Chapter 5 Chapter Four

Light fills the hollow belly of New Olympus, the largest extinct volcano in the equatorial region of Daedalus α. Here, no one can find out the real light source: the light that floods here does not come from lamps, flames or other The luminous body does not come entirely from the sunlight entering from the crater covered with green vegetation, nor does it emit from the surface of the solidified magma channel of the volcano or the igneous rock ground under people's feet.As one of the most famous landscapes on this planet, endless photons are constantly and continuously pouring out of every cubic micron of space in the mountainside, overflowing every tiny bit of this huge underground space like water. In the corner of the place, all the people who are here are bathed in the warm light that is eternal, endless and can never be covered.There is no darkness, no shadows, no cold, and no fear associated with darkness and cold—a fear that has been deeply ingrained into the DNA of humans as diurnal animals as early as the childhood of civilization.

Against the backdrop of the surrounding wonders, the villages inhabited by the Quin "sage servants" looked more and more crude, like a pile of dirty miniature architectural models.Dozens of small stone houses without roofs built of rough volcanic rocks are almost all the "real estate" of this village.There are no corrals and vegetable gardens common in Quinn villages, nor are there small free-range poultry and domestic animals—the "sages" are composed of volunteers from different blood clans.They voluntarily dedicate their lives to guarding the "sanctuary", and all food and clothing are supported by their clan.

In the center of the village, a low stone wall encloses a circular clearing about the size of a standard swimming pool.There are tens of thousands of tile-blue prisms piled up in this open space. Each prism is half the height of an adult, with a diameter similar to the length of an adult's palm. It has exactly the same regular hexagonal cross-section and is as neat as the cells in a beehive. Arranged neatly together - this is the "sanctuary" that the "sacred servants" voluntarily guard for life, and the place where the souls of distant ancestors live in their eyes. When Ronan and his party entered the mountainside of New Olympus along a passage that seemed to be formed naturally, the Quinns had already sent out their welcome team: two hundred saint attendants lined up outside the village.These local aborigines who voluntarily guard the "sacred site" for life, the shortest one is more than two meters one, equipped with a small round shield with a width of one foot and a bludgeon inlaid with an obsidian blade, like soldiers undergoing inspection Neatly lined up in two teams, if it weren't for the twelve marines armed with electromagnetic assault rifles standing less than a hundred meters away and responsible for protecting the safety of the special commissioners of the Colonial Department, this formation would have looked pretty good. It's a bit of a deterrent.

Surrounded by this stone-age-level guard, the spokesperson Burke appeared on the stage.The ninety-five earth-year old man was already old, his skin shriveled and shriveled like a dehydrated plum, and the mane on his back and shoulder sockets had turned a dull brown-gray like a dead leaf.Around his waist is a loincloth sewn with plastic woven bags and dried animal nerves, and on his feet is a pair of women's platform high-heeled shoes, with a shining rhinestone on the toe-to the Quinns It has become a custom for tourists to give away fake gemstones made of glass or plastic.For some tourists, this has a double advantage: it can win the other party's favor at a low price, and it can also allow yourself to enjoy a certain intellectual superiority in front of these "stupid primitives", just like using Plastic bananas tease caged monkeys.

This is the root of all problems.Han Bi shook his head.Most people regard Daedalus Alpha as a zoo, and the Quinns are the smartest and funniest animals in the zoo—for them, the value of the Quinns' existence is for them to visit.They arrogantly toss the animals a little scraps, and then think that the animals should be grateful to them for their kindness. "I salute you, the head of the spokesmen." Han Bi said to the old man in a low voice that sounded like a series of gasps and whistles mixed together.The vocal organs of the Quinn people are very different from the vocal cords of humans. Most of the words in their language are located in the infrasound band that human vocal organs cannot produce.The greeting that Han Bi is speaking now is one of the few Quinn languages ​​that humans can speak directly without the help of translation equipment. "We have come here with sincerity," she said in English, "this is—"

"I am Ronan, the special commissioner of the Confederate Colonial Department." Ronan interrupted her unceremoniously, and at the same time glanced at the Quinns in front of him with contemptuous eyes, as if looking at a group of wild cats looking for food in a pickling place, "So, you are the negotiator of the Quinn people?" "You may think so, Commissioner," replied the Speaker in a hoarse voice.Due to the difference in pronunciation organs, although the Quinn people can speak any language used by humans, their voices sound like they have a bad cold when they speak, which makes people very uncomfortable. "I am the spokesperson. What I say, you can think that all my blood relatives said."

"Very well," said Ronan, "do you know why the Confederate Colonial Office sent me here?" "have no idea." "I was ordered to negotiate with you and start negotiations on the recent bloodshed." Ronan's tone seemed impatient, "As far as I know, a month ago—that is, nineteen days ago here, you Some people murdered fourteen innocent tourists in a valley two kilometers away from here..." "But the matter is over, and we have paid compensation." Buck's horny gray lips quivered angrily. "Your request is meaningless and contradictory, and we cannot understand it."

"Stop doing this with me!" Ronan yelled, "You know what I'm talking about - on behalf of the Confederate authorities, I ask you to guarantee that bloodshed like that will never happen again! Your people will never again Unprovoked attacks on unarmed tourists who pose no threat to you! Can you understand me?" "No." Buck replied very simply. "Your statement is still contradictory and incomprehensible-we have never and cannot carry out unprovoked attacks, because no act can be carried out 'unprovoked'. When we have When you act, you must first have a clear purpose as its premise and motivation.”

