Zhou Lin

The most important question for Solid was naturally "whether Rodrigo can interpret the murals here."

Because this is the key to everything, at least it is a stepping stone...

Whether it is the various anomalies that have occurred in these days or their method of escaping here, the answer is obviously hidden in this strange space, and these murals are the only information they can obtain so far.

Rodrigo lives up to his expectations, he does understand...a little bit.

As an expert on ancient South American civilizations, Rodrigo must have been involved in Mayan and Olmec writings, but what this ruins contains may be greater than all ancient civilizations currently known to mankind. Ancient and developed; fortunately, the Mayans seemed to have discovered the tip of the iceberg of this civilization earlier than modern people, so there are some traces of imitation and reference in their writing.

The professor's interpretation of these murals is basically based on this relationship... Just like a person who studies Japanese, he can more or less guess some Chinese meanings, but it may not be accurate.

According to the professor, the room they are in now functions like a "museum" or "archives room". There are two types of things recorded on the murals. One is the historical experience of the civilization in the past, and the other is scientific and technological knowledge.

As for the "knowledge" part, the professor could hardly understand it at all. Presumably the Mayans at that time could not understand these profound knowledge, so this part of the content left very few traces in their texts; and about "history" In part, the professor could understand a little bit. Combining the context and adding a few guesses, he read some very shocking content. If these contents are true, it is likely to have a huge impact on modern archaeology. impact.

Of course, these things are fine no matter what. What Solid cares about now is whether they are still alive... If the three of them die here, it will be useless no matter how much they know.

After being reminded by him, the professor restrained his "desire to lecture" and brought the topic back to "mudra symbols."

Those handprint symbols had words similar to "Transmission Mark" on each side, but Solid couldn't understand it. The professor didn't understand every word, but there was one word he was sure of, and this word appeared. Many times - "center".

This word can also mean "source", "important", "hub", etc.; in short, in the five rooms that the professor and Soldier 2 visited before, there are all rooms marked with the word "center" Mudra symbols, and this current one is no exception.

This... is the only clue they have now.

The professor said that he originally planned to ignore these symbols and teleport randomly, because in his opinion, the space in this ruins must be limited, so he wanted to explore as many rooms as possible.

But after hearing about Solid's experience... he changed his mind.

Maybe the concepts of time and space in this ruins are different from the outside world. Maybe these "teleportations" take longer than they perceive. Anyway, no matter what the truth is, it is definitely not a good idea to continue wandering around.

The three of them discussed it and quickly decided to only use the handprint symbol marked "center" for transmission; if nothing else happened, after a few times, they should be transmitted to a specific and important place. location, and then... they act on their own initiative again.

As a result, things developed exactly as they expected.

After that, they experienced another twenty-nine teleportations. After the twenty-ninth time... they came to a corridor.

This is a straight corridor with no end as far as the eye can see. There are no murals, text, or handprint symbols on both sides of the corridor. Instead, there are two light tracks paved with green light.

It was obvious that this place was different from the rooms they had been to before.

The three of them exchanged glances, cheered up, and moved on.

By this time, Solid's calmness and fighting spirit had returned. Although the future was still uncertain, the encounter with two living people and the progress in the situation had given him renewed hope.

…………

They walked along this corridor for a long time. Because the surrounding black metal walls and cyan light were the same, and they did not feel tired at all in this space, it was difficult to judge how far they had gone.

Fortunately, before their patience wore off, the end of the corridor appeared...

There, there was a wall, a black metal wall that was no different from the surrounding ones; on that wall, there was only one handprint symbol.

"It seems we have no choice." Solid looked back at the two people following him, and then pressed his hand on the symbol.

The bright light came on again and disappeared.

This time, the three of them were teleported to a very open place.

This is a huge space comparable to a football field, with a flat ground and a semicircular dome. The cyan light tracks on the floor depict scenes of mountains and rivers, and the dome is dotted with stars. In addition, there is a very conspicuous luminous figure on both sides of the dome, which seems to represent the sun and the moon respectively.

In the center of this space, stands a huge statue of a human head that is more than 20 feet high. It is not accurate to say it is a "human head" because the face of this statue looks somewhat different from that of modern humans: its brow bones and nose bridge are both different. It is more prominent and forward, but the curvature from top to bottom is vertical and gentle; its eye sockets are very flat, and the eyes are almost in the inside of the face, but the size and proportion of the eyeballs are normal; there is no philtrum under the nose, and the chin The mouth and mouth are nothing special; the ears are a little strange, growing slightly higher than ordinary human ears, and their shape is longer.

