Alien Relic Hunter

"Sir Victoria...I, I seem to have heard...screams..." an agent next to him said cautiously.

"Did you hear anything?" Ke Lan patted Major Ashkani's arm.

"Okay, there seems to be some sound...but whether it is crying or screaming, I can't tell clearly." Ashkani said hesitantly.

"Why do I feel like this voice is getting farther and farther away..." Victoria said with a frown... This is one of the few "original" human organs on her face. A deeply visible scar runs from her forehead to the It goes down through the eyebrows and the bridge of the nose, and extends to the edge of the maxillary bone.

"...ran away?" Major Ashkani looked at Victoria and then at Ke Lan, "Is it an illusion? I don't hear any sounds now... Those sounds just now seemed like they had never appeared. Live the same..."

"It's not an illusion. One person's words may be explained by auditory hallucinations, but we can't all have auditory hallucinations." Ke Lan denied it.

"But...if there was a sound, why did Mr. Ke Lan hear crying, but Commissioner Victoria heard a sharp scream? This doesn't make sense," Ashkani said.

"Perhaps it's because the structure of my sound receiving device is different from that of the human ear canal?" Victoria asked suspiciously. She suddenly turned her head and looked at the agent who just said that she also heard the scream, "You just heard What was that sound? Crying? Or screaming?"

"... It should have been a scream... No, it's not right... Looking back now, it sounds like crying..." The agent pressed his forehead with his hand and said with a troubled expression.

"What on earth is that sound?" Victoria asked again, slightly aggravating her tone.

"Sir..." the agent said with a grimace, "I really can't remember... that voice was very mysterious to begin with. I could hear it for a while and then not... and when I tried hard to listen, When it becomes clear, it disappears, and when I focus on other things, it gradually becomes clear again...I..."

"Okay, I understand." Victoria waved her hand, interrupting him, and then looked at Ke Lan, "Are you sure what you heard was crying?"

"Yes, it's a low cry. To be more precise, it should be a woman's whimpering. It's very hoarse..."

"The sound I heard was completely different from what you described. It was a very sharp and harsh scream. The creature that made this sound seemed to be suffering great pain... Although it was somewhat similar to crying, it was definitely not deep. Husky,” Victoria said.

Ke Lan shrugged and said, "I don't need to lie about this kind of thing. Also, have you discovered anything?"

"What?"

"After this mutant species, it has been a long time since a 'container' has been attracted by pheromones and escaped... If the Arasaka Consortium has been controlled by that heretical sect... the huge East Nine District, one hundred and sixty With a permanent population of tens of thousands, there are not only three 'containers', right?"

"What's more," Ke Lan continued, "let alone three such 'containers', if only one is thrown into a densely populated area, it can infect thousands of people... However, these people are all Where has it gone?"

"Yeah... I have never been able to figure this out." Ashkani nodded repeatedly, "Today is still the weekend, and it stands to reason that there will be a large number of tourists from outside the district coming here in Kabukicho Ichiban Street. But these people all disappeared within a few dozen minutes after the power outage. It’s impossible that they were arrested by the Arasaka Consortium, right?”

"I talked to General Magino twice on the phone on the way here. As far as I know, not only in Kabukicho, but also in other neighborhoods, the garrison has not found even a single person who came from East Kowloon after the power outage. The people who ran out of the district...these people seemed to have evaporated out of thin air at the moment the power was cut off." Ke Lan took over Ashkani's words and said, "I have a question about this, Ms. Victoria. Can you tell me the answer?"

"You asked," Victoria said.

"The pheromones released by the flesh-eating worms can attract the seeds of erosion. So, is it possible for the 'container' parasitized by the seeds of erosion to suppress this desire with its own will?"

"... The Security Bureau has conducted relevant experiments, and the answer is no. When the corrosive seeds in the body of the 'container' receive the pheromones of the flesh-eating worms, they will immediately enter a period of rapid transformation and eat away the self of the 'container' itself. Consciousness then drives the 'vessel' to rush desperately to the source of the pheromone." Victoria replied.

"Then there are only two possibilities: in the entire East Nine District, within the range that the flesh-eating worm pheromones can reach, only these three 'containers'...or, only these three 'containers' have the ability to move freely. , while other 'containers' were imprisoned by physical means."

"Confining a large number of 'containers' and then waiting for the right time to release them all at once... If they are allowed to break through the blockade, the consequences will be really disastrous..."

Victoria thought for a moment and then made a decision: "You guys stay here, I will take my people to investigate the situation first. If we fail to come out after an hour, we will immediately send this thing to anyone in the Security Bureau." An intelligence officer."

She took out a memory card from her pocket and threw it to Major Ashkani.

"What is this?" the major asked subconsciously.

"The battle record just now and the recording between me and this person." Victoria pointed at Ke Lan, "Although I can't guarantee that the people above will believe what he said as much as I do, I must at least make them aware of the problem. Severity.”

"I want to go in with you." At this moment, Ke Lan suddenly stood up and said.

"What did you say?" Victoria's eyes showed a trace of surprise, "You should know how dangerous it is here."

"I know, that's why I want to go in." Ke Lan said. Although he didn't know how to explain it to Victoria and the others, he seemed to hear a hint of pleading in the faint whimper just now... …the voice is asking for help…

And the most important point is that in this weird sobbing, Ke Lan didn't feel any hostility at all.

As a hunter, when exploring ruins, you often have to face many choices. When reason cannot weigh the pros and cons of the choices, you have to rely on human intuition... and Ke Lan has always trusted his own. intuition.

