Alien Relic Hunter

Just a casual glance would be enough, let alone Ke Lan staring at it deliberately.

"Ke Lan, what happened to you just now?" Thirty-three asked from the side.

"I accidentally... saw the dome." Ke Lan said.

"What?!" Thirty-three froze in place, "But...but you never raised your head?"

"Listen to me first. Lower your head and stare at the ground. No matter what I say, don't move your eyes. Do you understand?" Ke Lan said.

In the old era, there used to be a very famous little game in psychology and linguistics called "Don't think about the elephant." The host of the game would give players some verbal prompts, such as "Don't think about it." "An elephant". If the player subconsciously thinks of an elephant after hearing this sentence, then he loses.

But in fact, when many people stress that their brains should not imagine something, the thing often appears in their minds uncontrollably.

This is determined by human thinking patterns. Without special training, it is difficult for someone to truly "control" their thoughts.

The reason why Ke Lan asked Sansansan to stare at the ground first was because he was afraid that after he finished talking about rivets, Sansansan would subconsciously look at the rivets on his body... By the time he realized the problem, it would be too late.

"Understood." Thirty-three obeyed obediently.

"It's a rivet."

"Rivet?" Thirty-three immediately held his breath, "I...I know, you just..."

He habitually glanced at the rivets on his clothes, but fortunately Ke Lan had warned him in advance, so he resisted the urge.

"You just saw the dome...what did you see?"

"It's hard to describe... I saw the Big Bang, and the endless starry sky... I felt like a huge amount of information was pouring into my head, and it almost exploded." Ke Lan said.

"What about now? Has there been any... change in your body?" Thirty-three then asked, "For example, it has been transformed into a corpse..."

"It seems not." Ke Lan shook his head, "At least there is no visible mutation in the body... Oh, by the way, those hallucinations you just saw may also come from the dome reflected on the rivets... Although I I don’t know what you saw, but there’s a high probability that it’s what you saw that changed your perception unintentionally.”

"I haven't seen it...well, does it count as an accidental glance?"

"It doesn't matter. Fortunately, you only caught a glimpse. If you stared at it for a few seconds like I just did... there is a high probability that you won't be able to pull it back." Ke Lan said as he took out something from his backpack. With a spray can used for marking, I searched for those places on my equipment that might be reflective, and sprayed them all with black paint - this kind of paint is specially made and can absorb most of the light and is covered by the paint. The covered area is like a black hole. No matter which angle you look at it, it is completely black, without even that matte luster.

On the battlefield or in ruins, this kind of spray called "black hole paint" has completely opposite characteristics. It only needs to absorb a little light to release high-brightness fluorescence for a long time. It has a very wide range of applications. The purpose, whether it is spraying signs, or used for camouflage, making bait, it is very useful... except for the price, there are almost no disadvantages.

Of course, the price cannot be regarded as a shortcoming of the product, but can only be regarded as a shortcoming of those who cannot afford it.

Ke Lan sprayed a layer of "black hole paint" on all the equipment on his body, and then threw the spray can to Thirty-three: "Use this thing to cover the reflection first... In addition, this matter can be considered as mentioned to me. Wake up, later we must pay attention to all things that may produce reflections, such as mirrors, polished metal objects or even a puddle of water on the ground...the images reflected by these things are much clearer than frosted rivets. If there are more, the impact on us will definitely be stronger.”

"It seems that the safest place on this floor is the forest in front of us." Thirty-three said with a wry smile while spray painting, "After all, the dome here is covered by the tree canopy, even if the ground is covered with mirrors , and we can’t see anything.”

"It's better to be careful." Ke Lan exhaled a breath and rubbed his temples, which were still aching and swelling. "Who knows whether the canopy will suddenly separate and catch us off guard?"

…

The two of them made some adjustments, and after making sure that there were no places on their bodies that would produce reflective images, they once again entered the jungle hunting ground.

Although the route they took was exactly the same as the last time they came in, this time, the jungle was obviously a lot more "lively".

"On the tree trunk at three o'clock, there is a large beetle that looks like a dung beetle. It is visually capable of flying. There are some sparsely divided purple-brown tiny spikes on the carapace, which should contain toxins... There are ten more At one o'clock, hanging on a tree branch three meters above the ground, was a snake with an oval head... But I'm not sure whether the head shape of snake mutants can determine whether they are venomous... By the way, do you want to take action to eliminate these creatures?" Thirty-three asked.

"If they don't come to attack us, there is no need to actively provoke them." Ke Lan responded, "The levels of these creatures are not high. They are basically Alpha-level and Beta-level mutants. Their combat effectiveness is very weak... It is probably because After we killed that monster, they all poured into this new borderless land."

"I think so too." Thirty-three nodded, "When we came in for the first time just now, everything we could see was plants and not a single animal was seen."

"It seems that the crocodile-like monster should be regarded as the most powerful character in the jungle hunting ground, and its territory is really large enough." Ke Lan said, "But what I didn't expect is that the jungle There are actually so many weak creatures in the hunting ground. I originally thought that only the strong enough species could survive, and the weak species would soon be devoured."

"That's not necessarily the case, you know cockroaches, commonly known as the invincible little strong--" Thirty-three said, "It is said that they existed when the dominant creatures on the earth were still dinosaurs, and the creatures that ruled the earth changed. Another crop, but cockroaches have never been extinct from unknown prehistoric years to the end of the earth. Even after being brought to Alpha Planet by the Ark, they have multiplied and prospered on this planet again... Individually weak , does not mean that the ethnic group cannot continue..."

