Chapter 308 Vitality
When another team also mysteriously disappeared near the core module, a feeling of uneasiness almost to the point of panic inevitably spread.
The current situation of being lost in unknown star regions and trapped in deep space has exacerbated this panic.
The sage had to order everyone on the "Pillar of Order" to be injected with a dose of toughness potion to resist the gradually spreading fear and ensure order on the ship.
But he could feel that the fear had not disappeared, but was still growing and spreading in the darkness, like an evil spirit behind the curtain, ready to break through the barrier of reason.
"…poor quality iteration…"
Looking at those monks who were busy with their heads down but actually had no idea what to do, the white-robed old man sitting at the chief seat frowned and cursed secretly in his heart.
"We just lost contact with the machinery cabin on the lower level," a member of the monastery walked over cautiously and bowed his head beside the old man. "In the last communication, they said that there was a noise coming from the pipe interlayer. They were going to go out of the cabin to check the equipment, and then they disappeared. The monitoring system only captured the scene of them leaving the cabin door."
"How is the engine?" the sage asked solemnly, "When can we jump again?"
"The engine is already charging, but part of the power line is offline, and the charging efficiency is only one-third of the normal level. It will take at least an hour to start, and..." The cultist who came to report swallowed his saliva, "and we haven't found the 'invader' yet, and we can't be sure what the reason for the previous jump failure was. Even if the charging is completed, a rash jump may..."
"I don't need you to remind me of the risks. I will make my own judgment when the time comes. Now tell me, how many sections have lost contact? And how much area do we have control over?"
"Contact has been lost with the machinery bay, the cargo bay, the data center, residential areas 2 to 4, and the D-1 and D-2 connection sections. The situation in the other parts is still under control, but..."
The sage said with dissatisfaction in his tone: "But what?"
"But... there is something very wrong. There are always some noises in the data sent back by the ship's sensor system that cannot be filtered out," the cultist said, subconsciously adjusting his standing posture, "including those compartments where communication is currently smooth and the staff on duty are safe and sound. The sensor system is also sending back some very strange signals. It feels as if, as if..."
"Don't be so hesitant!"
"It's as if the entire 'Pillar of Order' is infected with some 'disease'. Part of its structure is changing and is identified as 'foreign matter' by the ship's perception system. However, these structures cannot be really removed. In addition, apart from the little noise sent back by the perception system, the signals sent back by all sensors and monitoring systems are normal...
"Some other duty officers in other compartments reported that they had 'hallucinations'. They felt that something was crawling in the wall, or that someone was talking to them through the ventilation system in the room. One mechanic even said directly... that his tool cabinet was monitoring him, and that there were several pairs of eyes in the cabinet."
The wise man said nothing, but just thought with a gloomy face.
The inferior iterations are full of flaws, and their fragile neural structures are easily affected by the external environment like ordinary mortals, but their loyalty and tolerance remain unquestionable. There may be deviations in the situations they report, but there will never be deliberate exaggerations or nonsense under fear.
They really felt something - some kind of "alienation" was spreading throughout the entire ship.
And thinking about the several teams that had disappeared before, and those "knights" who had inexplicably disappeared in the command chain, their disappearance... rather than being attacked, it was more like they were swallowed up by the ship, swallowed up completely.
The sage slowly stood up and looked down at the hall. His eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the surrounding walls and ground and see the entire magnificent "tower".
The Pillar of Order is the proud creation of the Priory. Each of these spaceships is tasked with repairing the world order and reshaping the structure of time and space. Its core comes from the great forging planet "Radar", and every batch of metal used to build it has been blessed personally by the living saint. Regardless of whether it is finally assembled on an industrial planet or built in a remote and wild expedition camp, its sacredness is unquestionable and should not be challenged.
But now, a "disease" is tainting this sacred creation.
The sage lowered his head and took out a small pendant from his bosom. The pendant was made of gold, and in the middle of the exquisite double ring was a shining red gem.
There seemed to be an ominous light flickering in the gem.
"Notify all cabins that can still be contacted to stay at their respective posts. Without orders, do not step out of the cabin, let alone enter the connecting passages."
Although it is not known what happened to the previously missing personnel, they all lost contact while they were outside. The problem may have occurred in the process of "leaving the cabin" or "entering the connecting channel."
"Continue to try to repair the navigation system. We must be ready for the jump before the phase engine is fully recharged."
Without being able to find the exact location of the "invader" and unable to rule out the risk of further interference, hastily restarting the jump would likely result in another failure. But in any case, preparations for the jump must be made in advance - the existence of the ship has been exposed, and if delays continue, perhaps the Secret Service fleet will arrive.
