It is very painful to be forcibly awakened from a deep sleep.
Lin Xi reluctantly opened his eyes under Jerry's push. He was terribly tired and his mind was still in a mess.
Even though Jerry's bearded face was dangling in front of him, his lips opening and closing and shouting something loudly, in those short ten minutes, what emerged in Lin Xi's mind was still The scenes in the dream - the translucent fetal sac that slowly condensed in the endless darkness and the insect eggs densely packed inside; the strange monsters that multiplied and spread on one planet after another; the huge insects landed in front of him; countless Humanoid or inhuman creatures turned into a translucent slurry little by little, and then were sucked by horrifically deformed insects, and the last image that remained in his mind was the most horrific.
He dreamed of an extremely terrifying giant insect. What should have been a hard carapace was covered with pale human skin. The insect kept poking his shoulder with its forelimbs and flashed its huge, terrifying compound eyes. , asking pitifully "Am I... ugly?".
"Dr. Lin Xi - Dr. Lin Xi - wake up! Something happened last night!"
It was like a broken television finally returning to normal, and his mind slowly became clearer.
Finally, Lin Xi vaguely realized what Jerry was talking about.
"what happened?"
He repeated in a murmur while rubbing his painfully swollen temples.
"Something happened..."
"When was the last time you saw Francis? What was the situation like?"
Jerry asked urgently.
Lin Xi looked at him blankly. He rubbed his forehead and replied in a daze:
"The last time I saw him? Of course it was last night... I was too tired and didn't notice his movements. I fell asleep before I could completely take off my exploration suit. What happened to him?"
"he died."
Jerry said to Lin Xi simply and clearly.
Through the helmet of the exploration suit, his expression looked sad and funny behind the mask.
"Francis... what? Francis is dead?!"
"Yes, Francis is dead, and so is Stephen."
Lin Xi finally woke up completely.
He looked around in disbelief, as if he would see Francis here again in the next second.
The tent was dimly lit as before he fell asleep, and everything was in its original position. Just as Lin Xi saw before he fell asleep due to overtiredness, there were no traces of anyone else using the entire tent. .
"Oh, my God, what is going on?" Lin Xi hurriedly put on the exploration suit, and then hurriedly followed Jerry out of the dome tent.
If we look at the time recorded on the personal terminal, it should be dawn outside by this time, but the temporary campsite deep in the cave is still as dark, cold and quiet as the eternal night. Only in the open space between the dome tents, the cold light lamps placed by humans emitted a faint blue light. The remaining exploration team members have also woken up a long time ago. They are staying uneasily somewhere not far from the dome tent. on this group of people. And when they saw Lin Xi walking towards them closely behind Jerry, everyone's whispers stopped for a moment. Some people hesitated to speak, while others stared at Lin Xi warily. The atmosphere instantly became solemn, but Lin Xi didn't care so much at this moment.
He had already seen them when he was close to those people - under the light of the cold light, the orange color of the exploration uniform emerged from the gaps in the crowd. Lin Xi walked over without hesitation, and then he stood in front of the crowd. I saw the two bodies in the middle.
"May God rest in peace."
Lin Xi heard Jerry whispering behind him. Although he had just seen the scene before, Jerry still looked a little pale when he came to the two corpses again.
What a horrible death it was.
Even Francis's skull was out of shape, and Stephen looked as if he had been thrown into a large meat grinder, beaten a few times and then dragged out. Lin Xi first inspected Stephen's body. From the chest down, all the internal organs and muscles seemed to have been opened from the inside. The blood soaked on the rocks under the corpse and turned into a thick black color.
Scattered corpse fragments are scattered everywhere on the ground. The black ones are internal organs, red muscles, and the pink ones are bone fragments and teeth soaked in blood.
But compared with Francis, the condition of Stephen's body didn't seem that bad.
Lin Xi took a deep breath to calm himself down, but he forgot that the parts used to filter the air in his exploration suit were on the verge of being scrapped. He faintly smelled a disgusting odor, which made his body suddenly A shudder.
Lin Xi's face was gloomy. He had to force himself to calm down and face the corpse. But that feeling was really terrible. The person who was staring at Lin Xi silently and with burning eyes yesterday was now a putrid mass of rotten meat with an indistinguishable shape.
No, maybe using rotten meat to describe its body wasn't that accurate.
