Chapter 583 This Is a Necessary Sacrifice (1/2)

When the "Viper" transport plane returned again, it was already two o'clock in the morning.

Along with this flight, in addition to the twelve brothers Guangfeng and Murderous Dagger, there was also Ms. Chen Yutong, an active researcher of the scientific expedition team.

Seeing Chen Yutong jumping out of the cabin, a trace of surprise appeared on Lao Bai's face, and he walked up to look at her and asked.

"How did you come?"

"Isn't there something wrong with the mind interference device here? The administrator entrusted me to come over and restore it to normal..."

Looking around at the bloody mess around him, Chen Yutong felt his stomach churn. He looked away from the mountain of corpses and bones and looked at Lao Bai, looking up and down and saying with concern.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Lao Bai said dumbfounded.

"What can I do? There are only about twenty people in total."

The equipment of the Executioner Squad is indeed something good, but to be honest, the combat effectiveness is not outstanding, and it relies too much on the power of the equipment, so it is natural that the gold coins will be exploded.

What Lao Bai didn't know was that it wasn't that the executioner team was not strong, but that their own combat effectiveness was somewhat exceeded. Gaining recognition from the people of Weiland cannot be achieved simply by relying on strength.

With the strength of that team, they may not be able to defeat the legion's youth army on the frontal battlefield, but infiltration, sabotage, rebellion and poisoning are commonplace, and assassinating high-level officials in a settlement is even easier.

The Torch Church was able to conquer such a large territory and turn countless survivor settlements in the diocese into its own puppets. At least half of the credit must be attributed to the Inquisition.

But then again, the executioner team also didn't expect that the optical camouflage would be ineffective, which was why they didn't use it at all in subsequent battles.

I'm afraid that in the end, they all suspected that the alliance had mastered some kind of technology that could see through optical camouflage. Otherwise, it would be completely impossible to explain why their two consecutive sneak attacks ended in failure.

Chen Yutong looked at Lao Bai suspiciously, confirming that this guy was not trying to show off, but that nothing was wrong with him. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, curled his lips and said.

"I'm relieved it's okay."

Lao Bai sighed and said.

"I'm definitely fine, but you may not be. This is a war zone, and it's no joke."

Chen Yutong blinked.

"You will protect me, right?"

Lao Bai was stunned for a moment and nodded.

"That's for sure, I will try my best..."

Seeing that Chen Yutong had no intention of giving up staying here, he couldn't help but ask, "By the way, isn't the thing you study about Naguo? I remember that your area of ​​expertise is biology."

Chen Yutong said with a smile.

"Yes, but I have also dabbled in the research on mind interference devices. Have you forgotten? I asked you to accompany me to the eastern suburbs of Qingquan City for investigation."

"I thought you were just curious to visit."

"It was true that I just visited it at the time, but later I became very interested in it, so I briefly learned about it through the resources of the scientific expedition team."

When she said this, she couldn't help but raise the corners of her lips proudly.

That thing is indeed not difficult for her.

Her learning ability is not weak, especially in the fields she is good at. In addition, her age is in the golden age of scientific research. If the academy's stage was not too crowded, she would not be just a little E-level.

It’s okay to have a brief understanding...

Lao Bai couldn't help but feel ashamed when he heard this.

His failure to study well was a lifelong regret, and he probably had no chance to make up for it in this life.

Looking at Lao Bai who was still standing there, Chen Yutong urged.

"Okay, don't waste time here. It's too late for someone else to come over. Take me there quickly."

Lao Bai sighed, nodded and said.

"follow me."

Passing through the stairwell, the two came to the basement of the annex.

When passing the collapsed door panel, Chen Yutong saw the little girl tied into a rice dumpling, and another girl guarding next to the little girl.

When she looked at the lamb, the lamb was also looking at her secretly.

Chen Yutong stopped in front of her, leaned down with his hands on his knees and asked.

"Is this sister your friend?"

The little sheep nodded and whispered.

"...It's sister Yinyin, she is two years older than me."

"Yin Yin, that's a good name," Chen Yutong touched the lamb's head, curled his lips and said, "What about you?"

The little sheep whispered shyly.

"I... lamb."

Little sheep.

