Three-stream detection simulator

The struggle between man and the ‘sea’ is a struggle between soul and willpower.

Constantine made this point popular to everyone before entering the mental world: "You have no experience in fighting in the soul state, so you may not understand that in this case, your strength does not depend on your life...I mean, reality The strength of your body is usually affected by your brain. Simply put, how strong you imagine yourself to be and how persistent you are in pursuing your goals will determine how much you can achieve.”

Too idealistic.

Overall, Hercule feels that he is not an idealistic person, which can be seen from the fact that there is only 15 inspiration on the initial panel. Later, the mechanical heart inexplicably doubled the inspiration, which can only be said to be a passing level.

So at first, he didn't expect how high his combat effectiveness would be.

But it cannot be said that he has no ideas. He mainly puts his hope for survival on the Sea Monkey in the mental world.

Hercule believes that whether it is the mechanical heart, the pyramid pipe or the magic pendulum traded to the Yuwen Church in the name of 'Ark Pharmaceuticals', they all highlight the same characteristics, which is to deconstruct and reapply the extraordinary ability structure until they Can be used by ordinary people.

This characteristic supports his core guess about the game’s background worldview: ‘The End of the Law’.

In a universe where even Constantine had to face the "sea" personally, people no longer expected that there would be a great magician with both ability and consciousness among the ethnic group, so they focused all their energy on how to master it with the power of technology. On top of the initiative.

This brings up a new question.

If the Pyramid Pipe was born because some people discovered that the mental world could be exploited, so they brutally killed the mutant Apocalypse and fixed his abilities on dead objects, then what about the Ark? Will they ignore this special vehicle that represents salvation and integrates attack, defense and escape?

Furthermore, why is Hercule's Ark the Sea Monkey?

He had no memory of dealing with this ship during the side mission. The full name of the side mission is ‘The Stranded Sea Monkey and the Fallen Fishing Boat’. Since the fishing boat is pointing towards Constantine who is going to die, the Sea Monkey is very abrupt when juxtaposed with it.

As mentioned earlier, the Sea Monkey is the first light transport ship in human history. But few people know that not long after the spaceship was built, the purpose of the high-level humans in the game world to open up the universe rapidly changed fundamentally, from the initially peaceful and conservative voyage trade to an aggressive and destructive colonization.

Over the next five years, the Sea Monkey was rapidly upgraded and modified, turning it into a massive and dangerous planet-shattering vessel. The function of the so-called planet-breaking spacecraft can be seen from the name. To describe it in layman's terms, it is like a locust in the universe, eating everything it encounters on its path, even the planet itself, and then transporting them back to the earth to fill the resource holes left by successive wars.

And Hercule noticed that its reconstruction technology came from Apocalypse Company.

A capital group as large as Apocalypse Company cannot get unanimous praise even in the local game. In other words, it is precisely because it left clues when committing illegal acts and was reported by local NPCs that players can discover the truth based on the clues. .

For example, Hercule heard in Novice Village that Apocalypse Company was over-exploiting the earth's energy, and confirmed this in subsequent branches.

Tianqi Company may have felt that one earth could not solve the problem, so it naturally set its sights on the vast universe, thus the birth of the Sea Monkey.

But as a spacecraft with such a prestigious reputation that it even dared to use a name like "Kingdom above Country" that did not take the earth's government seriously, the Sea Monkey actually only worked for 20 years.

In the same year that the player entered the underground tunnel, the ownership of the Sea Monkey was completely transferred to Ark Pharmaceuticals. As a price, the other party that jointly built the Sea Monkey, namely Apocalypse Company, withdrew half of the armed systems on the spacecraft and the most advanced sublight engine. Since then, Sea Monkey has been like a domestic dog with a broken leg, only wandering in low-Earth orbit and never taking a step into the depths of the universe.

This is the life of the spacecraft that Hercule pieced together from mission records.

There is no mention of anything like "stranding"...unless turning into garbage around the world can be considered a stranding in career.