It can be seen from a long distance that the statue's mouth is open, and its mouth... also contains a luminous object.

Solid and the three of them approached cautiously. When they got closer, they discovered that the thing was a cyan crystal slightly larger than a rugby ball with an irregular shape. The light it emitted was consistent with the green light that could be seen everywhere in the ruins. But it looks deeper and more intense.

"Do you think the same as me?" Solid said after standing in front of the statue for a few seconds and looking at it.

"Ah... it seems that these eight achievements are the energy core of the entire ruins." Rodrigo continued.

"Haha..." Solid smiled bitterly, "I'm not interested in the function of this thing. I mean, you should have guessed it, right? The thing the Federation sent us to dig up this time... is it."

"Well..." Rodrigo's voice suddenly became cold, "...I knew it from the beginning."

Compared with the content of this sentence, the tone when he said this sentence made Solid even more surprised.

"Oh?" Solid's voice also turned cold. Years of fighting instincts have made him smell the smell of danger, and the blood in his whole body is rushing at high speed. "I didn't notice this."

"Of course you can't tell..." Rodrigo said, turning to look at Solid, "You are just a soldier, a tool placed at the terminal..." He paused, "Tool No matter how good it is, it is just a tool, and the user will not let the tool know too much... because the tool does not require thinking, all you have to do is obey, forget, and eventually... be forgotten."

When the professor was saying this, Solid noticed that Soldier No. 2 had quietly walked between him and the professor, and faced... him with a posture ready for battle.

"It seems... I'm not the only one who is good at keeping secrets." Solid said solemnly, "Professor, you are also a secretive person."

"Huh... keep it a secret? What other secrets can you have?" Rodrigo raised his head slightly and responded in an almost contemptuous tone, "You think the 'visual barrier' thing, if you don't tell me... I won't find out. Yet?"

When Solid heard this, he was shocked again. It turned out that... Rodrigo already knew about the phenomenon of "eagles disappearing in the sky" that he had previously observed.

"You don't have to show that expression, whether you discovered it or not... we have discovered it." Rodrigo said, "Although we only cooperated with the girl Jimenez brought so that our identity would not be exposed, we It is indeed what she said... carrying a bunch of equipment and trying to get out of this area to ask for help." He showed a slightly helpless expression, "I can tell you, in the past twenty days, we have discovered a lot of things. It’s far more than interference barriers and the like… there’s even the phenomenon of ‘space-time folding’ in this area, so it’s no wonder that outsiders can’t find us after so long.”

"Well..." Solid groaned, then added, "I kept it a secret from everyone because I was afraid that my discovery would cause riots." He paused, "But you know more than me, but you didn't say anything. , and for what?"

"Because I have nothing to say to you guys." Rodrigo replied, "The excavation team is either soldiers sent by the federation like you, or people from Jimenez... Even if I tell you, you have already broken into We have entered the defensive circle of a super-ancient civilization relic. In addition to signal and magnetic field interference, there are also various optical barriers, space-time loops, etc.... So what can we do?"

"So..." Solid heard some new information from these words, "You have already known about the fact that 'the workers were all arranged by Jimenez'... You are the one who is acting..." When he said this, he shifted his gaze to Soldier Two, "...and you."

"It's okay." Soldier No. 2 responded with a joking attitude at this time, "I didn't play much. After all, my role is just a soldier, at best a nameless sidekick... unlike the professor, he is an excavation team One of the focus characters in the film, there are many dramas.”

"Speaking of this..." Solid changed the topic and continued, "What's wrong with you? I have personally checked your file. There is no problem with your status as a soldier."

"Hmph..." Soldier No. 2 snorted coldly, "It's impossible to record my 'real position' in any file you can find, because..."

At this moment, Rodrigo took over his words: "...because we are all guests of the 'tea party'."

"'Tea Party'?" This was the first time Solid heard the name of this organization, so he looked suspicious.

"What? Which one do you think...is the highest authority and most powerful agency in the federal government? Is it the Tenth Auxiliary Cabinet? FCPS? Or the Supervisor?" Rodrigo saw his doubts and said, "I can Let me tell you...if it were just these people, the order of this world would have been overturned by the 'Reverse Cross' twenty years ago."

