Chapter 719 Ulanov
Ulanov wears his full-coverage helmet in all situations except when back at base, which is almost his signature look. However, this helmet is not meant to be handsome and fashionable, nor is it entirely meant to enhance defense. Its real function is to maintain the life of a veteran and conceal his terrifying true appearance.
Hao Ren saw a horrifying-looking man sitting behind a desk playing with some kind of equipment. His face could hardly be called human. Large areas of his skin have disappeared, and the exposed muscles and bones are glowing with metallic silver. One of his eyeballs is connected by certain electronic circuits to prevent it from falling off. Where his nose used to be, there is only a metal piece with a valve left. Pipe, a hose connected to a gas bottle next to the table, and his teeth - there was only a neat row of metal.
Ulanov's true appearance hidden under his helmet was like a skull made of flesh and steel. It was weird and terrifying. Even though Hao Ren had seen all kinds of strange and inexplicable things, after seeing this I couldn't help but be shocked when I saw the scene.
"What are you doing..." He couldn't hide his surprise and simply asked directly, "How did you do it?"
"Sixty-five years ago, I was working near the Nano Sea, observing whether those nanomachine groups could be used to develop space colonies." The remaining muscles on Ulanov's face twitched with the flexible metal, as if he wanted to tell Hao Ren smiled, but it looked almost scarier than Yzaks's smile. "I couldn't escape when the 'Master' computer went down, so I was melted - almost a third of it."
As Ulanov said, he slightly lifted his shirt. Hao Ren was shocked to see a pair of transparent chest plates under the clothes. The deformed internal organs and artificial organs were slowly pulsing in the light pink life-support solution. It looks like a cyborg from a horror movie.
"I was one of the few survivors of that disaster, and probably the longest-lived one." Ulanov pointed to the bed next to him, indicating that Hao Ren could sit down wherever he wanted. "Ah, you probably don't care about this. Interest - do you have anything to do with me?"
Hao Ren had just recovered from the shock of Ulanov's true appearance and experience. He didn't know what to say. He sat down on the bed with some restraint before mentioning his original purpose: "Then what, I just want to ask...if I have something to leave the base, who should I report to?"
"Leave the base?" Ulanov asked in his voice, "Where are you going?"
"Walking around, at least know what kind of place your future residence will be," Hao Ren shrugged, "And I can't always disturb you here - I don't plan to join any organization, so one day it will be Gotta leave.”
"I understand Nolan's character. I'm afraid she really doesn't mind you living here because she doesn't care about it at all," Ulanov said hoarsely. His voice did not come from his mouth, but from his throat. came from a resonance tube. His vocal cords had become part of the nanomachines decades ago. Now the machines have replaced more than half of his physiological functions. "But it's normal for you to think so. If I want to go out, I can To accompany you, I have no mission for the time being, and this place is not peaceful."
"No, no, no need to trouble you. I have been a soldier anyway, so I should have some survival skills." Hao Ren quickly waved his hand, "I'm just here to find out what procedures you need to go through to leave the base - you guys It is a military unit after all.”
Ulanov laughed hoarsely: "Aha... You don't have to be so strict. Gray Fox doesn't have so many rules, because Nolan is the only rule here. As long as you don't trouble her, no one will trouble you. trouble."
Hao Ren said oh, and Ulanov grabbed something from the table and threw it to Hao Ren: "Take this, even if you don't join the gang, your identity as a gray fox can help you avoid a lot of trouble. In this place, only those who have a corps behind them are considered human beings, and those without status are just 'slag' in the factory."
Hao Ren caught the small metal plate that flew over. It was a small badge-like thing with a gray fox head etched with a laser, which was the logo of the Gray Fox Mercenary Group. In the chaotic underworld, people are governed by a strict hierarchy. Cadres from Zero City and the heads of various corps are the first class, while the soldiers and brokers who back the corps are respectfully called "citizens", and the lowest class. The others are those coolies who have no identity and no ability to fight - they are engaged in arduous and menial work in those factories that emit black smoke and cannot be replaced by nanomachines. They suffer from respiratory diseases and various pollutions. Relying on crude food and nerve-paralyzing potions made from nanomachines to maintain their short lives, they are called "slags."
