No. 285

The squad soldiers present exchanged glances. Forty-eight hours ago? That meant the day before yesterday. Then who were the three people who had greeted them earlier? Chen Chuan instructed the orderly behind him, "Wake everyone up, then search this place again from top to bottom." The orderly saluted, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and jogged toward the barracks. Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque arrived at the scene immediately. Yuan Qiuyuan looked at the three corpses, let out a low whistle, and looked up to ask, "Captain, is this an anomalous phenomenon?" "Too early to say." Chen Chuan was in no hurry to make a judgment. He hadn't felt any sign of blurring in his Second Self. Either there was another explanation, or the anomaly was not severe. Once the men were awakened, they swept the rest station from top to bottom, confirming that there was no one else besides these three corpses. Yet once everyone learned of the situation and thought back carefully, it seemed none of them had had direct physical contact with those three earlier. Chen Chuan considered for a moment, then said to Yuan Qiuyuan, "Officer Yuan, stand guard here tonight." Yuan Qiuyuan didn't hesitate. "Don't worry, Captain." Chen Chuan took two steps outside and addressed everyone: "Our mission is to investigate an unknown situation. We will likely encounter more incidents of this nature going forward, so be mentally prepared. But the two officers and I will do our best to handle everything. Everyone here: those on duty, stand your watch; those off duty, get some rest. But stay alert." "Sir!" The squad members gave a crisp salute and dispersed. The night passed without further incident for the watch. At daybreak, the team prepared to depart rather than linger, forming up to move out. The convoy drove out of the rest station. About ten minutes down the road, Chen Chuan instructed the driver in front, "Turn around and head back." The driver asked no questions and immediately swung the vehicle around. The other off-road vehicles received his instructions through their boundary credentials. Though puzzled by the situation, they knew to follow orders and turned back as well. When they returned to the rest station, they suddenly saw that the gates—which they had deliberately closed before leaving—had swung open once again. A voice crackled through the loudspeaker inside, demanding confirmation of their identities. Everyone was startled. Yuan Qiuyuan turned his head. "Captain?" Chen Chuan spoke into his boundary credential, "Follow standard procedure." Then he said to Qin Qingque, "Officer Qin, go with them." "Yes, Captain!" Qin Qingque stepped out of the vehicle immediately and walked forward with two squad members. The entire process went without a hitch. After exchanging verification signals according to established protocol, the station gates opened after a brief moment. Then, the three rest station soldiers who had previously been confirmed dead walked out from inside, conscientiously checking their documents—acting exactly as they had yesterday. Yet they had clearly seen them dead yesterday. Faced with such a bizarre spectacle, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Chen Chuan stepped out of the vehicle. He glanced at his Second Self; it still showed no signs of blurring. He walked up to the three soldiers. Seeing his uniform, they gave him a salute. In both expression and demeanor, they were indistinguishable from ordinary people. At that moment, he reached out and tapped each of them between the eyebrows. The three froze for a second, then collapsed stiffly to the ground. Moments later, pale white things began squirming out of their ears, wriggling forward across the ground. Yuan Qiuyuan stepped forward and brought his boot down on one of them. Seeing the creature under his sole curl up tightly, he inspected it closely and exclaimed in shock, "Activated brain tissue?" Chen Chuan nodded. Yuan Qiuyuan looked down at the three bodies in confusion. "But they're ordinary people." Generally, only fighters with mutated tissue had to worry excessively about activation; it rarely occurred in ordinary humans. Otherwise, the main force garrisoning these outposts would never have been made up of ordinary soldiers. Chen Chuan said slowly, "They are ordinary people, but this activated brain tissue might not be their own." Yuan Qiuyuan started, but his reaction was swift. Putting two and two together, he glanced into the distance and whispered, "Captain, you mean... the garrison fortress?" There were no fighters here, but Fortress 285, their destination, had several. "Most likely," Chen Chuan said. When a fighter's brain tissue underwent activation, some would continue using their original body. But if something happened to that body, the tissue might seek out another host, devour the new body's brain, and assimilate its memories to masquerade as that person. This was why the garrison maintained such high vigilance regarding activation: at times, it was genuinely difficult to tell whether the person standing in front of you had been compromised. He recalled the files he had reviewed earlier. Outpost 285's original complement included one third-limit fighter as garrison commander and three second-limit fighters. These three clusters of activated brain tissue most likely belonged to those three second-limit fighters. "Captain, a signal came through from Fortress 285," a communications soldier