Alien Relic Hunter

"The nest capital?" Ke Lan and Thirty-three looked at each other, and both saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

The first time they heard the word hive came from the mouth of the corpse on the high-speed support ship "Genoa" - after that, Ke Lan and Thirty-three both thought that the corpse was referring to The hive capital is the Tower of Babel that stands in the "eye of the storm of dense fog" in the core area of ​​the gray fog forest.

But now, the inscription on this round door made of a large amount of nino alloy told them that their guess was wrong.

Babel Tower is not a "nest city". This "nest city" refers to something else.

"Did that 'Corrosion' also come to this place before his death? But he is not a symbiote, so how can he understand the Alpha text on this door?" Thirty-three muttered.

"People who are eroded can often hear some weird whispers, which are irresistible... Whether they block their ears or simply knock themselves unconscious, the whispers will also appear in dreams..." Ke Lan explained , part of this information comes from the memory fragments unlocked deep in his mind, and part of it comes from his own personal experience. "Most of these whispers are meaningless whispers, but they also contain some 'forbidden knowledge'. This knowledge It is both precious and dangerous...it may also contain the interpretation method of Alpha civilization's language and writing."

"Damn!" Thirty-three cursed in a low voice, "The last time I dreamed, I seemed to have dreamed that there was a voice whispering something in my ear, but in the dream I couldn't see it no matter how I turned my head. As for the person who spoke, I couldn't reach out to grab it... As for what 'it' said, I forgot it after I woke up - the only thing I haven't forgotten is that I can be sure that in the dream,' I could hear every word it said clearly."

Thirty-three tapped the top of his helmet irritably and smacked his lips: "Tsk, that feeling is as if you know that there is an itchy spot on your back, but you can't scratch it no matter how you reach out. , It’s so uncomfortable that I’m going to die.”

"I understand this feeling." Ke Lan nodded. It was uncomfortable to say that there were so many memory fragments sealed in his head... Many things could make Ke Lan feel familiar, but he couldn't remember them. That's the most uncomfortable thing.

If it were a patient with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, he would probably have been driven to death long ago.

Fortunately, Ke Lan has gradually become accustomed to this feeling.

"Don't think about those things. Sometimes, forgetting is the best way to protect yourself." Ke Lan said, "At least, you haven't grown any strange tentacles or anything like that yet."

"That's right." Thirty-three pointed at the circular metal door on the ground, "By the way, behind this door is... what kind of hive?"

"Probably." Ke Lan nodded. What made him even more confused was the "corroded skeleton" and how Hruni and others arrived at the undersea city... Although the water pressure in this place is not as high as "a The "Undersea City" is three thousand meters deep, which is terrifying, but it is enough to crush a living person into a meat pie. Ordinary vehicles cannot dive to this depth at all.

If the crews on the "Genoa" and "Shaojiang Kai" could still use the resources on the battleships to piece together and modify some deep-diving equipment, then the situation of the 776 Special Forces Team made Ke Lan even more puzzled.

According to normal logic, the 776th Special Forces Team should have been sent to the uninhabited island by the teleportation device triggered after completing the blasting mission. There is no problem in itself, but the problem lies in Collins' diary.

On page 22 of the diary, there is a sketch of the underwater city "Giant Eye Pillar"... But with the equipment carried by the 776 Special Forces Team, they would never be able to dive to this depth.

No... not necessarily...

Ke Lan thought about it carefully and roughly summarized three possibilities.

The first possibility, and the one with the highest probability, is that all members of the 776 Special Forces Team were contaminated by Him just like the crew on the crashed battleship. The "forbidden knowledge" they acquired may include with images of the underwater city.

For example, I had a nightmare about this stone pillar, and then I drew it in my diary based on my memories.

Given the state of mind that Sergeant Collins was in when he wrote his diary, he should not be surprised by what appears in his diary.

