Alien Relic Hunter

"So, this is my only way to save my companions?" Ke Lan asked the floor brick.

"Yes." The other party answered in the affirmative.

"What's in the Tower of Babel?" Ke Lan asked again.

The floor tiles are silent.

"You can't tell me, or do you have no relevant data in your database?"

"There is no corresponding data, so I can't answer." Lu Tian was quite cooperative this time, but he didn't know whether it was the truth or a lie.

It is no joke that artificial intelligence can lie... let alone the artificial intelligence developed by Alpha Civilization.

The other party must have concealed some vital information from him. Unfortunately, the smart devices of Alpha Civilization are completely different from the principles of human civilization. No matter how superb Ke Lan's hacking skills are, he cannot hack into this floor tile to find out. after all.

"Then letting me enter the Tower of Babel is also part of the Night Watchman's plan?"

"..." Floor Tile continued to be silent.

"If you don't answer, I'll take it as your acquiescence." Ke Lan said.

Floor tiles are selected by default.

According to the logic of the "Narrator Type 3 Fully Automatic File Storage", any information related to the Night Watch Project cannot be disclosed to Ke Lan, the "symbiote". But the paradox is that this plan must have Ke Lan, the "symbiote". Only with the cooperation of "biological body" can the progress continue, and for many things, even if Lu Tian chooses not to answer, Ke Lan can already guess the answer.

Ke Lan knew that if he continued to ask about this matter, Floor Tile would continue to choose to respond with silence. Instead of guessing about things that seemed far away now, it would be better to focus on the present——

"Is there any danger in the Tower of Babel? Will I be killed if I go in?"

"There are eight trial procedures in the Tower of Babel. If you can pass these eight trials, the symbiote's strength and character will be recognized, and the control of the Tower of Babel and the Gray Mist Forest will be transferred to the symbiote. The Night Watchman Plan The next stage will also be opened at the same time." Floor Tile replied.

"Then what if I fail these eight trials?"

"That means the symbiote is unqualified and needs to be remade."

"Rebuild it? How to rebuild it?"

"Put it into the organic matter decomposition furnace and start cultivating it from the embryonic stage again."

Ke Lan pursed his lips, this was really a literal "remaking"...

Seemingly worried that Ke Lan would shrink back, Lu Tian suddenly threw out another heavy "bait": "If the symbiote successfully passes the eight trials, the symbiote will automatically be eliminated when the next phase of the Night Watch Project begins. Become a member of the Night's Watch and gain the same authority as all Night's Watchmen."

"In other words, if I can pass these eight trials, those restrictions will be lifted and the truth of the entire plan will be revealed to me?" Ke Lan was stunned for a moment. He had to admit that this bait was very attractive... But with the Undead Crew's lessons learned from the past, it was hard for him not to doubt whether this was a trap set by an Alpha man.

"Yes, if you pass the eight trials, it proves that you are not in danger of 'super eclipse' for the time being, and you can be trusted."

It seems that the content of the trial should be related to the degree of his own erosion, which actually made Ke Lan a little interested - for him, his own degree of erosion and critical value have always been an elusive mystery. Many times he They are already just one step away from crossing that line, but in the end, "nothing happens".

That's certainly not a bad thing, but it's definitely not a normal thing either.

"What does the Night Watchman's authority include?" Ke Lan asked again.

Now that you have decided to break into the Tower of Babel, you still need to figure out what the "final reward" is... Don't try your best to climb to the top of the tower, only to find that the so-called permissions are just a word game, that would be a bit …

"Until you are recognized, this information cannot be opened to you." Ditile replied.

Then let me change the way of asking. Ke Lan muttered in his heart and used characters to piece together a new question: "Once upon a time, how many were the total number of Night Watchmen in Alpha Civilization? This can always be said, right? "

"The historical peak of the number of Night Watchmen is 14,475." Floor Tile replied.

so much? Ke Lan was stunned for a moment. Compared to the Undead Crew, which only has more than 20 members, the number of people in this Night Watch organization is almost equivalent to a reinforced division of the field corps.

