Chapter 371: Chapter 371: No Better Choice
The Flashpoint Band also had its own medical experts. Ma Kang was quickly sent into the emergency tent, while everyone else had to wait outside.
"Damn it!" Huang Gou stomped his foot and glared at his companions, "Do you think what he said is true? That becoming a parasitic host of the nano-living body grants immortality?"
No one responded on the scene.
Everyone’s minds were still overwhelmed by the information, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
"Don’t take Ma Kang’s words to heart. He hasn’t actually been consumed by a nano-living body. It’s all just his personal speculation." Honglian patted Chen Xuan on the back, "Who really knows what the actual situation is? Perhaps the living body is nothing but a painful prison for those souls. Destroying it might be the means to release all the victims."
Chen Xuan’s gaze, however, was somewhat vacant.
"Hey, are you okay?" Honglian couldn’t help but ask worriedly, "Chen Xuan?"
After being called several times, he snapped back to reality, "Oh, I’m fine."
"Those people weren’t killed by you; they were killed by the nano-living body. You don’t need to blame yourself for it," Honglian emphasized once again.
Chen Xuan nodded, but the thing that distracted him wasn’t the coexistence issue.
He was more concerned about the "Destiny Wedge" mentioned by Ma Kang.
This thing could supposedly let the user experience another person’s thoughts, hopes, and memories. So, could it possibly restore Lin Qing’s original memory?
This wasn’t a wild association.
Such an incredible device is unlikely to be a product of mere technology.
It’s very likely to have been created by an Ability User.
This point was also evident in Ma Kang’s case—when he scanned him with glasses earlier, Ma Kang possessed a green ability called "Destiny Interferer," described as: "Your destiny no longer belongs to you alone. Sometimes it’s a gift, sometimes a curse. Once it leaves a mark, it can’t be reversed. No matter how destiny changes, learn to enjoy it."
Initially, Chen Xuan didn’t pay much attention to it, but now thinking about it, this was probably the mark left by the Destiny Wedge.
If it were a cybernetic or mechanical modification, it wouldn’t be recorded by the Ability Store.
Since the Wedge is an ability creation, then perhaps the person possessing this ability has the power to manipulate memories.
"I think... he wasn’t lying to us," Uncle Li finally spoke bitterly after a long silence. "I used to not understand why sane people would run into the wild to join the Evangelicals, or how they would go insane within half a month. Now it all makes sense."
"So mixing into the subway station to advocate surrender, or kidnapping lone Searchers outside, was actually their way to save everyone?" Huang Gou shook his head with his hand on his head, "That’s just absurd!"
"What about our plan?" The mechanic threw the fire tongs on the ground dejectedly, "Approaching a nano-living body just because of a devout soul... I’d rather be killed than worship a nano-living body."
"Exactly, even if we could get the Destiny Wedge, who would be willing to accept the Evangelical’s soul?" Huang Gou agreed, "You saw, that guy can hardly be called a normal person anymore, it’s practically schizophrenia!"
"I am willing." Uncle Li said.
The people around were slightly taken aback.
"I’m old, I have no other ambitions. I had hoped for revenge for my family, but if things go against my wishes, I can’t blindly continue to err," Uncle Li’s voice was low, yet there was no hesitation, "I am willing to validate the Evangelical Association’s experiment for everyone—if attaching to a nano-living body can lead to a warm and comfortable eternal world, I will find a way to tell everyone."
"Do you want to reunite with your family this way?" Liu Yi frowned, "Old Li, they weren’t killed by the Ghost Subway. Besides, your family weren’t... Evangelicals..."
"I know this hope is slim, but I still want to try." He insisted, "Don’t nano-living bodies also kill and consume each other? Perhaps all souls will eventually gather together... If I can’t know the truth before I die, I won’t ever be at peace in my lifetime."
There was a moment of silence on the scene.
"In that case... count me in." At this moment, another hand was raised—it was Huang Gou’s.
"How come you—" Liu Yi looked at him in surprise.
"My sister died at the hands of the Ghost Subway, my reasons are even more legitimate than Uncle Li’s." Huang Gou pouted, "Honestly, I don’t believe such a good thing exists, even if I were to assimilate a hundred Evangelicals, I wouldn’t yield to a nano-living body. You need someone like me with strong will to destroy the Ghost Subway."
"Don’t worry, there will be no shortage of volunteers." Lin Qing interrupted their argument, "Whether it’s validating intelligence or avenging the Ghost Subway, we can always find seven or eight willing to go from our team. The most important question now is where to find enough Destiny Wedges."
Chen Xuan curiously perked up his ears.
The members of the Flashpoint Band exchanged glances and whispered, "We can only try there, right?"
"Exactly, if it’s not there, then you can’t find it anywhere in Jiang City."
"But doing so will be very dangerous."
"Yeah... nobody would want to go to that ghost place except us."
"Wait." Chen Xuan couldn’t help but interject, "Where exactly is ’there’ that you’re talking about?"
"The Border Area." Lin Qing was the first to respond, "To be precise, it’s the western section of the Third Ring Road of Jiang City. Five years ago, a spaceship crashed in that area, and it belonged to the Dimensional Limit Mechanism."
"It was said there were several Ability Users on board, who kept sending out distress signals before they died." Huang Gou added, "All the Searchers exploring the wild received these signals, but no one dared to rescue them."
"Five years ago?" Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow, "This doesn’t match the time Ma Kang entered the city..."
"Exactly, which is why we have to gamble on it." Lin Qing nodded, "Ma Kang also said, this plan wasn’t just his alone, so it’s entirely possible that they sent Ability Users into Jiang City in batches. The key point is, at that time the Dimensional Limit Mechanism was nearly collapsing, and Jiang City was already sealed by the Celestial Patrol. Why did they still send valuable Ability Users into the city?"
"Do you think they were after the nano-living body?"
"Yes, their target might even be the Celestial Patrol."
After saying this, the band members all revealed a look of realization.
"Yeah... if they could control the Celestial Patrol, the Mechanism would still have a chance to turn the tables!"
"I was wondering why they would send a spaceship to Jiang City... clearly a place you can only enter but not exit..."
"Ma Kang didn’t succeed, so they want to try the same trick again?"
Chen Xuan also realized that this hypothesis might actually be possible! Ma Kang’s original mission was to be consumed by the nano-living body and then try to influence the host from the inside. The Destiny Interference effect ended with him defecting from the Mechanism, interrupting the mission. Thereafter, whether to capture the traitor or send someone to fulfill the mission again, the Mechanism had every reason to dispatch new Ability Users, and these people would likely carry Destiny Wedges.
"The question is... has no one approached that spaceship in five years?" Chen Xuan asked.
Despite the danger, the intelligence and technology aboard the Mechanism’s spaceship are invaluable. It would not be strange for a few daredevil Searchers to risk their lives to scour the ship.
"Rest assured, that’s the border. Even the most reckless of Searchers wouldn’t dare approach the border area." Lin Qing shrugged, "In fact, the Flashpoint Band is the most insane search team in Jiang City, and the last time we got close to the border was three years ago." She paused, "But that was only approaching, at best."
"The Border Area... is it that dangerous?"
"Of course, every child in Jiang City knows that’s Celestial Patrol territory." Lin Qing’s tone didn’t convey fear, but rather a sense of eagerness, "But we don’t have a better choice now, do we?"
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