Volume 8: A Trip to the Sick Village Chapter 354 Unloading Area
"You wait here, I'll go get the food." Ke Lan said to Asano Akira, then stood up and walked over, standing at the end of the line.
The speed of distributing food was not slow. In less than two minutes, it was Ke Lan's turn.
"Two servings of food." He signaled to Asano Akira who was sitting over there with his eyes and said to the crew.
After seeing Ke Lan, the crew member's expression suddenly changed slightly, and then he silently took out two bags of food from the inside of the cart and handed them over.
After taking the food, Ke Lan returned to Asano Akira, but as soon as he opened the bag, he discovered the problem.
The captain took it upon himself to replace their food with something else.
The other miners ate a kind of synthetic nutritious meal similar to batter. The taste of that thing was like a semi-finished product after simply mixing flour and water. The seasoning was limited to a few grains of salt, and you couldn't even taste the saltiness...
But the things in Ke Lan and Asano Akira's bags, although they looked similar to the nutritious meals that other people were eating, were actually porridge made from refined rice. Ke Lan could even use her tongue to distinguish the ingredients mixed into it: shredded poultry, delicious dried scallops, and bird's nests melted into a paste...
This bag of porridge is probably several levels higher than the standard food for the crew.
"..." Ke Lan sighed helplessly in her heart. Although the captain had good intentions, the risk of doing so was really too great... If they were noticed by the two people from the heretical sect, the identities of Ke Lan and Asano Akira would be exposed in an instant.
Moreover, no matter how delicious this bag of porridge was, Ke Lan had no appetite at this moment - in such a cabin filled with all kinds of disgusting smells, even the most amazing food would probably be overshadowed... What's more, the sticky texture of the chicken and bird's nest porridge reminded him of the excrement flowing on the ground, which made Ke Lan feel nauseous. Without a strong enough heart, he could not swallow the porridge in the bag.
And in order to leave no trace, he had to eat it all...
Fortunately, the hound did not participate in this operation. Considering his sensitive sense of smell, he would have collapsed before reaching the destination.
After distributing the food, the two crew members left. The whole process was relatively natural. Except for the slight change in facial expression when he looked at Ke Lan just now, he didn't even look at them for another second, which was considered a good job.
Due to the emergence of the heretical sect, Ke Lan's purpose of this trip, in addition to finding people, has added an extra task - after all, he and the heretical sect are already in a situation of life and death, and if there is a chance, Ke Lan would be happy to "cause some trouble" for them.
Although he did not bring the stone spikes that could restrain the Seeds of Corrosion, Asano Akira's blade had already melted into a lot of stalagmite fragments. Even if the two men were infected with the Seeds of Corrosion in their bodies, Asano Akira could easily kill them in a one-on-two situation.
Fighting back the nausea in his stomach, Ke Lan finished the bird's nest porridge in the plastic bag, then rolled up the bag and stuffed it into his trouser pocket.
…
Two and a half days was neither long nor short... When the transport ship finally docked at the unloading area of the space station, three more bodies of miners were added to the enclosed cargo hold.
These three people did not die in accidents like the first person, but simply died because their illnesses were too serious and their bodies could no longer support them.
The reason why those people suffering from severe radiation sickness in the documentaries can survive for several months is purely because various medical means are keeping the patients alive: drugs, blood transfusions, nutrients, artificial organs and even stem cell transplants... Although it is difficult to pull the patient back from the brink of death, it is not a problem to keep the brain alive for a longer period of time.
Without these means, if only glucose and electrolytes were supplemented through intravenous drip, it would take no more than 15 days for a person suffering from severe radiation to develop symptoms of nausea and vomiting until death.
When the three people died, the muscles and skin in the abdominal cavity had begun to dissolve, and pus and blood mixed with filth in the digestive tract dripped out from the dissolved opening - these things themselves were high-intensity radiation sources. Although Ke Lan's body was immune to a certain degree of radiation, he could still feel bursts of slight tingling on his skin when it was exposed to the air.
