Abyss Express

Foreword:

What human beings really need is very little.

— Ernest Miller Hemingway

[Part①·Travel and Sightseeing]

A short video was playing on the phone——

——The BOSS is solemn and solemn, standing on the desk, holding the laurel crown and walking towards the elder sister.

"Put on this golden hoop, and you will no longer be a mortal. From then on, there will be no love in the world."

Gloria accepted the gift, and then took off the crown.

She said, "It's good to be able to take it off."

Xue Ming pursed his lips and smiled, and used the last communication base station to fully charge his mobile phone. By the way, he took a look at the old and new life of the great cat. When he heard the voice of Ao Han Ming De, it seemed that the spiritual pressure environment of Howling Ridge could not hurt him up.

He puts on his headphones, then swipes the screen to watch other home videos.

To be honest, Amin has never been a person who likes to take pictures and videos——

——He once told Meteor that he doesn't like taking pictures.

The ritual of taking pictures is very interesting and has strong psychological implications. People always want to leave the best version of themselves in front of the camera.

In the earliest days, people felt that this kind of ceremony was meaningless. He wanted to live in the real world every minute and every second. The photo album became thicker and thicker, and the time left in the memory became longer and longer. When he returned to real life, only Intense emptiness and loneliness.

If the people in the image never come back, that kind of loneliness will destroy a brave and hot heart.

But today, he is thirty and already has four babies.

Compared with himself six years ago, he can feel the subtle changes in his mind and body all the time. He is not as meticulous as six years ago, not as sharp-edged as he was when he was young, his brain has become dull, and his hands and feet are not so flexible. .

Gradually reaching the prime of life, he felt that the rhythm of life slowed down, from intense and high-spirited metal music to rock and roll.

Wrinkles appeared at the end of his eyes, and he occasionally made exaggerated expressions to tease the children, and his forehead wrinkles became deeper and deeper.

The scars on his hands were left when he turned the boring tool. He likes to repair the engine, especially the cylinder block. He saw the burrs and iron thorns become regular and smooth. He talked to people in the office of Anonymous about the pressure accumulated by righteousness and human kindness. , will also be relieved.

Compared with when he was twenty-three or four-year-old, he was more physically fit. The appearance has also become ordinary, from the previous little boy to a man with a strong temperament.

In the past few years with his wife and children, his family life has made him soft. Before, Xueming rarely joked, but the babies couldn’t see such a terrible father, and they were often scared to cry by this strange father—for The physical and mental health of the babies, he must make changes.

Half a year ago, Jiang Xueming ended his long expedition. This was the first time after 184 days, he returned to the wilderness and started to explore the unknown land again.

The thick-soled leather boots felt very good when stepping on the stone ballast road. The mountain wind carried warm water vapor and smelled a salty smell carefully. Xue Ming immediately judged from his rich experience that there was an ocean nearby.

There is also the taste of rust in the sea breeze, because the coastal strata have hematite and aluminum ore, and are rich in heavy metal mineral resources.

Relying on his two legs, he followed Yingshi all the way to the periphery of the Howling Ridge tunnel. Layers upon layers of cracks, ravines, stone platforms and complex veins formed a beautiful scenery.

Xue Ming squatted next to a vein, carefully inspecting the composition of the soil, and then took out the multimeter and the spiritual probe from the carrying bag.

The multimeter is the most common electrician maintenance equipment. We have seen the psychic probe in the volume of Lingyun. It is a prop used by the security team of the Redstone rock band to detect the concentration of psychic disasters.

He grounded the multimeter and connected it to the headlight circuit to observe the voltage difference between the front and rear.

Then use the psionic probe to test repeatedly——

——The readings of the probes are all [out of specification]. The concentration of spiritual disasters here has always exceeded the standard, and it is not an environment suitable for Homo sapiens to live in. If people live in this environment for a long time, they will continue to lose their mental strength and willpower, and the index of madness will gradually increase, and eventually they will go completely crazy.

