Over there, Tang Erda was chatting with Fang Xiaoxiao.

Although it was just a casual chat, Tang Erda, who used to be the captain of the Heresy Processing Bureau, was always extremely wary of NPCs, or monsters, like Fang Xiaoxiao whose whereabouts were suspicious, and his words couldn't help but carry a hint of interrogation.

"How do you know that we went to the observation post and met another Fang Xiaoxiao?" Tang Erda asked condescendingly, "I feel that you are very familiar with the situation of being dug out."

Fang Xiaoxiao didn't seem surprised that Tang Er questioned him. He just laughed miserably and said, "Because this is not the first time I've been dug out. These monsters not only want to test foreign humans, but also test our reactions to our peers in the group."

"Early on, when we were thrown into the crevasse, the monsters hadn't filled it with snow to bury us."

"They want to do a project about how humans survive in a remote environment with limited resources. They told us that within three days, they will gradually fill the ice cracks with snow, and during this period, they will release the humans who can grab resources and escape, while those who cannot escape will be frozen forever."

At this point, he closed his eyes with great difficulty, tears streaming down his face. "In order to mislead these monsters' perception of humans, so that they would kill each other when simulating humans and tend towards extinction, we simulated a realistic resource-grabbing scene and brutally harmed the other side."

Fang Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, and his hands holding the cup began to tremble uncontrollably. He lowered his head and took a sip of hot water. Tang Erda noticed that there were stains of coagulated blood in the gaps between his teeth, as if he had bitten prey.

"We ... focused our resources on the youngest members of the team, let them escape, and three days later, we were buried in the snow."

Fang Xiaoxiao's gloomy expression finally became unbearable when he said this. He roared hoarsely and sadly like a wounded beast making sounds from its throat:

"We thought their experiment was over! But we didn't expect that they marked the young members who left and kept monitoring their whereabouts. Then, when these young members couldn't control their emotions and turned back to save us, the monsters had a new research interest and misled them, causing them to dig another ice crack!!"

Fang Xiaoxiao was trembling all over:

"…these guys set up a control group. They had two monsters transform into the appearances of the young members who escaped to dig our ice crack, and induced those young members to dig another ice crack filled with monsters that transformed into our appearance…"

"They want to know whether human winners are more likely to believe that the losers they rescued are of the same kind, or whether human losers are more likely to believe that the winners who rescued them are of the same kind..."

Tang Er opened his mouth. Looking at Fang Xiaoxiao's numb expression, he couldn't help but soften his tone: "So... what are the test results?"

Fang Xiaoxiao's face was expressionless, with only an ugly, stiff smile on the corner of her mouth, and tears constantly flowing from her hollow eyes:

"We were dug out and identified the [victors], but those children did not identify the [losers] they had rescued. They lived with the monsters they had rescued for two months and had sex with two of them. The two children were brought to us and revealed the results."

"These kids went crazy, they poured fuel on themselves, burned themselves and then jumped into acid and killed themselves."

"I know that among the humanoid monsters they simulated to deceive these children, there is one named Fang Xiaoxiao."

Tang Er was silent for a moment, then continued to ask: "How can you be sure that we who came to dig you up are not monsters?"

Fang Xiaoxiao moved his eyes dully and muttered to himself, "You can't be monsters, because these monsters can only imitate humans who have already appeared, and they can't simulate completely new humans. I have never seen you in Antarctica."

"And they have already tested that we are able to determine whether the people who dig us up are of the same species, so they won't bother with this. Even if they dig us up, they usually take the form of protoplasm, not humans."

Bai Liu, who was carrying out excavation work over there, waved his hand and signaled Tang Er to go over.

Tang Er calmed down and looked at Fang Xiaoxiao, who was sitting motionless on the sled, for a long while. Even though he knew that this graduate student was just an NPC, he still patted his shoulder reluctantly: "...Rest here well and don't run around."

After saying that, he trotted over to Bai Liu and truthfully reported what Fang Xiaoxiao had just said to him.

Mu Sicheng couldn't stop getting goosebumps all over his body and rubbed his arms wildly.

Bai Liu was thoughtful, and then smiled, which made Mu Sicheng's back shiver even more. "It seems that the situation is more complicated and interesting than we thought. I roughly know what this Mr. Edmund wants to do, but I still need to contact Mu Ke to see if he has found something like the old professor's diary to prove my guess."