To be precise, Francis' body was close to half-melted.
Lin Xi used a metal rod to gently poke at the part of his body that was exposed outside the severely damaged exploration suit, and then discovered that Francis' muscles and bones were in a strange state—they were soft and sticky. It was thick, almost like a few pieces of dark red aspic that had failed to be made, and the shape was barely maintained by the outermost layer of skin.
Lin Xi only touched the corpse slightly, and black and red blood mixed with this "meat sauce" gurgled out from the damaged wound.
There were several very small alien insects that were greedily lying on Francis's blood and sucking continuously. However, after feeling Lin Xi's approach, they turned around very quickly and then squirmed in. Into a crevice in the rocks somewhere in the darkness.
It wasn't until this moment that Lin Xi finally realized what was wrong with him that he had been feeling vaguely since he woke up.
It's bugs.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at the rock wall of the cave.
The rocks that should have been densely packed with terrifying swarms of insects are now bare. The rough rocks containing a little quartz reflect fine reflections under the illumination of the searchlight. Occasionally, sporadic sounds can be heard in places where the light cannot reach. The sound of several small insects climbing.
"Those bugs—"
"When we woke up, those bugs were gone." Jerry said softly next to Lin Xi, "The storm outside should have stopped, I think."
After mentioning bugs, some hesitant voices came from the communication channel.
"…poor Frances…poor Stephen…it was the bugs that attacked them, right?"
Among the survivors, a young girl whispered cautiously.
"What else is there besides bugs? Is this something humans can do?" A voice spoke first without waiting for Lin Xi's answer.
Lin Xi turned around and looked at that person.
"Walker, you better shut the fuck up."
Jerry spoke before Lin Xi: "We have nothing now—"
"Isn't there any warning monitoring?"
Lin Xi couldn't help but ask.
"Our equipment is lost." Someone answered him weakly, "But in order to avoid accidents, we set up surveillance outside the tent yesterday, but there was no sign that the surveillance facilities were triggered from the beginning to the end..."
"That kind of monster-like bug only needs to wriggle its body into the tent, and then drag humans out to feast on it. That thing will not touch the security facilities at all."
Walker interjected, and then he made a vulgar gesture to Lin Xi.
"Walker!"
Jerry gave another warning.
However, perhaps the deaths of his companions one after another made Walker's mental state worse, or perhaps since the exploration mission began, Jerry's respect for Lin Xi was regarded as favoritism, and Walker seemed increasingly dissatisfied.
Walker ignored Jerry.
He still asked Lin Xi aggressively.
"Dr. Lin Xi, it was your idea to set up camp in this damn damn place. Didn't you say before that these bugs hiding from the storm in the cave will not attack humans? But now, look at the ghostly looks of Francis and Stephen. Damn, they might have preferred to die in that storm—"
"No… "
Lin Xi interrupted him.
"Not a bug."
He shook his head.
"If they were bugs, they would never let go of me who had already taken off my exploration clothes and drag Frances away. At least before I accidentally fell asleep, Frances had not had time to untie his equipment."
Lin Xi said this and turned around to look at Francis's body with a frown.
The dead man was indeed still wearing a full exploration suit—but his helmet had long since cracked and turned into several pieces that fell not far from the body.
"But… "
Walker curled his lips, and there was no follow-up to his "but" after a while.
At this time, Lin Xi pointed at the dirty blood on Stephen's mouth and nose. Under the illumination of the searchlight, the dried blood appeared purple-black.
"As for Stephen, maybe he left the tent on his own initiative... maybe."
As Lin Xi spoke, he used a metal rod to push away the blood clots on Steve's face. His movements were very gentle, but even so, as the blood clots were peeled off, a large piece of loose skin also fell off. . A huge hole glowing with blue-gray and purple-red suddenly appeared in the middle of Stephen's face.
"His entire respiratory system is corroded. Only violent breathing can do that—"
Jerry stepped forward, looked at the location pointed by Lin Xi, and then he murmured.
"No matter what happened, he was still alive when he left the tent."
That's why the toxic atmosphere in the cave corroded Stephen's respiratory system so severely.
"He has the same problem with his penis."
Lin Xi pointed at Stephen's eyes that were also corroded.
"Wait, you're saying that Stephen left the tent conscious? He was still breathing and his eyes were open at that time - did he do this on his own initiative?"
