Alien Relic Hunter

"If you ask me now, I can only think of something like 'dry ice'... But this thing is obviously not 'dry ice', and we have not observed the rising white mist." Ke Lan said.

Dry ice is the common name for solid carbon dioxide. In the old days, the most common use of dry ice for ordinary people was to create "smoke" on stages or in movies and TV shows. In fact, this substance is used more in industry. Low temperature refrigeration transportation and cleaning of some special equipment.

No matter what it is used for, the reason why dry ice can work is inseparable from its ability to sublimate easily.

Ke Lan can confirm that the crystals found in the cranial cavity of the wolf-like creature are definitely not dry ice, and the way it disappears is not "sublimation" or "volatilization" at all.

Sublimation or volatilization of any substance will take away a certain amount of heat. It is precisely because of this characteristic that dry ice can be used for emergency cooling. The large amount of "smoke" generated when dry ice sublimates is due to the low temperature causing water vapor in the air to condense into small droplets, turning the "water vapor" that cannot be observed with the naked eye into "water vapor" like white mist.

But Ke Lan and the others not only did not observe water vapor, but there was no obvious change in the readings of the thermometer...

"Continue the dissection and cut open the entire cranial cavity." Ke Lan said to Ivan.

If you don't stop doing it, since you have "wasted" a sample, you must at least squeeze out the value of this sample.

"Yeah." Ivan nodded, picked up the saw drill again, and began to expand the incision.

Soon, the two of them lifted up the entire Tianling Cover.

"Look, this is where the cranial cavity and the spine are connected - this spinal canal is also empty in the middle." Ivan pointed with a light.

This should have been the location of the medulla oblongata, which is the densest place of neurons in the body, but at this moment what the two of them saw was only an empty spinal canal.

"Expand the scope of the anatomy and take apart the entire spine to take a look." Ke Lan said.

"I think so too."

The process of disassembling the spine was more complicated than a craniotomy, but because the two of them had nothing to worry about at this time, the movements under their hands naturally accelerated. In less than twenty minutes, all the vertebrae in the cervical spine were removed. It was taken apart.

Humans have seven cervical vertebrae, namely C1~C7, while this wolf-like creature has only four cervical vertebrae, but each one is nearly twice as long as the human cervical vertebrae.

"Sure enough, there are cavities inside these vertebrae." Ivan held a bone under the spotlight, "So...it's not that this creature doesn't have nerve cells, but that their nerves have been damaged by that kind of sight." Replaced by light-dead crystals."

"But this structure is too unreasonable, right?" Ivan said again, "If this kind of crystal will automatically decompose after being exposed, then if these wolf-like creatures are injured, it is not fatal. It will become fatal due to crystallization... From a biological and evolutionary perspective, it is undoubtedly very stupid."

"You cannot look at these creatures from the perspective of natural evolution... They are probably all modified biological weapons... Although from the perspective of weapons, this design is stupid enough," Ke Lan said.

"What should we do now?" Ivan asked.

"As for the equipment in the base, we can't come up with anything if we continue to study it." Ke Lan said, "I will ask someone to send a group of professional-level equipment and researchers here... But there is one thing to say, since the institute After the accident, it seems that there are really not many scientific research talents in this field. Those private research organizations are actually quite embarrassing. After all, who has the ability to leave an 'academic holy place' like the research institute? If you don’t go, why don’t you stay and work in a private enterprise?”

In the old era, private companies might have been able to retain talents through high salaries, but on Ark, whether it was salary, authority or status, the institute could crush civil organizations. Since it has the opportunity to become a real Who would be willing to stay in the "mundane world" among the "human beings"?

"I would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix" is a saying used by incompetent people to comfort themselves, but in the eyes of those who are truly capable, pursuing and ambitious, the saying "people go to high places, water flows to low places" It is the eternal truth.

The two cleaned up the scene. Ivan stayed in the laboratory and continued writing reports, while Ke Lan stretched out and walked out unsteadily.

