Alien Relic Hunter

Ke Lan and the others stayed on the shore of the underground lake for two full days.

The seriously injured mercenary died of complications caused by wound infection on the first night, while Ivan and Akira Asano did not wake up until noon of the next day.

Similar to Ke Lan's initial guess, Ivan dreamed that he was completely swallowed by the Seed of Corrosion and turned into an inhuman monster, massacring uncontrollably on the Ark... which scared him the most. What's strange is that although his self-awareness still remains in his body, it has been assimilated by the violent and murderous character of the Corrosion Seed. He is completely unable to contain this impulse... so much so that after waking up from the dream, His mental state is still in a very unstable state.

"I...I can't believe it...that's my own idea...I want to kill people...no, not kill...but eat..." Ivan said in a trembling voice, behind him His clothes were completely soaked with sweat, his facial muscles were twitching involuntarily, and his desperate and painful eyes would be difficult to erase from his mind once he looked at her once.

"Doctor, cheer up, that's just a dream, that's just a dream!" Hound grabbed Ivan's shoulders, pulled his body over, and shook him hard a few times, "You just had a nightmare, you didn't even It’s not a monster!”

"No... you don't know that feeling..." Ivan said. His expression was very strange, making it impossible to tell whether he was crying or laughing. "That is my own will, and it is my subconscious mind." The hidden desire... I obviously didn't lose control of my limbs, but I didn't want to stop my violence... Those flesh and blood tempted me... I killed people and then ate their flesh. I didn't feel sick or afraid. , but it is filled with a strange pleasure... This pleasure urges me to hunt more..."

He continued: "I don't know if I am still a human being... maybe I have become a monster..."

"Okay." Ke Lan stood up and interrupted Ivan, "Eating is a human instinct. There is no problem with it."

"But...I..."

Ke Lan turned around and walked away. When he came back, he had a piece of stale meat in his hand with a lot of dark brown coagulated plasma on it.

Without saying a word, he walked directly in front of Ivan and roughly stuffed the piece of meat into Ivan's mouth.

"This is...um...um...what?!"

"Meat just cut from a dead person." Ke Lan replied calmly.

"Pfft! Ouch... vomit..." After hearing Ke Lan's answer, Ivan immediately spat out the contents of his mouth, then knelt on the ground and retched.

When his voice became hoarse from vomiting, Ke Lan handed over a pot of water and said, "Rinse your mouth."

"I..." Ivan originally wanted to say something, but in the end he swallowed all those words. As a result, he took a big sip from the water bottle, rinsed it vigorously a few times, and then spit out the liquid mixed with filth. On the ground.

"He also said that he wanted to eat people, but he couldn't even swallow a piece of dead human flesh..."

Ivan was shocked, raised his head, and looked at Ke Lan in surprise.

"Now, do you still think you are a monster?" Ke Lan looked at him with a half-smile and asked.

"...Thank you." Ivan was silent for a few seconds, raised the back of his hand and wiped the water stains from the corners of his mouth.

Although he looked very embarrassed, his expression was much more normal than before, and his eyes had regained their original calmness.

"Ke Lan really has you -" Hound smacked his lips and said, "Tsk, I can't think of such a way."

"From another perspective, Ivan, the dream you experienced has no authenticity at all... Human beings are just containers for the seeds of erosion." Ke Lan said, "When the seeds of erosion enter a period of rapid change, After the 'core' appears, it has independent consciousness... Human beings, as a container, are just a shell that provides nourishment to it."

"There is a very classic science fiction movie, "Alien", you have always seen it, don't you think that the monsters that 'break out' from the human body are transformed by that human being?" Ke Lan glanced at Ivan , continued, "Everything that appears in the dream world comes from your imagination - you think that human self-consciousness can be attached to the mature erosion seeds, so you feel that you have become a monster, but in reality Yes, you would have been dead by then."

"My imagination... comes from my imagination..." Ivan repeated this sentence softly.

