Volume 8: A Trip to the Sick Village Chapter 397 Breaking into the Bridge
"I know that the so-called 'gift' that guy mentioned is actually the final stage of this experimental project. I didn't expose him... At that time, I was thinking that if I didn't make it out of that place alive, it might be a good ending." Marshall continued, "I helped him complete the experiment, and in the end, I made him understand that all this was in vain... Even if a 'perfect individual' was really created, what would it matter? Hundreds or thousands of people died, and in the end, a 'perfect individual' who could only survive for three months was obtained... Haha, when I knew my remaining lifespan, I knew that their experimental project had completely failed. At that time, I was actually quite happy, and even felt the pleasure of revenge."
"For researchers who are obsessed with experiments, it would be more painful for them to have such a result in the end after spending decades of hard work on a project than to kill them directly," said Ke Lan.
"This ability is not something that humans should have. No matter how much the human body is strengthened, it is impossible for it to bear this kind of burden." Marshall said, and suddenly laughed, "Guess, what level of cyborg am I?"
"I can't guess." Ke Lan said bluntly.
"Level eight. As far as I remember, there aren't many level eight cyborgs on the entire Ark. And I'm not biochemically modified, nor do I have any cyborg prosthesis installed. I'm just a pure physical enhancement - but even so, I can't withstand the destructive force of the materialized mental force like a raging wind." He pointed to his head, "If I relax my consciousness for a moment, my brain will be immediately turned into a mess, and then my whole head will explode. The white and red will probably splatter dozens of meters away... It's really tiring to live like this."
“…”
Ke Lan did not respond. Instead, Ze Luo said, "You only strengthened your body. Your brain is still fragile, so you can't bear this kind of pressure."
"I know, but I can't train my brain into a muscle, right?" Marshall smiled bitterly. "Although I don't know where you got your ability, this is already the limit for me."
As they were talking, the three of them had already reached the end of the corridor, where there was an oval security door - this security door was usually locked, and only crew members above the rank of first mate had the authority to open it. Of course, as the nominal owner of the "Greece" spaceship, Ke Lan naturally had this authority.
He walked forward and pressed his palm on the touch screen. A faint green light lit up at the bottom of the screen and then quickly swept up and down several times.
With a "click", the security door was opened.
At the same time, the Geiger counter hanging on Ke Lan's waist also rang.
“Beep—beep—”
"What's that sound?" Marshall looked at Ke Lan and asked.
"Geiger counter, there is radiation in the passage." Ke Lan replied.
"It's just a little bit of radiation, no big deal." Marshall waved his hand. "There are many people in the 'Sick Village' whose bodies are super radiation sources. I am basically immune to radiation."
"Yeah." Ke Lan nodded and walked inside.
This passage can be considered quite dangerous for ordinary people, but in the face of the radiation resistance of the three of them, it basically poses no threat... It seems that the radiation is not intentional by the puppet individual, but simply escapes from it.
Previously, at the top of Arasaka Tower, the radiation there was even stronger than at the entrance of the passage, but as long as there were enough anti-radiation drugs and protective gear, ordinary people could still get in.
But after walking a few steps, Ke Lan found that the problem was becoming somewhat serious.
With every meter forward, the intensity of the radiation increases nearly twice as much. At the entrance of the passage, the alarm frequency of the Geiger counter was still "beep-beep-beep", but now here, it has become a continuous "beep-beep-beep".
And they had only walked less than a third of the length.
"Is the radiation getting stronger?" Marshall twisted his neck, looking a little uncomfortable. "I feel a little hot all over, and my arms and neck are itchy."
"Yeah, it's much stronger." Ke Lan glanced at the number on the Geiger counter, "The radiation intensity here is almost twenty times that of the door."
"Keep going. It's just a little uncomfortable. It's no big deal. Let's get it over with quickly." Marshall rubbed his arms vigorously and quickened his pace.
We have already come this far, it would be a waste of time to choose another route. What's more, other routes may have been contaminated by radiation.
The source of radiation is right above the bridge. If they want to enter the bridge, the radiation they are exposed to will only become stronger and stronger.
"Okay, let's go." Ke Lan gritted his teeth and continued walking forward.
“Beep beep beep… beep beep beep… beep—”
The alarm of the Geiger counter became more and more urgent, and in the end, it became a series of long sounds. However, just after Ke Lan took another step, everything returned to silence, leaving only a trace of residual sound still echoing in his ears.
"What's going on? Is the machine broken?" Marshall was stunned. He bent down and looked at the Geiger counter hanging around Ke Lan's waist, only to see that the number on the screen had returned to zero.
But the unbearable discomfort still existed. Even though Marshall did not know the working principle of the Geiger counter, he knew that the reason the machine stopped making sound was definitely not because the surrounding radiation had been cleared.
"When the radiation intensity exceeds the measurement range of the Geiger counter...it can no longer measure it, and the alarm will no longer sound." Ke Lan said silently, "It is commonly known as... 'off the scale'."
"That thing... could it be a reactor?"
"There is a safety door at the end of this passage. That door also has a certain ability to isolate radiation... The radiation in the bridge will only be stronger than here." Ke Lan reached into his backpack, took out a plate of anti-radiation medicine, tore off half of it, and handed it to Marshall. "This is the best anti-radiation medicine you can buy on the Ark. Although it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the radiation intensity here, it is at least better than nothing."
Ke Lan was the only one of the three who was wearing a space suit, but despite this, he felt indescribable discomfort all over his body - his throat was extremely dry, a sweet and fishy taste kept rising from his throat, and his skin constantly felt a tingling pain that was between a needle prick and a burning sensation.
"Never mind, let's charge!" A short pain is better than long one. Ke Lan and Marshall looked at each other, then they ran forward and rushed to the end of the passage in one breath.
"Snap!" Ke Lan took off her gloves and pressed her palm directly on the unlocking device, while Marshall couldn't wait to kick the security door -
"Bang——" As soon as the door lock was touched, the security door was kicked out by him, and the scene inside the bridge was also presented in the field of vision of the three people.
It was a creature that was more than three meters tall and extremely bloated - if Ze Luo, who had just transformed into a human form, represented the ultimate "beauty" in human aesthetics, then this puppet individual... was the ultimate "ugliness".
On its body, there are countless human faces, of both sexes, young and old. These faces cover almost every angle of its body surface. They are squeezed and squirming against each other, and the twisting expressions seem like they are crying or laughing.
The moment the security door was kicked open, these faces opened their eyes at the same time and looked towards Ke Lan.
"This is..." Ke Lan was not unfamiliar with these faces. Whenever he used "Time Stop", the wailing and screaming he heard came from them... They were all the victims of the East 9th District incident, the "sacrifices" killed by the Arasaka Group and the heretical sects.
