Mother of Insects

Chapter 54

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"Uh-"

The metal door of the greenhouse opened smoothly in front of Lin Xi.

Only this time, Lin Xi stood at the door for a while before walking in.

There was a blanket draped over his shoulders, but he still felt cold - the coldness seemed to come entirely from within his body.

The interior of the greenhouse was still as Lin Xi remembered it, and the deformed pupa shells of "No. 1" were piled in the corner of the insect culture tank just as he had seen them last time.

Lin Xi opened the glass tank and walked in. He squatted next to the pupa shell and looked at the ugly thing in front of him more carefully than ever before.

In the gap between the cracked pupa shell, the film was still there, but "No. 1" seemed to have changed its posture. Lin Xi did not see its eyes this time.

Under the bright light, the pupa shell rises and falls in a slow pattern that is difficult to detect without looking carefully. This is a sign that "No. 1" is growing vigorously.

"Huh..."

After witnessing the normal appearance of "No. 1" pupa shell, Lin Xi finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Really."

He couldn't help but mutter to himself, and all the muscles that had been tense unconsciously relaxed.

"...I'm almost like a psychopath, don't you think?"

He said to himself, and then rubbed his slightly sore forehead. Once he confirmed with his own eyes that "No. 1" was normal, and recalling his previous speculations that made him extremely nervous, Lin Xi even felt that all his actions became ridiculous and neurotic.

God knows why when he fell to the ground, he felt that the Sunu Star Butterfly he had raised by himself would turn into that half-human, half-insect monster, and he had been worried about it for so long.

"No. 1" was probably still dormant at this time, and there was no special squirming coming from underneath the film.

This somewhat disappointed Lin Xi.

For a moment, he even wanted to squat down and poke the membrane of "No. 1" like a child raising an animal for the first time, but at this moment his personal terminal rang at an inappropriate time.

Lin Xi was startled, then clicked on the personal terminal.

Bryce's slightly frustrated voice immediately came out from the other end of the terminal.

"Are you okay?! Did something happen—wait, where are you?"

Lin Xi was still a little confused when he saw Bryce looking like he was facing an enemy, but he quickly understood what the problem was. Bryce must have missed his message.

"I, I'm in the greenhouse... I just want to see what's going on here."

Lin Xi explained quickly.

Bryce at the other end of the terminal looked really angry. Lin Xi could almost see the raised blood vessels beating under the skin of Bryce's forehead.

"Damn it, have you figured out the situation? That lunatic named Sam is probably wandering around in the spaceship, waiting to cause trouble for you! Before this matter is solved, you should pay attention to yourself. Safety—there’s nothing else in your greenhouse besides that crazy ugly bug. Instead of worrying about that thing, you should be focusing on yourself!”

Lin Xi shrank under Bryce's barrage of roars, and he didn't dare to refute him at all.

"I'll go back right away... I swear I won't run around again."

he said quietly.

Then he wrapped the blanket tightly around his shoulders and left the greenhouse.

And Lin Xi will never know what happened when the metal door of the greenhouse closed behind him...

"Tick tock..."

Dark red blood mixed with mucus dripped out from where the pupa shell was originally.

Immediately afterwards, the pupa shell that was originally normal in Lin Xi's field of vision began to gradually fade and become distorted.

If Lin Xi could see the true appearance of the pupa shell, he would probably be surprised - the pupa shell had been completely broken, and it shriveled up, like a pile of rotten blankets crumpled on the ground. The scarred body of "No. 1" lay on top of the pupa shell that had lost its function.

It maintains a very twisted posture so that its wings with several holes can be spread out. Everything Lin Xi had seen before was a mimicry emerging from the surface of the wings.

But under that mimicry, its new body was already scarred and bleeding profusely.

"boom… "

He persisted until Lin Xi was far away, and the body of "No. 1" fell heavily from the top of the pupa shell.

It couldn't get used to its new body at all, even though that was the choice it made firmly and without doubt from the beginning.

That soft, sensitive skin can cause it more trouble than good.

It felt very painful, and the location of the wound was as if it had been burned by fire. The pain was so painful that it almost wanted to wail. This is a feeling that has never happened before - if it is still the same as before, the gun in Lin Xi's hand cannot really hurt it at all. But now, it has been fused with human genes and has grown delicate, sensitive nerves and an extremely fragile shell. Although those wounds were not fatal, the unprecedented pain made "No. 1" extremely painful.

