Alien Relic Hunter

"Great... cause? You are not from Ark! Who are you?" Dr. Renee asked alertly.

"Don't you already know the answer in your heart?" The other party reached out and pinched Dr. Renee's mandible with the index finger and thumb of his right hand - his hand was so strong that Dr. Renee once suspected that his mandible was It's not like he will be crushed to pieces by the other party.

Yes, I have indeed guessed the answer... Renee thought in her heart.

On this planet, besides Ark, which other human force can accept such a former senior researcher who committed a serious crime?

Or to simplify the question even more - which other human force in the wilderness is qualified to challenge Ark?

A pile of scattered exiles is obviously not the correct answer to this question, so that leaves only the last option.

Heretical sect.

"Are you...a prophet?" Dr. Renee asked with some difficulty.

Because her chin was still held in the other person's hand, her voice seemed a little unclear.

"That's right." The two fingers holding Dr. Renee's chin moved up slightly and stuck on both sides of her cheeks. With a little force, Dr. Renee was forced to open her mouth into an "O" shape.

"The so-called 'prophet'... is just a nickname." The other party's tone seemed to be sighing or mocking, and he slowly shook his head, "I am just His agent in this world, and I am His The extension of my will, and it is precisely because of His guidance that I can get ahead of those ignorant people and find you."

The "Prophet" switched to pinching Dr. Renee's cheek with his middle finger and thumb, and his index finger inserted into Dr. Renee's forced open mouth - Dr. Renee only heard a "squeak", Something seemed to tear open the leather gloves on the opponent's hands and came out from the tip of the index finger.

The next second, Dr. Renee felt something slippery and squirming sliding down her throat.

After doing all this, the "Prophet" finally let go of his hand and stood up.

He took a few steps back and looked at Dr. Renee lying on the ground with interest.

"Ahem...what did you feed me...ahem...what did you feed me?" Dr. Renee stuck her hands around her throat, trying to choke out the thing, but to no avail - the thing was alive. , with a slender body and a layer of sticky secretions on the surface, just like a slippery loach. Dr. Renee was almost suffocating herself, but it still passed through her throat and fell into her belly.

Thinking of the touch on her throat, Dr. Renee couldn't help but think of a special creature created by the Alpha civilization, and her face suddenly turned pale.

"Is it...a flesh-eating worm?"

If the "container" in which the eroded seed is parasitic still has a glimmer of hope, then the host of the flesh-eating worm basically has only one ending left: being used as nourishment by the larvae, bit by bit, from the inside out. Chew clean in the field.

Even in the most well-equipped laboratory of the institute, not a single parasitized person can survive... The flesh-eating worm's ability to sense danger is far more sensitive than that of the corrosive seed, and it can even detect what is happening in the host's brain. Feelings of fear and despair, as long as the situation is slightly wrong, it will immediately enter the "ripening period", sucking out the host's flesh and blood in a very short period of time, and breaking out of the body.

Within heretical sects, being implanted with the larvae of "flesh-eating worms" is a very severe punishment, although the prophet will promise these "sinners" that if they can make enough merit, they will send messengers to remove the larvae from their bodies. Flesh-eating worms and relieve their pain - but in fact this sentence is very misleading. Flesh-eating worms that have completed parasitism cannot be removed. The prophet's messenger will only calculate the time when the larvae mature and remove them. Just take away the emerging adults.

As for the life and death of the host, it has nothing to do with them.

Of course, literally speaking, the prophet did not lie to these people - the flesh-eating worms in their bodies were indeed taken away, and they would no longer bear the pain of being bitten by the worms... As a dead person, they I will never feel any pain again.

Although Dr. Renee has not seen with her own eyes the appearance of the tortured members of heretical sects before they die...but she can see the miserable conditions of those who are used as "feed" in the "flesh-eating worm artificial breeding base" within the institute. Just too much.

