Chapter 36: Strange Stirring Beneath the Night Fog
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The abandoned little warehouse reeked of a strange mixture of rust and dust. Compared with the pungent sulfur fumes drifting through the dense fog outside, however, it was at least barely tolerable.
Xia Tong crouched in the shadows, listening intently. Even through the heavy fog and crumbling walls, she could faintly sense the energy disturbance coming from the direction of Experimental Station No. 3 in the distance.
It was an extremely unstable fluctuation, like a beast on the verge of losing control, growling deep in its throat. The sensation made her heart tremble.
The bright red distress signal on the tablet had long since stopped flashing. The screen was completely black.
Xia Tong understood all too well. In such circumstances, the station’s communications system had most likely been completely paralyzed or destroyed—or, worse yet, the communications personnel had met with disaster.
…
At the same time, deep within the ruins of Experimental Station No. 3.
Two blurred figures struggled to hold their ground amid the smoke and dust. Invisible waves of energy spread in every direction, shielding them from the ripples of energy outside.
“What do we do? That thing actually got away!”
“It even destroyed the experimental energy platform and caused a leak… How are we supposed to explain this to the base?”
A woman in a laboratory coat panted heavily, her fingers sliding repeatedly across the tablet as she sent out one distress signal after another. Still, no reply came.
“Damn it, are there really none of our people left in this ruined city?”
“My ability is almost exhausted. We can only use the suppressor!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a fat man stopped channeling his ability and placed the energy-shielding emitter in his hand on the floor. A pale blue glow lit up, successfully blocking the corrosive energy from outside.
“If this continues, we’re all going to die. That damned ‘test subject’ is nothing but trouble.”
…
…
Inside the warehouse.
“The Deep Blue Project… high-activity mutation induction… Experimental Station No. 3…”
Those keywords from Keji’s logs echoed endlessly through Xia Tong’s mind.
What exactly was the abnormal energy fluctuation outside the warehouse? A disaster caused by the project spiraling out of control—or a sign that some kind of “result” was about to break free?
Either way, it meant enormous danger for Xia Tong. But it might also bring opportunities beyond imagination.
A cold curve touched the corners of her lips. On the wasteland, danger and opportunity had always been two sides of the same coin.
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Even in her previous life, at Ink City Base, the base’s higher-ups had been fond of ordering researchers to study strange and deadly things. As far as she knew, more than a dozen experimental projects had suffered accidents.
She had rarely seen any actual research results, but the disasters and terrifying dangers those experiments produced came one after another…
…
As the night deepened, a faint rustling suddenly came from outside the warehouse sometime after midnight.
The sound was soft and close to the ground. It was certainly not the footsteps of a human. It sounded more like some creature slowly crawling across the damp earth.
Hearing the unusual noise outside, Xia Tong’s catlike pupils narrowed, and she immediately went on guard.
A moment later, a long, ugly head poked through an inconspicuous hole in the warehouse wall.
It was a mutated gecko roughly half a meter long, its entire body covered in a dark green, viscous fluid that gave off a faint stench of decay.
Its compound eyes glittered with greed and bloodlust in the darkness. Before long, they locked onto the small black figure huddled in the corner.
Its target was Xia Tong.
“…What rotten luck.”
“But free experience is still experience.”
Xia Tong sneered inwardly. Before the mutated gecko could make a move, she charged forward.
“Skreee!”
The mutated gecko clung to the corner and let out a shrill hiss. It opened its mouth and spat a jet of dark green saliva, exuding a powerful corrosive stench.
Yet just as the saliva was about to strike, Xia Tong’s figure vanished like a ghost.
She silently transformed into an intangible stream of clear water, nimbly avoiding the foul-smelling glob. It struck the floor where she had been standing, immediately producing a sizzling corrosive sound as wisps of white smoke rose into the air.
In the next instant, the stream of water silently condensed in the mutated gecko’s blind spot.
Moisture gathered in the air, and a razor-sharp blade of water flashing with cold light suddenly appeared out of nowhere. With astonishing speed and precision, it slashed toward the relatively fragile junction between the mutated gecko’s head and torso.
“Splurt!”
With a muffled sound, the mutated gecko’s attack came to an abrupt halt.
Its ugly head separated from its body in an instant. Dark green blood mixed with viscous fluid sprayed everywhere, while its body began convulsing violently. A section of its tail broke off and bounced spasmodically across the floor.
“Isn’t it a little late to be dropping your tail now?” Xia Tong remarked, glancing at the twitching remains of the gecko on the ground.
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[Defeated a First-Order, One-Star Corrosive Mutated Gecko. Experience gained: +3]
[Current experience: First-Order, Two-Star (40/100)]
The cold notification of the Source Core rang out in her mind at just the right moment.
A faint current of warmth flowed into her body. By now, such gains were nothing more than appetizers to Xia Tong. She needed to find some powerful mutated beasts as soon as possible and use them to strengthen herself.
She walked over and carefully examined the corpse. On the gecko’s abdomen, she discovered a vicious old wound that had already scabbed over. Its jagged edges clearly indicated that it had been torn open by the bite of some far more powerful predator.
It seemed that the nights in this Abandoned Old Industrial District followed a complete food chain of their own.
This night was destined to be anything but peaceful.
Outside the warehouse, the faint sounds of crawling creatures, the beating of wings, and the occasional suppressed, low-pitched roar from the distance blended together like a wasteland symphony, announcing the countless dangers lurking in the darkness.
Xia Tong remained on high alert throughout the night. No disturbance, however slight, could escape her senses.
When the darkness of night began to fade into the pale gray of dawn and a faint glimmer of morning appeared along the horizon, the dense fog blanketing the entire Abandoned Old Industrial District finally began to disperse.
Yet the fading fog did not mean that the danger was retreating.
On the contrary, the oppressive presence coming from the direction of Experimental Station No. 3 grew even stronger and clearer, like the gaping maw of an abyssal beast preparing to devour its prey, slowly opening and waiting for its victims to come willingly.
A resolute, icy light flashed through Xia Tong’s eyes.
She rose to her feet and stretched her body, stiff from spending the entire night curled up. The water-based energy within her began circulating silently, quickly bringing her condition to its peak.
“I can’t wait any longer.”
She had already made her decision. Whether it was a trap or an opportunity, she had to investigate it personally.
With the faint light of dawn and the cover of the mist that had not yet fully dispersed, this was the perfect moment to infiltrate that unknown place.
Xia Tong no longer hesitated. Her figure blurred, transforming into a black phantom that silently melted into the abandoned industrial district, where dawn and thin mist intertwined. She sped toward Experimental Station No. 3, the source of that ominous presence.
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