Across Deep Space: Four Men and a Play

The wipers scraped away the snow on the windshield. The snow fell thicker and thicker, and visibility was less than 50 meters.

Li Shen's car was not driving very fast, but when he saw clearly that the two white dots not far away were a mother and son staggering and running away, the front of the car was already very close to them, almost about to hit them.

"....!!"

He immediately turned sharply, and the taillights of the car drew a parallel arc in the snow, breaking through the corrugated guardrail and stopping urgently in the green belt.

The mother and child were so frightened by this scene that they fell to the ground. The child in the woman's arms was covered with crystals all over his body, like a distorted glass sculpture.

In the darkness illuminated by the car lights, Li Shen saw something breathing a hot and dangerous breath, slowly walking towards the two of them.

The woman screamed in fear, "Don't come over here!!"

It was a creature wearing human clothes, but it was difficult to identify it as a human.

Its entire body was covered with crystals, as if that was its main body. The only remaining small piece of skin on its huge, arched body was still bulging with foreign matter.

It had a ferocious expression, its pupils were a strange blue, and every step it took caused the ground to tremble slightly.

"do not come....."

The woman's face was pale and her eyes were full of fear, but she still trembled and covered the eyes of the child in her arms.

"Don't be afraid...it's okay, don't be afraid."

Li Shen, who was in the car, saw this scene and felt his nerves tense up instantly. The tinnitus that had just subsided started to ring violently again.

------

The next second, Li Shen got out of the car with an indifferent expression. The frost condensed in his hand gradually extended into sharp thorns. He raised his hand slightly and aimed at the monster in front of the car.

The color of night silently climbed up this power, like the god of death waking up from a dream.

The monster raised his hand high towards the mother and child, but was suddenly pierced in the chest by a cold light that cut through the air.

The cracked ice crystals on the purple monster's chest spread outward, almost freezing its body.

Under the woman's slightly stunned gaze, Li Shen walked out from the car. The moonlight outlined his pair of mechanical eyes.

As cold as the bone-chilling pond, there was not a trace of emotion.

The moment the monster pounced forward again, a slender ice blade appeared in his palm. It was as thin as the wind, but exuded a deadly chill, and flew towards the monster's body in an instant.

The child's subtle voice rang out, "Mom..."

The woman lowered her head immediately upon hearing the sound and said, "It's okay, someone is here to rescue us... Just hold on a little longer..."

"Don't sleep, promise mom..."

Amid the sound of ice crystals crackling, everything seemed to be frozen and still.

The monster fell to the ground instantly, raising up the fallen snow. For a moment, the white mist filled the air, blurring the vision.

A strong wind blew, and particles mixed with ice crystals blew towards the woman sitting there.

She stared blankly ahead, as if she had not yet recovered from the thrill of the moment.

Until footsteps were heard in the wind and snow, one after another like a countdown.

The woman came back to her senses and began to pray in the direction of the voice, "Can you please save my child... He... He hasn't turned into a monster yet, he won't turn into that kind of monster..."

The tall man blocked the light from the car lights, casting the two people, one big and one small, in front of him in shadow.

The woman shrank back, and the chocolate in the child's hand fell into the snow.

Li Shen: "He is beyond saving."

woman"......."

"Why do you say that!"

Ignoring the woman's anger, Li Shen bent down, picked up the bag of chocolates and handed it to her.

The shattered ice crystals that overflowed from the fingertips fell on the chocolate packaging, turned into water droplets and slid down, washing away the blood stains on it.

Li Shen repeated again, "He is beyond saving."

The woman shook her head frantically, "No! He didn't turn into a monster! He's clearly still alive!"

“He—he…”

The woman cried and wailed. Although she couldn't accept it, she knew clearly that her child was really dead...

But why...why them...

She was fine during the day, and her children were happily hanging out with her.

The shrill wails echoed through the dark night, dark clouds covered the moon again, and Li Shen's back soon blended into the snowy night again.

