Chapter 225: Death Game 1 (Revised)

*Click, clack.*

Lin Xian’s footsteps echoed in the dark corridor. He walked for a while, watching the light extend, but it seemed he could never reach the end. The situation was also different from what he had expected. As he continued forward, water stains began to appear on the ground. The water grew deeper, and the original marble floor started to turn into white tiles. *Splash, splash.*

With the sound of water, Lin Xian looked at the white tiles under his feet, feeling as if he had stepped into some kind of swimming pool. As he walked on, the water gradually rose from a few centimeters to cover the top of his feet. At this moment, the walls of the passage in front of him finally disappeared. He seemed to have reached the end of the corridor.

Lin Xian frowned, reached out, and took the light forward, only to find a vast expanse of darkness ahead. Layers of water ripples spread out. In front of him was a huge, enclosed swimming pool, a wide space of over a thousand square meters. The surrounding walls were all covered with clean white tiles.

The ground under the water in front of Lin Xian suddenly disappeared a few meters ahead, and a handrail from a swimming pool appeared. Behind the handrail, the water, which should have been clean and transparent, now showed a strange black color, and it was bottomless!

Under the light, a yellow swimming ring floated on the black water, gently swaying with the waves. Lin Xian looked around and found that besides his current position, there was no place to get ashore. It was all high walls covered with white tiles.

The cold water lapped at Lin Xian’s ankles, as if carrying a strange power, trying to drag him into the deep pool ahead.

“What the hell is this place…”

He had already detected that there were no complex mechanical structures in this passage. Who knew that after walking for so long, he would see nothing, and the end of the corridor would be a huge swimming pool.

And it looked like an endless deep pool leading straight to hell.

…

In the research institute’s monitoring hall, the monitoring personnel all had complicated expressions. The few people in front turned to look at Security Director Feng Chun, who now had a grim expression, seemingly getting worked up.

“Director Feng, the target has entered the black pool.”

“Release Black Abyss No. 1 organism directly. Start filling with water, flood the passage!” Feng Chun said with a stern expression.

“Huh?” Hearing this, the researchers were all dumbfounded.

“This… will it be.”

“Follow the order. Today, we must obtain valuable information about the target!”

“Understood.” The researcher had a grim expression and began to carry out this cruel order.

*Click, click*, Lin Xian directly created an extended bracket at the edge of the passage to extend the light, illuminating a wider area. At the same time, he walked to the edge of the silver handrail and tried to look down into the water.

Suddenly, a huge black shadow flashed under the water’s surface, its body coiling like a snake, pitch black. It created an undercurrent under the water, which lapped at Lin Xian’s feet in the water, as if trying to pull him down…

“Holy crap!”

Seeing this terrifying scene, Lin Xian subconsciously took two steps back. The sound of his flustered footsteps splashing in the water echoed in the quiet space, creating a bizarre and eerie feeling.

“There’s something down there?”

Lin Xian’s face was ugly. He looked around. As time passed, he didn’t know how to leave this place. So he looked up and, at this moment, saw a structure resembling a diving platform dozens of meters above the deep pool, with a small dark door behind it.

At the same time, as the water rippled under the light, Lin Xian saw a narrow path submerged under the water in front of him.

It was less a path and more a series of slender pillars standing under the water. The pillars were also covered with white tiles. Each pillar could barely hold one foot. The pillars were about a meter apart and extended to the edge of the high wall of the black pool in the distance. There, there were narrow stairs protruding from the wall.

It seemed he needed to step on these underwater pillars, treading on the surface of the bottomless black pool, walk to the wall at the end, and then climb up.

Without light, he would basically be fumbling on a pitch-black deep pool, jumping towards an unknown direction.

And below his feet, the pillars extended into the dark pool, the bottom completely invisible. And there seemed to be something alive swimming below.

“What kind of person could think of these things?”

Lin Xian’s heart sank. To be honest, he was indeed a little scared at this moment.

A huge, invincible deep pool in a confined space, darkness, silence, rippling black water, unknown underwater creatures.

It was definitely enough to make one’s SAN value plummet.

And at this moment, Lin Xian suddenly found that the black water, which was originally at his ankles, had now risen to his calves, bone-chillingly cold. In the passage, waves of water surged!

“The water is rising?”

