Chapter 109: Passage

“That’s it!”

KIKI shouted. Before she even arrived, she had already used her ability to pull from the void. The metal emergency door instantly bent and was forcibly torn from its frame.

Lin Xian didn’t have time to react and quickly said, “You open doors faster than me!”

“Cut the crap!”

Thump, thump-thump-thump!

In the corridor behind them, the tall red human skeleton quickly emerged, the joints of its hands and feet and its bone spurs making crisp, hollow sounds as they scraped against the walls.

Argh!

Another sharp cry rang out. Without a second thought, Lin Xian grabbed KIKI and leaped into the stairwell, simultaneously creating a door to seal the passage.

Unexpectedly, behind the passage was an extremely steep staircase. The two of them misstepped and fell directly downwards.

“Ah!!!”

KIKI turned and wrapped her arms around Lin Xian’s waist. Her eyes flashed with her ability, and their downward momentum instantly slowed in mid-air. After tumbling for more than ten meters, they landed with a buffer, rolling a few times on the stairs before coming to a stop.

Boom!

The steel door Lin Xian had created was sent flying by the wave of flames, shooting past their heads with tremendous kinetic energy. It then slammed hard against the wall of the staircase, instantly bending, already glowing red and steaming with heat!

Seeing this, Lin Xian felt a chill run down his spine. Not only could this thing breathe fire, but its power was also ridiculously exaggerated.

“Ouch!”

KIKI rubbed her butt and head as she climbed up from the stairs, crying out in pain.

If it weren’t for her ability protecting them just now, the two of them would have definitely fallen and ended up with broken heads and bleeding.

Thump!

Perhaps because the entrance to the safety passage was narrow, the monster couldn’t get in. A blood-red hand, its flesh seemingly scorched, suddenly reached in from the doorway and began to grab wildly.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Be careful!”

Ignoring the dizzying pain from the fall, Lin Xian got up before he was steady, suddenly grabbed KIKI’s hand, and pulled her back. The two of them rushed down the stairs a few steps.

Then they watched as the long, wildly grabbing claw missed and slowly retracted.

Lin Xian had a look of lingering fear. Unlike the white giant monster they had encountered before, this red human skeleton was covered in a muscle-like tissue that emitted steam.

“Hel! Lo!”

After the bloody hand retracted, a moment later, the strange voice sounded again.

Then, in the light of Lin Xian and KIKI’s flashlights, a blood-red skeletal face slowly appeared at the doorway.

Its eyes were like hollow, bloody holes. It crouched at the entrance, looking at Lin Xian and KIKI as if staring at two pieces of prey.

“Oh my god, it can breathe fire and it can talk!!”

KIKI’s eyes widened. Looking at the blood-red skull, she jumped back in fright. “How are these things getting more and more disgusting?”

Disgusting? Lin Xian panted and also slowly retreated down the passage, but he had a strange feeling in his heart.

That was—

This thing… was becoming more and more like a human.

When this thought arose, he felt an inexplicable tingling in his scalp.

“Will it squeeze in?”

“I don’t know.” Lin Xian shone his light on the deep tunnel staircase behind him and said grimly, “But if it’s blocking the way there, we won’t be able to return the way we came.”

“I’m not going back there,” KIKI’s brow furrowed into a knot. Seeing this thing, it would be hard not to have nightmares.

If it were just an ordinary monster, it wouldn’t have put such psychological pressure on Lin Xian and KIKI.

But this thing actually spoke human words. The creepy and strange feeling was instantly maxed out, making one feel uncomfortable all over.

“Let’s go. It probably can’t squeeze in.”

Lin Xian looked at the red skeleton staring at them from the doorway, took a few quick breaths, and without hesitation, pulled KIKI and walked down the stairs.

“Hel!… Lo!”

When the two had run a long way down the stairs and could no longer see the doorway at the end of the staircase, the strange greeting still sounded from behind, making one’s blood run cold.

Hello your grandpa!

