Chapter 318 Who is the traitor?

San Francisco, Forgotten Cemetery.

The place is littered with monster skeletons and mecha ruins.

In the evening, in a secret camp, Laust stood among a group of devout believers. They formed a circle, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, sometimes in a line, and performed various strange rituals... The alchemist frowned.

Religion is really stupid.

Lauster thought to himself.

At this moment, the leader slowly stopped, stood still, and began to chant the monster prayer loudly:

"We are brothers and sisters of the monsters."

"We open our arms to welcome the angels from the ocean."

"The divine and mysterious creatures save suffering humanity and exorcise the demons in our hearts."

"You are messengers of mercy, with a mission to forgive humanity and free us from our defiled homeland."

"You have such great power that you can raise raging waves and cover the vast sky."

He recited a sentence and the believers followed suit.

Laust suppressed his disgust and discomfort, and chanted loudly with a group of believers:

"Oh, King of Monsters, please guide us to that underwater paradise and make all those who oppose your supreme rule submit to you."

"Please subdue the false prophets and cruel monarchs of mankind, who are afraid of everything they cannot understand. You are not the source of suffering, but the true savior."

"We kneel devoutly to thank you for your boundless protection, and raise our hands to express our heartfelt admiration and praise."

"Let the archangel's blue blood wash away the sins of mankind. We will return to our former world and start a new life."

The monster prayer was finished and the ceremony finally ended.

Lauster lifted his hood and took off his robe, walked through the crowd to find the leader, and asked,

"Did the plan go smoothly?"

"Oh, the great monster envoy."

The leader looked the alchemist up and down and said:

"As you wish, our brothers and sisters hiding inside the PPDC have already inserted the memory chip into the mecha. I believe the results will come soon."

Lauster nodded.

This is why, even though he clearly hated religion and despised these so-called "monster believers", he still wanted to get involved with them - the alchemist never dreamed that these monster cults could actually develop believers into the PPDC.

Laust simply showed off his Sith alchemy skills and frightened the monster believers so much that they prostrated themselves and shouted "miracle". The alchemist took the opportunity to make his position clear and soon he infiltrated the monster believers and was promoted to "God's Messenger".

So far, everything seems to be going according to plan and going very smoothly... The alchemist nodded with satisfaction.

Then he lowered his head, took out his phone and sent a text message to the group:

"Reincarnations, gather for a meeting."

......

Zofia still feels frightened when she recalls that scene.

Perhaps to ease the hardship and frustration brought by the long training, the driver led the trainees to visit the training mecha "Eden Assassin" and allowed the two trainees with the best synaesthesia matching progress to enter and operate it.

It's definitely not Zofia, because her synaesthesia matching progress is the slowest at the moment. Zofia is the one with the strongest fighting ability and the most skilled driving control among all the students.

But she was unwilling to open her heart to others.

Therefore, Zofia could only watch from outside the training mecha, watching the other two students enter the cockpit at the head of the mecha and try to control this behemoth for the first time.

At that time, a controller at the Lawsant Command Center issued an order to the training mecha:

"'Eden Assassin', move your right hand."

After a very short reaction time, the mecha hunter raised its right hand.

The onlookers, the mecha technicians and engineers, all applauded the pair of students.

"Good. Now raise your left hand."

The "Eden Assassin" raised his left hand as he was told.

"Take a step forward with your right foot."

No response.

"'Eden Assassin', please take your right foot."

Still no response.

"Ho Yaqi? Doris?"

the controller asked doubtfully.

"Oh my God!"

Huo Yaqi suddenly shouted.

Then Doris started shouting too.

Suddenly, they both fell silent at the same time.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

The driver who served as the instructor asked anxiously.

"I don't know," the controller said. "We can't get any feedback from Eden Assassin."

"No feedback? All feedback? What's going on..."

"Boom—"

The "Eden Assassin" suddenly leaned forward, punched the air once, and then punched again. With just two punches, the thick concrete wall was smashed. The broken concrete slabs and steel fragments fell down like raindrops.

