The next few days were dull and boring.

Since he encountered two giant scavenger puppets, the scope of Zhang Yazhe's mission has become much smaller. The four-person team basically moved around the shelter, carrying out simple hunting and parts cleaning. This change is not limited to the team. There is a lot less laughter and laughter in the restaurant on weekdays, and there are more and more sporadic laughter and relaxed ridicule. People chomped down on their food, and only whispers echoed in the underground space.

"Recently, several teams have encountered monsters in the safe area, and all teams have temporarily tightened their scope of activities." Ding Zepeng sat under the shade of a tree and ate a simple lunch. He grabbed the sandwich, stretched out his hands, and flanked. "We have to be cautious and find out what's wrong first. This is the boss's order."

"Has this happened before?" In front of the temporary teammates, Ruan Xian was still equipped with ordinary firearms, and the two blood guns were stuffed into the holsters under the armpits as spare guns.

"At least I haven't encountered it before. Don't worry Brother Ruan, the boss was there when I first came here. The shelter has always been stable and there has never been a major incident. The boss's judgment is definitely fine."

Ruan Xian looked at the trees in the distance. The amber sun shrouded the emerald green forest in the afternoon, and the sanctuary could not be seen from this angle, and there were not many human and mechanical sounds around, only the rustling of the wind through the bushes. But somehow, the outdoors without any shelter made him feel safer than a shelter.

Since discovering the anomaly in mortality, he is no longer used to being surrounded by people. Those relaxed smiling faces made people suffocate, Ruan Xian suddenly understood Guan Haiming's loneliness and surly - even if he was himself, he would not be willing to build an intimate relationship in such an environment.

"I saw Mr. Tian in the ward that day." Ruan Xian changed the subject. "Is his body okay?"

Ding Zepeng opened his mouth and finally let out a wry smile. "He...will be fine. Sister Qiu said it was a hereditary disease, an old problem. The boss is working too hard. He has fallen ill several times before. Don't look at the boss looking weak. Running out. Ouch, I'm so angry with Sister Qiu, but luckily he didn't mess around this time."

"Running out?" Ruan Xian's heart sank.

"Yes, it is said that the underground is panicking. Did you see that hill? The boss likes to wander around there. Last time, he said that he found a few caves suitable for raising mushrooms, so he can give everyone a meal."

Following Ding Zepeng's index finger, Ruan Xian glanced at the gentle hill. The view from above must be very good, but he didn't think Tian Zuru was just looking at the scenery.

A terrible guess suddenly stuck in his heart, and Ruan Xian clenched his fingers.

The strong who died alone will return intact and continue their mission. Tian Zuru, who has led the refuge for many years, knows this. What if he took the initiative to use this in order to maintain the stability of the refuge?

No matter what the ultimate purpose of the power of hands and feet is, its direct purpose should be to ensure the "survival" of the elites in the refuge. of patients.

According to Qiu Yue, Tian He once assured another Ruan Xian that he would "definitely fight to the last second", if Tian He really...

Ruan Xian stood up and patted the soil on his body: "I'm done eating. Xiao Ding, I'll go to a distant place to see, maybe I can dig up some useful debris."

"Remember to come back early and don't run too far." Ding Zepeng waved his hand and shook the crumbs on his uniform. "Otherwise, Brother Zhang will punish you for confinement again."

However, Ruan Xian did not intend to be obedient at all.

A few days of training could not make him proficient in the use of the hook and rope, and he could not even do a few pull-ups in place. But someone is better at sports than him - Ruan Xian used the electronic wristband to rewrite the positioning of the auxiliary chip in the blood, and then hugged Tang Yibu's neck tightly.

Tang Yibu didn't even use the hook. With his back firmly on Ruan Xian, his toes pointed at the branches, and he moved quickly in the forest, several times faster than the air motorcycle. The image of the hill was sucked into the field of vision, and stopped in front of the two after a few minutes.

Ruan Xian jumped down from behind Tang Yibu, closed his eyes, and sniffed the wind carefully.

The power of the S-type initial machine cannot be underestimated, but Ruan Xian's own knowledge reserve has not been able to keep up. He smelled larch, creepers, daisies, and buttercups, and hundreds of other plants that he never remembered and could not identify. Then there are snake sloughs, cicada nymphs sleeping in the ground, bird feathers, and mice. The smell of animals is a little bit fishy, ​​which is more pungent.

His nose hurts and his brain works at full force, breaking down thousands of scents like peeling onions layer by layer.

And finally rancidity.

