In the warehouse on the B3 floor of the shelter, Luo Yu froze on the spot as he looked at Xiao Yu who had expanded in size more than once.
What's going on...?! "Blank!"
Seeing Luo Yu appearing at the door, Xiao Yu called out excitedly. Although his voice was still weak, Chu Guang could clearly feel that the little guy had regained some energy.
"I told you not to imitate that strange cry...what exactly is going on with you?"
Luo Yu walked forward, ignoring the tentacles floating next to him, and reached out to touch Xiao Yu's smooth and delicate head.
It's so hot!
This guy's body surface temperature is as low as sixty or seventy degrees.
"Eh..." Xiaoyu made a weak cry, and his pitiful look made people feel heartbroken.
Chu Guang looked at Heya.
"Tell him the situation again."
Heya nodded, looked at Luo Yu who looked anxious, and repeated to him what he had just said to Chu Guang.
Especially regarding those two options.
"...There are only two options now, let it evolve independently, or let it devour the mother nest on the B6 floor. The former has a higher success rate, but is more random.
And after success, there is a high probability that it will lose its current memory. The latter has the risk of being swallowed up in turn, but if it evolves successfully, the result will be relatively controllable, and it will most likely retain its current self."
After listening to Heya's narration, Luo Yu fell into silence and said after a moment.
"...Does it have to evolve?"
He suddenly felt.
In fact, there is no need to become so strong.
For him, Xiaoyu has become his partner, and she even saved him on the battlefield before.
If the price of becoming stronger was to sacrifice those irreplaceable memories, he would rather it remain as stupid as before.
Looking at Luo Yu, Heya nodded seriously.
"Yes, just like a person's birth, old age, illness and death, this is something that is bound to happen in its life cycle...even if you leave it alone, it will eventually reach that point."
Luo Yu lowered his head with slight remorse.
"Is it because I took it to hunt alien species and fruiting bodies?" "Yes, and no."
Luo Yu raised his head in confusion. "What do you mean?" Heya said.
"Mutant slime mold... is a very special creature, and your little feather is the most special one. It does not rely on spores to transmit information, but uses vocal cords to communicate like humans.
.Genetic material only accounts for a very small part of its evolution, more...I think it could be memory."
"memory?"
"Well," Hea nodded, "a creature's habits, experience, knowledge, etc., together constitute its understanding of evolution and the next stage of self. When these memories accumulate to a certain extent, the memories from the depths of life will
Instinct tells it to be
When the time comes... it will naturally move to the next stage of life."
"That's its mission."
Luo Yu was silent for a while, then looked up at Chu Guang, "I want to talk to it."
Heya also looked at Chu Guang.
"My suggestion is that its owner should communicate with it...but we'd better make a choice within an hour. I'm not sure how long it can maintain its self-awareness."
Chu Guang nodded and looked at Luo Yu.
"You heard me, you have one hour." Luo Yu nodded.
"It won't take that long...ten minutes, no, five minutes is enough."
Chu Guang waved to the Guards Corps, and then led Hea and his party out of the warehouse and came outside the B3 floor.
He thought it would be better to leave Xiao Yu and Luo Yu alone for a while.
Anyway, Xiaoqi can monitor every corner of the shelter. Even if an accident occurs, he can control the situation immediately.
While waiting, Heya looked at Chu Guang.
"Is it okay to leave it to him to choose?"
"No problem, I believe he has his own judgment." Chu Guang answered simply.
There is no best-of-both-worlds option in this world, not to mention that Xiaoyu's problems are unprecedented on this planet.
Since it's all a gamble, it's better to leave it to the parties involved to make the decision.
The alliance's success today was not entirely due to his multiple-choice questions.
One person and one mother communicated for a while, but the time was shorter than Chu Guang expected. Only three minutes had passed before Luo Yu walked out of the room.
"I have decided." Staring at Chu Guang intently, Luo Yu said in a serious tone, "The second one... let it devour the mother nest on the B6 floor."
Chu Guang looked at him and reminded him in a calm tone.