This phenomenon is also in line with the information provided by Mr. Heian—only people who have been transformed by VENOM institutions are eligible to live in Shinto City.

However, Xue Ming did these things not only to review the basic environment of the two places before and after, but also to be able to detect the subtle differences with his keen inspiration when he stepped on the stone ballast road just now.

On the road 150 meters away from the entrance of the Howling Ridge Tunnel, and 84 meters away from the front line stronghold, there is an invisible boundary line.

The multimeter has an obvious voltage difference here. The potentials of the two places are different, and there is a current passing through it-indicating that the geological rock formations and minerals here have shifted, and the activity of a large amount of current has caused the magnetic field to change accordingly.

When the psychic probe moved rapidly between the two places, there was also a drastic reading jump, and this phenomenon had also occurred in the Death Puppet Agency.

The different areas controlled by the runes have different spiritual pressures and different magnetic fields, so what is certain is that the ghost hitting the wall phenomenon that Ah Xing and Ping An once encountered, which caused them to turn around in circles, was the culprit in this area. under the land.

This is where the boundaries of the displacement of the massif rock formations occur.

Xueming specially summoned Soul Power, and made Fragrant Huanmeng stand beyond the limit range of 16 meters. He threw the psionic probe to the spirit body, and asked the spirit body brother to report the reading. Go to the outermost side of the railway, next to the cliff near the river valley.

He took out the fluorite from the carrying bag and crushed it, turning it into a handful of luminous powder, and evenly spread it on the border line, so that a simple mark was done. If this place is displaced again, You can see the strangeness at a glance.

It took about ten minutes to finish these things, and he rushed to the tunnel without stopping, and also saw the hematite mine pit where the rockburst occurred. When the rock formation released the pressure the next time, the psionic tide that hit his face almost forced him to take half a step back.

The flying sand and rocks rushed out of the pit, and the whole tunnel trembled.

At this time, he also heard the Japanese "come back"——

——It feels like there are thousands of wandering spirits gathered together, all shouting towards the exit of the tunnel, without joy or sorrow, repeating [come back] like a machine.

Xue Ming quickly passed through the mouth of the hematite mine, and then walked several hundred meters to the area of ​​Shiqiu Town.

He followed the trajectory of the meteor, crossed sixteen billboards, recorded the scenery along the street with a pen and paper, and drew portraits of Seiko Matsushima one after another.

He thought to himself—the cultural landscape of Shiqiu Town seems to have a kind of convergence.

People who used to live here all have the same idol, Seiko Matsushima.

This feeling is too strange, as if we went back to the 1980s, there was such a town with a hundred kilometers of roads, all the cultural impressions, and all the advertising endorsements were the same person.

At this time, Amin was not aware of the existence of [Typical Man].

Shiqiu Town is a satellite town of Xiaoguandong. According to such a set of logic, scientific research and technology manufacture production tools, production tools affect living standards, and living standards determine ideological construction—then Shiqiu Town is close to Howling Ridge and the civilized world People who used to live here accepted the transformation of VENOM around 1984 and accepted the standard aesthetics. Seiko Matsushima has become the standard aesthetics of citizens.

Unlike Little Guandong, a big city with administrative agencies, before [Elysium Space] was popularized, the ecology of Shiqiu Town would be more primitive and more humane - Xue Ming experienced this kind of humaneness when he came to the cemetery.

[Part ② Why did you say you provoked him? ]

Go over the railing of the sentry box and walk inside, from the simplest youth version of the cyber electronic cemetery, to the mountainside dog house PRO/PLUS/MAX and a full set of variant upgrades.

Jiang Xueming also said [Good guy! ] So we went up.

At such a young age, he has never seen such an outrageous one-stop funeral service. This is too sci-fi oh no, it's too fantasy.

Many of these soft skeletons in Shiqiu Town are migrant workers who are not qualified to enter the [Elysium Space]. In the world, there are these software.