There was originally no distinction between day and night in the core power room, but the designers had a sudden idea and moved the "virtual sky dome" system on the Ark to the base. When Ke Lan looked up, he saw that half of the huge warm halo behind the radiation clouds had sunk below the horizon. The last rays of the setting sun coated the entire base with a layer of soft gold.

"You actually stayed in the laboratory for so long?" Ke Lan sighed softly. The exploration operation in Block 1 started before ten o'clock in the morning, and Ke Lan and the others returned after "cooking" the group of wolf-like creatures. It was only early twelve o'clock at noon when we were at the base. In the blink of an eye, it was already almost night.

"What's going on over there in Block 1?" Ke Lan took out his cell phone and sent a message to the online discussion group of Operation Exploration.

"Everything is normal. According to the original plan, someone will come back every half hour to report the news. The last return was seven minutes ago." Hound quickly replied, "People from the engineering team and survey team have been sent there. The outpost is probably almost complete now, at least the people staying there won’t have to spend the night in the open tonight.”

"Where is the survey team? Is there any news?" Ke Lan asked.

"They collected some rock samples and sent them back to the Ark together with the first batch of wolf-like biological samples. Then these people started drilling wells on the ground." The hound replied.

"Drilling? Is it to measure the thickness of the rock formation?"

"Yes, according to them, if Block 1 is really a cabin inside Yagunaktor, the rock formations on the surface are just a layer of 'camouflage', and there must be other things underneath... ...If you feel something is wrong, I can send someone over immediately to stop them."

"It's okay, let them drill." Ke Lan said, "Anyway, the purpose of organizing the aircraft and convoy was to explore the boundary of Block 1. Of course, the underground boundary is also the boundary - if they find anything, the first Time will report to me."

"I know. Oh, by the way, I have to remind you about something. The eldest lady from the Soma family is also here."

"Zophia?"

"Yeah... By the way, have you already captured the eldest lady?" Hound suddenly switched from the group chat to a private chat, and sent a lewd and evil smile.

"What did you say?"

"Don't pretend to be stupid for me, I can tell it right away with your appearance." Hound said, "How about it, the taste of the lady...isn't it great?"

"How did you see it?" Ke Lan was very puzzled. "Can you really see something like this?"

"Hehe... I can't tell you this, it's a secret that is not told." The hound sent another "hehe" expression, "I know that young people have good physical strength, but remember to take it easy and don't let your waist slip. …”

"Stop it!" Ke Lan said quickly, "Let's stop this topic -"

"Okay, okay, as long as you don't be late tomorrow morning, otherwise you will be embarrassed."

…

…

When Gang Kelan returned to his residence, he happened to see a graceful figure standing in front of the cabinet, looking at the displays inside.

Ke Lan's cabinet is naturally not filled with priceless works of art like those of wealthy families. This cabinet is basically equipped with equipment that he commonly uses on a daily basis. At this time, Zofia is playing with it. That big caliber hunting pistol that I've had for many years.

"I bought this gun when I just obtained the hunter qualification certificate. It was a second-hand gun and cost only 2,800 resource points." Ke Lan said, "At that time, someone told me that the pistols used by hunters had higher calibers. Bigger is better, but after I bought it, I realized that as a child at that time, I couldn’t control such a huge recoil.”

"What about now?" Zofia turned her head and asked with a smile.

"There is no problem now, but it can't help at all with the problems I face now." Ke Lan shrugged helplessly.

"But you are still taking good care of it." Green fingers stroked the sleeve of the pistol. Although there was not much paint left on the gun body, the exposed metal parts were wiped clean. It is shiny, and vulnerable parts such as the trigger and magazine release button have been replaced with customized reinforcements. A series of codes mixed with English and numbers are engraved on the grip with a knife.

"That's my personal identification number. At that time, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to remember it, so I engraved it on the handle." Ke Lan said, "By the way, why are you here?"

