Volume 5: Bottomless Sinkhole Chapter 240: Talking in a Dream
"Hey, Lowe, can you hear me?" Ke Lan whispered in the ear of Patient No. 0302. He gently patted the other's back with his palm, trying to calm his emotions.
"Lowei, tell me, what did you see?" Ke Lan continued to ask, but at this time, Patient No. 0302 suddenly stopped twitching, and then gasped rapidly -
"Damn it, he'll suffocate if this goes on!" Ke Lan raised his head, trying to find the oxygen valve that usually appears on hospital beds. However, this iron cage-like ward didn't even have a bed, let alone the usual support facilities.
"Oxygen! Get someone to bring oxygen!" Ke Lan turned around and shouted to the dean.
"Oh... oh, okay!" The dean was stunned for a moment, and responded quickly - if the patient died in their hospital, although the matter would not be a big deal, but as the dean, he would definitely have a lot of troubles to deal with.
The oxygen cylinder on the cart was quickly pushed over. Ke Lan grabbed the breathing mask and put it directly on the face of Patient No. 0302.
Patient 0302's breathing finally slowed down. At the same time, his head began to shake unconsciously from side to side, and he began to utter some fragmented words...
"This... is he in a delirium?" The dean looked at Patient No. 0302 with some curiosity. "He seems to be saying something..."
"Shut up." Ke Lan shouted. He turned his head and put his hands behind his ears, carefully discerning the meaning of these words.
"I...I won't die here..."
"Run...Everyone, run..."
"Another one died..."
"As long as we get to... the stone bridge... we can get out..."
"Shiqiao?" Ke Lan's heart moved slightly. This might be a key word. He immediately opened his mobile phone and found the detailed information about patient No. 0302 sent to him by ACMS_0420.
"Stone bridge... Where can I find a stone bridge? Or rather, a site with a stone bridge?"
Moreover, judging from what he said, this stone bridge should be located at the exit or entrance of the ruins.
Ke Lan's eyes swept down the long list of task records, and soon he locked onto one of them.
This is an exploration record from 26 months ago. The ruins explored are numbered A-065 "Black Temple".
Although Ke Lan had never explored this relic, he had once considered it as one of his alternative targets, so he had done some research on the information about this relic.
He remembered that the A-065 ruins, the "Black Temple", were located deep in a volcanic basin. The basin was surrounded by cliffs thousands of meters high and at the bottom was flowing magma. The main body of the temple was built on a giant volcanic rock rising from the magma.
There are only two ways to enter the temple: one is to jump from the air directly above the temple, and the other is to cross a stone bridge that extends beyond the basin.
Could it be that the "stone bridge" mentioned by patient 0302 is referring to this one?
Ke Lan clicked on the detailed information of the exploration record, and at first glance, he saw the casualty statistics at the top of the text report: a total of 49 hunters from three hunting groups participated in this exploration, but the death toll was as high as 41. In addition, 6 people were missing, and 1 was seriously injured and died half a month later due to severe injuries and ineffective treatment. Generally speaking, hunters who "disappeared" in the ruins are basically assumed to be dead... In other words, Patient 0302, Lowe, he was the only survivor of this exploration.
In the circle of relic hunters, there are not many exploration missions like this where only one person survives, and in most cases the entire army is wiped out.
As a fellow hunter, Ke Lan knew that this kind of thing would definitely leave an indelible shadow in the mind of the person involved. After encountering this kind of thing, most hunters would choose to retire from the industry. Only a small number of people with excellent psychological qualities would get rid of the influence of this nightmare experience and continue to work as a relic hunter.
This Lowe should belong to the latter. In the 26 months after exploring the "Black Temple" A-065, he participated in 7 more ruins exploration operations. Including the last mission to explore the bottomless cemetery, there are a total of five B-level ruins, one A-level and one S-level.
During these seven explorations, he did not make any mistakes or errors, and the evaluation scores given to him by the team were always among the highest. Judging from the data on paper alone, he can definitely be regarded as an excellent hunter who is experienced, cautious, and trustworthy to his teammates.
The tragedy that occurred in the A-065 ruins "Black Temple" did not bring any negative impact to him, or rather, he relied on his strong will to completely suppress the negative impact of these terrifying memories.
But why did such a strong-willed person go crazy after visiting the bottomless tiankeng, after spending 26 months in peace?
Is there any connection between the "Bottomless Sinkhole" at Ruins S-018 and the "Black Temple" at Ruins A-065?
No, that's not right... There should be no connection between the two. After all, he was the only one who came back alive from the Black Temple, while there were dozens of crazy relic hunters. Each of them had different experiences, and not everyone had been to the Black Temple... The past of Patient No. 0302 was just an individual case and did not prove anything.
But there is no doubt that the experience in the Black Temple planted a seed called "fear" in his heart. In the previous twenty-six months, this seed has been deeply buried in the heart of Patient No. 0302... Until not long ago, for some unknown reason, this seed suddenly began to germinate and thrive... It is no longer a seed, but has grown into an indelible nightmare.
Patient No. 0302's consciousness has been trapped in this nightmare. He cannot break free from it and can only repeat the tragedy of that day over and over again.
The reason why he became so aggressive was probably because he mistook the approaching medical staff and Ke Lan for the monsters he encountered in the Black Temple... From his perspective, he was not in a hospital ward, but inside that desperate ruins.
However, there is still a question... Why does Patient 0302 have such an obvious reaction to the Alpha Language? Logically speaking, ordinary humans who have not received the "inheritance" should not be able to hear the Alpha Language. Even the senior believers of those heretical sects are only given temporary access to the "holy words". If they want to "read" those sentences, they need to pay with their own vitality. They only master a method of use, not the language itself.
Could it be that the Alpha language is the catalyst that causes the "seed" to germinate?
