Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 488 Impurities
"Mm." Sun Hang nodded.

A few liquid metal wires twitched at his fingertips, and the resin covering the medal was cut into several pieces.

Sun Hang picked up the medal, which looked a bit dirty, and brought it close to his nose to sniff it.

"What flavor is it?" Wang Xiyi asked, amused, as she watched Sun Hang's actions.

"It smells of copper rust; this medal must be made of copper alloy," Sun Hang said.

As Sun Hang said, the silver plating on the medal's surface was severely worn, revealing the golden brass underneath. The medals of the Heroes of the Patriotic War of the former Siberian Federation were originally made of pure silver, but as the war progressed, many silver mines within the federation, especially in the Ural Mountains, fell, making silver an extremely scarce industrial resource. Especially in the electronics and chemical industries, the lack of raw materials made it difficult for factories in the rear to meet the needs of the front lines, even if they operated at full capacity.

As a result, all sorts of silverware were collected and sent to the smelting plant. Although the federal government was not so desperate as to take back all the soldiers' medals, in order to reduce the consumption of silver in this area, the material of the Patriotic Hero Medals issued in the later period was basically replaced with brass, which was not so scarce, with only a thin layer of silver plated on the surface of the lettering.

“This thing isn’t a ghost,” Sun Hang said again. “I can’t smell the scent of a ghost.”

“If you say it’s not, then it probably isn’t.” Wang Xiyi nodded. “When it comes to sensing strange objects, even professional testing equipment can’t match the precision of your nose… But what I’m a little curious about is, if this medal isn’t a strange object, then how was it preserved?”

When the aurora borealis descended upon Baikal, the temperature inside the city was at least tens of thousands of degrees Celsius. Even the tungsten alloy in the tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile, with a melting point of over 3,000 degrees Celsius, vaporized instantly, not to mention the brass medal, whose melting point is less than one-third that of the tungsten alloy.

Under those circumstances, nothing could possibly be left in Baikal... yet this medal appeared in the strange city that emerged from the ruins of Baikal.

This absolutely cannot be explained by coincidence.

Everything in the remains of Baikal seems to be simulated by AI. The entire city is filled with a strange and distorted alien style, but this medal is a perfect one-to-one replica—or rather, it is not replicated by the ability of the strange creature, but an old object that originally existed in Baikal City.
So who protected this medal when the aurora borealis struck?
Sun Hang felt something flash through his mind. In that instant of inspiration, he immediately retrieved the scene of the battle from his memory and "watched" it again.

"I watched the replay of the battle just now, and I noticed something very interesting," Sun Hang said.

"what?"

“Although Lieutenant Colonel Yan killed the most monster soldiers, she was the one who took the least fire,” Sun Hang said. “The one who took the most fire was Old Wang, who hadn’t made a move yet, followed by the No. 1 monster that was killing indiscriminately on the roof.”

"Really? I didn't notice..." Old Wang was stunned for a moment, "I only felt the bullets hitting the scales, clanging and banging, it was so noisy."

“I checked the battle logs.” Yan Yu’an nodded. “It’s indeed as you said… and I also discovered something else.”

Sun Hang: "Go ahead."

"The main control computer of the power armor just calculated the trajectories of those monster soldiers. All the bullets that were fired at Zhong Ling were actually targeting the monster skeletons blocking her way. In reality, none of the bullets that were actually aimed at Zhong Ling were actually aimed at her," Yan Yu'an said seriously.

"From this perspective, the enemy detection mechanism of these monster soldiers is quite obvious," Sun Hang said. "Old Wang took the most fire because the black dragon meme in her body was too powerful. As for the No. 1 monster skeleton, there's no need to say more. It has been completely transformed into a monster. Apart from a very few top infected individuals, no one's monster meme can compare to itss."

"And what about you? In terms of strength, shouldn't you be the strongest among us? Why don't these monster soldiers attack you much?" Wang Xiyi retorted.