…

On the other side, on the researchers’ screen, the monitors were aimed at every corner: the water surface, the narrow stairs, the pillars, and the diving platform above.

“The rising speed of the black water has been increased to level 3. According to the time calculation, the target only has 3 minutes of safe time to reach the wall. Then we can activate the level 5 water rising speed.”

“Vital signs data, the test target’s current heart rate has increased to 105, and is about to break 110,” the researcher responsible for monitoring vital signs reported.

“He must be scared this time.” Feng Chun let out a sigh of relief, looking with great interest at the passage entrance on the monitoring screen. “In 3 minutes, it will be almost impossible to stand steadily on the water. He can only swim over.”

That passage was like a large water pipe extending out, its end right in the center of the huge circular deep pool.

Feng Chun stared intently at the direction of the water pipe, but after watching for a while, he still didn’t see any sign of Lin Xian coming out of the passage.

He immediately frowned.

“What’s going on? Why hasn’t he started moving yet? The water has already risen?”

“Not clear. There is no monitoring perspective inside the pipe.”

“Hmm? Did he go back?”

“No, the vital signs monitoring equipment can still detect the target’s movements. The target is still in the scene.”

Feng Chun’s face began to show anxiety again. He looked at his watch. “There are still two minutes left. If he doesn’t set out now, he will definitely not be able to find the way.”

At this moment, a researcher looked puzzled. “He… he’s not thinking of just waiting for the water to rise and then floating up with it, is he?”

“Impossible,” Feng Chun said decisively. “He won’t survive for more than a minute in the black water. Black Abyss No. 1 will devour him. He can’t escape.”

“The passage will be flooded in another minute!” a researcher shouted.

Feng Chun’s face became grim again. He stared intently at the end of the passage. A large amount of black water had already poured in, but there was still no sign of anyone.

“Report, target’s body temperature is starting to drop, heart rate has returned to 80.”

“Damn it, what the hell is going on?” Feng Chun frowned and muttered to himself.

Just then, a researcher suddenly shouted, “He… he’s out!!”

“Where?”

As soon as he said this, many people, including Feng Chun, looked towards the passage entrance, but they saw no one.

“There’s no one?”

“There!” The researcher, as if he had seen a ghost, pointed at the monitoring screen. “He’s… on top of the passage.”

Feng Chun quickly looked at another screen. In an instant, his pupils shrank violently. He saw a bizarre scene that he could never have imagined in his life.

At the top of the passage behind, a circular hole had appeared out of nowhere. And from that hole, a lifting platform was now rising. Lin Xian stood on the lifting platform, as if riding an elevator, and slowly came to the edge of the diving platform above.

From another monitoring perspective, a young man with a calm expression slowly rose in front of the diving platform, then stepped over, quickly walked into the passage behind, and left the black pool.

“What the?!” Feng Chun looked at this scene, completely bewildered. “An elevator?”

The expected scene of the target jumping on the deep pillars in the water and frantically escaping the underwater monster’s attack on the narrow stairs by the wall did not happen.

And the lifting platform that rose from the passage directly stumped this group of researchers.

Even if Lin Xian had flown up, for them, researchers who studied Esper abilities, it would still be understandable.

But where did this elevator come from?

“Director, the target’s mechanical Esper ability seems to be completely different from our understanding,” a researcher said with a dazed expression.

Feng Chun was stunned. It took him a while to react, and he said with some gravity,

“Miss Hua once said that the target had demonstrated the ability to create some metal components… but this…”

Metal components and creating a lifting elevator and a Gatling gun out of thin air were two completely different concepts.

“Director Feng, the target is about to enter the survival room. Please confirm which mode to use.”

Feng Chun came back to his senses, his eyes flickering. He then gritted his teeth and said, “Since the other party has the ability to control and create machinery, then open survival room No. 3. Even if the other party breaks it, we can still obtain useful information.”

“Yes!” The researcher immediately entered the command.

On Lin Xian’s side, he walked along the passage and soon found a rather bright room ahead.

*Hoo~ Hoo~*

The flashlight beam swayed in the dark passage. Lin Xian, breathing heavily, ran forward quickly. After a while, the passage became wider, and bright light began to come from ahead. Lin Xian’s gaze sharpened, and he quickly accelerated and rushed out.

*Hum*, when Lin Xian rushed into the wide, bright space, a huge ringing in his ears hit him, and his chest ached. He gasped for breath.

