Embers Ad Infinitum

The man wearing a ripped plush hat was talking, and suddenly he couldn't control his voice:

"Isn't he an aberrant creature?"

He still had fresh memories of his previous encounters and was full of fear. Once he found corresponding signs, he would inevitably think about similar things.

"He is obviously smart enough, and he is definitely not a 'careless person'. Moreover, he looks like a human being." An Ruxiang denied his companion's speculation without hesitation.

"What if he is a monster and just makes us 'feel' like a human being? Think about it, the 'Higher Heartless One' before did not show anything, but made us think that she had something extremely precious that we must obtain. Items." The man wearing a torn plush hat retorted slightly faster.

An Ruxiang couldn't explain it, so she thought about it carefully and said:

"Indeed, this is a possibility. However, there is another possibility:

"He is an awakened person, and one of his abilities is charm."

The man wearing a ripped plush hat thought carefully:

"When you say that, I think it's really possible. Haha, in my mind, the awakened ones are almost the same as the aberrant creatures. No, they are more terrifying and weirder than most of the aberrant creatures. It should be said that they are different from ours this time. The same thing happened.”

Most of the aberrant creatures are closer to the Black Marsh Iron Snakes and the residents of Black Rat Town, with changes in certain parts of their bodies that bring about certain, completely understandable enhancements.

Hearing his companion's words, An Ruxiang couldn't help but recall this encounter.

Several hours had passed since the incident, but with her experience and determination, she still couldn't get out of it.

It was like a real nightmare from which I couldn't wake up.

An Ruxiang took in a breath and let it out slowly, looking back at the street where she came from:

“Could they have been charmed too?

"I remember when I first met them in the wilderness, there were only four of them, and there was no man who was suspected of being an awakener.

"Do you want to remind them?"

The man wearing a ripped plush hat immediately shook his head and said:

"This is too dangerous!"

An Ruxiang thought for a few seconds and said:

"They told us about Shou Shi's situation, and returned the most important items to us. They also placed Shou Shi's body in a closed room to prevent 'unintentional people' from quickly discovering and eating him...

"To me, this is a heavy favor and a 'thing' worth a lot of things."

"Didn't you also share the information with them?" The man wearing a holey plush hat tried his best to stop him, "Don't you think, that person is wearing a military exoskeleton device, even if he is not an awakened person, he can easily deal with us! "

An Ruxiang nodded:

“Don’t worry, I won’t take any chances, I still want to take Shou Shi’s body back.

"It hasn't been long. They are not too far away from us. I plan to shout a few words here. As for whether they can hear it and whether they can understand the situation after hearing it, it is not something I can control. "

"Shouting here?" The man wearing a ripped plush hat looked around, "Okay, I'll shout for you, and leave immediately after shouting."

An Ruxiang turned around, hung up the black pistol, put her hands together into a trumpet shape, and brought it to her mouth.

The next second, her sharp and high-pitched voice rang out:

"He's charming!

"Be careful of being controlled by him!"

…………

Long Yuehong held the "Berserker" assault rifle and trotted to the left of the team while guarding the corresponding area.

After listening to An Ruxiang's story and team leader Bai Chen's discussion, he became even more afraid of this exploration. Whether it was forced sleep, a real nightmare, or an irresistible trap, it was all a bit more than he could bear, and he instinctively felt that this was something he could not handle.

If she hadn't seen Shang Jianyao's "reasoning clown" and the mechanical monk's "hungry ghost path", Long Yuehong felt that she might have collapsed by now.

Uncontrollable fear kept growing in Long Yuehong's heart, making him unable to help but review this action.

Why take such a big risk... Didn't the team leader say that before we really adapt to the life in the dust and accumulate enough experience, he will not take us to places that are too dangerous... Bang Qiaochu really should, as long as he can The impression on me is better...But, but, is it worth it? I'm not married yet... During the trot, Long Yuehong looked at the figure wearing an exoskeleton device at the front, and she fell into a strong struggle in her heart. .

As he watched, he suddenly felt sad:

I am only 1.75 meters tall after genetic modification, and I am average-looking. My grades in all subjects are only average. I was also assigned to the most dangerous group of the Ministry of Security. I can be called a child of bad luck. How could Qiao Chu like me? Forget it, forget it, it’s better to give up voluntarily...

give up……

Long Yuehong's eyes gradually became confused, as if she had caught something wrong but couldn't explain it.

At this time, intermittent sounds came from the wind:

"Charm...be careful...control..."

The sound was very sharp, but because of the distance, it seemed very unclear.

Jiang Baimian then slowed down, tilted his head slightly and said:

"What are you shouting?"

