Alien Relic Hunter

Mo Jue walked to a foggy tree as thick as the mouth of a sea bowl and said to Ke Lan and others: "The area outside the red line is relatively safe, but conventional positioning equipment often fails when you lose your direction. , we usually choose to use the tree ring method to determine north and south." The "tree ring method" is a very ancient method of identifying directions. On the earth in the old era, people often used this method when they lost their way in the forest. .

The principle is also very simple. Most plants are phototropic and will tend to the direction of the light source during their growth. Whether on Earth or on Alpha Star, the side close to the equator always has more sunlight. From this, it can be determined that the side with sparser growth rings is in the direction of the equator, and the side with denser growth rings is in the direction of the equator. Near the pole of its hemisphere.

"At this point, the mist trees are the same as the trees on the earth." Mo Jue opened his backpack and found a small circular saw driven by energy crystals. Judging from the texture of the saw blade, it should be Mixed with a high proportion of Nino alloy.

"The Gray Mist Forest is located in the northern hemisphere of Alpha Star, so the side with dense annual rings is north, and the side with sparse annual rings is south." She turned the searchlight on her helmet at an angle, facing the tree in front of her. Wuqiu then started the circular saw, "You don't need to cut down the entire tree, you only need to cut off a wedge to determine the direction."

But just when Mo Jue was about to start sawing, a badly worn scabbard suddenly lay in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Mo Jue turned her head. The only one in the group who stopped her was a young man wearing sunglasses. From the moment they met until now, this guy who had been holding a long knife and closing his eyes had not said a word... It seems that even the eyes have not been opened.

As a "Hell Paratrooper", Mo Jue is naturally a modified person. Her right eye looks like a normal human eyeball, but it is actually a cyborg prosthetic eye. The sunglasses worn by Akira Asano are harmful to her. There is no blocking effect at all.

"This guy...why is he still closing his eyes now?" Mo Jue muttered in his heart and took a step away, "Is something wrong?"

"Using a saw is too slow. Our time is precious." Ke Lan replied for Asano Akira, "Let him do it. It will be faster."

Ke Lan said this, but he was complaining in his heart: Akira Asano, a boy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, suddenly learned to show off? No, this guy, ever since I met him, seems to be showing off all the time, but the people around him don't feel weird about his pretending to be cool at all... This is probably the highest level of pretentiousness in the legend. : Invisible pretense is the most deadly.

"It's faster to let him come? What do you mean?" Mo Jue was stunned for a moment, but still handed over the circular saw in his hand.

But Akira Asano just shook his head and didn't answer.

"Back up a little, be careful not to get hit." Ke Lan reminded kindly, grabbed Mo Jue's arm and pulled her back a dozen steps.

Asano Akira held the scabbard with one hand and the handle with the other. He only heard a clanging sound of gold and iron coming from the tandem and the sheath. No one except Ke Lan and Ze Luo even saw it. In the scene where the long sword is unsheathed, a gray sword light has been "embedded" in the tree trunk.

Mo Jue: "???"

The next second, with this disappearing gray sword light as the dividing line, the upper half of the tree trunk collapsed.

"He...he he...he...did he cut this tree with a knife? And he only cut it once?!" Mo Jue couldn't believe his eyes, "Wait a minute, he just...really Did you draw your sword?"

Danning subconsciously focused his attention on the Blasphemer mecha standing at the very back, and murmured, "It couldn't have been... the Fallen Angel mecha, right?"

"It's just a foggy tree with a diameter of 20 centimeters. Is there such a fuss?" Ke Lan waved his hand, walked forward, and carefully observed the annual rings on the cut surface of the tree trunk.

They entered the Gray Mist Forest from the southwest and headed north toward the red line. Judging from the tree's annual rings, there was no deviation in the direction.

Of course, this is just because they are still in the outer zone of the Gray Mist Forest. The fog here is not too thick, and the visibility is about ten meters. Using nearby trees and terrain features as markers, plus two experienced guides, Mo Jue and Dan Ning... you would be lost here. , then they might as well turn around and return to the Ark now.

