“Age nineteen, a common miner, Ajiel has a chipped pickaxe. The mine collapsed, and he was knocked out by a rock. When he woke up, he found himself trapped. He said he likes reading, especially poetry.”
“Age twenty-two, a common miner, Andrew has a cracked pickaxe. The mine collapsed, and he fainted for some unknown reason. When he woke up, he found himself trapped. He said he is a devout believer and a penitent, firmly believing that all the hardships in the world are tests from God.”
“Age twenty-five, a transporter, Klar has a mining cart with a missing wheel. The mine collapsed, and he fainted inside the mining cart. When he woke up, he found himself trapped, and his own mining cart was gone. He likes opera, but others say he is tone-deaf.”
Youxi had an excellent memory and summarized their words almost verbatim.
But the more she spoke, the stranger Sophia's expression became.
When they heard them speak on site, they didn't notice anything, but this summary revealed all sorts of incongruities.
“What do you think is wrong with what they said?” Li Andy asked Sophia.
“It’s so strange…”
Sophia frowned and said,
“Normal people wouldn’t describe these irrelevant things in that situation, would they?
“Besides, would miners really like reading and opera? Most of them can’t even write! This is too abnormal…”
Li Andy nodded:
“Yes, very abnormal. I initially thought they were once living people whose spirits resided in objects after death.
“But now it seems they might not be the person in their own consciousness at all, or perhaps not even truly self-aware spirits.
“They are more like some non-human entities that, after gaining partial human memories, imitate being a human based on the content within.
“I prefer to categorize them as pseudo-humans.”
“Pseudo-humans…” Sophia murmured, repeating the word.
It was the first time she had heard this term, but she felt it was particularly apt.
Like humans but not human, truly pseudo-humans.
On the other side, Yuquan Youxi slightly frowned, lowering her gaze as she pondered his words.
After the two girls had almost fully digested the information, Li Andy paused, looked at the two, and questioned:
“So, what do you think, how should we find the anomaly?”
“Hmm?”
Sophia's mouth was slightly agape, her mind stuck.
She felt that everything here was abnormal; nothing was normal.
If she had to say, only Meilin was slightly normal.
Normal amidst the abnormal, isn't that the anomaly?
Yuquan Youxi pondered for a few seconds, then slowly raised her gaze, her dark eyes seemingly capable of swallowing the lamplight.
She said, word by word:
“Anomaly means different from the ordinary.
“Therefore, we can first classify and compare what we see to confirm who is different from whom.
“According to what Brother just said, we can divide them from the perspective of ‘human-like.’
“Meilin is one type; she looks the most human, possibly a living human spirit;
“The pickaxes and mining cart are another type, pseudo-humans disguised as humans. They imitate humans according to mechanical logic but don't actually understand humans;
“Finally, the phantom is another type; it is the most dangerous, like an oddity that purely operates according to certain rules.
“Thus, we can test and judge these three categories to further pinpoint what exactly the anomaly on this level is.
“Is this line of thought acceptable, Brother?”
Li Andy was momentarily stunned after listening, looking at the girl's pretty face, which didn't show much emotion, and smiled silently.
Very good, as expected of the female lead.
The second female lead, Sophia, blinked her eyes, hesitated for a moment, and pretended to have followed the train of thought:
“So the anomaly is among them?”
Hearing this, the two couldn't help but look at her.
Sophia instinctively recoiled her neck, unable to pretend any longer. Her small mouth slightly pouted, her gaze a little aggrieved, and her clear eyes reflected the firelight:
“Is… isn’t it?”
Li Andy reached out and stroked her head, his gaze incredibly loving:
“It’s okay, Sophia has already tried very hard.”
“…”
…
…
“Meilin, do you still remember what your father looked like?”
In the new round of attempts, Li Andy did not rush Meilin to lead the way but instead guided her to talk about her past.
“Dad’s appearance?”
Meilin was startled after hearing this. As she recalled, her brows gradually furrowed, her eyes slowly filled with panic, and a stinging sensation arose in her mind.
“Dad’s appearance… I, I seem to be a little unclear, why?”
Li Andy immediately pressed her shoulders, comforting her:
“It’s okay, it might be memory confusion caused by the coma from the mine collapse, which is a very normal phenomenon. Don’t worry, you’ll slowly remember. Come, follow me, take a deep breath…”
Meilin took a long breath, and the headache immediately subsided. She said gratefully:
“Thank you, Father.”
Li Andy nodded and continued:
“I see that Miss Meilin has a scholarly temperament. Did you go to school before?”
Meilin’s cheeks flushed slightly:
“Is… is that so? I used to…”
Suddenly, she became confused,
“Did I go to school? It seems I did… or did I not?”
Li Andy took out the Bible and opened it in front of the girl:
“Miss Meilin, this is the teaching of Our Lord. Have you heard of it?”
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…” Meilin instinctively read the words on it.
Li Andy and the girls exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and put away the Bible.
Meilin was somewhat puzzled but did not dare to ask too many questions.
Returning to the survivor camp, Li Andy did not exchange pleasantries with them and went straight to the point:
“I have actually contacted the outside, and the rescue team will be here soon.”
“What?!”
The pickaxes were pleasantly surprised and crowded around, clanging, looking very excited.
But then, Li Andy's tone changed, pouring a bucket of cold water on them: “The rescue team can save us, but… there is a monster among us, disguised as one of our companions!”
The pickaxes froze, as if startled.
But since they had no faces, Li Andy could not know what their exact expressions were.
Li Andy cleared his throat and said:
“So, unless it is eliminated, I cannot let you out. I ask you yourselves to prove that you are not the monster.”
The air suddenly became incredibly quiet.
Like a data program running into an unknown sector.
“…”
Li Andy gently rubbed the revolver hidden in his sleeve with his fingertip, ready to shoot Meilin at any moment and reset the cycle.
After a long while, the pickaxe Alu suddenly asked:
“How do we prove it?”
Li Andy said:
“That’s for you to think about. I only need to judge.”
After another moment, Alu spoke again. After stating that it was not a monster, it began to numbly recount its life and preferences, trying to use this to prove itself.
The others followed suit, diligently proving themselves.
“Ah ah ah!”
At this moment, the pickaxe they called a madman, which only had a wooden handle left, suddenly shrieked:
“I remember!”
“Monster! Monster! You… you are all monsters!”
“It turns out I… I died long ago!”
“Haha, hahahaha!”
“Bang—!”
The mad pickaxe suddenly exploded.
The scattered wood chips, for some unknown reason, turned into viscous lumps of flesh.
A faint scent of blood silently permeated the air.
The air was oppressive and heavy.
The pickaxes froze, then uniformly turned towards Li Andy.
In the darkness behind them, countless crimson eyes seemed to be staring fixedly at him.