Alien Relic Hunter

"According to your statement, these monsters were created by the guy named Zeus, so the core area must be more dangerous, right?" Soap said, "The number and intensity of monsters must also far exceed that of the sparsely populated edges of the West Twelve District. Zone, can we enter?"

"There are many secret passages on the Ark. The history of these passages is hundreds of years old. The people who built these passages have died long ago, and these passages have not left any data in the archives." The clown looked straight ahead, It seemed like he was answering Soap's question, but also like he was talking to himself.

"Since the people who built these passages are dead and have left no records, how do you know that these passages exist?" Soap glanced at the clown in confusion and asked.

There are many forgotten secret passages on the Ark. He has indeed heard this statement, more than once.

There are many versions of this kind of story circulating among the people, each one more outrageous than the last, and they have even developed into a collection of stories similar to "urban legends".

One of the more famous and widely circulated stories is a story called "The Lost Maze". The general content is that there is a secret maze inside the structure of the Ark with a total space that is so large that it is unimaginable. This maze is composed of countless or New or old passages are connected in series, and with the daily operation of the Ark, the position and combination of these passages will continue to change... In other words, this underground maze has always been in an "unstable" state. Its changing patterns are also strange and unpredictable, making it difficult for people to figure out... Anyone who enters the maze by mistake will eventually die of exhaustion or starvation in it.

This is just the initial version. As the story spreads, various elements of strange powers and chaos were added to it - at first it was more sci-fi, for example, there were some monsters in the passages, such as radiation and industrial wastewater. Big rats that mutated after pollution, biochemical weapons that escaped from the laboratory, etc... Later, it simply turned into fantasy stories, ghosts bound by resentment, zombies hungry for flesh and blood... Even the Germans of the old era Count Gula even made a cameo appearance in the story.

Although Soap knew in his heart that 99% of the content of this kind of story was fiction, if he was really allowed to run into this underground maze, he would still be quite resistant in his heart.

"The locations and changing patterns of these passages are all archived in the black well." said the clown. "Millions of robots use hundreds of years of observation and statistics, and then use the huge computing power of the core master brain to calculate , the entire Ark has no secrets for us.”

"Black Well? What is Black Well?" Soap asked again, "Also, when you say 'we', do you mean the three of us, or you... and the guy who calls himself 'Zeus'?"

The clown did not answer the question. Even so, Soap had already guessed the answer in his heart and continued: "Since Zeus also knows these secret passages, he can completely set up defenses in the passages... We will just fall into a trap when we go in. "

"If you think so, you are totally wrong." Noir suddenly interjected, "The biggest feature of these channels is the high frequency of movement changes. It is almost impossible to deploy defenses in the channels - Because it only takes a few changes, and the originally airtight defensive line will be torn to pieces, with gaps everywhere, unless the opponent can fill every secret passage... But that is obviously impossible. ."

"Okay... Let's take a step back. Even if these secret passages are really a perfect penetration route, how are we going to get in?" Soap stretched out a finger and knocked on his forehead a few times. "The clown also said that those passages are recorded in that 'black well', and to figure out their transformation rules, we need to use the core mastermind of Ark... With the brains of the three of us, even if we squeeze our brains dry , it can’t compare to one billionth of the computing power of the core mastermind, right?”

Hearing what Soap said, Noir also fell into silence - although Soap's statement was very negative, the reality was indeed true: since these passages cannot be fortified by the enemy, it is naturally difficult for them to use them. This is the same for both parties.

Even if the clowns are lucky enough to find the entrance to the passage, it will be difficult for them to reach the core area after entering - West District 11 is located on the edge of the Ark. From here to the core area, even if you take the shortest straight line, you need to cross half of the Ark.

If they had to walk in a maze, Soap and Noir simply couldn't imagine how far they would have to walk.

The farther the distance, the more times the maze will change, and the probability of getting lost will increase exponentially... It is almost impossible to get out of it.

Unless they can get a high-power real-time positioning device to figure out their position, moving direction and speed, as well as the changes in the surrounding channels, then this plan is still feasible... But let's not talk about it for now. Is it possible to obtain a device that is powerful enough to penetrate the structure of the Ark and accurately locate people in the maze? If so, then this device will be 100% detected by the enemy.

At that time, people don't even need to send their men into the maze. They only need to track their positioning signals and wait at the exit of the maze.

No matter what Soap thinks, he thinks this is a dead end.

"If it is necessary to calculate the changing pattern of the secret channel in real time, then only the core master brain can do it on the Ark." The clown said, "But if I let the core master brain calculate the changing pattern of the channel in a certain period of time in advance, and If you write it down, no computing power is needed.”

"Is this okay?" Soap was stunned for a moment, "You don't want to be a part-time fortune teller, right? You've already predicted that we would walk through this maze today?"

Soap's words were mostly meant to be ridiculing, but Noir looked at the clown like a monster - even though the clown's previous abilities were enough to deserve the title of "monster".

But this time, Noir was shocked.

The three words "write it down" sound simple to say, but if you think about it carefully, you will see how huge and complicated the data is! Even if you use those top-end personal computers to read this data, there will be a period of lag, let alone using the human brain to write it down...

"Did you really...memorize it?" Noir's voice was a little dry. Although he felt that this was impossible, even a monster could not have such a terrifying memory, but he could not hear it from the clown's tone. No joke meant.