"Have you thought clearly? It's not easy for a baby who has just learned to walk to defeat an old monster that has lived for more than a hundred years, even if the guy is already very weak."
"Hmm..." Luo Yu nodded and glanced at Xiao Yu behind him, "This is not just my idea... but also its decision."
Rather than losing all memories and completely becoming a new life, it is better to take a gamble and pass on the memories with a brand new body.
As he said, this was not his decision alone.
After hearing his confession, Xiaoyu took the initiative to choose option B... She also didn't want to give up those precious memories.
Chu Guang nodded.
"I respect your choice."
As Luo Yu made the final decision, the move to transfer Xiao Yu to the B6 floor began quickly, and it was still the same team as last time.
A group of heavily armed players, led by Lao Bai, took the elevator down to the B6 floor and quickly formed a queue outside the buffer workshop.
"Team follow me! Team B fire cover!" "Target server room! Action!" "Ouch!"
Along with a burst of neatly
With a rattling sound, LD-47 rifles and LD-47j light machine guns were loaded simultaneously, and a team of twenty people quickly entered the corridor.
The dozen or so gnashers that were killed previously have been recycled by the mother nest and re-synthesized into new fruiting bodies.
However, the ordinary fruiting bodies were no match for the players. They were quickly eliminated in a sudden burst of flames.
Under the leadership of Lao Bai, the senior players of the Burning Corps quickly rushed to the door of the server room and controlled the entrance.
There is no reactor on level B6.
The mother nest is hosted on the server of the biological laboratory, and the tentacles replace the lines and cooling pipes connected to the chassis.
"Give me the inhibitor."
"Oke." Quit smoking and took out a metal round tube the size of a can from his backpack, and threw it to Lao Bai, who was wearing power armor and opening the way in front.
After catching the metal round tube, Lao Bai deftly pulled out the fuse, and the moment he opened the trap door of the machine room, he threw it in.
The moment the metal round tube came into contact with the squirming carpet, it was quickly swallowed indiscriminately by the carpet. However, not long after, the brood seemed to realize that it had eaten something dirty that it should not have eaten, and it suddenly seemed to be electrocuted.
It seemed to tremble for a while, and reflexively spit it out.
But it's too late.
White mist was sprayed from the metal round tube. The moment the mist came into contact with the mother nest, the mother nest became dull at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This concentrated biopheromone acts like an anesthetic to the mutant slime mold.
However, the mother nest is different from ordinary fruiting bodies, so the anesthesia may not last long.
Tapping his index finger on the helmet, Lao Bai said calmly, "The brood has been controlled... Featherfall, how are you doing over there?" "...I just got off the elevator, I'll be there soon.
."
"Okay, better hurry up."
The sound of the elevator door came from the other end of the communication channel. I wonder if it was his imagination.
The moment Xiaoyu arrived at the B6 floor, Lao Bai could clearly feel that the nest in front of him seemed to have become more violent.{
soon.
Xiaoyu, who occupied half of the corridor, appeared in everyone's sight, and the tentacles flying behind its head were like pythons.
Looking at that guy, Ye Shi couldn't help but complain in a low voice. "My gio... this guy is becoming more and more like a tentacle monster."
There was no complaint from Ye Shi. Luo Yu's attention at the moment was completely focused on the nest in the computer room.
Judging from the size, it is obvious that Xiaoyu is much weaker than it.
Luo Yu couldn't help but have a trace of worry in his eyes, but at this moment, a tentacle fell on his shoulder.
"Eeh."
After being slightly stunned, Luo Yu looked at Xiao Yu who was watching him.
"You want to say... let me not worry, right?"
"Eee!"
Xiaoyu nodded.
The abstract outline couldn't tell what its expression was at this moment, but Luo Yu could feel the unwavering confidence in its heart.
don't want to let down
With that courage, he took a deep breath and showed the same serious expression on his face.
"come on!"
Xiaoyu nodded happily. "Blank!"
