Chương 45: Exploration

Syringe crouched in the center of the outer warehouse, expanding the local network. He divided the six green signal spikes into two groups and drove them into the wall seams of the left and right corridors. Once they landed, the spikes unfolded their supports automatically. The floating scout orb rose into the air and rotated slowly, mapping the outer ring of the warehouse bit by bit. A local map soon unfolded in the team channel.

The outer structure of the Fifth Biological Warehouse was shaped like a huge squared ring. Their current position was the entrance hall. To the left and right were two ring-shaped corridors, lined with small sample rooms, life-support rooms, temporary material storage rooms, and preservation compartments. The two routes would eventually meet at the rear, while the enclosed area in the middle was separated by thick alloy walls and layers of array patterns. The core area.

Solly had already decided to avoid that area for now. He glanced at the map and quickly split the team.

"Carl, with me on the left route. Rowan, you and Grey Raven take the right. Adams goes with the right route for sample testing and light preservation. Logan goes left, handles heavy transport, and covers the rear. Syringe stays at the entrance relay point. You handle the channel, map, probes, and sample numbering." Carl hefted his heavy axe and grinned.

"Boss really knows how to assign people. You know I don't want to go with those two." Grey Raven gave no reaction. Solly glanced at Carl.

"I'm taking you with me so I can personally keep you from doing something stupid."

"That hurts, Boss," Carl clicked his tongue. Logan gave a low laugh, picked up two empty preservation boxes, and followed Solly and Carl. Rowan checked his dagger, then looked toward the right corridor. Grey Raven had already started walking ahead. He was still wrapped in his black robe, his steps light, like a shadow sliding along the wall. Adams followed with a portable testing case. As he passed Rowan, he reminded him in a low voice,"He feels more like a corporate specialist than a mercenary."

Rowan glanced at him. Adams did not explain. He only adjusted his mask. The team channel soon connected, and Syringe's voice sounded beside everyone's ears.

"Channel stable. I can see both left and right routes. Scout orbs handle the main corridors. Spider probes enter small rooms. Photograph, number, and test all samples before deciding whether they can be taken. Do not touch anything directly." Carl's voice immediately came through.

"You can just say my name."

"As long as you know." The team split into two groups and began advancing along the outer ring. The right route was even quieter than the entrance warehouse. Emergency lights still glowed along both sides of the corridor, their green light dimmed by dust. Many small serial numbers were marked on the walls. Some had already been worn away, leaving only broken digits and arrows. As Rowan passed a half-open metal door, he heard the low hum of a life-support array running at minimal power inside.

Grey Raven did not rush in. He stopped beside the door first and touched the lower part of the frame. Rowan saw his fingers brush across an array line so faint it was almost invisible.

"Safe to enter," Grey Raven said. It was the first thing he had said since they entered the right route. Rowan did not move immediately. Adams stepped forward and used a detection needle to draw a small sample of air from the gap in the door.

"Very little external Tainted Energy seepage. Should be a small sample room." Only then did they push the door open and enter. The room was not large. Six upright preservation cabinets stood along the wall. Three had already gone dark. Inside them were only unknown dark red dried flesh and yellowed plant tissue. The remaining three still had faint life-support light. On the glass of one preservation cabinet, a cluster of silver fungal threads had spread across the surface.

Tiny arcs of electricity occasionally flickered between the strands.

"Don't forget the photos," Syringe said through the channel. Adams uploaded the test results. [Right Route - Sample Room No. 1.] [Low-activity fungal colony sample.] [Suspected lightning-attribute mana reaction.] Carl's voice cut in from the other side.

"You've got mushrooms over there? We've got nothing but dead lizards. Damn unlucky." Solly said calmly, "Shut up and watch the floor." Listening to the commotion from the left route, Rowan and the others continued inspecting the room on the right. Grey Raven crouched before a preservation cabinet that had gone dark and used his black tool to gently open the crack in its door. His movements were steady, nothing like someone handling old preservation equipment for the first time.

Rowan glanced at his hands, then turned toward the corner of the room. There was a small material drawer there, its outer lock rusted shut. Rowan tested it with the tip of his dagger. After confirming there was no backlash, he carefully pried along the seam of the lock. Inside the drawer were several dried seeds. Fine silver lines covered their surfaces, making them look like frozen insect eggs. Beside them was a damaged label. Only a few words could still be read: [... conductive fungal bed...] Adams walked over and glanced at them.

"Don't touch them yet. Lightning-attribute fungal samples can still retain discharge reactions even after death." Rowan nodded and stepped half a pace back. Having professionals around did make things smoother. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Just then, Syringe suddenly raised his voice in the channel.