"Six minutes and seventeen seconds later, turn right at the intersection ahead. Under the third abandoned manhole cover on the left, channel W11SG967 will be disconnected from channel W11HJ112. We only need to cut through the shaft wall and we will see two The gap that appears in the middle of the disconnected passage. Remember, when the time comes, jump into the passage on the left hand side, it will take us to the next destination. As for the passage on the right hand side, just like if you jump in, You might never come out."

"Wait a minute, please speak a little slower, I haven't memorized everything yet!" Soap said anxiously.

But the clown was already moving and walking quickly towards the intersection ahead.

"Hurry up!" Noir glanced at Soap, who was still stunned, and urged, "There are less than six minutes left. If we miss this opportunity, I'm afraid we will never have such a good opportunity again!"

"I know!" Soap gritted his teeth and quickly followed, cursing in a low voice, "What the hell... what a good opportunity, it's obviously a chance to die! Even if we can get through the maze, so what? "

"Staying here is just waiting for death. It's better to give it a try." Noir said as he ran, "You should have retired from the field army, right? When you were serving, you never thought about what would happen if you were in the battle. Is the sacrifice worth it?"

"I was young at that time and wouldn't think about it at all... Once I was fooled by the commander, my head would be full of passion and I wouldn't think about the meaning of fighting..." Soap recalled, "They are all a bunch of stupid boys. Carrying a machine gun and cursing at the same time, if you die, you will die, and you are lucky to be alive...Those who were seriously injured but did not die, those are the unluckiest guys."

"But later I realized that my own life is the most important. If you fight to the death or live for others, they won't even remember your name." Soap smiled bitterly, "Those fools who died on the battlefield will only be counted in the battle losses in the end. It’s just a string of numbers.”

"Then there is nothing you want to protect? Is there no one you care about?" Noir asked again.

"Guardian? Have you watched too much Japanese anime?" Soap tugged at the corner of his mouth, "As for the people I care about... I am alone, my parents passed away early, my brothers and sisters have long lost contact, and I have no wife or children. , we are just a group of fair-weather friends on weekdays... Who can I care about? No one cares about me, so why should I care about others? "

"You guy...really...can't get enough of it." Noir sighed, "Then why did you follow me here?"

"Isn't this simple? Because no matter what you choose, you will die!" Soap replied, "If there was a way to survive, I would have run away long ago."

The brief conversation between the two ended quickly. The clown who walked to the front had stopped. Two meters directly in front of him was the "abandoned manhole cover."

The engravings on the surface of this manhole cover have been filled and polished, and the edges have all been welded. From a distance, they have blended into the road surface and cannot be found unless you get close. In those urban legends, manhole covers like this , is often one of the entrances to the hidden maze.

It seems that the stories are not all fictional - "art comes from life", this sentence is still very reasonable.

Just when Soap was still thinking about how to pry open the welded manhole cover, two tentacles shot out from under the cloak of the clown - Soap and Noir didn't even see clearly what these two tentacles were doing. Something happened, and the manhole cover flew up and fell to the side with a "bang".

Soap subconsciously looked at the manhole cover that had been "collapsed". The round alloy cover had been severely deformed, like the kind of chocolate made in the shape of a gold coin that had been covered in a hot trouser pocket for a long time, and then was forced by the hand. It's the same as pinching... Soap couldn't help but think for a moment, if this power were exerted on himself...

Well, then you shouldn't feel any pain when you die, right? After all, it only takes a moment.

The two tentacles had retracted into the clown's body. At this time, he looked no different from a normal human being, but Noir and Soap unconsciously kept a distance from him.

Because it is an abandoned manhole, there is no filth or garbage inside. There is only a shallow layer of water and some unknown species of moss clinging to the walls of the well.

"Don't grab the escalator. It's completely rusted. Just jump off." After the clown said that, he jumped deep. With a sound of water splashing and a "dong" sound, he had already fallen into the horizontal direction. in the shaft.

Noir walked closer and used a tactical flashlight to look inside - the shaft was not very deep, only about three or four meters, but the air quality in the shaft was very bad, with a strong smell of rust and moss. The unique smell was nothing. The key was that the oxygen level was so low that Noir had to find a breathing mask and put it on before jumping into the shaft.

The third one who jumped in was Soap. His luck was not good. His feet happened to step on the slippery moss. He suddenly lost his balance and slipped. Fortunately, Noir had quick eyesight and quick hands. He grabbed the strap on Soap's chest and managed to pull it off. Save him from the "wet body" experience.

"This place smells really weird." Soap turned the valve on the breathing mask and complained in a muffled voice, "It's not that it's smelly, it's just that kind of turbid air that has been stuffed for hundreds of years, mixed with this pool of stagnant water. The smell is indescribably unpleasant...but this filter box can't filter out the smell."

"There are still four minutes and thirty seconds left." Noir glanced at his watch and asked the clown, "Open the well wall...Which wall of the well are we going to open?"

He deliberately lowered his voice, but it still created a rumbling echo in the shaft - if there were really any "aboriginal people" in the shaft, they might have heard the movement hundreds of meters away.

"Don't make a sound." The clown raised a finger and put it to his lips.

Soap felt that all the hairs on his body were standing on end - what did you mean by not making a sound? Do the monsters living in the maze in legends really exist? Are you keeping silent to prevent them from discovering you?

But soon, he discovered that he was wrong.

The clown walked to the side of the shaft, completely ignoring the wet moss on it, and directly pressed his face against it, listening silently.

Noir looked at it for a few seconds, followed the clown's example, found a place without moss, and put his cheek against it.

He could hear an extremely slight vibration outside the shaft, constantly coming from far to near...