Chapter 745: The Last Card

  Chapter 745: The trump card left at the end

  Wandering Swamp, the far north.

  The cold wind and snow are like thousands of shuttles, weaving the endless white into a flowing Milky Way.

  This is not only the northernmost border of the academy, but also the northernmost border of the entire Central Continent. The temperature is below minus 20 degrees Celsius all year round, and can even reach minus 100 degrees Celsius at the coldest time.

  The extreme climate is a natural barrier, just like the desert surrounding the oasis of Luoxia Province.

  Only a few species with thick hair and thick fat can move in this area.

  However, in this bitter and cold land of thousands of miles of ice, there is one of the most prosperous settlements in the Wandering Swamp.

  Its name is Ice Sea City.

  As the name suggests, this settlement is located on the edge of the permafrost coast. The settlement,

  hundreds of meters high, is completely cast with alloys, just like a giant axe draped on an iceberg, and the metal wall emits a cold light in the wind and snow.

  It is said that more than two centuries ago, this place was the seed bank of the People’s Union. It was not until a century and a half ago that it was transformed into a settlement, where the earliest batch of technicians who left the post-war reconstruction committee lived.

  Later, when the Science and Technology Commission was established, this place was put under the management of the Science and Technology Commission.

  However, although it is managed by the Science and Technology Commission, the people living here do not live a hard life because of the special nature of this settlement.

  The howling wind and snow and the cold are blocked outside by the walls of the settlement. Except for the seed area embedded in the iceberg, which can feel the cold of dozens of degrees below zero, the other production areas and living areas can even be said to be spring all year round.

  In addition, the work here is not hard.

  The most common position is gardener, and the “hardest” work required is just to regularly take care of some special crops grown under tropical climate conditions in a hot and sweaty greenhouse, and most of the time is spent looking at the monitor screen and drinking tea.

  In addition to the most common gardeners, the most sought-after positions here are undoubtedly assistants and apprentices recruited by the college’s genuine researchers.

  Unlike the regular apprentices in the academy, the apprentices in Ice Sea City are just a job position, usually tied to a specific research project, and are mainly for young survivors between the ages of 12 and 18 who have excellent higher education assessments.

  Although the treatment of this position is no different from that of a gardener, it is an excellent opportunity for a child who is preparing for the exam in December every year to get in touch with a mentor and scientific research work in advance.

  As long as these boys and girls are a little smart and not stupid enough to offend their bosses, they will be taken care of to some extent.

  After all, most of their bosses have also experienced that exam and understand their current situation. While participating in the work, they also have to prepare for the exam that determines their life’s destiny.

  Usually, just one or two words of advice can save these children from several years of detours.

  And when they pass the assessment and become real apprentices, a letter of recommendation or just a name on the resume can allow them to spend their apprenticeship more easily than children in other areas of the Science and Technology Committee, and even get the recognition of a mentor, skip the rank of explorer, and directly become a glorious researcher.

  Even if one takes a step back and fails to pass the exam to become a genuine apprentice of the academy after many years of examinations, and has to give up his position to others when he turns 18, this apprentice from Binghai City can usually get a good position in the settlement because of his scientific research experience, or even enter the management of the Science and Technology Committee to start another life.

  It is precisely because of the favorable conditions here that any researcher with some power and deep feelings for his family will find a way to stuff his family into this settlement.

  The researchers who leave this settlement will more or less take care of their hometown and help this settlement within their ability.

  It is precisely for this reason that although the researchers of the academy do not directly participate in the management of the settlement under the Science and Technology Committee, it still gives the settlement of Binghai City a transcendent status, and even forms a regional faction named after Binghai City among the students.

  However, due to the relative indifference and weak interpersonal relationships in the academy, factions maintained by blood and geography are not as strong as those maintained by direct interests. Therefore, this faction is not very prominent and only has influence on some unimportant issues.

  For example, the special zone jointly established by the Alliance and the Academy.