Although this is a training mecha whose weapon system has been removed, the mecha's limbs and torso are also a weapon and can still cause sufficient damage.

"What the hell?" the driver yelled.

Huo Yaqi and Doris were not making trouble. Something must have happened. Something very wrong must have happened.

"Stop it!" he said to the controller.

"No!" the controller said, "The failsafe system has been changed."

"Who did it? What was it changed to?"

"Some driver, I don't know. Damn it!"

The "Eden Assassin" suddenly turned around, ran a few steps, and then threw a punch at the Lawsent Command Center.

"Bang!"

The steel beam twisted into a ball in an instant, the bulletproof glass shattered, and an extremely huge steel fist was deeply embedded in it.

…

"marshal!"

A Chinese-looking man in military uniform walked into the office.

"Please take a seat, General Quan."

Pantecost said.

The visitor sat down on the sofa meticulously.

"Tell me, what's going on?"

Pantecost asked in a deep voice.

"We later replayed the training mecha's synaesthesia synchronization footage and saw that the two trainees thought they were fighting a Level 3 monster, the Avenger, in Jakarta. Afterwards, we found that a total of five people died on the spot, including two trainees and three controllers in the command center."

General Quan replied sternly.

"The scene from the simulated training was recreated?"

Pantecost was the first to ask this possibility.

General Quan shook his head.

"We have never arranged any simulated training with level 3 monsters for our trainees."

"Ho Yaqi and Doris, have they ever experienced a monster attack?"

Pantecost asked again.

Pentecost recalled the first synchronization between his favorite general, Raleigh Beckett, and his adopted daughter, Mako Mori.

When Raleigh recalls the battle with the monster Scythehead, in which he lost his brother, his memories come flooding back to Mako Mori, causing her to fall into the memory and believe it: she remembers the monster that attacked Tokyo and killed her parents.

That synchronization accident almost led to a big mistake - Mako Mori almost fired the plasma cannon of "Danger Wanderer" inside the Shatterdome.

"No."

However, General Quan shook his head and denied it:

"Huo Yaqi is from Rio de Janeiro, Doris is from Johannesburg, and neither of them has been to any city that has been attacked by monsters."

"So it wasn't caused by their memories."

"Yes, that scene was like a training simulation, but more...real."

"Then this accident was not an accident."

"I don't think it was an accident."

General Quan said with great certainty:

"This was an act of sabotage, as well as murder."

"There must be a traitor and a spy among us... Have you sealed off the Shattered Dome, General Quan?"

Pentecost asked.

"Yes, Marshal, I ordered the blockade of the entire Broken Dome as soon as the accident happened."

General Quan replied.

"very good."

Pantecost nodded and asked:

"Before Huo Yaqi and Doris entered the 'Eden Assassin', who else had entered the head control cabin of the training mecha?"

"All the students have been in for a visit."

"You mean, the new students are suspicious?"

"The possibility of mecha maintenance personnel cannot be ruled out either."

"Is there any news from the outside world?"

"Yes, a video clip of the mecha 'Eden Assassin' losing control and destroying the Shattered Dome base appeared on the Internet, and the cult organization War Demon God claimed responsibility for the incident."

"Bang!"

Pantecost slammed his fist down on the table.

"Screen all personnel within the Broken Dome base one by one! Review everyone's files, including past experiences and family situations, and assess their psychological conditions."

"Yes, Marshal."

…

K-Science Laboratory.

Fu Qinghai was sitting in front of a computer, using a search engine to retrieve relevant information about "monster believers" - but in fact he was quietly inserting an artificial intelligence chip into the computer case.

"Uncovering the Monster Cult".

Kelly Keliski is a ZNN reporter.

Fu Qinghai found an interview video from a few years ago.