"I only heard 'be careful'." Shang Jianyao replied seriously, "It seems that someone is giving us good wishes."

The next second, another voice came from the wind:

"Charm...be careful...control..."

This time, a high-pitched male voice sounded.

"Control..." Bai Chen tried his best to distinguish.

Qiao Chu, who was at the front of the team, changed his face slightly and said in a deep voice:

"We can't delay any longer. Let's go."

"Okay." Jiang Baimian couldn't refuse.

The group of five people started trotting again.

Long Yuehong was on the left side of the team, and the voice he just heard was always swirling in his mind:

"Be careful... control...

"Careful control?

"Control carefully..."

He was startled, vaguely aware that something was wrong with the current situation.

He subconsciously turned around and looked at Shang Jianyao, who had the best relationship in the team.

While jogging, he saw Shang Jianyao grinning and gave him a bright smile.

What did he mean... Long Yuehong tried to understand Shang Jianyao's thoughts, but failed.

He turned to recalling every bit of his journey, trying to find clues related to the problem.

Two or three minutes passed, and they walked around a building and saw their destination "sunk" in the darkness.

It was a building over a hundred meters high, with a large courtyard, and it was extremely quiet inside.

Because there were still two to three hundred meters away, Shang Jianyao and others could not clearly see what was written on the plaque lying on the ground at the gate of the courtyard.

At this moment, Qiao Chu, who was at the front, suddenly stopped.

Immediately afterwards, he leaned back and fell to the ground amid the sound of metal collision.

Jiang Baimian and others looked at this scene in astonishment, and subconsciously moved closer to confirm the problem.

Almost at the same time, the exoskeleton device made a beeping sound, and all the auxiliary joints shook together.

Qiao Chu's body then moved, and he slowly got up.

At this time, Jiang Baimian seemed to have noticed something. He held the grenade gun and pulled the trigger above a street tree on the side.

Boom!

A fireball expanded rapidly, illuminating the ignited tree crowns and a figure leaping into the buildings on the street.

It was a cat-shaped creature, one meter long, with seemingly no hair or skin on its body, and its blood-red "muscles" were directly exposed.

Its tail seemed to come from a scorpion, covered with a brown hard shell and with barbs; on its shoulders, clusters of white bone spurs were like decorations; on the top of its head, it seemed to have four ears.

No matter how you look at it, this is not a normal creature.

The monster jumped into a room on the second floor and narrowly avoided the explosion of the grenade. Then, it ran quickly, escaped from Jiang Baimian's sensing range, and disappeared into the depths of the building on the street.

At this time, Qiao Chu had returned to normal and stood up again.

He glanced at the direction where the monster disappeared and said in a deep voice:

"I just fell asleep.

"Fortunately, the induction wake-up function of this exoskeleton device is good."

"Is that a monster that forces people to fall asleep?" Bai Chen reacted immediately.

"It looks like a deformed creature." Jiang Baimian made a judgment.

Qiao Chu did not try to chase the cat-shaped monster, but pointed at the destination and said:

"Let's go there."

Shang Jianyao was the first to express his stance, striding towards the tall building with its own courtyard.

Jiang Baimian and others quickly followed.

"Do you want to give it a name?" Shang Jianyao suddenly asked while running.

"Who?" Jiang Baimian was a little confused.

"That monster just now." Shang Jianyao said seriously, "Should we call it a ghost cat?"

"It sounds so unpleasant." Jiang Baimian subconsciously denied, "It's called Sleeping Cat!"

While talking, they arrived at their destination and came to the courtyard gate.

With the slightly faint starlight and moonlight, they could clearly see the black plaque lying on the ground.

The plaque is made of stone and doesn't look too dirty, like it's been washed away by rain or "maintained" by someone.

None of the gold characters on its surface have fallen off, they are all in gray earth.

These words formed a term that Long Yuehong had never heard of:

"Urban Intelligent Network Control Center"

"What place is this?" Long Yuehong asked blurtly.

Jiang Baimian briefly explained:

“In some cities, water pipes, natural gas pipes, wires, optical fibers and other miscellaneous things are integrated together to form a huge intelligent pipe network.

"The person who controls this pipe network is the city intelligent network center."

"Then... why are we here?" Long Yuehong became more and more confused.

At this time, Qiao Chu, who was wearing an exoskeleton device, said indifferently:

"Around the ruins of this city, there is a hydropower station that is still in operation and is being 'maintained'. Within the ruins of this city, many lines are also being 'maintained' and are well maintained.

"All we need to do is go into the control center and turn the power back on."

"Why do we need to turn on the electricity?" Jiang Baimian asked subconsciously.

Qiao Chu was silent for two seconds and said:

"To open all the doors in a laboratory."

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