"You think that monsters will kill humans wantonly, so when your consciousness is attached to the monster, you will mistakenly think that you are killing... You think that you still maintain control of your body, but in fact, you are not Can't you control anything?" Ke Lan's tone softened slightly, "This is just a dream, it's no big deal... When I was playing a certain strategy game, I would always execute species (anti-harmony) and clan (anti-harmony). What about the policy of extermination (prevention of harmony)... and even processed all of a certain species into instant cans... In reality, I haven't turned into a murderous demon without batting an eyelid."

"I understand." Ivan nodded and said to everyone, "I'm fine. I'm sorry for making everyone worry."

"What's there to apologize for? It's a good thing to wake up." The hound patted Ivan's back hard, but because he accidentally pulled the newly bandaged wound under his ribs, he immediately frowned, "Hiss... no Taking painkillers...it really hurts...but just now, doctor, you really almost scared me, I thought you were going crazy."

"Old dog, I suggest you sit peacefully, it's better to lie down...Although I helped you reattach your broken bone, this position cannot be fixed with a plaster. If it takes a long time to heal, If it's crooked, you have to break it off and reconnect it again...if it accidentally gets inserted into the internal organs..."

"Fuck, don't scare me!" The hound's eyes suddenly widened, "Okay, okay, I won't move around anymore, okay?"

"If you have a rib fracture, you can use a chest strap for external fixation. You can't do strenuous exercise for about a week. But if the number of broken bones is large, you need to put a stent in the body for internal fixation through surgery." Ivan said - and Compared with Ke Lan, who is a "fill-in", he is the full-time doctor in the team.

"Not many, only two were broken, but the soft tissue contusion was relatively serious." Ke Lan said.

"Then I can help you make a simple chest strap. Just find some elastic fabric and some bandages." Ivan said.

"That's the best," Hound said quickly, "Ke Lan likes to scare me so much that I don't even dare to move."

…

Asano Akira woke up half an hour later than Ivan, but compared to Ivan, he seemed much calmer.

Ke Lan: "Are you awake?"

Asano Akira: "Yeah."

Ke Lan: "Did you have a nightmare?"

Akira Asano: "Well...a...dream that I don't really like, but I don't know if it's a nightmare."

Ke Lan: "What did you dream about?"

Akira Asano: "I returned to the experimental base and experienced it again."

Ke Lan: "Then what? Did you go on a killing spree, knocking out everyone else? Or saw some indescribable monster, stepped on a hole in the ark, or something like that?"

Akira Asano shook his head and said: "No, everything is exactly the same as before. I am still the last person, and everyone who participated in the experiment is much better than me..."

He paused and continued: "But they were all dead or crazy, and I was the only one who survived."

"I actually always knew it was a dream," Asano Akira's voice showed no emotion at all, but Ke Lan heard a hint of reluctance, "But at least, at that time, I could still see with my eyes. thing."

"Do you regret it?" Ke Lan couldn't help but ask, "Participated in that kind of experiment."

"I have no chance to regret, and regret is useless." Asano Akira replied.

"Indeed, regret is the most useless thing in the world... So even if I do something wrong, I will only reflect on it instead of regretting it." Ke Lan said with emotion, "Only mediocre people waste time Wasted on regrets.”

"Hey, what are you talking about? Why don't you think about where to have a big meal after you go out? Don't you Chinese have an old saying, 'Food is the first thing for the people'? Filling the stomach is the most important thing." The hound chewed while While eating the compressed dry food that looked like a bar of soap, he said, "I'm really fed up with this kind of pig food. It's either bland or tasteless, or it's salty as hell, and it also smells like synthetic grease..."

"Then what do you want to eat?" Ke Lan joked, "Would you like me to cut another piece of meat from that guy and let you, old dog, have a taste?"

"Damn it, I'm just nicknamed 'Hound', and I'm not really a hound. Stop mentioning such disgusting things." Hound waved his hands repeatedly, "Hey... To be honest, I've always wanted to eat Japanese food. Yes, I have heard that there are quite a few very good restaurants in the East 9th District, such as sushi, tempura, teppanyaki and so on. It is a pity that those restaurants have turned into fireworks along with the entire East 9th District module. "

As he spoke, the hound suddenly turned his head and looked at Asano Akira: "By the way, Asano, you must know where the Japanese food is delicious, right? Can you recommend some?"

