Alien Relic Hunter

"This is really a 'comfortable' journey..."

Ke Lan complained secretly in his heart, pressing his body as close to the cushion behind him as possible, holding on to the armrests on both sides with both hands - the amplitude and frequency of the tremors were still increasing, and he felt that there seemed to be a salty taste in his mouth. , as if he accidentally bit his tongue just now.

But he didn't feel much pain. Compared with the feeling that his whole body was about to be shaken apart, this small injury was nothing to mention.

He raised his head and glanced at the altimeter in the cabin. The value displayed on the dial was two thousand eight hundred and forty meters. This altitude happened to be the place where the atmospheric convection is strongest on Alpha Star. Even an "Amran-class" with four pairs of Medium-sized transport aircraft with balanced rotors cannot maintain a stable flight in strong winds.

"There are still six kilometers to the target location. Operators are ready." An emotionless synthetic voice sounded in the headphones, accompanied by the "clang" sound caused by the collision of metal and metal.

Ke Lan turned his head with great effort and looked out the porthole. Everything he saw was white, except for a fissure in the distance at the foot of the glacier that was clear of snow, which was extremely conspicuous.

The black crack is like a deep and huge mouth, quietly waiting for prey to come - from thousands of meters away, Ke Lan can feel the strong dangerous atmosphere exuding from it, making people want to stay away involuntarily.

Whether it was the hunting maw or the dangerous aura, he knew it was all due to his own psychology, but one thing was true, this ghost place was indeed very dangerous.

That crack is the destination of their trip: ruins A-087.

According to Ark's official naming guidelines for ruins, it can be known that this is the 87th A-level ruins discovered by humans on Planet Alpha. However, this ruins was originally named C-364, until the third advance team was completely wiped out inside - dozens of people died, and the exploration progress of the entire ruins was less than 10%. The official then started the re-rating process, and finally positioned the ruins' grade to A-level.

There is no need to talk about the dangers of A-level ruins, which are second only to S-level. However, relatively speaking, the rewards of exploring A-level ruins are enough to inspire people to take risks - whether it is the alien planet left by the Alpha civilization. Technology or precious resources hidden deep in the ruins can be exchanged for a large number of credits. If you are lucky, it is not impossible to get rich overnight.

But the premise is that you have to get those things and come out of the ruins alive.

Such people are called "hunters". Ke Lan is a hunter, as are the other six people in the cabin.

Unlike the previous three advance teams, the seven of them were not a team, but seven lone hunters. In the hunter profession, loners are often experts - because those who have no ability and still want to monopolize all the harvest will die long ago without knowing which corner...

"If you can't stand it, just go skydiving. The nearest transfer station is only a few dozen kilometers away from here. You can even crawl there -" the big man sitting in the first place suddenly mocked. He was a biochemically modified man with more than half of his body. His parts are all mechanical prosthetics. Compared with Ke Lan and the others, his tolerance for tremors is obviously much stronger.

"What's the difference between parachuting at this height... and committing suicide? How about... you jump first?" The person who spoke was the middle-aged man with an extra-large hooked nose sitting opposite Ke Lan. His figure He looked a little thin, with a pair of very old-style goggles on his face. The loose cheeks under the goggles were shaking violently with tremors, and even his speech was intermittent.

"Old guy, you can't speak clearly, so why are you so weird? I think you have a small body, and you look like you're here to give someone away." The reformer retorted with some disdain.

"you……"

The hook-nosed man was about to say something when the piercing siren suddenly sounded, and the white light instantly switched to dark red symbolizing the warning meaning——

"what happened?"

"Unknown strong magnetic field... We have crashed into a strong magnetic field... All the electronic instruments on the plane have failed. I am switching to manual operation mode... We... We may have to make an emergency landing..." The pilot said in a panic. came from the cockpit, which made the seven people's hearts sink.

Crash landing? Under such weather conditions, it would be better to say it was a crash than to say it was a forced landing... It would be impossible to even maintain direction in the storm by manual operation alone.

The transport plane was already on the verge of stalling. The faces of the people in the cabin were not very good-looking, but at least they were still calm. All seven of them were clinging to the seats under them - given the safety of the Amran-class transport aircraft , there may be a glimmer of survival if the plane crashes directly, but if it is thrown out during the fall, it will definitely not survive.

