Jay followed Helena through the pitch-black underground water pipes for over twenty minutes. A roar-like thunderous rumble came from the end of the pipe ahead. When they reached the outlet and looked down, they saw that the underground water below had become a ceaselessly rushing river, white spray churning as it was sucked into the spinning blades of a water turbine. The noise echoed through the entire hollow passage.
"This means we're almost at the end." Helena pointed to the opposite bank more than thirty meters away, separated from them by the raging current below. "That's the lowest level of the World Federal Government—the entrance to the 'Absolute Restricted Zone.'"
Jay glanced at the rushing underground water below and asked, "Do you need me to take you over?"
"No."
Helena answered without room for argument. At the same time, she pulled out her grappling gun and fired a line, anchoring it to an upper pipe. Her body swung lightly across to the other side. Jay shrugged and floated after her through the air.
"You know I could make this a lot easier," he said.
Helena ignored him, and the two continued onward. Beyond this point was World Federal Government territory, a completely unknown area to them. Both of them remained on high alert, prepared for any situation that might arise.
Yet no enemies ever appeared. They did not even see a basic electronic security system. They entered a low, narrow passage where the ventilation fan blades let out a low hiss, sucking away the foul air from the sewers. The two followed the only path for quite some time, turning more corners than they could count. Jay still tried to see through the walls with X-Sight, but like the government building itself, the walls on either side were mixed with lead that interfered with X-rays. He could not help feeling that they might have entered an endless maze, circling around and around only to keep returning to the same spot.
Fortunately, they eventually reached the end. There had been no traps along the way; the route had merely been long and difficult. At the exit, a room completely unlike anything they had seen before awaited them. The instant Jay stepped inside, he felt as though he had walked out of a scene from a nineties movie and into modern science fiction. The room was not large. Its floor was covered in silver-white alloy with the distinct feel of a laboratory, and its four walls had no windows. At the center stood only a massive biological tank. Countless wires ran in from every direction and connected to its outer shell. The liquid inside was a deep, dark blue and looked quite deep.
The blue glow beneath the water's surface was the room's only source of light, bathing everything in dark blue. