Advent

Except for the episode encountered in the corridor, Allen and Raymond, under the leadership of Calvin, went very smoothly and there were no other accidents-at least on the surface.

Not long after, Calvin took Alan and Raymond to the destination: the regional office.This place with a strong bureaucratic color is the most comfortable area in the entire central axis area—or in other words, all the places where people in the circular area often move are more suitable for living than other areas.

The most obvious thing is that after Allen stepped into the airtight door representing the office area, the bone-chilling cold that had been lingering before finally faded away, and now they finally entered a place equipped with a temperature maintenance system.Moreover, Allen could also hear a buzzing sound coming from above the pipe, which was a sound of breathing that he had never heard along the way... Most importantly, this is probably the brightest place along the way, and only Here, it is finally not as dark as an underground mine.

After entering the office area, Allen involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief, and his mood became slightly more relaxed.

Calvin has been observing Allen secretly. After noticing the other party's relaxation, he smiled, but a layer of haze gradually appeared in his eyes.

However, before others noticed that his eyes were wrong, he had turned around with a smile, and opened the cabin door for Alan like a hotel doorman.

"Sir Neil, please come in—"

Allen stepped into the office, and it was clean, bright and tidy. Although many equipment and appliances looked very simple, compared with other parts of the central axis area that Allen saw along the way, this place is simply paradise.

The identity register is in the corner, and it's a rather crude machine.

According to regulations, Allen must complete his identity registration under the supervision of Sheriff Calvin, and then officially start the inspector's task.He completed his identity registration there with a little nervousness... Thankfully, nothing went wrong. Rafael did prepare a pretty perfect identity for him and Raymond, even the ones shown on the screen The holograms all look a little like Allen himself.

The reason for choosing this portrait is probably because of the consideration that even if an accident causes Allen's mask to fall off and people see his true face, he can barely fool him.

But it was such a thoughtful design that made things complicated. Calvin, who was standing aside, caught a glimpse of the synthetic figure on the machine when he was inspecting "Neil", and he was stunned.

"Ellen..."

He murmured, and Allen, who was standing in front of the machine, suddenly paused, his heart beating faster.

On the other hand, Raymond took a step forward slowly, intentionally or unintentionally, and gradually approached Calvin from behind.

"What's the matter? Sheriff Calvin?"

Allen pretended that he didn't hear anything clearly, he turned around "indifferently" and looked at Calvin in confusion.

Calvin didn't come back to his senses until he heard Allen's question.With great difficulty, he withdrew his gaze from the face of the translucent illusory figure, and then his cheeks flushed, and he quickly explained: "Oh, my God——I'm sorry, sir, I accidentally Seeing that you are fascinated—"

Having said that, even Calvin himself seemed to realize that this sentence was a bit strange, and his face became even redder.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I...I just think...you look very similar to the singer I liked very much..."

Calvin spoke incoherently, and seemed to be in a panic.

Allen narrowed his eyes behind the mask.

If his feeling is correct, the panic and shyness that Calvin showed at this moment are all from the heart, without any falsehood.

"I don't know if you've heard of him, Alan Braithwell, Alan the Siren... His songs are very beautiful, very nice, although he has not appeared in front of people for a long time, but until now, None of us here can forget his singing."

Calvin has always been glib and even a little hypocritical in front of Alan and Raymond, but at this time, when he mentioned "Alan", he actually showed a little shyness like a teenager.

It's just that he was chattering about the "sea monster" here, but a faint layer of cold sweat oozes from the back of someone standing opposite him.

Allen looked at the other party carefully, and confirmed that the other party's enthusiasm for the "Kraken" was only caused by the similar appearance, and it was not after he really felt that there was a problem with Allen's identity. Slowly fell back to the original position.

