Chapter 305: Colleagues of the Abyssal Ring

The sight beyond the door made everyone hold their breath.

It was a laboratory that seemed to have been ravaged by monsters.

The equipment lay toppled in all directions, glass shards covered the floor, charred, curled papers were scattered across the burnt, blackened ground.

The walls were smeared with dark, splattered stains and deep gouge marks.

And the most striking thing was a skeleton beside the console at the center of the lab.

Its tattered white coat was still faintly recognizable as white, but now it was stained with dull grime.

The skeleton's twisted posture was unsettling; it was not lying peacefully but half‑leaning on the half‑destroyed console, its skull bowed as if gazing at something for the last time.

A bizarre, bone‑like dagger pierced its chest precisely, pinning it firmly to the edge of the console.

On the dagger's hilt sat a pigeon‑egg‑sized violet crystal, dim and lifeless, as if it had lost its function.

The skeleton's fingers, long turned to bone, still clutched tightly onto a bright red, conspicuous emergency button on the control panel.

Time seemed to have frozen here.

At the moment the disaster struck, despair, resolve, betrayal, or sacrifice… all stories were abruptly cut off, sealed within this desperate posture.

Cheng Shuili's gaze was instantly captured by that strange dagger and the violet crystal.

She instinctively stepped half a pace forward, her pupils narrowing slightly, wanting to examine the dagger closely. As she moved closer, an indescribable chill crept up her spine.

That indescribable chill was not an illusion.

Just as Cheng Shuili's eyes locked onto the strange dagger, the skeleton pinned to the console at the lab's center moved its skull ever so slightly…

A faint "ka‑da" click rang out, so clear in the dead silence it made the hair on one's scalp stand up.

The drooping skull, as if pulled by an invisible thread, rose extremely slowly, accompanied by a sour‑tinged bone‑rubbing sound, inch by inch. Its hollow eye sockets no longer faced the ground but turned slowly, precisely, toward the uninvited guest at the doorway.

Deep within those sockets, there were no eyeballs, no flesh, only two faint, heart‑pounding violet glimmers, flickering like a dying candle in the wind, silently "staring" at the intruder.

"Back off!"

Cheng Shuili barked a low command, extending her arm to pull the curious Jiang Tang back, then she lunged half a step backward; Night Hunt stood before her, staring intently at the revived skeleton.

Strangely, they seemed to have no intention to attack; instead, like a human who had been immobile for ages and numb all over, they carefully propped their body up, then cautiously shifted posture, and sat cross‑legged on the table beneath their body.

Then, as if just noticing the dagger in their chest, they tilted their head, raised a hand, and grasped the dagger as if to pull it out.

But for some reason, they could only grip the hilt; the action of "pulling it out with force" seemed impossible for them.

Unable, they lifted their head and, with flickering violet eyes, looked at Cheng Shuili, their snow‑white bony fingertips pointing at the chest dagger, asking, "Could you help me pull this out?"

As if I could!

Cheng Shuili is human! Why help a monster that has been babbling since it revived?

She was very cautious, neither hastily agreeing nor outright refusing, but instead used an Insight on the strange fellow.

【Insight activated】

【Name: Remnant Echo】

【Origin: Former core staff of the institute, who tried to trigger the final purification protocol when the disaster erupted, but was betrayed by a companion and nailed to death by a bone blade before the console. A strong obsession fused with pervasive contamination, turning him into a mutated remnant attached to the skeleton, neither living nor undead, but an echo of eternal suffering trapped at the moment of annihilation.】

【Weakness/Advice: You have already found all the hidden things in the Instance; from now on, just listen to him explain the origin of the institute's ruins to clear the stage! He is also my colleague; he will keep tempting you to pull out the bone blade, but do not listen to him. Also, watch the time.】

Right.

Time.

Cheng Shuili opened the panel and glanced; from entering the ruins to now, an hour had already passed.

I have to admit, the Abyssal Ring is still too comprehensive!

The previous Instance also had one of its colleagues.

Cheng Shuili shook her head, refocusing on the matter at hand.

Next… her gaze fell on that skull shimmering with violet light, meaning she was to listen to this fellow's story, right?

Fine, but she's in a hurry; this fellow better speak quickly.

The Remnant Echo, seeing her unresponsive, showed even deeper wariness; its jaw opened and closed a few times, emitting a dry grinding sound, and the two violet glimmers flickered more rapidly, exuding a… agitation?

"Help… help me…" it repeated, its bony fingers stubbornly pointing at the chest bone blade, "Pull it out… the binding… the pain…"

Its voice was hoarse and broken, like a damaged tape struggling to play, carrying a chilling cold that could drag a person into an abyss of despair.

Stared at by the violet light in those hollow sockets, Jiang Tang couldn't help shiver, clutching tightly onto Qi Wan Yi's sleeve.

Cheng Shuili, as if not hearing its plea, instead spoke coldly, her tone almost cruelly calm: "We don't have much time. Tell us what happened here, the institute's disaster, and… who you are."

Ailin found the development too odd, staring blankly at Cheng Shuili, then turning to look at the remnant.

The remnant became even more stunned.

Its hand‑raising motion froze mid‑air, the skull tilted slightly, as if comprehending her words.

Although this Instance has just begun, the specific NPCs in previous Instances have all been rehearsed!

No player jumps straight to the main theme.

Shouldn't there be fear, dread, hesitation, conflict?

How come none of those emotions appear, and it jumps straight into the main storyline?!

The two violet glimmers flickered violently, and the dark splattered stains on the lab walls seemed to grow even darker.

It had been silent too long; Cheng Shuili, a bit impatient, repeated.

Now, even if the skeleton was unwilling, it could only begin recounting what had happened here.

It was probably a story of an institute leak, internal betrayal, and the betrayed protagonist trapped by this dagger here, eternally narrating the original events to later arrivals.

Listening, Cheng Shuili felt a bit sorry for the fellow, but soon she realized it was probably deliberately playing the victim, and the purpose…

…was to get the few humans before her to pull the dagger out for him.