Chapter 23: Echoes from the Ancients (Part 2)
Ever since Xiao Peng angrily said a bunch of swear words with that peerless beauty on his face, Beichen was frightened and tried hard to remind Atlas not to provoke him again, so the three of them were able to continue moving forward.
The underground corridor is very long, but the material of the surrounding walls and ground has changed several times as we walked along. From the rough stone walls at the beginning, they became walls that seemed to be made of small bricks. The texture became better and better, and in the end it was so smooth and flat that it was terrifying, almost like modern marble bricks.
Of course, the further he went in, the more difficult it was for Beichen to breathe—as if he was short of oxygen.
She looked at Atlas's expression, then at Xiaoping's.
"Uh, don't you feel uncomfortable? I seem to be short of oxygen."
Xiao Peng turned his head and said, "Lack of oxygen? What is that? I'm fine, I don't feel uncomfortable at all."
"Well, in short, it's the gas that sustains human life. Atlas, what about you?"
Atlas tilted his head slightly:
"I can actively extract and replace energy to replace oxygen. No problem. Is Beichen having trouble breathing?"
Beichen took a step back warily, fearing that he would kiss her again.
"Yeah, a little bit, but it's nothing serious. Now that the air is circulating with the outside world, it might be better in a while."
"Beichen, take this and put it in your mouth."
A small white pill (?) appeared in Atlas's hand.
"This is a compressed carbon agent. It lasts for three hours and has a lemon flavor."
...Why do there even exist flavors?!
Beichen was embarrassed for a moment, then took the pill and put it in his mouth.
"Thank you again, Atlas. Three hours... should be enough!"
After receiving the praise, Atlas immediately wagged its tail excitedly, which made Xiaopeng's facial nerves twitch involuntarily.
"You seem to trust him so much. Can you eat anything the possessed Moon Envoy gives you?"
Xiao Ping asked with a chuckle, and Beichen smiled nonchalantly.
"If he wants to harm me, does he need this little pill? He can just use a Star Spirit Cannon to blast me into pieces."
"No!"
Unexpectedly, before Xiaopeng could say anything, Atlas was so anxious that his tail stood up:
"I won't attack Beichen. Beichen is not a piece of meat!"
"Uh...I mean hypothetically...hypothetically."
Beichen twitched her lips and touched his tail that was wrapped around her wrist, instantly calming him down.
Xiao Ping stood aside and watched their interaction with interest, then chuckled again.
"Since we have such a good relationship, you have to hide this guy well, little witch."
“…Huh?”
"Not to mention his combat prowess, he can also come up with strange things, and his train of thought is very simple and straightforward. Don't you think this guy is too easy to use? He's very likely to attract covetous people."
Beichen's expression immediately became serious when he heard this.
Indeed, after returning to the town, Atlas's disguise must be flawless.
After that, they walked in silence all the way until they finally reached the end of the corridor and faced a door.
There was a blue crystal in the middle of the door. Xiao Ping pointed the pendant in his hand at it again, but the blue crystal only lit up for a second and then dimmed again as if it was running out of energy.
"Well, it looks like it's not working."
Xiao Ping said this and turned around and pulled Beichen's wrist.
"Then let's try this new deity."
“──!?”
Before Beichen could come to his senses, Xiaoping had already placed Beichen's hand on the crystal.
Boom──!
A muffled sound came from behind the door, and the entire ruins shook slightly, and even the ground beneath the feet was shaking.
It was as if the entire ruins came alive instantly with Beichen's release.
The door made a "!!" sound and split into several parts, shrinking in the upper, lower, left and right directions. What came into view was a large white room.
"Hey, it really is the Red Moon Priestess."
After Xiao Ping took a look inside the door, he narrowed his eyes and returned his gaze to Beichen.
"...You, didn't you guess it a long time ago?"
"Well, when I first saw you near the ruins, I guessed there was a 30% chance. After I told you you were a miko, and seeing your expression, the probability dropped to 60%. Now it's 100%."
“…”
Beichen had nothing to say and could only give him a hateful look. However, this look did not make him angry. Instead, he laughed happily.
"You are too young, little witch."
After saying that, he walked in gracefully without caring that Beichen was beating his chest and stamping his feet, or was furious and threatening to show his middle finger behind him.
Is it really better to kill to silence the witness? Beichen angrily scolded himself for being useless, his teeth itching with anger and his heart burning with rage, while he suppressed the terrible thoughts that popped up in his mind.
Honestly, this guy was truly terrifying. If he wasn't on his side, it would have been more reliable to kill him in order to survive and eliminate some terrifying variables.
After all, her life now is not her own.
Her safety concerns Xiang Ying and the twins, Rui and Yagard, and even the safety of the world, or the changes of the entire era.
She even considered that the Red Moon Priestess was actually a strange thing that was created when another personality took over her body after her death - after all, it was absolutely impossible for her to do something that would destroy an entire era.
So, she can't die.
This means that anything that poses a threat to her should be ruthlessly eliminated.
However, this does not mean that we can casually trample on a life just for this reason.