Some things give people completely different feelings when they happen to others than when they happen to themselves... Dr. Renee couldn't help but start to recall those scenes and imagine what it would be like if the pain endured by those people was transferred to herself. Such a feeling.

Her breathing suddenly became rapid, and she didn't know whether it was due to psychological effects or other reasons. She felt bursts of pain in her lower abdomen, and her limbs began to tremble involuntarily.

"Flemish-eating worms? Tsk, tsk, tsk..." The prophet shook his head again, "This is a gift from the great god. How can you compare it with a defective product like flesh-eating worms made by blasphemers?"

"A...gift from the great god?" The pain in her abdomen has turned into unbearable cramping pain. Thin beads of sweat seeped out from Dr. Renee's face. She wanted to reach into the pocket on the inside of her white coat— —In her pocket, there were some emergency medicines that she carried with her, which naturally included analgesic injections, which are very common injections on the battlefield... She felt that if she didn't give herself an injection, she might really be killed. Dying in agony.

However, Dr. Renee soon discovered that her body had long been out of control, and the blood vessels under the skin of her limbs were all bulging, looking like big purple earthworms crawling on her body. Blood that was almost black in color slowly overflowed from her nostrils and ears.

The prophet of the heretic sect seemed to be leaning over and saying something to herself, but she felt that the other person's voice seemed to come from a very far away place, and she could only hear some vague and ambiguous syllables. As for the specific content of the words, It's impossible to tell the difference at all.

"Am... am I going to die?" Dr. Renee thought a little desperately.

I don’t know why, but at this critical moment, she was regretting why Ke Lan didn’t accept her proposal before...

If I were pregnant with that person's child, then Professor Smith's research data would not be so important... I would not be in a hurry to rush back to the Ark, let alone have an affair with the Marines of Fleet Zero. conflict……

"Am I really going to die..." She felt her consciousness gradually dissipate, and she could no longer feel her body. However, it was precisely because of this state that the original pain that was enough to make her collapse... , at this time, it also disappeared along with the disappearance of the body's senses.

"No, you won't die." The originally ethereal voice suddenly became solid, and the prophet's voice rang directly in her mind - for a moment, Renee seemed to feel her own thoughts Connected with the other party.

"Not only will you not die, but you will also transcend the shackles of the human body and gain power from Him." The prophet's lips moved, but the voice was directly transmitted to the mind of Renee, who was in a semi-conscious state - if at this time If Renee could still concentrate her consciousness, she would be surprised to find that the other party was speaking the language of the Alpha civilization that they had never been able to decipher!

And she seemed to have mastered the ability to understand this language in one breath...

…

…

At the same time, thousands of kilometers away, Ke Lan, who was still thinking about Dr. Renee before she lost consciousness, had just finished an unknown number of rounds of battle.

Zofia Soma's private residence, master bedroom.

Ke Lan sat shirtless on the bed, leaning against a thick pillow filled with genuine goose down. His eyes were slightly dull as he looked at the oil painting hanging on the wall opposite.

The name of this oil painting is "Lady Godiva on Horseback". A beautiful, naked woman is riding on the back of a white horse. However, there is no one on the street, and all the houses have their doors and windows closed. The golden sunlight falls on the woman's white shoulders, seeming to coat the entire scene with a layer of holy light.

This is of course not an authentic piece from the old era, but an imitation that is extremely exquisite. The original oil painting was once collected in the Coventry Museum of Great Britain. Unfortunately, the museum and the collections in the museum were accidentally destroyed by a fire caused by a riot. Otherwise, the cultural and artistic value of this painting would be very high. value, it should also have a place in Ark’s art collection warehouse.

Although it is an imitation, with current technology, this oil painting can be completely different from the real one - even the isotope detection method cannot distinguish the authenticity of this oil painting... Of course, it has long been impossible to distinguish an authentic painting. For existing works, this step seems a bit redundant.