It propped its forelimbs on the ground in an attempt to get up, but the thick and warm blood made it slip again and again. "No. 1" fell into a pool of his own blood, and the wound was stimulated again. It twitched on the floor for a while before gathering the strength to try again.

But in general, races like it always have unique talents in adapting to new bodies. After a few attempts, Number One had successfully mastered the trick and sat up half-a bit funny in its insectoid form, but its joints finally became more comfortable in this position. .

"Woo..."

There was a sound in "Number One's" throat that was unfamiliar even to him.

Human vocal cords are very strange, and the sounds they can produce are very limited. At least to "No. 1"'s own ears, those low sounds are simply harsh. But if it was Lin Xi, the sound coming out of his lips was so beautiful.

When he thought of Lin Xi, "No. 1"'s chest began to feel a completely unfamiliar dull pain.

This feeling is more brand new.

Maybe it was the thing called the "heart" formed on the chest that imitated the human body layout, or maybe it was causing trouble... Some vague thoughts slipped through "No. 1"'s mind.

It is only after the two human bodies and part of the brain are completely combined that these weird and complex ideas come out inexplicably. The instinct of "No. 1" as an insect is panicked and at a loss for these thoughts that are constantly changing.

It lowered its head and looked at its wound.

Those were all blasted out by Lin Xi with a pulse gun.

Although the pulse gun is far less lethal than the ion gun, the pulse beam still left several huge holes in its body. However, in just a few hours, those holes have been filled with black and red muscle fibers. and connective tissue. New flesh and blood continued to grow under the thick mucus, and the blood that had previously been injured was squeezed out from the gaps between flesh and blood as it moved.

"No. 1" tentatively stretched out his forelimb and touched the wound.

Fresh pain currents generally rush into its cranial nerves. The severe pain reminded it again that perhaps it had indeed pupated into a failed body this time.

…what else is there in your greenhouse besides that maddeningly ugly bug…

The words Bryce roared in Lin Xi's personal terminal seemed to ring out again.

This is not the first time that humans have described it like this in front of it.

So...even if he worked hard to transform his body on a large scale, would his body still be "ugly"

The moment this idea flashed into "No. 1"'s mind, the heaviness gradually spreading in his chest confused him again.

It also takes a long time to learn the word to describe the feeling.

"sad".

"Lin Xi... Lin... Xi..."

As for "No. 1" at this moment, the only thing it can do is to keep repeating that name.

It is so attached to that fragile and warm human being, from the moment it first gained consciousness in the void.

Then, it tried to imitate what Lin Xi did in the cabin.

He looked at the group of light and shadow that suddenly appeared in the corner of the wall, and kept squeezing water from his eyes - "No. 1" also followed Lin Xi's example.

When the hot liquid kept pouring out from its eye sockets, it was almost frightened by the strange feeling. The complex organs that absorbed the human body and were forcibly spliced into his body brought about a particularly strange feeling.

"Woooo..."

A weird, hoarse whimper rolled down from the throat of this terrifying monster.

It was obviously just imitation at first, but something strange happened.

"No. 1" found that he couldn't stop the behavior of burning hot liquid rolling out of his eyes.

"Woo... Wu... Lin... Xi..."

Even if it kept repeating the name that made him feel at ease and happy.

The pain of the wound, the word "ugly" being repeated over and over again, and most importantly... On this night, when Lin Xi stared at it, his cold eyes were still that decisive shot...

Countless chaotic fragments piled up together, weighing heavily on the chest of this young "Star Butterfly".

It just twitched and stroked its painful wound, crying continuously in fear and confusion.

"Well?"

Lin Xi made a confused sound. He raised his head in front of Bryce's desk, and then looked thoughtfully in the direction of the door.

"Lin Xi?"

Bryce looked up from the huge polyethylene box on the table and asked a little nervously: "Is there something wrong?"

That box was filled with all kinds of sundries, all from Lin Xi's previous living cabin. The mercenaries and security personnel on the ship inspected the ruined house and then cordoned it off. The reason why Bryce left the medical room before was to go there to help Lin Xi sort out the daily clutter that did not need to be investigated.