Although she was afraid of death and had selfish desires, and even had evil thoughts of protecting herself, she would still suppress them.
It sounds cruel and ruthless, but if you really want to do it, who can bury a person without batting an eyelid just because of a certain "possibility" that may happen in the future?
Is killing really that easy? Can you truly feel at peace with yourself if you kill someone for this reason?
Stop being so immature, Xiang Beichen. Do you think this is a dark cartoon or a palace fighting TV drama? If you really take action, this person will never come back and will completely disappear into thin air!
She was not one of those bureaucratic concubines involved in court struggles, so she did not want to use such obscure and self-abuse methods to solve problems.
Blocking is not the solution at all.
Sooner or later, more and more people will know that I am the Red Moon Priestess.
So does that mean she will kill one by one all those who know the truth and are not on her side?
──Then what is the difference between her and the "Red Moon Priestess", the mother of disaster?
No, that's even more disgusting than the Red Moon Priestess herself. After all, the Priestess was a heartless and impartial figurehead of the times, while this woman, like that, slaughtered people at will just to protect herself! Just a sick villain.
Even though she has this inexplicable and heavy title on her head, it does not mean that she is really more valuable than anyone else.
In the face of death, all lives are equal in weight.
“…”
Looking at Xiaoying's back, she shook her head, then nodded.
Yes. I, Xiang Beichen, am not that kind of person, nor am I interested in being that kind of person. The path I should take has already been decided.
Even more than a year ago, at the most desperate moment, I managed to regain my principles and pride.
Of course, the enemy must be killed without hesitation!
But before that, you must work hard to guide those who are about to become your enemies into people who stand on your side. This step is absolutely essential.
After figuring it out, she smiled back at Atlas who was looking at her in confusion, then let out a long breath and caught up with the laughing figure in front of her.
Xiao Ping turned his head and stared into her eyes for a few seconds.
"Have you thought it through? Or decided not to kill me?"
“Huh?! Ah…”
Does this guy have the ability to read minds?! How come he figured out everything?
"You just released a considerable amount of murderous aura, but now your aura is quite stable."
"Hmm... Never mind. After all, she's a delicate beauty."
A vein on Xiao Ping's forehead jumped:
"If I were you, I would definitely eradicate this destabilizing scourge from the ground up."
"But you're not me after all. And you're provoking me. You could have just kept this information to yourself and done something good with it. What's wrong with you? Do you want someone to kill you?"
"Haha. Looks like I wasn't wrong about him."
The smile on Xiao Ping's lips softened, and she leaned down and put her head close to Beichen's face.
"For this favor of not killing you, you can trust me this time. I won't say anything nonsense."
"……Um."
Beichen nodded slightly, and then he could finally let go of this important knot in his heart and observe his surroundings.
...a large, smooth room with walls made of white marble (? ) bricks.
The hall was completely empty. Apart from short, low pillars that seemed to be arranged in a strange arrangement on the ground, there was nothing else there, not even a single decorative pattern.
【This way, this way.】
The voice rang out again, and this time Beichen was somewhat grateful for the guidance of the voice. She followed the instructions given by her brain, walked to one of the short pillars, and placed her hand on the blue crystal inlaid on it.
Boom—
There was another roar, and the pillar made a loud friction sound, rising up with a bit of a stumbling sound, and hit the dome of the hall, and then made a loud noise and got stuck in the grooves of the dome that were just the right size.
Then there was a buzzing sound of photon vibrations, and suddenly, between the pillars, many photon screens of different sizes flashed one after another like a net.
“This…this is…”
Not only Beichen, but even Xiaoying, who seemed to have investigated the ruins many times, showed a look of shock.
It seems that the results obtained by holding the remains of the shrine maiden and by visiting the shrine maiden in person are different.
"Are these... words?"
Xiao Ping walked to one of the largest screens and looked up at it. Densely packed symbols were scrolling on it, but it didn't seem to be the common language of Feinheim, and Beichen couldn't understand it either.
"I don't know, it seems so."
In order to see more clearly, she took a few steps closer, and immediately, the voice in her mind sounded again, as if reading the words on the screen.
Welcome to the offline mode of the terminal processor in the Latinya area refuge base. Your login method is the system administrator, 'Red Moon Witch'.
Beichen was stunned for a moment, but because the interpretation of those sounds had a lot in common with using computers in Feinheim, she was not too surprised. She just scanned the conspicuous large words on the screen.
As his eyes scanned each line, the voice explained it one by one, which was very considerate - a system that operates directly with brain waves is really advanced.
[Research records of 'Transfiguration Weapon'.]
[Staff daily records.]
[Red Moon Witch's personal space. ]
It seems that the first and third ones are both very important. "Transformation weapon"...it seems to be related to combat weapons.
Beichen aimed at the first line of words, and immediately, a small screen popped up with a large amount of words unfolding inside. But before Beichen could speak, Xiaoqing patted her shoulder.
"Can you understand those words?"
Beichen shook his head honestly.
"I don't understand it, but there's a voice in my head explaining it automatically."
"—Hey, you're quite honest."