-------

The next morning, the streets were illuminated by the bright and lonely light of street lamps, like a deserted city.

The young man, who was so sleepy that he couldn't open his eyes in the special seat for the elderly, staggered all the way and finally hit his head before the bus arrived at the station.

The boy woke up with a cry of pain.

As soon as I got off the car, the cold wind blowing with light snow blew in my face, instantly dispelling my sleepiness.

He rubbed his eyes, and when he saw clearly where he was, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Seventeen, wake up! We're here!"

From extremely low altitude to almost airborne, a distance of thousands of kilometers, he changed transportation dozens of times and finally returned to the starting point.

The young man walked quickly to a secluded bench and seeing that there was no one around, he carefully put down his bag and patted it vigorously as if to warn him.

".....Finally I'm back. This time you're not allowed to run around!"

"Until you find the Lord God-Speaker, you should follow the old method—when you're in a crowded place, pretend to be a puppy."

"It's the kind that's furry and that humans love to touch. Did you hear me? Let's review the handshake action later..."

The young man waited for a long time as he spoke, but no response came from the bag.

"Seventeen?"

With an ominous premonition, he reached out to unzip his backpack, but all he saw was a small hole through which air was leaking and a few tangled strands of white hair.

"......"

It’s over, I ran away. It’s not easy to find a place in such a big city.

Otherwise... let's go find the God Speaker first...

The boy hesitated for a few seconds and then turned and walked in one direction.

On the other hand, Xia Jiumeng took the old documents given by Li Shen and searched in the association, some libraries and old archives, but could not find any information about this biological key and its related materials for studying cosmic civilization.

I don’t know if it was erased intentionally or if it’s really hard to find because it’s so old.

So she decided to put it aside for the time being. No matter what secret the key held, it would be known sooner or later. There was something more important at the moment, which was to go find the teacher and ask about the taboos.

as well as.....

Jiang Nan came over with a pile of information and called everyone to the data table.

"I called everyone here this time because I have something to tell you."

"I believe you are all aware of the recent frequent attacks involving individuals who retain some human features, but whose wills have been eroded, leaving only the instinct to attack..."

Jiang Nan glanced at the screen in his hand and projected the image onto the holographic screen beside him.

"Let's call it 'Alienated' for now."

"These mutants share a common trait: they've all been diagnosed with 'Core Origin Disease.'"

Xia Jiumeng looked at the enlarged pattern around Jiang Nan. Those creatures covered with crystals were very similar to the "defective products" she had seen in Tianxing. The difference was that they did retain a small part of human characteristics, but they were also closer to the appearance of wandering bodies.

Is it core disease?

She remembered the message Li Shen suddenly sent her in the early morning two days ago.

"I'm on a very urgent business trip. It's not dangerous, but I might lose contact. Don't worry. [I'm not going to Changheng Mountain.]"

Considering that it was normal for Li Shen to say goodbye without consulting anyone later in his profession, she found a snowman with six small dots on its head from a bunch of snowman emoticons and replied.

However, Core Origin Disease seems to be Li Shen's professional field. Could his business trip here be related to these mutants transformed by Core Origin Disease?

After all, he seems to be doing related research.

Tao Tao listened to Jiang Nan and said, "There's been a discussion on a forum lately about a mysterious 'Eraser' who's been dealing with the alienated people before the police arrive these past few days."

Chen Xuan looked puzzled. "Wait, what is the Eraser? A new urban legend?"

Jiang Nan knocked on the table and said, "Focus."

Interrupting the digression, the scene on the virtual screen switched to some photos of the scene.

"There have been several mutant attacks in the past two days. The police need a hunter to detect and investigate the supernatural energy at the scene."

"Who of you wants to go?"

Xia Jiumeng was somewhat interested in these mutants and the "Eraser", and immediately raised her hand to indicate that she wanted to go.

"Captain Nan, I'll go."