Chapter 239: Fissure Stealth and Forgotten Outpost

Cold underground water wrapped around her body, carrying a bone-chilling chill and an indescribable pressure. Lingna clenched her teeth, enduring the searing pain of her left arm wound soaked in water and the numbness in her right leg, straining to follow the blurred figure ahead.

The elf commander who called himself Raven clutched the unconscious Ellie in one arm, while his other hand skillfully groped forward through the narrow, winding, completely flooded fissure—he seemed extraordinarily familiar with this hidden path, always avoiding dangerous whirlpools and sharp rocks.

Lingna had nearly exhausted the meager strength she had just regained, relying solely on the will not to fall into despair again. The icy river water continuously drained her body heat, and her consciousness began to blur from blood loss and cold. The faint glow emitted by the fragment of “Tear” was the only solace in the darkness.

It seemed to have passed a long time, yet also only an instant—the water pressure ahead suddenly eased.

Raven surfaced first, scanning his surroundings with caution, then lifted Ellie up and climbed out with agility. He turned back and extended his hand to Lingna, still in the water.

Lingna used her last strength to grasp his hand, and he pulled her up in one swift motion.

She collapsed onto the cold, rough ground, coughing violently, expelling the water she had inhaled, soaked to the skin and shivering uncontrollably; her left arm wound began bleeding again from the ordeal.

Raven gently laid Ellie down on a relatively dry spot nearby, quickly checked her condition, confirmed it remained stable, then immediately turned to Lingna’s side.

“Your wound needs treatment.” His tone remained brief, yet less icy than before, carrying a faint trace of concern. He pulled a hemostatic spray and bandages from his emergency kit and began skillfully treating the gruesome wound on her left arm.

The sting of the spray made Lingna gasp, but also cleared her mind somewhat. She studied Raven’s focused profile—his emerald eyes appeared especially deep in the dim light.

“Thank you…” Lingna whispered, her emotions complicated. Minutes ago, he had been the cold clearance commander under the Doctor’s command; now he was a fellow fugitive.

“Don’t thank me. I’m merely repaying a debt to Elder Elana and this Ark.” Raven didn’t look up, his voice low. “Besides, saving you is also to stop the Doctor.”

His bandaging was clean and efficient; he quickly stopped the bleeding and secured the wound properly with the bandages.

After treating the wound, Raven took two high-energy nutrient vials from his pack, handed one to Lingna, and fed the other to the still-unconscious Ellie.

The cold liquid food slid down her throat, bringing a faint warmth and strength; Lingna felt somewhat better.

Only now did she have a chance to observe where they were. It seemed to be the edge of an ancient underground river channel—small in space, the air damp but still fresh. One side of the channel was the pool they had climbed out of; the other side was a steep rock wall, bearing an unremarkable fissure entrance, just wide enough for one person to pass through, pitch-black inside, leading nowhere known.

“Where are we?” Lingna asked.

“An abandoned ancient waterway leading to the ‘Night Watch Outpost.’” Raven tucked away the empty nutrient vial packaging, his gaze fixed on the dark fissure. “It was secretly modified by Elder Elana using an unrecorded error node from the Ark’s early survey maps—a contingency base that, theoretically, has not yet been covered by the Doctor’s surveillance network. We need to rest there and decide our next move.”

Night Watch Outpost? It sounded like a name full of hope.

Raven shouldered Ellie again, gestured for Lingna to follow, then stepped first into the fissure.

Inside, the fissure was initially extremely narrow, requiring her to turn sideways to pass; the rock walls were cold and slick. But after walking about ten meters, the space gradually widened, and rough stone steps appeared beneath their feet, ascending steadily.

Raven seemed intimately familiar with this place—he could accurately avoid obstacles even in absolute darkness. Lingna could only struggle to follow the sound of his footsteps and breathing, groping her way forward.

After ascending a long distance, a faint glow finally appeared ahead.

