Chapter 13: Blood of God
The screech of brakes shattered the dead silence around the .
A van covered in dried bloodstains and dents stopped before the electric gate of .
pushed open the door, his combat boots landing on the rain-soaked pavement.
He looked up at the surveillance camera and made a gesture.
A muffled rumbling sounded from inside the gate, and then it slowly slid open to both sides.
The cargo door was pulled open, and seventeen bedraggled survivors helped one another down from the vehicle.
They looked at the somewhat dilapidated power station before them. They saw no towering walls, no soldiers patrolling with loaded rifles — and in an instant, all of them were rattled.
Something about this shelter feels off!
had already focused his attention here when the vehicle drew near.
Through the camera at the entrance, he carefully studied the group had brought back: six men, nine women, and two young girls — six males and eleven females in total.
Their ages ranged from seven to over fifty. Most were sallow and gaunt, listless and weary.
Only one young man in his early twenties, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, clutched a waterproof backpack for dear life.
Unlike the others' unease, he kept his face taut the entire time, as if he found everyone objectionable.
walked to the front of the crowd and turned around, his gaze cold and hard.
"Everyone, listen up," 's voice echoed across the empty square. "This is the — a special strategic node under the full authority of the nation's highest-level artificial intelligence, ' .'"
A stir ran through the crowd as people murmured among themselves.
But it was obvious none of them really believed it.
In fact, was taken aback by 's introduction too, but he reacted quickly.
He immediately activated the broadcast system in the square.
[Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Dawn Node. I am .]
[From this moment on, your safety will be my responsibility.]
Right behind that, the six fixed robotic arms on both sides of the square activated at once. Searchlights blazed to life, their blinding white beams crisscrossing the open ground in front of the crowd.
Then, a strangely designed robot appeared before everyone. ( )
"Is this really an official shelter?" a middle-aged woman murmured.
Then an elderly person asked in turn, "Then how come there aren't any other soldiers here?"
[Because there's no need. The impact of this crisis has been severe, and the military must be deployed to more important matters.]
[For maintaining the shelter's safety, I alone am enough.]
[In short, rest assured. Everything is still under the nation's control. The nation will not abandon you.]
The survivors looked at one another, but in the end, they raised no further questions.
After all, they had already boarded the pirate ship — they couldn't very well turn around and drive back just because they didn't believe it, could they?
Besides, deep in their hearts, there was also a sliver of hope that this really was an official shelter.
People always tend to believe what they want to believe, even without a shred of evidence.
Seeing the crowd settle down, continued, "Once you're in here, you must follow the rules. No reckless behavior."
"First, naturally, no violating the nation's laws and regulations."
"Second, supplies are distributed according to work performed."
"You will be assigned to the living quarters, and skill registration will be held shortly. Engineers, doctors, and technical personnel will be given priority for core assignments. Everyone else will handle logistics and cleaning."
The broadcast sounded again: [ is ready over there. , take them over to register.]
nodded to , then beckoned for everyone to follow.
Watching the crowd being led away in orderly fashion, the long-awaited system notification finally surfaced in the depths of 's consciousness.
[Ding!]
[ 2: Establish a "Shelter"-grade civilization node. (Progress: 21/10) — Completed.]
[Mission Rating: Excellent.]
[Calculating rewards... rating upgrade... hidden blueprint...]
[ Gained: 3000.]
[Unlocked standard-grade military drone x2 (' ' Type 1 standard-grade military drones x2 have been generated in the warehouse and require manual assembly), ' ' Type 2 special-grade military drone blueprint x1]
's spirits soared. Having only just regained his " ," he now seemed to have a shot at gaining the ability to fly!
But he hadn't been happy for long before another system notification appeared.
[Ding!]
[Special situation detected. triggered.]
[ 1: .]
[Mission Requirements: Establish a solid defensive line; successfully repel one small-scale zombie horde assault (including [ ]).]
[Mission Rewards: 3000 , unlock x1, blueprint x1, unlock " " formula.]
[Mission Countdown: 6 days 23:59:55.]
stared at the mission panel and felt a pang of exasperation. I just got some good news, and you pull this on me?
Just then, a communication came through from the biology laboratory in .
" , are you there?" 's voice came through, carrying a hint of exhaustion she couldn't quite hide.
switched the surveillance feed. In the laboratory, had heavy dark circles under her eyes, disheveled hair, and an especially haggard look.
She was staring fixedly at the report sheet in her hands.
[I'm here.]
[Any progress on the research?]
"You'll never guess what I found," said, turning her chair to face the camera. "I extracted cell sections from the lump of flesh in that incubator. I compared the mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus, and I even ran rapid DNA sequencing."
She paused, then took a deep breath. "Those tentacles writhing like a horde of demons, that lump of flesh multiplying in defiance of biological common sense — it is... the most ordinary of human somatic cells."
"Or rather, a kind of somatic cell that has never expressed or differentiated — or maybe one that was never discovered at all?" She gave a self-deprecating laugh.
If 's consciousness had a physical form, it would probably have ground to a halt for a second right about now.
[Are you saying this pile of wretched stuff is human?]
"That's exactly what I want to ask," said, rubbing her temples. "If a cell's structure, its organelles, and even the DNA in its nucleus are no different from those of human cells, then what else could it possibly be?"
She stood up and paced back and forth across the laboratory, speaking at a rapid clip. "Honestly, I really can't make sense of this. What on earth is going on!"
She jerked the chair out and sat back down, then said in a tone of someone who had given up on finding a cure, "Right now, there's only one explanation I can think of, and even that's a stretch."
[What?]
"Selective gene expression," said, her eyes going blank. "Human DNA contains a massive amount of non-coding sequences, once known as 'junk DNA.'"
"But what if they simply hadn't been activated yet? And now, some condition is activating these sequences, causing the cells to undergo new mutations."