As for the crew, they were even less willing to come to the cargo hold - even if they found someone dead, they had no intention of collecting the body, they just came over to sprinkle some disinfectant and left. Fortunately, the temperature in the cargo hold was always maintained at around 10 degrees Celsius, so the body did not rot.
With a sharp "click" sound, the hatch on the outside of the cargo hold slowly rose up, and the first thing that came into Ke Lan's field of vision was an enclosed space about 50 meters wide and more than 200 meters deep - this was the unloading area of the "Sick Village", and the airtight valve at the entrance and exit of the unloading area was perhaps the only facility that the Mineral Mining Alliance would spend money to maintain in the past few years.
The Mitsui Group's transport ship was hovering sideways on one side of the space station, with its cargo hold directly docked with the unloading area of the space station. Several crew members, holding riot forks, drove the miners in the cargo hold off the ship like driving cattle.
Ke Lan noticed that at the edge of the unloading area, there was a group of people wearing tattered cloaks. Most of them were hunched over, and their bodies exposed outside the cloaks were covered with shocking hyperplastic tissue... The most special one among them was a man lying on the ground with all four limbs. The cloak on his back was propped up high, as if a child was riding on him.
But from the corner of the cloak that was held up, one could see that there was a huge tumor growing on the man's back. The tumor was covered with thick blood vessels, which were connected to the skinny body below. It was obvious that they had become an inseparable part of his body...
With this level of abnormality, even if the giant tumor is removed surgically, the person will probably die immediately... It is impossible to tell whether it is a tumor growing on a person, or a person growing on the tumor...
These were the residents of the "sick village". They kept a distance of about 200 meters from the transport ship and stared coldly at Ke Lan and the other "newcomers" who were driven off by the crew.
Although he had not yet made formal contact with the locals, the first impression he formed after seeing them in person made Ke Lan feel a physiological resistance. He always felt that these residents could no longer be considered human, even though they still retained their human appearance...
"This place... is far more uncomfortable than what is described in those records..." Ke Lan thought to himself. They glanced at the miners around them. These people didn't seem to notice the danger. There was a hint of curiosity in their confused eyes. They looked at the surrounding environment and also at the locals who were watching them.
"The looks of these locals... seem weird no matter how I look at them, as if they are sizing up their prey..." Ke Lan moved closer to Asano Akira and spoke in a voice that only he could hear.
"I didn't sense any murderous intent." Asano Akira said lightly.
"Of course there won't be any murderous intent. The way these people look at the miners is not the kind of 'I'm going to kill you' look, but the kind of look that shows which part of the creature's meat is more delicious... I think a conflict may break out soon, so you should be prepared." Ke Lan continued.
"With me here, no one can hurt you." Asano Akira said a line that has appeared in many novels, movies and TV shows... But Ke Lan also understood that he was not just showing off. Even if every one of the local people in the unloading area had the strength of the radioactive monster in the East 9th District, Asano Akira would not waste too much time if he wanted to kill them all.
This guy is a "monster" that is difficult to explain with common sense.
At this point, Ke Lan couldn't help but think of the purpose of their trip - the guy named "Marshall". According to Asano Akira, when he was in the secret experimental unit, his ability was one of the best among all the experimental subjects. Now that Asano Akira is so abnormal, if Marshall is not backfired by his ability , how strong will he be?
Ke Lan found it hard to imagine.
It's impossible that someone can really fly with a sword?
Before setting off, Ke Lan asked Asano Akira this question, but Asano Akira himself was not clear about Marshall's strength... To be precise, except for himself, he knew nothing about the specific abilities of other experimental subjects.
Although the experimental subjects lived together on weekdays, they were tested in separate rooms and fighting between the experimental subjects was strictly prohibited. The reason why Asano Akira knew that he was the last one was because his number was among the last few - the experimental subjects were numbered according to their tested abilities, and this was told to them by the person in charge of the experiment himself.
There were approximately five hundred people participating in the experiment, but less than two hundred passed the initial screening and were given numbers.
Asano Akira's ranking number is "No. 159", and that Marshall is...
No. 2.
…
At this time, the crew on the transport ship had already moved the cargo boxes containing protein blocks, water recycling treatment equipment and medicines to the unloading area. It was different from what Ke Lan had expected - the locals who were watching from a distance did not come up to loot. Even when one of the cargo boxes accidentally tipped over during the transportation process, and the protein blocks wrapped in plastic film were scattered all over the ground, those people remained indifferent.
On the contrary, a few of the miners who came with Ke Lan on the transport ship couldn't help but start picking up the protein blocks on the ground, but soon, the steel forks in the hands of the crew members hit them -
"Get out of here! You have already received your food quota for today!" the crew member cursed loudly, pushed a miner to the ground with a steel fork, then raised his foot and crushed the protein lumps that fell from the miner's arms.
"Is it that serious? These things were originally given to them anyway." A familiar voice came from behind. Ke Lan turned around and saw that Layton, Ivan and the captain had already walked down from the transport ship and were standing not far away watching the unloading process.
"Why bother? Your men have crushed more than a dozen pieces of egg white. What's wrong with letting them pick up some?" Layton continued to say to the captain, "Or is it that there is a management organization in this space station, and you need to hand these materials over to the management and not let these people get involved?"
"Uh... there is no officially designated manager here. We will leave directly after unloading the cargo." The captain replied.
"Then why don't you let them touch it?"
"This... this is the Alliance's rule. The unloading process must be recorded. We have no say in it." The captain pointed to a crew member who was recording a video. "In order to prevent corruption, the entire unloading process must be recorded and uploaded to the Alliance's database for record. Before the transport ship leaves the space station, everything must be done according to the Alliance's rules. As for how they deal with these materials after we leave, it has nothing to do with us."
"It's really rigid." Ivan said in a complaining tone, "If this kind of video is made public, it will be very disadvantageous to the alliance, right?"
"It won't be made public, it's all internal data." The captain lowered his voice slightly, "Besides, even if it was made public, no one would believe it."
The entire unloading process took about an hour and a half. The crew on the transport ship finally checked the airtight valve of the docking channel and returned to the transport ship. Afterwards, the hatch was closed and the docking channel of the unloading area was closed. Amid the muffled sound of the jet engine, the transport ship quickly sailed away from this isolated space station.
More than twenty miners, including Ke Lan, Asano Akira and the three corpses, were left behind. Layton and Ivan, who were fully armed, stood a little further away from the cargo box, back to back, watching the locals outside with great vigilance.
Finally, these people walked towards them .
They split into two groups, one group walked towards the cargo boxes, while the other group surrounded the group of new miners. As for Layton and Ivan, they were completely ignored by them.
When he was still more than ten meters away from these people, Ke Lan had already smelled the unbearable odor on them, but what was more disturbing than the odor was the weapons these people took out from under their cloaks.
Their weapons were mainly irregular concrete blocks and rusty steel pipes. Some of them were holding very sharp pieces of metal, the front end of which seemed to be stained with some long-dried blood.
"There are thirty-five... no, thirty-six people approaching with simple weapons in their hands." Ke Lan whispered to Asano Akira.
At this time, Asano Akira had already clenched the sword disguised as a guide stick. His thumb had already picked up the cloth wrapped around the handle, and the sharp blade could be unsheathed at any time... But in the next second, Ke Lan grabbed his forearm, squeezed it a little harder, and signaled Asano Akira not to act rashly.
"Their target...is not us."
The locals came closer, but they did not attack the standing miners. Instead, they went after the critically ill patients who were lying on stretchers and dying.
The concrete block was lifted high, then dropped, and the weak screams stopped abruptly.
