Volume 4: Shadows Under the Neon Lights Chapter 222 Special Treatment
But after thinking about it carefully, Ke Lan felt that this ability did not seem to be a true sense of time standing still.
He had read a comic called "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" before. The villain Dio's stand ability "Smash Varudo" was to stop all time around him and allow himself to move freely during the still time... But when Ke Lan activated this ability, even he himself became a part of the "stillness".
The only thing that remained normal was his thinking consciousness.
In addition to time standing still, there is another situation that can achieve a similar effect - "accelerated thinking".
This concept is not difficult to understand. For example, a person's thinking speed suddenly increases by 10,000 times. The thinking process that originally took one second to complete is forcibly shortened to one ten-thousandth of a second. From his subjective perspective, the speed of time in the outside world seems to be 10,000 times slower... When this multiple increases to a certain level, it is no different from "time standing still".
But no matter whether the essence of this ability is "time standing still" or "thinking acceleration", in short, it is equivalent to giving Ke Lan a "pause button". When facing some emergencies, he can completely press this "pause button", think of the best countermeasures and then cancel it.
Although the endless wailing and indescribable feeling of oppression would put a great burden on Ke Lan's spirit, in his current state, he could at least hold on for three to four seconds... In many cases, these three to four extra seconds of thinking time would be enough to change the outcome of a matter.
For example, right now——
Ke Lan activated this ability once again, and all of a sudden, all the falling objects in the air were frozen there. Then, based on the falling points and order of these objects, he drew a "safe route" in the block.
After releasing the stagnation, Ke Lan rushed straight to a red trash can thirty meters to the right front, stayed next to the trash can for two seconds, waited until the half of the billboard in front of him fell to the ground, then jumped over the billboard, turned right, bypassed two air cushion car charging stations, and went into a self-service supermarket.
This is the first section of the journey. Although the track surface directly above the self-service supermarket has been broken, the deformation of the two main steel bars is not too large, so it will not fall down for a while.
Ke Lan swung the butt of his gun and smashed the window of the vending machine . He took out two cans of sports drinks, pulled the pull rings and poured them into his mouth.
For Ke Lan, who has used a variety of stimulant drugs, the tiny bit of "effective substance" added to sports drinks is basically ineffective, but fortunately, this thing contains a lot of sugar, which is just right for replenishing the energy and water needed by the body.
While drinking, Ke Lan counted silently in his mind. After counting to ten, he threw the can away and kicked open the door on the other side of the self-service supermarket.
Activate the immobility ability, observe falling objects and dangerous routes, and mark the route - the second time Ke Lan used this skill, his proficiency had improved significantly. Before his brain even felt the tingling, he had already released the immobility state and rushed towards the next target point.
…
After walking and stopping like this, Ke Lan finally escaped to the edge of the East 9th District safely. At this time, the side effects of this ability also appeared - in the last few uses, the duration of each time was less than half a second, and even when the skill was not activated, his consciousness began to become blurred, accompanied by a vague headache like a hangover. He walked like a drunkard, and almost ran into a burning brothel.
Fortunately, when we reached the outskirts, the overhead structures had been mostly destroyed. Although the road conditions were terrible, at least we didn't have to worry about anything falling from our heads.
"Stop!" A shout suddenly came from a distance. Ke Lan raised his eyelids with some effort, and saw a team of soldiers from the garrison running towards this side with guns in hand.
Ke Lan simply sat down, threw the gun in his hand aside, and raised his arm towards the other party.
"Are you... Mr. Ke Lan?" This team of soldiers had obviously seen Ke Lan's photo and knew his identity. They quickly helped Ke Lan, who was already in a semi-comatose state, up and put him on a folding stretcher.
An officer came up quickly and asked anxiously, "Mr. Ke Lan, if you are injured anywhere, please tell us immediately. We will immediately get the medical department in the rear ready!"
"I'm not injured, I'm just... exhausted..." Ke Lan waved her hand weakly, "East District 9 will be separated soon, you should quickly notify the others to evacuate."
"We have received the order..."
After saying that, the officer hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "Excuse me, the Major Ashkani who went in with you, did he die?"
Ke Lan didn't say anything, just nodded silently.
The officer let out a barely perceptible sigh, then led the soldiers and carried Ke Lan away from the place.
During the conversation with these soldiers, Ke Lan learned that they were specially sent by their superiors to pick her up, and that, in the order they received, she was the only one who needed to be picked up. As for the sacrificed Victoria, Ashkani, Alyosha and others, they were not mentioned at all.
Logically speaking, the military should not know that they have sacrificed their lives. So it seems that this team coming to pick them up should have been arranged by that undead crew member.
But what surprised Ke Lan was that after the team sent him to a temporary camp at the border of East District 9 and East District 8, they directly let Ke Lan go -
"If you feel any discomfort, the medical center is inside the barracks. If you have any other needs, you can directly contact me or any officer above the rank of lieutenant in the barracks. Of course, if you want to return to your residence or go somewhere else, we will also arrange a shuttle for you." The officer said to Ke Lan respectfully.
"Uh...you...don't you need me to take a statement? Or some other report or something? Just let me go like that?" Ke Lan felt a serious sense of unreality. Logically speaking, such a big thing happened in East District 9. As the only survivor who came out alive, he should have been interrogated for several days and nights. But this guy actually told him that he could leave at any time?
"According to the standard, we need to take a statement..." the officer suddenly lowered his voice and said, "But, this time the higher-ups have given special instructions, so..."
"So?" Ke Lan shrugged. "Special treatment?"
"Ahem... that's about what I mean."