Without a corps guarantee, visitors who come to the black street rashly will basically be thrown into the factory within three days, and only a handful of people can come out intact. And even if you can escape this disaster, surviving in the slums of the black streets will not be much easier than working as "slag" in the factory.
This is human society after the collapse of civilization.
Hao Ren also briefly browsed the information about the underworld when he was checking information on the Internet. Although the information was rudimentary, he still had a general understanding of the rules and environment of this place, so he knew that this small metal plate should actually be given to him by Nolan. A gift, and to an outsider, an unexpected and extremely valuable gift. He put away the identification tag properly and looked at Ulanov curiously: "Are other mercenary groups as easy to deal with as you?"
"Others?" Ulanov chuckled, his voice as rough as a broken old bellows, "You either join them, or they throw them into the factory. Most mercenary groups are also engaged in the business of human traffickers. . You should be glad that you met Nolan. She is the toughest and least disciplined mercenary here. She made her own rules, that is, everyone except her is bullshit - so as long as she recognizes one If you are a man, then this man is basically safe in the underworld, and all the corps will give him some face."
Nolan's face flashed through Hao Ren's mind, that mercenary girl with long gray hair and an expressionless face. Her eyes left an indelible impression on Hao Ren. Looking back now, the look in those eyes It seems to carry an indescribable alienation and vicissitudes, just like a detached person who has seen through the mundane and transcendent world watching life and death. Hao Ren couldn't help but feel goose bumps on his back when he recalled this detail. He firmly believed that he saw something in Nolan's eyes that theoretically did not belong to her: "Nolan... how old is he this year? ?”
"Seventeen years old, or eighteen years old - no older," Ulanov looked into Hao Ren's eyes and said, "Don't ask more, I only know this. The big warlords in this place are extremely hostile to Nolan. Fear, they were afraid of her, and one of the important reasons was that they were afraid of her age. It is said that when she was thirteen years old, she assassinated two mercenary captains alone, with bare hands, and in the most cruel way. Maybe you feel that you have never seen her today. Heaton saved her life, but in fact Nolan estimates that there are more than a hundred ways to kill all the ambushers encountered today."
Hao Ren was stunned: "Is she Superman?"
"Some people say that she is actually a 'third generation evolver', just pretending to be the first generation. Some people say that she is actually a soldier created before the fall of the Far East Alliance. You can search for 'Soldier Plan' and say It's decent." Ulanov shook his head, put the adjusted breathing filter back into the helmet, took off the breathing tube on his nose and put on the helmet again, "but I suggest you don't use any of them. Don’t ask Nolan about this. She usually has a good temper, but when she gets angry occasionally, no one is her match... Ha, it feels so good to put on my face again."
Ulanov put on his helmet, connected several lines extending from his jacket under his mask, and pulled up the alloy zipper of his jacket, transforming into a completely enclosed, weird soldier like a motorcycle rider. His helmet provides him with breathing assistance and continuously releases electrical signals to ensure that his severely damaged brain can continue to function, while a piece of armor worn under his jacket releases another set of signals to suppress the remaining remnants in his body. swarm of nanomachines to prevent those deadly little things from completely severing his spine. This device, together with the artificial organs within him, formed a grotesquely deformed body that had sustained his life for sixty-five years, and would continue to survive as long as his brain continued to survive. Live longer than any human being.
Sixty-five years ago, he lost one-third of his body, and today, sixty-five years later, 80% of the tissues in his body have been updated and transformed. This level of transformation even in the first It is also unique among the second generation evolvers. It is difficult to say whether the transformed Ulanov is a human being or a living biochemical machine. The only thing that is certain is that this old soldier is still alive.
Why does he insist on living to this day?
Hao Ren looked at Ulanov's not burly body and knew that this unrecognizable veteran must have more stories, but it wasn't time for him to ask clearly yet, so after thanking the other party for telling him so many things today, he Left Ulanov's room.