  For the Academy, it doesn’t matter where the special zone is built in the Science and Technology Committee, because the core interests of most researchers are within the academy.

  So, this special zone landed in Binghai City.

  It has been half a year since the special zone was established, and some residents of the shelters from the Alliance have indeed brought a lot of interesting new things to the local area.

  Whether it is material or spiritual, their optimism and courage are something that people here have not seen for a long time.

  Of course.

  These guys who came from afar did not bring all happy things.

  On the apron of the dome of Binghai City, a long shuttle-shaped aircraft slowly landed and stopped.

  A frozen hibernation capsule was lifted down and placed on the snow.

  Two elderly people, a man and a woman, stood at the entrance of the apron. They were wearing thick winter clothes, leaning against each other, silently watching the coffin sinking into the snow.

  The transparent masks were covered with a layer of white frost, and it was impossible to see the expressions on their faces.

  But from the silent atmosphere, people around could feel the diffuse sadness.

  A soldier wearing an exoskeleton stepped through the snow and walked in front of the two elderly people. He tapped his left arm twice with his index finger, unfolded a palm-sized holographic screen on his arm, and gently pushed it in front of the two elderly people.

  ”My condolences.”

  The woman who saw the photo on the holographic screen shook and seemed to faint.

  The husband standing by put his arm around her shoulders, looked at the soldier and said nothing, but nodded silently.

  The three of them only exchanged that one sentence.

  After the soldier nodded, he turned around and returned to the shuttle-shaped aircraft.

  The silver-white fuselage slowly rose, and a faint blue flame shot out from the tail, disappearing in the endless snowstorm, as if it had never been there…

  A dozen residents of Ice Sea City stood at the entrance of the helipad, arm in arm, and held a simple funeral for the poor child.

  After that, his body will be sent for cremation, part of it will be kept as a memorial, and part of it will be scattered in the snowstorm.

  Standing by the French window in the settlement, several players wearing exoskeletons cast an interested look at the helipad.

  They recognized the soldier’s equipment, especially the gas mask embedded in the helmet. There is no doubt that he is a member of the Alpha Task Force.

  To be honest, this game is really realistic. Even the NPC killed by the plot in the background board has his own complete life.

  They only heard about the defeat thousands of kilometers away on the forum, but they didn’t expect to see the bodies dragged down from the front line in the game a few days later.

  In other games, such insignificant NPCs would probably just make up the numbers in the cutscenes and then be refreshed.

  ”…I thought the members of the Alpha Task Force were all poor people who couldn’t even afford potatoes.”

  A strength player muttered, with an obvious expression of surprise on his face.

  The agility player next to him also nodded and said with emotion.

  ”I didn’t expect there would be guys from Ice Sea City.”

  Having stayed in this settlement for a few days, they are still quite familiar with the local situation.

  Even if it is based on the ideal city as a reference, the lives of the local residents can definitely be called rich, just not as good as the explorers and researchers of the academy.

  Whether that guy is seeking excitement, pursuing a different life and ideals, or simply rebelling against dogma, it takes courage to join “Alpha”.

  Another intelligence player interrupted.

  ”But at least his relatives can receive the urn, but others may not.”

  The power player shrugged his shoulders.

  ”That’s the two sides of the world.”

  As they were talking, a group of people came to the exit of the settlement through the elevator and got on the all-terrain tracked vehicle that was waiting there.

  Their task today is to go to the nearby ruins of Morokova City, collect local fruiting body samples, and bring them to the researchers of the Alliance Biological Research Institute stationed in Ice Sea City.

  There is a dormant mother nest hidden deep in the ruins, somewhere under the subway station. Due to the camouflage effect produced by a large number of spores, the existing technical means cannot determine its specific location. The

  fruiting bodies produced by the mother nest are also quite distinctive. They are extremely good at camouflage, can blend into the environment, and suddenly attack when the prey approaches.