The most common names in the wasteland are mountains, rivers, spring, summer, autumn and winter, followed by plants, trees, insects, birds, tables and chairs. Even in some farming-dominated settlements, cows and horses are used as names, but sheep are less common.

Chen Yutong was silent for a while and said softly.

"Your friend is going to be okay."

After hearing these words, Xiaoyang's tense expression relaxed significantly, with a joyful expression on his face.

She didn't know why she instinctively trusted the strange sister in front of her, but she always felt that she knew a lot of things, just like a doctor.

"So, what about the people outside..."

"It'll be fine too."

However, it probably won’t go back to the way it was before.

The memory of being brainwashed will not disappear, and the dead will not be brought back to life. Even if it is only for a short time, those crazy thoughts will remain until you are sober.

The survivors of this settlement will probably spend a long time in fear and regret.

After all, I am afraid that not even half of the people who actually died at the gunpoint of Alliance soldiers.

Looking at the happy expression on the lamb's face and the twisting and struggling Yin Yin, Chen Yutong sighed softly in his heart and followed Lao Bai to the laboratory at the back of the basement.

When she saw the experimental equipment in the compartment on the side of the corridor, she had a surprised expression on her face.

"……This is."

Seeing the surprise on her face, Lao Bai stopped and asked curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"nothing……"

As a biological laboratory, the equipment here can be said to be quite comprehensive.

Not to mention basic equipment such as constant temperature incubators, ultra-clean workbenches, and biological safety cabinets, more advanced protein detection devices, cell synthesis devices, DNA synthesis devices, brain wave detectors, etc. are also available.

These basic experimental tools are not very cutting-edge technologies in the Prosperous Era, and can be found in relics such as biological laboratories or pharmaceutical factories.

Confusingly, however, several pieces of equipment were clearly not salvaged from the ruins, but were crafted after the Wasteland Era.

As for why she knew...

Because the models of those pieces of equipment are almost standard equipment in the Institute of Biology of the college.

She couldn't be more familiar with what she was familiar with...

…

He Anshui is the owner of Green Pine Hotel.

The hotel he runs is right next to the gate of Pinecone Wood Farm. The location is easy to identify and easy to remember, because it is the only hotel there within dozens of miles.

His daily job is mainly to receive some traveling merchants and mercenaries, and by the way, he also helps his master, Mr. Zhao, to collect some intelligence on the wasteland.

It is impossible for any settlement to live a prosperous life just by farming. There are always things that cannot be produced by oneself and need to be exchanged with outsiders.

This is especially true for plantations where farming is the main focus.

Mr. Zhao knew very well that Pinecone Wood Farm needed those traders, but he extremely distrusted those cunning guys, so even if there were many empty houses in the settlement, he would never let outsiders come in to stay overnight.

Unless the merchant was appointed by himself.

Thanks to this, He Anshui, who runs the only hotel in Pinecone Wood Farm, has made a small fortune relying on the franchise rights in his hands.

Although most of the income needs to be handed over to the master, he can still save a lot of money by relying on this business.

Moreover, he does not need to go far away to work like Yang He, nor does he need to send his family to the manor's annex as hostages. The master was very relieved about him because he was right on the edge of the settlement.

Be it people or property.

He Anshui is a person with no ambitions and no extra thoughts. He just wants to live his life peacefully. After all, during the years of running the hotel, he had seen too many wastelanders with missing arms and legs.

Those guys may not have an owner, but that's it. There's nothing in their pockets, and no one will ask if they die. He still prefers certain happiness to this kind of life where there is only one meal but no next meal.

Perhaps this is why his father gave him the name "An Shui" - hoping that he would be as stable as the water in the well in the backyard.

Speaking of which, Wu Wenzhou came back and brought news from the north, saying that the wastelanders there were so harassed by the looters that they finally decided to unite.

Looking at the way he was beaming when he talked about the alliance, He Anshui knew that this guy was probably thinking of leaving here, but he scoffed and didn't take it to heart.

It's okay to listen to what's going on outside for fun, but God knows how dangerous it would be if we really went there.

And what about 0.9 silver coins per kilogram of corn?

No matter how cheap meat is, can it be as cheap as here?

Here, whether it is gold or silver money, just one coin can be exchanged for a large basket. Regardless of what other serfs do, at least he is quite comfortable.