It's just that, even if it's just like this, Allen still feels uncomfortable all over his body-Raphael probably extracted his facial features and outlines from many moving images, and then re-synthesized them after modification.At first glance, the rigid image that is constantly rotating on the holographic screen can vaguely see Alan's original appearance, but if it is viewed by an outsider, the difference is actually quite big.

Allen couldn't figure it out, how did Calvin manage to connect Allen with "Alan" in such a short period of time...

"...Sir, I think people in the central axis area will probably like you very much."

After talking so much, Carl seemed to suddenly realize that he had revealed his true feelings.He stopped talking suddenly, then coughed a few times, and then said to Allen embarrassingly.

But even he himself didn't notice that after seeing the face belonging to Allen on the machine, his tone of voice when speaking to Allen became softer than before.

"I heard that the place where we live is also near here."

Alan really didn't want to continue entangled with Calvin on the current topic, so he pretended to be casual and quickly changed the topic.

"Dwell... oh yes, live!"

Calvin was taken aback for a moment, and then he rubbed the back of his head and started yelling.

"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot. Sir, please come here with me... After inspectors first arrive in the central axis area, they usually choose to live in the living room attached to the regional office. After all, other The environment there is really bad.”

While speaking, Calvin had brought Alan and Raymond to the other side of the office.

After unlocking the combination lock, the metal door slowly moved aside, and a slightly stale breath came from a cold metal room.

Allen stepped forward, and immediately saw a living cabin that was very similar to his own in the circular area.

A narrow single bed, the necessary measures of life...

Everything is exactly the same as in the ring area.

The only difference is that there is a crude metal room on the other side of the living room, so low that people can barely crawl into it.There was a very simple iron frame bed, which seemed to be prepared for assistants.

If you have never seen the harsh environment in the central axis area, I am afraid that Allen will still frown at his current residence, but now, it is [-] to [-]% similar to the central axis area, which is enough for Allen to feel relieved.

Seeing that Allen is very satisfied with the current environment, Calvin seems to be a little more relaxed.

"I believe you are already very tired, sir. If you don't mind, you can rest here first. We can carry out the inspection matters tomorrow. As for the inspection routes and precautions you need, I will post them later. into your bracelet..."

He said to Allen with a smile.

Of course Allen knew that according to the inspector's normal workflow, he should inspect the entire area immediately after arriving in the central axis area.But so what?He is not a real inspector, is Alan happy to satisfy the sheriff?So he nodded, indicating that he had accepted Calvin's suggestion.

"I hope that all the information needed for the inspection will already be in my bracelet tomorrow."

Allen pretended to be indifferent and said to Calvin

Calvin hurriedly nodded his head and replied: "Of course that is of course, I will prepare all the materials you need, you just need to do the final inspection, don't worry, the people here are very good, if it is not for those people The Naga people are too much, in fact, the repair work here has already been completed..."

After the series of compliments and responses, Calvin bowed his waist and slowly left the room.

It's just that the moment the door closed behind him, Calvin straightened up suddenly, and the flattering smile on his face disappeared immediately.

He raised his wrist, looked at the communication messages in the bracelet that had been continuously transmitted from just now, and sighed deeply.

【Magistrate, something went wrong, we need help——fromK】

This is a certain team leader in the maintenance area. Under normal circumstances, he would never ask for help.

[The survival system in Area C has reached its limit, we have to find a way to move the wounded... from Angel]

Angel is one of the few nurses in the central axis area. Before sending this message, she had been working continuously for more than 48 hours.

[Reina and Cass passed away 3 minutes ago, and the funeral will be ready within 20 minutes. Can you come to attend if it is convenient for you?I think their families will need you to see them off here. ——from KS]

This is a certain young non-school monk. Calvin can't remember how many funerals it took before that young boy who was always teary-eyed turned into the calm and indifferent appearance he is now.

……

And the latest piece of news comes from his most capable assistant.

【He's looking for you, I can't hold him back any longer! 】

A simple sentence made Calvin, who was originally expressionless, instantly turn pale.