The ending of the side mission is that the detective goes to Ark Pharmaceuticals and delivers a message to the Maltese puppy who was the group’s boss according to Constantine’s will. The deal between the two companies surrounding the Sea Monkey occurred before this. It is not impossible to apply the term "stranded" mechanically, but Hercule always felt that the game's naming should be more rigorous than this.

On the other hand, it was not like he had never seen the stranded Sea Monkey before.

——In the world of mental images.

This is the idea that came to Hercule's mind after the missing person was transferred to the mental world. Neptune asked, since the 'sea' does not need a body, how come people are missing in reality?

The old captain of Yu Wen Church gave the answer. The echo he left in the sea said: "My body was sacrificed to the sun."

The 'Sea' does not need a physical body, but the Black Sun Umbrax does.

The sea and the black sun dissected the soul and body of the missing person respectively.

In this way, Hercule can draw a simple conclusion: Although the sea is not interested in the matter of the real world, the matter of the real world can enter the mental world.

If we continue to associate it further - what about the Sea Monkey anchored on the shore?

Is it really an image generated in Hercules' mind? Or is it actually the retired planet-breaking spaceship in the universe that was once glorious and notorious?

Hercules had carefully observed the Sea Monkey in the mental world before. The details of the spaceship were already imprinted in his mind, and he could draw a three-view drawing at any time if necessary.

Recall that the inscription left by J.K. on the spaceship is clearly visible, and there is a little dust on the curved parts of the letters: "Our salvation is not in heaven, not in the ground, but in everyone's heart."

Even the "bullshit" comments that followed have real traces of wind and frost.

In addition, there are signs of life inside the spacecraft: the passage door leading to the dormitory area is slightly slow to respond due to repeated opening and closing; the stair handle is rusty; the automatic sensor of a faucet in the bathroom has been in disrepair for a long time; the computer disk is empty, and the last record was created 20 years ago, which is a welcome instruction manual...

Hercules sometimes wondered before, could it be that I have lived in the ship, but I don’t remember it?

Otherwise, how could his mental world simulate the Sea Monkey so realistically?

But now, rather than suspecting that there is something wrong with his memory, he feels that the Sea Monkey in front of him is the spaceship that should be parked in low-Earth orbit in the game.

People in the game world have studied the ability of the mutant Apocalypse to go to the mental world, so they will naturally focus their research ideas on the Ark itself.

Black Sun can capture humans through the sea, and the Sea Monkey can certainly travel from the universe to the mental world and then run aground.

Hercule thought that this was the response made by the chairman of the Maltese puppy after he delivered the message to Ark Pharmaceuticals, and it was also the follow-up that was not stated in the branch record.

——For some reason that only the decision maker knew, they tried every means to shrink the Sea Monkey several times, cut off the unnecessary structure, and sent it to the mental world.

Humans handed a real ark to the flood that destroyed the world.

So the side quest would be called "Stranded Sea Monkey and Fallen Fishing Boat".

**

In this case, Hercule felt that the Sea Monkey must be special compared to other people's arks.

This is nonsense. You know, it is a planet-splitting spacecraft. The keel-like structure surrounding it is actually hundreds of gravity locks that are enough to dig through the core of the planet. The last time he came to the mental world, Hercule used these hundreds of gravity locks to directly dig out the land on the seabed, and stunned the "sea" for several days.

The essential process this time is the same, except that there is a new enemy in the sky, the black sun ‘Umbrax’. The key is how to walk from the sea to the land, and then pick up the compass that can activate the Sea Monkey from the beach.

Hercules concentrated his mind, ignored the sea that kept roaring behind him, and walked towards the shore step by step.

This feels very strange.

The sea kept trying to keep him, but failed to drown him. So gradually, even the cold tide was stained with the body temperature of life. Its movements became gentle, with negative sadness, as if blaming a cold and ruthless lover.

It let go of Hercules' body and began to attack and tear at the coat on his body that had always protected him. Hercules, who noticed this, slapped the water heavily with the hem of his clothes.

The splashing water fell on his cheek, and then slowly slid down, and with a tick, merged into the ocean current reflecting the lightning.

