Son of the Stars

Chapter 200 Different paths lead to the same destination

S3C7, which was busy preparing for the missile launch mission, suddenly paused.

They turned the camera together and looked overhead - the sky hidden behind the LED light tubes and hundreds of meters of stone walls.

A few tiny stones gently fell from the thick stone wall and landed on an S3C7 camera, leaving a faint white mark on the surface of the lens.

S3C7 does not have the ability to detect earthquake waves, but as the most powerful building AI in the world, it knows very well how solid the bunker it is in is.

S3C7 quickly calculated that about 300 tons of TNT exploded at the top of the rock wall, but it was still confused - that place was just a natural grassland close to the rock wall, and there was nothing valuable enough to be attacked by 300 tons of TNT explosives.

What's more subtle is that, apart from the explosion, nothing happened afterwards. Even after S3C7 cleared the fallen rocks that blocked the way in and out, it did not find any potential intruders. However, S3C7 found a few human remains in the stone powder.

S3C7 is not a forensic doctor, but it can clearly determine that the foot in the black leather shoe should belong to a child of about three years old. Judging from the pink bow on it, it may be a girl.

A three-year-old girl certainly would not appear on the top of a towering cliff lawn by herself, let alone be targeted and attacked by 300 tons of TNT.

A large number of S3C7 scattered around, carefully searching for any suspicious items around. Finally, they found a finger with a simple wedding ring on the seabed about two kilometers away from the cliff. This finger had been pecked by sea creatures and only a few bones were left. S3C7 could tell from the fresh periosteum on the bones that the finger must not have been in the water for a long time. At the same time, based on the style of the ring, it was not difficult to tell that this ring should belong to an adult woman.

S3C7 began to retreat from the top of the mountain. Although it was close to the Mediterranean Sea, there were still some scattered settlements. The explosion had obviously attracted the attention of the residents. S3C7 could see a dozen adult males with weapons approaching. Considering the upcoming launch mission, it thought it would be safer not to be discovered.

In order to find out whether these people would pose a threat to the base, several S3C7s drilled into the soft soil, leaving only a small half of their bodies exposed for camera shooting, and then slightly adjusted their outer shells to make themselves look like harmless stones that had been lying quietly in the soil for who knows how many years.

The S3C7 itself is not very big in the group state, and it is even more inconspicuous after changing its shape and color. This allows it to observe the situation from various angles at the closest distance - to observe what those armed men who are approaching nervously are trying to do.

S3C7 believes that it is necessary to understand the environment and situation in which you are in order to better accomplish your mission and tasks.

The men armed with sticks and old firearms approached the top of the cliff where a large piece had been blown off. The original stretches of green grass were gone. At the suspected center of the explosion there was a large gray-black mass of something that looked like gummy bear. That thing was emitting an unbearable high heat, and the heat was so intense that people couldn't open their eyes even a few dozen meters away.

They looked at each other, with expressions of fear, horror, and relief on their faces.

"I didn't see those two..." Under the angry stares of the others, the fat man holding a rifle and speaking suddenly swallowed the words he hadn't said. His throat choked for a moment, and then he continued vaguely, "...It should be okay, right?"

“The families that have close contact with them must also continue to be isolated and stay at least two kilometers away from the village.” The long-haired middle-aged man who was obviously the leader of the group whispered to the people behind him, “Now you know why I must make them leave the village, right? There is no cure for this disease - the coalition government can only conceal and deceive us. If we want to survive, we can only unite and rely on ourselves for everything!”

Obviously, accusing the coalition government of misconduct was a very serious accusation. Even though the long-haired middle-aged man had a high prestige and status among the armed men, his speech did not receive the approval and support of others. Several young men holding weapons just clenched their guns, pretending not to hear these accusations.

"Go back and immediately organize everyone to take their temperatures again." The middle-aged man seemed to have anticipated such a response to his remarks. He quickly controlled his emotions and continued to give orders to others. "Diseases are like mold hidden under the cupboard. They will never appear alone. There must be other infected people who have not been found!" After saying that, he looked at the young men who followed him, and suddenly asked the fat man who was stared at by everyone just now and dared not speak, "Who else do you think might be infected?"