He rushed out of the door in a hurry, and rushed towards the other end of the corridor...

And behind him, in the door of the room, Allen kept staring in the direction Calvin was leaving with a solemn expression.

"Raymond?" Allen looked at the man beside him, then frowned.

"...Have you seen this man?"

he asked.

Raymond's eyes narrowed slightly.After a while, he shook his head in a daze.

"I... I don't remember, Alan, what's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

Raymond asked weakly with a trace of fear.

After thinking for a moment, Allen shook his head, and he sighed.

"No, it's nothing, it's not a big problem, but... I think that man's attitude towards you is a little strange..."

When we first met, Calvin actually concealed his strangeness very well and quickly.If it was normal, Allen would have probably overlooked the man's strange gaze for a moment.

But what happened these days made Allen's nerves stretched to the limit. He realized that Calvin's attitude towards Raymond was very weird almost just by instinct.

Like the guy knew something about Raymond.

and……

"His acting is good, but it's still a little too artificial for me."

Allen said with a wry smile.

He thought that after leaving that terrifying world for so long, he had already forgotten those intrigues and ulterior motives, but he didn't expect that after so many years, he would still subconsciously recognize other people's acting skills.

Take Calvin for example, although everything about him is perfect, Allen can still be keenly aware that something is wrong with him.

That man was definitely not as simple as he showed, nor was he such a greedy and slippery little bureaucrat.

That man is hiding something, Allen can say that with certainty.

And when Alan frowned and thought about Calvin, the White Emperor was actually thinking about him too. However, the memory he needs to search for is not himself...

After absorbing Raymond's brain, the White Emperor inherited most of Raymond's memories.However, most of the time, Raymond's memory makes him feel boring and low-level, so he has been sealed in the corner of his core area.

After meeting Calvin today, Raymond naturally noticed Calvin's weirdness, so he searched Raymond's memory long before Allen asked.

It's just that the memory of a mediocre person like Raymond is mostly hazy and scattered. It seems that he only has money, power, and... the disgusting desire for Allen in his mind.

It took even the Emperor Bai a long time to manage to find a particularly vague memory from Raymond's memory fragments a few years ago.

Was that 4 or 5 years ago...

In his memory, Raymond seemed to have just stepped off the aircraft. He raised his head and looked at the natural scene around the aircraft, feeling contempt and boredom in his heart.

【"Hello, Colonel Orson..."】

In his memory, Calvin was much younger and handsome than he is now, wearing a weird leaf coat, and surrounded by many tribesmen who also wore weird clothes, he walked towards him step by step.

【"I am the chief of Reinas, and my earth name is Calvin. I am very glad that you came to us... Our children will be very grateful for your charitable assistance to our Reinas..."】

【"This is what we should do. Reinas is a member of the Dominion and also a member of our earth civilization..."】

In this memory, Raymond seemed to speak to Calvin in this way.

……

The subsequent pleasantries gradually became vague or even absent, which showed that Raymond was not paying attention to the meeting at all.

And this was the last bit of information about Calvin that the White Emperor could find.

But the information made Emperor Bai a little confused.

However, in just a few years, the chief of Reinas actually became a lower-level sheriff in the central axis of the Tianmao human military base?

This change is a bit too exaggerated...

Also, the leaf suit that that guy was wearing in his memory also made Emperor Bai feel vaguely familiar...

Is that some strange race?Oh, by the way, it seems that some of the Goddess Race people also wear the same clothes. The special thing about those people is that they seem to be able to remember everything they have experienced in their lives.

Yes, yes, isn't the motto of the Goddess Race "We will never forget, we will always remember"?

Is Calvin like that too?

But the current Raymond is no longer the real Raymond, it is Him who is the White Emperor... Is it Raymond or Him that the Goddesses see?

The Bai Emperor thought impatiently.

