Yan frowned and said, "According to experience, super-abnormal bodies often like to hide in small places. Why does this guy need such a big place?"
An Yu shook his head lightly, "You'll find out when you go in."
Qin Zhilu reminded: "We must find out the super abnormality as soon as possible. We just received the brain sampling results. This time, the water ant abnormality in area 34 is weakly infective. The purpose of the invasion is to launch a mental attack with sound waves. Sound waves are transmitted through solids and cannot Complete isolation. Under the control of the super abnormal body, people who are mentally shocked are repeatedly resetting their pain, and many people have posted suicidal thoughts on the Internet."
An Yu glanced at the physical signs on the terminal. His survival value and mental strength were both full.
The little octopus man rarely had any work. He had a serious face, one tentacle hooked on the mug, three tentacles were picking at the bread shelf, and the remaining tentacles were firmly coiled on the ground like suction cups.
An Yu couldn't help but poke the bread shelf twice, prompting it to choose the plain corner bread, and watched it make an obedient decision before putting away the terminal.
"Understood." He said softly.
He took the lead to step into the black mist, and the space flipped violently. When he opened his eyes, the dazzling white light gradually converged, and the inner space hidden in the old shop was slowly unveiled.
The team stood together and looked around the huge space in shock.
This is an extremely irregular space, with no clear edges and boundaries in all directions. Everything you can see is white emptiness with no boundaries in sight.
But the place is full, with all kinds of clocks, hourglasses, clockwork and gears scattered everywhere, some of which are completely fused together to create giant time vehicles. The weird shapes and huge sizes are shocking.
The vehicle is parked at all times.
An Yu took a step forward, causing a hollow "click" sound, like a second hand turning.
The communication was still there, but Qin Zhilu's voice was a bit lower than normal. The deformation of the spatial medium distorted the sound transmission.
"The phenomenon of hyper-abnormality of non-living bodies is similar to that of the Plant Seed Museum. All the time vehicles in Area 34 are integrated together, or in other words, they are all absorbed by that thing."
Everyone walked slowly towards the depths of Bailiang, and the sound of their footsteps aroused countless intertwined sounds of the clock hands in the space. The echoes were so heavy that it made people dizzy and tinnitus.
The blue morpho butterfly fluttered its wings, and the mental strength of the team members was being pulled repeatedly. Only An Yu's mental strength was not disturbed.
"Absolute infection resistance, absolute mental stability." Yan whispered: "Lü chose from thousands of people, and sure enough he chose a terrifying existence."
"I can no longer accurately count the seconds in my mind." Lu Ming asked An Yu softly, "Are you not affected at all?"
An Yu pursed his lips tightly and shook his head slightly after a long time, "It will be very annoying."
Mental stability does not mean freedom from interference. He endured dizziness like everyone else. Although he didn't have a sense of time confusion, he could clearly realize that something was trying to mess with his perception, just like the noises in the orphanage, which made him irritated.
I want to shout stop, I want to rudely silence the chaotic movement of time forever.
The number of time vehicles in the depths gradually decreased, but the sound of words caused by footsteps became more and more chaotic. Everyone completely lost the concept of time. Lumen asked An Yu four times in one minute, "How long have we been walking?" The frequency of An Yu's physical signs could be calculated almost by the second. Ning released the big blue morpho butterfly and lost the rhythm. After a while, A large group flew out, and then stayed still for a while.
Only Yan was still normal. A rose vine stretched out from behind and gently hooked Lu Ming's wrist.
A few minutes later, Chao Ju's time vehicle completely disappeared.
Everyone stopped and looked at the overwhelming giant screen in front of them in shock——
The small screens are gathered together, like arranged televisions, curved to cover the entire irregular space. When they turned back, the road they came from also disappeared. Above and below their heads, 360 degrees were covered, and the small screen showed all kinds of faces, including life, old age, sickness and death, laughter and pain, all performing their own interpretations.
Some screens have gone gray, and others are fading.
There are two black and white cables extending out from behind each screen. The white cables converge towards the central screen suspended in the center of the space. There is no one on the central screen, only a number that keeps beating. The black cables converge towards a small small screen under the central screen. brass hourglass, retro and mysterious.
An Yu slowly turned around, his eyes passing over the screens, and the joys and sorrows of countless people intertwined in his golden eyes. Finally, he looked at the central screen and the hourglass below.
"I see."
An gave him a dull look, and Ning asked, "What?"