Eat a lot of meat, drink a lot of alcohol, and gain weight if you don't pay attention.

The most comfortable place in this wasteland is the Pinecone Farm...

I don’t know how much time passed.

The buzzing lingering in his ears finally disappeared, and his blurred vision gradually became clearer. He Anshui shook his head and patted his old face with his right hand.

Paji——

The sticky feeling made him slightly uncomfortable.

Even if he doesn't like washing his face, he won't get so much grease that he can pull out hair. The same goes for his mouth, as if he had eaten a mouthful of rust, and his throat seemed to be stuck.

"Did I fall asleep..."

He mumbled something in his mouth, and as soon as he opened his mouth, something fell out and fell to the ground into a thick puddle of scarlet.

ketchup?

Looking at the pool of scarlet in front of his knees, he was startled, and his eyes slowly raised, and then he saw the inhuman "thing" lying in the pool of blood, and each of them kneeling on top of "that thing" Familiar faces next to me.

Among them were hotel cooks, waiters, and serfs working in nearby farms... There were twenty or thirty people in total, and the narrow guest room was packed to the brim.

Like him, they all knelt on the ground, facing the inhuman "thing" in front of them at a loss.

Vague memories began to wake up.

He Anshui recognized this room. It was the guest room of his old friend Wu Wenzhou who often traveled far away.

It was said that at noon, he was still wondering why the guy didn't go back when he reached the door of his house, and came here to join in the fun with the mercenaries.

He had already guessed who the inhuman guy in front of him was...

In fact, there is no need to guess at all.

He remembers them all.

"Old...Old Wu..."

He Anshui's lips began to tremble, his face lost color, he jumped back as if he was electrocuted, collapsed on the ground, kicked his legs and retreated to the wall.

The soaked pants dragged a shocking trail of blood on the ground.

What have I done?

No……

Why?

It was as if a pot of sulfuric acid had been poured into his stomach. He Anshui vomited out with a loud sound, curled up in the blood and vomit, and trembled like a spasm.

"Ah...kaka..."

No words came out of his mouth, let alone what to say.

He wanted to ask why.

Why does it become like this.

It was obviously fine a second ago... Why?

He had a lot of questions to ask, but he didn't know who to ask.

The people kneeling next to Old Wu were like him, gradually waking up, then gradually becoming frightened and desperate, and then they vomited, and tears and stomach acid were squeezed out of the body...

People knelt on the ground and repented, or howled in a cathartic manner, or banged their heads against the wall, trying to end this miserable dream and numb their nerves with pain.

Pinecone Farm was once again filled with wails and wails.

And this time, it seemed even more miserable than the previous night...

…

A pure white room.

Scenes of tragic scenes were gathered together on a palm-sized screen, forming a semi-curved wall.

Sitting in the center of the room, the old man quietly watched the ongoing purgatory on earth. Gujing Mubo's face finally turned into a long sigh.

Even knowing that this is a necessary sacrifice on the road to utopia.

Even if it is clear that those guys are just domestic animals in captivity.

But seeing this miserable look, he still felt a little unbearable.

Even a mind interference device cannot achieve 100% brainwashing. There are even those who are immune to Naguo, let alone a technology that is still in its infancy.

Band 03 will cause 99% of the people to eat 1% of the people. If the 99% of the experimental subjects are allowed to wake up, at least half of them will be defeated by their own memories.

So he asked the mutants to come and clear the place.

The purpose is to allow those experimental subjects to die painlessly after the experiment is over.

This was his greatest kindness to the experimenters who gave their lives to glorious evolution.

However, I didn't expect that those guys who had no mercy at all and would do anything to achieve their goals would actually adjust the frequency of the mind interference device.

This is a cruelty more cruel than killing them.

"Sure enough, I still need to practice..."

Sensing the flash of anger at that moment, Luo Gan lowered his eyebrows and murmured to himself.

It was the same when he used Zhao Tianqian's body to meet the children before. Seeing the astonished expressions on those guys' faces, he couldn't help but tease them.

This is actually not what it should be.

Among the many bishops of the Torch Church, he is one of the older ones. He entered the Holy Realm more than ten years ago, but his cultivation is the least advanced.

The so-called cultivation here is not some cultivation technique or recited scriptures, but a kind of harmonization or sublimation of one's own mind.

