by <unknown>
The inability to extract life forms was to prevent the user from being killed, such as directly ingesting the T-virus, ALZ-113, and so on. A careless move could destroy the entire world or open a direct channel for alien pathogens to be brought into reality, triggering a catastrophe for humanity.
It was only when the user obtained a certain level of capability with the help of the USB drive, which was akin to the user having passed the test of the USB drive, that the USB drive would activate its second form and open a passage to another world.
In other words, the tests that the USB drive put the user through were gentle and gradual.
Therefore, could it be that the portal would isolate such strange phenomena? That, when Chen Chen crossed the channel and returned to reality, he would only return by himself while the mysterious phenomena would be unable to pass through the channel?
Still, this solution had its risks.
As the USB flash drive had never come with a manual since the beginning, Chen Chen had to rely on incremental discoveries. Consequently, if Chen Chen's judgment was mistaken, would it not be equivalent to bringing this mysterious phenomenon into reality?
If this was the case, Chen Chen was still going to die and he might also take down the entire human civilization along with him.
"Still, it's not as if that situation would be unavoidable."
Chen Chen pondered, then mumbled softly, "I can use the Rubik's cube to send back a message and ask Little X to close all exits near the passage or even build a Faraday cage. If I still can't avoid the mysterious phenomenon's fatal pursuit even after I've returned, I'll just die by myself in the Faraday cage…
"After my death, Little X shall continue to charge the USB drive. When there's enough power, stuff the entire room in which I died into Gantz's dimension…"
An involuntary sneer crept across Chen Chen's face as he thought about this. Indeed, this was basically the best solution. He would not have to sit around waiting for his own death nor would he spread the strange phenomenon into reality.
Following that, Chen Chen continued turning the pages, reading about one mysterious phenomenon after another.
Chapter 306: Yoru Kamidera |
[Mysterious phenomenon: Stalker.]
[Mysterious phenomenon: Shadow.]
[Mysterious phenomenon: Call of the Ocean.]
…
Chen Chen looked through them one by one. Even he could not help but feel a little uneasy. According to this information, this sort of mysterious phenomena seemed to be everywhere — sea, land, and air.
Even if human beings were to take flight, hide underground or go out to sea, it was difficult to escape the tightening noose of these phenomena. Even if human beings stopped listening, seeing, and speaking, sealing off their five senses, they could still be plagued by mysterious phenomena like the "Woman in Dreams" whose rules were still unknown.
Living in this world was like being in the deepest pit of despair. No wonder the humans in this world only persisted for less than five years before they had almost gone extinct.
Moreover, such mysterious phenomena were completely beyond the framework of the existing scientific system. In other words, these strange existences had gone beyond the scope of physics, chemistry, and biology, and were more like a part of a brand new discipline that humans had never discovered…
As he reflected on this, Chen Chen continued to turn the pages and immediately saw the last mysterious phenomenon.
[Mysterious phenomenon: Ghost at the Window.]
[Symptoms: A mysterious phenomenon resembling the "Eye" pattern. The mysterious phenomenon begins with a "person" floating in mid-air. It has the appearance of a human being, but its body is ceaselessly contorted, like a ghost. Appearing mostly between high-rise buildings, it is extremely lethal to survivors living in such buildings. Anyone who sees it outside the window will undergo symptoms similar to the "Eye" pattern, and the survival rate is not more than ten percent.]
[Danger level: Level 3, extremely dangerous.]
[Method of infection: Visual infection, mostly between high-rise buildings.]
When he read about this mysterious phenomenon, Chen Chen immediately thought of the white-collar corpses who had died suddenly, which he found when he was exploring the office building and the woman who hanged herself in a high-rise apartment.
Before they died, the white-collar workers had turned their heads to the floor-to-ceiling window, apparently seeing something outside the window.
As for the woman who hanged herself in the high-rise apartment, she had covered the glass of the window completely before she died. She had been clearly frightened of something outside the window.
The woman was afraid of the "Ghost at the Window" because she had seen it with her own eyes, yet she had not died. This meant that she was immune to that kind of damage, just like how some people were immune to the "Eye" pattern. However, she did not realize this.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen sighed to himself. He continued turning the pages but found that the pages behind were all blank. The mysterious phenomenon that Chen Chen had first encountered at the apartment when he came to Gantz's dimension was not in these records.
"Are there only these five Basilisk patterns and these few mysterious phenomena?"
Chen Chen raised his head and questioned the group of captives who were still bustling about in the hall.
At once, everyone hurriedly lowered their heads to avoid the sharp glint in Chen Chen's eyes.
"These are all the weird incidents that have been heard from the members of each team since the establishment of this team."
At this point, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth with long hair suddenly spoke. The boy had delicate features and pale skin. At first glance, Chen Chen had thought he was a woman.
When Chen Chen heard this, he shot the youth a look. Unlike the others, the youth's eyes were not the panicked eyes of a captive, but were rather calm instead. At first glance, he seemed out of place in this world.
