Chapter 235: The Shadow

"Da Lou, Kiki, you two go together to the 7th floor and bring back that full-spectrum life surgery medical pod to the vehicle first, then Shunbian call down a few more people."

Lin Xian looked out the window at the empty research hall and the numerous remaining research devices, and said directly: "While the water hasn't reached us yet, let's thoroughly loot this research institute. I see many staff rest areas and offices here—even if it's just basic supplies, don't leave anything behind. We won't get another chance like this."

"Mm." Shu Qin nodded: "You're right. The No. 5 and No. 7 Star Abysses are now spreading, and no matter which route we take from now on, we'll be moving closer to the Star Abysses. The faster we go, the sooner night falls. This afternoon, survivors on the radio have already reported blizzards over the East, North Line, and Palma Grasslands—multiple extreme cold vortices are heading our way, and the No. 3 Star Abyss isn't far off either."

Ding Junyi was busy sifting through papers scattered on the floor of Hua Xiaoling's office, not looking up as she said: "The extreme cold vortices are caused by moist air from the Yunjiang Plain's Shijiu Lake and the Southeastern Seas being dragged along by the tides of the No. 8 and No. 4 Star Abysses. This blizzard will be unprecedented. The Federation already assessed this as a natural disaster risk before—and the prediction has proven accurate."

Lin Xian's expression darkened slightly: "Yes. The temperature at Hengshan Pass has been dropping steadily. Once we leave this station, we must charge straight through the encirclement of the No. 5 and No. 7 Star Abysses. There won't be many chances along the way to scavenge supplies or replenish. If we have the chance now, grab it."

Kiki shrugged, her big eyes wide with confusion: "I can carry that thing out by myself. Why do you need Da Ge?"

Lin Xian gave her a deadpan look: "That thing's priceless. If you run into trouble on the way, you'll need someone to watch your back. Otherwise, you'll just toss it like a sandbag to smash zombies—and where am I supposed to get another one?"

Kiki stuck out her tongue, thinking that was exactly the kind of thing she'd do.

"Got it, Brother Xian. We're off." Da Lou nodded, never questioning Lin Xian's orders.

"Be careful, okay? I'll go back and bring more people to strip this place bare!" Kiki said, then followed Da Lou back up to the 7th floor.

Lin Xian glanced at Director Ding, still busy searching for data, then turned to Shu Qin: "Let's go. I think this floor will flood soon. We'll check around first, find anything useful, then work our way up floor by floor. I bet the armory on the 5th floor still has usable gear."

"Mm." Shu Qin nodded, pulled out her Remington M96, and the three of them headed down the stairs from the end of the office toward the research hall below.

Before they even reached the bottom, they heard the sloshing of water echoing, and several lights flickered and dimmed from short circuits.

Lin Xian and the others descended to find water already flooding the lower corridor—deep enough to cover their ankles, sending an icy chill through them instantly.

Boom… boom… The muffled rush of wind howled endlessly from deep within the passage.

"The water's reached this floor," Shu Qin said upon seeing the scene.

Lin Xian frowned and immediately abandoned searching this level: "Forget it. Let's go to the 8th floor."

He decided safety came first. Though the research hall had plenty of equipment he could consume, it would take too much time. The entire institute was leaking water now—he had to let it go.

He'd considered assigning people to carry whatever they could, but under these conditions, priority was always useful supplies—not consumables for his consumption.

Besides, once he got out, he could return under cover of night to consume the "Night Star 2" nuclear turbine processor aboard the Dragon-class transport ship. He knew which option was safer.

"Wait." Ding Junyi pointed at a floor layout sign on the wall: "The information archive room is just ahead. I think we should check it. This institute has many inexplicable things—if we can get more useful data, it'll help us."

Lin Xian looked at Ding Junyi, paused, then nodded: "Alright. It shouldn't be far."

Without delay, the three stepped into the flooded corridor and headed toward the information archive room.

Because the 9th floor's ceiling height equaled three stories, certain classified research areas and archives were separated into their own zone. After turning the corner, the open passage ahead was filled with clear water.

Splash… splash… splash…

Only the sound of their footsteps splashing through water echoed through the passage—strangely eerie.

Soon, the three passed through the corridor into another section of the 9th floor, climbed the stairs, and came upon a hallway that had once been tightly sealed.

This area hadn't been flooded yet. A straight corridor led to a large yellow door, equipped with access control and security scanners.

"So this must be the information archive room."

Lin Xian hadn't expected much—internal network systems had been fully transferred, and top-secret data wouldn't be left on paper. But since he'd brought Director Ding, he hoped for some discovery.

So far, he strongly suspected the afternoon's marker bait was the Foundation's doing—a move that aligned with the Foundation's lead over the Federation and Phoenix Society in many research fields. But he couldn't understand why they'd deliberately leave a Phoenix Society emblem behind.

Shu Qin studied the terrain and said: "There's a staircase here. Afterward, we can go straight up to the 8th floor without backtracking."

Lin Xian nodded, walked over, and activated his Mechanical Heart on the archive room door. The tightly sealed door opened quickly.

Creak~

The door swung open, and lights in the archive room flickered on one by one. The neatly arranged information cabinets had once been packed with storage servers loaded with media—but now they were completely empty. Only one terminal server remained, maintaining the base's basic infrastructure.

Lin Xian stepped inside, sighed: "Of course. But they clearly had plenty of time to evacuate—this doesn't look like a panicked flight from some monster."

Shu Qin nodded: "All the key items are gone, and there's no sign of attack. It was an orderly evacuation. I suspect only the lower flooded areas might've encountered something."