Human beings cannot complete their own evolution. This is just like stepping on the left foot with the right foot and unable to reach the sky. This has nothing to do with what shoes a person wears.

Even if technology can give people wings, it cannot think like birds born with wings.

There is no doubt that humans at the top of the food chain are higher-level animals than birds. There is no need for humans to transform into birds. But when the development of civilization reaches a bottleneck and people's feet leave the soil on which they live, their inherent limitations will gradually be exposed.

Perhaps this creature only deserves a civilization within light years.

Human nature, which is closer to the bottom than methods and systems, constructs the underlying logic of human civilization.

It is not the front-end technology of the warp engine, nor can it solve any problems in the material world, but it will allow people to give back everything they do not deserve.

Otherwise, how can we explain that after reaching the starry sky, the People's League, which had clearly ended all conflicts and moved from differences to unity, would lose everything in just three years after a long period of prosperity.

Project Torch offers one explanation.

The breakup of the post-war reconstruction committee also offers an explanation.

Such creatures always live in an unstable environment. Once they judge that they are threatened, they will definitely find a way to strike first.

There is only a slim chance that they will be lucky enough to bet on a bright future... and this is usually named great or miraculous in the history of the People's Federation.

Because it's something that doesn't happen often.

Even if it did happen, it had a significant impact on the course of history.

The Church, inspired by the torch, offers a solution.

If we want this weak species of human beings to ascend to a new dimension, we must think from a height above human beings. Becoming a "gestalt being" is just a superficial explanation. What they really want to do is become gods.

Man cannot adapt to life in heaven.

But God can!

To this end, the bishops of the Torch Church must give up all their human attributes and look down on humans from a standpoint other than humans, which is also the most fundamental reason why all bishops will enter the "Holy Land".

Only by entering the "Holy Land" away from the constraints of gravity can one possess true divinity!

If they don't do this, sooner or later they will be like the earliest mutants, who have become other species but still stand on the standpoint of humans and think with the identity of humans.

The final result is obvious.

The mutant tribe born on this basis has no inheritance of human civilization, but is more like walking the path that humans have walked again from primitive society.

And they themselves will either be killed or go crazy.

Luo Gan often sighs that although he has abandoned his flesh, it is still difficult to completely cut off from human nature.

Maybe it's because he was too old when he entered the Holy Land, and the old ideas seemed to grow on his rotten flesh and blood, and were engraved into the circuit board along with the current.

He often envies that child.

The holy son chosen by them.

That guy is like a blank sheet of paper, the most perfect main god.

"Sorry, the Executioner Team failed... The Alliance's troops occupied our research facilities and transmitted the 05th band through the mind interference device."

"The interference we imposed on the experimental subject... was lifted."

The voice floating in his ear interrupted Luo Gan's reverie.

With a light wave of his index finger, a light blue floating window floated in front of him, and he saw an apostle in a robe kneeling on one knee in the dark and bowing to him.

The background of the camera was the basement of the church in the Pine Cone Farm.

The shadow of the hood covered the man's face.

Although he couldn't see the eyes of the apostle, Luo Gan could feel the shame and regret buried under the brim of the hat.

In fact, until the Executioner Team intervened, their experiments were still going smoothly, but their opponents were a little too experienced on the battlefield.

But overall, the experiment was still very successful.

It's just not perfect.

Not wanting to see these loyal children blame themselves, he comforted them in a soft voice.

"It's okay, my children. A small mistake is nothing to us, not to mention that we have obtained the data we need."

"The experiment at the Pinewood Farm is over. Take the data and evacuate from the passage under your feet. Someone will pick you up at the end of the passage."

"The Qi Tribe will handle the aftermath for us."

The apostle buried his head and said respectfully.

"Yes! Bishop."

Luo Gan's face showed an approving smile.

But at this moment, his brows frowned slightly, and he vaguely felt a little abnormal.

Bishop...

That is his title, but usually secular people or peripheral apostles will call him that.

The more official honorific should be pioneer or pioneer.

Even some apostles close to the core of the Torch Church will use the titles of "bishop" and "pastor" in private, but it usually does not happen in the communication between superiors and subordinates.

Of course, this kind of trivial matter is not enough to make him unhappy. He just felt a little confused.

In order to answer the confusion in his heart, he looked down at the apostle and said.