Someone couldn't help but ask, his voice full of confusion.
The other people also endured the discomfort and came closer. They were somewhat dubious, but after observing Stephen's horrific body, they had to agree with Jerry and Lin Xi's analysis.
But what if the killers of Francis and Stephen weren't those horrible bugs? Thinking of this, all the surviving members of the exploration team shuddered in their backs.
The deaths of those two men are a horrific mystery.
Maybe if they continue to explore, they will get a satisfactory answer, but even an idiot can predict that just exploring this matter itself is enough to make the already panic-stricken exploration team even more panicked.
"Whatever killed them, we need to get out of here as quickly as possible."
Jerry stood up from the body, his voice suddenly turned cold.
"We are running low on supplies, especially oxygen and fresh water. I feel sorry for Stephen and Francis, but the top priority is to let us survive - and we also have to contact the Helios as soon as possible. I think the people on the spacecraft must Crazy anxious. As for other things... we can wait until we are out of danger."
Jerry deliberately brought the deaths of Frances and Stephen lightly.
Under Jerry's order, the remaining exploration team members began to pack up supplies and prepare to leave here in confusion.
No one wants to stay here... In the extremely dark environment, maybe the monster that has swallowed two lives is still parked in a corner, quietly spying on them
Almost everyone has the same fear in their mind.
Of course Lin Xi was no exception, but when he packed things for the dead Francis, he still inevitably felt a little breathless. Lin Xi was certain that this difficulty in breathing was not due to a fault in the damn respiratory filtration system.
His chest felt unusually heavy, and he began to replay traces of the night before.
He was sleeping deeply... Oh, of course...
During this process, Francis seemed to have tried to wake him up
Was that a dream, or did it really happen
If that is true...if...Francis was asking for help from him at that time...
"Hey, Dr. Lin Xi."
Jerry suddenly walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder
"Don't think too much." He looked at Lin Xi with a somewhat unclear meaning in his eyes, "...I don't think Francis would like to see you so sad."
Lin Xi suddenly choked up. He knew immediately what Jerry meant.
"No, you all misunderstood, I'm just... a little sorry. You know, Francis is a good man."
Jerry smiled.
"...No matter who they are, they will die for you."
His voice suddenly became hoarse, and then he said.
"What?"
Lin Xi's eyes suddenly opened wide, and he looked at Jerry in disbelief.
But Jerry didn't show anything unusual.
"Francis is a good man." He repeated his previous words completely, seemingly not noticing that just a few seconds ago he said such a strange and unknown word to Lin Xi.
Lin Xi looked at Jerry in surprise, whose expression gradually became a little confused. The latter never showed any unusual appearance after those words.
Soon, someone called Jerry away from Lin Xi.
Lin Xi turned around and continued to sort out the exploration equipment, but her heartbeat never calmed down.
Occasionally, for a few moments, Lin Xi even thought that maybe it was his own problem, that he was experiencing auditory hallucinations under pressure. Or maybe Jerry was just joking—
Lin Xi's mind became confused, and his oxygen circulation system still sounded the alarm in his ears from time to time, making him feel more and more upset.
Before setting off, he found Jerry and asked if anyone had any extra oxygen circulation components, and he got what he needed.
However, that oxygen circulation component is, in a sense, a relic of Francis...
"His exploration suit was still intact, so we took off everything we could use. I guess you won't mind this, right?"
The exploration team member who handed the component to Lin Xi said softly.
"No, of course I won't mind, thank you."
Lin Xi was startled for a moment, then took off his damaged component and replaced it with the one left by Francis.
However, after replacing the components, Lin Xi stared at the values on his personal terminal for a while.
If he hadn't repeatedly confirmed that the components were installed correctly, Lin Xi would have thought there was something wrong with his terminal—
Starting from the patrol point, Lin Xi's oxygen reserve had been reduced by half after experiencing such a hard climb to avoid danger and a series of subsequent minor troubles. Lin Xi was very sure that the oxygen consumption of the people still alive in the exploration team should be similar to his own. However, in the team left behind by Francis... all the oxygen reserves were full.
Lin Xi's brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Seeing that Jerry was already forming a team, he involuntarily left the team and came to the two abandoned corpses. He squatted down next to Francis's body and pressed his hand on it. On the device button protruding from the opponent's neck.