Ronan looked back angrily at Han Bi and Trent, who were trying to hide the smile on their lips, as if they had taught the Quinn to say so. "I'm not interested in continuing to play this boring philosophical game with you, you..." He coughed twice and didn't say the rest of the sentence, "Well, I hope you can explain why there are no armed tourists Might give you an incentive to go after them and kill them? Because they tried to film your 'sanctuary' without permission?" "Because what they're doing poses a huge threat to us," Burke said. "Their kind of thing—" He gestured with a slender finger to make a spherical shape, apparently referring to the bees commonly used by photojournalists. Smart camera, "Things like that can't get close to the 'sanctuary', it will wake up the eternal sleepers who live in it, this is absolutely not allowed."

"Eternal sleepers? Are you referring to the souls of your ancestors?" "yes." "Do you really believe that the souls of your ancestors are stored in these... things and not elsewhere?" Ronan asked with a sneer. "No doubt about it," Buck replied. "So, have you seen those spirits, or communicated with them?" "No." "In other words, you actually have no evidence to prove that the souls of your ancestors are staying in your so-called 'sanctuary'? There is no evidence to prove that if you are disturbed by..., the souls of your ancestors will come to you Trouble. Right?"

"We don't need evidence," the spokesperson replied.For some reason, there was a hint of panic in his tone: "Why do you have to prove what you already know?" "Ridiculous!" Ronan sneered and shook his head.Then, the special commissioner of the Colonial Department suddenly made a move that everyone present did not expect—he roughly pushed away several spokesmen standing in front of him, and strode across the road in the middle of the village. Small square, walking towards the "sanctuary" surrounded by low walls. Two holy servants guarding the wall raised their spears and bludgeons, trying to stop this earthling who dared to approach the "sanctuary" in full view.But it took Ronan less than five seconds to finish them off - the commissioner first rushed to the opponent who was attacking from the left, and while dodging the short spear that was aimed at him, with a bloated The agility that was completely disproportionate to his body continuously kicked the opponent's chest and throat. Immediately afterwards, he turned around to avoid the whistling wooden stick from behind, and grabbed the shoulders of the second saint servant with his backhand, and kicked the opponent's chest and throat. Because the person fell out heavily. "Stop! Damn it, stop!" Ralph Trent yelled, and Han Bee screamed angrily.The marines responsible for protecting Ronan's safety burst into applause, while the Quinns present roared in shock.Ronan ignored the voices coming from behind. He went straight over the low wall and stepped into the sacred and inviolable "sanctuary" in the eyes of the Quinn people.Then, he came to the tile-blue crystals that were tightly arranged like a hive, held one of them with both hands, and slowly pulled it out like King Arthur pulling out the sword in the stone. "No—" Han Bi shouted. "Look at this! You guys blinded by superstition and fear! Idiots who stand still in the dark corners of ignorance!" Ronan lifted the crystal array high above his head like a champion lifting a trophy, " Look at this! You wretched wretches huddled in the mist of ignorance! There is no soul in it, and there is no danger: they are but the creations of your ancestors, made by people like you , that's all!" "Damn it! Do you know what you're doing?" Han Bi asked angrily. "Of course I know what I'm doing, Doctor!" said Ronan. "I'm helping these poor people out of this idolatry born of irrational fear. This must end! And only then can they Abandon these stupid, meaningless taboos, and we will avoid the next bloodshed! I want them to see for themselves that there are no eternal sleepers, no dormant ghosts, only—” A javelin traced a curved parabola in the air, and flew past Ronan's hat brim, and the flint tip struck a golden spark on the ground.Immediately afterwards, several other Quinns also raised their javelins above their heads, ready to throw— But they were unsuccessful. With the characteristic short "whoosh" sound when a string of electromagnetic rifles fired, the elite marines responsible for defending Ronan had already fired and hit the Quinns first.The high-speed titanium alloy armor-piercing projectiles shredded flesh like paper, sliced ​​through bones, and in the blink of an eye turned their victims into blurred flesh and blood on the ground. "Stop! Stop!" Trent yelled angrily, but his appeal had no effect.Beside him, a one-sided battle was raging with brutal efficiency—the marines quickly gathered into a semicircle, keeping Ronan and the two scientists behind them, while charging at everyone who dared to approach. To the target within twenty meters - this is the maximum effective killing distance of the Quinn javelin and sling - pouring bullets. The angry Quinn fell to the ground like felled wheat under the intensive firepower of the electromagnetic assault rifle.Their bright green copper-rich blood flowed from torn veins and slithered across the ground like clumps of sprawling vines. Then, the massacre came to an abrupt end. "You have five minutes," Buck's voice was still as dry and hoarse as ever, but it added a bit of uncompromising majesty.In his wrinkled gray palm was a dagger honed from animal carapace, and the blade was pressed against another man's limp carotid artery. "Put down the relic, and leave that man as a hostage." He pointed to Ralph Trent. "The others get out of here, or she will die." "Do as he says!" Although Han Bi was being stabbed to the throat with a knife, there was no trace of fear in Han Bi's voice.In the chaos just now, no one noticed when she left the sight of the marines responsible for protecting her and how she fell into the hands of the Quinns. "Believe me, they will do it!" Han Bi shouted loudly. Luo Nanji reluctantly put the memory crystal array back in its original position, and his small black eyes gleamed with anger. "We will be back." After weighing and considering, he left a sentence, and left with his group of bodyguards armed to the teeth.Only Ralph Trent, who had been designated as a hostage, remained in place. "I believe he meant it." When the last marine disappeared from view, Trent shrugged helplessly. "So, I really hope you know what to do next."