"I'm getting more and more confused about what you're saying." Solid said, "But I understand the point... To put it simply, you two are members of an organization called 'Tea Banquet'. In terms of stance... It seems that they are still on the side of the Federation." His eyes swept across the faces of the two people, "As for the identity... whether it is 'professor' or 'soldier', it is just a cover."

"That's not necessarily true," Rodrigo corrected, "Because I became a professor first and then joined the tea party. After all, it's hard to fake something like 'knowledge'."

"Whatever." Solid continued in an indifferent tone, "I just want to know what does it mean for you to suddenly reveal your identity in front of me now?"

"Of course..." Soldier No. 2's expression suddenly turned gloomy, "It's just to make you understand."

"Ha..." Solid laughed again, "I would like to hear, what is the reason why you want to kill me?"

"It's very simple." Rodrigo replied, "Now the 'Eternal Core' has been found, and we have no intention of handing it over to the Federation; you are not from the tea party, and you are one of the people in charge of this operation. One, I want you to keep our secret forever... The best way is undoubtedly to kill you." He shrugged, "In fact, when I met you in the teleportation room before, I was considering whether to just kill you. , but I’m worried that there are some defense mechanisms inside this ruins, so I want to keep you for a while longer and act as cannon fodder.”

"Then why don't you just take action later?" Solid said, "For example... wait until we escape from this ruins..."

"So you don't understand anything." Rodrigo interrupted him, "Once I take the 'eternal core' out of that statue, this ruin will lose power, which means... by then there will be absolutely no space here. Most of the defense mechanisms and shielding functions will cease to function; wait until then to prevent your dog tags (military identification tags, which are usually hung around the necks of soldiers and carried close to the body, and in this era, federal soldiers' dogs Cards are all equipped with chips)' recorded some kind of information and sent it out, isn't that an extraneous matter?"

"Yes... indeed." Solid nodded, "That's quite thoughtful." As he spoke, he took a few steps to the side and moved his wrists and neck a few times. "Before I do anything, let me ask you one more question. Just one sentence...don't you think about it and develop me into a member of the 'Tea Banquet'? That way you don't have to kill me, right?"

As soon as these words came out, Rodrigo and Soldier No. 2 were both stunned for a moment, then looked at each other and laughed loudly.

"Hahahaha..." Rodrigo happily patted his fat legs.

Soldier Two also laughed for a while before he regained his composure and continued: "Solid Wilson... To be honest, I sympathize with you." He suppressed his smile and continued, "This way Well... I'll just take it as a good thing and tell you something before you die."

It was almost impossible for Solid to investigate the people at the tea party, but it was... easy for the people at the tea party to investigate him.

Soldier No. 2 and Rodrigo already knew the information about every traveler before this trip, so at this moment, Soldier No. 2 told Solid's life story in an almost sarcastic tone.

"Do you understand?" After finishing speaking, looking at Solid with a complicated expression, No. 2 said again, "People with your background, let alone a tea party... Even those federal agencies will not You will be promoted easily, because once someone tells you your life experience to instigate rebellion, you will immediately become a major hidden danger."

After listening to the other party's statement, Solid fell into silence.

Both emotionally and rationally, he could see that the other party was telling the truth; facing a person who was about to kill, the other party had absolutely no reason to make up these contents on the fly. Solid's experiences and circumstances over the years were also true. Very good evidence for this statement.

Solid was shaken.

His parents, whom he had never met, died at the hands of the federal government. They gave him life and used their last bit of dignity and flesh and blood to protect him. However, he had been deceived since he was a child, and he has been working hard for the federal government over the years, obeying a group of people. The scum he despised numbly carried out one task after another that he was not interested in.

There is an unknown fire in his heart all year round, as if a force in the dark is stimulating his anger, but he doesn't know what it is, so he suppresses this anger and uses calmness and reason to control it. Restraining himself, he vented his anger on missions and killings, hoping that one day this emotion would eventually disappear.

But at this moment, he seemed to suddenly understand a lot of things.

After a brief wavering, there was a feeling of relief, and then there was a huge surge of regret in my heart, which turned into the anger of revenge in an instant.

And this time, the fire has a clear goal...

"Okay, I understand." After a while, Solid finally said, "I understand everything..."

"That means you can die in peace, right?" Soldier No. 2 said, already taking steps towards Solid.

"You talked about killing me and talked about it lightly for a long time..." Solid looked sideways at the other party, "You must be very confident in your own combat power?"

