Knights of the Wasteland Fortress

Chapter 22
The moment the left chest was penetrated.

Jiatu entered a very strange state.

He can't feel physical pain.

But he could realize that the black tentacles were pulled out from his body.

With the gushing blood, his feet were a little weak, and his vision became blurred.

He could even hear what Hei Yin said in his ear, but couldn't make out what it meant.

Landed on his knees.

From the shattered music box, something black hissed and bloomed.

Is it ink?Or a waterfall?

Gator's rigid brain began to rust.

The black ribbon gushing out from the music box is like a bottomless pit, spreading wildly without end.

It kept pouring out, like a broken black sky, rushing behind him.

Behind him he heard the roar of a monster, and the shriek of a bird.

Then, the roar stopped abruptly.

Accompanied by the sound of flesh and blood exploding, countless pieces of black flesh were scattered in front of him.

Green plasma mixed with black limbs and broken arms splashed on the ground and walls, like a horrible murder scene.

Even his neck and back were stained with a thick layer of plasma.

Green blood splashed over, and the space behind him returned to silence.

Only small chewing sounds could be heard, as if something was gnawing on the monster's corpse.

Jiatu was full of fear and confusion, not knowing what happened.

But the drooping gaze unconsciously looked at his chest.

There was a wound bigger than his fist, the stump of the heart was twitching inside, the blood plasma was squeezed out along with the blood foam, and mixed with the green blood on the ground.

His right hand has also disappeared, only the thumb remains at the base of the palm.

"Crack!" A loud voice.

With the feeling of dizziness, Jiatu felt his whole body was submerged in plasma.

His breathing became rapid and his body convulsed as it squeezed the non-existent lung cavities, trying to get some air in.

He felt something crawl up his back, very warm and wet, a little heavy, accompanied by a familiar chewing sound.

Green plasma mixed with black mucus, like a waterfall, splashed down before his eyes.

"Are you going to be eaten?"

The remaining consciousness in Jiatu's mind thought silently.

He felt that Heiyin was still saying something in his body, but he lost the ability to distinguish.

His consciousness gradually faded away, but he could feel the monster on his back slowly sliding towards the hole in his body, as if trying to digest him from the inside, he squeezed in with all his strength.

With the creaking and snapping of ribs and chest, Jiatu lost consciousness.

.

Don't know how long after that.

The wreckage on the ground suddenly squirmed.

The "corpse" twitched and sat up.

"He" took a sharp breath, coughed desperately, and choked out the plasma in the trachea.

My whole body hurts badly, and my consciousness is blurred.

Jiatu opened his mouth wide, spitting out a strange substance mixed with pus and blood, green pulp and black mucus.

He stroked his chest subconsciously, looking at the gap there.

However, not only was it intact, even the wound was gone.

It's just that the big hole through which the protective suit was penetrated is still there, proving that his previous memory is not an illusion.

"I'm not dead...why..."

Jiatu held his beating heart, feeling that even this description seemed to be a joke.

He clutched his chest and stared blankly at the silence in front of him until the closed mask fell off his face.

Only then did he realize that the brain-horrifying mainframe had been shut down and lost all functions.

"It's been more than two hours, have you run out of battery..."

He thought subconsciously, trying to get up from the ground.

But the disobedient limbs told him with throbbing pain that this was impossible.

He clutched his chest and gasped for breath. Until then, a sense of gratitude for the rest of his life gradually flooded into his heart.

Jiatu subconsciously looked behind him, but couldn't see anything.

Relying on his memory, he groped in the dark, found his own cane, supported his body with it, and walked slowly towards the underground floor.

His dry food bar has been contaminated by the monster's pus and blood, but the mineral water drawn from the "drink machine" is still drinkable.

He opened the magazine pouch, found it, unscrewed the cap, and swallowed a large gulp, only to choke out more pus and gore.

Realizing that his stomach was full of these things, he pulled his palate and induced himself to vomit.

As a large amount of pus mixed with stomach acid was spit out, the filth in Jiatu's body was finally swept away, and he felt a lot more relaxed.

Finally regained some ability to think.

"Am I saved by Heiyin's younger sister? Or was there some other accident? I'll have to ask Heiyin well..."

Jiatu recalled the exploding music box and the hissing behind him, leaning on the wall, and walked slowly in the corridor on the second basement floor.

With the help of the faint light emitted by the golden tree, he found the way to the underground floor.

The folding ladder had been damaged in the battle with the monster, and he didn't have the strength to find a replacement.

But he remembered that in the containment room of "The Blue Enchantress", there were several packages of military dry food from hundreds of years ago, plus the mineral water in the "Drink Machine", it should be enough for him to survive for a few days.