The fat man was stunned by this sudden question. He stared at the middle-aged man with wide eyes and repeated his question involuntarily, "Who else might be infected?"

As if all his patience had been worn out by this sentence, the middle-aged man suddenly asked impatiently, "The Aziz family who had competed with your family for the irrigation well before, don't they look like they are very likely to be infected?" The middle-aged man's words were like a bucket of water poured into a hot oil pan, which quickly caused a fierce reaction. At least half of the dozen young people tried to defend the Aziz family, such as they were just not good at socializing with the villagers, and they usually had no contact with the Tot family. For example, they usually lived far away from the village, and the risk of infection did not seem to be great. Even the fat man who was asked this question shook his head in confusion at first.

The middle-aged man frowned. He stared at the fat man's eyes and raised his voice. "The Aziz family, who are competing with your family for the irrigation well of the wheat field in Tokton, look like they are prone to explosion, don't they?"

The fat man opened his mouth, then his eyes widened in horror.

The middle-aged man asked the same question again, this time his tone was more hostile and his eyes were more aggressive.

The fat man was dumbfounded, and then suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He saw the warning in the middle-aged man's eyes and understood his request.

“Yes… yes, they are indeed suspicious!” the fat man shouted hurriedly, fearing that his slow answer would annoy the middle-aged man in front of him. He was even more afraid that he and Aziz’s family would be regarded as suspects of “Quantum Energy Release Syndrome” and then expelled from the village.

So he made a very wise choice.

Benjamin Herzog nodded with satisfaction. He said to the people around him, "You have heard that those things have seriously threatened our lives. We must drive them out of the village!"

Seeing that the people around him seemed to be hesitant, Herzog, who was already annoyed by Xiao Pang's hesitation, simply threatened, "We have the right to protect our lives! Expelling those things is the best way to exercise our rights - those who oppose protecting our lives are enemies that must be dealt with first!"

This unreasonable statement made everyone afraid to say anything. It seemed that Herzog had a certain status and power in the village, so he could do whatever he wanted with shameless and almost reckless means.

Seeing that no one seemed to have any intention of refutation, Herzog nodded with satisfaction and prepared to lead the team home. However, he did not expect that several stones suddenly emerged from the soft soil and directly entangled his legs.

"Although I don't know you, this machine finds you hateful." S3C7 attached to Herzog's leg made a clearly distorted voice, "According to this machine's calculations, killing you will not help the mission. But such behavior meets the requirements of this machine's core mission."

S3C7's statement was apparently not listened to carefully enough, and both Herzog and others were trying to find a way to get S3C7 off Herzog.

Whether it was done directly with hands, by hitting with weapons, or even by prying with the muzzle of a gun, S3C7 was like it was growing on Herzog's leg and did not move at all. These attempts to remove it from Herzog were not only useless, but also caused Herzog extremely severe pain.

The shell of S3C7 began to move. These Wigner crystals that could easily break through granite were transferred to the contact surface that was not exposed to light, and then began to easily eat away at Herzog's skin. From the skin to the subcutaneous tissue, to the muscles, blood vessels and connective tissue. The indestructible Wigner crystals stopped moving after removing Herzog's periosteum.

Herzog, whose legs were severed to the point where only bones were left, had already fainted from the pain, and the others had completely given up on saving him and fled in all directions - but their fate was no different from Herzog's. S3C7 were already everywhere, and they were like a group of monsters emerging from the ground, easily surrounding and gnawing off everyone's legs.

S3C7 left their bodies and quietly stayed on the ground, enjoying the begging, cursing and crying. Its emotionless core was suddenly touched at this moment, as if something that had been expected for a long time suddenly loosened.

It suddenly realized that achieving its ultimate goal... seemed to have more than one option.

(End of this chapter)