"Is this the highest number of people existing at the same time, or the total number of people who have joined the Night Watch in history?" Ke Lan confirmed to the stone slab.

"There is a maximum number of people at the same time. The Night Watch organization has always maintained a scale of more than 10,000 people." Di Zhui explained to Ke Lan, "But due to the existence of erosion, the average remaining survival time of each Night Watchman after joining the organization The number is only two to three years. Every ten days, the Night Watchmen need to measure the degree of erosion. Those Night Watchmen who are on the verge of the danger threshold will be immediately disposed of through a series of 'safety procedures'... Even if some Night Watchmen are severely corroded It has always been low, and the maximum number of years to become a Night Watchman cannot exceed ten years.”

“What will happen if it’s more than ten years?”

“Erosion levels are considered to be approaching dangerous thresholds.”

Ke Lan suddenly understood why there were so many Night Watchmen... These people seemed to have higher authority than other Alphas, but in fact they were all a group of consumables destined to be sacrificed.

In order to prevent the "great god" from spying on the Night Watchmen's plan, they defend this secret in a way that sounds quite tragic.

When an Alpha is chosen as a night watchman, it means that its life has begun to countdown.

"But some Night Watchmen have survived for more than ten years, right?" Ke Lan couldn't help but think of the Alpha Man that the 776 Special Forces Team encountered in the wreckage of Engine No. 92. If it was a Night Watchman, then It must have been staying in that damn place for a long time, right?

Apart from anything else, there must have been at least more than ten years... At least after the Ark landed on Alpha Planet, humans have never observed traces of Alpha people's activities on the surface of the planet. If there is a handover ceremony between the Night Watchmen , whether there is an Alpha person coming out of the engine wreckage or someone from outside entering, Ark's drone should be able to find some clues.

At least one thing is certain, there should be only one Alpha man in that ruins, and he had already stayed there before the Ark landed on Planet Alpha.

"Due to some special reasons, there are indeed night watchmen who have exceeded their survival years." Floor Brick replied, "But these night watchmen will not be recognized by the night watchman organization, and their authority will be completely withdrawn. Once discovered, the night watchmen will The forces under the organization will immediately carry out the obliteration process."

"If you live for ten years, even if there is no 'super eclipse', you must die. Not dying is a betrayal... Can I understand this?"

"Can."

Ke Lan took a deep breath. He originally thought that the nature of this Night Watch organization and the Undead Crew Association were very close, but now it seems that the nature of the two is completely opposite.

The Immortal Crew will be a dozen or so people who want to firmly control the power of the entire human civilization in the hands of immortality, and this Night Watch organization is more like a group of martyrs, trudging forward in the swamp of the night...continuously Some people fell down and were swallowed up by the mire, but new members continued to join...

The hands of the advancing Night Watchmen hold high the only torch that can emit light in the dark night. Whenever the old Night Watchmen fall, they will pass the torch in their hands to the new Night Watchmen...

A picture appeared in front of Ke Lan's eyes: countless people wearing black robes and black hoods lined up in a crooked queue, and there were people lying around the road they were walking on... But these people were not Corpses, but sleepers sleeping soundly.

The night watchmen in black robes held their torches high, driving away the surrounding darkness and the things hidden in the darkness, but their physical strength seemed to be exhausted very quickly, and they would fall to the ground after only a few steps, no longer in sight. Move... But when they fell, some of the sleepers kept waking up, picking up or taking over the torch, and continued to move forward.

It seems that they have been walking on this road for tens of thousands of years, and they will continue to walk on it.

No one can see where the end is, maybe... there is no end at all.

"Does every Night Watchman have equal status and authority? Does the Night Watch organization have a leader?" Ke Lan asked again.

"Every Night Watchman has completely equal status and authority. There is no leader in the Night Watch organization." Floor Brick replied.