Smelly stagnant water, rotting insect shells, hair and bones in excrement, the faint corpse odor of all kinds of small animals. One of the sources of the odor is particularly clear. It is deep in the hills, and slowly seeps from the inside to the outside through the soil and rocks.

Ruan Xian's heart sank.

He glanced at the time, slowly exhaled, and dragged Tang Yibu towards the source of the smell. The two squeezed into the dark cave, carefully crossed the stalagmite, and followed the disgusting corpse stench.

Their destination is very hidden.

In the hinterland of the small hill, there is a deep crevice. Ruan Xian smelled lubricating oil and polished metal nearby, and a sturdy rope ladder was hidden under the roots of an old tree. But before he could reach out, Tang Yibu grabbed his wrist.

"Don't leave too many traces." Tang Yibu shook his head, he picked up Ruan Xian, and jumped down directly from the crack. The next moment, the android was half-kneeling and landed firmly on the solid rock surface.

The stench of oncoming corpses was suffocating. Ruan Xian broke away from Tang Yibu's embrace and quickly stood up. He turned on the lighting function of the electronic wristband, and immediately took a step back.

Two human corpses were sitting against the bottom of a rock crevice.

All the corpses held guns in their right hands, and their faces were shattered. It could be seen that an explosive bomb had been shot in their faces. They were all badly spoiled and had apparently been exposed here for a long time.

"dna?" Ruan Xian desperately resisted the urge to retching.

"I can't get it. Both of the deceased took the initiative to take high concentrations of identity disruptors. The sour and bitter smell is very obvious. It will erase all individual characteristics - including internal organs state, blood type and smell." Tang Yibu was in One of the corpses squatted down in front of them. "The face was severely damaged, and the dental model comparison and facial restoration could not be done. The clothes and shoes were all found in the garbage dump... They eliminated all evidence that might reveal their identity."

"Not completely eliminated."

Ruan Xian didn't take care of the corpse odor. He stretched out his hand, gently opened the hand of one of the corpses without a gun, and picked out a few inconspicuous short hair. "Qiu Yue's hair is mixed with the deceased's own, and it has her scent on it."

Tang Yibu raised his eyebrows, imitating Ruan Xian's movements, and broke the hand of the other corpse. "It's here too, but I can't tell the difference."

Ruan Xian's hands trembled a little. He walked to Tang Yibu's side, squatted beside the relatively new corpse, and used the tweezers in the tool bag to pick up a small piece of dirt on the sole of the corpse's shoe. It was gray and shrunken, completely unrecognizable.

"Forget-me-not petals, only the ward of the shelter has this kind of flower." Ruan Xian muttered as the blood rushing into ice water. "The hair you found also contained a few strands of Qiu Yue's hair, and the smell was clearer. The two corpses were both male, with almost the same height, and the same size of shoes and clothes. Bone age... Can you detect the bone age?"

"The precise identification of age requires the assistance of equipment." Tang Yibu glanced at the wrist bones of the two corpses, "In terms of age, it is probably between thirty and fifty years old."

"...There are no comparable dead people in the Vault's death report, and they don't look like androids."

"According to the definition of the natural brain, both of them are pure human beings." Tang Yibu replied quietly.

"It's Tian He, right? These two corpses... are Tian He, or a clone of Tian He."

Ruan Xian stood up and ignored his trembling body.

"I guess the so-called sanctuary is part of an experiment - an experiment that needs to keep the 'conditions' stable. And to be able to make such a big effort, the researchers, if not mul-01, are a force related to mul-01 ."

Tang Yibu didn't deny it, just looked at him quietly. Ruan Xian turned his attention to the two corpses with mutilated heads.

As the backbone to keep the sanctuary healthy, those smart and strong people are "sent back" time and time again. Those who are aware of the truth also remain silent, only for false hope to continue. A warm and safe shelter, three hot meals a day, plenty of electricity and health care. Who would want to leave?

[Whether you came here for the first time, or you couldn't bear the pressure and erased your memory... Don't give up, hope is still there. 】Professor Ruan in the wheelchair once left such soothing words to the people in the shelter. [Everyone who is still alive is the seed of human fire. Trust me, you are very important. 】

If he could discover this in a short period of time, the other "Ruan Xian" could not be unaware.

Ruan Xian suddenly felt nauseated. If we want to replace these elites perfectly, the memory of the deceased is indispensable——

He activated the electronic wristband and quickly searched the database for information.

"The auxiliary chip was left by Ruan Xian, if you are looking for this." Tang Yibu added with a smile. "Guan Haiming didn't lie, it's only used for positioning, recording physiological conditions, and memory backup. After all, psychiatrists are scarce these days, and it is the most efficient way to deal with memory directly, and no one will doubt it."

