Chapter 640 - 19: Deep Pit (Part 2)
However, most of the TNT was prepared for forced blasting if no exit could be found, and they didn’t bring much when entering the base.
To blow up the collapsed concrete blocks at once, they could only return to the confession room, as the crazed Alexander Legion had only focused on venting bullets and had left plenty of grenade launchers and explosives behind. With these supplies obtained, their escape plan would be feasible.
Besides, there was another method, which was to find Ivan.
This old guy was obviously more familiar with the base’s structure than they were. His audacity to blow up the entrance decisively indicated that he must know other pathways to the outside world. If they could catch him, they could also leave this place.
...
After a brief consideration, remembering the suddenly crazed members of the Alexander Legion near the confession room, Vladimirovich chose the second plan.
The area of the first underground level wasn’t too large, and a layer of dust had accumulated on the ground, leaving footprints wherever anyone walked.
To find Ivan, they just needed to return to the periphery of the confession room and then follow Ivan’s group’s footprints to capture him, solving the issue effortlessly.
...
Vladimirovich clearly hadn’t anticipated the extent of Ivan’s madness. If he had seen Ivan’s appearance in the lead coffin tunnel, he would never have chosen this dangerous plan.
At that moment, four factions had entered the base, and Alexander Legion was almost annihilated. No one knew whether crazed warriors still roamed around the confession room.
Vladimirovich fled far away, on his way back to find Ivan.
It was only Chen Zhou who was closest to Ivan.
He watched as Ivan and his confidants lifted half of the statue resembling an alien corpse from the lead coffin, carrying it out of the tunnel, leaving along the other side of the confession room.
Since lifting the coffin lid and removing the corpse, Ivan and his confidants’ mental states had progressively deteriorated.
Following behind them, Chen Zhou even felt that Ivan’s confidants had become walking corpses; their gait was perfectly synchronized, breathing evenly like machines, clearly not the behavior of normal people.
Several times, Chen Zhou had opportunities to directly shoot and kill Ivan, but he didn’t fire.
He was far too eager to know what connection this base had with the Space-Time Administration Bureau, willing to take on more risk for this knowledge.
Moreover, Ivan was now bizarrely unsettling, and even if he stood with his back to Chen Zhou without any resistance, Chen Zhou hesitated before pulling the trigger, pondering whether he had fallen into Ivan’s trap.
...
With the corpse in his possession, Ivan navigated the base like the back of his hand.
Trailing behind him, Chen Zhou was only then able to see the secrets of the first underground level of the base—
Seemingly ordinary walls or storage cabinets often concealed hidden doors or passages. They passed through complex laboratories and staircases, steadily advancing towards the second underground level and even deeper.
The further they distanced themselves from the confession room, the weaker the mysterious chanting became, although the ominous feeling in Chen Zhou’s heart did not weaken—in fact, it intensified.
By intuition, he believed that he had followed Ivan through a passage running through the entire base, reaching the third underground level or even deeper.
If Ivan hadn’t deceived him entirely, it was certain that after entering the third underground layer, the danger would sharply increase.
Now, he had stepped into this life-forbidden zone untouched for half a century.
...
Not daring to stay too close to Ivan, once the chanting weakened, Chen Zhou deliberately widened the distance between them, tracking only by sound and the footprints on the ground.
The corridor remained as dark and oppressive as ever; the deeper they went, the dirtier the stains on the walls became.
Later, there even appeared torn mummified bodies and human bones.
Metal cages bearing various warning signs stood along the corridor, confining now-dead test subjects.
Further ahead, Chen Zhou saw the "isolated room as if attacked by a bear," which Ivan had mentioned.
In truth, Ivan’s statement was somewhat conservative.
If Pleistocene era megafauna like Cave Bears or Blade-toothed Tigers still existed and had been artificially modified, only then could damage of this extent be caused—
Iron plates roughly 5mm thick were clawed with scratches up to 2cm wide, walls made of small brick sections pushed down entirely, even sturdy reinforced concrete walls showed numerous indentations.
Just passing by and witnessing the damage left by unknown entities instilled a profound sense of fear.
After all, these were not traces left by explosives but proof of actual living organisms.
Thinking about Ivan’s mention of modified creatures still alive deep in the base, even Chen Zhou, who craved excitement, couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat quicken; along with the excitement came a long-missed shiver.
...
Due to the pressure brought by the deep, modified base, along with the unknown crisis lurking in the darkness, Chen Zhou’s steps became much more cautious, and his pursuit of Ivan slowed.
Nevertheless, the base was only so big, and Ivan’s path had few junctions.
Even while Chen Zhou closely observed the destruction marks on the walls, he didn’t fall much behind.
With his heart in his throat, after approximately an hour of walking, Chen Zhou suddenly noticed from behind a corner that the blue light ahead vanished without warning.
"Did Ivan put the bones back into the container?"
With this thought, maintaining a distance from the claw-marked wall in case of an ambush from unknown creatures, he cautiously peeked from the corner.
...
The base situated underground, although equipped with a complete ventilation and drainage system, it provided no sensation of air gusts inside.
After all, it was surrounded by thick walls, and it was winter at the surface, covered in ice and snow.
The aged ventilation system couldn’t function effectively without power; the fact that there was enough oxygen was testament to the Soviet workers not cutting corners—it was unrealistic to expect the air to be as fresh as outside.
Yet as Chen Zhou peeked, he heard a gusty wind roaring from the end of the tunnel.
Looking towards the slightly downward-sloping end, he saw, about 50m away, where the concrete road suddenly dipped, dragging down the steel-reinforced concrete on either side to form a massive pit.
Ivan and his confidants, along with the glowing remains, vanished here, and the windy noise emanated from the deep pit.
"Did they fall in?"
After a cautious assessment, Chen Zhou slowly moved forward, trying to approach the pit’s edge to see how deep it was and where it led.
These were probably the longest 50m Chen Zhou had ever walked.
When he stopped and looked down from the edge, all he could see was endless darkness, devoid of any light, or fragments of buildings, let alone the vanished Ivan and his group.
"Damn, I knew he was a madman, daring to jump into a place like this!"
As if the solidified darkness were a slumbering beast, a mere glance instilled deep terror.
Chen Zhou even felt an uncontrollable urge to jump down, though he managed to restrain himself in time.
Seeking thrills wasn’t akin to seeking death; instinctively, he wanted to back away from the pit, abandoning any further pursuit of Ivan’s destination or scheme.
Yet, before taking a couple of steps, he saw a brilliant blue light erupting from the pit’s bottom.
Instantly, the blue crystal embedded in platinum on his chest radiated a brightness equal to that from the pit, even hovering.
"Not good!"
This was the only thought Chen Zhou managed before the crystal yanked him into the pit like a metal to a magnet.
Frantically, he removed his helmet, attempting to take off the crystal necklace.
However, it was too late.
The solid ground beneath his feet suddenly vanished; he tumbled into the pit, illuminated as bright as day by the blue light.
The cold light symbolically emitted a burning sensation in Chen Zhou.
In an instant, he was shattered; it felt identical to the moment he returned to the modern age after a challenge.
The blue crystal on his chest dissolved into the blue world, then Chen Zhou’s consciousness blurred.