None of these Anglo-Saxon Hunters wanted to give up the chance to enter the ruins underground. Yet no matter how fiercely they argued, they maintained an unspoken understanding—they never mentioned what lay beneath the research institute ruins.
Even when their argument touched on that thing, they chose vague substitutes such as "that thing," "the target," or "the relic."
Sun Hang wanted to find information related to it in the Huntress's memories, but unfortunately, the memories remaining within the memetic factor were limited to the period shortly before her death. Anything further back was blank.
Just as the Anglo-Saxon Hunters were arguing furiously over whether to draw lots for the spots, a grim-faced male Hunter suddenly said in a low voice:
"I have a way to get most of us into the underground ruins."
"What way?" the others hurriedly asked.
"But someone will have to make a sacrifice."
"A sacrifice? What do you mean?"
"My ability can highly activate the memetic factors within infected individuals... Although it only lasts twelve hours, it can amplify the memetic factor's properties severalfold. The price is that the carrier of the memetic factor will suffer an extremely severe backlash."
"Backlash? How severe?"
"Death, or becoming an aberrant husk outright," the grim-faced man said. "The principle is simple: force the infection process past its safety threshold in a short period of time in exchange for greater power."
"I refuse!" the Hunter with the "Curse Shielding" ability immediately objected. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have been able to prepare this plan! I'm the most crucial one here—why should I be the one sacrificed?! If you decide to do this, I'd rather die right now than let you have your way! Think it over yourselves!"
"Actually... whether you die or not makes little difference," the