  The current long-term goal of the Mucocommunity Special Zone is to find the specific coordinates of the mother nest and eat it with Xiaoyu. The short-term and medium-term goals are to analyze the mother nest and provide reference data for the research projects on variant slime molds in various regions of the Mucocommunity.

  Although it is only a very small job, any huge plan is composed of countless such small jobs.

  At the same time as the group left, a man and a woman stood in front of the French window where they had stopped before.

  Looking at the hibernation chamber outside the window, Jiang Xuezhou’s face was full of complicated expressions.

  She didn’t know the parents, let alone the person lying in the hibernation chamber.

  She just suddenly thought that if she couldn’t get out of Shelter No. 0 that day, but died in this wasteland like countless researchers who encountered accidents…

  Her heart tightened slightly, she lowered her head for a moment, and whispered.

  ”Hey…”

  Seeing Jiang Xuezhou’s heavy face, Ye Shi, who was standing next to him, made a helpless expression.

  ”What’s wrong with you again.”

  Jiang Xuezhou continued in a low voice.

  ”…I want to go home.”

  ”Go back.”

  Ye Shi gave her a strange look. Does he need to tell him about this kind of thing?

  Jiang Xuezhou moved his lips, and it was a bit difficult to speak, but he finally spoke.

  ”…Can you accompany me back?”

  Since becoming an apprentice, she hasn’t been back for a long time, and she doesn’t know how to face those relatives who are both familiar and unfamiliar, so she subconsciously wants to find a trusted partner to accompany her back.

  When he heard that it was just a small matter, Ye Shi didn’t think much about it and simply agreed.

  ”Okay, when?”

  Jiang Xuezhou was stunned.

  She just mentioned it casually, and she didn’t even plan when to go back. Unexpectedly, this wooden man agreed so straightforwardly and even asked when to leave.

  ”…Then…how about tomorrow?”

  She said this sentence without any preparation. It was not until then that she suddenly realized something, and her cheeks gradually became hot.

  However, what she didn’t know was that a certain guy didn’t think so much at all, and just had an exclamation mark on his head when he was an NPC.

  ”No problem…”

  Looking at Jiang Xuezhou, whose face suddenly turned red like an apple, Ye Shi couldn’t help but have a strange expression on his face.

  This guy is always distracted recently.

  Could he have a fever?

  …

  The front line thousands of kilometers away.

  The scorching flames even melted the snow on the blood mountain.

  The roar of artillery fire shook the earth, followed by crackling gunfire and the roar of mutants.

  It seemed that in order to avenge the previous humiliation, the Alpha Task Force re-formulated a more thorough battle plan based on the intelligence collected in the previous battle, and launched a more fierce offensive than before.

  This time, it was not just two squadrons of a hundred people that were pushed to the front line, but a full ten squadrons with a total of a thousand people!

  The two sides engaged in a fierce exchange of fire in the cave.

  Under the cover of the drone attack formation, one team after another filled the abyss-like cave in an orderly manner. Only people were seen entering, but no one came out.

  Looking at the fierce attack of the Alpha Task Force, General Modlin, who was standing on the hillside of Broken Blade Mountain, couldn’t help but show a look of surprise on his face.

  Including the adjutant standing next to him, there was a look of disbelief on his face.

  ”…Are these guys on drugs?” Looking at the direction of the front line, he muttered to himself.

  In just three days, those lifeless guys were like a completely different person.

  Although he couldn’t see the situation in the cave, he could clearly feel the difference in those guys just by looking at their aura.

  ”Maybe you really guessed it right.” General Modlin frowned and pressed down the telescope in his hand.

  The coalition’s highest command disclosed the characteristics of the Alpha protozoa.

  If we follow that standard, I’m afraid that only the punishment team and some awakened people with strong physical strength in the entire 310,000-man team can resist the erosion of the red fog.

  The action three days ago has shown that the Alpha Task Force is not good at physical strength.