The upgrade service of the cemetery is also a part of stimulating economic consumption. People spend money on ghosts, which can make these electronic ghosts gradually upgrade step by step, and finally become excellent waiters after layers of audits, or processed into modules. , and finally stayed in [Elysium Space].

When Xueming came to the top of the short mountain in the cemetery, he saw a construction team repairing the tombs of the Shinto congregation.

There is a cordon of flashing neon lights around the outside, and he observes the interior of the cemetery from outside the cordon.

Four groups of drones flew up and down, divided into six different sizes, a total of 24 units, under the command of the executioner on night watch, piled up new materials for the broken tombstones.

Xue Ming took out his mobile phone and took a photo of the scene.

The executioner turned his head immediately, as if he felt the weak current change when the camera took pictures.

They were about forty meters apart, their eyes facing each other.

Time slowed down at that moment——

——Jiang Xueming didn't speak, just looked at this formidable enemy.

The code on the executioner's forehead has a factory label. This face has been refurbished, and the tail of the code has an X+ renovation logo. The initial letter of the code is C3, which is the third generation of Yike.

The median number of the code is 5101. Brother Pingan said that this is the number of the arsenal in the Wuyizhu area. He has seen many typical people on night patrol at the outpost in Ginza Town.

At the front of the tail is the number of the troops marked in red - the executioner is the thirteenth sheriff of Shiqiu Town, and his colleagues have all retired, and he is the latest one.

Xueming said hello: "Hello? Should I speak Japanese or English?"

The compound sights in the executioner's eyes quickly locked on to the alien creature.

He turned around following his head, and the scene was very strange, like moving the body of a bird, but their heads did not move, as if they had a very precise gyroscope.

He put his hands flat to his crotch, as if to relax his vigilance, but in fact his legs were already facing Jiang Xueming, ready to activate the nano-armor to approach the target at any time.

"what do you?"

At such a long distance, the executioner's biological signal recognition system could not identify Jiang Xueming's DNA profile——

——When in contact with a meteor, the executioner can rely on heat-sensing vision, or collect pheromones to determine what the meteor is.

Luo Ping'an is in the form of a spirit body, and the executioner can't recognize it, so the meeting is a state of arms.

Jiang Xueming raised his hands high to explain why he came.

"I am a passenger at Nine Realms Station!"

The executioner walked forward step by step, very slowly and carefully.

He is like a timid rabbit, because the visual center of the VENOM organ, in the visual signal provided by the pair of electronic eyes, besides this humanoid unit claiming to be a passenger, there is also an unknown psionic unit—that is Snow Ming's soul power.

The executioner walked to the limit where the biometric system could take effect, and was only eight meters away from Jiang Xueming.

"Are you a psyker?"

Jiang Xueming: "That's right, I'm a VIP at the station, my name is Jiang Xueming."

Executioner: "Why are you here?"

Jiang Xueming: "A companion got separated from me, I have to take him back."

"Is there a companion?" The executioner looked back at the tomb, and became suspicious: "The companion you mentioned is one person? Or two people?"

Jiang Xueming: "Just one person, have you seen him?"

Executioner: "Identity information?"

Jiang Xueming: "His name is Bu Liuxing, did he show you the crew card? Have you heard of this name?"

Executioner: "The person you mentioned has voluntarily become a legal citizen of Shinto City."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Xueming still held his hands high, "He doesn't plan to go back?"

The executioner nodded and explained patiently.

"Any intelligent life that enters the scope of Shinto City should stay here."

"Changshi will take good care of you, and you will join the community and build your own small community."

"Excellent psykers like you are very precious materials."

Jiang Xueming: "I can't leave either?

Speaking of this, Xue Ming lowered his hand slightly.

The executioner's exposed muscles were immediately covered with pitch-black armor, and the pale fiber-optic hairs on his head also flickered, and the artificial neural exoskeleton center at the back of his neck began to emit low-brightness and low-frequency communication signals.