"You think I want to tell you? Anyway, you'll definitely be able to easily trick me into telling you something later. I might as well save myself the trouble and just tell you directly now."
Beichen rolled his eyes absentmindedly. Xiao Ping was stunned again for a moment, then pursed his lips and smiled brightly - because the lethality was too great, Beichen's face immediately turned red and his heart beat wildly. He coughed hard and turned his eyes away.
"Fox spirit."
Atlas said something in a calm voice, and Xiaoying's expression immediately froze and he glared at him fiercely - but before he could say anything, Atlas had already moved next to Beichen and stared at him seriously.
"I want to be a vixen too."
As he spoke, he forced himself to control his facial muscles and lift the corners of his mouth - his expression was as strange as if a wax figure had suddenly come to life.
Beichen patted Atlas' tail, feeling both amused and helpless.
"Atlas is handsome even without smiling. There's no need to imitate others."
Atlas immediately lowered the corners of his mouth, then happily wrapped his tail around Beichen's hand, and looked up with her to continue reading the text.
"Atlas, can you understand?"
"Can."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ping's expression of interest grew even more intense. Knowing that it was impossible for him to obtain the information above for the time being, he simply paced around the hall in a relaxed manner, looking around - although there was actually nothing interesting to see.
Beichen turned his attention back to the newly opened small screen.
The commentary in my mind continued to ring.
[Research Record of Transformed Weapons-12
The new species has been put into trial operation and has undergone combat testing, with positive feedback. However, some testers have complained that the weapon's artificial AI is not flexible enough. Dr. Astroyd proposed replacing the new species' logical processing center in the next version to make their personalities more human-like. Dr. Sitwell, however, believes that the development of personalities will make them less pure. While this will increase their ease of use, it will also make them difficult to control and even open the possibility of rebellion.
“…”
Beichen was secretly surprised while listening to the explanation.
Judging from the tone... shapeshifting weapons are things that humans... are researching and improving?
But it was strange. If the weapons were related to the shapeshifting weapons, how could the weapons be living things? And how could the Protoss ore be explained?
I have no idea what to do, so I'll just keep watching.
[Transfiguration Weapon Research Record-13
The headquarters finally decided to adopt Dr. Astroyd's proposal.
The new batches produced by the Latina branch have all been replaced with newly developed logic processing centers. The killing effect is indeed 140% stronger than the previous batch, but it is indeed as Dr. Sitwell said, after having a clear humanoid personality, many transformed weapons began to have desires and even made various demands on the users.
This issue has been submitted to headquarters, and Dr. Li from this branch has proposed a control method, which has been uploaded to the database backend.
[Transfiguration Weapon Research Record-14
■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■
■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■】
Perhaps because of the age, the data has been damaged. A section of the data has become garbled, and the commentary voice has also turned into a strange noise that looks like a cassette tape. Beichen hurriedly moved his eyes downwards.
[Research Record of Transformed Weapons 18
The branch's combat members and the new batch of transformed weapons suffered heavy casualties in this star disaster.
The data that can be submitted is very scarce and has no reference value.
However, it is clear that the compliance of the transformed weapons with the contract restrictions is much higher than that of previous batches. Dr. Li's plan has been officially put on the agenda.
[Research Record of Transformed Weapons 19
Residential areas suffered a large-scale attack, terminal processors were also attacked, and 29% of the data was damaged.
The data upload system is being repaired. 】
[Research Record of Transformed Weapons 20
Data backup uploaded, base relocation preparations underway, Latinya base is about to be abandoned. For the remaining research data, please visit the Red Tower at headquarters.
The words on the screen end here.
Beichen also deduced some clues based on the words above.
Someone in this base was researching something called shapeshifting weapons, using them in combat and giving them personalities. However, they were afraid that the weapons with personalities would rebel against their masters, so they added contracts that seemed to restrict them.
——The more I look at it, the more it looks like a weapon.
While she was thinking, Xiao Ping had already walked back to her side.
"Hey, little witch," he said, retracting his enigmatic smile and glancing seriously at Atlas beside her. "You can look at things, but it's best to stay away from this possessed Mr. Moon Envoy."
"Huh? Why?"
Beichen turned his head curiously and asked, and a flash of displeasure flashed across Atlas' mechanical eyes.
However, soon after Atlas turned his gaze to Beichen, his unhappiness disappeared. Instead, his pupils suddenly shrank, and then he let go of the tail that was wrapped around Beichen.
"Uh...what happened?"
Beichen was a little frightened by their reaction, then looked around and then at himself - are you okay?
Xiao Ping didn't answer, but just pulled her hand and let her touch his neck.
"!!……this……!!"
Beichen couldn't help but scream.
She felt something hard. How could there be something hard on her neck? Unconvinced, she felt around again... Sure enough, while it wasn't big, it was a hard object, embedded in her skin.
"What's this……"
Unable to see her own neck, she looked at Atlas and Xiaopeng in front of her with some horror.
"It's a bluish-purple crystal." Xiao Peng looked at her neck with a serious expression, while Atlas remained silent, his tail stretched straight, with the tip nervously raised.
"You probably have chronic moon poisoning, little witch."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
