Chapter 2793: So Close
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Chu Zhixiao observed the surroundings cautiously.
She never believed that the motivation and behavior of the puppet king would be so simple.
Every time, the puppet king would cover his real motivation in the overlapping, bloody labyrinth.
The only things nearby were countless dead bodies that had been smashed into pieces by ‘Titan’ Yuankou and the humming crystal reactor.
Thankfully, the crystal reactor of this model boasted an extremely solid shell and a very tight protection system. It was barely possible to damage it from the outside. Even if it was damaged, the energy transmission tubes leading to the crystal reactor would be cut off instantly, which would slow down the
high-energy reactions inside the crystal reactor and stop them. There was no way that an intense explosion would affect the entire starship.
Otherwise, the puppet king would only need to control a batch of ghouls to detonate the entire starship.
“Detonate the starship…”
Chu Zhixiao narrowed her eyes. She smelled a scheme.
He examined the dead bodies of the ghouls, but all of them had been blown to smithereens. There was no value in examining them at all.
“Seven-star, send me a 3D image of the bodies outside. I want both the ghouls and the victims. Don’t miss any detail!”
Chu Zhixiao commanded his companions outside through the spider tank.
Very soon, the indicator light on the back of the spider tank blinked rapidly. Invisible, thin lines that looked like transparent nerves were connected to her temples, and vivid, shocking pictures popped up on her retina out of nowhere.
Chu Zhixiao focused his attention on the dead bodies.
After scanning dozens of corpses, she found something wrong.
“The eyeballs and fingers of many corpses are gone.
It was only natural.
Since his entire body was riddled with holes, how could his eyeballs and fingers be spared?
Besides, for the ghouls, their eyeballs were the most delicious food, and their fingers were one of the most vulnerable parts.
Most victims of the ‘zombie incident’ would lose their eyeballs and fingers.
“Most of the pictures of the ghouls here are missing eyeballs and fingers, too. Although they might have been infected and turned into ghouls because they were bitten off, I still feel that something is not right.
Chu Zhixiao pondered for a moment and asked, “If we remove the limitations of our thinking from the ‘zombie incident’ and stop treating the case as an ordinary outbreak of the Taotie Virus, what should we think about the reason for the disappearance of the eyeballs and fingers?”
“Major, what’s the meaning of this?”
“Black Dream’ Yun Haixin said, “If it is not the ‘Ghoul Incident’, what is it?”
“Suppose that Bloody Red’s ‘ghoul incident’ was just a disguise, and the puppet king’s real target was the eyeballs and the fingers?
Gazing at the depths of the darkness, Chu Zhixiao mumbled to himself, “Seizing the eyeballs and fingers of dozens of key people at the same time will certainly attract a lot of attention, won’t it? Unless the victims’ bodies are mutilated with the disguise of the outbreak of the Taotie Virus, nobody will be
able to tell the difference between the eyeballs and the fingers. In fact, have the eyeballs and fingers been eaten or used in other ways?”
“Anywhere else?”
‘Black Dream’ Yun Haixin narrowed her eyes. “Are you talking about the permissions to control a starship?”
“T’s true that many parts of an old warship such as ‘Light Chaser’ can be manually controlled with high-level permissions except for the cockpit, but the fingerprints, irises, blood, and brain scans of the permissions must be kept.
Chu Zhixiao said, “The owners of the permissions are often the priests with the highest status on the old warships. Together with the supervisor of the area to be controlled, on board Light Pursuit, it will be the high priest who has been gnawed beyond recognition, the supervisor of the engine
compartment, and perhaps the operators of the reactor. I assume that they are all dead, and their eyeballs and fingers are all gone, aren’t they?”
“Not just eyeballs and fingers.
‘Black Dream’ Yun Haixin said, “Many dead bodies have been sucked dry. Therefore, we have blood samples and brain scanners. Well, simulating brainwaves is one of the Puppet King’s specialties. Besides, the brains of many important authorities are gone, too. Therefore, fingerprints, iris, blood samples,
and brain scanners are not a problem right now.
“Seven-star—”
Chu Zhixiao’s voice was as cold as if it had come from a vacuum, “Tell me, what can the puppet king do if he takes over the highest clearance of the engine compartment manually?”
“You can do whatever you want. There are no taboos. You can do whatever you want.”
After a long time, the shivering voice of the ‘seven-star’ echoed in the air.
Chu Zhixiao cursed softly.
He jumped up and dashed into the darkness like an arrow.
Before Yuan Kou and Yun Haixin caught up with her, she had already vanished into the depths of the engine compartment.
Only the Spider Tank ‘Red Pig’ was still following its master’s footsteps. Its somewhat heavy body also relied on the high-speed pulleys at the ends of its six limbs to drift towards the bottom level of the engine compartment.
Huchi! Huchi! Huchi!
The bottom level of the engine compartment was reserved for maintenance and modification. A lot of twisted tubes, abandoned reactors, and components for maintenance were left. It was like a lifeless metal graveyard.
