Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 964 Monster "Ally"
"Uh... then it shouldn't be dangerous to us, right?" Soap lowered his gun and tilted his head to look at the huge moth attached to the wall of the waste pipe. "To be honest, I'm a little curious about how it eats... This underground space is very large for us, but very narrow for it. Will it really not hit the pipes or something when it flies up?"
"Curiosity not only kills cats, but also people." The clown said, "I said it is similar to plants. In addition to 'passive predation', there is also the absorption of radiation energy... Plants' photosynthesis will absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen, and synthesize nutrients in the presence of sunlight; but at night, it will turn into a completely reverse respiration, absorbing oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide."
"What you mean is that now that this moth is asleep, it will absorb the radiation escaping from the waste pipe; but if we wake it up, it will change from absorbing radiation to being the radiation source itself?" Soap immediately understood what the Joker meant.
"Yes, and when it senses danger, the amount of radiation it releases will reach a very high value, and even if you are wearing protective clothing, you can't resist it." The Joker said, "Eleven years ago, the Institute organized a test team composed entirely of D-class personnel. Each of them wore power armor with the highest level of protection. They used remote-controlled bombs to wake it up from a distance of one kilometer... In just forty seconds, the total amount of radiation released by this giant moth was equivalent to the total amount of radiation released by a main reactor in twelve years. Half of the D-class personnel team died instantly, their bodies were directly dehydrated, and turned into skeleton-like mummies. Those who were lucky enough not to die immediately did not survive for 24 hours.
"This test even affected the residential areas on the surface. More than 2,000 people suffered from radiation sickness to varying degrees. The official explanation was that there was a nuclear waste leak from the main reactor."
"Tsk, wow." Soap exclaimed, "It's so powerful? By the way, what are D-class personnel? Are they hired to die like those cheap miners?"
"D-class personnel are actually humanoid mice used by the institute for human-related experiments. They are basically composed of death row prisoners who have been deprived of their human rights." The Joker explained, "Later, the mass production of 'active ammunition' also used these D-class personnel as 'materials' to breed flesh-eating worms."
"It's really cruel... If I were a death row inmate, I would rather choose to eat a peanut on the shooting range. At least this way of dying is quick and I don't have to suffer so much before I die." Said Soap.
"You don't know this. D-class personnel positions are very popular among death row prisoners." The clown shook his head. "After becoming a D-class candidate, you can at least live for several more months . After a few months, you may not be assigned a mission that will definitely lead to your death... This is a job that depends entirely on luck. If you can successfully complete the mission and survive, you can not only be released from the status of a death row prisoner and regain your freedom, but also get a considerable reward. Many people are willing to seize this 'last chance' to take a chance. Therefore, every time the research institute goes to the prison to select D-class personnel, those death row prisoners will fight to the point of bleeding for a position, and even cause deaths."
"I'm a little curious. Do these death row inmates know the mortality and survival rates of D-class personnel?" Nouval asked.
"This probability will not be made public, but the people who come down from the research institute to select and the prison guards will implicitly 'leak' a 'gossip' to these prisoners: at least one-third of them have successfully regained their freedom through the D-class mission."
"With a one-third chance of not dying and a reward, it's definitely worth a try. It's normal to fight for it." Soap nodded, "But what's the real probability?"
"The mortality rate is 100%, and the survival rate is 0%." The Joker said, "Even if a D-class personnel successfully completes the assigned task, he will be secretly eliminated or directly sent to a research team that needs to perform human dissection. To the people in the institute, D-class personnel are not people, but consumables. The remaining consumables should be 'harmlessly disposed of'."
"It's more cruel than I thought. I thought at least a few would be released as publicity examples." Said Soap.
"There is no need for propaganda benchmarks, because the death row prisoners in the prison have no access to the outside world." The Joker said, "And in the D-class personnel agreement, there are more than 30 confidentiality clauses alone. The outside world has no idea that D-class personnel exist. In the eyes of the prisoners, even if there are D-class personnel outside, they will definitely keep their past experiences secret."
"Does no one doubt the authenticity of this probability?" Soap asked again.
"Of course some people will doubt it, but for a person who will be executed tomorrow, he will not let go of any chance to live. He will not even think about the authenticity of this agreement. At least, after signing the agreement and becoming a candidate for D-class personnel, he can indeed live several more months... This is the only part of the reward in the agreement that can be truly fulfilled."
The three of them walked down while chatting, and walked around the huge waste column several times. During this time, the giant moth still did not move, as if it was really a specimen stuck on the waste column.
At this moment, a black shadow suddenly passed over their heads and pounced directly on the giant moth. Soap immediately let out a low cry: "What is that?!"
"It looks like a rat?" As a pilot, Nouval had good eyesight and could see the true face of the black shadow at a glance. "A rat that can fly... no, should it be a rat that can glide?"
As he spoke, the "gliding mouse" had already landed on the giant moth's wings and buried its nose in the dense hairs on the surface of the wings.
The mouse is about half a meter long, with shiny black hair all over its body, two long and pointed ears on its head, and short but extremely powerful limbs. It uses two pairs of sharp claws to hang its body on the wings of the giant moth.
There is a fleshy wing membrane connecting the mouse's front and hind limbs. The reason why it can glide at high speed in the air is that it uses this pair of wing membranes that are so thin that you can clearly see the blood vessels.