"Ha..." Soldier No. 2 laughed, "Do you think... a person who uses the identity of an 'ordinary soldier' ​​as a cover must be just a small role in the organization." He paused for a second, a smile on his face Sudden coldness, murderous intent rose sharply, "But unfortunately... I am a 'ferocious level' ability user."

Before he finished speaking, his right hand suddenly stretched out, and with a slash of the air, a long-range slash that could tear the air was struck directly at Solid's chest and neck.

Solid was also on guard. He instantly twisted his body and turned on his back. With one hand on the ground, he flipped and jumped to avoid the attack and regain his posture.

"Hmm... Although I have known for a long time that you are only a 'strong level', there are indeed not many people with acquired abilities who can train their physical fitness to the peak of the current level like you." Soldier No. 2 looked at Solid's face. action, and said with great interest, "It's a pity... you met me."

As soon as he said the word "I", he was behind Solid in a flash.

Although Solid had reacted as quickly as possible and punched back, Soldier Two was the faster one and knocked Solid to the ground with a downward elbow strike.

From Solid's point of view, at that moment, he felt a huge force hitting his back. The "pain" feeling could not reach the whole body, and his face was already pressed against the hard ground. .

After being hit, Solid's blood, breathing, and even energy all stagnated. It took five seconds for him to feel the blood flow again, but his lungs still couldn't breathe, and his body couldn't breathe. move.

"Paper, merge, strong, fierce, crazy, god..." Soldier No. 2 walked around Solid in an unhurried manner, "Although there is only one level difference between 'strong' and 'fierce', This level is the most insurmountable chasm... The vast majority of ability users in this world can only stay at the 'strong level' in their entire lives. This is naturally justified, because from the 'ferocious' level From the beginning, every time and every point of entry will bring people closer to the realm of 'God'."

In fact, even if he didn't explain, Solid already understood how big the gap between the two was at this time, so even if the other party was trying to gain fashion points like this, there was nothing he could do.

"I said, that's about it. If you need to kill him, kill him quickly." Two seconds later, Rodrigo from afar urged, "I know you're unhappy with him, but you have to know when enough is enough."

"Hmph... I just don't like him. What's wrong with torturing him a few more times?" Soldier No. 2 was still more enthusiastic. While responding to the professor, he raised his foot and crushed Solid's right arm. "Why? ? Aren't you going to scream? Or are you saying that you can't scream anymore?" He glared at Solid with a condescending and vicious look, "What 'veteran'? What kind of legend? To put it bluntly, isn't he just an ability soldier? 'Power', the tea banquet is the pinnacle of this world. In terms of strength, objective ability levels are much more reliable than the false names you guys blow out!"

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and he went around to one side and broke Solid's left leg.

"What I hate the most in my life are you guys who can't live up to your reputation!" When he said this, a trace of hatred flashed in Soldier No. 2's eyes, "A real man should speak with his back..." Veteran'? Humph... Bah!" After he spat, he stomped on the back of Solid's head.

Unexpectedly, at this moment.

"Do you have any objections to our ability users below the advanced level?" A strange voice sounded under the vast dome.

The expression on Rodrigo's face changed slightly, and Soldier Two's feet stopped halfway.

A second later, both of them looked around and saw a young man wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, cropped trousers and flip-flops, and a man who was all black, like a three-dimensional shadow, with skin texture like black leather. black humanoid creature.

"Who are you?" Soldier No. 2 glanced at the young man, then looked at the black one, "And what are you...?"

"Do you want to 'eat' him?" The black humanoid creature ignored him at all and just asked the young man next to him in a low voice.

"Don't worry." The young man smiled and replied softly, "Play with him first."

After that, he slowly stepped forward and said to Soldier No. 2: "My name is Zi Lin, the son of the Emperor, the King of Lin."

While saying these twelve words, Zi Lin hooked his fingers and used an invisible force to "drag" Solid on the ground toward him and away from Soldier No. 2's feet.

"Oh?" Seeing this, Soldier No. 2's face showed a look of alert, "Is it 'molecular influence'? Or... is it an 'unknown territory'..."

"Do you need to think so seriously? I'm just a paper-level ability user, and you still need to analyze what type I am?" Zi Lin said, gesturing to the black creature behind him, who understood and immediately stepped forward. Protected Solid.

"You are the one codenamed 'Mao Feng', right..." When the black creature began to heal Solid, Zi Lin calmed down and then said to Soldier No. 2, "You are treating our low-level ability users Do you have any objections?" He put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head slightly, and said with a smile, "If you have any objections, come to me."