"I've never eaten Japanese food." Asano Akira replied.

"Isn't it?" Hound showed a look of astonishment, "You...you are a Japanese, and you have never eaten Japanese cuisine?"

"Never." Akira Asano said, "When I was a child, every meal I ate was the standard nutritious meal for Ark residents. After the compulsory education period, I joined the army and started eating in the canteen of the military camp... Oh, and there are also executions Standard military rations distributed during missions.”

Asano Akira's "Standard Nutritional Meal for Ark Residents" is as the name suggests. Its only function is to provide the residents on the Ark with all kinds of nutrients "enough to maintain good health". As for the taste and texture of the food, it has never been included in it. within the scope of consideration.

This kind of food is provided free of charge to every Ark resident in the compulsory education stage. Of course, those who don’t like to eat can give up receiving it and spend their credits to buy other food.

Ke Lan has also eaten this standard nutritious meal for a while. The outer packaging is a sealed plastic bag, and inside is a bag of something like flour. It is mixed with hot water into a paste and eaten. It also comes with a few Add seasonings to make the batter taste less overwhelming.

In addition, there are several oral tablets to supplement various vitamins and trace elements not found in the batter.

This kind of food is probably only slightly better than the cockroach protein blocks that big consortiums distribute to miners. Even the compressed dry food that hunting dogs are eating now is not as good as it.

No one would be willing to eat this kind of thing if it wasn't to fill their stomachs.

"You were also...born in the Human Training Center?" Ke Lan asked subconsciously. Only children with this kind of background can have such a clean account that they don't even have a single credit point. However, any child from a family, no matter how poor their financial conditions are, Well, I won’t eat this stuff every time.

"No, I have parents, but they were exiled when I was very young. As for the reason for the exile, I don't know." Asano Akira said, his tone was as cold as if he was talking about two people who had nothing to do with him. People, "I signed an agreement with some people. After completing compulsory education, I must obey the contents of the agreement and join that army. Otherwise, I will be exiled to the wilderness like my parents."

"So that's what it is..." Hound muttered, "The things adults commit are also implicated in children who don't understand anything... and they force children to sign such an agreement. Those guys really make our soldiers look bad. Throw it away."

"Actually, there's nothing delicious about Japanese cuisine. Most of it is just a gimmick. You can make a 'cooking god' just by cooking. It's funny when you think about it." Ke Lan changed the subject calmly, "That's right. , Ivan, do you have any suggestions?"

"I don't care." Ivan waved his hand, "As long as you have wine, it's fine."

"I think roasting a whole lamb is good," Zhuoligetu said, "but the problem is that it's hard to get a whole lamb on the Ark. I've only eaten it once since I was a child."

"How about we go eat hot pot?" Qin Zhao suddenly stood up, "Have you heard of Sichuan-Sichuan hot pot? It was very famous in the old era... I know a very good store, and the price is not expensive. You can choose real meat or synthetic protein meat according to your own conditions, and it’s really delicious when paired with the boss’s special hot sauce!”

"Sichuan hot pot?" Ke Lan was stunned for a moment. Although he had heard of it, he had never eaten it - there were not many Chinese in the area where he lived, and there were only one or two restaurants with Chinese characteristics. " I think you can try it.”

"Is it spicy? It's spicy. I like spicy food!" Zhuoligetu said, clapping his hands.

"Hot pot... I know, it's the kind of method where you put the ingredients in a pot and cook them, then take them out and eat them with sauce, right! I've wanted to try it for a long time. In fact, besides Japanese cuisine, I'm my second favorite The only alternative is hot pot!" shouted the Hound.

"Okay, it's settled, we'll have hot pot after we go out." Ke Lan said, "The chatting should be over. Everyone, get ready. We're going to start working -"

[P.S. Some readers have been saying that the pace is fast and makes me feel tired while reading. Recently, I have deliberately slowed down the pace. Do you think the content is a bit watery? 】