Chapter 519, Contaminated Zone 24 (Part 7)
Outside.
A group of sentries, their bodies covered in black, drove to the edge of the contaminated area and saw rows of conspicuous tents.
Several sentries dressed in black stood under a tree talking. When they saw an unfamiliar vehicle approaching, their eyes were wary and alert.
He Xiang avoided eye contact and secretly glanced at the shoulders of those people.
The two men on the left, with red-crowned cranes printed on their shoulders, are patrolling sentries at post number 24. And the others... Hope Base?
Why are the sentries from Hope Base here?
"What are you doing?" a sentry asked as he approached them. "There are no supplies in this contaminated area. If you need to search for anything, go somewhere else."
The sentry's gaze swept across the area.
There were five people inside the vehicle, all of whom had dirty faces and clothes, and the roof of the vehicle was piled with black coal.
He had clearly just come from the mine.
It should be a local civilian search team.
The sentry relaxed his guard a bit and asked again, "Why aren't you going back to base? What are you doing here?"
He Xiang rolled down the car window, his face covered in coal dust, which made his expression look particularly honest. "Sir, I'd like to ask if you've seen anyone else pass by here?"
The sentry who had followed frowned upon hearing this. "No! Zone 24 is currently undergoing a special mission and passage is temporarily prohibited!"
"That's impossible, the tire tracks go all the way here."
He Xiang panicked and hurriedly explained, "It's my sister. She sent me a message this morning, and then the communication was cut off. I can't get through to her on the phone."
elder sister?
It turns out they were looking for someone.
Guan Hong kindly reminded them, "We've been guarding this place the whole time. There's really no one here. Besides, the disappearance isn't the responsibility of the outposts outside. You should go back and report it to your base's security department."
The sentry nodded and knocked on the carriage. "You're right, turn around. Your sister might have already gone back."
He Xiang hesitated.
The sentries outside have no reason to lie.
But they couldn't have been wrong. There had been a heavy rain a few days ago, the soil was soft, and the tire tracks were very clear, indicating that they had reached the outer edge of the polluted area.
"Xiangzi, let's go back."
Several people in the same car spoke up, offering quiet words of advice.
"Maybe it wasn't Yun Zhao, but someone she knew who happened to pass by, saw our car, and reminded her."
Yun Zhao is an S-level guide, and these people will definitely care if this is mentioned, but they are afraid that it might cause trouble for Yun Zhao.
"Yes, let's go back and check. It's possible that the communicator is out of power, which is why we can't make calls."
The sentries outside the car paused upon hearing the conversation, exchanged a glance, and their expressions became somewhat strange.
Are these low-level sentries looking for the cloud guide?
The younger brother of the Cloud Guide?
Didn't they know that the Cloud Guide was on a mission today?
The car had already turned around, and the people in the car smiled apologetically, "We're sorry to have troubled you, we'll leave right away."
He Xiang had no choice but to go back with everyone else.
...
Yun Zhao was naturally unaware of what was happening outside.
Following the address in the advertisement, she and Xie Tu arrived at a ground-floor apartment facing the street.
This place is a hotel.
The building's exterior is old, with neon tubes on both sides crawling all over the surface like blood vessels, and the font style is changed every few minutes.
Xie Tu gave her time to study the text, and after confirming there were no clues, he stepped forward and pushed open the glass door with an electronic screen.
A blast of cold air mixed with the smell of ozone hit me.
The walls on both sides of the corridor are completely covered by LED screens, which display various advertisements.
"Memory Hotel?"
Yun Zhao looked at the four large characters above the front desk: "Store your precious memories, create a unique haven for every recollection."
The words "First month free" at the bottom were enlarged several times.
Can memories be stored?
Yun Zhao frowned as he stared at the large characters, recalling the parts of his memory that he had lost.
Xie Tu kept a close eye on her movements and reminded her, "This is just a two-star contaminated area, it has nothing to do with your lost memories."
The difference between number 24 and number 6 is not just a matter of rank, it's a complete and utter crushing defeat.
"I know."
Yun Zhao pointed to the advertising slogan, "I was just wondering, how should memories be stored? And what is their purpose?"
Xie Tu's gaze followed the direction of her finger and landed on the constantly flashing advertising slogans.
The neon signs suddenly seemed to sense his gaze, distorting and reassembling into new content:
[Consciousness Scan: Permanently Preserving Your Most Precious Moments]
The words in the side effects section were immediately covered by jumping garbled characters as soon as they appeared.