As long as he survives the first two days, people will start looking for him from the third day, and the probability of finding the tunnel will also increase. Although his plan to monopolize the research institute will fail because of this, at least it is better than losing his life. powerful.

"Perhaps it would be nice to have another big meal with Lumino... But it doesn't know where it is now... Let's go to the Blue Enchantress first and recharge Heiyin..."

Jiatu thought silently, his heart was full of confusion, but it was useless to worry, he could only take one step at a time.

It took him more than ten minutes to return to the containment room of "The Blue Enchantress", took off the protective clothing that was already full of mucus and dirt, and put on the brown shelter singlet again.

The cloak used to keep out the cold was already stained with slime and could no longer be worn.

But strangely, he didn't feel cold.

He felt his heart beating like never before, and even the fingers of his right palm became stronger than ever before.

With the help of the dim light of the fluorescent mushroom, Jiatu looked at the four fingers of his right hand.

He clearly remembered that they had been torn apart together with his heart, but under the fluorescent light, they exuded a very moist luster, as if they were no different from his previous fingers.

"Even the finger strength is getting stronger... but because there are only 'four' fingers, the change in grip strength is limited..."

Jiatu tried it, and he was able to scratch a shallow scratch on the composite metal wall with just one index finger.

"If it's a rock wall, I can even smash it into pieces..."

Jiatu judged in his heart, forcibly suppressed his anxiety about the body mutation, and began to slaughter fluorescent mushrooms with a knife.

There aren't many remaining alienated mushrooms, so Jiatu just charged about 50% of the battery of the external horror, and he has already chopped down all the fluorescent mushrooms in the containment room.

"I don't know if they will grow new ones..."

After leaving the only single seedling for the fluorescent mushroom, Jiatu sighed.

If "Blue Enchantress" is dead, it will become very troublesome for him to charge Heiyin again.

The electricity bill in the shelter was too expensive, and once the electricity was fully charged, ten dry food sticks were needed. If it wasn't for the training school that could recharge the brain for free, he and Hena would not be able to use this kind of thing at all.

"Hello? Heiyin, are you still there?"

After restarting his outer armor, Jiatu put on the closed mask, trying to get some information about his "resurrection" from Heiyin.

As a result, the sound of beware resounded again, but he heard Hei Yin say in a rather unsurprised way:

【Have you come back alive yet? 】

"Hmm..." Jiatu nodded silently, realizing that the current situation was completely under the control of the other party: "What happened?"

[It is the ability of "For Alice"——]

【"Swallowing Mimicry"】

Heiyin replied simply and clearly:
[As the name suggests, it can imitate the object that has been swallowed by itself, making it reproduce completely. 】

[I let Xiaoguang eat your torn heart and broken palm, so that she has the ability to mimic your body. 】

"Can she still do this kind of thing?"

Jiatu couldn't help asking in surprise.

【Um. ] Heiyin confirmed to Jiatu:
[My sister was born with "motor neuron degeneration", which is also known as "gradual frostbite". If the prosthetic surgery is not performed, her life will be in danger. 】

[But the mechanized surgery that was popular at that time could only delay the disease, not cure it. 】

[So director Yin carried out the "To Alice" replacement surgery for my sister, which is still under development, replacing my sister's original body with an alienated body that removes self-consciousness. 】

"...Do you actually agree?"

Hearing this, Jiatu couldn't help asking:

"Aren't you afraid of the risk of surgical failure?"

As a result, Heiyin said:
【My sister doesn't want to be paralyzed in bed and become a disabled person, and I don't want to face the risk of her gradually shrinking brain and suffering from Alzheimer's disease (agnosia) after the operation. 】

Heiyin replied calmly, without much annoyance in his tone, as if he didn't regret his decision back then.

[After undergoing the alienation body replacement surgery, Xiaoguang can at least move freely within the scope of the research institute. As long as his physical condition does not deteriorate, he will not be locked up in the containment room. 】

"So her physical condition deteriorated?"

Jiatu thought about the situation in B208, and couldn't help confirming with Heiyin.

【Um……】

Heiyin was silent for two seconds: 【Two years after the operation, the organs of the alienated body in her body expanded for unknown reasons, and she had to be locked up in the containment room. 】

[But at our time, alienation was not something unforgivable. 】

Heiyin felt Jiatu's sympathetic silence, and added:
[It was the most cutting-edge "life technology" at that time, representing one of the evolutionary directions of human beings, so Director Yin and I transplanted "Fur Elise" into my sister with the awareness of pioneers. 】

"oh, I understand now."

Jiatu was in a complicated mood. He wanted to refute Heiyin's statement, but he realized that his own situation might be similar to that of Heiyin's sister.