Click on the video:

"Hello everyone, I'm Kelly Keliski. This is the border of the San Francisco quarantine zone. The first monster, the Invader, was defeated here. That year, the Magnesium Air Force dispatched multiple units to launch a joint attack and used tactical nuclear weapons for the first time on Magnesium soil."

A white man in a shirt and no tie stood in the middle of a ruin, holding a microphone and talking to the camera. The camera slowly pulled in behind him as he introduced himself.

It's the forgotten cemetery of San Francisco.

Fu Qinghai recognized it.

"The area near the border of the quarantine zone has become a no-man's land, filled with disaffected people and rebels. Today, the Wormhole Church holds religious ceremonies every day. This is one of the most well-known local sects of monster worshippers today."

"Yes, you heard it right. Monsters come out of wormholes to harm the human world and destroy civilization, but they still have no shortage of fanatical worshippers. Maybe you will never believe it, but there are indeed people here who worship the foreign monsters!"

"We tried to interview several church leaders, but none of them wanted to be on camera. They called the monsters kings, saying they were the lords of the world on the other side of the wormhole."

"The number of members of the Wormhole Church has been growing steadily every year, but there was a sudden drop in 2023, when only two monster attacks occurred. At that time, people thought that the monsters seemed to have stopped, but last year's facts proved that this conjecture was wrong. The number of monster attacks became more and more frequent, and the number of members of the Wormhole Church also soared."

"As you can see now, many people have gathered here to participate in the 'Sunset Ceremony', commemorating the moment when the last nuclear bomb was dropped on the 'invaders', because that moment marked the first time that alien invaders died at the hands of humans."

"Everyone, take a look at the scene. Robert, turn the camera over there. The audience in front of the TV will not want to miss such a scene - we see hundreds of people holding candles and heading to the border of the quarantine zone. They recite prayers over and over again. They believe that monsters are messengers sent by God or the universe to remind us that humans have seriously damaged the earth's environment and are not qualified to continue living on this planet."

"The Pacific Rim Joint Defense Force doesn't take the Wormhole Church seriously. They declined my interview request, but I can tell you that the PPDC is always paying attention to any religious ceremonies of the church. Maybe the activities of the Wormhole Church can provide them with some clues to guess the target of the monster's next attack."

"San Francisco is definitely the place where the monsters feel most at home."

"Click", the video ends.

"Um..."

Fu Qinghai held his chin with one hand and frowned in thought.

Sometimes he felt that

he could neither understand the people nor the government on the other side of the ocean.

Why do people worship monsters?

Stockholm syndrome?

Why does the government let this go?

Just because of so-called freedom?

"From the time the first monsters invaded, some people believed they were messengers sent by God to punish humanity for its sins. Gradually, these people found each other and organized religions that used these ideas as their doctrines."

A voice came from behind Fu Qinghai.

It's Dr. Herman.

"They build temples inside the bodies of dead monsters, sing hymns, perform feats of devotion, and hold festivals. Most of this religion, no matter how self-deceptive and disgusting, is not dangerous. They take medicine made from monster body parts. Some even commit suicide with elaborate tea parties, drinking tea made from dehydrated monster fluids."

"The 'War Demon God' is different. They are violent extremists who have always wanted to destroy the PPDC. They have launched several attacks in the past, trying to destroy the Mech Hunters or assassinate pilots and scientists, but they have never led to serious consequences like the accident just now.

Dr. Herman explained to Fu Qinghai.

Fu Qinghai pulled out the chip calmly, shrugged and said,

"It's really... unreasonable and unbelievable."

"What's so hard to imagine about this? It's just the Christian doctrine of original sin. Everyone is born with sin."

Dr. Newton interrupted:

"Thousands of years ago, the Huns invaded Europe. Hundreds of years ago, the Mongols invaded Europe. European Christians worshipped the invaders and believed that they were heavenly soldiers sent by God to help them drive out the Ottoman pagans. They also called them 'Scourge of God'. Religion is so ridiculous."

