Alien Relic Hunter

"Life response? Are you sure?" Hound and the others immediately became nervous.

"The biological detector of the Blasphemer mecha has responded...but I can't be sure whether there is a malfunction in the equipment." Valentina said so, but the weapon held by the machine had its safety turned on, and the barrels of both barrels were open. All the blue charging indicators on the side lit up. As long as she thought about it, a high-power beam could directly penetrate the building with life reaction.

"The feedback from the detector is very vague... I only know that the size of the life forms in the building is not small, but the specific number, shape and other information cannot be detected..." Valentina added.

"Perhaps it is some kind of undersea creature that uses that building as a lair?" The hound leaned out half of the body from behind the Blasphemer mecha and carefully looked at the building that Valentina was targeting - this is a The cylindrical building, if you insist on saying what it looks like, is a bit like a shortened and thickened version of those large chimneys that can be seen everywhere in the Ark Industrial Zone.

"It's strange, the appearance of this building is not damaged... It should be intact, it shouldn't be..." Ghost Owl muttered.

"Cortana, what did you see on the biological detector?" the hound asked again.

"It is a large fuzzy shadow with irregular and unclear edges... If this is a single creature, based on the ratio between the shadow and the building, the height of the body may be more than 20 meters." Valentina replied.

"It's a big guy..." Chi Hanfeng nodded, then patted the leg armor of the Blasphemer, "Don't use laser weapons underwater. The power will be greatly weakened by the sea water. Moreover, the energy of the laser beam is After seawater is absorbed, it will heat the seawater to a terrifying level, and our deep diving suits may not be able to withstand that temperature."

"Yes... Major!" Valentina was stunned, and immediately put away the cluster laser cannon and drew out the heavy armor-piercing sword that came with the Blasphemer mecha.

It's just that she didn't activate the energy blade of the heavy armor-piercing sword, but used it completely as a blunt instrument - of course, with Valentina's operating skills, she could completely use it when the armor-piercing sword came into contact. The energy blade is activated at the target's moment, which can not only save energy, but also maximize the original power of the heavy armor-piercing sword.

"To be honest, I think... it's not necessarily a big guy." Hound shook his head, "Didn't you hear what Xiaona said? It was a large, fuzzy shadow with irregular and unclear edges... If this If you see this on your CT image, it’s not good news...it means there is a tumor in your body, and most likely it will be malignant."

"Tumor...malignant...cancer...you mean what the Blasphemer mecha detected was a huge tumor?" Chi Hanfeng was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion.

"No, what I mean is that what the blasphemer 'sees' may only be some tissues with signs of life, not necessarily a single living individual... such as an entire living insect nest, such as blood-thirsty bacteria Blanket... You cannot define this type of life form in single or plural terms. It may be a complex ecosystem composed of countless tiny organisms, or it may be some kind of 'living', 'but cannot be Items called biological individuals... But then again, you said that there is a tumor inside, which is not impossible. But a tumor that has been taken out of the body is losing the nutritional supply of the host. Do you think it’s normal to be able to survive for so long after that?”

"Should we go in and take a look? Or let the mecha split the building apart?" Ghost Owl tightened his grip on the gun in his hand. This is a special underwater pistol with a six-barreled magazine-free structure. Each barrel has a flechette with a hollow interior. Ark's underwater troops usually fill the hollow part of the flechette with high-explosive bombs, but the Hounds' flechettes are filled with concentrated Crystal energy bomb.

Just the gun in Ghost Owl's hand and the "resonance" of the crystal energy bomb caused by the six arrow-shaped bullets fired together were enough to blow up this chimney-shaped building.

"Don't alert the snake yet. If there is really a living insect nest inside, and you split the nest open, the millions of insects inside will not eat you up..." The hound glanced at the ghost owl, "Don't you think so?" Hasn’t our hunting group encountered this kind of thing before?”

"Uh, no." Ghost Owl shook his head, "In other words, during this trip, most of the things we encountered were things I have never encountered before... It is difficult for those experiences of mine to be put to any use. .As for the living insect nest you are talking about, I have never heard of such a thing."