“That’s because I’m low-key enough,” Sun Hang said. “When I’m not using my abilities, the meme strength I exhibit is at most the level of a registered hunter. Any random hunter of that rank would be stronger than me if tested with instruments. So, in the eyes of these monster soldiers, I’m naturally not a high priority target.”

Yan Yu'an continued Sun Hang's words: "The reason they don't attack me much... is it because the only thing I have with the monster meme on me is this power armor?"

“Yes, your ‘Willow Leaf Blade’ is a monster weapon, but it’s essentially just a small piece of monster tissue implanted in an artificial object. Its meme strength is far lower than that of regular monsters and infected people, so its aggro value is naturally not high. As for Zhong Ling, she is not an infected person and does not have any monster memes on her, so those monster soldiers will not attack her.”

"So... these monster soldiers only attack monsters and infected? Then why don't they attack the remains of Baikal?" Wang Xiyi picked up a severely deformed steel helmet from the ground, weighed it in her hand, and then threw it far away.

“Your question is like asking why they don’t fight each other… To them, the remains of Baikal are what they need to protect, and we are like monsters invading the remains of Baikal.” Sun Hang shrugged. “Besides, none of the reconnaissance teams that entered the remains of Baikal before were attacked by these monster soldiers, right?”

"No... wait!" Yan Yu'an suddenly jolted awake. "I remember an operation log that didn't mention the reconnaissance team encountering these strange soldiers, but..."

"but what?"

"Deep within the remains of Baikal, the reconnaissance team encountered a group of highly aggressive Type C monsters. Just as they were cornered by these monsters, a significant amount of support fire suddenly appeared from another direction, not only killing a large number of the Type C monsters but also drawing the remaining ones away... The reconnaissance team was thus saved. They initially thought they were rescued by another reconnaissance team, but after firing several signal flares, there was no response. Moreover, according to the original operational plan, there were only four reconnaissance teams inside the remains of Baikal at the same time, making the probability of them encountering each other extremely low..."

Yan Yu'an spoke quickly, her emotions clearly running high: "After returning to camp, the squad immediately submitted its operation report to command. After repeatedly reviewing the operation video, the staff at command concluded that the source of the supporting firepower was at least a unit of fifty men... But even if you include all the reconnaissance squads inside the Baikal Remains at the time, they totaled less than fifty men. Not to mention that the other three squads, upon returning, unanimously stated that they had not encountered any other reconnaissance squads, nor had they provided any support to that squad."

"This file was shelved by the command center and the disaster response committee as a 'cold case.' Now it seems that the 'people' who supported that reconnaissance team are very likely..." Yan Yu'an's tone was slightly hesitant. She lowered her head, seemingly unable to bear looking at the severed limbs scattered everywhere on the street. "Holy crap?" Wang Xiyi snapped out of her daze. "So, these monster soldiers are actually on the side of humanity? We've been fighting friendly forces all this time?!"

“They’re neither helpers nor allies.” Sun Hang shook his head. “There’s no doubt that they are monsters, and the motive driving them is most likely the obsession of a former Siberian Federation veteran… Remember Longyan Fortress, which almost destroyed Tianfu City?”

“Of course I remember. Anyone who has seen that moving mountain in person will never forget that scene,” Wang Xiyi said.

“What drives Longyan Fortress is merely the obsession of a dead man,” Sun Hang said. “If one person’s obsession can have such power, what about a group of people?”

Sun Hang gently rubbed the rust off the surface of the Medal of Heroes of the Defend the Nation with the pad of his thumb, then put it into his jacket pocket.

“Then wouldn’t we be…” Wang Xiyi looked around, “If we had known, we should have just retreated. Sigh.”

“Don’t feel guilty. We’re just helping them get rid of this burden,” Sun Hang said, patting Wang Xiyi on the shoulder.