An Yu raised his finger and pointed to a screen diagonally in front of his feet. A pregnant woman trapped at home due to water ants had just given birth. The owner of the screen was the father of the child. He hugged the newborn with a look of joy, but at that moment, the picture suddenly froze. .
Immediately afterwards, as if the progress bar was quickly dragged backwards, the picture flashed by. When he started moving again, the child was still in his arms, but the smile on his face had disappeared. He stayed for a while and then became confused. The ground held the child and rocked it.
Lu Ming suddenly said: "Same experience as the grocery store owner."
An Yu then pointed to the white line behind the screen. A cluster of light spots quickly surged upwards in the white line, and merged into the central screen in the blink of an eye.
The numbers on the center screen have increased.
An Yu said softly, "Plunder the happy time of individuals, accumulate these fragments, and merge them into the central console."
Ning asked, "Will the life of those who are robbed be short?"
An Yu thought for a while, "Probably. But the super abnormality is very smart. It only cuts away for a few days or even a few hours at a time, so people won't notice."
He paused and then looked at the numbers on the central screen again, "There are nearly a million people in Bait City. Everyone steals a little bit from their hands and gathers them into this huge time pool."
If you use it all for your own use, it will be almost eternal life.
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of gears turning was heard, and the hourglass slowly turned upside down.
Several screens in front of them suddenly went backwards. When the screen was replayed, the people who had just calmed down from the mental disturbance of the water ants covered their heads in pain again.
At the same time, the time on the center screen has been reduced a bit.
An Yu's pupils narrowed slightly, "Every time the hourglass is inverted, some people's time will be reset, but it will consume the time accumulated in the central console."
Qin Zhilu said coldly: "It seems that this super abnormal body does not have the ability to reverse time in an absolute sense. It only redistributes time for the purpose of torturing the people in District 34."
An Yu said "Yeah", "This confirms your previous inference that it is easy to accelerate time, difficult to stagnate, and almost impossible to reverse flow."
He turned around and looked at a curved screen, "There is a screen here that shouldn't be on."
Dr. Law's screen.
Dr. Lao died before their eyes, but on the screen, he was still sitting on the bed in the ward, holding a wooden spoon in his right hand to fill his mouth with pear chunks from the lunch box, and tapping regularly on the edge of the bed with his left hand.
There was a heavy rain outside the window, and water ants were hitting the window glass fiercely, but he looked calm and slowly enjoyed his breakfast.
There are water ants on the screen and the contents of the lunch box have changed. This is not a replay.
Yan Dao: "Look for the screen at the hour again. From the main city, request the transmission of the photos at the hour."
Shangfeng access the channel, "Send it to you immediately. Due to communication interference, the speed may be slow, please wait."
An Yu saw Zhongji in Dr. Lao's memory. He raised his head and moved his eyes quickly.
Noisy whispers gradually came from the channel. The Black Tower, Brain, and Spire were all connected. The five people's recorders quickly rotated the lens, and everyone was helping to find the clock in front of the big screen.
An Yu was the first to shake his head, "No, it can only be in the extinguished screen."
"This is consistent with the fact that Zhong Ji died." A senior official said: "Zhong Ji's clinical death and corpse incineration are both documented. However, Dr. Lao died in the hospital not long ago. The hospital is currently out of surveillance. It is not ruled out that he faked his death. .”
Dingfeng said: "The function of the time console is to redistribute time. Torturing people in Area 34 is just an incidental evil game. The original purpose of the console should be to rob others of their time to extend one's own life." He pondered for a moment, "Doctor and There is suspicion at all times, and intuitively, the doctor’s screen is probably a trap.”
An Yu stared at Dr. Lao's screen, "But this trap seems to be the only clue to follow." His pupils shrank slightly with his breathing, "Even if it is a trap, you must step on it. Only by stepping on it can you know where the hunter's knife is. .”
In the channel, the top leaders were intertwined with low-pitched discussions, and Black Tower was hesitating whether the fault in Area 34 was worth risking the corner.
An Yu quietly waited for the results. I don’t know when he started to be labeled as one of the most important and protected, but those eighteen years of untouchable life are clearly still yesterday.
"Go." Qin Zhilu suddenly said.
The channel was silent for a moment, and before waiting for a response, An Yu already said "yes" and raised his hand to turn off the public channel.
Yan and Lumen followed, while An Ning stood behind.
Every screen holds another time and space, or in other words, another person's life.
When An Yu approached the doctor's screen, he could feel a force of space-time gravity that was not felt on other screens. The trap seemed to be rolling out its red carpet straight towards him, waiting for his approach.