The probability of the second possibility is not as high as the first one, but it is not low either - Sergeant Collins, or someone in the 776 Special Forces Team was contaminated by the corrosive seed cells, or the degree of erosion exceeded the critical value and turned into something. A mutant or corroded corpse that retains some of its sanity. With the physical strength and ability of this monster, it should still be possible to dive to a depth of several hundred meters underwater.

As for the third possibility, it has the lowest probability, but Ke Lan can't rule it out...especially after experiencing that "environmental replacement" type of mechanism.

Maybe, when Hruni and Collins came to the underwater city "City No. 2", the ruins of this city were not yet the "undersea city".

Ke Lan feels that his imagination can be more bold. For example, the sea platform carrying this underwater city is actually a man-made lifting platform that can sink the city to the bottom of the sea and allow it to rise to the surface of the sea. ...Maybe others came here when this city emerged from the sea.

"This door... To be honest, I have explored so many ruins, and this is the first time I have seen such a large door made of pure Nino alloy." Thirty-three sighed.

"We also saw such a door in the glacier ruins. The style is similar, but the size is much smaller than the one in front of us." Ke Lan recalled, "There are also a lot of alpha civilization words engraved on it..."

"The writing of Alpha Civilization?" Ever since he knew that Ke Lan could read these words that were like a heavenly book to ordinary people, Thirty-Three had become extremely sensitive to such clues. "On that door, it is written What happened?"

"I can't remember." Ke Lan shook his head. "At that time, I had not yet acquired the ability to decipher Alpha text. Moreover, after seeing those words, I had severe hallucinations in my head, accompanied by a strong headache. , so I didn’t remember any of the words engraved on the door.”

"But those hallucinations are not entirely correct, because during the subsequent exploration process, I saw something that appeared in the hallucination - the high platform used to place the 'sarcophagus'." Ke Lan continued.

"What a pity. If we could decipher the words on that door, we might be able to get some valuable clues." Thirty-three sighed.

"The situation at that time did not allow us to make rubbings on the door. Both Lao Gou and Layton only took photos, but the cameras were damaged in subsequent accidents and the photos were not preserved. As for the 'original' of the door , before the subsequent groups of explorers had time to dismantle it and transport it back to the Ark, the glacier ruins collapsed, revealing a bottomless sinkhole hidden underground. And the door also fell into the abyss under the sinkhole. , can’t be found at all.”

The incident that Ke Lan mentioned was naturally referring to the fact that the battleship that rescued them was attacked by a heretic sect. Although everyone in the team finally returned to the Ark safely, most of the equipment they originally carried was with the battleship. It turned into ashes under the death light cannon.

"It seems like we can only bite the bullet and cross the river by feeling the stones." Thirty-three shrugged.

"Crossing the river by feeling for the stones" is definitely not a happy thing for relic hunters. In high-level ruins, what you touch is often not a stone, but a sharp dagger, or a bomb that is about to explode, or even something more bizarre and deadly.

"Since the skeleton knew that something existed in the 'Hive', and thought that we came to the Gray Mist Forest for that thing, it means that it must have entered it. There is a high probability that Hruni and the others have also entered it." Hive City'. Even they can escape whole body, so with our configuration, there shouldn't be much danger." Ke Lan said.

"Returning whole body... I don't think so." Thirty-three shook his head, "Maybe they became like that because they have been to this place."

"Then how about I go in by myself and you stay outside?" Ke Lan glanced at Thirty-Three, "I can ask Ze Luo to create a space for you that is isolated from the sea water, which can at least ensure that you can stay in it for a week. "

"What about a week later? If you don't come back, will I wait here to die? Rather than staying here, I would rather go in with you." Thirty-three smiled, shook his head and said, "To be honest, I am worried about life and death. I don’t care much anymore, do you think I’m still afraid of this kind of thing?”

"Okay, let's go together." Ke Lan nodded and set his sights on the door that was tightly connected to the surrounding ground.

"But I really have something to ask you." Thirty-three suddenly said, "If...I mean if, I become a monster, please help me just like you helped Mo Jue, one last time. "

Ke Lan turned his head, looked at him steadily, and then said: "Okay."