"Don't get excited." Jiang Xueming raised his hands again: "I didn't want to fight you, can't I just say a word? Just ask a word? Are you so angry?"

There was no emotion in the eyes of the executioner, and no change in attitude could be seen——

——But it doesn't mean that under various hormone suppressors, the changes in his heart don't exist.

Just now, he felt the threat of death. The moment the outsider lowered his arms slightly, the sudden change in spiritual pressure caused him to react in a stressful way, and immediately activated the nano armor.

He was so frightened that he almost lost his mind. When the small yellow light came on, the security center was still asking eagerly.

"Executioner, what happened?"

"Share us your visual cues, how is the repair work on the tombstone going?"

"Why didn't you answer? Did you meet something?"

The executioner pressed the back of his neck and connected with the security center through the exoskeleton.

"It's okay, I met a strange outsider, he is not a beast, nor a baby, he is a psychic."

Security center: "He attacked you?"

Executioner: "No."

Security Center: "Is he Bu Meteor's partner? Is it related to the prisoners in Ginza Town?"

Executioner: "I don't know, what is certain is that they are wearing the same kind of carrying equipment and similar equipment. He uses the name [Jiang Xueming]."

Security Center: "Bring him back and hand it over to Japan Xun and Chang Shi."

Executioner: "I apply for a second-level force."

Security Hub: "You were not attacked, it's illegal."

Executioner: "I apply for a second-level force."

Security Center: "You are not under attack."

Executioner: "I apply for a third-level force."

Security Center: "You didn't"

Just like that, Jiang Xueming waited quietly——

—he heard no response.

The sturdy cyborg in front of him kept clutching his neck, the yellow light behind his head kept flashing, and he didn't know what he was doing.

After about ten seconds, the executioner finally seemed to come back from being disconnected, and switched to speaking in Chinese.

"Jiang Xueming, please come with me, the administrative department of Shendao City will hold a welcome ceremony for you."

Xueming: "Wait a minute, please wait a moment."

The executioner drew his sword from behind, ready to strike.

Jiang Xueming said loudly.

"I'm not a criminal, am I!?"

Executioner: "You are not a criminal."

Jiang Xueming: "I have personal freedom, right?"

The executioner raised his sword and threatened: "Yes, you have personal freedom, but if you want to live according to the rules of Shinto City, you will soon have a VENOM organ, which is your electronic brain. You need rescue, electrolyte solution, and life. Basic guarantees, we will provide you with these things."

Jiang Xueming still held his hands high, his right index finger slanted to the way he came.

"Can I go back?"

The executioner said in front of the repeater, "No, you are an excellent material for Shinto City."

"Hiss..." Xue Ming took a deep breath: "Is there really nothing to talk about?"

Executioner: "You can fight, but it's pointless"

The voice has not yet fallen——

—— Pulling out the gun from the carrying case, Xue Ming lifted the handguard grip to empty the magazine.

The main weapon of the Knights of the Frost Moon is M4A4丨MK18Mod0, which is a very common and practical spear.

The speed at which he fired the gun exceeded the executioner's expectations. Almost immediately, the VENOM agency gave the executioner a combat suggestion to raise the shield and approach. When this decision was executed, the gunshots had already sounded.

The shield wall blocked the line of sight for the first time. The distance of eight meters is not long or short. According to the speed of the bionic man, it can be equalized in just two or three big jumps.

Xue Ming fought and retreated, but none of the bullets landed on the black and round shield in front of him.

After walking two or three steps forward, the executioner realized that his forearm and forearm were not impacted, and his shield was unharmed, so where did the bullet go? !

This honest and honest cyborg turned his head and took a look. The drones that were constructing and repairing the stele were like headless flies, and sparks shot out one after another. In the blink of an eye, twenty-three working machines fell on the solid ground. On the stone road, it fell to pieces.