  In the absence of changing equipment, he can only suspect that these guys should have taken some immunity-enhancing drugs, or installed some bionic plug-ins that can fight infection.

  In addition, there is another thing that caught his attention.

  That is, he only saw these people going in in waves, but no one came out.

  Either they died there at the last moment of the battle, or they should have gained some ability to continuously recover in battle.

  Thinking of this, General Modlin’s eyes could not help but show a hint of interest, and he could not help but look forward to the outcome of this battle. Not

  only General Modlin was watching the battle, but also Commander Fountain of the Storm Corps and Commander Edge of the Death Corps.

  The two of them were also standing on the hillside of Broken Blade Mountain, staring at the battlefield that was so close.

  ”My God… they are a bunch of ruthless people.” With a shocked expression on his face, Edge could not help but sigh.

  Not counting those clones who did not have a complete mind, this was the first time he saw guys who were as fearless as them in this game.

  ”Indeed…” Commander Fountain nodded in agreement, holding a telescope and staring at the battle situation on the front line.

  In a sense, this time Torch really met his match.

  Although the academy’s attitude towards the blue jacket was relatively friendly, he still had to complain that these guys were not human beings, and ordinary people were really no match for them.

  After three days of inoculation of one thousand biological prostheses, one-third of the Alphas on the front line “changed their jobs” on the spot, from mechanized soldiers to half-biological and half-mechanized soldiers.

  Although Xiaoyu is still very cute after watching for a long time, and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal to change her skin occasionally, all this is based on the premise of being able to resurrect.

  If he can’t be resurrected, or if he is resurrected, he won’t wash off the biological prosthesis, he thinks that even in the game, he will probably hesitate to install this thing.

  Just as the commanders of the coalition were watching the battle, the beast king standing on the blood mountain also overlooked the entire battlefield.

  And on that expressionless face, there was also a hint of obvious surprise.

  ”What is that?”

  He kept muttering in his mouth, his eyes full of astonishment, unable to believe what he saw from the eyes of those mutants, and even more unable to understand.

  He saw with his own eyes that a soldier of the Alpha Task Force was pierced through the chest by a thorn thrown by a mutant, and then thrown out fiercely.

  The hot blood even spilled on its (his) head. The hot touch could never be an illusion simulated by holographic technology.

  For humans, it was undoubtedly a fatal injury.

  However, it (he) had just wiped the blood stuck on the spikes when it saw the unconscious soldier suddenly twitching, then lying on his side and grabbing the rifle, shooting at it (him).

  Caught off guard, several electromagnetically accelerated projectiles smashed the mutant’s chest and brain.

  He also lost his perception of the mutant in an instant, and returned to the God’s perspective with a blank face.

  The fierce fight continued.

  The guys wearing gas masks seemed to have found a way to fight the poisonous fog.

  And not only that, their recovery ability also became stronger, as if they had become another species overnight.

  ”Haha…hahahaha!”

  The astonishment in his eyes gradually turned into fanaticism, and he suddenly laughed while looking down at his feet.

  ”Interesting… It’s really interesting!”

  Before being infected by the spores of slime mold, actively inoculate the fruiting bodies of benign varieties to gain immunity?

  These old guys are not as rigid as he imagined, and they also know how to adapt.

  Sure enough, it is interesting to compete with such opponents with ideas.

  In addition to getting a batch of organic matter from fighting those Weyland people, he can’t learn anything.

  Looking down at the Alpha Task Force members who were waiting at the foot of the mountain, the Beast King said in a very light voice.

  ”… I want to understand the secrets of those guys. Can you please eat them?”

  That was not a sound transmitted by sound waves, but an exchange of consciousness with consciousness.

  After waiting for about a few minutes, the dull sound like an ancient bell slowly came into his sea of ​​consciousness.

  ”I think… it’s better for you not to let that guy get close to me.”

  The Beast King was slightly stunned and frowned slightly.

  ”Can’t eat it?”

  The “Lord of Plague” deep in the mountain slowly spoke.