He didn’t have time to feel the discomfort in his body. He quickly observed his surroundings with his eyes. He saw that this was a huge, bright white room, empty, with nothing in it. But the floor and walls were all glowing white.

In the distance, there was a door that looked extremely ordinary. Lin Xian subconsciously walked forward and only then found that the door had no handle and no keyhole. It was completely a door-shaped device.

*Clang! Clang!*

At this moment, building-like things began to rise from the floor on both sides. Lin Xian raised his knife in alert and found that what rose were huge chambers filled with green transparent liquid, one on the left and one on the right. As the liquid chambers gradually rose, two strange monsters appeared in his line of sight.

One was a dark green monster like a starfish, about a meter in diameter. Its body was covered with long, black spikes like steel needles, completely filling the entire chamber. The center of the starfish was covered with black eyes, which looked very strange.

The other one looked a bit like the white giant monster Lin Xian had encountered in Jiang City, but it was much smaller. Its limbs were long and slender. It was submerged in the liquid chamber, hugging its legs, its head buried between its knees. For some reason, this thing, just sitting there hugging its legs, gave off a very dangerous feeling.

Lin Xian frowned at this scene. He didn’t need to guess to know that these two things were definitely not for him to admire.

So, without any hesitation, he walked straight towards the ‘door’.

The moment Lin Xian touched the door, a red alarm began to sound throughout the room. *Woo~ Woo~ Woo~*

[Countdown begins. 5 minutes remaining.]

Lin Xian looked back and saw that at this moment, in the two huge liquid chambers, the green transparent liquid began to slowly descend, as if it were some kind of countdown. He immediately reacted, and his Mechanical Heart activated, directly scanning behind the door.

As the scan unfolded, Lin Xian’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

This was indeed a door, but it was a very complex mechanical door with 12 mechanical locks. Each mechanical structure was interlocked, connecting to 12 switches behind the door. After Lin Xian finished scanning, he was completely confused, because this mechanical structure was not designed for convenient operation at all, but to be baffling.

Lin Xian was now finally sure of his guess. These things were arranged to test his mechanical Esper ability.

And those two monsters were to ‘add to the fun’ for him.

“Let me pick the lock…”

Lin Xian’s heart sank, and his Mechanical Heart began to operate.

*Woo~ Woo~*

The alarm sounded incessantly. The green liquid in the two liquid test chambers began to decrease continuously. As the liquid decreased by half, the black needles of the starfish in the first chamber began to slowly move. The tips of the needles scraped against the edge of the chamber, making a creaking sound.

[3 minutes remaining]

In the bright room, several researchers stared at the monitoring screen. At this moment, all their eyes were on Lin Xian.

“Report test progress.”

“Escape door opening progress: 0%”

“What’s going on? Not a single lock has been opened?”

“Wait a little longer.”

[1 minute remaining]

“Report, escape door opening progress: 0%”

“Hmm? What’s the situation? Has he given up?”

“Quick, inform Miss Hua.”

Hua Xiaoling, in a black coat, was now standing in front of a silver door. Behind that door was the room where Lin Xian was.

At this moment, a report from her subordinate came through her earpiece.

“Director Hua, there is 1 minute left. The escape door opening progress is 0. Should we activate the emergency procedure?”

Hua Xiaoling’s eyes did not flicker. She said nothing, just quietly looking at the door in front of her.

[10 seconds remaining]

“Escape door opening progress: 0%. It’s impossible to open it now.” Security Director Feng Chun’s face changed drastically.

*Screech!!!*

In the glass chamber, the green liquid had bottomed out. The huge starfish was still twisting its spikes, making a strange cry. And the white humanoid monster also slowly raised its head.

A hint of doubt began to appear in Hua Xiaoling’s eyes. At this moment, the countdown of the proving ground began.

10, 9, 8

7, 6, 5

4

3

2

1

At the last second, the silver door in front of Hua Xiaoling suddenly turned into a pile of ashes. A cloud of ash flew past her. Hua Xiaoling couldn’t help but reach out and catch a piece of ash in her palm. It landed on her hand and instantly turned into even finer ash, disappearing into the air.

Watching this scene, her eyes were full of surprise. She looked up, and a slightly thin figure appeared in front of her.

“We meet again.”

