Chapter 77 Iron Disease

【New here, little brother】

[Why haven't I seen your type before? Are you a human? ]

[My waist hurts a little, please help me take a look. ]

[No, no, no, don't move there, ahhhhhh, eh? What the hell? I've cured it with just my hands, thanks! ]

【I'm ready!】

Through personal visits and enthusiastic introductions from various mechanical brothers, Ji Jue finally determined the situation of the camp.

This is really a very ordinary gathering place for survivors.

Everyone here is a 'resident', or 'creature', of the Riftland.

Due to various loopholes and mistakes, they have more or less realized the abnormalities in their own lives and their own problems, so they are afraid of the world on the ground and flee here to keep each other warm.

The prophet rarely appeared, but the atmosphere in the gathering place was quite friendly and harmonious, without the bullying and oppression commonly seen in apocalyptic stories. Occasionally, people would escape from other places with their families, and they would be quickly arranged.

Food comes from two very old starch conversion machines and automatic production equipment in the warehouse, and drinking water comes from a protected water pump in the middle of the camp.

Some people maintain order spontaneously, while others go out together regularly to try to explore the entire rift, but the results are often dismal.

If it were the protagonist in an online novel, he would have figured out the color of the prophet's underpants in six hours. As a result, Ji Jue spent most of the day doing good deeds.

Repaired the air conditioner and refrigerator, repaired the car skin and then welded the sheet metal...

The happiness can't stop.

Xiao An recorded every word in his notebook: On the third day after entering the Rift Realm, Brother Ji Jue went back to his old job and looked very happy.

"Mommy mommy!!!"

The shattered 'child' on the cart was pushing the cart back and forth excitedly, grabbing an old man and shouting excitedly: "Big brother from outside, help me fix the wheel, look!"

"Okay." The old man moved his snake-like lower body, rubbed its hair, and smiled gently: "Don't run around everywhere, we need to find you every time you go out."

"Yeah!" The child laughed happily: "I'm a good baby!"

After saying that, he pushed the stroller away and went to show off his brand new stroller to other mothers.

Ji Jue watched the scene from afar, holding a wrench and concentrating on repairing the water purifier in front of him.

"The filter is already smelly and clogged. Do you have any charcoal? You can find some wood and burn it. Just open this thing, fill it up, and then install it."

Ji Jue rubbed his old waist, stretched his body, and finally said: "There is nothing wrong with the water pump, it's just that the wires are a bit old, just replace them, this kind of thing can be done by yourselves, there should be no need for me."

"Thanks."

The middle-aged man who had been following behind him from beginning to end grunted for a long time, squeezing out an unclear sound from his throat.

Even though they suspected he had ulterior motives at first, it was difficult for them to remain alert and defensive after seeing that Ji Jue had repaired most of the broken tools in the camp in just half a day.

After hesitating for a moment, he went back and got a bottle.

When Ji Jue finally dismantled the two old cars and welded them into one, he came over with a cup in hand and asked, "Want some?"

The clear liquid fell into the paper cup, with a faint pungent smell.

"This is..." Ji Jue sniffed carefully, but couldn't confirm it.

"Wine." The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said, "Let me introduce myself. Just call me 97. Before I came here, I was...made into a worker in a winery. I collected materials and made some wine myself.

It’s made of starch, so it doesn’t taste very good, but that’s all I have, so don’t be disgusted.”

"To be honest, I don't know if my stomach can digest the local ingredients." Ji Jue laughed at himself, took a sip, and put it down.

This amount shouldn't make you drunk.

On the contrary, 97 was stunned for a moment, in disbelief. He didn't expect him to be so quick: "Are you... not afraid that I will poison you?"

Ji Jue just smiled and said bluntly: "If it is poisonous, I will retaliate against you."

With the Mouth of the Ancient hanging around his neck, he really wasn't worried about that.

Don't say that toxins can fool Brother Qiu's scan. Xiao An is standing next to him. He can tell what ingredients are mixed in by just smelling it. Besides, if there is really a problem, with his ability, it would only take a snap of his fingers to make the entire camp collapse.

"..."

97 remained silent. After finishing a full cup, he sighed and said, "It seems that the prophet was right. You are really different from those outsiders in the rumors."

"Hmm? What happened to the outsider?"

“It is said that outsiders have come here several times before, but each time they only caused destruction and killed some ‘people’ who didn’t even know what they were.

They will do anything for the treasure. But don't we know whether there is treasure or not? There is nothing here except hell.

But they seem to like this hell more than we do."

"..." Ji Jue sighed, "'Players' are like this."

Not to mention Mercury's legacy and treasures, even if there were only a few ordinary drops, the entire Rift would be completely exaggerated as if it were a dungeon.

