by <unknown>
"X-112, perform calculative corrections to the map."
Chen Chen ordered again.
After Chen Chen's order, most of the random reds and yellows disappeared from the map in front of him. Those locations were either empty roads or open spaces without any houses. The scarcity of animals in these spots was not an abnormal phenomenon.
Only the three locations, with an area of several thousand square meters, were highlighted. One of the abnormal locations was the apartment building that Chen Chen just entered…
"As I thought."
Looking at the map before him, Chen Chen smiled placidly, displaying a look of realization. "These three locations must be some kind of restricted zone to life forms."
Now that he had ascertained the security of his surroundings, Chen Chen was not apprehensive anymore. He directly boarded the Bugatti Spaceship. "X-112, take me to the location where you found the human skeletons while keeping away from those three abnormal areas, as well as those small red areas that still remain after the map was corrected."
"Very well!"
X-112 replied decisively.
Chapter 294: A Strange Diary |
After they flew for only two or three minutes, the spaceship landed on an empty, crumbling street.
This was a wide crossroads. Chen Chen remembered that the movies from the East China Sea Continent would always begin with an opening shot of crossroads like this one during rush hours.
The massive traffic flow and the heavy crowds on both sides of the road created a bustling, fast-paced scene.
As the green light flashed, the traffic that was as majestic as a river appeared to be interrupted by an invisible force. The flow of people, packed like sardines on both sides of the road, suddenly surged past like a flood, moving out of this thriving city scene.
Only now, the endless traffic that used to be there was no longer there and the throngs of people had disappeared, leaving only the dilapidated streets and vines spreading everywhere.
As Chen Chen walked out of the spaceship, he immediately saw a skeleton on the side of the road. It was practically a part of the soil.
This corpse had been dead for a long time and only the jumble of white bones was left. Due to the long-term effects of the weather, it was half-buried in the soil. It was likely that in a few years, it would completely sink into the soil and vanish.
The bones looked like they had been frequently gnawed by animals.
When he saw this, Chen Chen could not help frowning. With a corpse like this, there was nothing to learn except for the fact that this person had been dead for a long time. "X-112, are all the skeletons like this?"
"Yes. It may be because the search range is too small and the drones aren't able to search inside the buildings, so no well-preserved corpses have been found for the time being."
"Expand the drones' search and try to ascertain the conditions within a hundred kilometers by today."
As he said that, Chen Chen looked at the dilapidated house fronts on both sides of the road. He reconfirmed that there were no forbidden red areas nearby, then led the Black Knights toward the house fronts.
These street-side houses were all shops. In Tokyo, each inch of these shops would be worth an inch of gold, but now they had long since declined and became the homes of wild cats and dogs.
Those small counters selling snacks had long been raided and Chen Chen even noticed the shattered glass smithereens and a hammer on the ground. These were all traces of the plundering.
The same thing had occurred in clothing stores and tool stores. Conversely, the ones that nobody was interested in were the most expensive jewelry stores and the banks that used to be filled with people.
Chen Chen simply asked the three Black Knights to explore on their own. As they searched through the shops, Chen Chen soon found what he was looking for.
A well-preserved dried male corpse.
When he heard this from X-112, Chen Chen walked into an office building and found a corpse that had turned as dried as bacon long ago, in a room on the third floor.
Nonetheless, it was different from the exposed corpses outside. This office was sealed shut and there were no windows open, so the corpse that had been dead for many years still remained as it was before its death.
The corpse remained sprawled over the desk, seeming to be asleep, but it was wearing an outdoor jacket. The clothing itself had withered to tatters long ago due to the liquid seeping out of the decayed corpse. Beside the table, there was an opened package with a coil of rope, as well as daggers and other tools scattered on the ground.
There was even an open military canteen by one side.
This corpse entered this office alone when he was alive, then took a nap on his desk, but unexpectedly, after falling asleep, he never woke up again.
The closed office had preserved perfectly the scene of the corpse's death. After a brief evaluation, Chen Chen promptly figured out the time when the corpse died.
The person that was once this corpse had died four to five years ago, and the age of that person had only been about 30 years old.
Did he die suddenly at such a young age?
Chen Chen frowned instinctively. There seemed to be something more to the corpse in front of him.
Thinking of this, he made a quick gesture and the Black Knight on the side immediately came forward and began to rifle through the body while another Black Knight looked through the corpse's package.
Soon, the first Black Knight found a portable tool bag in the pocket of the corpse. In the tool bag, there was also a book that was similar to a diary.
Chen Chen took the palm-sized book, opened it gently, and was greeted by a line of scribbled Japanese.
After taking NZT-48, Chen Chen could easily master various foreign languages. Therefore, he often set aside time to learn some of the most common or more conventional languages in the world including ancient Greek, Latin, and Japanese.