After continuing to walk north for almost five minutes, Mo Jue had fully digested the shock, but she would still raise her eyes from time to time to glance at Asano Akira - if she guessed correctly, this person who had always hugged him The young man who wields a long sword and almost never opens his eyes is probably the most powerful in the group.

——Without counting the fallen angel mecha as "a person".

"Although the annual ring method is easy to use, it is only limited to the area outside the red line." Mo Jue said to Ke Lan, "After crossing the red line, the annual rings of the mist perch will grow closer and closer - you should It is also clear that the annual rings of the foggy trees one hundred meters behind the red line are almost all crowded together, and it is impossible to tell where they are dense and where they are sparse.”

"Well, if the tree ring method can still be used after crossing the red line, this forest will not be so scary as people describe it." Ke Lan said in a relaxed tone, "You 'loggers' will also benefit a lot. It’s gone down… After all, things are more valuable when they are scarce.”

"Since you guys can break that expedition's record, you must have some unique tricks." Thirty-three continued, "Lumberjacks... Since the end of the old era, this profession has almost disappeared. A thousand years.”

"In the area behind the red line, the visibility will drop rapidly. If you walk about a hundred meters away, the visibility will be reduced to less than half a meter. You can't even see your companions standing next to you..." Mo Jue said with some envy. He glanced at the fog around him and said, "But if your fog-dispelling equipment can always be effective even after the red line, the fog won't be a big hindrance to you."

"Besides the fog itself, is there anything else we need to pay attention to?" Ke Lan asked, "If the fog can be blocked more than ten meters away and you can travel unimpeded, the gray fog forest will not become a restricted area, right?"

"The fog is just one of the problems that can be best solved, but the real trouble is hidden in the fog... As for things to pay attention to, they are all in the entire forest," Mo Jue said.

Ke Lan: "You might as well speak more clearly."

"It's difficult for me to describe those things clearly to you in words. You will understand them when you actually encounter them." Mo Jue frowned and said.

"You didn't tell us everything you knew and then we silenced you, did you?" Thirty-three joked casually.

"Kill me?" A bitter smile appeared on Mo Jue's face, "I'm afraid... before you can silence me, we will all die in this forest."

"When you decided to come with us, were you already prepared to die?" Ivan couldn't help but ask.

"Anyway, you saved my life. If you want to take it, just treat it as repaid. As long as my brother can still live, it will be fine." Mo Jue said with an indifferent expression.

"You're not so pessimistic, are you?" Ke Lan touched his nose, "The last time you explored to a depth of 500 meters, how many people were lost?"

"Two people." Mo Jue replied.

"How many of you were there in total during that exploration operation?"

"Eleven."

"Only two of the eleven people were lost. You are much stronger than the expedition team in the records." Ke Lan praised, "Nearly fifty people crossed the red line, but in the end only less than twenty came back. Moreover, their team members’ strength, equipment and logistics level are better than yours, but their exploration distance is not as far as yours.”

"But I know that if we go deeper than at least ten meters that time, the end result waiting for us will be annihilation." Mo Jue said, "Actually, when we broke the record of that expedition, we were still full. These two The individual disappeared before turning back in the end.”

"How did you disappear? Can you tell me the process in detail?" Ke Lan asked curiously, "Also, what did you encounter five hundred meters away? Why did you say that if you go more than ten meters further, the entire army will be wiped out? "

"I don't know." Mo Jue shook his head, "I was not the leader of the lumberjacks at that time... The leader was my father, and his knowledge of the Gray Mist Forest is far better than mine."

"What about your father?" Ke Lan regretted the question as soon as he asked it... Now that Mo Jue has become the leader of this team, there is a high probability that his father has passed away - judging from Mo Jue's age. , his father should not be old enough to have to retire.

"He was one of the two people we lost during that exploration operation." Mo Jue's answer was just as Ke Lan vaguely guessed, "After that, I became the new team leader, and I no longer allow If anyone in the team goes deeper into the Gray Mist Forest...the wood at two hundred meters is enough for us to live a comfortable life."