Ke Lan didn't speak, he just turned his head, held up the flashlight in his hand, shined it on Thirty-three's face, and stared at him silently.

Thirty-three raised his palms to block the direct light from his eyes, and asked at the same time: "What's wrong? Are there bugs on my face?"

"No, I'm just a little strange. You... wouldn't have said such things before." Ke Lan whispered.

"Such words? What kind of words?" Thirty-three thought about it for a moment, and his face suddenly changed, "I thought it was nothing at first, but after you said that, I suddenly feel a little scared... Those words just now were indeed mine. That’s right, but you’re right, according to my character and thoughts, it’s impossible for me to say such things.”

Thirty-three paused for a moment, and then slowly said: "It's just...as if there was a consciousness that borrowed my mouth to say these words."

Ke Lan did not answer, but continued to stare at Thirty-Three, observing the changes in his expression.

"Could it be a side effect of what happened just now?" Thirty-three said worriedly, "Not only was my cognition affected...my thinking was also...taken away by some unknown existence. Already?"

"Probably not." Ke Lan shook his head, "Do you still remember...what 'Nieto' in the upper city told us before?"

"What did you say?" Thirty-three showed a trace of doubt on his face, "What she told you should be different from what she told me, right?"

"It tells me that what is on the dome is the truth of the universe." Ke Lan said, "That's why when I see the reflection on the rivets, I have images of the Big Bang and the endless sea of ​​stars in my mind... …And what you see might be something else.”

"But I really can't remember what I saw... If I still remembered, my head would have exploded by now, right?" Thirty-three subconsciously raised his hand to touch the back of his head, but it was okay not to touch it. His whole face changed when he touched it, "Ke... Ke Lan... there seems to be something growing on the back of my head. It... is a bulge... under the skin. It's moving."

Ke Lan felt his scalp explode and quickly walked around behind Thirty-Three.

Unlike many veterans who like to cut their hair short after retiring, Sansan San's hair is a little long and tied into a short ponytail at the bottom of the back of his head... Previously, Ke Lan thought this was just Sansan San's personal hobby, but Not long ago, Thirty-Three told him that this hairstyle was in memory of Second Lieutenant Tina Lawrence, who had died long ago.

Ke Lan took a deep breath, took out a pocket knife, opened the blade, cut Sansan San's hair tie, and then carefully parted his hair with the tip of the knife.

Under the back of his head, there was a bulging, round sarcoma, about the size of a table tennis ball. The membrane on the surface of the sarcoma was very thin. Under the light of a flashlight, Ke Lan could completely see what was inside the sarcoma. Got it crystal clear.

"An eyeball." Ke Lan said, "An eyeball that is completely covered by the membrane and has not yet opened. I have seen similar symptoms many times in memetic infection incidents. Those who were infected by memes Or animals, they will also develop large and small eyeballs. The initial stage of eyeballs is exactly the same as the thing on the back of your head."

"Then I was also infected by... memes?" Thirty-three's voice seemed a little dry.

"I don't know. Mere resemblance is not enough as a basis for judgment." Ke Lan tried his best to keep his voice as calm as possible, "Moreover, in that meme infection incident, the meme itself has been completely destroyed by me. Even if it infects you, It's a 'meme', and it's a new 'meme' not the original one."

"Could it be that the 'erosion degree' of my body has begun to approach the critical point?" Thirty-three thought of another possibility, "Just like Mo Jue... it won't take long for me to change." Have you become that kind of monster?"

"I don't know." Ke Lan still answered the same, "The symptoms of cadaverization vary from person to person..."

"You don't need to comfort me, really." Thirty-three sighed, with a wry smile on his face, "Actually, I have already made up my mind when I come out this time... I know that it will be difficult for me to survive. I feel like it’s a miracle to be back on the Ark and to be able to get here.”

"I'm not comforting you, I'm just stating the facts."

"I know my own situation. You told me all those things. Before Hruni and the others turned into corpses, didn't they also mutate their bodies, hear all kinds of strange whispers, and see all kinds of strange sights... My current situation is all right...I think there won't be much time left for me, right?" Thirty-three said in a low voice.

"..." Ke Lan didn't say anything. Thirty-three's analysis was indeed correct. His various symptoms were indeed consistent with the erosion level approaching the critical point.

"Can you help me cut off that thing?" Thirty-three suddenly asked, "Even if I die, I will still look like a normal person."

"This neoplastic eyeball has a large number of blood vessels, which are directly connected to your brain. If it is removed directly, uncontrollable massive bleeding will occur, and there is a more than 90% chance that you will die directly."

"Cut it." Thirty-three said without hesitation.

"What if there is a treatment?" Ke Lan let down Sansan San's hair, "Hruni persisted for so long before the erosion reached the critical point. Maybe you can persist longer than him. My intuition Tell me, the solution to the decay of corpses should be hidden in this hive... If it's not in the hive, then it must be in the 'Tower of Babel'."

"...Aren't you trying to comfort me?"

"No, my intuition...has always been accurate."

[P.S. Sorry for the late update today. My teeth have been hurting so much that I am a little distracted... Also, I want to ask, are there any readers who know dentistry? I have a back molar. There was a hole in it due to dental caries about ten years ago. I must have had root canal treatment (I can’t remember exactly), and then the hole was sealed with a filling... The result was the same. The outer filling fell off after more than a year, and because the tooth no longer hurt, I left it alone. I haven’t had any pain in more than ten years. It turns out that just over a month ago, the thing that was originally used to fill the root canal was pulled out while I was brushing my teeth. Recently, the tooth has been starting to hurt again. This is because dirt has entered the root canal, causing infection and inflammation. Yet? 】