With a calm look on his face, he stepped into the trap.
…
…
Click.
Dr. Lao closed the lunch box and walked out of the ward with the empty lunch box and wooden spoon in one hand.
There was deathly silence on the fourth floor. The smell of blood in the air was so strong that it made him retching, but he suddenly laughed twice while he was retching, as if thinking of some funny scene, he choked and coughed while continuing "ta, ta, Counting.
There were several corpses lying on the ground. After the pustules on their bodies burst, ugly corpse sores were left.
The nurse had long since disappeared. He carried the lunch box to the bathroom alone and then returned to the medicine room.
"Ta, ta, ta..."
The frequency never changed, but his tone became lighter, as if he was singing.
The little girl died on the examination bed, and there were dots of blood under the medicine shelf lying on the floor. It was his blood. He rolled up his sleeves and looked at the scars left after the pustules exploded on his body. Those scars had dried up and scabbed, as if they were just chickenpox.
"C4720, D792A8, that's right!" He suddenly switched to counting by lightly clasping his fingers, jumped up and pointed at the little girl and shouted with a smile, "But there is one missing, and you need to use B1825X to completely suppress the pain. Somatic cell enzyme activity cuts off the infection process!" He rushed up and kneaded the little girl's swollen and deformed face, and said lovingly: "Baby, thank you, B1825X is a very basic medicine, the most powerful ones are the first two, I don't Dare you try it on yourself? Fortunately, apart from me, there is a lucky person on the fourth floor who is in the early stage of infection! You are as lucky as Zhongji, and you are destined to be the pioneer of the great potion!"
He sang happily in the room and jumped to the window like an old naughty boy. A water ant "bang" hit the glass from outside, and strange sound waves came in through the wall and floor. He then squatted down in pain, covering his temples, and his body twitched slightly.
But while twitching, he suddenly burst out laughing uncontrollably, "Those idiots from the main city!"
He smiled as he lay down in a pool of blood on the ground, relaxed his body, closed his eyes, and continued to chant softly: "Ta, Ta, Ta."
After a long time, the water ants left, and he suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes extremely clear.
His voice had become hoarse, so he switched back to counting by clasping his fingers. His sunken eyes looked at the heavy rain outside, and he murmured: "Why do those stupid things seem to have found the entrance..."
He stood up suddenly, rushed out of the hospital with blood and meat on the ground, pried open a car door in the heavy rain, and drove the accelerator all the way, hitting his head on the windshield until it was bloody, but he didn't care.
Until he rushed into Zhong Ji's old things, he sneered at the boundary of space exposed behind the piano, "It's true. Don't come out when you go in. Just be trapped in the time of the bitch in Area 34. There are millions of time and space, savor it." "
As he spoke, he picked up the metronome, glanced at the scale that stopped at 60, and twisted the spring twice more.
The pendulum needle swayed left and right, and his fingers moved gently to the rhythm of the pendulum. When the pendulum needle stopped, he naturally connected it.
"Ta, ta, ta, ta..."
He sang and counted, excitedly staring at the slowly closing entrance to the space behind the piano, then casually opened the piano bench and took out a photo frame from inside.
A black and white photo of the deceased.
He tapped his left index finger happily, and gently stroked Zhong Ji's cheek with his right thumb. He closed his eyes and recalled the scene before Zhong Ji's death in his mind.
The dying boy behind the oxygen mask stared at him. Amidst the dull sound of the monitoring equipment, despair flowed in his eyes. At the end of the moment, he gently stretched out his hand and hooked his finger.
A silent plea.
He lowered his head and said with a smile on his face: "For those who are destined to die in the plague, pain is a setting written by fate long ago. Don't have happy time in vain, save it for those lucky people who can escape from the plague. Don’t worry, no matter how heavy the casualties are in Area 34, it will always recover after the disaster stops. I will always be a person who helps reallocate time and lead people to defeat the plague and welcome the light.”
Consciousness is withdrawn from the chanting of "ta, ta, ta".
An Yu opened his eyes and was still standing in front of the doctor's screen. On the screen, the doctor was still sitting in front of the hospital bed, confronting the crazy water ants outside the window while calmly scooping up pieces of pears and putting them into his mouth.
According to the objective world time, this scene should have happened one or two hours ago, but it was repeatedly reset and played on the screen. If we don’t integrate our consciousness into Dr. Lao’s time and space, we will never know what happened next.
