Chapter 19: Survivors [Data requested!]

On the other side, "Herta" Space Station.

Upon seeing the three "giants" armed with live ammunition, March 7th finally let out a sigh of relief.

She rested her hand on "Stelle's" shoulder and leaned against her, looking extremely exhausted:

"Phew~ finally survived!"

She looked back with lingering fear at the lightless corridor behind her, where it seemed terrifying monsters were lurking in the shadows.

It was all the Foundation's livestream's fault for making a sunny, cheerful girl fear the dark!

"Stelle" blinked her eyes and mimicked March 7th's tone:

"Survived!"

Dan Heng watched the two calmly:

"Alright, let's part ways for now."

Then, he looked at "Stelle," who was still a bit dazed, and said:

"You and March go back together."

"Arlan from the Security Department lost contact nearby; I have to bring him back."

After saying this, he returned to the darkness.

March 7th and "Stelle" waved at him:

"Mm, be careful."

"Safe travels!"

And beside them, the three interstellar soldiers were also watching beyond the sky, following the footage to recall that battle from the past.

They did not speak; their gaze became their final tribute.

At this moment, in the footage.

That police officer moved the radio station out and brought it before Maksim.

Maksim noticed that the police officer's skin was abnormally white, but perhaps it was because he had been frozen for too long, so he didn't pay it any mind.

After finishing, the officer stood to the side, quietly watching Maksim operate the radio, neither asking questions nor moving.

As the dial slowly turned, cries for help in different languages rang out on the channel.

Although Maksim could not understand the meaning of these words, the audience outside the screen could.

Thanks to the Sensory Beacon invented by Elias Salas, the 56th member of the Genius Society, combined with the language cognition system.

Life throughout the entire universe, regardless of race or life form, could communicate freely.

On different channels, the repeated content was basically the same: "Need rescue," "Save me," "There are survivors here," "Need clean food," "Need vehicles"...

Maksim sighed.

He was all too familiar with these cries for help, as they had been repeating tirelessly for days.

He had also held onto a fluke, going to two gathering points, and nearly fell into an ambush by 【SCP-610】.

But just then, the change that appeared in the footage made all the audience's expressions change in unison.

They saw the police officer's eyeballs fall out, and red tendons like red gel slowly oozed from his facial features, silently squirming toward Maksim.

That human skin was just a disguise for 【SCP-610】!

"They're all 【SCP-610】, so why do the monsters in different areas have different levels of intelligence?"

"Could it be a biological computer?"

Silver Wolf asked while retreating with Kafka.

Kafka lightly ran her index finger over her lower lip:

"If I had to guess, could it be the difference in the amount of biomass?"

"The humans of a village allow it to perform the behavior of luring prey."

"The humans of a small town allow it to understand disguise and comprehend vocal symbols."

"Hey, do you think it's possible that this kind of monster eventually thinks of itself as human?"

Silver Wolf nodded:

"That's impossible, of course. No matter how much it looks like a human, its diet is wrong to begin with."

"Alright, time to go to the next set. I hope there won't be monsters like that there; they look quite scary."

Kafka smiled, her eyes pure yet enchanting:

"Don't worry, that's the Xianzhou 'Luo Fu'; even we would have to put in quite an effort to sneak in."

Fortunately, Maksim had maxed out his perception of 【SCP-610】's aura along this journey.

The moment it released its malice, Maksim reacted instantly, immediately rushing out of the police station and playing a game of cat and mouse with the monster.

Just as the flesh monster lost its target and began to search for traces of the prey with its eyes in confusion.

A hand patted Maksim on the shoulder.

It scared him so much he nearly jumped on the spot.

Fortunately, he reacted in time and restrained his behavior.

He lowered his breathing as much as possible and slowly turned his head to look at the survivor in the town.

It was a child who looked no older than 12, with blonde hair and a few freckles on his face.

"Uncle, are you from the outside? Is it safe where you are?"

Maksim rubbed the boy's hair and whispered:

"Yes, I come from a safe place. How many people are left here?"

Body temperature normal, hair didn't fall out when touched—it was a real person.

The boy replied:

"Not many left. Everyone got sick at first, and then they all turned into monsters in the hospital."

"Uncle, you must not go near there; it's more terrifying than hell. My dad tried to save my mom, but he didn't come back either."

Maksim cautiously poked his head out to observe the situation around him, and only after confirming that the monster from earlier had left did he continue to squat and look into the boy's eyes:

"Can you take me to see everyone? I have a way to take them away."

His eyes were a beautiful purple, with no signs of pupil dilation, and the pupils changed with the brightness of the environment—it was a real person.

The boy nodded, very obediently.

Then he crouched down and led the way in front.

Maksim thought for a moment and pressed and held the communicator behind his ear for a while.

This was to initiate a call request. ===== CHAPTER 21 =====