Whether it is to let the person named Calvin recognize that he used a false name to make charitable donations to Planet Reinas a few years ago, or let the other party recognize that he is not "Raymond" but "Naga" at all, It was very troublesome for Emperor Bai.

...just kill that man.

Then the idea came up so easily and naturally.

If it wasn't for the vast majority of the body left by Emperor Bai in the circular area and not brought to the central axis area, Emperor Bai might have noticed that today he is far more irritable and irritable than usual.

And this strange mental influence, to some extent, began after he met the child named Berrian.

However, at this moment, the only thing the White Emperor wanted to do was to get rid of Calvin.

Raymond got up and looked at the other side of the room. After thinking to no avail, Allen had already begun to turn his attention to the room.

He was tidying up the room and didn't seem to notice Raymond in the corner of the room.

Well……

Not being noticed by Allen made Raymond's chest feel strange and incomprehensible pain.

However, this also gave Raymond convenience.

Raymond leaned towards the corner intentionally or unintentionally, and the body under the jumpsuit became soft and wet.

One of his fingers gradually began to elongate, elongate - not long after, a translucent slender worm-like thing slowly emerged from Raymond's cuff, and then it quickly rushed into the Vents in the living room.

[It's a little cold. 】

[And the air stinks. 】

It didn't take long for the tentacles to convey back to Raymond that there was no nutrition at all.

"Find the man and kill him."

The White Emperor absently gave instructions to his tentacles.

There is still a special smell left by Calvin in the air, and that clear smell of grass and trees has already entered his skin...

And it was this special taste of the Goddess race that directly locked Raymond's clones into his existence.

Of course, if the environment here is not so harsh, the tentacles may work a little faster.

Those wet and flexible translucent tentacles climbed along the pipe to the edge of the vent, and then slowly protruded down to the completely transparent sensor.

The target is just below them, the hypnotic spots on the receptors, or the hallucinogenic slime secreted by the naga themselves, can easily kill Calvin in a few seconds.

But the next second... the movements of the tentacles suddenly froze.

【Danger】

【Do not move around】

【dangerous……】

Such messages flicker in their simple and monotonous brains.

Below them, in Calvin's office—

Calvin, who was regarded as the source of trouble by Raymond, did not realize that he was being watched by another terrifying cosmic creature.

He was trying to suppress his anger so that he could deal with another person in his office smoothly.

"Hey man, I know, you take your family very seriously, but it's not serious. I yelled at the kid - I admit, it's my fault, but I'm just trying to protect him. We both know , those inspectors sent by the circular area are a bunch of bastards..."

"You just have to tell me who did it."

Before Calvin could finish speaking, the man had already interrupted him coldly.

It was a rather tall man with a special gloomy aura that was very different from ordinary humans.

Just like all the outsiders, this man has a very special appearance - he is very strong and tall.

In such a low-temperature environment in the central axis area, his body is almost naked, only the neck and wrists are adorned with a large number of bright and eye-catching metal ornaments and gemstones, and the waist and crotch are carelessly surrounded by a circle of glaring Tie-dye fabrics, belts are also decorated with a lot of gold and silver jewelry.

But he didn't have a weapon on him.

This is probably because...he is a weapon himself.

His palms and soles had animal-like sharp nails.

But that's not what scares him the most...

When he inadvertently squirmed his body slowly, under the reflection of the metal ornaments, a fine, shimmering phosphorescence faintly appeared under his skin.

Under his skin, there seemed to be a layer of fine scales.

Of course, for Calvin, the weirdest thing now is not the man's appearance or his attire, but his position.

That man—now was directly attached to the metal ceiling, staring at Calvin with his head hanging upside down.

He looked more like some kind of giant gecko or spider.

"...I will kill him very carefully...no evidence will be left, and no trouble will be caused to you."

Wu Jieyada said to the magistrate slowly, with a bit of patience and what he thought was reasonable.

When he spoke, he could vaguely hear some strange inflection similar to birdsong, which made his voice sound extra mellow.