Dr. Newton is a Chinese from Magnesia, and his usual style and appearance are quite hippie-like, so he naturally has no good feelings towards old Europe and Christianity. Of course, for Chinese people, hippies and beatniks are not good things either.

Fu Qinghai agreed with Dr. Newton's views.

Unfortunately, he was unable to find any clues about the monster cult organization "God of War Demon" on the Internet.

The three of them then chatted about other things and continued their research on the monster step by step.

Until a Chinese man in military uniform walked into the laboratory.

"Dr. Fu Shan, please come with me."

The other party said politely.

Fu Qinghai turned around and saw, oh, it was Zhang Jin.

The second familiar face besides Jing Tian.

"Okay, General Quan."

Fu Qinghai put down the work in his hands and followed the man away.

…

Today's training content is dagger fighting and monster knowledge: including the anatomical structure of monsters from past generations, biological weapons, etc.

Fu Qinghai can remember all this basic knowledge with just one glance, but after all, not everyone has the brain of MODOK.

The students returned to the dormitory exhausted.

Yet the atmosphere was a little odd.

Everyone was obviously worried.

"They think the saboteurs are among us."

A student broke the silence:

"I think they might be right."

"I don't believe it."

A boy said angrily:

"I didn't do it, and I don't think the murderer is among you. Why would someone do such a thing?"

"The heart is hidden in the belly."

A girl replied calmly:

"Everyone has their own secrets. As long as the timing is right, anything can happen."

After saying this, she glanced at Zofia, hinting at something.

Zofia sat on her bed in silence, listening quietly to the discussions of her classmates around her.

Although she got close to full marks in every course, she failed repeatedly in the synaesthesia synchronization test. Zofia has changed six synchronization partners, but she is still unwilling to let down her guard and reveal her inner thoughts, which makes other students particularly curious.

If things continued like this, this pretty girl would be eliminated from the Hunter Academy sooner or later, and her desire to become a mecha hunter was so strong that almost everyone knew about it.

"Perhaps."

A student spread his hands helplessly and said:

"Maybe the bad guys are among us. Maybe the real murderer can easily frame us. But we don't even know why they suspect us. All we know now is that they are questioning everyone in the Shatterdome."

"All of us have entered the head control cabin of the training mecha, two at a time. Everyone has time to commit the crime. Did you see any unusual behavior from others?"

A student asked seriously.

"Please, stop trying to be a detective. What can a bunch of us cadets do in a control cabin?"

Another student asked back.

"Although I don't know you very well, I don't think anyone would go through all the trouble to come to the Hunter Academy just to install a vulnerability program in the training mecha. If it were me who was sabotaging, I would definitely wait for an opportunity to cause a big uproar, not like now."

"Indeed." Someone agreed, "That makes more sense."

"Everyone..."

A student from Japan spoke up.

Everyone looked at him in surprise because this introverted boy rarely spoke.

"The murderer may be among us," he said. "We may not even know it. My father works for Interpol. He said that some gangsters know how to use the Pons Bridge device to turn people into zombies - no, not zombies, that's not the right word. It's to input some kind of command into the human brain, and then those people will forget about it."

"Zombies? Are you serious?"

A student asked in bewilderment.

"My father never jokes about such things. Anyway, if you suddenly have some strange ideas or your memory suddenly becomes blackout..."

His voice gradually faded away.

"Then you might be a zombie."

Someone helped him finish his sentence.

The more Zofia listened, the more magical it seemed to her.

It turns out that synaesthesia and Pons bridge device have this function?

Why does it sound so much like Order 66 from Star Wars?

Zofia ignored these little brats and left the dormitory alone under their suspicious gazes.

Zofia felt that this matter was of great importance and wanted to tell Fu Qinghai immediately so that he could make an accurate judgment.

However, when Zofia arrived at the K-Science Laboratory, she was told by the other two doctors:

Dr. Fu Shan has been taken away by General Quan.

......

　Thanks to the rewards from two book friends, Tractor Driver and Mars Ruler Sage.

(End of this chapter)