However, the local gangs are not very friendly and the water is too deep. If the damage is too great, Mercury's workshop might be wiped out and all outsiders might be shot to death.

"Player?"

The middle-aged man did not understand the word and looked depressed: "The prophet said that they are all demons, demons like mercury."

Ji Jue was speechless. He just felt how mocking it was.

As the creator, he should have been admired and worshipped like a god by his creations, just as the furnace was loyal to mercury until the end.

But now, the creatures of the Rift regarded her as a terrifying demon.

what is this?
Out-of-control intelligence in fiction? AI rebellion?
But no matter how out of control or rebellious they are, they cannot stop the operation of the workshop and can only passively escape and endure.

"Do you believe in prophets so much?" Ji Jue asked curiously.

"Of course, if there was no prophet, I would have been recycled and recast by the cleaning tools. Without her, there would be no camp."

97 answered directly: "I know what you want to ask. A prophet is a prophet. A prophet knows everything - at least, in this 'rift', that's the case. This is what she told me.

She was the first one among us to awaken, and she understands all this better than anyone else."

"I don't know what you outsiders are thinking, but there's no need for you to be so vigilant. We are just a bunch of poor bastards who huddle together for warmth. Even the reward we can give is only this little."

He raised his glass and smiled self-deprecatingly: "If you want to do anything, talk to the prophet. The time for restarting is running out."

"Restart?"

Ji Jue was curious and was about to ask further questions.

However, the sound of screams was so familiar - sharp and vague, like the painful cries, shouts and roars of countless people in the same body.

The sound of crying and wailing was heard.

"Mommy mommy!!!"

The cart flew up, fell to the ground and broke into pieces, but the shattered child was caught by a sharp tentacle, lifted into the sky, and waved wildly, with fragments falling continuously.

97's expression suddenly changed. He dropped his wine glass and ran away.

"Ironization!"

Among the scattered crowd, someone shouted in fear: "It's iron disease, 32 is sick again!"

In the middle of the chaos, a bloated and obese man cried and wept on half of his face, while the other half had become insect-like. Two tentacles extended from the crack on his chest, sweeping across and destroying everything.

"You lied to me! You all lied to me! It's all fake—"

The face kept twitching and screaming crazily: "I have a child! I have a child. My child is already seven years old. He is still waiting for me at home. He, he...he..."

The twisted face twitched, revealing despair and wailing in vain:
"he died."

Bang!Bang!Bang!
With a low muffled sound, the net made of iron wire had covered the distorted and alienated figure. Then, the huge gun that Ji Jue had seen before appeared. It aimed at the struggling and rapidly expanding figure in the net and pulled the trigger.

What flew out was a spear that looked like a harpoon, jet-powered. Its lethality was no match for Ji Jue's rifle, but they used it so skillfully.

Just like that, he was nailed to the ground.

"Kill him now, he's out of control." Someone in the terrified crowd shouted, "He couldn't control himself yesterday and insisted on going out to find his wife and children. The inhibitors are no longer effective."

97 was stunned for a moment, hesitated, and struggled hard.

The trembling muzzle of the gun slowly raised.

But he was held down again.

"…So, why should I expect such shitty luck?"

Ji Jue sighed, rolled up his sleeves, and strode forward: "I'll do it!"

boom!
A tentacle squirmed and smashed down on him, but in midair, with a flash of silver light, it broke into two pieces. It was Xiao An.

In the net, the out-of-control figure had swelled to the size of two or three, with more and more alien features appearing on his body.

Even the original face is about to disappear.

There was only one eye that was vaguely recognizable as a human eye, and it was shedding empty tears.

Ji Jue hesitated for a moment, raised his hand and let it hover in the air, then pressed it down without hesitation.

"Eat shit if you want."

He squeezed out a voice from between his teeth: "Brother Furnace, I'll pay you back the interest!"

Snapped!
At that moment, the ex machina started!

Pain, despair, wailing, wailing, madness, favor, hatred, love, joy, sorrow…all the emotions in the world turned into a torrent and rushed towards you.

It swallowed him up completely.

Ji Jue's face flushed instantly as he felt the extremely violent and chaotic spiritual essence eroding his soul. He didn't even have time to care about it. He had his cousin anyway, so at worst he could just pull it out later.

but now……

He gave another order:
——【Stop】!
At that moment, Ji Jue's eyes went dark again, but the command that seemed like from a god had already been transmitted from his power.

Invisible waves rose from his body, like a giant bell being struck, and the mighty aftereffects spread from his hands and enveloped the entire camp.

Make everything come to an abrupt halt!

　After the fever, my throat started to hurt...red and swollen...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)