If you don't save him, you will die, but if you save him, there is still a slight possibility of surviving. The palms and backs of your hands are full of flesh, so there are not many choices you can make.

"So, will I also be swallowed up by "Fur Elise" in the future?"

Jiatu thought for a while, and he already understood why Heiyin said this to himself.

[The probability is very high. 】

Heiyin calmly confirmed: [However, there is a way to slow down the speed at which you are swallowed by "For Alice". 】

"any solution?"

Jiatu was slightly taken aback, he didn't expect his condition to be cured.

[Intake of Moko. 】

Heiyin explained without hesitation: [This is the method Director Yin discovered in the later stage of my sister's illness. As long as I can ingest Moko regularly, I can limit the devouring speed of "Fur Alice". 】

[As long as you take in a sufficient amount of Moko on a regular basis, you can control the alienation body in your body within a certain range, so that it will not devour other tissues in your body. 】

"...how many years can it be controlled?"

Jiatu asked subconsciously.

【Ten years, even more...】

Hei Yin replied: 【The production of Moko in the research institute is limited, and most of them are still used for research, so only a small part can be supplied to my sister, but even so, it has suppressed the alienation body in her body for three years. Long. 】

[It's just that with the gradual growth of the alienated body, the demand for Moko in her body has also become greater and greater, and finally she had to give up the treatment and let her fall into a deep sleep. 】

"...Since that's the case, are you still so attached to her?"

Jiatu knew it was impolite, but he couldn't help asking.

【Xiao Guang is my sister after all. 】

As a result, Heiyin replied without hesitation: [In my opinion, she just changed her form of existence, but she is still my sister. 】

"... Should it be said that it is a consciousness uploader?"

Jiatu teased subconsciously.

In the end, Hei Yin choked back:
[In my opinion, fundamentalist human purists are unreasonable. 】

The two who hurt each other fell silent at the same time.

Regarding Heiyin's statement, Jiatu thought for a while, and still understood what was going on.

In his previous life, artificial intelligence has been applied on a large scale, replacing a large number of human jobs.

Anyone faced with such a situation will feel a strong sense of powerlessness.

Therefore, there are not a few scientific research organizations that turn to the pursuit of "humanity's own evolution".

Heiyin and the Lingzi Life Research Institute she agrees with should also be a scientific research organization of this nature.

In their time, facing the further evolution of "quantum artificial intelligence", extreme thoughts such as "mechanical ascension" should become mainstream.

Perhaps Jiatu, who "has the bottom line of humanity in mind", is a half-lying party who is an outlier in Heiyin's time.

Therefore, it is normal that the two humans are not from the same era and have different views.

And Heiyin obviously wanted to understand this, and took the initiative to say:

[By the way, I told you before that my situation may be similar to Xiaoguang, except that she will be swallowed as a "lack of magic", while I will be swallowed as a "supply magic". 】

[Therefore, if you don’t have anything important to do in the future, don’t activate me, so that I can help you at critical moments. 】

"oh, I understand now."

Hearing Heiyin's suggestion, Jiatu couldn't help nodding his head. It was the first time Heiyin had seen his condition, as well as the situation of the alienated body in the research institute. There was no time for reference, and no one could guarantee what would happen next. .

Therefore, keeping the black tone as a "backup" is a good thing anyway.

So Jiatu thought for a while, and said:
"I'll see if the other three external horror brains can be repaired, so you can rest in peace."

【OK. 】

Heiyin's voice paused for a moment, and then confirmed to Jiatu: [Also, since I have approved you, I plan to hand over my account authority to you, but you must promise me that you will not use my account. Give your account permission to do things that harm nature, violate the country, and harm mankind. 】

"Your account permissions?"

Jiatu was taken aback, he didn't know that Heiyin still had such a thing in his hand.

[Well, if you feel that you can't bear it, you can also choose to refuse. 】

Heiyin explained: [As long as you use this power, it will definitely limit you, just like we limit artificial intelligence and let them serve all mankind. 】

"But what if I take it and don't use it?"

Jiatu couldn't help but asked curiously.

【Then it won't do anything to you. 】

Heiyin explained: [It's like a soldier taking off his military uniform. When you don't use your authority, you can be relatively free. But this system has a monitoring mechanism. If you are found to have done something too harmful , will also have their authority revoked, and even be court-martialed—provided they still exist. 】

"I see, let me think about it."

Jiatu didn't directly agree, because he still can't think of the necessity of receiving the black voice permission besides being able to view the research institute's information more freely.

And there was still some time before Hei Yin disappeared, so it would not be too late for him to wait until then to make a decision.

　It's a little later to think about the next new plot.

　　PS1, a bug has been changed, the left hand has been changed to the right hand

　　
　
(End of this chapter)