Mu Sicheng was a little confused: "Then, should we still dig?"

"Dig." Bai Liu gave the order with a smile, "Dig everything out and bring it back to Taishan Station. Let's confront each other and see who is the monster."

Mu Sicheng: "!!!"

Edmund's Observation Station.

Mu Ke and Liu Jiayi took out almost all the books and materials in the entire observation station, and looked at them one by one according to the names. Some superficial reading was given to Liu Jiayi, and some professional in-depth reading tasks were undertaken by Mu Ke. After translation, they were handed over to Liu Jiayi for information integration.

Fortunately, the Edmund Observatory is home to graduate students, and there are quite a few introductory textbooks in the living quarters, so when Mu Ke looks at the experimental data, he has a reference book to check, which makes things a little easier.

"They are mainly professional books on meteorology and biology, and there are also many social studies books." Mu Ke rummaged through the bookcase that was dragged out from Edmund's cabin. He flipped through the books quickly, glancing briefly at the contents, mainly reading the annotations.

Then he paused, thought for a moment, and then spoke: "It seems that Professor Edmund is very dissatisfied with the politics and authorities of Country A. He wrote such words in their country's modern history books that praise human rights liberation."

Liu Jiayi poked his head over and read out: "——Parallel exploitation of labor is the primary human right of capital. (Note 1)"

Mu Ke flipped through it again. "It's also here, written next to the Bahatta War Chronicle. This was a war launched by Country A because the other side secretly developed biological and chemical weapons."

Liu Jiayi read it word for word: "Order without freedom and freedom without order are equally destructive (Note 2)."

Mu Ke continued to search the observation station and found a private fax record between Edmund and the Tarzan Observatory in a criminal record file in the archives. It was wrapped with a yellow seal that prohibited opening and read: [Copy of Edmund's treason evidence]

Mu Ke and Liu Jiayi looked at each other and tore it open without hesitation.

The fax records are arranged by date, which is very straightforward.

October 1:

My friend, you are right. I have tested these body parts and they cannot be used for any scientific research. They are ethically wrong and spiritually polluting, and violate my basic moral principles as a human scientist.

I understand why it was sealed here, it really shouldn't be left outside, I will try my best to convince the "thieves" who robbed your boxes, and then return the three boxes to you unscathed (well, maybe not unscathed).

You have done something dangerous and great. One hundred years from now, all of humanity should carve you into the Jie Fang (the pinyin of Edmund here) monument to praise you! (You talked to me last time. Your warrior honor roll is called the Jie Fang monument, right?)

Congratulations on your founding of the country!

October 7:

We're sorry that we may not be able to return your box for the time being.

It’s a bit strange to say, but this is the first time I’ve been forced to implement my own research results.

Now I feel like I have no sense of taste or temperature. I may fall down funny when walking on the road because my cerebellum has been modified and my sense of balance is a little problematic (but before the modification, falling down was something I used to do often). Everything else is fine. I feel like I have turned into a small warm whale. Maybe I should go into the sea and give a real small warm whale a kiss on the cheek?

After all, I am no longer afraid of the cold, and I am no longer human, so being a deep-sea whale might be a good choice for me.

Boy, I quite like the way they rub against the rocks when their skin itches, just like me, an old fellow, rubbing against the closet when I can't get my hands on my back.

Don't worry about the box. They still need me to do research, and I can always find a way to return the box to you.

October 17:

Oh my god, are you guys scared by me?

The kid named Xiao Xiaofang was holding my broken leg and crying loudly. I remember that he was studying meteorology and I had supervised his thesis before.

I have to say that it is a really bad paper. Many parts of the images do not even have the units listed, and the format of the literature citations is full of errors and omissions. I really don’t know how this kid got into graduate school and was able to come to Antarctica (I don’t mean to say that this kid’s advisor is a fake).

This time they drove a snowmobile, tied me by the neck and dragged me through the snow. This was just a punishment for my attempt to steal the box again, or perhaps it was just a routine test of my body's endurance. After all, I was now the most successful modified product, and also a criminal. There was no experimental subject that could excite these people more than me - this is the tradition of our country.

Although my limbs eventually rolled off my body like rusty pen holders, it was not painful because they were already cold and stiff. Let the child stop crying for me.

