Chapter 303: Prisoner Beneath the Earth

My field of vision was swallowed by a cold torrent of machinery; the final moment was white light, blinding, indescribable white light.

Immediately after, it wasn't pain; my body was torn apart and flung away by an invisible force.

My ears exploded with noise—the screeching of twisting metal, deafening blasts, and the thunderous roar of collapsing stone all blended into one.

Together with the few Scavengers that had been locked onto him, he was swept away by a violent blast of air, crashing through the already loose ground beneath him like a ragdoll; the sharp pain of shattering bones and the suffocating sensation of crushed internal organs struck simultaneously.

Boom!

I slammed into the ground.

Everything went black.

Utter darkness, enough to suffocate a person alive.

I don't know how much time passed.

A few seconds? Or a few hours?

Lin Yu's consciousness finally struggled out of the abyss of pain just a little.

It hurts.

Every inch of my body, there isn't a place that doesn't hurt.

My left arm feels broken, sending waves of piercing, sharp pain; my ribs must have broken in a few places too, every breath carrying a tearing sensation; my internal organs are all displaced, churning like a stormy sea, my mouth full of the stench of blood.

I tried to move my fingers, but the intense pain made me unable to hold back a muffled groan; I'm still alive—this thought brought a tiny bit of comfort, but that was all.

Beneath me is cold standing water, soaking in rust, machine oil, and the indescribable stench of something rotting.

I seem to be trapped in a narrow space, with a rough, slippery pipe wall behind me; struggling to turn my head, relying on instincts carved into my bones, I began to check my condition.

Left arm fractured, several ribs broken, likely internal bleeding, right leg pierced by something sharp and still slowly seeping blood; thankfully, my spine doesn't feel broken.

Gritting my teeth, I used my still-functional right hand to feel for the medical kit on my tactical vest; luck was on my side, the kit was still there, though soaked through, and the contents were likely ruined.

Tearing open the waterproof lining, I fished out a few rolls of elastic bandages that could still be used, a small bottle of disinfectant spray, and the last two potent painkillers.

No anesthetic, I'll have to tough it out.

Using my teeth and right hand in coordination, I endured the agony to clean the wound on my right leg as best I could, sprayed it with disinfectant, and then used the bandages to bind it tightly to stop the bleeding.

Next, I treated my left arm.

I found a piece of metal pipe nearby that was relatively straight, bound my broken arm to the fragment with bandages, and made a makeshift splint.

Every movement broke me out in a cold sweat, but I just gritted my teeth and didn't make a sound.

After finishing these, I was already exhausted to the point of collapse, leaning my back against the cold pipe wall, panting heavily.

I gave myself a shot of the painkiller.

As the medicine took effect, the pain lessened a bit, but it was followed by waves of dizziness and nausea.

Only after recovering slightly did I begin to survey my surroundings.

This looks like an abandoned maintenance tunnel on a lower level of the base; it's narrow and low, and the air is incredibly foul.

Overhead are collapsed concrete blocks and twisted steel bars, blocking the way up.

Not far from me are the remains of two completely totaled, twisted-into-knots Scavengers, their iron shells covered in scorch marks and holes from the explosion.

Just then, from above the ruins overhead, a few shouts could be vaguely heard.

Very muffled.

"Xuanyuan... Lin Shu..."

It's Xu Xiaochuan!

Lin Yu's heart tightened; he opened his mouth to shout, only to find his throat dry and tight, his chest hurting too severely, and he couldn't make a sound at all.

He heard the weak conversation between Xu Xiaochuan and Xuanyuan Qing from above.

Then came the sound of moving stones.

Finally, the sound of them leaving; the footsteps grew more and more distant until they couldn't be heard.

They found a way out.

Lin Yu let out a sigh of relief.

Immediately after, a bitter smile followed.

Am I... buried alive?

No, I have to find another way.

I rested for a while, gathered some strength, and began to drag my severely injured body, crawling forward through the dark, slippery pipe.

I remember the early blueprints of the base; they seemed to mention that these maintenance tunnels connected to older sewage systems, or perhaps some kind of emergency shelter.

I have to take the gamble.

My right hand groped along the cold pipe wall.

Suddenly, my fingertips touched some uneven markings.

Not rust, nor damage.

It was a mark deliberately left by someone.

I leaned in closer, and by the faint light leaking through the gaps in the ruins above, I barely made out some abstract geometric shapes and lines.

The style was very old, like engineering symbols no longer in use.

One of the marks made my pupils shrink.

A circle with several intersecting lines inside, vaguely forming a twisted snake shape.

It seemed to have some indescribable connection to that mysterious organization, the Ouroboros.

Darkness. Viscous, cold, carrying a mixed, foul stench of rust and some kind of organic decay.

Every breath Lin Yu took tugged at his broken ribs, the sharp pain piercing straight into his chest cavity. His left arm was secured with a makeshift splint, and every movement brought a dull ache of bones rubbing together. The wound on his right leg was soaking in the cold standing water, a persistent burning sensation seeping through the numbness.

Using his still-functional right hand and his feet, he inched forward bit by bit in the narrow pipe. The metal pipe walls were slippery and cold, covered in a thick, unknown, sticky substance. With every exertion, his muscles protested, and the edges of his vision began to blacken. The effect of the painkiller was fading, and the agony was washing back over him like a tide.

He could not stop. Xu Xiaochuan and Xuanyuan Qing had gone up, and he had been buried underneath. But here, perhaps there was another way.

His right fingers traced the rough pipe wall, touching some irregular protrusions. They were not rust. He stopped his movements and tilted his head to listen; there was only the faint sound of dripping water in the distance and his own heavy breathing. His fingertips carefully traced those marks. Geometric shapes, lines, forming some kind of complex pattern. It was very ancient, not belonging to any modern engineering system.

He forced himself to concentrate, recalling those blueprints of abandoned facilities and marking systems he had encountered during his training many years ago. These symbols... seemed to be indicating a direction, or marking a danger.

He dragged his body and continued forward. The pipe branched here. The passage on the left was filled with a pungent chemical odor; even through his damaged Combat Uniform, he could feel a stinging sensation on his skin. Poison gas.

He turned to the right without hesitation. On the right pipe wall, that kind of mark appeared again: a circle with several intersecting lines inside, pointing deeper within.

He crawled for who knows how long, his physical strength nearly exhausted. Every movement had become a torture. The lack of water and food made his lips crack, and his throat felt as if it had been sanded with sandpaper.

Just when he was about to give up and his consciousness began to blur, his right hand touched a relatively flat metal surface. A door? He pushed hard, but it did not budge. There seemed to be some kind of latch structure on the side, long since rusted shut.

Lin Yu gritted his teeth, braced his shoulder against the door, and pressed his entire body's strength onto it. Creak—a teeth-grinding sound of metal twisting rang out, and the door was pushed open a crack.

He squeezed inside and fell to the ground.

The space here was slightly larger, like a small maintenance station that had been abandoned for a long time. The air was equally foul, but at least there was no lethal poison gas. In the corner, some decayed tools were piled up, and a damaged, yellowed blueprint hung on the wall.