Finally, the sage looked at the monk who was reporting to him: "How far has the artificial saint's restart progressed? Why hasn't she been deployed yet?"
"Report, the body repair has been completed, but..." The monk was obviously hesitant when he said this, but under the gaze of the sage, he continued quickly, "There was a problem with the awakening of the mind. The saint refused to leave the holy coffin."
"Reject?!" The sage's face, which was always dignified and calm, finally showed astonishment. He seemed unable to believe it. "She is afraid? She doesn't dare to go to the battlefield again?!"
"No, the Saint is full of fighting spirit. The mental monitor shows that her anger towards the enemy and her firmness in faith are at their peak," the monk explained hurriedly, "It's just...it's just that she is praying to appease the dead, and she thinks it is very important."
The sage frowned: "...Pray? Didn't anyone tell her what's going on outside?"
"According to the safety manual, before the artificial saint leaves the holy coffin, too much information about the 'outside world' cannot be revealed to her. Only a limited number of preset instructions can be input into the coffin to prevent her mind from breaking through the safety protocol," the monk explained carefully. "The monitor shows that she is mourning the knights who died in the battle. She has a particularly deep affection for this batch of 'knights'. The problem is probably in the factory settings, or it may be related to their place of origin."
"That's enough. I don't care what the reason is. I demand that the artificial saint leave her iron coffin immediately. If she wants to pray, she can pray to her heart's content after she returns. She can lie in the coffin for a hundred years, but now is not the time to waste time," the sage waved his hand angrily. "Inject the No. 4 mixture and restart it to combat mode. I will take the responsibility."
"Okay, I will convey your instructions to the Holy Coffin Room right away."
The monk turned and left in a hurry, and began to convey the latest orders from the sage to the Holy Coffin Chamber.
The members of the monastery at several nearby operating seats continued to work with their heads down. Occasionally, someone would look up cautiously, but would quickly lower his head again.
Some people heard slight knocking sounds coming from under the floor, some heard strange noises coming from headphones, and some felt eyes falling on them - but everyone was silent.
The ship was gradually coming to life.
Many people have felt it, including the "sage", who should have felt it as well.
The ship has been infected with a plague called "vitality", and now, the symptoms of this vitality have spread to half of the entire ship...
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Mixture No. 4, the highest dose, is injected into the reserve tank.
The mind restart enters the warm-up process and ends after three minutes.
The energy supply of the holy coffin is normal.
Deep inside the Pillar of Order, in a circular hall illuminated by warm yellow lights, several monastic members in short robes were busy.
Several thick pipes hung down from the walls and roof of the circular hall, and converged in the center of the room, connected to a device with a diameter of about five or six meters. The device was a deep iron black color, with many monitoring devices and thin pipes and cables installed on its edges. There were also faintly flickering lights flashing between the cables and pipes. In the center of the entire device, there was a black iron container quietly placed at an angle of about 45 degrees.
That is the "holy coffin" of the artificial saint.
Now, there was a slight buzzing sound coming from the iron coffin, as if some kind of "hatching" process had come to an end.
A member of the Order wearing a white half-face mask came up to the device, checked the readings of a few instruments, and then waved to the others.
Assistants immediately stepped forward, placed candles on the candlesticks on both sides of the holy coffin, and lit them.
Then, the pumping device on the lower level of the platform began to operate, and the assistants bowed their heads towards the candlelight and prayed softly and briefly.
"The mixture enters the pipeline!"
The main operator raised his head and stared closely at one of the delivery tubes directly connected to the holy coffin, his muscles slightly tense.
This is a very dangerous operation. The potency of mixture No. 4 is very strong and often requires a long period of preparation before use. If it is injected directly without preparation like this, if something goes wrong, the probability of the Saint's mind being melted is extremely high.
But I can’t care about that now.
A strange and terrifying atmosphere was spreading among the Pillars of Order. Even this sacred coffin chamber seemed to be "coming alive" little by little, with prying eyes emerging from those blessed pipes and cables.
A light blue liquid appeared in the pipe and was pumped towards the holy coffin.
"The No. 4 mixture came into contact with the nerve intervention plug... and the reaction was normal."
"The Saint's mind is stable and she is entering the restart process."
"Recompiling the sensing layer and expression layer..."
Listening to the report from the system, the main operator finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, in the next second, he saw that the light blue liquid was suddenly stained with a layer of blood! (End of this chapter)
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