Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 978 Temporary Retreat
"If the test goes well, perhaps we can build an 'Undead Army'... not just those dead humans, but also Alphas... and even prehistoric monsters."
If this statement was made in the past, it would have been criticized by critics for ethical issues... But now, at the critical moment of the survival of human civilization, the combat effectiveness of the survivors' coalition is extremely scarce, and there is a huge gap in both front-line combat personnel and logistics personnel. In such a desperate situation, if the fallen soldiers, especially the elites like Takumi Masayuki, can be "resurrected" in another form and become effective combat forces, it is undoubtedly a highly feasible remedy.
In the cultural customs of human civilization regarding "death", whether in the East or the West, there are sayings like "the dead are greatest" and "may the deceased rest in peace". In people's general perception, desecrating, damaging the body or "disturb" the deceased in other ways are all unforgivable behaviors.
Not to mention the act of extracting the "souls" of the deceased and "encapsulating" them into combat weapons.
A trace of worry flashed across Alexander's face - if he was told that he would be treated like this after dying in battle, he would have no objection, but the problem was, if this news was made public, how many people would be able to accept it?
The living have no way of knowing what it feels like to be a "ghost". No one knows whether the soul encapsulated in the weapon still retains self-awareness. And after the weapon is destroyed, what will happen to the soul encapsulated inside - will it dissipate, or will it stay attached to the wreckage of the weapon like the "earthbound spirits" in ghost stories, never to be freed?
If it is the latter, then it is a punishment more cruel than death.
Alexander stammered, but in the end he didn't say what he really thought. Instead, he changed the subject: "The Skadi has escaped from danger, and the suppression operations of the invading monsters in each cabin have also come to an end. I would like to ask for instructions on the next action - continue firepower reconnaissance, or temporarily retreat?"
"Retreat." Ke Lan said as she watched the Skadi rise to a height of 10,000 miles on the screen. Looking down from this height, she could only see the thick lead-gray clouds, and could not see Noah's Ark underneath the clouds at all.
The surface of the Skadi's hull had become tattered - a small part of these wounds were caused by the monsters hatched in the egg-shaped tumors, and the vast majority came from the violent reaction caused by the "intimate contact" between the Skadi's shield and the Ark's protective shield.
In addition to the damage to the exterior of the ship, the interior of the ship was also severely damaged due to the invasion of monsters. According to the standards set in the Air Force Fleet Combat Code, the Skadi has now lost the ability to continue fighting and must immediately return to port for repairs and supplies.
ZB51 turned around and flew out. There were still some monsters left on the outer deck that had not been cleared away. At the same time, several land combat troops that had eliminated the monsters inside the ship also came out from various exits of the outer deck and began to fight with the monsters on the outer deck.
"Turn direction, cruise at half speed, and return to Mukach Fortress." Alexander handed over the control of the warship to the helmsman, and walked back to the captain's seat and sat down with a tired look on his face.
Although the statistics have not yet come out, he has a rough idea of the casualties on the ship - except for the bridge, almost all cabins have been invaded by monsters. Including the aviation brigade, marines and logistics personnel, there are more than 2,400 crew members on board... After this battle, the number of survivors may not even be 1,000... With a death rate of over 60%, this battle can only be said to be tragic.
The damage to Skadi itself was even more serious. The surface of the ship was full of holes dissolved by highly corrosive liquids. From a distance, it looked like a piece of rotten wood... Ninety percent of the modular compartments attached to the outside of the ship, including hangars, cargo holds, ammunition depots, assault boats and lifeboats, as well as those external weapons, were abandoned and turned into gorgeous fireworks in the collision with the energy shield.
The core components of the triple plasma main gun were all melted due to the high-intensity firing; the secondary guns and close-in defense guns were the focus of the monsters and were mostly destroyed; all the aircraft of the aviation brigade crashed except for the ZB51 operated by "Takumi Masayuki", and the tactical mecha of the land forces was damaged by more than 70%.
