80,000 is fine." Layton chuckled, "Unfortunately, my account has been frozen, so I can only write you an IOU."
After saying this, he brought the jug to his lips and drank all the remaining liquid in it down his throat in one breath.
"You are too greedy. Can't you leave some for me?... Come to think of it, I don't know how Ke Lan and the others are doing..." Ivan raised his wrist to look at his watch, but suddenly remembered that he had taken it off when entering the infirmary because the watch contained metal parts.
"They have been on the move for twelve hours. According to the speed of the 'Owl', they should have reached the Mukach Fortress a long time ago." Layton handed the watch and the empty wine bottle back to Ivan. "Don't worry, if support is needed, Ke Lan will definitely send a message back. With Ze Luo and Valentina's blasphemer here, it is impossible for them to do what Mukach has with its military strength... No news now is the best news."
…
Ark, West 11th District.
Soap didn't know how far he had run. He only knew that his powered exoskeleton had broken down half an hour ago due to excessive load. After taking off the exoskeleton, he ran on his own legs for almost half an hour... Even after being injected with drugs, he felt that his physical strength was about to reach its limit.
His legs felt heavy as if they were filled with lead. Every time he lifted them, it was a double test of his physical limits and willpower. His leg muscles were no longer sore from the accumulation of lactic acid. They were completely numb. He could no longer feel the pain even when the needle was inserted. The only part that still had feeling was the part above the lumbar spine... His lower body seemed to no longer be a part of him.
Soap felt like he would fall to the ground at any moment and never get up again. The vital signs monitoring device kept sounding the alarm. He reached into the bag on his waist that held empty magazines. There were several used syringes in it. He fiddled with his fingers and counted them. He had already ejected six... This amount was definitely above the danger threshold, and sudden death was not impossible.
But when he thought about what might happen if he was caught up by those fleshy fungal mats, Soap would rather choose sudden death... Closing his eyes and losing all senses immediately was better than being tortured to death.
Noval's situation is not much better than Soap's. Although the physical training intensity of elite pilots is not weaker than that of infantry, Soap is on the road all year round, while Noval spends 90% of his time sitting in the cockpit when performing missions... It may not be visible in a short period of time, but over time, Noval's physical disadvantages will gradually become apparent.
Soap estimated that Nouval may have taken more than ten military stimulants - although they carried small doses and diluted specifications this time, the total dose of the ten doses added together was enough to be fatal. Even if he did not die after the effect of the drug wore off, he would definitely be left with serious sequelae.
In severe cases, the patient will become a vegetable, while in mild cases, hemiplegia will occur.
Soap had a comrade-in-arms who was too nervous and injected an overdose of stimulants on the battlefield. As a result, he suffered multiple organ failure afterwards. At that time, the field hospital did not have the conditions to transplant artificial organs for him, and it was completely too late to send him back to the Ark. Soap and his comrades could only watch the soldier, who was not injured in the battle at all, die painfully on the bed of the field hospital.
"It seems... this time... I'm really dead." Soap thought to himself. He could no longer speak. Noir's face was seriously distorted. His bulging eyes were bloodshot, and thick blue veins on his forehead and neck were bulging. Soap felt that these blood vessels would burst in the next second, and then spray out boiling blood ten meters away.
"Do you need help?" The Joker didn't use any equipment other than the exoskeleton, but this run seemed to have no effect on him. Soap couldn't even hear his breathing.
"Help... huh... help... what... help?" Soap felt like he had almost spent half his life to squeeze out these half a sentence from between his teeth. As for Nouval, he could only stare blankly and gasp heavily.
"Don't worry, there won't be any side effects, and you won't turn into monsters." Just as the clown finished speaking, two fingers-thick tentacles emerged from under his cloak - Soap noticed that at the end of the tentacle, there was a structure like a syringe needle.
"Wait, wait, no, don't..." Before Soap could say no, two tentacles shot out, and the sharp and slender needles pierced into Soap and Noir's backs.
Soap had no strength to dodge and could only allow the needle to penetrate his skin and muscles and go straight into the gap between his spine.
"What...what are you going to do?"
The Joker didn't answer his question, but the next second, Soap felt something being injected into his spinal cord. Then, the painful feeling of dying all over his body disappeared without a trace, and even his physical strength returned to its peak state... no, it was even stronger than its peak state.
He had so much strength that he couldn't use it all. Soap even had an illusion that he could blow up everything in his way with one punch.
He looked at his arms in surprise and found that the muscle lines on his arms seemed to have changed... He felt that if he took a physical fitness test at this time, he should be able to break all his previous records easily.
"What did you inject into me?" But the surprise only lasted for half a second, and worries and concerns surged into my heart, "I... I won't become that kind of monster, right?"
"I said, you won't turn into monsters." The clown shook his head. "What I injected into you is just a biological agent synthesized from special materials. You can think of it as a highly effective stimulant with no side effects."
"How could stimulants have such an effect? Do you think I have never used stimulants?" Soap took out the empty syringes from the bag and threw them on the ground. "There is no medicine in this world without any side effects!"
"What if I say this is a stimulant developed by the Alpha Civilization? You should know how big the technological gap is between them and us, right?"
"Uh--" Soap was suddenly speechless , but no matter what, he could truly feel the changes in his body. The feeling of accelerated heartbeat and sweating all over the body after injecting stimulants did not appear, and the burning pain in the lungs when breathing was completely gone.
Just when Soap was still wondering what the Joker had injected into him, Noir's voice suddenly rang out: "Those things don't seem to be chasing us...Are we safe?"
"For now." The Joker said, "As long as we are still in the Ark, we can't get rid of them completely... We have to speed up."
"Now, where do we go?"
"Core area."