"But... dealing with living insect nests is usually done by the army. Have you ever been a soldier?" Hound asked.

"After graduating from compulsory education, I had five years of service experience...two years in reserve service, and the remaining three years in the garrison...basically no combat missions." Ghost Owl said with some embarrassment.

After New Era 937, the military service system on the Ark became non-compulsory. Only young people who have completed the entire compulsory education period in free educational institutions will be required to serve in the military. In addition, fresh graduates who are not physically qualified, are registered as relic hunters, and have already reserved a job while still in school are exempt from military service. Among the remaining teenagers entering the military camp, they are also divided into two types. One is the "reserves", who only receive the most basic military training, only have temporary military status and no military rank. They are not usually issued weapons and equipment, but they also participate in the work of military industrial enterprises. It is a bit like "half soldier, half worker". It is very similar to the military camps in the ancient Chinese farming system, except that they have changed from farming to working... This kind of "Reserves" generally only need to be completed for five years. In the last one or two years, they will be assigned to some less important units to experience real military life, and then they will retire directly.

When war breaks out and troops are urgently needed, these retired reservists are the first candidates to supplement the troops.

As for the other type, "regular service", they directly receive the most comprehensive and detailed military education and training, are fully armed, have their own military membership numbers and ranks, and will be assigned to various branches according to their grades and personal preferences after coming out of the recruit camp. Combat troops, unless they are disabled or have special reasons, must serve until they are thirty-five years old before they can retire.

"Regular service members" can receive a one-time retirement compensation after retirement. In addition, the minimum living material guarantee for regular service members is three times that of civilians and reserve forces. In addition, some social benefits and priority recruitment qualifications for military cooperative enterprises, this is basically The above is all the benefits that a retired veteran can enjoy.

(P.S. I had a similar setting before I started the book, but I never had the chance to write it in, so I’ll just add it here. At the beginning, Hound once questioned Asano Akira’s “retired soldier” because of his age. "The status is because "reservists" do not have the benefits of retired soldiers after retiring, so they are generally not considered "retired soldiers.")

"Oh, reserve force...it's still a reserve force of the garrison. I don't know if that's normal." Hound curled his lips. He had never looked down upon officers and soldiers who came from the garrison. However, Ghost Owl, a former reserve, even served as a member of the garrison. He wasn't even a regular soldier, so he didn't bother to complain. "Lao Chi, your mecha troops should often deal with living insect nests. Tell me how you do it."

"Okay. The living insect nest is actually a special 'biological phenomenon', and it does not really refer to the nest of some kind of insect creature." Chi Hanfeng said, "Ghost Owl, you should know the 'prehistoric species' insect queen, right? "

"Queen of Worms? Is that the prehistoric species that floats in the low-Earth orbit of Star Alpha and launches meteorites to the ground from time to time? Apart from 'Kaz', there are only 'prehistoric species' that are still alive in the low-Earth orbit. There is a Queen." Ghost Owl nodded, "I heard that once our hunting group's exploration mission was canceled because a meteorite launched by the Queen hit a traffic transfer point, and the entire affected area was blocked by the army. ”

"Have you never thought about why a prehistoric species that shoots meteorites is called the Queen of Insects? If it was just a meteorite, why would the army go to war and seal off the entire area..." Chi Hanfeng showed a helpless smile. .

"The Insect Queen...could it be that what this Insect Queen launched onto the surface was not a meteorite, but the living insect nest you are talking about?"

"You have some brains." The hound nodded, "Those living insect nests are actually the excrement of the queen, or something similar to the placenta... Every once in a while, the reproductive organs in the queen's body will excrete a The living insect nest is launched to the ground. Although this living insect nest has left the mother body, it is still active. After landing, it will drill into the ground, absorb all the nutrients that can be extracted, and hatch out the eggs wrapped in it... These insects We call it the descendant of the insect queen. It is not a big threat in itself, but it can secrete strong acid and likes to gnaw metal. Therefore, most of the living insect nests are located on the Ark or at those large military bases. As for the Alpha civilization, The ruins, for some reason, have never been targeted by living insect nests.”