Cold sweat broke out on Lin Xian’s forehead, and he cursed inwardly.

Speaking of which, this was the first time he had encountered this type of anomaly inside a building. The pressure was much greater than encountering one in the wild.

Thump thump thump!

Lin Xian and KIKI, holding flashlights, went down the stairs. Before long, a yellow safety door appeared in their sight.

“This is it.”

The two walked down the stairs. Lin Xian grabbed KIKI’s hand. “Don’t use your ability to open the door this time.”

Although KIKI was already at the evolved level, an ability wasn’t meant to be used so recklessly. It was unknown how many more dangers there were in this underground city. They had to be mindful of their stamina at all times.

Lin Xian reached out and grabbed the doorknob. His Mechanical Heart activated, instantly connecting to the safety door’s lock. Click~, he opened the door directly.

Whoosh~

The moment the door opened, a cold wind blew in their faces. The flashlight beam shone out, revealing an underground tunnel similar to a subway. The line pipes and emergency passages on both sides of the track looked almost newly built, but the entire tunnel was already filled with a strong smell of decay.

“Are we just going to follow the tracks down like this?”

KIKI asked.

“It’s a bit of a distance. Six levels. We’ll have to go at least halfway around this underground city.” Lin Xian took out the Geiger counter. It showed 56.66 μSv/h, much higher than the surface, but still within the safe range.

“What else can we do? Let’s run.”

KIKI, wearing a gas mask, was constantly panting hot air, her voice muffled.

Beep beep~

The mobile terminal in KIKI’s hand lit up, and Ding Junyi’s voice came through.

“Have you entered the track?”

“We’ve arrived.”

“Okay. The total length from the passage entrance on level 89 to level 95 is 2620 meters. The vertical distance to the No. 1 reactor on level 100 is 62 meters. I suggest you abandon the target if the Sievert value exceeds 100.”

Lin Xian took a deep breath and glanced at the passage behind him.

“Let’s go. If we don’t succeed, we’ll either go back the way we came or run up through the tunnel.”

“Don’t.” KIKI waved her hand, panting heavily. “I don’t want to run into that weird thing again.”

“Let’s go down and see first.”

Lin Xian stopped wasting words and started walking down along the tunnel.

He widened the aperture of his flashlight, illuminating the empty tunnel. He found that the top of this newly built underground tunnel was already leaking water, and there were even cracks in many places. It was just as Ding Junyi had said; the main structure of the underground city had already been breached.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!!!!!!!

The two had only taken a few steps when a violent tremor suddenly struck. The tunnel echoed with a hollow sound, and sand and water droplets fell continuously, giving the two a momentary feeling of tinnitus and dizziness, as if the entire earth was shaking!

“An earthquake?!!”

Lin Xian and KIKI felt a little unsteady and immediately grabbed the guardrail next to them.

“Ah!” KIKI cried out in alarm.

The shaking began to intensify. Lin Xian directly hugged KIKI and pressed her head down, raising his hand to create a shield and adding support columns to protect them.

Just as he thought a major earthquake was about to strike, the tremor suddenly began to weaken and then slowly disappeared.

Rustle…

After the tremor passed, sand and dirt continued to fall in the tunnel. After a while, it finally became quiet.

Beep beep beep!

At this moment, the mobile terminal rang, and Teacher Chen’s anxious voice came through.

“Lin Xian, Lin Xian, are you okay?!”

“We’re fine.” Hearing Chen Sixuan’s voice, Lin Xian also breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, his heart tightened. “Director Ding,” he called out to Ding Junyi.

“Have you encountered this earthquake before? Is it related to that subterranean creature?”

Chen Sixuan on the other end relaxed when she heard Lin Xian was fine. Ding Junyi at her side spoke up.

“Yes. For the past two weeks, earthquakes of this magnitude have occurred several times a day, almost all concentrated at night.”

Hearing this, Lin Xian instantly felt his whole body go numb.