"And their testing grounds," Lin Xian said.

At that moment, Ding Junyi walked over silently, approached the control terminal, and without a word, began typing rapidly.

"Large organizations enforce strict emergency protocols—fire, anthrax, air raids—all require full-spectrum information coverage to ensure every specialized position and work area is notified. So during evacuations, besides internal comms, intranet emails, area broadcasts, and light alarms, they also use personnel transmission chains. Beyond the intranet, the base systems also receive these alerts—and they never go offline during evacuation, because they control circuits, access, air, and other vital life-support systems. So…"

"This terminal would've received the evacuation notice."

Tap-tap-tap.

Ding Junyi finished typing the final keystroke. A red log entry immediately appeared on the screen—exactly as she'd predicted: a full-line evacuation notice!

Lin Xian's expression changed. He hadn't expected Director Ding to be such a computer expert. He hurried over with Shu Qin and saw the screen clearly display:

【Emergency Evacuation (Level 5)】【16: 5】

"16: 5??"

"What's wrong, Captain Lin?" Shu Qin asked.

Lin Xian's pupils narrowed: "That time—I and Kiki just left the institute!!"

Ding Junyi looked at him, confused: "Did something happen here?"

Lin Xian's gaze darkened slightly: "I'll explain later. Let's go."

At that moment, Lin Xian felt a strange unease—was this coincidence… or intentional?

Click-click~

Suddenly, a faint sound echoed from the distant machine room. Lin Xian and Shu Qin immediately raised their weapons, eyes locking onto the same direction.

"Captain Lin, I'll check it out."

Shu Qin moved to go, but Lin Xian held her back, then signaled her to stand behind Director Ding. The two formed a protective formation around Ding Junyi.

Lin Xian drew his black pistol, waved his left hand, and instantly conjured an automatic rifle. He moved ahead, following the narrow server corridor toward the rear of the archive room, gradually approaching the source of the sound.

!

Click~

The sound came again—clearer this time. Lin Xian frowned, slowed his pace further, rounded the corner, and found a passage leading to a machine room's power distribution room.

He stepped forward slowly, then pushed open the slightly ajar dust cover.

As his gaze swept inside, his pupils contracted—he saw a strange black shadow standing in the dim corner of the machine room. It had two long, goat-like horns on its head, its entire body covered in black whiskers, humanoid yet not human.

Seeing this, Lin Xian didn't hesitate—he fired a rapid burst from his automatic rifle.

Bang-bang-bang!!

Bullets tore into the black shadow, spraying out chunks like charred wood. The shadow, startled, extended several long black-clawed limbs and sprinted down the right corridor.

Lin Xian's eyes flickered with surprise. This was the first time he'd encountered a strange entity that ran after being hit—usually, they charged straight at him.

The thought flashed through his mind, but he didn't pause. His power armor surged with momentum—he lunged forward, snatched up his black pistol, and prepared to eliminate the thing.

If it couldn't fight, it ran. If it could fight, he'd kill it—now he knew the Dark Markers wouldn't be allowed to mark him or his teammates. Who knew what trouble they'd summon next night?

Whoosh!

Lin Xian charged forward, his speed so great he kicked off the corridor wall, using the rebound to pursue. But as he turned the corner, he saw something even stranger.

The corridor ahead had been a dead end—no exit. Yet the black shadow was now clinging to the wall, its entire body shrinking, as if squeezing into some narrow opening.

Lin Xian reacted instantly—he seized his black pistol, unleashed maximum torque, and hurled it with all his strength!

Whirr!

The power armor's microcomputer controlled the black pistol's flight engine, accelerating it mid-air. The weapon pierced through the air with a sonic boom and shot straight through the shadow's remaining side torso.

Scrape-scrape-scrape! The black pistol embedded itself diagonally into the wall, spraying wood splinters everywhere.

Gloop-gloop-gloop~

The black shadow emitted a croaking, toad-like sound, then rapidly vanished into a narrow ventilation duct. Its black claws scraped against the metal walls with a shrill, grating noise before disappearing entirely.

"Damn it!"

Lin Xian rushed forward, retracted his black pistol, and saw the ventilation duct was barely the size of a palm—the thing had slithered inside like an octopus.

"Captain Lin," Shu Qin said, guarding Ding Junyi as she entered: "Did it get away?"

Lin Xian nodded, hefted his black pistol, and pinched some black fragments from the tip. His brow furrowed.

Wet?

"Be careful. It might be something from the water."

Lin Xian looked up and saw Ding Junyi flushed with excitement, breathing rapidly, eyes gleaming. He couldn't help asking: "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about me. This place… is indeed dangerous."

Lin Xian rubbed his forehead. The woman kept saying it was dangerous—but why did she look like she was having the time of her life?

Shu Qin stood beside them, utterly baffled. Lin Xian quickly said: "Let's go. Head to the 8th floor. Avoid any flooded areas."

"Mm."

The three left the information archive room, walked down the corridor to the zone's exit, and stepped out into a massive mechanical workshop. High ceilings, overhead railings. Directly opposite was a hangar elevator. The entire hangar was submerged in water. The stairs lay at the far end of a long, straight corridor.

"Captain Lin, look over here!!" Shu Qin suddenly shouted.

Lin Xian turned toward her voice—and his expression changed instantly. In the deep water of the sunken hangar, the upper half of a massive emerald-green mech was exposed, its power core dead, its combat arms dangling into the water.

"T8-Z Vulcan Military Assault Model!!" Lin Xian blurted out in shock.

(End of Chapter)