Even so, behind this calm surface, there was a dead expression, which came from an indifference to life and death. This young man had some unusual experiences that caused this to happen.
"Yeah, yeah!"
It was not until the youth spoke first that some of the captives stammered and explained, "All of our known mysterious phenomena have been recorded in there. This volume of information is also the most precious item in our team. To survive in this world, this information is indispensable…"
Chen Chen lifted his chin, handed the information to the Black Knight beside him, and said, "X-112, record all the patterns inside."
"Understood."
The voice of X-112 came from the earphones. Chen Chen thought for a while and glanced at the somewhat unusual youth again.
The youth was wearing a T-shirt that was clearly becoming thin. It was rather faded and dirty, but it could not mask his androgynously attractive face.
At this time, the youth was swiftly bandaging a wounded person with skillful movements. However, unlike the others, he looked indifferent even when facing the wounded person as if he did not care about the injury of his companion.
It was not just this young man. Chen Chen noticed that this numb, detached look was also present in the eyes of several other women. Except for those women who were in a relationship with the men in the team, the women's affiliation to the team was apparently not that simple.
These women were much more haggard than the others. Their bodies were thin and their clothes were ragged…
At once Chen Chen suddenly understood the role of these women.
Nonetheless, Chen Chen was not too surprised in this regard. After all, this was the tradition of the East China Sea Continent. Even as early as World War II, this country already had a similar social configuration.
The only thing that astonished Chen Chen was that this group of people did not even spare young boys. It was unscrupulous.
However, this matter had nothing to do with
Chen Chen. Currently, he still had in mind his original mission in coming to Gantz. After X-112 had recorded the information provided by the team, Chen Chen stood up and directed a question at this group of people.
"Do any of you know the location of the nearest North American military base in the East China Sea Continent?"
Everyone stared at him, but no one answered Chen Chen.
Faced with this silence, Chen Chen raised his eyebrows in response and was about to continue to inquire, but at this moment, the youth suddenly spoke, "I know where. But the place has also been abandoned."
Chen Chen looked at the youth. "How do you know?"
"I went there to seek asylum three years ago."
The youth replied, "Not just there — I've also been to the military base where the East China Sea Self-Defense Force is located, but there's nothing there besides corpses and ruins."
Chen Chen just nodded. He must admit that this young man looked as if he was only eleven or twelve years old three years ago. It was admirable that he was able to survive alone in this peculiar apocalypse at that age.
"What's your name?" Seeing this, Chen Chen instinctively asked with some interest.
"Yoru Kamidera."
The young man lowered his head slightly as if to indicate respect for someone stronger. "Your Excellency, my name is Yoru Kamidera."
"Very well, are you interested in coming with me?"
After Chen Chen's question, the young man showed an emotion other than indifference for the first time. He seemed to be stunned, yet Chen Chen clearly observed that, among the group of captives who were asked to sit in the hall, two or three of them who seemed to be the ones in command had an abrupt shift in their expressions as if there was an unwilling glint in their eyes.
Of course, this unwillingness was not necessarily because they were exploiting the youth in that way. Rather, maybe this youth played another part in improving the lives of these people during this doomsday.
Seeing this, a smile curled up at the corner of Chen Chen's mouth. He knew that he had guessed correctly.
Chapter 307: Thuds in the Night |
After Chen Chen's invitation, the youth was silent for a while.
He seemed to be considering whether he would receive a different treatment after following Chen Chen and whether he could get a chance to turn his current life around.
In the eyes of the teenager, although it appeared that Chen Chen's side was stronger, it was evident that going with Chen Chen was risky. If he stayed with the original team, he might live on in adversity for a while longer. Whereas with Chen Chen's group, they seemed intent on confronting the mysterious phenomena.
"I need to think about it, Your Excellency."
In the end, the youth lowered his head slightly and said this.
Chen Chen was not disappointed, but nodded and agreed.
He looked at the sky. It was already evening in the dimension of Gantz, so he said again, "Then give me an answer tomorrow."
After saying that, Chen Chen left the group of people for X-112 to deal with while he led a Black Knight to the room where the team leader was.
After all, he had just undergone violent mental turmoil. If it were not for the support of NZT-48, Chen Chen would have passed out. Even if he was not in a coma, Chen Chen was at his limit by now and urgently needed a place to rest and rejuvenate.
In that case, the school occupied by this group of people was naturally the safest place so far. After all, if there were any danger here, it would not have become a gathering place for this group.
The room belonging to the leader of this doomsday survival team was located in the first dormitory of the teachers' apartment. The windows here were also covered with newspapers and curtains. In addition, the room had thick bedding and complete living facilities. It was even on par with the average starred hotel.
When he saw this, Chen Chen immediately took off his PK Armor, ate a few energy bars to replenish his body's water and nutrition, then collapsed directly onto the bed.
A strong wave of exhaustion struck him and Chen Chen fell asleep promptly before he could think about anything else.