Even the core power reactor transformed from the "Heart of the City" was seriously overloaded due to the pressure to counter the Ark's protective shield. Although it did not explode, its output power fell to one-third of its normal level... It was only for this reason that the Skadi could only return to Mukach at half the cruising speed.
"The Skadi was almost sunk." Only then did Maginot dare to breathe deeply. He reached out and touched his sweaty forehead, picked up the cup on the table... Only then did he realize that the cup was empty. The atmosphere just now was so tense that he didn't even realize when he had finished his coffee.
"Fatty, would you like some?" The Hound noticed Maginot holding the empty cup, took out the wine jug in his arms and shook it at him - now that the Skadi was out of danger, everyone's mood became much better.
"Okay." Maginot handed over the empty cup.
Machino is a coffee lover, and he rarely drinks except for social events. But at this moment, he suddenly felt a desire for alcohol... This is probably what the saying "drinking a little wine can calm your nerves" means.
The Hound unscrewed the lid of the jug, but instead of pouring the wine directly into Magino's glass, he walked outside the office and spilled half of the wine in the jug on the ground at the door.
"To our fallen brothers," the Hound said silently.
"Cheers to the victims." Maginot walked behind the hound, took out the wine jug, filled a cup, and sprinkled it on the ground like the hound.
"Fatty, are you afraid of death?" The Hound suddenly turned his head and asked Maginot.
"What are you talking about? Who isn't afraid of death?" Makino said helplessly. "But the question is, is it useful to be afraid? No matter how scared you are, you still have to face it in the end, right?"
Maginot poured another glass of wine and drank it in one gulp. The spicy liquid rolled down his throat, causing his facial features to slightly distort... He smacked his lips hard and continued, "You want to tell me that everyone here may die in the end, right?"
"You are talking nonsense. Sooner or later, everyone will die... Unless you want to be like those monsters in the Undead Crew, lying all kinds of tubes inserted into your body..." The Hound paused for a moment and cursed in a low voice, "What a bunch of old immortals, why would you cause so much trouble if you just die early?"
"No, what I mean is that in this operation, we may not even survive to the end...even human civilization may end because of it." Maginot returned the wine flask to the hound. "Don't you have anything to say?"
"What can I say? Being able to let the entire human civilization be buried with me, isn't this grand enough? Besides, if we don't try, how do we know it won't work? What if... I mean, what if we succeed?"
"That's right. No matter what the outcome is, we have to try." Makino nodded in agreement. "I remember there is an old Chinese saying, 'Do your best and leave the rest to fate'... We just need to do what we are supposed to do."
"I don't like this." The Hound shook his head. "My life is my own. Why should I listen to the heavens? Not to mention, the thing in the sky is our biggest enemy right now."
The "thing in the sky" mentioned by the hound naturally refers to the existence called "God".
"Don't you think it's presumptuous of you to challenge gods with your mortal strength?" Makino sighed, "I can't imagine how we can win."
"If you can imagine that, you are not Maginot." The Hound glanced at his former colleague with contempt.
"And yours?"
"I'm too lazy to think about it, because it's useless to think about it." The Hound shrugged, drank the last bit of liquid in the wine bottle, stretched lazily, turned around and walked out, "It's late, I should go to bed, I have to get up early tomorrow to attend the combat meeting."
"What about you? Aren't you going to take a rest?" Makino turned his head and found Ke Lan and Ze Luo still sitting on the sofa, staring at the projection screen on the wall in a daze.
Ke Lan shook her head: "General Maginot, if you feel sleepy, why don't you go and rest? I'm different from you. I don't feel sleepy due to lack of sleep. Sleeping doesn't mean much to me."
