Except when he returned to the base, Ulyanov always wore his full-face helmet, which was almost his signature look. However, this helmet wasn't for the sake of being cool and flashy, nor was it purely for the sake of increasing defensive power. Its true purpose was to maintain a veteran's life, as well as conceal his terrifying true appearance.
Hao Ren saw a horrifying man sitting behind the table fiddling with some equipment. His face could hardly be called human. Most of his skin had disappeared, exposing his muscles and bones with a metallic silver glow. One of his eyeballs was connected to some electronic circuit so that it would not fall off. Where his nose used to be, there was only a metal tube with a valve. A hose connected to the metal tube was connected to a gas cylinder on the table. As for his teeth, there was only a row of neat metal teeth.
Ulyanov's face, hidden under the helmet, was like a skull made of flesh and steel. It was weird and horrible. Hao Ren, who had seen all kinds of strange and inexplicable things, could not help but be shocked when he saw this scene.
"You …" Hao Ren could not hide his surprise, so he simply asked, "How did you do it?"
"Sixty-five years ago, I was working near the Nano Sea to see if the Nanomachine Swarm could be used to develop space colonies." The remaining muscles on Ulyanov's face twitched as if he was trying to smile at Hao Ren, but it looked almost scarier than Y 'zaks' smile. "When the Master computer crashed, I couldn't get out, so I was melted — almost a third of me."
Ulyanov lifted his shirt slightly. Hao Ren was shocked to see a transparent chest plate under the clothes. Deformed internal organs and artificial organs were slowly pulsating in a pale pink life-support solution. It looked like a cyborg out of a horror movie.
"I am one of the few survivors of the disaster, and probably the one who lived the longest." Ulyanov pointed to the bed next to him, motioning for Hao Ren to sit down. "Ah, you probably aren't interested in this. What's the matter?"
Hao Ren had just calmed down from the shock of seeing Ulyanov's face and experience. He did not know what to say. He sat on the bed a little cautiously before mentioning his original purpose. "Well, I just want to ask … if I have something to report to if I have to leave the base?"
"Leave the base?" Ulyanov asked. "Where are you going?"
"Walking around. At least I need to know what kind of place my future residence is," Hao Ren shrugged. "And I can't stay here and bother you all the time. I don't plan to join any organization, so I will leave one day."
"I know Nolan's character. I'm afraid she doesn't mind you staying here because she doesn't care about it at all," Ulyanov said hoarsely. His voice did not come from his mouth but from a resonating tube in his throat. His vocal cords had become part of the Nanomachine Swarm decades ago. Now, the machine had replaced more than half of his physiological functions. "But it's normal for you to think so. If you want to go out, I can accompany you. I don't have a mission for the time being, and this place is not peaceful. "
"No, no, you don't have to trouble me. I've been a soldier before, and I have survival skills." Hao Ren quickly waved his hand. "I'm just here to ask if there are any procedures to leave the base. After all, this is a military unit."
Ulyanov laughed hoarsely. "Aha … don't be so strict. Gray Fox doesn't have so many rules, because Nolan is the only rule here. As long as you don't look for trouble with her, no one will look for trouble with you. "
Hao Ren nodded. Ulyanov grabbed something from the table and threw it to Hao Ren. "Take this. Even if you don't join us, the identity of Gray Fox can help you avoid a lot of trouble. In this place, only those who have a corps behind them are considered people. Those without identities are the 'slag' in the factory."
Hao Ren caught the small metal card that flew over. It was a small badge with a gray fox head engraved with laser etching. It was the logo of the Gray Fox mercenary group. In the chaotic Black Street, people were dominated by a strict hierarchy. The cadres from Zero City and the heads of the corps were the first class, while the soldiers and brokers who relied on the corps were respectfully called 'citizens'. The lowest class were those who had no identity and no ability to fight. They did heavy work in the smoke-emitting factories that could not be replaced by the Nanomachine Swarm. They suffered from respiratory diseases and various pollution. They relied on coarse food and the nerve paralysis drugs made by the Nanomachine Swarm to maintain their short lives. They were called 'slag'.
