Chapter 435 "Infectious Diseases" (6)
Outside the captain's room of the "High Wall".
The wide-open door of the captain's room proved that the stench and bloody smell came from inside. Before entering the captain's room, Sinler first scanned the room to confirm that there were no active life forms inside, and then the team members slowly walked into the captain's room. Because they had suffered losses before, even if the scan results were safe, everyone did not relax their vigilance.
After entering the captain's room, they saw corpses everywhere. Almost every corpse had more than one fatal wound. However, after Sinler's examination, he found that their cause of death had nothing to do with most of the non-instantly fatal wounds. The real cause of death was a penetrating wound in the center of the back of the head.
"Can you scan the weapons that caused these fatal wounds? I see that most of the wounds leave similar marks."
"It's the gun for the ship's senior management. It's a live ammunition weapon that will never be used except for ceremonial purposes or in extreme emergencies. These weapons are almost ineffective against armor, but these people are wearing uniforms, so this live ammunition gun is enough."
"There was a coup? Someone wants to seize control of the High Wall?"
"I'm not sure, but looking at the distribution of these bodies, they were standing very closely together when the fight happened, just like..."
"It's like they have a tacit understanding to kill each other at the same time."
"Collective suicide?"
"It seems about the same."
The bodies here died much earlier than the two engineers they found in the maintenance channel. They were severely decayed, and there were many tiny metal particles around where they fell. They were the result of several ultra-micro robots that formed the equipment gathering together as the blood flowed out. These devices were completely damaged and it was impossible to read what happened at the time.
"Go take a look at the control console and see if you can find the navigation log. Maybe there are some clues in it."
Wu, who served as the pilot in the team, was very familiar with the operation of various types of ships. In addition, when he was free, he would also study related knowledge. Therefore, although the models were different, Wu quickly figured out how to use the operating console and successfully found the navigation log and captain's log on the "High Wall".
As for permissions? Wu didn't even need to ask for permission to crack, because the captain of the "High Wall" had his permission card inserted into the console.
"The last few entries in the logbook indicate that this frigate received a mission from headquarters to protect the cargo barge that was delivering supplies to the space station. They arrived here a month earlier than the cargo barge, which is two months ago. According to the logbook, the escort mission ended a month ago, and they should have no other missions after that. However, they did not leave Sector 4 in accordance with the laws governing navigation control."
"There's something wrong with the navigation log. Even if it is... wait a moment, let me take a look."
Singler thought that something seemed wrong with the navigation log of the "High Wall", but he couldn't tell what was wrong. So he walked to the control panel and used the equipment unit he developed to recheck the navigation log in the storage network. This time he made a new discovery: part of the navigation log was deleted. The deleted navigation log was exactly the month after the "High Wall" completed the escort of the cargo barge.
"Can it be repaired?"
"No, according to the communication system records, the interference in Sector 4 occurred at that time, so the navigation log was not uploaded to the Domination Network. In addition, I restored the regional access records on the frigate. Someone entered the server sequence of the "High Wall" without authorization three weeks ago. They must have taken away or destroyed this part of the record. So there is no way to know what the missing part of the navigation log is, unless we can find the lost storage unit, or there is some other way."
While Wu and Xinle were discussing the logbook, Xin and Hai started to read the captain's logbook. Like other ships and even most Tigr captains, the captain's logbook basically does not record too much, just some daily reports or crew assessment information. But in the captain's logbook, after the "High Wall" completed the task of escorting the barge, the subsequent records were obviously deleted manually. It seems that no matter what happened from a month ago to now, they may be able to explain what happened on the "High Wall".
"The captain's log has also been modified manually. Sinler, can you see if you can restore it?"
"If the captain's log wasn't uploaded to the storage unit on the frigate, maybe it could be possible, but I don't hold out much hope... This guy really didn't upload it!"
Originally, Sinler did not hold out much hope for restoring the captain's log, but with the mentality of giving it a try, he actually reversed the captain's log's other storage locations through the equipment unit he developed. However, the information he obtained was a bit strange, because the terminal information node he searched for was linked to a low-level intelligent unit that had no records or authorizations.
"Why did I find a... um... very outdated mechanical device?"
"Outdated? What do you mean?"
"A special cipher machine. This type of cipher machine is at least a hundred years old. Because the input method used is encrypted and programmed, normal input on it will produce garbled characters. A specific cipher comparison sequence is required to decipher these garbled characters and obtain important information. The purpose of these things being developed is to combat the espionage activities of traitors who were more technologically advanced than us at the time. However, when our technological strength surpassed those traitors, these cipher machines were stopped from use and listed as obsolete products. They were basically destroyed. But where did the captain of the High Wall get this thing?"
Han Zu became interested in this thing and began to ask questions about this secret machine.
"It shouldn't be a problem to get an obsolete machine, right? After all, it has been classified as an obsolete product. If the captain has a hobby of collecting antiques, it doesn't make sense."
"It's different. Although this cipher machine is an outdated product, in theory it can still be used. There is a rumor about this cipher machine that the reason why this batch of cipher machines was actually eliminated was not because they were outdated, but because they could not be cracked, or at least were extremely difficult to crack. Moreover, the team that made this cipher machine at that time was not all Tig people. There were also some secondary civilizations from other allies. At that time, the Tig people had not yet completely unified the alliance, and there were many resistance activities among those ununified allied secondary civilizations, which created a lot of difficult situations."
"In other words, the reason why you, the Tige people, "abandoned" these cipher machines is probably because you were unable to completely decipher the ciphertexts edited by the cipher machines, and you found an excuse to confuse the public?"