"Right route, watch above you." Rowan immediately looked up and took a guarded stance. The first thing he saw was a small glowing patch of mold beside an emergency light. The next instant, that patch of mold moved. It was not mold. It was a monster clinging to the shadow of the pipe. It looked like a rat enlarged to the size of a cat. Its body was thin and dry, but its back was covered in pale blue glowing fungus. The skin along its ribs spread open, revealing a thin membrane of flesh like a pair of crude wings.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth... More than a dozen monsters crawled out from pipes, lamp brackets, and behind preservation cabinets. The fungal colonies on their backs pulsed on and off. Tiny arcs of electricity jumped between them, quickly forming an irregular blue-white electric net. Adams cursed under his breath and immediately retreated.

"They aren't samples. They're still alive!" Grey Raven's black robe shifted slightly. One Electric-Fungus Rat launched itself from the pipe, spreading the blood membrane along its sides. It glided down like a ragged cloth, straight toward Adams's mask. Rowan stepped back and raised his hand. Two Water Blades flashed out, leaving brief water-blue trails. The Electric-Fungus Rat was cut open in midair.

The fungal colony on its back burst into a cluster of sparks, and Rowan felt the hair on his body rise from the static. Rowan's heart steadied. They could be cut.

"Don't cut directly through the fungal sacs," Grey Raven said from the side. He had already moved. A short gray-black flash slipped out from his sleeve and accurately severed the spine of another Electric-Fungus Rat while avoiding the glowing colony on its back. The monster landed and twitched twice. The fungal colony did not burst. Rowan glanced sideways. Too precise. Not precision born from strength, but from familiarity with the structure. At the same time, Carl's roar came through the channel.

"Solly! This frog has a claw growing out of its tongue!" Syringe immediately asked, "What frog?"

"A frog the size of a small car! Its eyes are pincers! And its damn back is blooming!" Solly's voice came after a series of impacts, still calm.

"Left route has encountered a Tier 1 Dual-Phase chimeric sample. Its spores can interfere with mana circulation."

"Copy that. Right route?" Rowan sidestepped an arc of electricity.

"Group discharge samples. Individual strength is below Tier 1, but they can form a net."

"Don't let them near the signal spikes!" Syringe shouted at once.

"They might burn out the local relay!" As if they had understood him, several Electric-Fungus Rats on the wall turned at the same time. The fungal colonies on their backs brightened. The next second, three arcs of electricity jumped toward the green signal spike near the door. Rowan and Grey Raven looked toward the signal spike almost at the same moment. Adams's expression also darkened. So they were not simply attacking people. They were attracted to magitech signals.

If the signal spike was burned out, the local network on the right route would go down, and Syringe's mapping of this area would be interrupted. Grey Raven took one step forward. He did not chase the monsters that had already leapt out. Instead, he locked onto the three at the center of the electric net. He lashed out with his flame whip, bringing a wave of heat with it. The whip struck the Electric-Fungus Rats from behind, faster than their arcs could land.

The places struck by the whip burned into char, but the three rats did not die immediately. They twitched on the floor. Rowan raised his left hand. A thin, fast Water Blade shot out from his palm. It grazed the back of an Electric-Fungus Rat lunging through the air. He deliberately avoided cutting open the fungal sac and instead sliced through its hind leg, throwing the electric net off balance.

The second Electric-Fungus Rat was about to fill the gap, but Rowan had already stepped on [Wellspring Step] and crashed to the edge of a preservation cabinet. His dagger flicked upward in a reverse grip and pierced straight through its throat. The third monster spread its blood membrane and glided down. A black flash slipped from Grey Raven's sleeve and pinned it to the wall. The blue-white electric net collapsed at once. The remaining Electric-Fungus Rats lost coordination and began scurrying wildly.

Adams immediately threw two small preservation canisters from his testing case. The canisters bounced open on the ground, releasing a ring of pale yellow sedative mist. After inhaling the mist, several Electric-Fungus Rats slowed visibly and were quickly cleared by Rowan and Grey Raven. The last one tried to squeeze into a ventilation duct. Rowan was about to give chase, but Grey Raven had already raised his hand.

The black tool in his hand shot out a thin needle, accurately piercing the root of the fungal colony on the creature's back. The electricity flickered once, then went out. The room fell quiet. Only a faint bitter smell of burned fungus remained. After confirming there were no living reactions left, Adams stepped forward and examined the bodies on the floor.

"They aren't natural mana-beasts," he said.

"The fungal colonies and blood membranes are too regular. They look designed." Rowan said nothing. His gaze fell on the black tool in Grey Raven's hand. The battle just now had been too fast for him to see clearly. Now, as the tool retracted, a worn section of casing on the handle turned half a circle, revealing a small pressed mark underneath. A black water droplet. Around the droplet was a broken gear. Syringe's voice suddenly sounded through the channel.

