"If the monster found you, why didn't it come down?"
"I don't know." Will shook his head, "Maybe it's because it and I are the only two living things on this planet, or maybe it's observing me and humans. I once found some alien civilizations. There are traces of it, but they were all submerged in the sand and dust. I don’t know how many years ago those buildings were, but I think it’s very possible that the alien monster destroyed a civilization.”
"Was there ever a civilization here?"
"There once was a civilization here, and it had a slightly more advanced technological level than the current human civilization." Salomon replied. They were standing on a cliff at the moment. Under the cliff was a high stone tower eroded by wind and sand like a bush. A lost team was located among the ruins. They were sheltering from the sandstorm, but the maze-like passages made it difficult for them to move forward. Catherine was communicating with them, providing route guidance and fire support, guiding them through the blast of bolter fire.
"This city must have been formed earlier than the desert appeared, otherwise those aliens would never have built the city in the lowlands." Guards Zero pointed at the tower below, "Even if the Inhuman monsters If all the plants were eaten, the planet would never be in this state. I think war plays a big part in that."
"Civil war." The mystic mage nodded. In the dim environment, the flame of Catherine's bolter was the only source of light. The Sisterhood does not have high-beam searchlights mounted on its body, and doing so in such an environment would only attract potential predators. "Remember what I said about the characteristics of that monster?" Salomon said, "It swallows flesh and memory, and lurks in the host body to manipulate living things. It is conceivable that the trust between individuals of the intelligent population was almost non-existent at that time, just like this world The water source is the same. Social order collapses and chaos spreads, providing an excellent hunting environment for that monster. But civil war cannot wipe out the entire planet's plants, so we may be facing a very hungry monster."
"The death of this civilization is extremely long. No civilization can withstand such a catastrophe. Perhaps this is why we found a large number of alien skeletons with mechanical prostheses. They want to escape the distrust brought by flesh and blood." Zero published My own opinion, "This is a very interesting social science question. I believe that at some point in time, the surviving aliens began to mechanize themselves. They may even form some groups that have undergone similar transformations, which is very Interesting, the long-standing blood relationship has been replaced by a transformed relationship..."
"My lord, they are coming." Catherine interrupted Zero's tirade. Even though she was wearing a helmet, Zero felt like she was giving him a glare, as if she was scolding him for diverting the monarch's attention to Sociological Society issues. "Please allow us to examine them. If that monster can lurk and manipulate intelligent creatures, I think we need to increase the security level."
"Agree, I will help you with the examination." The mystic mage said. In the most extreme case, the air here must be filled with nano-parasites of the Inhumans. Even if this civilization has been destroyed, everyone who comes to this planet cannot take it lightly. If that parasite could be detected using bioassays, the aliens of this civilization would have waged war on the hive. Or they did, but it was too late, the social order collapsed, and the survivors were hunted down to below the minimum number of individuals needed for group development, and then completely exterminated.
According to the plan, all the teams were heading towards Salomon's location, and Salomon was tracking Leopold Fitz. While the main body of the monster was still far away from them, he planned to send this reckless guy back. This was to maintain his promise, and he had to do this - he had sent a communication to all squad leaders, asking them to arrest Leopold Fitz immediately if they found him, even if they broke one of his legs. Gotta send him back. Salomon had a hunch that if Leopold Fitz was allowed to run around outside, he would definitely have an irreversible negative impact on the battle plan.
Salomon did not use biological detection, but directly probed the thoughts of all team members. After confirming that they were not infected, Catherine lowered her gun and chainsword.
"For my lord." The captain of the second team nodded and obediently joined the battle sequence Catherine prepared for them. Salomon greeted them enthusiastically, pronouncing their names one by one. He didn't need the displays in the knights' helmets or the personalized decorations on their armor to tell them apart. Catherine turned her head and said to Salomon, "My lord, there are two teams approaching here. We need to speed up our actions."
"My lord!" The mystic mage heard the voice of another team in the helmet earpiece. The display shows that this team belongs to Team T. "Scouts found human tracks."
"Report location!" Salomon said. "No contact until it is determined whether the target is Leopold Fitz."
"There's someone there!" Will suddenly fell down, holding the spear and pistol tightly in his hands.
The sandstorm that enveloped the cave where they lived had just passed, and Will couldn't wait to go out with Simmons to find water sources. The long-term desert life forced him to master the method of finding water sources - there were many underground rivers under the desert. If it were on Earth, it would be possible to judge the direction of underground rivers through plants, but on this planet, almost all biomass has disappeared due to unknown reasons. Will can only use groundwater detectors to find fixed water source.
However, the underground water detector had long been damaged, and Will could only pray that the sandstorm would not dry up the underground river for so many years. After he rescued Simmons, the female scientist helped him repair the damaged ruins. He planned to take Simmons away from the place where he lived to find a new water source and fulfill the female scientist's wish to take a bath.
"Who?" Simmons' eyes widened, not understanding what happened yet, "Could it be..."
"It shouldn't be that monster. That monster is always accompanied by sandstorms, and there won't be such a large number." Will and Simmons cautiously stuck their heads out and observed the figures in the distance with telescopes. "They seem to have discovered our footprints." Will said regretfully, "I have been here for too long and completely forgot to disguise myself."
"Maybe they are here to rescue us?" Simmons swallowed. She was thirsty and hungry. After staying away from the cave, water and food are even more precious. After all, no one knows whether they will get lost in this vast desert. There are too many surprises here, road signs may be submerged in sand and dust at any time, and the changeable sand dunes cover the mountains and cannot provide effective landmarks. Even Will has been lost many times. If he hadn't been lucky enough, it would have been impossible to crawl back to his cave.
"They have weapons, we'd better leave first." Will, who has military experience, immediately picked up Simmons and ran back without saying a word. In his vision, he used his tracks to guide trackers away from water sources and caves he had discovered. This plan was very good, but years of malnutrition had reduced his physical strength so much that in the end it was Simmons who pulled him away.
"We still have guns, Will," she gasped. "We can set a trap!"
