Ulanov wears his full-coverage helmet in every situation except when returning to base, which is almost his signature image. However, this helmet is not for handsomeness and style, and it is not entirely for enhancing defense. Its real function is to maintain the life of a veteran and cover up his terrible face.
Hao Ren saw a man with a terrifying appearance sitting behind a table and fiddling with some kind of equipment. His face could hardly be called human. A large piece of his skin has disappeared, and the exposed muscles and bones are glowing with metallic silver. One eyeball is connected by some electronic circuit so that it will not fall off. Where the nose was originally, there is only a metal valve with a valve. A hose coming out of the metal pipe was connecting to a gas cylinder next to the table, and his teeth—there was just a neat row of metal.
Ulanov's real face hidden under the helmet is like a skull made of flesh and steel, weird and terrifying. Rao Hao Ren has seen all kinds of strange and inexplicable things before, seeing this I couldn't help being shocked when I saw the scene.
"You are..." He couldn't hide his surprise, so he asked directly, "How did you do it?"
"Sixty-five years ago, I was working near the sea of nanometers, to see if those nanomachine clusters could be used to develop space colonies," Ulanov's remaining muscles twitched in conjunction with the flexible metal, as if he wanted to hurt Hao Jen smiled, but it looked almost scarier than Y'zaks's. "I couldn't get out when the Juggernaut computer went down, so I was melted—about a third."
As Ulanov said, he lifted his shirt slightly. Hao Ren saw a transparent breast plate under the clothes. The deformed internal organs and artificial organs were slowly pulsating in the pale pink vitamin solution. It looks like a cyborg who came out of a horror movie.
"I am one of the few survivors of that disaster, and I may also be the one who lived the longest." Ulanov pointed to the bed next to him, indicating that Hao Ren could sit down as he pleased, "Ah, you probably don't care about these things. Interest—do you want something from me?"
Hao Ren had just recovered from the shock of Ulanov's face and experience, and he didn't know what to say. After sitting down on the bed with a little restraint, he mentioned his original purpose: "Then what, I just want to ask... If I have something to leave the base, who do I report to?"
"Leaving the base?" Ulanov asked in his voice, "Where are you going?"
"Walking around, at least you need to know what kind of place your future residence will be," Hao Ren shrugged, "And I can't keep bothering you here—I don't plan to join any organization, so one day I will left."
"I understand Nolan's character. I'm afraid she really doesn't mind you staying here forever, because she doesn't care about it at all," Ulanov said hoarsely, his voice was not from his mouth, but from the position of his throat His vocal chords have become part of a nano-machine group decades ago, and now machines have replaced more than half of his physiological functions, "but it's normal for you to think so. If you want to go out, I can Accompany you, I have no mission for now. And this place is not peaceful."
"No, no, don't bother you, I was a soldier anyway. I should have some survival skills," Hao Ren quickly waved his hand. "I'm just here to inquire about the procedures to go through before leaving the base—you are a military unit after all."
Ulanov laughed hoarsely: "Aha... don't be so strict, Gray Fox doesn't have so many rules, because Nolan is the only rule here. As long as you don't trouble her, no one will trouble you .”
Hao Ren snorted, and Ulanov grabbed something from the table bucket and threw it to Hao Ren: "Take this, even if you don't join the gang, the identity of the gray fox can help you avoid a lot of trouble. In this place, only guys with a regiment behind them are considered human, and people without status are the 'slag' of the factory."
Hao Ren caught the small metal plaque flying over. It's a small badge-like thing with a gray fox's head laser-etched on it. It is the symbol of the Gray Fox Mercenary Group. In the chaotic black streets, people are dominated by a strict hierarchy. The cadres from Zero City and the heads of various regiments are the first class, while the soldiers and brokers who are backed by the regiment are honored as "citizens", the lowest. Most of them are those coolies who have no identity and no ability to fight—they are engaged in heavy and heavy work that cannot be replaced by nanomachine clusters in those smoky factories, and they suffer from respiratory diseases and various pollutions. Crude food and nerve paralyzing drugs made by nanomachine clusters to maintain short life, they are called "slag".
