Chapter 264: Shaking Video

Colonel Johnson still wore the uniform he had on during his mission, but what was once crisp and new was now tattered and caked with dried, greasy grime, so filthy its original color could no longer be discerned.

His hair was dry and brittle, his skin dull, his demeanor gaunt, his beard wild and unkempt—he looked no different from a homeless vagrant.

Of the three others besides Colonel Johnson, Wu Chang had never seen them in Wales's resentment. Colonel Johnson sat at the edge of the four; Wu Chang turned his gaze one by one to the others.

The first wore a dark brown suit and round metal-framed glasses; his demeanor resembled that of the dead Wales—he must have been a scholar.

The second wore a black work uniform, with a name tag pinned to his chest: Station Manager—Pei Taiheng.

The third was easier to identify: he wore distinctive ethnic attire, stitched with large patches of animal hide, and at his waist hung the skull of an unknown creature—he was likely a shaman from the Naru tribe.

Though their identities differed, their physical and mental states mirrored Colonel Johnson's.

The four sat side by side on a long bench, staring blankly at the television mounted on the wall.

The television played a video recorded by a handheld device, without stabilization; the cameraperson was either moving rapidly or trembling, causing the image to shake incessantly, never pausing.

The cameraperson was inside a ruin; fleeting frames of murals flashed within the shaky footage, only to vanish moments later.

It was less as if the cameraperson was filming anything, and more as if he had forgotten to turn off the camera—or was deliberately trying to make viewers nauseous.

Wu Chang endured the five-minute video, which felt like spiritual pollution, until just as he was about to grab the remote to fast-forward, the screen froze on a square stone platform.

On the platform stood a white statue, thirty centimeters in diameter, spiraling upward like a conch shell.

The image held for seven or eight seconds, then a prompt appeared beneath it: "Loop this video." The footage returned to the violently shaking scene.

From the reactions of the four, it was clear that when the screen paused on the final white conch statue, their eyes burned with intense longing.

When the image vanished, the four returned to their vacant stares, staring blankly at the screen, waiting for the next appearance of the white conch.

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow—the white conch was undoubtedly something important.

Not because of the reactions of Johnson and the others, but because when he saw the white conch, the Omniscient Crystal in his personal space flickered, conveying to him a desire for it.

The white conch was crucial to the Omniscient Crystal.

This discovery forced him to change his strategy.

According to Lei Huo's description, the way to exit the Night Island instance was simple: leave Night Island and its surrounding waters.

Malice existed within the darkness of Night Island, and similar malice lurked in the surrounding seas; only by boarding a special vessel existing between life and death could one traverse the waters unharmed.

If only Xiang Jianxing and the others were on the island, the safest course would be to wait seven days.

But with Wu Chang present, there was no need for such inconvenience; according to his original plan, they could build a small wooden boat, have Xiang Jianxing and the other three sit aboard, and he would transform into the Abyssal Leviathan and drag the boat out of Night Island's waters.

As a simple instance, nothing on the island or in the sea could harm him.

His transformed Abyssal Leviathan lacked the monstrous size of a Sea Giant and could not pull a cruise ship like a Sea God General, but dragging a small boat with only four people was no challenge.

But the appearance of the white conch made him abandon his plan to leave Night Island as quickly as possible—if he obtained the white conch, he might use it to bargain with the Omniscient Crystal and borrow its power without soul-binding.

He and the Omniscient Crystal were currently in a stalemate; the Crystal had just revealed a weakness, and if he failed to seize it now, the next opportunity might never come.

As for whether lingering longer in the corruption instance might harm Wang Hai City, Wu Chang believed it would not.

If the Painter wanted to carry out a terrorist attack, he had a thousand methods—why resort to such convoluted means?

Judging from the Painter's actions, he was clearly targeting the Bureau; the corruption instance confined underground was aimed either at Level -3's Crimson Wave Space or Level -6's Exhibition Hall.

He entered the corruption instance solely to rescue someone and incidentally interfere—the Bureau's property damage was none of his concern.

When Wu Chang tore his gaze from the television screen, he had already made up his mind.