Without the guarantee of an army, any visitor that came to Black Street would be thrown into the factory in less than three days, and those that could come out in one piece were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Even if they could escape, surviving in the slums of Black Street was not much easier than being 'slag' in the factory.
This was human society after the collapse of civilization.
Hao Ren had browsed through the information about Black Street on the Internet. Although the information was simple, he had a general understanding of the rules and environment of this place. So he knew that the small metal card should be a gift from Nolan, and for an outsider, it was an extremely valuable and unexpected gift. He put away the card and looked at Ulyanov curiously. "Are the other mercenary corps as friendly as you?"
"The others?" Ulyanov laughed. His voice was as rough as a broken old bellows. "You either join them or be thrown into the factory. Most of the mercenaries are also human traffickers. You should be glad that you met Nolan. She is the toughest and most unruly mercenary here. She has her own rules, that is, everyone except her is bullsh * t. So as long as she approves a person, that person is basically safe in Black Street, and all other corps will give her some face. "
Nolan's face flashed in Hao Ren's mind. The mercenary girl with long gray hair and an expressionless face. Her eyes left an indelible impression on Hao Ren. Now that he recalled it, there seemed to be an indescribable alienation and vicissitudes in her eyes, like a transcendent who had seen through the mortal world and watched the life and death of all beings. When Hao Ren recalled this detail, he could not help but feel a layer of goosebumps on his back. He believed that he saw something in Nolan's eyes that theoretically did not belong to her. "Nolan … How old is she this year?"
"Seventeen, or eighteen — no older," Ulyanov said, looking into Hao Ren's eyes. "Don't ask more, that's all I know. The warlords in this place are extremely afraid of Nolan. One of the main reasons they fear her is her age. It is said that when she was thirteen years old, she alone assassinated two mercenary commanders, bare-handed, and in the most brutal way. Maybe you think you saved her life from Khiton today, but in fact, Nolan has more than a hundred ways to kill all the ambushers today. "
Hao Ren was stunned. "Is she Superman?"
"Some people say that she is actually a 'third-generation Evolver,' disguised as a first-generation Evolver. Others say that she is actually a soldier created before the fall of the Far East Alliance. You can search for the 'Soldier Project.' It sounds plausible." Ulyanov shook his head and put the adjusted breathing filter back into the helmet. He then took off the breathing tube on his nose and put on the helmet again. "But I suggest you don't believe any of it, and don't ask Nolan about it. She is usually good-tempered, but when she gets angry, no one is her match. Ha, it feels good to wear a mask again. "
Ulyanov put on the helmet, connected a few wires extending from his coat under his mask, and zipped up the alloy zipper of his coat. He became a fully enclosed, weird soldier who looked like a motorcycle rider again. His helmet provided him with breathing assistance and constantly released electrical signals to keep his severely damaged brain functioning. The armor under his coat released another set of signals to suppress the remaining Nanomachine Swarms in his body to prevent those deadly little things from completely severing his spine. This set of devices, together with the artificial organs in his body, formed a weird, deformed body. They had sustained his life for sixty-five years, and as long as his brain continued to survive, the body would continue to survive until it outlived any human.
Sixty-five years ago, he lost one-third of his body. Today, sixty-five years later, 80% of the tissues in his body had been renewed and transformed. This level of transformation was unique even among the second-generation Evolvers. It was difficult to tell whether Ulyanov was a human or a living biochemical machine. The only thing was that the old soldier was still alive.
Why did he insist on living until today?
Hao Ren looked at Ulyanov's not-so-burly body. He knew that this unrecognizable veteran must have more stories, but now was not the time to ask. After thanking Ulyanov for telling him so many things today, he left Ulyanov's room.
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