"It seems that your father is the kind of person with a pioneering and enterprising spirit. It's a pity that his daughter is more timid." Thirty-three commented.

"This is not cowardice, I am thinking about everyone... We just want to protect our own lives. We are loggers, not explorers... If we want to pursue excitement, why don't we become relic hunters?"

"Why do I feel like I've been DISS..." Ke Lan touched the tip of his nose again with some guilt and said to himself.

Mo Jue wanted to say something else, but Dan Ning, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and said in a deep voice: "We're here!"

What he was referring to was naturally the junction between the restricted area and the outer zone of the Gray Mist Forest - the "red line".

Directly in front of everyone, a thick and solid wall of fog spread, almost like a substance. Compared with this wall of fog, the fog beyond the red line was simply too thin.

The most surprising thing is that although the fog in the two areas is connected to each other and there are signs of flowing between each other, the concentration between them does not interfere with each other - Ke Lan can't help but think of an idiom: the difference between the two areas is clear.

The allusion of this idiom comes from the two major tributaries of the Yellow River in China: the Weihe River and the Jinghe River. When these two rivers come together, a strange landscape with clear and turbidity will appear - one side of the river is as clear and green as emerald, and the other side It is an earthy yellow turbid current carrying a large amount of sediment. The dividing line between the two bodies of water is as clear as if it were drawn with a pen. The scene before Ke Lan's eyes now was almost the same as this distinct spectacle.

"Even if you can dispel the fog, I still recommend fastening the safety rope." Mo Jue said.

The "safety rope" she was referring to was a steel-core cable more than fifty meters long. Both ends of the cable were fixed to Denning at the front of the team and the broken Blasphemer mecha at the back. The others used belts. Connect yourself to the main rope with the buckled auxiliary rope... In this way, you can avoid falling behind and missing to a certain extent.

Logically speaking, if everyone is strung together like grasshoppers on a rope, no one will get lost with the large army... But according to the records, all expedition teams trying to enter the Gray Mist Forest carried this kind of equipment, but Even if they tied themselves to the safety rope, the people who should be missing were still missing... Some people even walked out of the forest without realizing it, only to find the safety rope and the "lock" on the safety rope. All the other companions were missing.

"Put on the gas masks too." Ke Lan looked at the others and took the lead in putting on the mask.

Blocking the fog relies on Ze Luo's spatial ability, but if a battle breaks out, Ze Luo may not be able to take care of everyone.

After doing all this, Ke Lan took a deep breath of the air in the mask that had the unique sour smell when the oxygen generator reacted. He grabbed the auxiliary rope around his waist with one hand and put the other hand on the heavy main rope. He stepped across the The red line walked into the wall of fog.

"Ze Luo, remove the barrier first and try to see how powerful the fog is."

"Visibility... about two to three meters." Thirty-three's voice came from Ke Lan's right side. He was no more than five steps away from Ke Lan, but his voice seemed to come from fifty meters away. .

These fogs can not only block the field of vision, but also affect the transmission of sound.

Ke Lan took two more steps forward, looked up, and saw a black skeleton looking at him.

"Open the barrier."

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding fog was pushed away by a big invisible hand. Only then did Ke Lan see clearly that in front of him was a foggy perch with two people hugging each other, and the skeleton just now was A human skeleton that was almost integrated into the tree trunk.

Most of this skeleton has been embedded in the tree, and the gaps between the bones are almost completely filled with wood fibers... It looks a bit like the fossils of ancient creatures, except that the stones have been replaced by wood.

From the helmet fastened on the skull, it can be determined that the deceased was a soldier of the Ninth Independent Armored Corps of the Field Corps... that is, one of the 1,500 armored troops.

"Hey, this corpse..." Thirty-three also noticed the situation here, "Why is it embedded in the trunk of the tree? Could it be that this guy was leaning on this tree when he died, and then the tree grew and wrapped the skeleton inside ?”

"It would take at least three hundred years for this mist perch to grow to this extent... When this person died, the tree was already this thick. He was 'swallowed' by this tree. ." Mo Jue's face turned a little pale, "I told you a long time ago that this forest can eat people."