If there is no corps guarantee, visitors who rush to the black street will basically be thrown into the factory within three days, and those who can come out completely are only rare. And even if you can escape this catastrophe, surviving in the slums of the Black Street will not be much easier than being a "slag" in a factory.
This is the human society after the collapse of civilization.
When Hao Ren searched for information on the Internet, he also roughly browsed the information about the Black Street. Although the information was simple, he still had a general understanding of the rules and environment of this place, so he knew that this small metal plate should actually be given to him by Nolan. A gift, and for an outsider, an extremely valuable unexpected gift. He put away the identification card properly, and looked at Ulanov curiously: "Are other mercenary groups as easy to deal with as you?"
"Others?" Ulanov laughed, his voice was as rough as a broken old bellows, "You can either join them, or be thrown into the factory by them, most of the mercenary groups are also doing human traffickers You should be glad you met Nolan, she is the toughest and most unruly mercenary here, she sets the rules herself, that is, everyone except her is bullshit—so as long as she approves of someone , then this person is basically safe in the Black Street, and all the corps will give him some face."
Nolan's face flashed in Hao Ren's mind, that mercenary girl with long gray hair and expressionless face. Her eyes left an indelible impression on Hao Ren. Looking back now, the eyes in those eyes It seems that there is an indescribable alienation and vicissitudes, just like a detached person who sees through the mundane and detached from the world is watching life and death by the sidelines. When Hao Ren recalled this detail, he couldn't help but feel goose bumps on his back. He firmly believed that he saw something in Nolan's eyes that theoretically didn't belong to her: "Nolan... How old is this year? "
"Seventeen, or eighteen—it can't be any older," Ulanov said, looking into Hao Ren's eyes, "don't ask any more questions, that's all I know. The big warlords in this place are extremely afraid of Nolan , They are afraid of her, one of the important reasons is because of her age. It is said that when she was thirteen years old, she assassinated two mercenary captains alone, with bare hands, and in the most cruel way. Don saved her life, but Nolan estimates that there are more than a hundred ways to kill all the ambushers encountered today by himself."
Hao Ren was dumbfounded: "Is she Superman?"
"Some people say that she is actually a 'third-generation evolutionary', just pretending to be the first generation. Some people say that she is actually a soldier created before the collapse of the Far East Alliance. You can search for 'Soldier Project' and say Looks good," Ulanov shook his head, put the adjusted breathing filter back into the helmet, took off the breathing tube on his nose and put on the helmet again, "But I suggest you don't have any Believe me, don't ask Nolan about this. She usually has a good temper, but when she gets angry occasionally, no one can match her... Ha, it feels so good to put on your face again."
Ulanov put on his helmet, connected the lines extending from his jacket to his mask, and then closed the alloy zipper of his jacket, turning into a fully enclosed, weird soldier like a motorcycle rider. His helmet provides him with breathing aid and sends out electrical signals to keep his badly damaged brain functioning, while a piece of armor under his jacket sends out another set of signals to suppress what is left inside him. Nano Swarm to prevent those deadly little things from completely severing his spine. This device, together with the artificial organs in the body, formed a grotesquely deformed body. They had sustained his life for sixty-five years, and as long as his brain continued to survive, this body could continue to survive until Live longer than any human being.
Sixty-five years ago, he lost one-third of his body, and today, sixty-five years later, 80% of the tissues in his body have undergone renewal and transformation. It is also unique among the second-generation evolutionists. It is hard to say whether Ulanov, who has been transformed so far, is a human being or a living biochemical machine. The only thing that is certain is that this old soldier is still alive.
Why did he insist on living to this day
Hao Ren looked at Ulanov's not burly body, and knew that this unrecognizable veteran must have more stories, but he had not yet reached the time to ask clearly, so after thanking the other party for telling him so many things today, he Leaving Ulanov's room. (to be continued~^~)