Volume 4: Shadows Under the Neon Lights Chapter 221 Time Stands Still
That guy just now actually said that he could join this crew in the future... This not only did not make Ke Lan happy, but instead filled his heart with doubts: Even if he had made considerable contributions in the Leviathan incident and the turmoil in the East 9th District, he knew very well that it would be impossible to raise his status above the "Big Three" just by relying on this contribution...
Could it be that this undead crew member has discovered his secret and is trying to win him over in this way?
No... that's not right. If this undead crew member really has authority above the three giants as I guessed, then there is no need to win over a small figure like me. I only need to give an order and I will have two choices: obey or be forced to obey. Oh, by the way, if my will is strong enough and my actions are quick enough, I might even have a chance to commit suicide.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to find an excuse to escape to the wilderness before they do so, but Ke Lan had no idea how long he could survive alone in the wilderness.
It is estimated that many of the exile organizations in the wilderness have been controlled by that heretical sect. After seeing what these guys have done, Ke Lan would rather choose to cooperate with Ark than join their camp.
But then again, assuming that this undead crew member already knew my secrets, why didn't they contact me or take any measures against me, and even let me leave the Ark to carry out the mission outside? Aren't they worried that I would run away?
If you put yourself in Ke Lan's shoes, the first step Ke Lan has to do is to put herself under house arrest... Even if her personal freedom is not restricted, she will at least be under the constant surveillance of the Security Bureau. Not to mention running to the wilderness, even if she leaves the house, she must be followed by a large group of agents.
As for the conditions for cooperation, they could slowly discuss them. If they really couldn't reach an agreement, they would resort to coercive measures. If Fang Zhou really did this, Ke Lan wouldn't mind. He chose to keep it secret because he was worried that the upper echelons of Fang Zhou would not have the patience to negotiate conditions, and would skip this stage and move on to the last step. After all, there were precedents for similar things. Whenever it came to the future fate of all mankind, Fang Zhou's official attitude would never tolerate the slightest instability.
"Forget it ... Let's leave this place first." Ke Lan thought to herself. If the other party really wanted to take coercive measures against her, they would have done it long ago. It is impossible that there would be no movement until now. In this case, it is better to maintain the status quo and wait and see...
Ke Lan quickly went down to the 22nd floor along the fire escape. Apart from the elevator he and Victoria took, the 22nd floor was the highest floor that stopped at among the other elevators.
He had just quickly run out of the stairwell when the elevator door in front of him opened automatically... Although the scene looked a bit like a supernatural event, Ke Lan was not surprised - since the undead crew member could remotely control Victoria's prosthesis through a cable, then opening an elevator door was nothing for them. However, if he had known that they were willing to help with this small favor, Ke Lan would have gone directly to the 29th floor and waited for another elevator to come up.
He jumped directly into the elevator. As expected, even the button to return to the first floor had been pressed for him. The elevator door had not even completely closed yet, and the entire elevator began to descend rapidly, as if it was afraid that Ke Lan would not have enough time to escape from the East 9th District.
"These guys seem quite reliable..."
By the time Ke Lan rushed out of the Arasaka Tower, the entire suspended structure of the East 9th District had begun to collapse. A large amount of building debris continued to fall to the ground, creating a completely doomsday-like scene.
"Hiss... This is troublesome..." Looking at the severely damaged block in front of him, Ke Lan couldn't help but gasp - if he was hit by something falling from above during the evacuation, he probably wouldn't even have a complete body left.
At this moment, he suddenly felt an itch in the palm of his left hand and subconsciously clenched his fist. However, something unexpected happened - at this moment, the surrounding scenes all turned gray and white. The burning flames and falling wreckage all solidified there. The whole world... including Ke Lan himself, became a frozen picture.
But Ke Lan's consciousness was not frozen like his body. He watched all this in horror, but the next moment, the wailing of countless men, women, old and young rang in his ears. Every scream was like a heavy drumstick, hitting Ke Lan's consciousness heavily. He was startled, and everything in front of him returned to normal. The wailing sounds disappeared instantly.
"What's going on?!"
Ke Lan looked around in confusion. At this moment, the surrounding objects had returned to their original colors, and the debris that had been "frozen" in the air had fallen to the ground.
The scene just now gave him a sense of déjà vu - when Ke Lan used the "Holy Word" to kill Arasaka Yui, a similar situation occurred, as if the time of the whole world had stopped.
Could it be that someone nearby is activating the "Holy Word"? But...
"Wait a minute...?!" Ke Lan suddenly raised his left hand as if he remembered something. The palm of his left hand was stained with a pool of black liquid that had leaked from the fleshy hoses... and now, the black liquid had almost been completely absorbed by his palm, with only a little bit remaining on the surface of his skin.
"This stuff should have splashed on when Zi Yan was killed not long ago..."
But what he didn't expect was that these things could be directly absorbed by human skin...
Ke Lan shook his left hand lightly a few times and didn't feel anything unusual. But when he clenched his left hand into a fist and focused all his attention on it, the "time stop phenomenon" just now appeared again!
Along with it came the wailing sounds that made one's scalp tingle and the oppressive feeling like a tsunami. Ke Lan only felt a stabbing pain in his head and quickly got out of this strange state.
"Could this be the ability possessed by the thing in the iron coffin? Time stands still. If time can really be stopped, it would be too incredible, right?" Even as a relic hunter who has seen all kinds of strange and bizarre phenomena, Ke Lan still feels that his worldview seems to be slowly collapsing... Shouldn't this kind of ability be mastered only by gods in myths?
Could the thing in that "Iron Maiden" be a... god? !