"Rat?" Soap suddenly chuckled, "It seems that you, a pilot, don't know as much as a rough guy like me. This is clearly a bat. Have you heard of the story of vampires? The prototypes of those monsters in the story are vampire bats."
"No, this creature is indeed more closely related to mice than bats." Just after Soap finished speaking, he was slapped in the face by the clown the next second, "This is a flying squirrel, also known as a flying mouse... Of course, when Noah's Ark left the earth, there was no such rodent among the living creatures it carried. This is a 'replica' created by genetic engineering. To be precise, this is not a true 'countless' either. The researchers who adjusted the gene sequence also added some gene fragments from other creatures, including some bat genes, which makes its flying ability far superior to its 'ancestors' on Earth."
(PS Flying squirrels and mice belong to the same order Rodentia, and bats belong to the same order Chiroptera. Logically speaking, flying squirrels and mice should be more closely related... But I haven't researched this, so if there are any mistakes, please point them out in time.)
"Is this guy attracted by the 'smell' emitted by the giant moth?" Soap's tone suddenly became nervous. "It...it seems to be gnawing on the wings of the giant moth. Will it wake up the giant moth?"
"No, this kind of predation happens many times every day. If the giant moth wakes , it won't be able to store so much radiation energy in its body." The clown said, "Aren't you interested in the way the giant moth eats? Then watch carefully."
As soon as the clown finished his words, dozens of tiny tentacles emerged from under the fluff on the giant moth's wings and wrapped around the flying squirrel... At first, the flying squirrel struggled violently, but as time passed, the strength of its struggle became weaker and weaker, until it was completely motionless.
"Was this flying squirrel... strangled to death?" asked Soap.
"No, it's a paralysis toxin... It renders the prey unable to move, then injects digestive fluid into the prey's body. The prey's flesh and blood dissolved by the digestive fluid is then absorbed through the glands on the surface of the wings. This is how giant moths eat."
Even as the clown was speaking, the flying squirrel's body had begun to show signs of dissolving... When the three of them went around another circle, the flying squirrel's body had been completely absorbed by the giant moth, with not even fur or bones left.
"Such a big flying squirrel couldn't wake it up. No wonder those D-class personnel had to use remote-controlled bombs." Soap said, "Since this guy is so difficult to wake up, I feel much more at ease. I'm not as worried as before."
"There is a very obvious notch at the lower end of the right wing of this giant moth. This should be the trace left by a remote-controlled bomb, right?" Nouval asked the Joker.
"No, those D-class personnel placed the remote-controlled bomb on the giant moth's torso. The wound there has long been healed." The Joker shook his head.
"Then this wound..." Noir said, and suddenly held his breath, "Could it be left by other creatures? Is there anything else in this underground maze that can hurt this giant moth?"
"Yes, and quite a lot." The Joker said, "The actual combat capability of this giant moth is not that strong, especially when facing opponents who are not afraid of radiation, it cannot gain the upper hand."
"Then we shouldn't encounter those things, right?" Soap asked cautiously.
"In theory, no." The Joker replied, "Because it's difficult for me to deal with those mutant creatures, so I chose the safest route."
Noir looked up at the specimen-like giant moth and nodded in agreement: "From a certain perspective, it is indeed... the safest."
At least the giant moth will not actively attack nearby creatures, unless the other party is attracted by the pheromones it releases and pounces on it... From the perspective of Soap and the others, this giant moth is indeed a "harmless" creature.
After walking another hundred meters, Soap suddenly patted the mask of his protective suit, stopped, and said, "Clown, wait, I suddenly have an idea!"
The clown stopped, turned around, stared at the soap, and asked, "What do you think?"
"The interior of the Ark must have been occupied by Zeus and his gang by now. There probably aren't many survivors left, right?"
"In my opinion, there should be no survivors inside the Ark." The Joker nodded, "Everyone has been corrupted, and those who have been corrupted must be dealt with, including myself."
The Joker's attitude is very clear. Those who have been corrupted are not considered survivors. Even if they are still alive, even if they still retain their consciousness and reason as human beings, in the Joker's view, these people are also objects that must be disposed of.
Just like a high-risk infectious disease that spreads among livestock, all infected livestock will be killed and burned as soon as possible to block the spread of the pathogen... As for treatment, in the face of large-scale infectious diseases, there is no such thing as treatment.
"Then can we assume that all the moving things in the Ark, except ourselves, are enemies?" Soap's eyes lit up and he asked.
"In theory, yes." The Joker said, "There is no news from the other team. They must have been wiped out before they even entered the Ark."
"Then why don't we try to release all the monsters in the underground maze? Let these monsters create chaos, disrupt the enemy's vision, and disrupt their original arrangements... No matter how strong the people under Zeus are, it will still take a lot of time and energy to get rid of these monsters, right? Then we can fish in troubled waters... Whether you want to take back control of the Ark or want to assassinate Zeus, it will be much easier than going directly to the core area. These monsters can completely become our 'allies', and very powerful 'allies'!"
"You are right. This plan is indeed feasible to a certain extent." Noir nodded thoughtfully, "But in actual implementation, there are several difficulties that we cannot solve."
"First," Noir continued, "how do we find these powerful monsters living in the underground maze? It is extremely difficult for us to just follow the original route, let alone actively look for them.
"Second, how can we release these monsters onto the ground while ensuring our own safety? If these two problems cannot be solved, then everything else is just empty talk."
