Chapter 109: Passage

“That’s it!”

Kiki shouted, and before she even reached it, she used her ability to tear through empty space—the metal emergency door instantly bent and was ripped from its frame.

Lin Xian didn’t react in time and hurriedly said, “You’re faster at opening doors than I am!”

“Stop wasting time!”

Hollow, empty, empty!

Behind them on the corridor, the tall red humanoid skeleton rapidly emerged, its jointed limbs and bony spines striking the walls with sharp, hollow cracks.

Ugh!

Another piercing sound rang out—Lin Xian didn’t think, just grabbed Kiki and leapt into the stairwell, simultaneously conjuring a door to seal it shut.

Unexpectedly, the other side of the passage was an extremely steep staircase; the two misstepped and tumbled straight down.

“Aaaah!!!”

Kiki spun around and wrapped her arms around Lin Xian’s waist, her eyes flashing with ability—their downward momentum instantly slowed midair, rolling over ten meters before cushioning to a stop, bouncing several times on the stairs before finally coming to rest.

Boom!

The steel door Lin Xian had created was blasted away by the wave of flame, hurtling with tremendous force over their heads before slamming hard into the stairwell wall, instantly bending and glowing red-hot, steaming violently.

Lin Xian stared at the scene, his spine tightening—this thing didn’t just spit fire; its power was absurdly extreme.

“Ow!”

Kiki climbed to her feet, rubbing her butt and her head, groaning in pain.

If not for her ability just now, they’d have smashed their heads open.

Hollow!

Perhaps because the safety door’s entrance was too narrow for the monster to enter, a blood-red hand claw—its flesh seemingly charred—suddenly reached through the doorway, flailing wildly.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Watch out!”

Ignoring the dizziness and pain from their fall, Lin Xian rose without stabilizing himself, yanked Kiki’s hand backward, and they scrambled down several steps of the stairs.

Then they watched as the wildly flailing long claw, having missed, slowly retracted.

Lin Xian’s face was pale with relief—unlike the white giant they’d encountered before, this red humanoid skeleton was covered in muscle-like tissue, radiating steam.

“You! Good!”

After the blood-red hand retracted, a moment later, that eerie voice sounded again.

Immediately, the beams of their flashlights illuminated the doorway, where a blood-red skull face slowly appeared.

Its hollow eyes were like blood-filled voids; it crouched at the threshold, staring at Lin Xian and Kiki as if viewing two prey.

“Oh my god, it spits fire AND talks!!”

Kiki’s eyes widened as she stared at the blood-red skull, scrambling backward in terror: “These things are getting more disgusting by the minute.”

Disgusting? Lin Xian panted as he slowly retreated down the passage, yet a strange unease stirred in him.

That was

This thing… it’s becoming more human.

The moment he thought this, a prickling sensation crawled over his scalp.

“Will it get in?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Xian shone his light down the dark tunnel behind them, his voice grim. “But if it blocks the entrance, we can’t go back the way we came.”

“I’m not going back,” Kiki frowned, her face twisted in revulsion—seeing this thing made nightmares inevitable.

If it were just an ordinary monster, it wouldn’t have inflicted this psychological pressure on Lin Xian and Kiki.

But this thing had a mouth, eyes—it instantly amplified the horror, making them feel physically ill.

“Let’s go. It probably can’t get in.”

Lin Xian stared at the red skull watching them from the doorway, took two sharp breaths, and without hesitation, pulled Kiki down the stairs.

“You! … Good!”

As the two ran far down the stairs, long past the point where the doorway at the top was invisible, that eerie greeting still echoed behind them, sending chills down their spines.

Good your ass! Lin Xian broke into a cold sweat, cursing inwardly.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he’d encountered something this eerie inside a building—far more oppressive than facing it out in the wild.

Thud-thud-thud!

Lin Xian and Kiki, flashlight beams cutting through the dark, descended the stairs, and soon a yellow safety door appeared in view.

“This is it.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs; Lin Xian grabbed Kiki’s hand. “Don’t use your ability to open the door now.”

Though Kiki was already an Evolved, having ability didn’t mean you could waste it recklessly—this underground city held unknown dangers; they had to conserve their strength.

Lin Xian reached for the door handle, activated his Mechanical Heart, instantly syncing with the door’s lock—click—opening it cleanly.

Hhhhh~

The moment the door opened, a cold wind struck their faces. The flashlight beam revealed a subway-like underground tunnel; the tracks, wiring, and emergency passages looked nearly new, yet the entire corridor reeked of thick decay.

“Are we just going down the tracks?”

Kiki asked.

!

“It’s a fair distance—six levels. We’d have to circle at least half the underground city,” Lin Xian pulled out a Geiger counter—it read 56.66 mSv/h, higher than ground level but still within safe limits.

“What else can we do? Run.”

Kiki, wearing a gas mask, panted heavily, her voice muffled and thick.

Beep-beep~

Kiki’s mobile terminal lit up; Ding Jun’s voice came through.

“Have you entered the tracks?”

“We’re in.”

“Understood. The length from Level 89’s entrance to Level 95 is 2,620 meters; the vertical distance to Level 100’s No. 1 pile is 62 meters. If your Sievert reading exceeds 100, abandon the objective.”

Lin Xian exhaled deeply, glancing back at the passage.

“Let’s go. If we fail, we either retrace our steps or climb up through the tunnel.”

“No,” Kiki waved her hand, gasping. “I don’t want to run into that thing again.”

“Let’s go down and see first.”

Lin Xian said no more, stepping forward along the tunnel.

He widened his flashlight’s beam, illuminating the hollow tunnel—newly built, yet the ceiling was already leaking, with cracks appearing in many places. Just as Ding Jun had said, the underground city’s main structure had fractured.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

Just a few steps forward, a violent tremor struck—the tunnel echoed hollowly, sand and water dripped down, leaving them dizzy and ringing in the ears, as if the entire earth was shaking.

“Earthquake?!!”

Lin Xian and Kiki staggered, immediately grabbing the handrails.

“Ah!” Kiki screamed.

The shaking intensified—Lin Xian immediately wrapped his arms around Kiki, pressed her head down, and conjured a shield while adding support pillars to shield them both.

Just as he thought a massive quake was coming, the tremors suddenly weakened, then slowly faded away.

Shhhhhhh…

After the shaking passed, sand and soil continued to fall from the tunnel ceiling; after a while, silence returned.

Beep-beep-beep!

At that moment, the mobile terminal beeped again—Chen Laoshi’s urgent voice came through.

“Lin Xian, Lin Xian, are you okay?!”

“We’re fine,” Lin Xian exhaled in relief upon hearing Chen Sixuan’s voice, but his heart tightened. “Director Ding,” he called out to Ding Jun.

“Have you experienced earthquakes like this before? Is it connected to the subterranean lifeforms?”

Hearing Lin Xian was safe, Chen Sixuan’s expression eased; beside her, Ding Jun spoke up:

“Yes. For the past two weeks, earthquakes of this scale have occurred several times daily, almost always at night.”

Lin Xian’s blood ran cold.

New book, begging for monthly votes, guys—get on board and charge forward!

(End of Chapter)