Elsewhere, Fujiwara Aoki had his wrist attached, then he was made to join the rest in the hall of the teaching building to be monitored. The Black Knights who had no feelings and would never tire were fully adequate to deal with this group of people.
As the sun set, the brightly burning ball of fire slowly descended over the skyline of Tokyo. It was as if some unnamable shadow was slowly spreading. The originally well-lit metropolis was gradually replaced by an expanse of darkness.
After even the fire was put out, nighttime Tokyo became even eerier…
Chen Chen slept fitfully the entire night.
Perhaps it was because Chen Chen had looked directly into the "Eye" during the day. Even after he fell asleep, his brain was still aching faintly as if a blunt knife was stabbing in bit by bit. In just a few hours, Chen Chen was sweating profusely in his sleep.
In a thick haze, Chen Chen seemed to be dreaming…
"Thud…"
"Thud…"
"Thud…"
In the dream, something seemed to be ceaselessly, quietly thudding. The sound was muffled and soft. If one listened carefully, the sound was gone again.
Even so, as more time passed, the thudding seemed to become a little louder, rising from an insignificant volume to an increasingly distinct sound.
The Woman in Dreams?
Chen Chen suddenly woke up in the dream at an unknown point in time. This was very common for Chen Chen. After all, with his control over his brain, he could easily regain consciousness in his dream.
In other words, as long as Chen Chen wanted to, he could transform any dream into a lucid dream. This ability came from Chen Chen's extremely powerful self-control.
Moreover, he had no sense of fear in his dream. At this time, in a sober state of mind, Chen Chen subconsciously looked to the door, but he did not see the figure of the mythical woman in white.
Could it be that this was not a mysterious phenomenon?
Seeing this, Chen Chen simply started to ponder in his dream. Following that, he once again heard a certain sound by his ear.
It was a sound of dull impact with an inexplicable rhythm, like a clock, constantly thudding in rhythm.
"Thud…"
"Thud…"
"Thud…"
This sound could not be made by the Black Knight. He was guarding the room and he would not make any meaningless sound.
Furthermore, based on the direction of the sound, it might not be in this room, but the next one…
Oh no.
Suddenly, Chen Chen seemed to realize something. He left the dream at once and slowly opened his eyes, only to realize that the room was pitch dark.
"Sir Commander, the room next door…"
Just as Chen Chen was awake, the voice of X-112 came from the Bluetooth headset that had not been taken off.
"Shh. I know."
Chen Chen raised his index finger and made the gesture for silence, then immediately put on the PK Armor and adjusted his vision to thermal imaging.
Although thermal imaging could not penetrate a wall that exceeded a certain thickness, it was at least still very convenient in this dark night when he could not even see his own hands.
At this time, the dull thudding sound continued. The sound was not loud and it might even be ignored in normal times. However, in the deep night of doomsday, when it was so quiet that even one's heartbeat could be heard, it was as clear as a lamp in the night.
"Thud…"
"Thud…"
The sound came again and again as if it would never stop. It was very peculiar.
"Impossible. When I asked the Black Knights to escort the group out, I've already checked every room. There should be no one next door."
X-112 was a little confused. "Could someone have slipped through the cracks?"
"There's no point in guessing about this now."
Chen Chen whispered, "I'm already awake. Let the Black Knight go next door to check again. Plus, I suspect that…"
At this point, Chen Chen's eyes were incomparably serious. The image of the hanged woman quickly flashed through his mind.
Seeing this, X-112 did not hesitate anymore but immediately controlled the Black Knight to open the door and walk toward the room next door where the sound was ceaselessly coming from.
"Click…"
With the sharp sound of a door lock being opened, the door of the next room was opened.
It seemed that this disruption had broken a certain balance and the thudding noise stopped abruptly at the same moment.
"Sir Commander…"
It felt as if eternity had passed or perhaps it was only two or three minutes. The voice of X-112 came from the headset again. "The next room has been explored and no signs of life have been found here, just…"
"I got it. I'll go over now."
Chen Chen did not ask any more questions but walked directly out of the room and came to the next door.
This must also be a room for high-level members of the team. Although the facilities in the room were not as comprehensive as the team leader's room, it was also considered luxurious in a doomsday where resources were scarce.
Chen Chen just quickly glanced around the layout, then paid it no mind. After that, he followed the Black Knight's gaze, only to see that in the wall before the Black Knight, there was an extra dent that had appeared out of thin air.
Chen Chen stepped forward and touched the dent, only to get white dust on his hand.
This dent was newly hammered in and the white plaster on the wall had not even fallen off. At this time, as Chen Chen touched it, a piece of white plaster finally fell off, exposing the red brick and concrete within the wall…
At this sight, Chen Chen fell completely silent.
Chapter 308: The USB Drive's Backlash |
Of course, Chen Chen was no stranger to this scene.
In the daytime, he had just seen this scene where a female corpse was hanged in the room. There were a lot of dented marks on the wall. When he had gone to the neighboring room, he saw that the public wall had a deep mark from a significant impact.