"Uh... okay." Maginot nodded to Ke Lan, took off his uniform jacket hanging by the door, yawned and walked out - it was four o'clock in the morning. From six o'clock yesterday morning until now, he had not slept for twenty-two hours. For Maginot, who had not undergone any enhanced transformation surgery, this was already a physiological limit. He had survived these twenty-two hours entirely on high concentrations of caffeine, and he almost gave himself a shot of military stimulant.
Pushing open the bedroom door, Makino rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He was too lazy to take off his clothes and shoes and just fell directly onto the bed... In less than ten seconds, heavy snoring began to sound.
The camera returns to Maginot's office, which is still brightly lit, and the projection screen is playing images of the Ark taken by the drone - after the Skadi retreated, the Ark immediately returned to "quiet", as if the previous fierce offensive was just a dream.
The only things that could prove the reality of this dream were probably the oval-shaped tumors that were smashed into pieces in the clearance zone - not all oval-shaped tumors could hit the Skadi. In fact, the oval-shaped tumors that could attach to the Skadi accounted for less than one percent of the total number of launches.
According to computer statistics, the fleshy fungal carpet on the surface of the Ark launched more than two million egg-shaped tumors into the air, of which only about half fell back onto the fungal carpet after missing the target. The other half fell into the clear zone or even further, turning into pools of "blood flowers" of varying sizes in the wilderness.
For the fleshy fungal blanket, these "blood flowers" seemed to have recycling value - after about half an hour, Ke Lan saw countless hyphae spreading out from the Ark. They covered the "blood flowers", and one hyphae split into hundreds of branches, like a gauze net. After a while, the broken flesh and blood on the ground were absorbed by these hyphae...
At 4:35 in the morning, all the "blood flowers" were cleaned up and the mycelium retreated quietly, as if nothing had happened.
In this battle, the Skadi suffered heavy damage, with more than 1,500 crew members killed... while their enemies suffered almost negligible losses. The number of egg-shaped tumors hatching on the fleshy fungal blanket not only did not decrease, but even became more than before the Skadi was dispatched.
Of course, the purpose of the Skadi's fire reconnaissance has been achieved. Although no substantial results were achieved, at least we know how the First Cruise Fleet and the Garrison Fleet were destroyed - the next goal is to explore the interior of the Ark.
Ke Lan rubbed his brows. He didn't know why he suddenly felt a little tired, which made him feel a little confused. Not to mention a "humanoid monster" like him, even a slightly higher-level enhanced person would not feel any fatigue after working at high intensity for two or three consecutive nights. Unless it was a psychological factor, Ke Lan would not feel sleepy at all.
"I just told Makino that I won't feel sleepy. Did I get slapped in the face so soon?"
Ke Lan wanted to stand up and pour a cup of strong coffee, but her eyelids suddenly became extremely heavy. As her vision continued to shrink, the world finally fell into darkness...
…
When Ke Lan woke up again, he found himself in a small room filled with various instruments. Under him was a coffin-shaped hibernation chamber, and the vital signs monitoring equipment next to him was beeping regularly.
He was wearing a pure white hibernation suit with a small device for detecting heart rate on his chest. There were round electrodes on his forehead, chest, abdomen and arms. A bundle of cables connected these electrodes to the equipment next to the hibernation chamber.
"Where is this?" Ke Lan looked around cautiously. This room had no windows, and the only door was located on the right-hand wall. In addition to him, there were six coffins in the room... No, six hibernation chambers, each of which contained a person wearing a white hibernation suit covered with electrodes.
There are exactly three men and three women in these six people. The youngest is in his early twenties, and the oldest is about fifty or sixty years old... Of course, the actual age of the people lying in the hibernation cabin must be much older than they look.
Ke Lan looked at the faces of these six people carefully, but these six faces all felt extremely unfamiliar to him... None of these six people lying in the same room with him were people he knew.
As if remembering something, Ke Lan's gaze suddenly turned and stopped at the screen of the vital signs monitoring device.
The upper right corner of the screen is where the time and date are displayed.
"New Era 859, December 1, noon, 12 o'clock."