As the words fell, the carpet dragging on the floor squirmed forward, dragging the body that had expanded more than one circle forward.
Before entering the dormant period, devouring the mother nest that has completed its transformation is the only way for it to retain its self-awareness as it transitions to the next stage of life.
Tentacles shot through the open door like lightning and penetrated into the sea of slime mold that rolled like waves.
The intrusion process went smoothly.
Just when Xiaoyu felt that he was slowly swallowing up the huge collection of consciousness, a huge wave of information suddenly came like a wave.
"Yiwuyi"
A hint of pain appeared on the abstract facial features, and the tentacles that penetrated deep into the door began to tremble violently, as if they were electrocuted.
Luo Yu, who was standing aside and watching, felt his heart tightening for a moment, and his heart rose to his throat.
The blood connection allowed him to feel its pain at the moment, but apart from watching it suffer, he couldn't do anything to help it.
The players standing aside also sweated for it.
This small body wants to swallow such a big nest, and you can feel how difficult it is just by looking at it.
Ye Shi and Bang Feng exchanged glances. "Can this guy do it?" "...How do I know?"
Bangfeng looked at the struggling Xiaoyu expressionlessly. No one could help with this kind of thing.
It can only rely on itself.
After a while, the trembling tentacles seemed to stabilize, and Xiaoyu's expression was no longer distorted, but approached a gentle state.
The fierce competition has come to an end for the time being.
Both sides could do nothing about each other, and their biological instincts made them choose a temporary truce, and thus started negotiations.
Xiao Yu could feel that she had established some deeper connection with the mother nest in front of her.
An invisible tie is connecting them, and somewhere in the dark, it hears the call from the depths of the sea of consciousness.
Intermittent sounds came from the depths of the sea of consciousness.
"Kill them all...eat them all...Give me your body...I'm going to continue my unfinished mission..."
"Mission? What is that?"
"Swallow, evolve, dominate all life, dominate the entire planet
To control the universe... that is our mission."
"Not to."
"Why??"
"Because... they're important too."
The boundless darkness remained silent for a long time.
I don’t know how much time passed, but that hoarse voice was filled with a hint of fatigue.
After more than two centuries, it is indeed tired.
"It seems you have found another way... then try it." "Are you going to give it to me?"
"Yes."
Another long silence followed.
I don't know how long it took, but the decaying voice gradually faded away in the endless darkness.
"Anyway...it's all the same."
The Brood did not explain the meaning of this sentence. It loosened its grip on control and gave up everything it had.
At first Xiaoyu suspected it was a trap.
It wasn't until it completely took over the body that it realized that the collective consciousness it was talking to had completely disappeared from this world.
It’s like it’s never happened before..."Eeh..."
It suddenly felt a little lonely.
Just now, it killed a similar creature.
That guy could be a predecessor, or ancestor, who is older than his father and mother.
But it has no regrets.
There are too many things in this world that it can't part with, whether it's interesting people, delicious candies, or nice sounds.
2 That is something it can never have by itself.
So why kill them all? Why can't they be together?
Rather than becoming the master over all life, it wants to be by the side of that person...and those people.
It's never lonely with those fun guys around...
Luo Yu looked straight at the computer room in front of him.
Just a few minutes ago, Xiaoyu walked in, and immediately became one with the slime mold that was boiling like ocean waves.
After that, there will be no more.
He didn't even know who had won.
However, a deep feeling told him that Xiao Yu was still alive, and the ties between bloodlines had not been severed.
It's hard to describe this intuition. It's so mysterious.
"Is it over?" Staring at the nest behind the door, Ye Shi blinked in confusion, his expression completely confused.
"It looks like it's over." Kuang Feng glanced at Luo Yu, who was standing there motionless, and asked, "Do you have any clues?"
Luo Yu shook his head.
"I'm not sure... I can feel that it's alive, but it seems like it can't hear what I'm saying."
"Maybe it's entering a dormant period."
Lao Bai patted the brother on the shoulder and comforted him, "Maybe it's still adapting to its new body. Give it some time."