The message "[No side effects]" then scrolls on.
The two ignored the goalkeeper's subtle actions.
"Like a photograph? Memories can be preserved?"
Yun Zhao stared at the distorted black characters and continued to speak to himself: "Because of the lack of mutants, the gatekeepers found a new way to quickly acquire obsessions?"
Like the 249 contaminated zone, can one glimpse fragments of memories within dreams?
Or is it just a fabricated trap?
To know a person's identity, the continuity of time is guaranteed by their memory.
Memory is a key factor in building self-identity.
Whether it's sadness, joy, pain, regret...
The deeper the memory, the deeper the obsession.
"It's more likely a trap. It might not be a real memory; false memories are also a kind of obsession," Xie Tu said.
“You’re right,” Yun Zhao agreed with him.
For example, she had imagined countless times what it would be like to reunite with Yun Jue, and those images were stored in her mind.
The fabricated scene is her imagination, her deepest obsession at present, and it's hard to say whether it can be considered a kind of memory.
Xie Tu is already checking the front desk.
The computer is on, and all 24 rooms in this hotel are showing as unoccupied.
He opened the drawer, which was unlocked. The room cards were arranged in order in a box, which contained a registration form, a pen, staples, and a walkie-talkie.
No abnormalities were found.
Xie Tu took out the walkie-talkie and tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't turn on, so he put it back.
Yun Zhao stood to one side of the front desk and turned to look down the corridor.
In contrast to the glaring light pollution, the corridor was filled with a thick, inky darkness that seemed to be alive, slowly surging and churning.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
There was no sign of life, nor any monsters; only a suffocating silence remained.
It was more terrifying than the roar of a monster.
With such a dense concentration of dark matter, it would be impossible for any outsider, except for mutants, to enter.
"Let's go see if there are any clues." Xie Tu took out a master card from the drawer.
Yun Zhao nodded, and just as he walked to his side, the LED screens on the walls on both sides changed again.
Xie Tu felt uncomfortable looking at neon signs for too long, so she was responsible for gathering information along the way.
So Yun Zhao turned his head.
In that instant, her heart skipped a beat, and the blood in her body seemed to freeze.
—The moment she looked at the screen, her gaze unexpectedly met a pair of eyes.
Those were human eyes.
In the deserted, contaminated area, a pair of eyes suddenly appeared. The unexpected eye contact would startle anyone.
The little bluebird's feathers immediately bristled.
Xie Tu sensed something was wrong and abruptly looked up at the screen.
On the screen, a face so beautiful it was almost otherworldly was gazing down at Yun Zhao.
The face was magnified and took up the entire screen.
She had stunningly beautiful features, fiery red lips, and pure black eyes. The angle of her eyes as she looked down was just right for the entrance to the corridor where the two of them were standing.
Xie Tu quickly realized it was just a false alarm, and his tense muscles instantly relaxed. He raised his hand, gently patted her back, and reassured her softly, "Don't be afraid, it's just an advertisement poster."
Yun Zhao looked again and breathed a sigh of relief, "You scared me half to death!"
Xie Tu let out a low laugh.
Although the occasion was somewhat inappropriate, it was the first time I had ever seen her so frightened.
—Those eyes, which were always calm and still, were wide open now, just like a frightened fawn.
She used to remain unfazed when facing mutants and danger, but now she exudes a more vibrant energy.
Xie Tu just felt that Yun Zhao's fear made him seem more real.
"why are you laughing?"
Xie Tu's voice softened unconsciously, "So you can be scared too."
"Because I was caught off guard, it was an accident," Yun Zhao emphasized.
Xie Tu agreed: "Yes, it was an accident."
That tone was just like when the phoenix repeated the little bluebird's words.
The meaning is unclear, and the tone is somewhat perfunctory.
Yun Zhao glared at him, quickly composed himself, comforted the little bluebird who wanted to rush up and fight, and stepped into the corridor first.
Xie Tu's smile deepened, and he strode to follow closely beside her.
The so-called "street level" refers to a floor that is at the same height as the street. It is built according to the terrain of mountainous areas and is often found in mountainous areas or cities with undulating terrain.
"Level street" does not mean the ground floor in the traditional sense.
Upon entering, Yun Zhao and Xie Tu discovered that the floor number displayed was the fourteenth floor.
The entire corridor was shrouded in thick darkness. The guest room doors on both sides resembled blackened tombstones, and the numbers on the number plates looked as if they had been gnawed by some corrosive substance, leaving only broken dents.