When he was crying loudly and chasing my scattered legs, his expression made me very sad. He called me teacher. God, I swear that was the happiest sentence I had heard in the past month. Although he was crying, I couldn't help laughing in the back of the snowmobile.

After I was labeled a criminal, no one called me teacher for a long time.

Don't worry about me, I will find a way to deal with the box. Fax communication is more confidential, and paper materials will make these idiots think that I am not that brave. I will tell you if there is any progress.

December 17:

They seemed to have discovered that I was faxing you secretly, so I had to stop for two months.

Well, maybe I was too arrogant and underestimated the intelligence of these people. Fax is indeed not safe.

This may be the last time I maintain the will of humanity and send you a fax. My friends, please allow me, an old man, to babble on and on about my life. I hope you don't think I'm boring. After all, I really can't find anyone else to talk to.

I came to Antarctica thirty-three years ago. At that time, this observatory was not called Edmund Observatory. I forgot what it was called, but it was not as well-known and easy to remember as Edmund.

The person who sent me on the Polarstern icebreaker was a veteran who participated in the Peninsula War (although he was not old at that time, he looked really old at that time, and I always joked about it).

He is one of the few friends I have.

After all, as a nerd like me, it was hard to find anyone else willing to talk to me during the adventurous gold rush era.

Fifteen years after I arrived in Antarctica, he left me forever due to the disability caused by the war and the hardship of life. Then, before his death, he returned to me every year the living expenses I sent him (he insisted that it was a loan), without moving a penny.

The doctor told me that he voluntarily gave up treatment because he was tortured by pain after the war and his dreams were full of blood. This is a very normal phenomenon and many soldiers have it.

But I know it's not that simple. My friend died in another war.

His only reason for joining the war was to end the war.

He was taught, deceived, and used by public opinion and politics to use justice and kindness to go to the battlefield. He thought that every knife he stabbed and every gun he fired was to save more ordinary people who were harmed by the war.

But he was also deeply aware that the people he killed were as innocent as he was, which made him unbearably painful. The only reason that convinced him to continue was the slogan at the time - Let this be the last war we experience, let us end this chaotic and unfair world.

He thought this was the end, but wars kept being launched, and the world he hoped to see seemed to never come true.

Until the war fifteen years ago, this brutal war of aggression initiated by the country he trusted completely destroyed him. He knew that what he had been doing was unjust.

It was vile, filthy, and the ugliest thing of all that he hated.

He was just a politician's whitewashed executioner. He couldn't allow himself to live like this, so he told me that he couldn't hold on any longer.

I didn't know how to reply to him. I had only ever been good at studying, and the only brave thing I had ever done in my life was to escape from everything and go to Antarctica.

Many people in Antarctica stood up and protested against the war in the severe cold (Note 3). I stood in the crowd, holding up a "no war" sign with shaking hands, looking up at the approaching polar night, and the cold snow almost buried me.

It seems that all we can do is protest, but of course it didn't have any effect in the end.

When I was reading his suicide note, I saw what he wrote to me: "Antarctica must be great. Although it is cold, brutal, and without sunlight, there must be no war there. It is a pure land. I hope you will not bring your thoughts for me, for an ugly war criminal, to this pure land and pollute it."

But that was not the case. Antarctica was as cold as he had imagined, but not as pure as he had imagined.

Everyone who comes to this pure land has the grand ideal of saving humanity and alleviating the global crisis.

We carefully recorded data, marked the skin of whales and the leg rings of penguins, and confirmed year after year that the number of these creatures had dropped to less than 50% of their original number with each year. We had watched with worry as glaciers more than a thousand feet high disappeared into the sea in a single hour. Like an alarm clock, we shouted at the politicians at every meeting - the climate is bad, global warming is happening, and this is a crisis for humanity.

And they always listen carelessly and sleepily, but in the next TV screen, they righteously bring out these things and wave the banner, while at the same time continuing to ambitiously plan wars that can cause large-scale pollution.

No matter inside or outside, no matter right or wrong, it only concerns their term of office and personal interests.

I guarantee that none of these guys can tell you that the global average temperature rose last year.

My friend, you may be tired of reading and think that I am really a nagging old man, but please allow me to continue nagging tiredly and lazily.

I was born in a country known for personal freedom and democracy, where it seems that everyone's freedom of action is respected.