Constantine caught a glimpse of this scene and almost thought he saw the holy image on the top of the church. The endless dark sea, the sweeping hurricane, the violent lightning, and the human beings who walked out of the sea step by step, as if they had been baptized and were heading for a new life. When Hercule stepped one foot on the beach, the world was silent, and even the black sun turned its sight away.

No one has ever come out of the sea alive... never.

Perhaps it was not the gods who defeated the sea.

The church with holy images was not praising God.

For a moment, Constantine felt that he clearly saw the curved horns representing evil growing from the detective's forehead. I don't know if it was because he was still covered with sea water and was under the curse of negative subconsciousness.

Constantine blinked again, and Hercule was still the same, with half-long hair tangled into a ball, hanging wetly behind his neck. He walked over, his steps gradually became easier, and in the end he could be said to be trotting, only bending down halfway to pick up a round compass from the beach.

The detective came to him and said in the same relaxed tone: "Are you ready, Mr. Constantine? This time we have to face the sun."

The spaceship parked not far away lowered the deck for landing.

Hercules walked up. Constantine subconsciously wanted to follow, but stopped before taking a step: "I won't go up, detective, I have done enough so far."

Hercules thought of the ending of the tunnel NPC in the game, and said from the bottom of his heart: "I hope you can really maintain similar rationality when facing various crises."

"..." Constantine asked suspiciously, "Are you scolding me?"

Hercules blinked: "How could it be, I always respect your choice."

He didn't wait for Constantine to answer and ordered the Sea Monkey to close the door.

The mage who stayed on the beach retorted a step slower: "Nonsense, you are just scolding me, and you never fucking stopped!"

The Sea Monkey started up again.

It once dismembered an entire planet into countless fragments in the universe. Now even though its body has shrunk, it can be said to cover the sky and the sun when it rises into the sky. The wall of water raised by the sea was as small as a play toy in front of it, and even the black sun firmly fixed in front of the clouds seemed insignificant.

But Constantine knew that it was just a misunderstanding. The real Black Sun, the real Umbrax is much bigger than meets the eye.

After feeling the threat, the surface of the Black Sun boiled. If you get closer, you can see that it is spinning wildly like a real planet, and its surface is surrounded by ash-like black smoke. This thick smoke completely blocks the light of the star, and at the same time, like the corona, it continues to spread outward with the center of the star as the center.

The above characteristics make the black sun look like a planet made of fluid at first glance.

The fluid material is currently expanding rapidly, and the diameter of the black sun is increasing exponentially.

The rapidly rising gravity caused extraordinary shocks in the mental world. The seawater began to tilt towards the center of the sky, huge waves climbed up into the sky, and the thick clouds were blown away, leaving a circular gap, revealing the equally dark and dead sky behind. The gravity locks that tied the Sea Monkey to all sides tightened, and the special metal made a soul-shattering rumble.

Constantine's feet were firmly planted on the ground. This is a world of mental imagery, where strength is determined by the spirit. He doesn't need help from others for the simple matter of standing firm.

But he really couldn't do more.

He could only stand there and watch the black sun continue to grow in size, almost within reach, while Hercule's Ark continued to accelerate. Countless gravity locks rolled up the land under the sea, dug out a cone-shaped solid body thousands of meters high, and eventually turned into a roaring dragon, throwing the man-made upside-down mountain peak towards the stars behind the black mist with a bang. surface!

It is no exaggeration to say that a crater that occupies one-third of the land in sight appeared above the black sun. The broken stones turned into a ring-shaped belt like a planetary ring, which was once again covered by the black mist. It must have been injured, and the expansion process stopped briefly.

Constantine was almost knocked out of his mental world by this shock.

Fortunately, he had sufficient out-of-body experience and was able to steady his steps at critical moments. However, in a wrong glance, Umbrax began to fight back.

The indescribable huge gravitational force increased in a manner that was about to destroy it. The seawater poured in, the sky and the earth rotated, and the Sea Monkey, which had clearly exceeded the escape speed just now, was also approaching the black sun uncontrollably.

Constantine stopped thinking because of the picture in front of him. He saw the spacecraft stalled in the air for a moment, and then the engine started, rushing towards the dark star at maximum speed, and then there was a 'boom'——

He lost consciousness.