"I'm not sure whether I can still be rational in that situation, so I'd like to say hello to you first, so as not to prevent you from making a move." Thirty-three smiled again, "Okay, let's think about it. How do you open this door? By the way, how did you open the similar Nino alloy door you found in the glacier ruins?"

"That door has a 'self-service' activation device. You can open it by putting energy crystals into the groove." Ke Lan said.

"Tsk..." After hearing the seven words "self-service activation device", Thirty-three showed an understanding expression.

Mechanisms like this one that "put energy crystals in as 'tolls' and then open the passage" are not uncommon in the ruins of Alpha civilization. Although this kind of mechanism does not pose a threat, it can be regarded as a "danger" omens".

Even if the door made of pure Nino alloy is very thick and requires a lot of strength to move it, even if the devices in the ruins have been idle for many years and the energy stored in them has been severely consumed, just opening the door is still enough. You can't use up so many energy crystals - of the crystals used by hunters to open doors, only a small part of the energy is actually used to open the door, and most of the energy is used to activate "other Agency".

This is equivalent to digging one hole after another for yourself and then jumping into them without hesitation.

Hunters know this, but in most cases they have no choice.

"But there's no groove for crystals on the door." Thirty-three walked around the edge of the hive city gate and said.

This door is really big, with a diameter of more than 20 meters. As for the thickness, according to Thirty-Three's detection, it is even larger than the diameter.

"Instead of saying it is a door, I think the shape of this thing is more like a plug." Thirty-three said.

With such a large volume and mass of Nino alloy, it is completely impossible to open it with violent means. Even Ze Luo's space ability cannot be used... What's more, the commotion caused by violent means to open the door will definitely not be small. If the guy in the Abyss Hatchery is alerted, it will be great fun.

"How about trying to dig a tunnel and bypass this door?" Thirty-three suddenly thought.

He stepped on the ground at the edge of the door and said, "Although the ground is also very hard, rocks are easier to dig than Nino alloy, right?"

"It's a solution, but it's a last resort. The priority can be moved back a little." Ke Lan commented, "I don't think Alpha people are stupid enough to not consider this kind of problem."

"It makes sense." Thirty-three crossed his arms, "Then can you think of another way? It doesn't have to be the best or the middle strategy. It's okay to have a lower strategy that's one level higher than my next one."

"Wait a minute, I'll give it a try." Ke Lan said.

He remembered the liquid door he encountered when chasing Dr. Renee, took a deep breath, and then said to the people in front of him in Alpha language: "Open the door."

There was no response from the "Hive Gate".

"Open, open, open, open for me, open sesame, let me in, let me be healthy -" Ke Lan changed several words in a row, but there was no change in the "hive city gate".

"What are you doing?" Thirty-three glanced at Ke Lan strangely and asked.

The language of Alpha civilization is not spoken with the mouth, so Thirty-three naturally doesn't know what Ke Lan just tried.

"I'm thinking." Ke Lan smiled faintly, suppressing the embarrassment in his heart as much as possible.

"Have you thought of a way?"

"not yet."

[P.S. Hahahaha, while filling in the pits today, I would like to round up the previous setting bugs. When I first started writing this book, many of the initial settings were actually not very perfect. After all, the pits were opened in a hurry. Basically, I made a rough outline, filled in a bunch of random inspirations, and started writing. Many details were filled in later as I wrote. In addition to the core settings, many changes have been made in many places, so there are many holes that may be far-fetched to fill.

Some readers complained about Glacier Ruins before. It was unreasonable to use so many energy crystals to open a door. I didn’t think about it in detail at that time, because I just came up with this plot in my head. The purpose at that time It's just a setting to introduce energy crystals, but now that I think about it, if there is a chance to fix this small bug, the overall look and feel will still be very good. I just don’t know if the reader who complained at that time continued to read it, and I don’t know if he will be able to read this chapter. 】