He turned to Xiang Jianxing and Lei Huo and asked, "What's their condition?"

Lei Huo explained: "According to intelligence gathered by various organizations, four years ago, the Night Island Research Station was attacked by an unknown creature. Of the forty-two personnel, only these four survived—the rest vanished."

"They're alive, but all insane. They eat when hungry, sleep when tired, but apart from that, they do only two things."

"One: help players entering the island collect a special oil—this oil is likely the fuel for the Night Lamps."

"Two: stare at this television, endlessly replaying the same video. If you stop them from watching, they go berserk and attack you."

Wu Chang sneered. "Attack? What can these four even fight?"

Lei Huo shook his head. "They're weak themselves, but when they go insane, the research station loses power—and darkness floods in."

"Many players have claimed they'd kill these four to see what they drop, but until now, they're still alive; only two Bai Ta players survived by using forced-escape items."

Wu Chang pressed on: "Deputy Director Lei, you said they help collect oil—do you know where to find it?"

Lei Huo nodded. "Collecting oil is one of the conditions to leave Night Island. As soon as we entered the research station, we made the request."

Lei Huo pointed at Colonel Johnson. "We watched him carry a glass bottle into the depths of the station—it was pitch black, we couldn't follow. Now that we have your Night Lamp, we can go see."

The Night Island Research Station was large, but after the accident, four-fifths of it became ruins, swallowed by darkness; only the lobby, recreation room, storage room, and guard room remained intact.

On Night Island, going alone was extremely foolish—even inside the station.

The three returned to fetch Director Gao and Zhao Yan, and under the glow of the Night Lamp, headed toward the darkened areas of the station.

Before Colonel Johnson began collecting oil, Lei Huo marked him; now, as Lei Huo activated his energy, two lines of footprints appeared on the ground—one going, one returning.

They followed the incoming footprints deep into the station, until the trail ended before a heavy iron door.

Wu Chang looked at the others. "Who can pick a lock?"

Xiang Jianxing waved his hand—his flying sword sliced through the lock. He retracted it and added, "I can."

Wu Chang shrugged and pushed open the iron door, revealing a staircase descending downward.

As soon as the door opened, a reeking stench surged upward—not the smell of rotting flesh or blood, but the foul odor of countless dead fish clustered together.

At the bottom of the stairs, the group stared at the scene before them and understood the source of the stench.

On the ceiling of the underground chamber, over thirty fish-headed human monsters hung upside down—they must have been the Deep-Sea Fishmen mentioned in the Night Lamp's instructions.

Unlike the Fishmen of Quiet Town, whose bodies were massive and fully scaled, clearly marine creatures, these Deep-Sea Fishmen resembled ordinary humans with fish heads; not only were their bodies human, they wore clothing of various styles.

Changed—but not completely.

Extracting the oil was simple: slit open the fish head, place a candle beneath it to heat, and the oil inside would slowly melt and drip into the glass bottle.

When the candle went out, the cold air would instantly freeze the oil, preventing waste.

Nearly half of the hanging Deep-Sea Fishmen had their skulls slit open and their oil extracted.

A fish head stripped of all its fat withers and dries, becoming wrinkled and shriveled, regaining five-tenths of a human form.

From these dried fish heads, Wu Chang recognized two people—they were both teammates of Wels.

He counted the bodies: thirty-eight, no more, no less. For other players, the investigation would end here; they would assume that during the attack years ago, the expedition team, aside from the four survivors, had all turned into deep-sea fish folk.

But for Wu Chang, this was not the end.

Because the number matched, but the identities did not.

Among these thirty-eight corpses, there was no Tian Hongzhi.

!

Tian Hongzhi, as an explorer, frequently operated outdoors; he was short, dark-skinned, yet sturdy and compact, like a little cannonball.

But among the hanging corpses here, only two were pure Black men—there was no Black athlete.

The research station was attacked; thirty-eight dead, four driven mad. Yet Tian Hongzhi, who knew the most, faked his death and vanished, replacing himself with a decoy corpse.

Who was the mastermind behind the events of that year? It's truly hard to guess.