"You can say that, and I know some secrets. It is said that when all cipher machines of this type were abolished within the Tigr territory, all members of the manufacturing team disappeared. I guess they were secretly executed. And although it is not written in our laws, in fact, possessing this cipher machine is a very serious violation of the law. About ten years ago, a collector received a cipher machine from somewhere. He was so scared that he immediately handed it over, but even so, the guy was also arrested. The related case lasted for seven or eight years before the guy was released. This may be because he has a relationship with the top leaders, otherwise I guess the guy would probably "disappear suddenly"."
"What does your army think of this cipher machine?"
"It's even more severe than in society. For example, if we tell anyone about this, all of us will be isolated for investigation. Although we won't be secretly executed, we may be sent to some remote and dangerous star region to perform a "confidential mission" that is impossible to complete."
Now the situation is awkward. If they want to know what happened on the "High Wall", they must find the cipher machine, because it may contain important clues. But if other people know what happened here, then everyone will definitely end up in a bad way. So the Tig team gathered together to discuss whether to look for the cipher machine.
But after discussing for a long time, the team members were still hesitant. They were very conflicted. They were indeed curious about the truth, but no one wanted to be treated as a suicide squad and sent to a dangerous place where they would surely die because of such a trivial matter as touching the cipher machine. At the same time, as native Tig people and excellent soldiers, it was difficult for them to hide this matter. In short, their hesitant attitude because of such a small matter was because they were bound by the laws and morals of the Tig people. These people were good at fighting the enemy, but they did not have any "correct" ideas on such issues that actually touched the edge of politics.
So, of course, they turned their attention to the "liquid alloy man" next to them. Even though this guy was now rummaging through the corpses on the ground like a thief, his thinking was definitely the most useful at the moment.
"What do you think?"
"What cipher machine? Wasn't the part of the High Wall that stored the storage unit and the server destroyed?"
After hearing the question, Han Zu raised his head with a puzzled expression.
"Ah? No, isn't the storage unit's computer room still in good condition?"
The others didn't react, but Wu and Xinle immediately understood what Han Zu meant after hearing his "method".
"Yes, that's right. There is no cipher machine at all. After we arrived here, we found that the control console in the captain's room of the High Wall had been damaged."
"Huh? The console isn't..."
“Buzz~~!”
Before anyone else could even ask their questions, Wu and Xinle picked up the energy weapons of the two dead security guards on the ground and shot them directly at the control panel, destroying it. Everyone finally reacted and followed Wu and Xinle's train of thought. Han Zu nodded at the side, showing a gratified expression.
"Ruzi can be taught."
"If the console is destroyed, then there will be no further events, but will this...?"
As the team leader, Xin understood Han Zu's meaning, but her strong sense of morality and fear of being exposed still made her feel a little conflicted. However, Han Zu, who had stopped touching the corpse, stood up and interrupted her.
"If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, then who knows? You have to learn to be flexible. Not only fools can be good people, and not only bad people can keep secrets."
Xin swallowed back the words she hadn't finished saying. What Han Zu said was indeed right. Although she accepted this method like everyone else, it was still hard for her to accept this kind of thing that only bad people who were plotting would do. She needed to digest it.
Han Zu didn't care about that. He walked up to Xinle and started chatting with him.
"Engineer, can you locate the cipher machine? Judging from the fact that someone deliberately erased the captain's log and the navigation log, and that someone changed the codes of the mechanical workers at the dock at the beginning, this frigate must have been hacked, and the cipher machine may have been discovered by them."
Xinle threw away the energy weapon he picked up from the ground and shook his head.
"No, the location of the cipher machine was found by the captain using special permissions to avoid the auxiliary system of the frigate, so the captain's permission card must be used to locate the hiding place of the cipher machine. Those guys must not have thought that the captain of the "High Wall" secretly modified his permission card and left it here casually."
Sinler raised his hand, holding the authorization card that had just been inserted into the console. Sinler had taken it out before he and Wu destroyed the console.
"In other words, the cipher machine is still on this frigate?"
"Yes, but it's not in the captain's rest area, but in... the navigator's room? Why is it in this location? The cipher machine is not small. If you want to hide it in there without anyone noticing, it will be hard to avoid being discovered."
"Among these bodies on the ground, the one in uniform is the captain, and which one is the navigator?"
"this."
Looking down, although the body had already rotted, it could be roughly seen from the outline that the navigator was a hot beauty with a curvy figure before she died. Han Zu only understood this, and then pointed at the navigator and the captain to Xinle, and then made a very obscene gesture with both hands. Anyone who was not blind could understand what it meant.
"Are you saying that the two of them are having an affair?"
"Almost, but it's definitely not that simple, otherwise the captain wouldn't hide such highly prohibited items in the navigator's room, and the navigator wouldn't easily agree to the captain doing so. Let's go and take a look."
Just as everyone was leaving the captain's room and preparing to go to the navigator's room, they suddenly felt the ground seemed to be shaking, as if something was passing nearby, but when everyone gripped their weapons and began to observe the corridor outside the captain's room, they found nothing.
"what's the situation?"
"The lock sequence scan has detected a lot of life signals in the location, in the corridor above us. According to the latest High Wall structure diagram we just downloaded, it should be a rest area for the middle-level crew. We want to reach the navigator's room, so we have to go there."
"Sinler, see if you can override the surveillance system on the frigate. We need..."
A burst of rapid and intensive sounds interrupted Xin's conversation. The team members carefully stared at the other entrances in the corridor. Suddenly, the lighting facilities in the entire corridor began to flicker. Soon, with the sound of surging electric current and the sparks of plasma cracking, the entire corridor suddenly became dark. The team members immediately turned on the night vision modules on their helmets.
"Click~~~~~~~" Not long after, some creepy and strange noises were heard from several locations far away in the corridor.