reported, bringing over a telegram. Chen Chuan took it and looked. It was still the same indecipherable garble. He handed it to Qin Qingque, who studied it closely before looking up. "Captain, there's no actual content." Yuan Qiuyuan said, "Could things like this be what's sending the telegrams?" "We'll find out once we see it for ourselves," Chen Chuan said. "No need to linger here. Pack up, report the situation to headquarters, and let's move out immediately. We need to reach the outpost without delay." Once the order was given, team members promptly bagged the three soldiers' corpses and placed them in the freezer units. Shortly after, the convoy hit the road again. Fortress 285 was a frontier expansion outpost. Such installations were typically situated on crucial terrain, serving as an advance screen to protect the rear. In turn, the rear could systematically secure and organize the reclaimed territory. This approach had its pros and cons. In the early stages, airships assisted with transport and combat, allowing most difficulties to be overcome; once established, however, the withdrawal of airship support made conditions comparatively harsher. If an outpost at such a critical juncture fell, subsequent operations would grind to a halt. The matter had to be thoroughly investigated. Pushing forward at full speed, the convoy arrived at Outpost 285 just before five in the afternoon. Yet there were no guards posted outside. Stepping cautiously through the perimeter, they found the inside completely deserted. Not a single person remained—neither the original garrison personnel nor the squad that had been dispatched later. Vehicles stood parked neatly in the open courtyards and garages. In the armory, weapons rested orderly on their racks. The interiors were clean and tidy, bearing no signs of fighting or an attack. The outpost had been built to standard specifications, large enough to house a hundred-man force. As they walked inside, the surroundings felt eerily hollow. Their footsteps rang out with unsettling clarity, sending a faint shiver through most of the squad members. Chen Chuan ordered, "Send a telegram to headquarters. Report that we have arrived at Fortress 285 and brief them on the situation here. Also, tell them to watch whether any telegrams are transmitted from this post tonight." The communications soldier acknowledged the order and stepped aside immediately to send the wire. Chen Chuan added, "We have a little over an hour before full dark. Each team has half an hour to inspect and secure their assigned sectors. Remember, every member must maintain constant communication at all times, whether entering or leaving a section." "Sir!" Following his instructions, the squad divided into three-man fireteams and fanned out in different directions. Chen Chuan said to Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque, "You two inspect the protective shielding and the fortifications outside the fortress. Keep an eye on your activation index, but remember to rely on your own senses as well—don't place blind faith in the figures on your boundary credential." Both felt a prickle of tension and signaled their understanding. Chen Chuan instructed them to keep an eye on the squad members while he headed alone to the outpost's officer's office. Operation logs were required to be kept here by protocol, and he might uncover some useful clues among them. The office was just like the rest of the post—everything neatly arranged in its place. He found the logbook without trouble and flipped through it. The entries stopped on December 10, the day before the baffling transmissions began. All prior entries were entirely standard: patrols, watch duties, maintenance, briefings. Nothing abnormal had been noted. It seemed the incident had struck abruptly, catching everyone off guard. However, while leafing through a private memo book belonging to the garrison commander, he discovered several pages torn out. Searching around for a bit, he spotted the shredded pages in a nearby wastebasket. He pieced them back together as best he could. The paper was covered in erratic scrawls, heavy splotches of color, and illegible handwriting. Looking at it, one could almost envision a man slipping into madness, muttering feverish gibberish as his pen scratched across the page. He studied the scraps with a pensive gaze. Just then, Qin Qingque's voice sounded through the boundary credential: "Captain, I've finished the inspection. None of the walls show breaches or structural failures. I cut into a section to check, and the protective shielding and materials inside are intact. The water cisterns and food stores are well-preserved, enough to sustain a hundred-man garrison for a month by standard quotas." Yuan Qiuyuan reported as well: "Captain, I made a circuit around the perimeter. No signs of scaling or assault, and no Confluence creatures have approached. The surrounding vegetation had been cleared out thoroughly; even though it's crept back a little over the past two days, it's still at least two or three li from the outpost. The trenches and barbed wire dug per the field manual are completely undamaged." "Understood," Chen Chuan said. "If everything is in order, head back." He stepped out of the office and looked down at the courtyard below. If the perimeter was intact, the problem lay within. For now, it was daytime, and there was little cause for alarm. But in less than an hour, night would fall—and night might bring something else entirely.