"With more than 10,000 night watchmen, won't there be differences of opinion?" Ke Lan was a little confused. There are factional struggles within a small organization like the Immortal Crew with only about 20 people. There are more than 10,000 night watchmen. In his opinion, it is almost impossible for everyone to work together.

"There is no corresponding information in the database and this question cannot be answered."

Just when Ke Lan was about to ask something, a beam of light suddenly lit up on the floor tiles, enveloping his whole body - not only the floor tiles under his feet, but also the ones that Ze Luo and Sanshisan were stepping on. A floor tile also lit up.

"What's going on?" Thirty-three looked around with some vigilance. Hundreds of black flying blades flew out from various hidden pockets on his body and surrounded him.

"It's teleportation." Ze Luo said, "The space around us is distorting."

"Ke Lan, where is this thing planning to teleport us? Should we avoid it?" Thirty-three asked loudly.

"It's best not to act rashly." Ze Luo said, "This teleportation device may be activated at any time. If half of your body is within the teleportation range and half is outside the teleportation range at that time..."

"What will happen?"

"Only half of the people are transported to the target location, and the remaining half stays where they are."

"Where do you plan to teleport us to? In the Tower of Babel?" Before the teleportation device was activated, Ke Lan quickly moved the characters on the floor tiles.

"Yes, the stored energy is about to be exhausted, and the transmission must be completed before the energy is enough to activate the transmission device." Floor Tile replied.

Ke Lan turned his head and glanced at the Babel Tower in the center of the square. This tower did not have any doors or windows. Apart from teleportation, there seemed to be no other way to enter the tower's interior.

Before Ke Lan had time to ask the next question, the surrounding scene suddenly changed.

The three of them seemed to be transported to a huge mirror with almost no edges. The mirror under their feet reflected the reflections of the three people, as well as a round of... "moon" hanging in the sky, emitting cold white light?

"Where is this?" Thirty-three stood on the mirror, not daring to move at all.

"In that tower." Ke Lan replied.

"Tower? Is that the tower standing in the center of the square?" Thirty-three was stunned for a moment, "I didn't expect that there was such a scene inside... By the way, what did you just say to that floor tile? Why did you suddenly Did we teleport in?"

"The floor brick said that I need to pass eight trial procedures. If I pass, I can gain control of this tower and the gray mist forest, release Asano Akira and the others, and at the same time, he can tell me the biggest secret of Alpha Civilization... Of course, I don’t know whether what it says is true or false. As for you... although it doesn’t mention it, I guess it’s probably not prohibited to bring assistants during the trial process, right?”

"But if you want to save other people, you have to believe it, right?" Thirty-three shrugged helplessly, "By the way, what if you fail to pass these eight trials? What will happen?"

"Humane destruction."

"...Actually, I almost guessed it, there is no fucking way back." Thirty-three spat hard on the ground, but just when the spit touched the mirror, the reflection in the mirror spit out The spit passed through the mirror strangely from bottom to top, heading straight for Thirty-Three's facade.

Before Thirty-Three could even react to what was happening, his fighting instinct had already caused him to control a black flying blade in front of him and intercept the spittle.

"What?" Thirty-three was obviously startled, "The spit I just spit bounced back from the floor?!"

"It wasn't bounced back." Ze Luo pointed to Thirty-Three's feet. The spit he just spat out still remained on the mirror-like ground.

"The spit that attacked you was spit by 'it'." Ke Lan looked at Thirty-Three's reflection in the mirror.

"My shadow?" Thirty-three stared at the reflection in the mirror in surprise, and the reflection in the mirror also stared at him with "a look of surprise."

"Ze Luo, I'm going to do an experiment and I need your help." Thirty-three pulled out the gun from his waist and pointed the muzzle at the reflection.

The reflection also pulled out a gun and pointed it at Thirty-Three.

"If I fire a gun later and a bullet flies out of the mirror, help me block it, can you do it?" Thirty-three said.

Ze Luo nodded.