Presently, as Chen Chen looked at the words, he could swiftly read out these Japanese lines:
"26 March 2028. Weather: fine. I must continue working hard today!
"Now is my favorite time — dinnertime. I'm about to begin eating. Today's meal is the canned beef that Daitetsu-kun brought back from the city. I can't believe that Daitetsu-kun is so kind. He's willing to share with us the canned beef he obtained after risking life and limb. I must remember Daitetsu-kun's kindness!"
After reading the first page, Chen Chen could not help frowning. This was indeed a diary and it was also the thing in which the corpse in front of him had recorded the dates and trivial matters of life. However, it did not mention any information that Chen Chen wanted to know.
Still, seeing that there were a few more pages, Chen Chen turned to the second page and continued reading.
"16 April 2028. Weather: rain. Let's do this, let's go!
"After changing to a new diary, I found that I was gradually losing the habit of writing a diary. Perhaps it's because I've been softened by how safe and comfortable life was recently? But there's no other way. I'm still too weak to help everyone. Fortunately, everyone is working hard to survive!"
On the second page, there was still no valuable information. The only information was that the corpse before Chen Chen had probably joined a group during this time.
Did they band together to survive?
Chen Chen shook his head and continued to turn to the third page.
What followed next was also some daily affairs. As long as there was no vital information, Chen Chen would just skim it. It was only near the end that he was suddenly attracted by an entry —
"2 September 2028. Weather: fine. Let's do this! Today's a sunny day as well!
"It's been a long time since I wrote an entry. Ever since 'it' started to happen all over the world, the glorious civilization of mankind has completely fallen. The remaining survivors inherit the will of the deceased and struggle to live on. I'm no different but lately, I've suddenly had a bad premonit
ion because I have had nightmares for two consecutive nights. Each night I'll dream of something terrible…
"Haha, it should be just a coincidence. I won't have that dream again tonight. I won't."
It?
What was "it"?
Chen Chen eagerly read on and flipped to the next page, which was the day after this entry.
"3 September 2028. Weather: fine. I really can't believe it!
"Why? Why did I have that nightmare again last night? It shouldn't be. It's just made-up, right? It must be a coincidence… Ando, please don't frighten yourself! It must be just a coincidence. I will not have that nightmare again tonight. I must be strong!"
Chapter 295: “It” |
Did he see something in his dream?
Upon reading these two entries, Chen Chen immediately discovered something unusual. This man named Ando seemed to be afraid of his own dreams.
According to the diary's description, he had had the same dream for three consecutive nights and this dream seemed to signify something.
It seemed to be signifying something dreadful. In other words, this was that "it"…
Chen Chen wore a thoughtful look, but he did not dwell too long on this. In any case, the answer should be found in the next few pages.
Thus, Chen Chen flipped to the next page.
"4 September 2028!!!
"D*mn it, I had that dream again last night. It's that woman with disheveled hair. She's getting closer and closer to me! D*mn it, d*mn it! On the first day, she was still outside the door, but last night she was already standing by the head of my bed. I could even see her white eyes, d*mn d*mn d*mn d*mn d*mn d*mn!!!
"I daren't tell Daitetsu-kun about all this. Otherwise, if everyone knows about this, I'll be kicked out of the team. I'm only 30 this year — I haven't lived enough of life. I don't want to die!"
Woman with disheveled hair? White eyes? A dream that continued where it left off?
After reading this paragraph, Chen Chen narrowed his eyes in response. He glanced at the corpse in front of him again and observed how the corpse was sprawled quietly across the desk. Its face shrank into a pucker, its mouth turned into a black hole due to the loss of moisture…
At this moment, Chen Chen suddenly realized that the hideous expression of this corpse was not caused by postmortem shrinking, but rather, that the person had seen something extremely terrifying when he was alive, which resulted in this look…
Chen Chen stepped back subconsciously. Something was weird about this corpse…
Chen Chen turned to the next page again:
"5 September 2028. Weather: fine.
"I've left the team — Kotetsu-kun and Sakura-ko and the rest. They drove me out, but I know that this isn't their fault. It was I who caused everyone trouble.
"I've made preparations for my death. I didn't sleep last night, so now I have to stay active all the time. Otherwise, if I'm not moving, my eyelids will start becoming heavy. I don't know how long I can hold on. Maybe I can try to sleep for a short five minutes and wake up before the next move has been made. Perhaps I might be able to escape death in this manner?
"Still, I'm terrified. I'll probably die, right? And after being kicked out of the team, how long can I last by myself?"
On this page, the handwriting started to become smudged. When the author wrote this passage, he was crying the entire time.
Chen Chen instinctively flipped the page again but was taken aback to see that the diary was completely blank after this.
This diary was cut off on 5 September 2028.
Chen Chen could not believe this at first, so he turned to the back pages again, but they were all blank. This was the last time the person had written his diary.