"I don't have any psychological burden, but I just feel that what we just did seems to do more harm than good... Leaving such a monster army in the remains of Baikal means they will keep hunting down the monsters that roam the remains of Baikal, but they won't attack the reconnaissance teams composed of pure humans... But now that this monster army has been wiped out by us, won't the reconnaissance teams that enter the remains of Baikal for investigation missions in the future have an even harder time?"

“As long as the remains of Baikal don’t disappear, this army of monsters shouldn’t be completely wiped out.” Sun Hang shook his head. “Such a powerful obsession, if it’s just that this low-level vessel hasn’t been destroyed, it’s far from being able to dissipate. Moreover, I suspect that the remains of Baikal were generated because of this obsession… it’s just that some ‘impurities’ were mixed in with this obsession, which is why those monsters that attack humans appeared.”

"You mean, if we can dissipate this obsession, the remains of Baikal will disappear?" Yan Yu'an asked. "I've seen your file and the summary report of the Longyan Fortress incident... The best way to make a monster created by an obsession disappear is to fulfill its last wishes..."

Yan Yu'an suddenly stopped halfway through her speech.

The reason she stopped was simple—those who receive this "Hero of the Defender of the Nation Medal" are unlikely to fulfill their dying wishes.

These veterans had only two last wishes: one was to protect their homeland, but now even the "Siberian Federation" no longer existed; the other was to eliminate all the monsters... To help them fulfill these wishes, perhaps rebuilding a "New Siberian Federation" would be easier.

"Then... is there really no way to make this Baikal's remains disappear?" Yan Yu'an's tone was somewhat discouraged.

"Why should we make it disappear?" Sun Hang asked rhetorically.

"But...it is, after all, a strange creature..."

“It’s a ghost skeleton, why don’t you think about making it disappear?” Sun Hang asked, pointing to Ghost Skeleton Number One.

"It's different. It has become a puppeteer's artifact and equipment, belonging to our combat force. But the remains of Baikal are completely different. It is uncontrollable, and we cannot guarantee that it will not undergo any mutations later on... If such a huge Geng-type artifact is allowed to stand on human territory, I'm afraid few of those councilors will be able to sleep soundly."

“If the Remains of Baikal are truly a monster created from this obsession, then it is an impregnable fortress on the border of human territory,” Sun Hang analyzed. “Assuming the second monster war breaks out tomorrow, how many monsters do you think the Remains of Baikal can stop from surging in from the West Siberian plains?”

“I know… but the biggest problem with the Remains of Baikal is that we can’t be sure of its stance. You say it’s the embodiment of the Siberian Federation veterans’ obsession with protecting their homeland and eliminating the monsters, but why does it breed so many monsters that attack humans? It can become a fortress to resist the invasion of monsters, or it can become a bridgehead for monsters to invade human territory… Keeping it is too risky, and no one dares to take that gamble.”

"So, this is the work we're supposed to be doing," Sun Hang sighed.

"Work?"

“The reason why those hostile monsters breed is because impurities have been mixed into their ‘obsessions.’ Our job is to find a way to clean up these impurities,” Sun Hang said. “In fact, the remains of Baikal have already realized the existence of these ‘impurities.’ The fact that those monster soldiers attack other monsters that breed in the city is a means of ‘self-purification’ for the remains of Baikal. Unfortunately, this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause.”

"Treats the symptoms...but not the root cause?" Yan Yu'an was surprised and took off her mask, staring intently at Sun Hang.

“The impurities within the obsession are the source of these monsters. If the impurities are not removed, these monsters that attack humans will continue to appear. The monster army of the Baikal Remains alone cannot kill them all,” Sun Hang said. “Our goal is now clear—to find the source of the obsession.”

“The Medal of Hero of the Patriotic War, a former veteran of the Siberian Federation, a deep-seated desire to defend the homeland…” Yan Yu’an’s eyes lit up. “I know two places where we might find some clues!”

"Where?"

“The Baikal Veterans' Sanatorium,” Yan Yu’an said, “and the Cemetery of Heroes Who Defended the Country.”

(End of this chapter)