A sharp blade landed on Hua Xiaoling’s neck. The sharp edge of the electric knife cut off a few strands of her hair, which slowly fell to the ground.

*Click, click, click, click.*

In an instant, the dozens of armed personnel behind her raised their guns in unison and aimed at Lin Xian.

The light spot of the automatic machine cannon in the room also landed on Lin Xian’s forehead.

Lin Xian’s expression did not change. He looked at Hua Xiaoling coldly.

“If I don’t see my teammate within 1 minute, you will die.”

Hua Xiaoling now looked at Lin Xian. Not only was there no fear in her expression, but a hint of desire and eagerness even flashed in the depths of her eyes. She slowly raised her hand, and all the people behind her lowered their weapons. She then signaled to the assistant next to her. The assistant pressed a command on the mobile terminal, and another door not far behind Lin Xian opened.

*Boom!*

An invisible shockwave blasted out, and a group of researchers flew out from inside.

KIKI walked out from inside. Seeing Lin Xian, the tense expression on her face finally relaxed.

“Lin Xian!”

Hua Xiaoling looked at the wailing researchers on the ground, her expression still calm.

“Since I invited you, your teammate is naturally our guest.”

“Guest?”

Lin Xian sneered. “Is this how you treat your guests?”

Hua Xiaoling shrugged helplessly. “First of all, although you illegally broke into the Qingshui Town proving ground, I also admit that we conducted an Esper ability test on you without your consent. I apologize for that. It’s just… normally, our partners don’t enter the research institute from that place.”

Her expression changed as she spoke. “Of course, they also don’t install a tracker on my car.”

Lin Xian’s face changed upon hearing this. He slowly lowered the electric knife in his hand and said, “You’re right. But you didn’t tell me the specific location when you invited me, so, I could only use my own method.”

Hua Xiaoling smiled faintly, seemingly not minding. Instead, she asked, “Mr. Lin, may I know how you opened the final password door?”

*Password door? I opened a password my ass*, Lin Xian snorted inwardly. *Isn’t it more convenient to just use mechanical devouring? You really think I’m stupid, to spend five minutes studying a password.*

Although the mechanical door was not large, it was no more complex than an engine. For Lin Xian, this kind of thing was like devouring a train flatcar, just adding materials, with no difficulty at all.

He had no interest in answering Hua Xiaoling’s question and said directly, “Alright, I broke into your research institute, and you also conducted a bunch of tests on me. Now you can tell me your purpose.”

“I’ve said it. Our purpose is to cooperate with you,” Hua Xiaoling said.

“And if I refuse?” Lin Xian said directly, having anticipated it.

Hua Xiaoling smiled with narrowed eyes and pointed to a passage. “Cooperation is, of course, based on mutual willingness. If Mr. Lin is unwilling to cooperate with us, you can leave at any time. We will not restrict your personal freedom.”

After speaking, Hua Xiaoling made a gesture of invitation to Lin Xian. “Or if you have time, I can introduce you to our foundation first?”

Lin Xian and KIKI’s eyes met. Since they were here, they might as well learn about it.

So, the two of them followed Hua Xiaoling into the research institute.

Hua Xiaoling led Lin Xian and KIKI in an elevator down into the ground.

Lin Xian had completely underestimated the scale of this research institute. Besides the large proving ground, the research facilities were basically buried deep underground.

“Lin Xian,” KIKI walked beside him and asked in a low voice, “Did they bully you just now?”

Lin Xian shook his head. He was a little surprised by some of the research being conducted in this proving ground, which even included Aberrations.

“Such a large proving ground, why can’t it be seen from the outside?” Lin Xian asked Hua Xiaoling, who was leading the way.

Hua Xiaoling said, “That’s because our proving ground is built inside a sky-canopy dome. The outer surface is covered with reflective panels, and the scene on the other side is projected onto the reflective panels using optical projection. From the outside, everything here is invisible.”

KIKI’s mouth opened in surprise. “Oh my god, so your proving ground is completely invisible?”

Lin Xian asked Hua Xiaoling with some curiosity, “Your research institute doesn’t look like it was built recently, does it? Was it built before Apocalypse Day?”

This research institute included ground and underground engineering, and even directly built a small town and a sky-canopy dome. Such a huge amount of engineering would be horrifying if it were said to be built in a few months. Like Underground City No. 9, there were a large number of construction traces around, but here