The light came from a heavy door, seemingly made of some ancient alloy, airtight in design. Beside it was a simple keypad, styled in an extremely archaic manner.

Raven carefully set Ellie against the wall, then walked to the door and swiftly entered a long, complex code into the keypad.

Beep—click.

A soft sound echoed as the airtight door emitted a muffled hiss of escaping air and slowly opened a crack inward.

A dry, dusty, faintly oily air surged out from within.

Raven cautiously peered inside, then gestured for Lingna to follow, stepping through first.

Lingna took a deep breath and stepped in after him.

The sight beyond the door made her eyes widen slightly.

It was a modest but fully equipped hidden base. The ceiling was low, lined with aging light strips providing steady illumination. The walls were cold metal, covered with countless dead display screens and instrument interfaces. In the center stood an operations console, scattered with ancient tools and data boards. In the corner were a few simple storage lockers and a rudimentary resting cot. Though the entire space was coated in dust and clearly long abandoned, it remained relatively intact—as if time had frozen here.

Most striking was a hand-drawn, slightly yellowed partial schematic of the Ark, mounted on one wall. It bore dense annotations and symbols in elf script, with several areas prominently circled—including the Seventh Ecological Garden, the Hall of Echoes, and the Sanctuary. Below the schematic, written in bold, powerful elf script, were these words:

【Though the night be endless, the Night Watch still watches for dawn. —Elana】

This, then, was one of Elder Elana’s remaining seeds of hope.

“Safe. For now.” Raven carefully inspected the entire room, confirmed no surveillance devices or signs of intrusion, and exhaled slightly. He gently laid Ellie on the resting cot and covered her with a thermal blanket.

Lingna leaned wearily against the operations console, surveying the safehouse. Her taut nerves finally loosened a fraction; overwhelming exhaustion crashed over her like a collapsing mountain.

Raven walked to the storage lockers, opened one, and inside were neatly arranged emergency rations, clean water, medical supplies—even several sets of clean, ancient-style elf-issue combat uniforms.

“There’s food, water, and basic medical supplies. You can clean up and change clothes.” Raven handed her some items. “We need to recover our strength quickly. The Doctor won’t give us much time.”

Lingna accepted them gratefully. She truly needed to wash off the blood and icy river water.

In a corner of the room was a small partition with basic cleaning facilities. Lingna stepped inside and quickly washed her body and wound with cold water, then changed into the slightly oversized but clean, comfortable elf combat uniform. The cold fabric pressed against her skin, bringing an odd sense of calm.

When she emerged, freshly arranged, she found Raven standing before the schematic, frowning deeply, as if studying something intently. On the operations console, an aging terminal screen glowed faintly, scrolling complex data.

“Any discoveries?” Lingna asked as she approached.

Raven didn’t turn, his finger tapping a region on the schematic repeatedly circled but labeled: “Permission insufficient. Data missing.” “The Doctor’s core laboratory and main control zone. Most of his research and power are concentrated there. We must find a way in—at least to know how far he’s progressed.”

His gaze shifted again to the areas marked for the Seventh Ecological Garden and the Hall of Echoes, his expression darkening. “And according to Elder Elana’s scattered notes, the Ark’s ‘heart’—its main energy core and most critical ‘Ark Control Hub’—likely lies beneath this region, possibly even overlapping with the Doctor’s laboratory. He’s certainly trying to seize control of them too.”

Ark Control Hub? If they could control it, did that mean they could turn against the Doctor?

“Can we get in?” Lingna’s hope flickered.

“Difficult.” Raven shook his head. “Its defenses are top-tier—patrolled by the Doctor’s elite forces and automated systems, with extremely strict identity verification. Even my former clearance level couldn’t access the core zone.” He paused, turning to Lingna. “Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless we have a higher clearance level. Like… the Night Watch’s highest clearance.” Raven’s gaze fixed on the terminal. “Elder Elana may have left something here.”