The cabin Lin Xi was assigned next was smaller and more dilapidated than the previous one (probably because there was no mission supervisor from the Earth-Moon United University around when the cabin was assigned this time). Now Bryce and Lin What Xi Zai is busy with is sorting out the crazy bits and pieces of life.

"Did you hear anything? Someone seemed to be crying?" Lin Xi turned his head and listened carefully to the sounds around him and then said, "The sound was very small, but I thought I heard it -

"When did you become such a person who cares so much about external affairs?" Bryce turned his head in the direction Lin Xi was looking at. He listened carefully for a while and then shook his head, "No, I don't care about anything. did not hear it."

After hearing Bryce's answer, Lin Xi could only frown and put the matter behind him - after all, when he noticed, the ethereal crying sound seemed to disappear. Even if he listened carefully, all he could hear was the noise of the spacecraft itself.

"Okay, maybe it's my imagination..."

Lin Xi said tiredly.

Although the subtle crying sound was like a very small hook, which made his heart tremble involuntarily, Lin Xi was not in the mood to continue exploring at this time.

"I can give you another check-up if you need it."

Bryce said.

"...Nothing else, just in case. After all, even Alyssa mentioned this before. She felt that you had some minor problems like this since the accident."

"You mean the fantasies and nightmares, right?"

Lin Xi sighed and replied. He glanced up at Bryce, the man standing next to him looking tired and nervous and irritated. After Lin Xi came back from the greenhouse, it took him a long time to calm down.

Lin Xi was unwilling to let all his previous efforts go to waste.

He paused for a moment, and then added an additional explanation for himself: "There are too many things happening in this incident. Maybe it's just an old habit of mine that makes me so suspicious-"

For example, before, he even had the whimsical idea that "Number One" might be that half-human, half-insect terrifying monster.

"Of course, it would be nice if you were willing to give me some more calming gel bars."

Lin Xi added.

"Don't you ever think about it."

Bryce rolled his eyes at him.

His tone sounded serious, but Lin Xi knew that his last words had an effect, and Bryce looked more relaxed than before.

They then began the arduous task of cleaning up.

Bryce helped Lin Xi sort the trivial supplies into files like a qualified housewife. Got it

"... Books, books, antique record players, game consoles... Hey, man, can't you put some useful things in your luggage?" He kept complaining while packing.

And Lin Xi could only listen to Bryce's nagging with a headache.

However, when Bryce took out a small but old metal cube from the box, he stopped talking.

Lin Xi noticed something was wrong and looked at the thing in his hand. Then Lin Xi's expression suddenly changed.

"Oh no-"

He directly snatched the holographic projection recorder recording Savile's image from Bryce's hand.

The small instrument was now covered with traces of acid corrosion, and even the projection lens had become turbid. Even though he knew it was impossible, Lin Xi still pressed the switches involuntarily, and of course, the instrument in his hand was as cold and rough as a stone on Mars, motionless.

Although this thing has often malfunctioned since a long time ago, Lin Xi never thought that one day it would be damaged to this extent.

Lin Xi looked at the instrument in his hand in shock. His mind went blank for a while.

"Perhaps, when we return to Earth, we can find someone to repair it." Of course, Bryce also knew the importance of this recorder to Lin Xi. He said dryly next to Lin Xi, and then paused briefly for a few seconds. After that, he quickly changed his mind and said, "Or, we can find a time to talk to someone from the engineering department another day. They might be able to fix this..."

"Um."

Lin Xi couldn't say a word. He had to bite his lips tightly to prevent him from making strange sounds out of extreme frustration and pain.

His expression was extremely bad, and although he wanted to control it, his appearance still frightened Bryce.

"Ah, by the way, I remember that I have a maintenance robot here, which is used to debug the treatment device. Maybe it can repair this recorder-"

Bryce rummaged around in a panic for the miniature maintenance robot, but it turned out that one was not small enough and knocked all the piles of information on the table to the ground.

The scene suddenly became chaotic.

Lin Xi quickly gathered herself together and started to pack up the information with Bryce.

Jerry Edwin Intracranial A-V117 Neural Assistive Element Failure

Lin Xi accidentally saw handwriting on a piece of electronic paper.

He paused and involuntarily reached out to pick up the electronic paper.