"Wait, Grey Raven. That thing in your hand... is that a Blackwater Heavy Industries separation needle?" Carl was still panting on the other side. In the background came the heavy thud of something large hitting the ground.

"Blackwater?" Carl's voice changed at once.

"Boss, this black-robed guy is from Blackwater?" Grey Raven put the tool away and did not answer. Solly's tone did not change.

"A technical consultant. I paid good money to have him here as backup." Rowan looked at Grey Raven. Grey Raven still had his head lowered and was using a preservation needle to remove the fungal tissue from the backs of the Electric-Fungus Rats. His movements showed no trace of panic, as if he did not care that his identity had been recognized. Blackwater Heavy Industries. Of course Rowan had heard that name. It was not an underground black market like Rustwater.

Rustwater was one of the largest black-market channels in the lower levels of the Seventh Abyssal Hive. It bought and sold everything: counterfeits, second-hand goods, stolen goods, dirty goods. As long as the price could be pushed low enough, there was nothing they would not touch. Blackwater Heavy Industries was different.

It was a legally licensed local military-industrial company in the Seventh Abyssal Hive, handling wasteland equipment, mercenary armaments, high-risk sample processing, and some peripheral military contracts. On the other side of the channel, Carl was still muttering.

"Technical consultant, and he dresses like a cultist?" After the right route was cleared, Syringe controlled a spider probe and sent it into an old terminal slot deeper in the room.

"There's a residual terminal on the right route. The casing is damaged, but the memory crystal chip might still have something readable." Syringe connected remotely to the terminal. A storm of garbled text flashed across the screen. A few seconds later, several broken records were projected into the team channel. [Outer-layer sample record: Seventh batch flying discharge-type chimeric beasts.] [Issue: Insufficient current stability during group coordination. Accidental injuries occur between samples.] [Handling recommendation: Lower individual combat rating. Reclassify as harassment-type samples.] The next record came from the left route. Clearly, Solly and Carl's group had also found terminal fragments in a sample room. [Outer-layer sample record: Spore-interference amphibious chimeric beast.] [Issue: Mana-blocking spores effective against low-tier targets, but release cycle is uncontrollable.] [Handling recommendation: Suspend mass production. Transfer to preservation observation.] Carl cursed through the channel.

"Effective against low-tier targets? I nearly got dragged into its mouth by the claw on its tongue!" When the third record appeared, everyone fell silent for a moment. [Emergency notice: Sector 4 contraction order has been issued.] [Mature samples, core researchers, and high-value data are to be transferred first.] [Outer-layer sample priority lowered.] [Incomplete samples are to undergo preservation procedure and await future recovery.] The text ended there. Rowan stared at the lines and thought silently.

Sector 4 contraction. So this really had been some company's laboratory. An emergency transfer. And considering Solly and Grey Raven's situation... Was this an old Blackwater Heavy Industries laboratory? Mature samples and high-value data had been taken away first, while the outer-layer samples were left behind. The exploration of the left and right outer ring routes was already more than halfway complete. A large number of green and yellow markers filled the surrounding small rooms.

Farther ahead, the two routes would meet at the rear junction. From that junction, a short connecting passage led inward. At the end of that passage was the damaged containment door they had discovered earlier. Syringe's voice sounded again.

"Boss, the life-support pipelines on both sides are all pointing toward the central area. There are still a few high-value samples in the outer layer, but we can't remove them intact unless we adjust the main supply-fluid pressure." Solly asked, "Where's the control point?" Syringe paused. On the map, a red dot lit up. Right near that broken alloy door. Carl's voice came from the left route.

"I knew it. After all that circling around, we still have to touch that damn place." Solly did not answer immediately. Rowan saw Grey Raven standing in the shadows of the room, quietly looking at the red dot on the map. In that instant, Rowan suddenly had a feeling. This was what Grey Raven had been waiting for. A moment later, Solly's voice sounded in the team channel.

"Both routes continue advancing. Regroup at the rear junction." Rowan put away his dagger, glanced at the Electric-Fungus Rat corpses on the floor with their fungal colonies removed, then looked at the Blackwater Heavy Industries sample separation needle in Grey Raven's hand. Grey Raven slipped the tool back under his black robe. Ten minutes later, the two groups reunited at the rear of the squared outer ring. Carl was covered in green slime, his expression ugly.

A pale mark on Solly's sleeve showed where spores had corroded the fabric. Rowan looked at Carl's left hand. Around his wrist was a red, swollen claw mark, as if something furry had nearly strangled it. Logan dragged two preservation boxes behind him, silent as a moving wall. Syringe's floating orb hovered above the team, constantly correcting the map. Adams checked Carl's arm and confirmed there were no spores left before allowing him to continue. Everyone's gaze turned forward.

The connecting passage was not long. At its end, the containment door stood half-open. The tear in it looked like a mouth ripped apart.