Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 599 The "Special" Occupied Zone

After the problem of the giant sand worm was "temporarily" resolved, the remaining issue to be discussed was the "sail" that Sun Hang had seen. After watching the high-precision video taken by the mainframe using the equipment carried by Sun Hang, the high-ranking members of the Tian Shu Tower could not hide their research fanatic nature and immediately began a heated discussion in the conference room.

"I think it's most likely a mirage, or some kind of strange phenomenon with a similar mechanism," a professor cleared his throat and said solemnly. "Especially given the current climate in Egypt, the probability of mirages is very high. Plus, the camera can't determine the mass of the object it's photographing, so I think..."

“Professor Sack, there’s something I need to make clear to you.” Professor Cao squinted, his tone slightly unfriendly. “We’re not having an academic discussion or conducting research right now… Even if what Sun Hang saw was just a mirage, we must treat it as if it were real.”

“That’s right.” General Liao nodded vigorously. “Even if there’s only a one in a billion chance that this thing actually exists, we can’t ‘ignore’ it as a mirage. When designing countermeasures, we have to treat it as if it’s real.”

"I... I was just expressing my thoughts..." Professor Sack rubbed his nose awkwardly and looked at Professor Cao. "Professor Cao, you don't have to target me like this, do you?"

“I’m not targeting you. I have absolutely no interest in idiots.” Professor Cao and Professor Sack clearly didn’t get along, and Professor Cao didn’t hold back at all in his words.

"Alright, alright, we're still in a meeting, can you two shut up for a bit?" another high-ranking member of the Tian Shu Tower said. "There are only two possibilities for this thing: either it's a survivor from the occupied zone, or it's a humanoid monster. The discussion should just go in those two directions."

“I don’t think there could be any survivors in the occupied zone,” Professor Sack said immediately. “Everyone knows the environment in the occupied zone. The memetic concentration is extremely high. You could get infected if you accidentally touch anything… Even if there are survivors, they would become infected in a very short time and be hunted by the giant sand worms… Even the Egyptian coalition back then only had a few dozen sets of ‘Nephthys’ equipment. Even if these devices were preserved and are still usable, it would be difficult for a few dozen survivors to survive in such a resource-scarce place.”

The fewer people there are, the more difficult it is for humans to survive in such an environment; a single person would almost certainly die. It is for this reason that, although there was only one "figure" in the video, the experts present unanimously agreed that if there were survivors, they must be a tribe or multiple tribes in the Egyptian region, rather than a lone individual.

After Professor Sack finished speaking, he looked around at everyone attending the meeting, then picked up his teacup with a slightly pretentious expression, took a sip, and continued, "Therefore, I believe that this figure must be a strange creature, or at the very least, a special kind of infected person."

"Special infected individuals? Aren't they just human survivors? Professor Sack, your statement is somewhat contradictory," asked the high-ranking member of the Sky Pivot Tower who had previously mediated between the two sides.

“Special infected individuals, the key is the word ‘special,’ not ‘infected individuals.’” Sack put down his teacup. “Survival of the fittest, even the monsters in the occupied territories are the same. They must have ‘evolved’ some kind of special ability, just like ‘Nephthys,’ which can avoid the perception of the giant sand worms in order to survive in that environment.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Professor Cao took a sip of water, smacked his lips, and said, “Sak, you just said that humans are easily infected in the occupied zone. What are the premises?”

“High environmental meme concentration, so what? Is there a problem? Isn’t this a consensus?” Sack shrugged. “Old Cao, your research on the occupied territories is far more in-depth than mine. You need to ask me such a simple question? Are you wasting everyone’s time?”

"Why is the concentration of environmental memes so high in the occupied zone?" Professor Cao asked, staring at Sack. "Don't rush to refute or question me; answer my question first." "Of course, it's because... there are so many monsters in the occupied zone!" Sack couldn't help but wonder about Professor Cao's motives for asking this, but he still answered the question. "The occupied zone isn't like areas where humans live. Anything within sight could be a monster. The probability of direct contact with monsters is countless times higher than within the Federation, so the infection probability is naturally high!"

"What if... all these strange creatures that are visible everywhere in our field of vision have been wiped out by the giant sand worms?" Professor Cao changed the subject and posed a crucial rhetorical question.

“This…” Sack’s expression froze instantly.

"It's simple, let's just ask the only person who has actually been there." Professor Cao looked at Sun Hang, "Sun Hang, based on your personal experience, how high was the concentration of memes in the environment of that place that the ghost train took you to, which resembled Cairo?"

Sun Hang pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "It's similar to where we are now."

“Then we have the answer to this question,” Professor Cao said. “Although it is an occupied area, the actual ‘monster ecology’ is quite barren due to the presence of the giant sand worms, and there is no ‘monster diversity’ at all… As long as the survivors can solve the problems of avoiding the giant sand worms and food and water, they can indeed live in that place.”

"Moreover, judging from that sail, they have clearly found their own unique way of survival," a female professor said. "The sand particles created by the giant sand worms have an extremely low coefficient of friction, and the 'land-going boats' powered by the wind are indeed a good means of transportation."

"When Egypt fell, how many people didn't have time to evacuate?" another senior member of the Tian Shu Tower asked.

“I just checked. When the war broke out, Egypt’s total population was about 1100 million. And when Cairo fell, based on the data of the remaining towns and villages that had not yet been attacked, at least 60 to 80 survivors were left behind in that land,” the female professor who had just spoken replied.

“Six hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand people…” Professor Cao nodded. “Given human intelligence and the ability to adapt to the environment… I’m not at all surprised that there are survivors in occupied areas like Egypt, which have such a unique nature.”

"Gentlemen, I have a question." Sun Hang suddenly stood up.

"Who do you think is more powerful, the Sand Worm or the Sphinx?"

(End of this chapter)