However, according to some scholars who study this kind of theory, this ability cannot be simply summarized by the word "intuition". They have created a brand new term for this: "inspiration."

This inspiration does not refer to the kind of inspiration that bursts out during literary and artistic creation, but is used to describe "human beings' sensitive ability to perceive strange phenomena." This ability is closer to the supersensory perception of the sixth sense. But compared to the erratic sixth sense, this ability is triggered more frequently.

Generally speaking, hunters with high inspiration are more likely to find hidden secret passages and treasures with high value than hunters with low inspiration, but this does not mean that high inspiration is necessarily a good thing - hunters with high inspiration , in the ruins, it is also easier to encounter those unexplainable evil phenomena. If you are not careful, you may step into a situation of death and no life.

Moreover, the higher the inspiration, the easier it is to be confused by some illusions, and the easier it is to have a mental breakdown and fall into madness.

Ke Lan belongs to the type of people with relatively high inspiration, especially after coming into contact with the inscriptions on the sarcophagus and inheriting the language of the Alpha civilization... He always has an illusion that the relationship between himself and the human race is The distance seemed to be getting farther and farther, and sometimes he even felt that the language of the Alpha civilization was more like his mother tongue than the human language.

And this time, his "intuition" has been vaguely telling him that the creature whimpering deep in the East Ninth District... is not his enemy, and will not cause any harm to him...

Although Ke Lan himself knew that this knowledge was extremely outrageous, the hint from his subconscious was so strong that he could not stop himself from wanting to enter the East 9th District.

"Mr. Ke Lan! This is too dangerous! If General Maginot knows, he will definitely stop you!" Ashkani hurriedly dissuaded Ke Lan when he heard that he wanted to follow the agents into the East Ninth District.

"But the voice I heard is obviously different from all of you." Ke Lan said, "I think this question can only be answered by myself going in."

"It's not worth risking your life for an answer." Victoria said indifferently.

"That's right... the agents of the Security Bureau are all elites with professional level training. They have rich experience in handling this kind of thing, but we are different... Mr. Ke Lan, if you insist on finding out, , I think it’s better to wait until the order from above for the large troops to move in is issued before going in, there are more people and it is safer.” Major Ashkani said.

"I'm afraid that everything will be too late by then." Ke Lan suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Since Major, you are considered General Maginot's confidant, then...you should know about Leviathan's affairs, right?"

Ke Lan knew that "inspiration" and "intuition" alone would not be able to convince Ashkani and Maginot, but apart from this, he had another reason, which was enough for them to let him enter Dongjiu district……

"Uh..." Ashkani was startled again, "I do know about Leviathan, but this and now..."

"If the commander of the first fleet hesitated at that time and did not command the flagship to crash into Leviathan, but decided to wait for the arrival of several other fleets before conducting encirclement and suppression operations..." Ke Lan paused, "Then I'm afraid What we have to consider now is not the East Ninth District."

"Why?" Major Ashkani was a little confused. Although he had read the relevant reports on the Leviathan incident, he certainly didn't know as many details as Ke Lan, who had experienced it.

"Because as long as the First Fleet hesitates, what we will face may be a fully resurrected Leviathan."

"..." Major Ashkani opened his mouth slightly, but couldn't say a word for a while.

"And now, I suspect that the sound I heard and the sound Ms. Victoria heard came from the same source... If the Arasaka Consortium really intends to gather the 'containers' of erosion seeds to attack the blockade, then they It is very likely that more than one gathering point has been set up... If we miss one of them, imagine Major - the scene of thousands of 'containers' tearing open the blockade and pouring into neighboring residential areas..."

"...Okay." Major Ashkani seemed to have made some important decision in his heart. He made a fist with his right hand and beat his chest hard. "Since Mr. Ke Lan is willing to take risks for the sake of the people, then I We will definitely protect your safety!”

"Uh... do you want to come in with me too?" Ke Lan was stunned for a moment and asked.

"Of course." As he said that, Ashkani selected a dozen non-commissioned officers and equipped each of them with a syringe gun and a syringe containing flesh-eating worm active cells to form an elite team. In addition, he transferred two more "Bloodhound" mechas from the rear. Together with the previous four, a total of six mechas were also incorporated into the team.

As a result, the size of this team suddenly became "bloated": in addition to Ke Lan, Ashkani, and Victory, there were also fourteen agents from the Security Bureau, and the garrison Sixteen sergeants, plus six mechas... including the operators inside the mechas, the number is already more than twice that of the previous reconnaissance team. As for the firepower configuration... the firepower of this team, even surpassed the troops remaining on the blockade.

"Hurry up, we have to go." Victoria urged, and she jumped onto the leading "Bloodhound" and used the hooks of the leg prostheses to firmly fix herself on the top of the mecha. .

Ke Lan asked for an extra syringe gun from an agent, and pressed the active cells given to him by Zofia into the launch slot. He just inserted the syringe into his side pocket, Turning around, he saw Major Ashkani quickly crossing himself on his chest.

"Major, are you religious?"

"Well... I am a Christian... Although there are not many people who believe in the religion of the old times these days, my father and grandfather are both devout believers... Of course I also know that God does not actually exist. But when I’m nervous, I can’t help but pray,” Major Ashkany replied.

"Then just think of it as praying to your father and grandfather, they will bless you." Ke Lan patted his shoulder, "Besides, I have reservations about the existence of God..."

"Do you believe that God really exists in this world?"

"I don't know...but the Alpha civilization seems to be very pious to their gods." Ke Lan said.