Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 107 I Really Can’t Tell
Zhou Yi asked Jacob to take it easy.

After resting for half an hour, the bones returned to normal.

It told Zhou Yi: "Chairman, bones are the carriers of bone people's life. Our memories and experiences are stored in bones all over the body, but the most important part is recorded in the skull."

"The bones in other parts of the body can be repaired or even replaced, but if the skull is severely damaged, the skeleton will die easily."

"What is recorded on the skull must be the most crucial secret of a skeleton."

After a brief explanation, Jacob looked at the skull in his hand and said, "As far as I can remember, I lived in Poseidon. There were four skeletons in total, me, Nino, Dio, and Connor."

"We got our name from Poseidon. It told us some names, and we chose the ones we wanted."

"There are some other skeletons inside the Poseidon, but I don't know if they are dead skeletons or the remains of humans after their death."

The skeleton seemed a little tired and sat down on a step in the tunnel.

Zhou Yi gave the order, and the Red Falcon took off silently and entered the interior of the Poseidon through the open hatch.

He sat next to Jacob, waiting for what to say next.

The skeleton held the skull with one hand and scratched the gap in the brain that was repaired with plaster with the other hand: "In Poseidon, we didn't count the time. We slept most of the time. After waking up, we would chat and then go back to sleep, or move around a little."

“No one thought there was anything wrong with it, nor did anyone think there was a bigger world out there.”

"One day, Dio suddenly made a discovery. There was a pile of bones scattered under a shelf baffle. When Dio sorted the broken bones, he saw a scratched painting on the back of the baffle, which depicted the internal structure of Poseidon."

Jacob murmured, "There are many arrows marked on the map, telling us how to get out."

"Pictures like this can be found in many hidden places. They were left behind by the original owners of the skeletons."

"The Poseidon would periodically go into a non-responsive state. Later I learned that it was during the winter. It should be in order to reduce consumption in the winter, so it went into hibernation."

"The painting tells us that this is the best time to escape. We can get out by manually opening the sealed cabin on the top."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but ask: "Since the people in the past knew how to leave, why didn't they leave, but died in there?"

“They didn’t write it.”

Jacob looked at his knees. "But Dio found the reason. It said that normal skeletons should have hands and feet, but me, Nino, Dio, and Connor are all incomplete, and it is difficult for us to move."

"Conor has a skull, a sternum and a right hand."

"Nino has two leg bones, but his spine is broken, and his skull is only barely fixed to his coccyx."

"Dio has both arms intact, but no legs."

"I was the most severely mutilated one among them. Only my skull was left."

Zhou Yi frowned when he heard this.

There's something strange about this Poseidon.

"We collected all the wreckage, including our own. There should be at least 17 skeletons in the Poseidon. Through the screening and comparison of these skeletons, we discovered one thing."

The skeleton continued, "Some of the bones scattered there can be connected to our bodies and fit perfectly. But our hands and feet, cervical vertebrae and sternum, skull and spine are all messed up..."

"That is to say, we were once one of those skeletons. But after becoming skeletons, our bodies intersected with each other. Maybe Dio's hands belong to Nino, Nino's leg bones belong to Connor, and my sternum could belong to any of them."

"In this weird situation, everyone asks for my advice. All I have left is my skull, but because I have little burden, all my energy goes into running my brain."

"I originally thought that skeletons were like this. But according to the Dead Sea Atlas and the records about skeletons that I found in Recursion City, this is not the case. Skeletons must preserve a relatively intact physiological structure in order to awaken under the effect of the death ray. In a situation like ours where a large area is damaged, it is impossible for them to naturally take shape and awaken."

"Inside Poseidon, our bone structures were deliberately disrupted by external forces, becoming chaotic and dull. An invisible hand was fiddling with our bones, breaking us apart, making us unable to think and remember what happened."

Jacob opened his five finger bones, slowly opened and closed them again: "Am I still myself now? Am I the only one who has retained this part of the skull? And the memories in this body, are they just specious or real? I can't tell, Chairman, I really can't tell."

Zhou Yi was speechless for a moment.

If I have to say, my situation is even more serious than this.

But unlike Jacob, Zhou Yi would not dwell on the past. What had happened could not be changed, and what was important was what to do next.

He told the bone man: "Existence is meaning. Life in the world does not exist alone. We are in communication and connection with the surrounding environment. If you can't tell the difference, there is no need to tell it apart."

Jacob fell into deep thought.

Waited for a while.

The Skeleton Man continued, "I told everyone that we might be those skeletons, and everyone thought it made sense. But no one knew why we in the past—or the Skeleton Man in the past—wanted us to escape. But once this idea came to mind, it could no longer be stopped."