"The vast majority of living insect nests will be destroyed by the fleet's artillery fire before they break through the atmosphere. Only less than one tenth of the fish that slip through the net will fall to the ground. At this time, people like us are needed to clean up. ." Chi Hanfeng continued, "The living insect nest will burrow into the ground after it lands. We tried to blow it up with ground-penetrating bombs at first. The insect nest was indeed blown to pieces, but it was like blowing up a cesspit with firecrackers. Likewise, the eggs inside were splashing everywhere, and the furthest ones even appeared thirty kilometers away, eventually leading to the destruction of six transfer stations and a small military base... Later, after many improvements, we invented a method. : After discovering the living insect nest, drill a hole in the insect nest and pour the seawater from Zhonghai directly into it... The seawater from Zhonghai is fatal to humans, and it is the same for living insect nests. One insect nest only needs to be filled with ten Five to twenty tons of seawater can complete the killing."

"Then... then the things in this building can be ruled out as living insect nests, right?" Valentina interjected, "This is all sea water... Isn't that thing most afraid of sea water?"

"Who knows whether a living insect nest will mutate? Its mother body is a prehistoric species that can survive in space." Hound said, "If there is really a living insect nest inside, if you cut it with a knife, the insects will be sprayed out. The heirs will eat you to the point of leaving no bones in an instant..."

After imagining that scene, Ghost Owl couldn't help but shudder.

"Check the outside of the building first? There shouldn't be a high chance that it's a living insect nest." Chi Hanfeng suggested.

"Yeah, but you still have to be careful... To be honest, I hate dealing with living creatures, whether in ruins or in the wilderness." The hound muttered with a flat mouth.

The Blasphemer mecha was responsible for alerting the movement inside the building and the surrounding streets, while the four hounds walked around the building and finally climbed to the top of the building.

At the top of this "big chimney", there is a circular air-tight door. The rusty valve is covered with seaweed. But what surprised the four people is... although this air-tight door is intact, But there is no locking device.

In other words, as long as they turn the rusty valve, they can open it directly...

Hound and Chi Hanfeng looked at each other, and the latter shook his head and said, "I think...it's better not to open it."

"But if you don't open it, you'll never know what's inside..." Hound frowned, "Otherwise, let Xiaona drive the mecha over, with the muzzle facing the air-tight door. If you open it, you'll find that it's really If it's something bad, let's just close the door, and if we don't have time to close it, we'll give him a fucking shot, what do you think?"

"The risk is very high... but you can give it a try." Chi Hanfeng said after hesitating for a few seconds, "After all, along the way, this is the first intact building that has been found to have life reactions inside. Just this A little, and it’s worth the risk.”

"Zoligetu, help me." The hound swam over and grabbed one side of the ring-shaped valve, while Zhuoligetu grabbed the other side.

The hound first tried to turn it slightly. The direction of rotation of the valve is the same as that of the soda bottle cap on the Ark. Counterclockwise is to loosen and clockwise is to tighten... The most important thing is that the mechanical structure of the valve is not the same. There is no rust, and it feels very smooth when turning. The hound does not even dare to use too much force for fear of accidentally turning his head and opening the door.

"Everything is ready, about to open..." The hound gave Zhuoligetu a look, and then the two of them used force at the same time to turn the valve counterclockwise.

"Crunch... crunch..."

After four turns, the resistance of the mechanical structure had completely disappeared. The hound took a deep breath and tried to lift the valve half an inch.

There was no obstruction. There was a slight gap at the edge of the entire airtight door, and no air bubbles came out of the door.

This shows that the other side of the airtight door has also been filled with sea water.

"Hell, this building is obviously in good condition, and there is no damage anywhere... How could it be filled with water?"

Zhuoligetu raised his flashlight and shined it into the door.

"Did you see anything?" Chi Hanfeng asked anxiously, his voice kept low for fear of waking up something inside the door.

"It's empty... it's a compartment... it's not connected..." Zhuoligetu raised his head and said to the others, "There is a drainage cabin above. The life form detected by the blasphemer should be Still on the next level.”