Wu Chang clicked his tongue, glancing around—could Tian Hongzhi have been hiding inside this station all four years?

The sudden appearance of dozens of indigenous corpses made the group consider searching them for valuable information, but they found that though the bodies wore their clothing from life, all personal items had been taken.

The perpetrator was extremely cautious—but if he was so careful, why did he let Johnson's four madmen live instead of killing them outright?

Yet the group did not return empty-handed: they found a spare night-light in the underground space, filled its bottle with oil, and now possessed two light sources, greatly accelerating their exploration of the station.

The group passed through the hanging fish folk and entered the second underground level, where they saw a pool of water.

At the bottom of the pool, they could see a second metal door.

Wu Chang looked at Xiang Jianxing and asked, "Can you open this door?"

Xiang Jianxing activated his flying sword, shooting it toward the water; upon contact with the surface, the sword slowed drastically, as if piercing solid matter, straining with effort.

After barely reaching the metal door, the sword had lost nearly all its force, leaving only a faint white scratch on the iron surface.

Xiang Jianxing retracted his sword and spoke solemnly: "There is a force in the water that rapidly drains energy from anyone entering. I cannot overcome it. Moreover, through the flying sword, I can sense..."

Xiang Jianxing paused mid-sentence, noticing Wu Chang had stripped off his sleeveless shirt and pants.

"Why are you taking off your clothes?"

Wu Chang tied a rope around his waist and tossed the other end to Xiang Jianxing. "If I drown, pull me up."

Xiang Jianxing's mind went blank; before he could react, he saw Wu Chang leap into the water.

"Hey, wait!"

As Xiang Jianxing had said, the moment Wu Chang entered the water, he felt a peculiar suction—laced with a faint divine quality—that ordinary abilities could not resist, explaining why Xiang Jianxing's flying sword failed.

But this trace of divinity had no effect on him.

He descended steadily to the bottom, observing the metal door.

This underwater door was meticulously designed: it sealed off passage downward while allowing seawater to surge upward into the pool, making it impossible for Wu Chang and the others to pump the water out.

The metal door was solidly built; Wu Chang pulled with all his might—his enhanced strength of 108 points from his Breakthrough Master bonus could not budge it. Unless he brought in his True Self and activated his Sea Giant transformation, forcing it open by brute force would be difficult.

He must find the key. Perhaps he could ask the four madmen.

But before that, he had another thing to ask.

While the underwater darkness obscured his actions from above, he turned his back to the group, took out the Omniscient Crystal, and whispered:

"You want what's beneath the water? Then you must contribute."

The moment he spoke, his vision blurred; a complex rune appeared in his mind, spinning and flashing twice before materializing on the television screen in the lounge.

The next instant, the clue Wu Chang had seen vanished from his vision.

The clue really was the lounge television.

He turned to swim back to shore—when he willed himself upward, the surface suddenly yanked him out with force.

As Wu Chang emerged from the water, Xiang Jianxing confronted him: "Are you insane?! I just said the water's dangerous, and you still jumped in?"

Wu Chang shrugged. "Don't be so tense. I have the Ocean Favored transformation—I'm half-aquatic. I can feel this sea won't harm me."

Xiang Jianxing and the others studied Wu Chang, checking him repeatedly, confirming he was genuinely confident—not deceived by some malice in the dark—and finally relaxed.

Director Gao sighed. "Even if you're certain, next time move slower. Discuss a solid plan before acting."

Lei Huo did not lecture Wu Chang; he cared more about what Wu Chang had seen underwater. "What's down there?"

Wu Chang: "The door below is thick—it needs a key to open. But I found something underwater. We should go see the four madmen. They might have clues."

The underground space had only two levels; no further exploration was needed. Hearing Wu Chang speak, the group trusted him without question and followed him back to the lounge.

When they returned, the four madmen were still staring blankly at the television.

Wu Chang sat beside Colonel Johnson and joined the four madmen in watching the screen.

As he looked at the television, the rune demonstrated by the Omniscient Crystal reappeared before him, spinning on the screen.

The flickering video footage, synchronized with the rotating rune, somehow normalized the otherwise mentally corrupting footage.

(End of Chapter)