Chapter 20: The Survivor on the Third Floor

By the window, Gu Shanhai gazed at the pitch-dark sky, devoid of even a speck of starlight, as if something had obscured it.

After failing to find the rest of the Qingcheng Red Colt's corpse, he naturally didn't continue the investigation, guessing that it was probably still in the crevice of the wall.

Digging was out of the question, and since players didn't actually die, investigating might provide some clues.

But was he really here to investigate? He was ready to strike at the heart of the Yellow Dragon; there was no need for an investigation, he wasn't a player who solved puzzles, he could just bulldoze his way through.

Climbing out of the window and imbuing his five fingers with mana, he agilely climbed up to the third floor with the pot of Yunling Grass on his head, like a gecko. Single-handed operations became difficult at this point.

After climbing up, he looked inside, a stretch of silence.

He carefully ripped off the window frame and removed the glass, and only then could he see the inside.

"An experimental base?"

"This is quite different from what I imagined."

In Gu Shanhai's mind, this place should have been akin to some horrifying sacrificial site, but in reality, it was the complete opposite. The tidiness and orderly appearance left him somewhat astounded.

He quickly climbed inside and tried to turn on the power; with a snap, the lights came on.

"They don't use the same power system as the first and second floors, though it seems the time of abandonment is somewhat different."

From his observations, the place seemed still operational. His gaze turned to the surveillance camera nearby. The device was still running, though it was unclear if anyone was watching.

"From this perspective, this crisis wasn't triggered by a cult's arcane rituals after all?" Gu Shanhai frowned, finding the situation increasingly perplexing.

After reinstalling the glass, he left the laboratory-like place, walking down the corridor where motion-sensitive lights automatically illuminated his path.

Squish...

The sticky liquid beneath his feet caused him to furrow his brow. Unbeknownst to him, he had found that the previously clean floor was now and then dotted with a strange mucus.

He wiped a bit with his hand; this mucus had a gel-like texture and appeared semi-transparent. It was odorless upon a sniff.

"Some kind of secretion?"

"This inevitably reminds me of some kind of doomed activity."

Studying some aberrant creature scientifically, which ultimately led to the horrific outbreak at Saint Mary Hospital.

As for where the aberrant creature came from? Simple, wasn't there a solar particle storm previously? It's possible that some people had acquired knowledge from the vast expanse of the stars.

"Cliché and melodramatic."

Gu Shanhai quickly identified the enemy he might face next; either the aberrant creature or the culprits behind the crisis.

He wasn't concerned with how the world outside Saint Mary Hospital was; he only cared about whether he would obtain this technology.

Looking up, he saw a mummified body in a white lab coat embedded in the ceiling, its surroundings wrapped in a lot of the mucus, occasionally dripping.

Gu Shanhai lept up and pulled it down. Upon landing, further investigation revealed the corpse had been drained of all its moisture.

"The work of the aberrant creature, presumably, so this is probably a containment breach," Gu Shanhai examined the body but didn't uncover much.

After a search yielded no diary—because, seriously, who keeps diaries—he conceded that even if one existed, it wouldn't be carried around.

"That being said, its water-locking ability is rather strong, huh? The fluids inside haven't evaporated to this day." Gu Shanhai noted how the mucus on the floor still seemed slick.

Judging from the researcher's time of death, it had been at least several months, yet the fluid on the floor showed no signs of drying out.

"Are you the investigator sent by the federation?" Abruptly, a voice came from the loudspeaker, bizarrely phlegmatic to Gu Shanhai's ears, as if gargling phlegm.

"Need to see credentials?" Gu Shanhai replied nonchalantly.

His peripheral vision caught the surveillance camera in the corridor, from where the voice had emanated.

"Not necessary; anyone who comes here to save us must be from the federation." The voice answered once more.

Clearly, the device had dialogue capabilities.

"Where are you?" Gu Shanhai asked directly, not bothering with probing questions. If the other party was reluctant to speak, so be it.

"Logistics warehouse, I'll guide you." The other party didn't waste words and went straight to the point.

Gu Shanhai followed the instructions, taking the opportunity to extract information along the way.

"I want to know, what exactly happened here?" Gu Shanhai asked.

"The Eternal Youth Project failed, I thought you would know," the voice answered.

"Sorry, I don't. I was just assigned the task of rescuing you. Three team members died on the first and second floors, and another is missing. The Eternal Youth Project has nothing to do with me; my mission is to get you out. Of course, if you're willing to talk, that's fine too," Gu Shanhai said.

"We obtained a massive primordial biomass creature with immense intelligence. In our communications, we acquired some intelligence from it, such as it not being from our universe but accidentally arriving through a spatial rift formed by the solar particle storm."

"Of course, physicists disagreed, but that's not our concern."

"It possessed an exceedingly long lifespan and was knowledgeable about extensive, obscure, and terrifying matters, from which we benefited greatly. Soon we became the most trusted allies, propelling the federation's technology significantly, even initiating a stellar project."

"Until it revealed its ability for immortality."

The other party stopped there, evidently feeling no need to continue the tale.

It was nothing more than a falling out while trying to acquire the secret of immortality from the other party.

"So, the primordial biomass creature is still here?" Gu Shanhai inquired.

"Correct, we trapped it here using its so-called 'magic' technology, but in the process, we suffered heavy losses. Many experimental subjects were released as a result and are now roaming the first and second floors," the voice said.

"I see, no wonder the federation sent me for a rescue; this is a major project," Gu Shanhai said, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

He spoke lightly, but his mind remained calm. He didn't believe a single word said by the other—a researcher speaking so openly to an outsider about such matters? What about confidentiality?

So, Gu Shanhai guessed that the other party likely wanted to use him to deal with the aberrant creature, with the promise of immortality as bait to spur his greed.