This turned out to be Jerry's physical report.

Since the accident, this once good old man has been in a severe coma, so that no one can understand why he deliberately led the wrong way, and why he led the surviving members of the exploration team directly towards the hidden machine. An aircraft that has been underground for hundreds of years.

Although she didn't show it, Lin Xi was still particularly concerned about Jerry's weird behavior that morning.

At this time, he got his physical report. He knew it shouldn't be done but he couldn't help but read it carefully. The neural auxiliary component was overloaded directly inside his brain, and the heat emitted almost destroyed Jerry's brain. After it was cooked, it could even be said that it was a miracle that Jerry was still alive.

"It's scary, isn't it?" Bryce took the report away from Lin Xi's hand and smiled bitterly at Lin Xi.

"Jerry has always been worried about his age, so he applied for a neural auxiliary component very early. This thing is said to be able to help humans improve their cognitive abilities and computing abilities in all aspects. Who would have known that it might also be able to... What if the human brain is burned into a pot of porridge?”

"Your metaphor is disgusting."

Lin Xi glanced at Bryce, and he couldn't help but say.

At this moment, an idea flashed through his mind like lightning.

Wait... Help improve human cognitive abilities...

He seems to have heard similar words before...

Ah, by the way, it's Ernie. Ernie once complained that it would be nice if he had that kind of expensive chip installed in his brain like Dr. Ando.

Shizuo Ando also installed such a component in his brain.

Lin Xi suddenly held Bryce's hand that was collecting information.

He stared straight at him and said hurriedly: "Shizuo Ando-Professor Ando, has he ever installed something similar? Senior scientific researchers like them must have installed something in their heads in order to conduct research better! "

"Ah, yes, I remember that Professor Ando did install some chips, but it was just a very basic auxiliary chip, purely used to store information-"

"What about John Bronson?"

Lin Xi suddenly interrupted Bryce's words.

If Bryce was still confused by Lin Xi's confused inquiry before, he seemed to have noticed something as soon as the name John Bronson was spoken.

Bryce was silent, his fingertips tapping rapidly on his personal terminal.

Soon, all the personal information that John Bronson had stored on Bryce's computer when he was still alive was revealed - everything from how he repaired his teeth to his own death investigation report.

After quickly reading John Bronson's information, Bryce looked at Lin Xi in shock.

"I really don't understand why I missed this... John did not have an auxiliary chip installed in his brain, but because he had installed a micro-therapeutic device, which regularly emits microcurrents to stimulate the brain, thereby slowing down or stopping Alzheimer's disease. It is the primary symptom of mutism. John relied on this treatment device to pass the screening and board the Helios at that age to participate in this exploration mission. "

After saying that, Bryce's face tensed up.

"Do you think... there is something wrong with the auxiliary components of the three of them?"

he asks.

"I have no evidence."

Lin Xi said dryly.

"But I think there must be something wrong with them. John is dead, Ando is crazy, and Jerry is in a coma for a long time." He paused and then said, "Lena once mentioned something when Jerry was ill. At that time, I She didn't pay much attention to it: she mentioned that her grandma had experienced symptoms similar to Jerry's, and that the problem with the electronic components was caused by the large military communications station near the hotel receiving too much. information garbage, and then there is a problem with the chip in the brain... "

The author has something to say: In fact, in my articles... ugly men have always had the best fate...

(Pat the shoulder to comfort the big insect that is crying)

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Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or gave me the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angels who threw [landmines]: 3 Black Cats; 2 A-Zhuangs; Wan Zi is very happy, let’s burn it  small universe! , Yuan Qi, one of them is full of blood when he goes down, Diver Passerby A, Xiao Xiami, and Chen Xi upstairs;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigates [nutrient solution]:

29 bottles of water chestnut; 21 bottles of potato flour; 20 bottles of Feiye and Yuhuaihuai; 15 bottles of wine made with poison; 10 bottles of yog, kongshaaosao, and leaves are not sour; 9 bottles of albero; 5 bottles of Ah Hanhan and Milu; 3 bottles for primary school students; 2 bottles of Jiangxiang Eggplant, Zhan Xuyang, and Aluo; 1 bottle of Xie Xingyun, Nihaoah, Nebuchadnezzar, and Stone Age;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!