Making sacrifices for the group is something that individual heroes need to do, while most people only need to pursue their own interests and achievements throughout their lives.

But my friends, you and I know very well that humans continue as a species and as a group. No species can pursue freedom in isolation. When the group does not exist, freedom will be meaningless.

Only we "heroes" can't do it.

The group values ​​we pursue are not recognized in society. It is like a lone whale that sees an impending volcanic eruption or tsunami, but can only warn other whales of the impending disaster at a strange frequency. They don't understand and are unwilling to listen to the advice of these strange whales.

They are going to pursue the sea fish or the group of krill in front of them. Volcanoes and tsunamis are not important to them. These are the heroes' business.

I felt like I was living in Tsatto, a country of absurdity, pleasure to death, narrow-mindedness, and disintegration.

Last year the observatory faced the possibility of another budget cut simply because our current generation of leaders does not believe in global warming and the greenhouse effect.

There were many times when I felt as if what I was doing was not some great work to save humanity, but was just a product of political manipulation - just like my friends.

I envy you, my friends, you are not fighting alone, your community knows the responsibilities you bear and does not shy away from sharing them with you.

You are not [heroes], but [vanguards].

Every young person who asked me for guidance at Taishan Station had a bright and shining country in his eyes. It was so beautiful! Even the snow in Antarctica was not so pure. It reminded me of when my friend sent me on board after watching "Titanic". He smiled and waved, and shouted, "Don't hit the iceberg, and pay attention to see if my Rose is on the boat." His eyes were so bright.

Species will eventually become extinct, and the same is true for humans. My friend, I believe that you and I are both extremely sure of this. This is the destined fate of all living things, just as humans will eventually die.

But when, where and how we will perish is up to us to decide.

I would rather see us die together in the snow and ice in the future than see the last two people on earth stabbing each other's hearts with spears in the devastated ruins in order to compete for prey.

Forgive me, my friends, I chose you in despair, and I did to you what an arrogant God does to mankind.

The corpse contains energy that can turn the world upside down. It seems that it was born for my desires and wishes. After being particled, it can produce unprecedented meteorological and biological influences. Rather than letting it fall into the hands of others, I might as well write the ending.

This was the first time I used my knowledge in such a sinister way to cause global cooling and human extinction.

I might really be crazy.

But I still hid my madness a little bit. I developed creatures that can adapt to this situation, and then chose you, adding your genes to their suspension, letting them test you to see if you can become the group that continues the spark.

Hate me as much as you like, my friends, for I took up my rifle like a Vedaga and drove out into the ice and snow those in the house who had been paralyzed by my obedience for the past two months, ordering them not to take any clothes or food with them.

It's funny, although I suffered all kinds of inhumane torture from them, my request for the freedom to use a gun for self-defense is still respected to this moment. In the eyes of the people guarding me, asking for a gun is not a big deal. After all, they don't think that a weak scientist like me has the courage to resist, so they granted me the freedom to defend myself.

This may be the only benefit that freedom brings me, although this freedom breaks the rules of Antarctica.

I held the gun, and the creatures I had taught squatted in the snow beside me, waiting quietly with me for these humans to huddle together in the snow for warmth and die of the cold as I had imagined.

And now I have returned to my room to write this fax for you, to put the final period on this terrible conspiracy that I have been planning since August 10th.

Soon, those creatures will reach your territory...

(Additional note: I made sauerkraut according to your method, but failed. God, your cooking is harder than biochemical experiments. I was going to make some for you as a strategic reserve for the cold winter, but for safety reasons, I do not recommend that you consume these two jars of sauerkraut.)

Your friend - Edmund.

The author has something to say:

Note 1 Quoted from the great mentor Mr. Marks

Note 2 Quoted from Roosevelt

Note 3: In 2003, an anti-war protest was held at the Antarctic research station. According to a report by ZG News, a total of 10 million people from around the world participated in the event.

Note 4: Tsath comes from an underground city in the "Hills" of the "Cthulhu" mythology. It is inhabited by an undead race that is extremely rich in material resources and uses all kinds of cruel means to please itself, treating other intelligent races as slaves and beasts.

And this paragraph is just a fictional image of a possible Antarctic scientist that I created by combining various research materials. It is for the purpose of writing a story and does not express my inclination! ! I hope you will not take it too seriously. Thank you. Thank you.