novel
| ← Ch.088 | Ch.090 → |
They went into battle several times after entering the ark. None of them were very serious. They ended with Hercules in charge and the force members acting as support.
Too few mutants appear for it to be a 20, 000 point mission. It could have been done with a party instead of a force.
There is no reason for it to be this easy, so there is a chance that they are hiding somewhere or are concentrated in another area. They wanted to avoid a situation where they would have to face all of them at the same time.
-[Multiple biological reactions detected from the front! Expected to be sleeping from its weak vitality! Command approach if you want a precise confirmation!]
Sleep? Hercules said that there were at least hundreds, and requested command for approach.
In searching the ark, the force relied solely on Hercules.
They send it as far as the hologram's range, and follow behind. They do not move together. They need to be careful when they think about the parasite's infectious properties.
Normally when they are wounded by mutants, their skin is ripped or their bones are broken. It is better not to be wounded, but they can live as long as they do not die instantly.
Parasites are different. Regardless of the size of the wound, there is no incubation period once contact is allowed, securing itself in the brain, and being reborn as an infection in the host.
Mutants are controllable by level because they are mutations, but humans are weak to infections because of their simple body structures.
There is nothing to do once they enter the body, and it is all over once they start breeding. Dying is the easier way to go.
With the current situation, they have no choice but to rely on Hercules.
-[Go. ]
Hercules goes to the place where he can detect biological reactions. The force waits while holding their breaths in the lobby, about 100m away.
4 parties, 40 people are blocking all of the holes in the lobby.
The members are in the passageways, vents, common rooms, and bathrooms to wait. The petite people even come out of tiny holes.
Hercules pulls the door blocking it. It is made of steel, but it opened after being shaken a few times.
There is a narrow hallway. At the end, there is a door that looks like that of a bank vault, but it is cut through with the vibrating blade.
White steam pours out. It is not heat. It is cold air. A cold air in the negatives spreads outside the door.
-[Temperature measured negative 40 degrees, determining structure.... . Measure complete. Data transmission!]
Ping!
Hercules got a measure of the room letting out cold air, and sent it to Cha Jun Sung. Then it went in for further investigation.
The information is formal. It says that the room's purpose is to store something, and that the biological reaction expanded to the thousands.
As the distance grew closer, the detection radius widened. The temperature kept decreasing and reached negative 60 degrees.
It is a temperature that they could somehow work in if the force members all went through the 2nd stage of body modifications and were aided by impact tights and metal armor.
However, the environment is too extreme to use as an area for rest. They need to be at least like Cha Jun Sung and Park Jin Hyuk to be able to stay there for a long period of time.
-[Region where lower level parasites cannot act! The parasites cannot withstand the negative 60 degree chill with their thin coats. Discovered as safe zone!]
This is the best news that the force members have had. It is better to shiver in the cold than to be weary of parasites that might come out at them at any time.
-[Safety odds?]
-[85%! 15% is the odds that a parasite above level 3 appears!]
This means that level 3 and 4 would be able to withstand the conditions. When Hercules kills a mutant, it studies the cells and learns everything about it on the spot.
It is an artificial intelligence beyond the abilities of a computer. It can analyze up to level 4 as long as it has a specimen. From level 5, the cyborg's level needs to be increased.
-[Force, prepare to move. ]
-[Army unit! We will focus on the rear once Seven Stars goes. ]
Lim Si Hyun and Han Chang Jin moved the force. They need to go wherever it is safer. Anywhere as long as they can relax for even a moment.
Even as they were moving, Hercules did not stop searching the area. Then as they were arriving, something surprising happened.
-[Biological response confirmed! 1200 total! Survivors in frozen surface discovered!]
They had discovered survivors for the first time since they had wandered this universe.
***
The force members shiver at the declining temperature. Even with strengthened bodies and D class gear, they were having difficulty with the negative 60 degree temperature.
Then they entered the frozen sleeping room. The average person would have frozen to death within moments. That is how severe the difference in temperature was from the outside.
Cha Jun Sung turned around once and looked at the 1200 capsules filling the huge room with wonderment.
He had never even seen a shadow of a person while going through missions. He was always busy starting and ending with mutants. Could they be woken up?
Cha Jun Sung went to Hercules. There is a dizzying amount of machinery. He does not know what anything is because he does not have a foundation in it.
"Can we wake up the survivors?"
"Hacking the freezer system.... . Hacking complete. Thawing frozen sleep is possible. Once thawed, they will each have their time difference to wake up!"
The firewall is lax. It was left vulnerable to hacking. Since there is no survivor who is awake, there is no way to block the hacking.
Hercules tried to hack the boat's main system while hacking the freezer system, but it had been impossible because there was no power.
It still found out a lot of information. There are 7 more freezer rooms, for rooms number 1 through 8. This is room 1, and it is where the ark's sailor and his family are frozen.
There are over 20, 000 survivors. There are 3000 people in the larger rooms.
It really was a marine city. The hypothesis is that people ran away from the city infested with parasites and settled on this ark.
Then an infected host mixed in with the people and created this mess.
"Should we wake them?"
"Hm!"
Lim Si Hyun is thinking. Do they have to thaw them? It would be humane to wake them up. They might even be able to get some useful information if they are able to converse.
However, there is some reluctance. Say they wake them. Do they have to leave them here once the mission is over? Can they take these people to Earth?
On top of that, a special mission was not activated when they discovered the survivors. Is it because there are so many? That could be why, but it does not seem to be the reason.
The biggest problem is that the ark is the parasites' nest. What if all of the survivors are infected? Then it becomes dangerous for the force.
"Don't you think a special mission isn't activated because they aren't Lifers?"
"Let's wake them up one by one."
From the way things are going, they cannot pass them by without waking them. They can wake them up one by one and minimize the danger. They will need to kill any hosts.
"You heard, right? Search the list you secured and start with whoever you get a feeling for first."
Hercules chose someone who would know the circumstances well. According to the search, 1 of the 7 people in room 1 was a lieutenant.
-[Frozen capsule number 1200 is being thawed. 5 minutes until thawed. He may be confused because he has been frozen for 4 years. ]
A capsule positioned at the very top twisted in different directions and made its way down. Inside the thin ice, there is a middle-aged man lying down.
The ice melts little by little. Waking him suddenly is the same as making him freeze to death, so they need to revive his body temperature and bring him back little by little with his bodily functions.
"Jun Sung, the internal temperature is negative 60. Won't he die as soon as he comes out?"
"I have no idea. I'm sure there's a heating function in the capsule or something."
Like Cha Jun Sung predicted, there is a heating function. The people also wear snowsuits when they enter the capsules. Once he is revived, he will be able to endure the cold to some extent.
-[Thawing complete. ]
Hercules took the lieutenant in its arms and went outside. He cannot remain here and must be removed to a warm place. Since the door is closed, he can go there.
The force members went past the vault-like door and the door that was ripped off.
"Ugh.... ."
The lieutenant is coming to. He is tense under the eyes of the force members. It is a world that appears to be the same as Earth, but he is a person of a different universe.
He opens his eyes. His focus is blurred. He had been frozen for 4 years. If it had been clear, that would have been suspicious to begin with. They waited with patience.
"Ack!"
The first sound that the lieutenant made once he woke up and saw Cha Jun Sung standing in front of him was to scream so loudly it felt like the ark would collapse.
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