Chapter 2016: Autopsy
"Autopsy the corpse?" A player asked in confusion. "Is that necessary? Even if we know he died from poison, how does that change our situation?"
There were ways to deal with this kind of xenomorph—just wear protective suits and face masks. The key point was not to wear low-quality protective gear, or else you'd end up like this player, dead without knowing why.
"If he really died from poisoning, that's good news for us," Xu Huo said. "It means that xenomorph can be blocked with props."
If not, it meant the xenomorph had abilities they didn't know about—that was the real danger.
Realizing this, someone voluntarily moved the two corpses from Car 2 to Car 7 and cleared out some space.
"Who's a doctor?" After that, someone repeated the question Xu Huo had asked earlier. But as they went through each car, the only person with any medical background was a veterinarian.
The vet pulled out a surgical kit he'd bought after becoming a player. It had all kinds of tools, but he didn't really know how to use them. "I was a vet in a small town. At most I'd stitch up wounds or set bones. I don't know anything else."
"Then why do you have so many tools?" A young man with dyed yellow hair questioned him.
"Don't tell me you've never fantasized about your intelligence skyrocketing after evolution. Doing more things related to your profession might help develop special traits—of course I had to try," the vet said matter-of-factly.
The yellow-haired man rolled his eyes and asked the others, "Doesn't anyone know how to cut open a person?"
Maybe no one had the theoretical knowledge, but surely some had accumulated practical experience. A square-faced, bearded man stepped forward to help. "They're dead anyway. Just cut them up however. If it helps us, consider it their good deed—maybe they'll reincarnate into something better next life."
As he spoke, he actually moved to chop off the corpse's neck.
The short-haired man stopped him. "What if the corpse has poison? Don't drag everyone down with you."
If they were going to do an autopsy, the body had to be sealed off separately.
The short-haired man provided a small experimental pod with a window so people outside could see inside. The bearded man and the red headscarf volunteered to help. Xu Huo also entered the pod. The pod was placed inside the car and wasn't big to begin with—three people made it cramped. The others, either unskilled or worried about touching something on the bodies, stayed outside.
"How do we do this?" the red headscarf asked.
"Just do what I say and cut straight," the bearded man said. "We just need to see how he died. Who cares how we open him up?"
Xu Huo had already put on his protective suit and picked a knife from the surgical kit. "Let's start with the brain."
He took the lead in the autopsy. Seeing he had experience, the red headscarf and bearded man stopped arguing and just assisted.
Xu Huo had no actual experience with surgery or autopsies in his past memories. But in the recently recovered memory fragments, Dr. Zhang had not only taught him everything about different organisms but also found experimental subjects for him to practice on.
That had happened years ago, but now it was crystal clear.
The dead player showed no signs of struggle before death, so Xu Huo's first suspicion was that the xenomorph released some special substance to paralyze or kill the player before drowning them. The timing might vary, leading to the drowning outcome.
The autopsy took less than twenty minutes to yield results. The spines of all three killed players were damaged, with all nerves severed—as if something had bitten through them. But nothing unusual was found in the water inside their bodies; it was just ordinary water.
"Damn, like they were paralyzed," the bearded man remarked. "No wonder they couldn't move. But their throats weren't cut—making some noise shouldn't have been hard."
"Hard to say," the red headscarf said. "If that xenomorph can directly destroy nerves, the throat might work the same way."
"The vocal cords aren't damaged," Xu Huo said, removing his gloves. "It's possible their mouths and airways were sealed by water before they could react."
Since their bodies couldn't move, any faint sounds before death could easily be blocked by the face mask.
"Now there's one more question," he said to the two. "Was the tear in the protective suit made by the victim himself, or by another player?"
If it was another player, that was one thing. But if it was the victim himself, it meant his mind was controlled before death. In that case, he probably didn't come to his senses until his chest was filled with water, and even the agony of dying couldn't save him in time.
"No way," the bearded man and red headscarf exchanged glances, saying in unison. Then the former added, "Xenomorphs with mental interference abilities are extremely rare. Even if they exist, they can only mess with sight and hearing—not control a player's consciousness!"
But as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized—weren't those suspicious people who boarded the train exactly here to release xenomorphs?
What if it was a new xenomorph bred by Stellar Corporation?
Rumors of all kinds of bizarre xenomorphs and Stellar Pharmaceuticals' secret experiments had never been absent from the game.
The three left the experimental pod and shared the results and speculations with everyone.
"We can guard against other things, but how do we defend against mental interference?" the tie-wearing man asked.
Most known items related to mental power were anti-interference devices with some counteractive effect. But if someone deliberately released a xenomorph onto a train full of high-level players, they must have already considered this.
"Detection devices for mental power also exist, with a range that can cover the entire train," the yellow-haired man said. "Everyone could have one. But the question is—how large an area can that xenomorph affect?"
If it could lock down the whole train at once, what good would detection devices be?
"Then prepare more anti-interference devices," a long-haired man in a white suit said. "They'll have some effect. Even if someone gets targeted, others can still rescue them in time."
"But if that's the case, wasn't our earlier guess that the box contained a xenomorph inaccurate?" The fortune-teller female player looked at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo had already changed into a new protective suit and face mask. He casually tossed the blood-stained old suit out through the broken window of Car 7 onto the tracks. Hearing the female player's words, he nodded slightly. "If the xenomorph can control players to break the windows themselves, it makes sense that the xenomorph kills people and then leaves the car. The fact that breaking the window made no noise strongly suggests the player did it themselves."
"But that doesn't mean the box doesn't contain a xenomorph. Xenomorphs seem capable of changing forms. After killing, they might leave the car immediately—either to digest or to reproduce."