"We're noticing more and more suspicious things."

"Every window of the Poseidon has been completely sealed by the soot, and the exhaust and drainage holes inside have also been blocked. We have been cut off from all contact with the outside world."

"Then there are a lot of wear and tear on our bones, but the Poseidon is very stable and there is almost no bumping. Otherwise, with our crippled bodies, we would not be able to walk around."

"Especially since everyone's skulls are severely worn out and the memories inside are cleared out, they will also have some vaguely familiar feelings. For example, when Dio saw the baffle, he said that he seemed to remember what was there, which is why he discovered the painting below..."

"Also, Poseidon never tells us what the situation is like outside. It never talks about the outside world, as if the outside world does not exist." The Skeleton People's suspicions about Poseidon continued to accumulate.

After long thinking, Jacob came to a conclusion.

They are Poseidon's pets.

They are kept in a closed environment, mainly for the entertainment of Poseidon. Once something disgusts it, they will suffer the same fate as the skeletons before.

Poseidon will break them up again, clear previous memories, and restart the pet game in this black box.

Zhou Yi was a little confused about this.

Mechanical and electrical life has innate functions and order principles. What is the purpose of Poseidon doing this? Is it for fun? Or is it some kind of experiment?

"do not know."

Jacob shook his head. “We were just very scared at the time because this repetitive cycle of torture was more terrifying than death itself. So we decided to escape.”

"During another winter when the Poseidon was dormant, we assembled our legs and bodies and escaped according to the clues left by the skeletons."

"I was the first one to come out. As soon as I crawled to the exit, I felt weak all over. I don't know why a piece of my skull broke off and fell inside, splitting into two of me... Because we have very little energy, we can only rely on the Poseidon to perform basic movements."

"After I got out, I ran out instinctively. By then, the Poseidon had already entered the tunnel of Yalong Bay. It looked like it had been swallowed up."

The skeleton muttered to himself, "Later, I walked to the bottom of the Dead Sea and found a cargo ship docked near a small island. I lay on the bottom of the ship and followed them all the way. As a result, the ship encountered a rapid current and fell apart, and we ended up in the Sand Harbor area."

"Chairman, I haven't told anyone about this before. I'm telling you now for the first time."

Zhou Yi verified this through Yalong Bay.

"There was indeed a skeleton coming out of the submarine, very panicked and weak, but I couldn't identify the skeleton and wasn't sure if it was this one. But that one did have a piece of his skull missing at the time."

The submarine base gave the testimony of an onlooker: "That was also the first time that the Poseidon entered the cave. Since then, it has not responded and has been stranded until now."

As we learn more about Poseidon, the mystery surrounding it has not only not dissipated, but has become even more difficult to understand.

Zhou Yi suddenly felt a little uneasy.

The Red Falcon had been inside the submarine for quite some time, but no news had been sent back.

Zhou Yi took out the remote control he carried with him and operated it manually.

Shown above.

[No signal, Red Falcon failed to respond, please perform manual recovery. ]

The last response failure was still due to energy issues.

Zhou Yi's heart sank.

problem occurs.

Rescue must be carried out as soon as possible, otherwise something bad may happen.

The Red Falcon is not like the Skeleton Man who can recover after being broken. It is a non-combat member and its body is very fragile.

When Jacob learned about it, he waved his arms anxiously: "Chairman, you must not go in, it's very dangerous inside. I suspect that I was deliberately released by it to attract more people in! I am the bait!"

Zhou Yi said: "I know what's going on. You should retreat to the safe area of Emerald City first."

He first found the St. Petersburg and told it to destroy the Poseidon by shelling it if he didn't come out within an hour.

"Don't worry, my friend! St. Petersburg will rescue you when the time comes." The submarine said it had everything covered.

Zhou Yi also asked Yalong Bay to cut off all assistance and maintenance to the Poseidon.

moment.

The inner wall of the tunnel where Poseidon was located returned to darkness, with only a faint light still on the top.

Then Zhou Yi summoned the entire warrior crab sequence, including all members including senior weapon masters, hammer soldiers, and dual-blade soldiers, and they quickly gathered in the cave.

His orders were simple.

An hour later, he still didn't come out. After the St. Petersburg blasted open the Poseidon, he dismantled the electromechanical submarine.

Finally Zhou Yi climbed onto the dark submarine. Jacob came over and said bravely, "Chairman, I'll go too. I'm familiar with it! Maybe I can help!"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Come on then."

For safety reasons, he input energy into the skeleton to facilitate synchronous communication between their consciousnesses.

Then he and Jacob went into the hatch one after the other.

(End of this chapter)