"I told you before that I will also participate in this exploration operation, and you agreed." Zofia put the pistol back where it belonged, turned around and said.

"When did you come here, you didn't tell me in advance so that I could arrange for someone to pick you up." Ke Lan took two steps closer to Zofia, and suddenly, a familiar fragrance penetrated his nose. .

"I came here with the second batch of material delivery team of the Soma Consortium. When they first arrived, they told me that you were in the laboratory, so I didn't go over to disturb you." Zofia raised her eyebrows and glanced with some annoyance. Ke Lan glanced at him and grabbed the hand that slipped silently to his waist, "Your self-control was not that bad before, but why now..."

"There is an idiom in China called 'eat the marrow to know the taste'...you should know it, right?" As he spoke, Ke Lan had already hugged Zofia horizontally, and buried her into her neck, greedily Sniffing.

"Don't be here...go inside..." Zofia's body suddenly froze when Ke Lan did this. She wrapped her arms around Ke Lan's upper body and kicked gently with her two long legs.

"It's okay, I locked the door." Ke Lan said, then put the delicate body in his arms on the large desk.

…

…

Meanwhile, Ark, Institute.

Although the "memetic infection" incident reduced the institute's staff by nearly 90%, the institute was not in a hurry to recruit new people. Not only that, even the regular monthly admission assessments were stopped.

The current research institute has basically been completely taken over by the Crisis Management Department. The entire West District is surrounded by armed personnel with live ammunition on three levels inside and three outside - most people don't even come close, even if they go in this direction. If you take a few glances, you will immediately be questioned by the guards... If you dare to stop and look, you will find several red spots on your body in the next second.

Those are the laser sights of snipers and machine gunners. These people have already received permission to fire. As long as someone attempts to forcefully break into the West District, they can be killed without verifying their identity - even if this person is often in the news. Anyone who appears on the program as a member of the Joint Council or a high-ranking general with several stars on his shoulders will be killed without mercy as long as he violates the rules.

The death of a large number of researchers should have been a disaster no less than a magnitude 10 earthquake for the Ark academic community. However, after the incident happened, a strange phenomenon occurred - many people in their respective fields Famous experts, those who should have died from memetic infection incidents... they have not disappeared, but still appear in various interview programs, and any research topics that overlap with the private sector are also Everything is going on in an orderly manner... As for the "death news" of these experts, no media has published it.

Lin Qiming also knew that this was probably a special method used by the people above to maintain stability, but the question... how long could it be hidden like this?

Although the blocks inside the institute have been cleaned up, the damaged buildings have not yet been repaired. Even though the Crisis Management Department has adopted Ke Lan's suggestion and invited civil society organizations to participate in the reconstruction of the institute, the specifics are still unclear. The progress is still as slow as a snail's pace - the repair of the external buildings alone is initially estimated to take more than half a year.

But buildings are actually the least valuable thing in the institute - the most valuable asset of the entire institute is neither the expensive high-tech equipment nor the rare collections transported from various ruins. It's the researchers in white coats themselves... I'm afraid it won't be possible to recover from this loss without a few decades.

"Sooner or later, this matter must be disclosed to the public." Lin Qiming, who was sitting behind his desk, sighed. He was about to make a cup of coffee to refresh himself, but the exclusive secretary who had just been assigned to him had already opened the door and left. Come in.

"Is something wrong?" Lin Qiming glanced at the secretary - although this girl in her early twenties looked like a fresh graduate from university, in fact, she was already working in the security department before she was transferred to the crisis management department. Bureau has six years of work experience.

"'Yagunakitor' sent an application, asking us to organize a team of biological experts to provide technical support to them... In addition to important people, they also asked for a lot of equipment, a lot of equipment They are all on the embargo list,” the secretary said.

"What's going on? Did you find anything over there?" Lin Qiming immediately sat up straight in his chair. Although the matter of "Yagunaktor" was not within his scope of authority, when the name was mentioned, A young figure immediately appeared in his mind.