Fine black particles are suspended in the air. Unlike ordinary dust, they do not drift away but move slowly as if they were alive, gathering into wisps of black mist.
These dark substances can devour light; their thick, almost tangible blackness completely blocks out the faint overhead light.
The entire space was plunged into a deathly silence and darkness.
The little bluebird was still angrily scaring the gatekeeper, flapping its wings and cursing.
A bluish-green fluorescence emanated from beneath its wings and began to devour the surrounding dark matter.
Xie Tu took two steps forward and used his room key to open the nearest guest room.
He skillfully inserted the card into the slot, and the lights in the room instantly turned on.
Yun Zhao followed him into the house to check.
Neither of them noticed that the LED screen on the wall outside the door changed again the moment they entered the house.
Welcome...our valued customers...
＊
The room was small and completely open, a very ordinary double room with white walls, white sheets and duvet covers, and an old wooden cabinet.
The bed looked brand new, as if it had been cleaned daily.
Xie Tu walked over and pulled back the curtains. The room faced the street outside, and colorful neon lights instantly flooded into the room.
Yun Zhao opened the cabinet at the foot of the bed.
It was completely empty; there wasn't a single common item inside.
She went to the bathroom, where an old-fashioned showerhead hung, covered in rust, and the sink was empty.
Yun Zhao turned on the tap, but there wasn't a single drop of water in it.
Apart from the lack of water and supplies and the outdated facilities, everything seemed normal.
But the entire room doesn't have a single high-tech device. What does that have to do with storing memories?
Or are you suggesting we stay at a hotel for the night?
Xie Tu and she were on the same page, and Xie Tu gestured for her to step back first, "Let's go check the other rooms."
The two searched each room one by one.
The Memory Hotel only has two room types: double rooms and king rooms. The king rooms are exactly the same as the double rooms except that they have one less bed.
As Yun Zhao ventured deeper into the corridor, he soon discovered that all 24 guest rooms in the hotel were located on the same floor.
The footsteps quickly reached the last two rooms.
But this is not the end of the corridor.
At the corner, two elevators stood, connected by a covered walkway several meters long on the other side, with railings leading to another building.
Standing on the covered walkway, you can see the back street.
Looking down from the fourteenth floor, beneath the towering residential buildings, a dozen neon signs hang on the exterior walls, revealing hidden establishments like hot pot restaurants, internet cafes, and arcades...
After Xie Tu finished checking the last two rooms, he saw her with her eyes downcast, gazing at the street below, seemingly lost in thought.
"A discovery?" Xie Tu asked.
Yun Zhao shook his head, but suddenly said, "I once captured A Yu's memories."
Xie Tu suddenly stopped, his clear black and white eyes looking at her.
He guessed what she was going to say, but didn't interrupt.
"It was during the incident in contaminated zone 88."
Yun Zhao said to himself, "At that time, I wasn't very familiar with everyone. Although it wasn't my initiative, I did manage to capture fragments of her memories in her mental realm and see Wang Jiayi in her memories."
This is what makes the Dark Guide so terrifying.
She could even destroy a person's consciousness if she wanted to.
Yun Zhao continued, "I thought about it for a long time afterward. Why did I, who had no ill intentions and did nothing wrong, manage to dredge up A Yu's deepest memories?"
Xie Tu listened quietly, then spoke up at the right moment, "The rabbits were very fragile back then."
Wang Jiayu had just seen her brother whom she had been longing for day and night, and was at her most vulnerable emotionally, so her defenses were easily breached.
When is a person in a dangerous environment who is on guard most vulnerable?
The answer is—in one's sleep.
Just like in contaminated zone 249, the gatekeeper, while she slept, penetrated the barrier and captured fragments of her memory.
"The memory hotel may seem normal, but it may just be a way to lower people's guard and get them into a dream as soon as possible."
This is the conclusion Yun Zhao reached after inspecting all the rooms.
Xie Tu always understood her meaning quickly, staring intently at her, "You want to try?"
She had been searching for a gatekeeper who could awaken all her memories.
“Yes,” Yun Zhao admitted. “It’s just a two-star contaminated area, there’s no harm in giving it a try.”
"Although this is only a two-star contaminated zone, we should not underestimate the enemy."
Xie Tu, however, had a different opinion. He remained calm throughout the contaminated area. "I don't recommend doing that. The most urgent task is to find the gatekeeper and get out as soon as possible."
This is dangerous.
No one knows what the so-called "memory storage" means, and if it backfires, the consequences could be disastrous.
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