But at this moment, Ke Lan suddenly thought of something crucial!

There is strong radiation on the surface of Planet Alpha. The indigenous creatures living on this planet have adapted to this radiation during their long evolution, but it is still fatal to humans. Every time they explore the ruins, the hunters will prepare protective clothing, anti-radiation drugs and detection equipment. However, these equipment are too bulky and are not placed in the small cabin. Instead, they are all installed in the container-type cargo hold attached to the tail of the transport aircraft. .

Once the cargo compartment disintegrated during the crash, they lost these equipment. Even if they survived the crash, they would not be able to hold on until rescue arrived.

"Protective clothing!" Ke Lan shouted loudly, but his voice was instantly swallowed up by various noises.

"Protective clothing! We must get protective clothing!" There was no other way, he slapped the metal bulkhead hard and roared at the top of his lungs.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ke Lan's abnormal behavior quickly attracted the attention of the big man. His voice was much louder than Ke Lan's. Suddenly the other six people focused their attention on Ke Lan.

"Protective clothing! Protective clothing in the cargo hold!" Ke Lan shouted while pointing wildly at the cargo hold - the other six people were certainly not fools, and he immediately understood what he meant by pointing.

"Damn it! Protective suit! I forgot about this!" shouted the modified man. Although he had undergone biochemical transformation, his resistance to radiation was not much better than that of ordinary people, and even the precision of the mechanical prosthetics was Components require more protection from protective equipment.

"Let me do it!" said the modified man. He was the strongest among the seven, and he was the only one who could move in the violently shaking cabin... But just when he was about to get up, he found that his machine The prosthetic body has completely gone on strike and is completely disobedient!

"Magnetic field... it's a magnetic field! The electronic instruments on the plane have been interfered with, and the mechanical prosthetics are naturally not immune..." Ke Lan looked at the immobile man with some despair. At this moment, all the other people were Since you are in a difficult situation, the only person who is most likely to get the protective equipment back is you, who is seated closest to the cargo hold.

"I'll get it!" There was no time for him to hesitate. After making the decision, Ke Landang immediately began to unbuckle the seat belt around his body.

"What did you say?!" The modified man's face turned red. He struggled in vain, but with only the strength of his original body, he could not drive the mechanical prosthetic body that had lost its power.

"He said he was going to get protective clothing!" The hook-nosed man sitting next to Ke Lan could barely hear Ke Lan's words clearly. He looked at Ke Lan with a complicated look, but did not make any move.

"Get ready to pick me up! I will fasten the hook of the seat belt to the equipment box. If the cargo compartment disintegrates, you have to find a way to pull me back together with the equipment box!!" Ke Lan had already unbuckled most of the seat belt, and he was dead Clinging to the bulkhead, using both hands and feet, he struggled to move towards the cargo hold step by step...

…

As Ke Lan expected, the connection between the cargo hold and the transport plane had become seriously loose. Some of the more fragile parts of the cargo hold were even torn apart, and strong winds were constantly pouring in from the outside.

This is the drawback of the modular design. Although it is very convenient for loading, unloading and maintenance, the strength cannot be compared with the integrated structure... Four of the sixteen metal hooks have been broken, and the remaining twelve are also broken. It's in danger, and the cargo hold may fall off the transport plane at any time!

"Hold the seat belt! When I wave, pull the belt back hard!" Ke Lan turned around and roared, but as soon as his voice came out, it was swallowed up by the strong airflow. As for his head, The communication device he was wearing had already become useless when it was interfered by the magnetic field.

Fortunately, the aquiline nose understood what Ke Lan meant at a glance. He pulled out the spare seat belt under his seat and buckled it on the one Ke Lan pulled out. The other hunters who were sitting closer also followed suit. his actions.

Ke Lan nodded, then opened the door of the cargo compartment, took a deep breath, and groped in.

The strength of the seat belts is completely sufficient. Ke Lan has seen the promotional video of this thing. Only four seat belts can lift the entire Amran-class transport aircraft. The only thing he needs to worry about now is the tens of millions of dollars in the cargo compartment. Don't let it fall off when he is carrying the equipment, otherwise even if the safety belt is kept, his fragile flesh and blood body will be torn in half by the huge force in an instant.

"Hopefully... today is my lucky day..."