It was rare for the executioner to have an expression on his face. It was the anxiety of delaying the construction period and slowing down the progress of the task. His expression was distorted but he wanted to tell the laws of Shendao City according to the script.

"Alien life! You have violated"

With a sound of "嗖——", a dazzling silver light hit the cabin of the last drone. Before the executioner finished reading the words, Xue Ming had already thrown out the short combat knife and was about to reload.

The moment the finger pinches the magazine release latch.

The executioner raised his sword again, and after receiving the attack signal from the VENOM agency, he rushed straight to the target.

Two bright and high-temperature radiation signal sources appeared in the line of sight, and the cyborgs couldn't quite understand what they were - they were all treated as interference signals from psykers. Interference is normal.

There are still two hundred and thirty centimeters away from the target.

Two hundred centimeters, one hundred and fifty centimeters.

Without any hesitation, he crossed the clutter.

Immediately after the two arms separated, Tianling Gai also flew up.

Before Jiang Xueming had time to reload, he saw the executioner limp on the ground, his thick arms and execution sword flew out, two scorched horizontal lines appeared from where his eyes were, and his skull rolled forward, causing Xueming's boots to step on it. After a while, the red light of the electronic prosthetic eye dissipated, and finally lost all signs of life.

"Well done! SD!"

Fragrant Dream: "Of course! We are the best partners!"

Jiang Xueming pulled two black lacquered wires. The end of the wires was the cabin of the drone. The combat knife pierced into the circuit and flew out together with the tough molybdenum wire.

Fenfang Huanmeng held the other end of the molybdenum wire circuit, and bursts of blue smoke came out of the big steel cat, as if it had been stunned by electricity, and it couldn't stop making a strange sound of "gurgling".

Xueming took back the short knife, only to realize that the undercut on the spine of the knife hanging on the molybdenum wire cutting wire had turned black, and sighed in his heart—the output of this drone is the engineering industry standard, and the energy density of the battery is so outrageous, so small A gadget that actually meets the power requirements for molybdenum wire thermal cutting.

When the molybdenum wire cutting wire is energized, it can generate a high temperature of up to 2600 degrees in a pure oxygen environment. It is originally used to cut metal industrial wire. The bouncing action is deliberately done for the executioner to see - I want to try the tactical decision-making of artificial intelligence.

As a result, these iron bumps were not as smart as Mr. Ping An said, they just rushed straight to the cutting line, and their heads and bodies were separated.

Xue Ming rolled up the cutting wire unhurriedly, cut off the burnt molybdenum dioxide leisurely, sharpened the rolled-up knife, and then unscrewed the executioner's arms, and cut off the two severed arms. Breaking apart his fingers, he held the carbon beheading sword in his hand.

"So light."

The weapon made by C60 has the three advantages of toughness, weight and hardness at the same time. This is a magical weapon made of nanomaterials. The whole sword weighs only 1,700 grams.

The security center could not receive the signal from the executioner, and all the drones on the scene were destroyed by Xue Ming.

The back of the executioner's head was still emitting strobe lights, as if the security center was repeatedly confirming the safety of the soldiers.

Xue Ming stepped forward and smashed the exoskeleton with a sword. He took off the scabbard from the drone, weaved a set of nylon carrying gear, carried the beheading sword on his back, and was just about to go——

——After walking twenty meters away, he ran back in a hurry.

"Sorry! I'm sorry I almost forgot! I'm getting older!"

Raise the weapon, ask Fragrant Dream to pick up the executioner's brain.

Fenfang Huanmeng frowned, and prepared: "Prevent resurrection, right? Prepare?"

Xueming nodded and signaled: "Go!"

The head was thrown high, and the gunfire crackled.

The nano-carbon was cracked along with the brain tissue, and the milky white artificial blood splashed down, like brilliant waves in the ocean.

it's easy to see--

—he was dead.