Ark, after I died, the operators started to love me.

88. Hollow shell

Muirsay fell into deep thought about this.

What role could she play in the doctor's heart?

"This is a topic worth studying."

Mike said to his operative, "The vast majority of collapsed entities fall into emptiness and lose their memories of their previous lives. Only a very few special individuals are absorbed by the demons and become part of them. John is clearly a special case."

Magellan's face clearly showed sadness. She clutched the hem of her clothes and whispered, "Does the Doctor really have to capture John Nettham for research? If possible, I want him to have eternal peace."

Mike glanced at him and said, "Don't make such terrible things sound so sacred."

"Okay, no problem, I allow you to do that."

With Mike's affirmation, Magellan managed a weak smile.

John Netham was her senior colleague. They worked together under Mariam, the head of the research department. They didn't have much contact, only meeting a few times at meetings. Most of the time, John spent with Director Mariam on the ice field.

Now that someone he knew has died and turned into a terrifying monster, Li Boli still felt a strange sadness, no matter how unfamiliar they were.

Just as they were talking, six heavy power armors arrived one after another and walked up the ramp that Froststar had created without any hesitation.

The heavy weight of the aircraft instantly shattered the icy slope, revealing the wreckage of the drone hidden inside.

The shrunken creature's mocking voice came from the loudspeaker: "I told you, this level of obstruction couldn't stop me at all..."

Before it could finish speaking, the first heavy powered armor in the line suddenly fell backward, and another heavy powered armor closely following behind was crushed. Like dominoes, all six machines fell down at the same time.

The collapsing body was like a duck with its neck being choked; all the words that followed were stuck in its throat.

Within seconds, his piercing and hysterical roar rang out: "How is this possible? What kind of trick are you playing?!"

"It's nothing, just a little trick."

Mike picked at his ear with his fingers. As he did so, Yelena quickly stepped forward and used the melted ice-water mixture to freeze all six heavy power armors to the ground.

Carter said with difficulty, "This won't last long. As the ice melts, these big guys will regain their mobility."

Mike shook his head: "It's okay, whatever. These things are so slow, even if they recover, they won't be able to catch up with us."

With the immediate obstacles gone, the only remaining target is the collapsing entity hiding behind the scenes.

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

"Isn't it a little too late to panic now?"

Mike laughed loudly, and the operators swiftly leaped over the six heavy power armors, as if sliding down a slide.

"Has anyone been able to find this guy?"

Magellan took the lead: "I know where it is. I've been to the research station on the Sami Icefield. All the research stations have the same structure. This guy must be hiding in the control room."

With Magellan as their guide, Mike and his group easily found the control room. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked, and the panicked sounds of the collapsing creatures could be heard from inside.

"If you can't open this door, neither can I. Give up, there's nothing you can do."

"What did you just say? You can't open it either?"

Mike stroked his chin, and a picture came to mind.

Feeling that he was about to collapse, John Netham struggled to climb onto a chair and manually operated the door to the control room, locking himself inside.

He knew he was nearing his end, and he did this merely to prevent the collapsed body from leaving, thus preventing it from threatening more people.

That was all he could do at that time. As for using the signal hijacking after the collapse to contaminate the heavy power armor, those were things he was powerless to do.

The reason they couldn't open the control room door was simply because they lacked strength; the one thing Mike and his group had no shortage of was strength.

Chongyue waved his hand: "You guys go somewhere further away."

No one dared to linger; they took two steps at a time and ran more than ten meters away.

The grandmaster raised both palms, channeling his full power. Even from a distance of more than ten meters, the surging air waves were terrifying.

He suddenly slammed forward, and with a loud bang, the sealed door of the control room was punched open with a hole.

Chongyue watched this scene with satisfaction. He had wanted to do this earlier, but he was stopped by someone. Now he finally had the opportunity.

The Yan people grabbed the door panel with both hands, tore it off, and threw it aside. Sure enough, they saw the figure lying in the chair.

"Come over slowly."

Chongyue's words stopped everyone who was about to approach in their tracks, leaving them wondering what had happened in the control room.

Mike thought for a moment, then stepped forward and looked inside.

The person lying in the chair had become a corpse, and was already decomposing in such a hot environment.

The entire control room smelled terrible, making me feel nauseous.

Mike sighed. He was right. John Nestham knew his death was imminent and that he couldn't stop the collapse no matter what, so he had no choice but to resort to this drastic measure.

He did everything he could, and there is no need to criticize him further.

Now the faceless, featureless form of the collapsed entity appeared before them.

"Magellan, come here."

Liberi gripped the climbing axe hanging at his waist tightly. As he walked step by step to the doctor, he saw the man who had died in the control room and knew that he was John Nestham.