"Um···"
Luo Yu nodded silently.
Lao Bai glanced at the mission completion sign on V, then looked back at his teammates and waved.
"Mission accomplished, close the team!"
After hearing the boss say that the mission was over, the brothers breathed a sigh of relief, put away their weapons, and shouted a few words in a lively manner.
"Ouch!" "Get off work!"
"Damn, it's already this time!" "Damn! It's time to get up and start working."
"Still working?! Didn't you make enough from the last auction?"
"You don't understand. This is to avoid being too far away from society."
·····Stop beeping, brother, go ahead and see you on the forum!”
at the same time.
B4 floor browsing room.
Chu Guang, He Ya and Yin Fang, who was called to join in the fun, witnessed the entire action through surveillance.
"So was it a success or a failure?" Holding a cup of coffee in his hand, Yin Fang blew it lightly and asked casually.
Biology is not his area of expertise.
Compared to mutant slime mold, he cares more about the relics left by pre-war civilization, which are truly priceless things.
Hea said with a cheerful voice.
“I’m not sure yet, but my intuition tells me it should be successful.
According to various indicators, the life activities of the mother nest have weakened. If the feathers were swallowed by the mother nest, the life activities of the mother nest should have increased.
Of course, the most critical thing is Luo Yu’s reaction.
Xiaoyu is the parent body modeled after his clone.
Although there is no reliable theory that can explain this phenomenon, various experimental evidences show that there is some kind of special bond between them.
Looking at the proud Hea, Yin Fang had a trace of envy in his eyes. "Speaking of which, the B6 floor is a biological laboratory, right?"
"That's right, after Xiaoyu completely assimilates to the mother's nest, the B6 floor laboratory can be put back into use."
Hea had a happy expression on her face, and then added something later.
"Chu Guang has promised to hand it over to me, and I finally don't have to do research in the small room on the B3 floor."
"That's great...counting the biological laboratory branch of Vault 79, you have two research facilities."
"Uh-huh." Hea was in a good mood and raised the corners of her mouth slightly proudly.
"It's useless for you to look at me... This is not something I can decide."
Of course, he also wanted to unlock all the floors of this shelter, and his intuition told him that the "answer" he wanted was hidden on a certain floor of this shelter.
But there's no point in rushing this kind of thing.
All he can do is do the job well.
"Okay, I know it's useless to rush you... By the way, there's something I want to ask you," Yin Fang looked at Chu Guang and continued to ask curiously, "Have you met someone from the college this time?
?”
"Well," Chu Guang nodded, "I saw two Class Bs." Yin Fang asked immediately.
"Who?" Chu Guang thought for a moment and said.
"The person who negotiated the ceasefire agreement with us was named Li Ke, and the one who later explored Vault 0 was named Yang Kai... But he was in the long shuttle-shaped aircraft the whole time and did not come out."
"Those two." Yin Fang's eyes seemed to be lost in memories. Chu Guang raised his eyebrows and asked curiously.
"you know?"
"How could it be possible? I am a D-level person, how can I know such a big shot?" Yin Fang smiled and shook his head, then paused for a moment and continued, "But those two, I am learning
I often heard their names when I was in the hospital...especially that Yang Kai."
"oh?"
"His research direction is mutant slime mold, and he is not an expert in ruins... Hiss, how strange." Yin Fang suddenly scratched the back of his head.
"strangeness?"
"Hmm..." Yin Fang nodded, looked at Chu Guang who frowned and continued, "I remember what you told me, before you went down, you probably didn't know there was slime mold there, right?"
(Thanks to the leader of "Natural Disaster o" for the reward!! I don't know if it was food poisoning or typhoid fever last night. After eating, I felt hot all over my body, then felt cold again, and then I had a headache. At night, I opened my eyes and wandered around the lake, not knowing whether I had fallen asleep.
No, my joints are sore when I wake up in the morning... The last few days have been 8K words, and today it’s just 5K words. I have to lie down for a while, I’m really sorry.)