He quickly operated the terminal; data scrolled rapidly across the screen.

Lingna leaned in to look, but most of the complex elf script and code meant nothing to her—she could only wait anxiously.

Suddenly, the terminal screen flashed—a login authentication interface popped up, accompanied by a peculiar palm-shaped scanner.

“Biometric verification required… it’s Elder Elana’s…” Raven attempted to place his palm on the scanner.

【Verification failed. Permission denied.】 The terminal emitted a cold prompt.

Raven sighed—he had expected this.

At that moment, Lingna, almost without thinking, extended her left hand and pressed it against the scanner.

She didn’t know why she did it—only that she instinctively felt: if Elder Elana had left behind the “key” and the “Twin Light” clues, perhaps…

【Special energy signature detected… Sequence comparison in progress…】 The terminal paused for several seconds, data flashing wildly across the screen. 【…Partial match… Identified as ‘Seed’ Guardian sequence… Temporary access granted (Level VII).】

It worked!

Though only temporary, the screen’s interface shifted instantly, revealing hidden menus and file lists!

Raven glanced at Lingna in surprise, then immediately focused on the screen. “Excellent! See what’s here!”

Most files were encrypted, but one text file named “Night Watch Log—Final Entry” was readable.

Raven opened it immediately.

The screen displayed a series of hastily written, chaotic entries in elf script:

【…The disaster is out of control… The ‘Hunger’ contamination rate far exceeds projections… We’ve lost direct contact with the ‘Heart’ and the ‘Hub’…】【…The Doctor… Did he foresee this? Or did he accelerate it?… His lab’s energy readings are wildly abnormal… He’s conducting dangerous experiments…】【…We must execute ‘Deep Root Protocol’… It’s the only way to preserve the ‘Seed’…】【…I secretly modified a power node in the Seventh Maintenance Corridor… Left a physical-layer backup command channel… Perhaps… perhaps future seekers can use it to bypass the Doctor’s lockdown and briefly reboot a secondary system of the ‘Heart’… Even for an instant… it could create an opening…】【…Node coordinates: Gamma-7, Node ID: Night Owl’s Eye. Activation command: In the name of dawn…】【…May the seekers find hope…】

The log ended abruptly.

Gamma-7 node? Night Owl’s Eye? In the name of dawn?

This seemed a tiny fissure leading to victory!

“Gamma-7 node… I know that place!” Raven’s eyes lit up. He swiftly located the corresponding coordinates on the schematic. “It’s an ancient power distribution station near the edge of the core zone! A physical backup line is entirely possible!”

Hope returned once more!

Yet just as they rejoiced over this discovery—

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The terminal on the operations console suddenly blared a sharp, urgent alarm. A red warning box flashed violently.

【WARNING! High-intensity, multi-band scanning pulses detected approaching this location! Source: Doctor’s Main Lab. Estimated arrival: 2 minutes 17 seconds.】

The Doctor’s active scanning! He had indeed begun a large-scale search—this base would be discovered soon!

“Damn! Move!” Raven’s face darkened. He sprang up and snatched up the still-unconscious Ellie!

Lingna tensed instantly, frantically trying to gather supplies.

“No time! Leave everything! Follow me!” Raven growled, dashing toward the opposite wall. He slammed his palm against a section—it slid open soundlessly, revealing a narrower passage behind, just wide enough for one person!

“This passage leads to lower-level underground pipes—it should temporarily evade the scan! Go!” Raven slipped inside first.

Lingna didn’t hesitate—she followed immediately.

As she stepped into the passage, she thought she heard a heavy, rhythmic pounding coming from the direction of the base’s airtight door.

The Doctor’s pursuers… were already at the door!

The wall sealed shut behind her, cutting off the base’s light and the frantic alarm.

Darkness engulfed her again—only Raven’s faint footsteps and breathing guided her forward.

A new escape had begun.