“You said you wanted to help him get rid of this trouble yourself. Go ahead, I’ll be waiting for you here.”

Magellan, his eyes red-rimmed, nodded and strode into the control room.

"Who are you? What do you want to do?"

The collapsing body didn't recognize her at all.

Or perhaps John Nestor's memory of Magellan was so faint that, after losing that part, he no longer knew who she was.

Magellan said nothing, gripped his trekking axe with both hands, and swung it down at the head of the collapsed creature.

This blow cleaved open the enemy's skull, revealing it to be completely empty. It was nothing but a hollow shell; everything that belonged to humanity had long since vanished into nothingness.

Magellan, having had his wish fulfilled, immediately knelt down on the ground.

She thought of Director Mariam, the head of the scientific expedition department who had greatly appreciated her. Would he, like the body before her, be unable to leave the Sami Icefield again?

This is not the first time she has lost someone she knows, nor will it be the last.

Mike patted the girl on the shoulder.

"Don't be afraid, John Nestorm has gone to the River Styx."

89. I like Magellan.

The hollow shell of the collapsed body was thrown into the incinerator by the water spirit's water clone and destroyed directly. The remaining task for everyone was to search the research station to prevent being ambushed by enemies hiding in the shadows.

The good news is that after eliminating John Nestham, there were no more enemies to be found at the research station.

The bad news is that they have too few people and the research station is too big, making it difficult to cover all areas.

Fortunately, there is only one entrance and exit here, otherwise we would have to assign more people to keep watch.

Almost two hours later, Mike found Magellan standing outside the research station, lost in thought.

It wasn't snowing outside, but there was a slight wind that made me feel chilly.

Mike pulled his coat tighter around himself and slowly approached Magellan from behind.

Just as he was preparing to launch a sneak attack, he suddenly heard Magellan's voice: "Doctor, stay behind me. Don't attack suddenly, or I'll hit you."

When did Daitouyu become so assertive?

Once Mike was exposed, he was too embarrassed to continue doing bad things secretly.

He walked confidently to Magellan's side and nudged her with his shoulder: "Why are you hiding here daydreaming? They're inside discussing what to eat tonight. Do you want to talk to them about it?"

"I also can."

Magellan responded, her shoulders relaxed, and she didn't avoid the man's gaze, knowing that Mike had come to find her.

Do you need me to provide you with psychological counseling?

Li Boli laughed, her laughter was very pleasant. The wind blew her short hair, revealing her fair and delicate profile. It should be said that this girl was naturally beautiful. Even after living in the open on the icy plains for so many years, her figure had not changed and her skin was well maintained.

Magellan sniffed: "Thank goodness the Doctor isn't here to make fun of me."

"How could that be? You're my operator, why would I laugh at you? Have you ever seen me laugh at any other operator?"

Li Boli nodded: "I have seen it. You often mock those sorcerer sisters."

Ah this.

Mike scratched his head awkwardly; that was a long time ago.

Everyone says that mages are the developers' favorite children in any game, but in a certain mobile game, mages were affected by various unexpected factors, causing enemies that should have been dealt with by spells to be dealt with more quickly than by physical damage dealers.

I'm talking about you, Marna.

As a result, the sorcerer became a joke, and even gave rise to the ultimate insulting tag: "A five-star male character can gift a sorcerer a module with +1 Life Defense."

Mike shook his head immediately. How could he admit to something like this? He absolutely refused to admit it.

"I didn't say that. Don't misunderstand, that wasn't me."

"Hahaha."

Magellan couldn't help but laugh at the Doctor's embarrassed look. Her dimples made her smile so sweet that Mike couldn't resist poking her with his finger, but when he did, she dodged his finger.

No, I have to poke at it today.

Mike rushed forward to catch up with Magellan, but the little penguin stood still. Even though Mike could poke it, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Magellan opened his bright eyes wide: "Why isn't the Doctor coming? I've stopped hiding, hurry up!"

Instead of poking Magellan as he wished, Mike opened his arms and hugged the girl, Liboli, tightly.

The sudden action made Magellan freeze for a moment. Then, she reached out and hugged the Doctor, and the long-lost embrace resurfaced from her memory.

One day in the past, she went on an adventure with the doctor. The two of them naturally had a lot to talk about, which made the atmosphere ambiguous.

Just then, the weather suddenly turned cold, and they didn't have enough warm clothing, so the two of them had to huddle together in a tent. At night, they even crawled into a sleeping bag, hugging each other and warming each other with their body heat.

This is a memory that cannot be told to others. Magellan understands deeply that if the other operators of Rhodes Island find out, the consequences will be unimaginable. Similarly, the Doctor keeps it a secret, making it a secret shared by the two of them.