"Lady Godiva on Horseback" tells a story full of human glory: In order to raise military expenses, a certain Earl of Great Britain decided to impose heavy taxes on the people in his territory, but the Earl's wife is the protagonist of this oil painting - Godiva. Mrs. Deva begged the earl, hoping to reduce the taxes of the people in her territory.

But this move angered the count, and the two actually made a seemingly absurd bet: the count proposed that as long as Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets of the city, all the residents in the city Without even glancing at her, he agreed to his wife's request.

The result... was naturally just like what was painted in the oil painting. When the naked Lady Godiva rode her horse onto the street the next day, all the people in the city spontaneously stayed at home, with their doors and windows closed, and the entire street The street was deserted except for the Countess.

Afterwards, the earl kept his promise and reduced the people's taxes.

This story is indeed beautiful, but in Ke Lan's opinion, it is more like a legend used to beautify the nobility.

The story takes place in the Middle Ages, which is undoubtedly a very dark era in Western human history. In that era, the lives of the people at the bottom were even more despicable than in the interstellar drifting era... This kind of thing is impossible to happen now. In that dark era, it was more like people's wishful expectations for good qualities.

Whether human nature is inherently good or human nature is inherently evil has always been a controversial topic, and there is no accurate answer until now...

"Why would I think about this kind of thing?" Ke Lan, who was staring at the oil painting, suddenly became excited and let out a long breath, "Could it be that... this is the legendary... 'Sage's Time'?"

Ke Lan turned his head and looked at the other side of the big bed - a graceful human figure bulged under the soft silk quilt. Ke Lan knew that as long as he lifted the quilt, the thrilling beauty would appear in front of his eyes. .

But somewhere in the dark, there was a voice telling him in his head - if he lifted the quilt at this moment, an unimaginable terrifying force would be unleashed.

The horror of this power cannot be described in words. Even the "great god" who can interfere with countless planes can only be regarded as an ant in front of this power.

As long as that power comes, the entire world will collapse in an instant, leaving not even a single residue behind.

Ke Lan rubbed his face vigorously, but in the end he did not wake up the eldest lady who had fallen into a deep sleep. He got out of bed alone, picked up the clothes and pants scattered on the floor and put them on.

He walked to the table. The smart kettle on the table kept a constant temperature. The blue light full of science fiction flashed like breathing on the handle of the kettle.

Ke Lan poured himself a glass of water and drank it in one gulp.

The restlessness in his heart had already calmed down. He leaned against the wall with flocked wallpaper and began to think about the next thing.

This trip back to the Ark was originally to deal with the "BUG" of the complete immersion system, but he did not expect that after landing, he was immediately involved in another more serious accident before his butt was even warmed up.

Compared with the "Memetic Crisis", the existence of the "BUG Incident" has become so thin that it is indispensable - the secrets and resources possessed by the undead crew have once again exceeded the limits of Ke Lan's expectations. He is almost certain, Even if you choose to report the "BUG incident" in its entirety, it will not cause any waves.

The existence of "Ze Luo" may still attract the attention of the Undead Crew Association, but as for Ke Lan himself...

He always had the feeling that he had been completely seen through by the Undead Crew.

Just like when he first met "Pope" Chiron in the South Sixteenth District, Ke Lan's thinking and memory were almost completely transparent in front of the other party's special abilities - but even so, Chiron did not reveal much. emotion of surprise.

This may be because Chiron has become bored with immortality and has lost interest in all things about time, but Ke Lan cannot rule out that it is because Chiron already knows everything, so when he sees himself in those Only when it is "secret" can it appear so calm.

Ke Lan really wants to know what happened to him... and how all of this is related to the Undead Crew Association.

However, whenever he asked about these things, any member of the crew association, including Chiron, had a "don't say it" attitude - could it be that he really had to wait until he officially joined the Immortal Army? Only when the crew met did they have the opportunity to come into contact with the truth of the matter?