That was to say, it was either because in the following period, he was in no mood to write an entry as he was attempting to avoid the dream or he had not even had time to write anything before he died right here…
Chen Chen looked at the corpse again with a pensive look.
Could it be that this corpse in front of Chen Chen was killed by his own dream?
"'It', 'continuous nightmare', 'woman with disheveled hair'…"
In this diary, from beginning to end, the man named Ando never mentioned what was it that had destroyed human civilization, but only alluded to it by saying "it". These three key phrases comprised all the information that was revealed in the diary.
"However, based on his tone, this 'it' he mentioned that destroyed human civilization seems to be different from the nightmare he encountered."
Chen Chen pondered out loud, "Or maybe the nightmare he had was a part of 'it'?"
There was still too little information. Chen Chen did not learn much that was useful.
With this in mind, Chen Chen took a long final look at the corpse, then gestured to everyone. The three Black Knights followed Chen Chen and left the office.
Next, Chen Chen simply asked the three Black Knights to split up, each searching a floor, to look for new clues as quickly as possible.
Although it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, what Chen Chen was facing was a whole lost world after all. There was no other way except this most straightforward method.
Even so, fortunately, this office building was not as eerie as the previous apartment. After the Black Knights split up into three, they did not encounter any abnormalities. Instead, as the search continued, more and more bodies were found.
When Chen Chen received the updates and came to the fifth floor of the office building, he immediately saw the word "Bvlgari" that was carved in large Japanese characters upon the door using green and yellow acrylic panels.
Chen Chen still remembered that this was an internationally renowned luxury brand.
Nonetheless, that level of prosperity had long since vanished with the passing of human civilization. At this time, in the office hall that should have been extraordinarily lively, there were five withered corpses lying in disorder on the floor.
It was clear that these five corpses were older than that "Ando" guy, much older. They were practically air-dried and blackened, looking like lumps of charcoal, full of indescribable, grotesque wrinkles.
Based on their clothes, the five bodies had all been women.
Without Chen Chen having to give an order, the three Black Knights squatted and started searching for clues on the bodies. However, this time Chen Chen was disappointed. There was nothing on these corpses.
Even so, Chen Chen noticed that these five corpses all had one common feature. That was, if one lifted them while maintaining the posture they had when they died, one would find that their faces were all turned in the same direction…
Chen Chen looked in the direction where the five corpses had looked. It was the floor-to-ceiling window opposite the elevator.
At this time, the floor-to-ceiling window was no longer as clear as it used to be as it was covered in dust and fallen leaves. Still, Chen Chen could just about see the world outside through the glass.
The external world was blank. There were only the buildings on the opposite side of the road and the old mottled billboards that were near collapse.
Other than that, there was nothing outside the window.
"In other words, these five women seemed to have seen the same thing, but when they saw that thing, it also harvested their lives?"
Chen Chen murmured.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen's eyes flashed decisively. Then he pulled out the GS Blade that was hanging over his PK Armor and flicked it lightly. Suddenly, the GS Blade that had only been a handle in his hand ejected a ten-centimeter-long blade.
After that, Chen Chen squatted directly and cut the belly of one of the female corpses.
The GS Blade came with a high-frequency shock effect. Even though the corpse in front of him had hardened into a tough leather-like substance, Chen Chen only had to swipe lightly to cut it open at once.
However, after cutting it open, Chen Chen discovered that everything inside the corp
se was as usual. Although it had been thoroughly air-dried, the shape of the organs from when they were alive could still be vaguely seen.
This meant that these corpses did not die from some internal injury, but something else.
Chapter 296: Autopsy |
Still concerned, Chen Chen pried open the skull of the corpse again. He saw that the brain inside the skull had shrunk into substances resembling a walnut and there were no signs of external damage to be seen.
Chen Chen spent several minutes performing an autopsy on the corpse but still was not able to find any vivid signs of injuries. There were hardly any scratches or bruises to be found.
There were no signs of organ or brain damage inside the corpse either. This suggested that these corpses may have died an abrupt death.
Otherwise known as sudden death.
In common terms, the definition of sudden death referred to cases where an otherwise usually healthy person suddenly succumbed to a natural disease within a short period. There were two types of such natural diseases:
Sudden Cardiac Death and Non-sudden Cardiac Death.
However, it had to be noted that these corpses had dried out for extended periods. Their organs had displayed signs of corrosion prior to drying out, but without access to professional equipment, Chen Chen could not determine the precise cause of death of these corpses. He could only conclude that they had died of sudden death.
"Could this mean that this is something that causes sudden death just by 'seeing' it?"
Chen Chen furrowed his eyebrows. He considered for a moment before switching the PK Armor to thermal imaging mode, which gave him vision similar to what was seen in Predator.
Unlike regular thermal imaging which only displayed heat radiation in large blobs, the thermal imaging of the PK Armor provided finer details, even surpassing details that were otherwise glimpsed by the naked eye.