  ”Generally speaking, we evolved to devour other organisms, and the devouring of other mother nests is just an accident in evolution. That guy is different. Its evolutionary logic is completely opposite to ours. It exists purely to devour other slime molds, and can coexist with the humans who raise it.”

  ”Just like those green-skinned guys who can tolerate my smell and even worship me, you can understand it as… it is a ‘mutant’ among ‘us’.”

  After a pause, the voice continued.

  ”I can feel from the disgusting breathing that the guy has devoured at least two of his kind… I already have so many lovely children, I don’t want to be the next one.”

  Those believers are its children.

  It has never seen such an interesting thing, using cheers and love to tolerate the distortion it has given them, instead of being afraid of its own appearance.

  The guy called the Beast King told it that this is the “faith” of humans. They regard themselves as the mother who gave them life, or even gods!

  It likes the name of the Lord of Plague very much, and likes those believers who cheer its name even more. The love for them even exceeds that for its own fruiting body.

  That is why it feeds them with its own flesh and blood, and selects the one with the most devout faith from among them as the “prophet” to cultivate the “plague”, and then uses that guy as a seedbed for producing spores, giving them a stronger “evolution factor”.

  In a sense, they are its fruiting bodies, at least part of them is like that.

  It has high hopes for them, hoping that they can continue to expand the size of the population until they occupy the entire planet, and conquer more distant worlds with their faith in themselves.

  One day, they will return to their mother, Gaia, calling out their own names.

  Perhaps they can also bring a message to Him on their behalf.

  The Beast King pondered for a moment, and suddenly spoke.

  ”Then if you can devour it, wouldn’t you also be able to obtain… its ability to devour other slime molds?”

  He thought of the forest in the Baiyue Province, where Naguo was born, and Naguo’s weakness is there.

  If they can devour the mother nest there, their kingdom of heaven will no longer have any weaknesses.

  The Lord of Plague was silent for a moment, and slowly spoke.

  ”That’s right, but… its main body doesn’t seem to be here. So far, only its fruiting bodies have appeared. My fruiting bodies can digest them, but that’s only physical digestion. If I eat them, I’m afraid I’ll have indigestion.”

  ”I see… I see.” The Beast King nodded thoughtfully.

  This is indeed a problem.

  But they can solve it with scientific methods, such as making the samples harmless before feeding them.

  Of course.

  That’s after taking over Qingquan City.

  ”Don’t worry about it for now… my children are begging for my help. You should have heard them crying.” Looking at the Beast King who seemed to be distracted, the Lord of Plague’s voice was a little urgent.

  The battle situation on the Blood Mountain is becoming increasingly unfavorable to its children.

  Not only its children, but also itself is in danger.

  It has a hunch.

  If those guys carrying other slime mold fruiting bodies are allowed to enter its nest, something bad will happen.

  The Beast King nodded slowly and turned to look at the gray sky in the southeast.

  That was the direction of Haiya Province.

  Standing on the top of the Blood Mountain, one could even see the gray fog that permeated there, and the prosperous kingdom hidden in the gray fog.

  He admitted that the fruiting bodies that were residing in people were beyond his expectations.

  But if these guys thought they could beat him with one or two unexpected cards, they would underestimate him.

  They had set foot on this barren and chaotic land many years before these old guys noticed this land.

  They spent more than ten years to make the seeds take root, sprout, bloom, and bear abundant fruits.

  All the land from Shifeng Mountain to Weifu Wasteland was his domain, and the kingdom of heaven had descended here a long time ago.

  These guys just built a few houses on it and took over a few hills, thinking that it was their territory.

  It had always been his territory.

  He would let them remember this profound lesson.

  ”Don’t worry.”

  The Beast King waved his hand gently, and the red fog wrapped around the hill seemed to be in a trance for a moment, and then it was replaced by the slowly rising gray-green fog.

  ”It’s time for the fog to come.”

  (End of this chapter)