Lin Xi soon discovered that the oxygen gate on Francis' exploration suit... was not open.
"What the hell is going on?"
Lin Xi murmured to herself.
Lin Xi couldn't believe what he discovered. Everything seemed to become more complicated and confusing, and he couldn't understand why.
How did Francis do it
He followed them here without breathing any oxygen, and then inexplicably fell into a cave with another man and turned into a miserable corpse.
"Dr. Lin Xi, we have to go-"
Jerry shouted from behind Lin Xi.
Lin Xi took a deep breath, let go of Francis and quickly followed the others.
"Sorry. I..." Lin Xi said to Jerry. He almost told him what he had discovered before, but the moment he opened his mouth, by some strange combination, he thought of Jerry's inexplicable treatment of him before. The words that were spoken.
"I just wanted to say goodbye to him one last time."
Lin Xi changed his words calmly.
Then he turned around and followed the others step by step towards the outside of the cave.
They went quite smoothly for the first part of the journey.
The only trouble may be that the road underfoot is a little too slippery.
In yesterday's spectacular insect tide, it seemed that some insects liked to secrete mucus, which really caused the unlucky ones of the exploration team to suffer a lot.
But then, trouble gradually appeared... The number of bugs staying in the cave was really not small.
This kind of eyeless insect with pale carapace should be the aboriginal people here. Yesterday, the exploration team did not see them at all, but now, after leaving the special period, their existence is really not worthy of human beings. friendly.
Several people were almost bitten, and small holes appeared in their exploration suits, which were eventually stained by tape.
But in the face of the troubles that followed, neither the wet and slippery stone road nor the white blind bugs that fell from the rock wall or ceiling from time to time were nothing.
Because their next trouble is—
get lost.
No one knows how this happened.
As they entered this intricate cave, they dropped the marker ball. This kind of marking ball will continuously send electronic waves in place, and the electronic terminal of the exploration team leader will record these waves, and finally convert them into a detailed road map and send it to the exploration team leader, who is now Jerry.
Under such tense circumstances as yesterday, they probably walked less than five kilometers into the cave before arriving at the campsite.
But now, after a full night's rest, they walked exhausted for a long time...
The entrance to the cave that should have appeared never appeared.
The road under the feet of the exploration team members also became more and more dangerous. This eerie and winding passage seemed to be endless. In the end, even the little white bugs gradually disappeared.
Finally, the gap that was originally big enough for two people to pass gradually became very narrow, and in some places it was even so narrow that it was impossible for one person to pass through at all.
Also, it's very, very dark here.
This kind of blackness seems to be powerful, and the searchlights worn by the exploration team seem to be being swallowed up bit by bit by the gaps in the narrow passage, becoming dimmed little by little.
And before the fact that she was lost was confirmed, Lin Xi actually began to feel that something was wrong.
"Jerry, are you sure this is the right way?"
The further Lin Xi walked, the stranger he became, and he couldn't help but ask Jerry.
"That's right, follow the marked ball and we're almost there-"
Jerry said in the communication channel to his companion who was already feeling a little uneasy.
"But did we really walk so long yesterday?"
someone asked in confusion.
"Yesterday we had the help of adrenaline, so we felt that we had reached this road very quickly. But now there are no bugs following us. In darkness and silence, people's judgment of time and space will appear. Mistakes—and restlessness exacerbates them. Promise me not to make them." There was a certain calmness in Jerry's voice.
The author has something to say: The next chapter contains anti-theft...
Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or gave me the nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the [Grenade]: A Zhuang 1;
Thanks to the little angels who threw [landmines]: 3 A-zhuangs; burn the small universe! , Yuanqi, Minyang, want to warm a pot of osmanthus wine to drink, nebuchadnezzar, mudupere, trough er 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigates [nutrient solution]:
There are 60 bottles of Zhaozhuo, 40 bottles of Zhuzhu, 20 bottles of Ruby Chirp, 14 bottles of Li Lin, 10 bottles of Dajuweizhong, Ray, Yalin, 6752654, 8 bottles of Nanny Ding, Yuebai, Mu Xuan, 26861403, 5 bottles of sera; 2 bottles of shrimp and meatballs; Liushuang, green bamboos, skin allergies, I want facial expressions! 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!