Ruan Xian clenched his fists tightly, trembling with anger: "...No wonder Guan Haiming prefers to call it a 'black box'. If I guess correctly, mul-01 can also get its data."

"It doesn't matter. I have modified your chip. Your memory will not be backed up. Our secrets are safe."

"...Not that question."

"Then what are you angry about? As far as human interests are concerned, Ruan Xian's judgment is very correct. For a small number of human samples, if they cannot provide stable research value, they will soon be eliminated by mul-01. Ruan Xian endowed them with 'Research value', giving them a chance to move on with their lives."

Tang Yibu spread his hands.

"Take a step back and even die temporarily. As you can see, the body and brain structure of the 'replaced person' is the same as before, and the memory is almost the same. These people are still there and continue their lives. Maybe you don't agree. This idea, but with so much anger, I can't understand it."

"Tian He really wants to die this time." Ruan Xian's voice was a little hoarse, and he did not directly answer Tang Yibu's question. "This time he didn't come here alone to end his life, he wanted to die in a shelter, in front of everyone."

In this way, the master brain can no longer quietly "bring him back" from death.

"This is also beyond my understanding. He seems to have suffered huge mental damage, but I can't figure out the source."

"His wife Qiu Yue only went out on field trips once, three months ago. I checked the records and Qiu Yue lost her wedding ring during that field trip."

"Qiu Yue has indeed been replaced, and there is an image of her death in the record of the detection bird." Tang Yibu admitted generously.

"...I think Tian He knows about it."

"Tian He can't have evidence, and there are no human witnesses to Qiu Yue's death."

"If I love someone deeply and know that the sanctuary is such a ghost place, I will definitely look at her closely." Ruan Xian pulled out a document from the electronic wristband and threw the light screen at Tang Yibu before. "This is Guan Haiming's private record. Tian He once commissioned him to 'repair' Qiu Yue's wedding ring."

"Guan Haiming didn't leave any repairs, you can't be sure."

"I really can't. Just like even if there are these two corpses, I can't produce evidence that they belong to Tian Zuru. Tian Zuru really... considered everything."

The corpses were destroyed like this. Even if they were discovered by other shelter members, everyone would not bother about the two illegible corpses. Tian He worked so hard to conceal the cold truth of the refuge, and went to death himself twice in exchange for the refuge's longer-term peace.

Maybe he wants to continue to protect someone.

Tian He did not leave the repair content of the wedding ring with Guan Haiming. After all, mul-01 is not a real god, and it is impossible to know how the ring has changed. Ruan Xian didn't want to speculate, he didn't dare to imagine what kind of information Tian He got.

"I still don't understand." Tang Yibu turned his head slightly. "Qiu Yue is back, and there is no difference from the previous one. Why did he get hit?"

"It's not something that can be calculated with logic."

"Like your anger?"

"Yes."

Inside the shelter ward.

Tian He leaned against the head of the bed, it was a sunny day outside the fake window today. His eyes stopped for a few seconds on those pots of forget-me-nots, and he called out a small pop-up window on the working light screen.

There are only three simple lines of data on the pop-up window - voice, heart rate line, and body temperature.

Tian He stared at it for a while, then slowly pressed the repeat button.

Accompanied by the rustling of clothing over the leaves. A woman's gasping sound came from the pop-up window, panic and despair. The heart rate line on one side fluctuated frighteningly. It was followed by a muffled fall.

"Old Tian." The woman muttered to herself, her voice sobbing. "Old Tian, ​​I'm sorry."

"I can't go back, sorry."

"I...you want to be good, you want to be good."

After a few shrill screams, the heart rate line suddenly straightened, and the body temperature index began to drop slowly.

"Qiu Yue, the administrator is visiting." The prompt sounded, and Tian He quickly closed the small pop-up window in the corner of the work screen.

"Working again." Qiu Yue almost dropped the cloth bag in her hand. She took off Tian He's electronic wristband directly, picked up the bowl, and sat beside the bed with an aura that couldn't be refused. "Today's chicken soup I cooked very light, try it?"

Tian He didn't open his mouth, he just looked at her.

"Still too tired? Why don't I cook some sweet rice soup." Qiu Yue smiled reluctantly. "Why don't you tell me, what do you want to eat?"

"...I don't want to eat for the time being, Xiaoyue, you can rest for a while."

"I'm not tired, it's just you... The infusion is not easy." Qiu Yue twisted the towel by the bed and wiped Tian He's face.

"O Tian, you have to be good, do you hear me?"