"My child, raise your head."

"Let me see your eyes."

The apostle was obviously stunned, obviously not understanding what he meant, but he still obeyed, slowly raised his head, and met his eyes.

There was nothing abnormal about those eyes.

It showed the doubts and confusion that normal people would have.

If there is only one flaw---I'm afraid it's too artificial.

It doesn't look like a human eye.

It looks like a "thing" covered with human skin...

At this moment, Luo Gan finally realized where the sense of disobedience came from.

As he saw through the poor acting, his cloudy pupils gradually took on a hint of murderous intent, and he stretched out his dry fingers towards the screen in front of him.

He wanted to tear this guy apart!

At the same time he stretched out his hand, the paper man hidden in the screen seemed to have sensed the crisis and fled back suddenly, as if trying to distance himself from him.

The image on the screen shook violently, as if there was an earthquake. The man desperately fled into the underground tunnel, but no matter how he fled, he was on the thin screen of a piece of paper.

He didn't know how this guy got into his memory partition, but if he thought he could get out of here alive, he was too naive.

Looking at the poor guy who got into the cage by himself, Luo Gan's mouth gradually curled up a cruel smile.

"You can't escape."

However, at this moment, an accident happened.

As soon as his voice fell, the screen close to him disappeared with a "snap".

His right hand was clenched in the air, his expression froze instantly, and then a trace of annoyance surged in his turbid pupils.

"Tsk..."

He was tricked...

After Zhao Tiangan died, he didn't care about the useless body anymore, but he didn't expect that the abandoned interface installed in the guy's head was actually used by the other side.

In that case, the body of that person could be recycled... I underestimated those bugs.

The index finger opened the communication interface.

Luo Gan was about to inform the four apostles who stayed in the settlement about the leaked intelligence, but a communication interruption icon hung next to the four names.

His expression gradually changed from stunned to solemn.

After occupying the mind interference device, the opponent did not turn it off, but further increased the output power, and the interference range also expanded beyond the manor.

No wonder they lifted the interference of Band 03 on the survivors so quickly...

Now no one can contact the four apostles in the settlement. They can only pray that they will be smart and withdraw from the settlement immediately if the situation is not right.

The only good thing is that I can't contact the four apostles, and the Alliance people shouldn't be able to contact the soldiers in the settlement.

At least for a while, those kids were safe.

However, even so, Luo Gan still couldn't be optimistic.

He closed his cloudy eyes, lost in thought, sighed softly, and said to himself.

"It's difficult to handle..."

…

The bridge of the Heart of Steel.

Zhao Tianqian's body was lying on a stretcher and had been cold for some time.

When the previous "Viper" transport plane returned, it was taken to the alliance's military base at the junction of the provinces. Later, under Chu Guang's order, it was moved here by another "Viper".

At this moment, an expressionless android was kneeling next to him, his index finger poking into his nostril, and a light blue data stream flashed in his pupils.

Suddenly, its body swayed slightly and its eyes closed. And at the same time, a tiny trace of green smoke came out of the corpse's nostrils.

It was as if something had been burned.

Sun Eclipse's eyes opened again. The light blue data stream had disappeared, and his index finger was pulled out from the corpse's nostril.

Having been waiting for a long time, Hanshuang stepped forward and asked more anxiously than anyone else when he finally saw the result.

"how's it going?"

Sun Eclipse glanced at Hanshuang, then at Chu Guang who was standing aside, and said in a calm tone.

"The basement of the church...has a passage leading outside, and those apostles should be there."

"Thank you for your hard work!"

Chu Guang nodded in thanks, and then ordered Xiao Qi to update the new information and tasks on the players' terminals.

Although the signal in the manor area was interfered by the psychic interference device, the official forum in the other world was not affected in any way.

His good brothers who are good at exploiting game bugs specially arranged for a person to squat offline to guard them in order to receive first-hand intelligence when communication is interrupted.

It is a pleasure to play games with smart people.

"You're welcome! It's our honor to serve you," Hanshuang said with a bright and charming smile on his face before Sun Eclipse, "If you need anything, please feel free to trouble us!"

Sun Eclipse didn't speak, but looked at his right hand silently, his eyes full of confusion.

"Strange..." it muttered to itself.

How did that guy figure it out?