There were no ghouls in this place, but there was no scent of human beings, either. It was dead silent, even more horrifying than the area where the ghouls had been wandering.
However, there was not the slightest hint of fear in Chu Zhixiao’s heart. He continued issuing commands in an orderly manner. “Seven Star, send me the original structural design of the bottom level of the engine compartment, too. Yes. I suspect that there are a lot of hidden areas that are not displayed
on the latest version of the map.
“Also, if the commanéd to cut off the cockpit is to be manually controlled, the operation room should be in this place. Pay attention to the surveillance and tracking at all times.
“Also, ask the ‘titan’ to stay on it. The same goes for the ‘black dream’. None of you are to come down. This place is too—”
Chu Zhixiao’s voice came to an abrupt end.
She suddenly realized that her ears were too quiet. Seven Star, the expert tracker, did not respond.
It was not normal. At such a short distance, there should not have been any barriers or barriers between her and the ‘seven-star’.
‘The only answer was that she had fallen into an illusion again. The puppet king had invaded her brain and hijacked her optic and auditory nerves.
Just as the ‘seven-star’ had said, the guy was training his soul with the outburst of evil feelings and desires. His soul had soared to an unimaginable level in only one and a half years!
However… it would be ridiculous to trap her just like that.
Chu Zhixiao’s mind was crystal clear. His soul condensed into a glamorous saber, which raised thousands of silver lines and cut the black space nearby into pieces.
Dark red brightness appeared in front of her eyes again, which was the brightness of ‘Red Pig’, the spider tank.
At the end of the light, a slender and tall man was smiling at him with his hands in his pockets.
It was a plain-looking young man whose face was as smooth as an egg because of years of poker face. But right now, there were deep wrinkles on the egg.
He was wearing a working raincoat that was often worn by the mechanics of the engine compartment. It was full of pockets, all of which were bulging with blood stains.
An indescribable sense of danger pierced through Chu Zhixiao’s brain and let her know instantly, “Puppet King?”
“Hello, Major Chu.”
The young mechanic smiled. “This seems to be the closest we’ve ever been, isn’t it?”
“I think so. Don’t move, and don’t trigger any brainwaves, either. Otherwise, I will chop you into a cluster of bloody mist and burn it to ash.
Holding the longsword on his waist, Chu Zhixiao drew close to the puppet king. “Who are you exactly? What is your purpose?”
“Hasn’t my purpose been stated in the purpose of the ‘Heart of God’? I pursue the liberation of human nature and want everyone to remember what a real human being looks like. Living as a human being for one second is better than living as a slave or a tool for a hundred years.
‘The puppet king smiled.
“are those ghouls what you call ‘real human beings’?”
Chu Zhixiao scoffed.
“Correct must be done. The people of the Star Glory Federation have sunk into deception and ignorance for too long. How can we really wake them up without such intense stimulation?
‘The puppet king blinked his eyes. “As for my name, I don’t usually tell it to other people. But if it is you, Major Chu, it will be a different matter. As long as you promise me one thing, you will never tell my name to a third person. This is a secret between you and me.”
“Secret?”
Chu Zhixiao found it even more absurd. “You believe my promise?”
“I didn’t believe it, but it was worth a try. It was worth the price to ‘wake you up’.”
‘The puppet king said, “Did you know that ‘secrets’ are a very important part of one’s life? If one has no secrets and everything is exposed to other people, one will not be a real person.
“So, start from this little secret and establish your true personality, Major Chu.”
Chu Zhixiao sniffed. “Why don’t you tell me your name first?”
“Lam Li Yao, ‘Vulture Li Yao’.”
The puppet king smiled delightedly. “I’m from a remote place on the other side of the sea of stars. Nice to meet you. But we’ll meet again soon!”
Chu Zhixiao heard that ‘Titan’ Yuan Kou and ‘Black Dream’ Yun Haixin were lunging at him.
The smile on the puppet king’s face was the same as the one on the sacrificial ceremony when he turned into a zombie a moment ago. It was fading and disappearing.
Her pupils constricted violently, and she lunged at the puppet king.
However, before she could pounce on the puppet king, an incomparably dazzling ball of light exploded from the depths of the darkness behind the puppet king and swept across the entire tail of the starship, devouring everything.
The only thing that Chu Zhixiao could do was raise his spiritual shield in time and adjust his crystal suit to the ‘explosive mode’ with the highest defense ability.
In the meantime, her spider tank ‘Red Pig’ lunged at its master without caring about its own safety. It waved its clumsy, hilarious legs, trying to protect its master, only to be shattered and almost melted by the intense light and heat.
It was the last thing Chu Zhixiao saw before he fell into darkness.
“Li Yao…”
Chu Zhixiao chewed on the name in the darkness.
Then, he bit them into pieces so hard that they were swallowed into his stomach without being spat out..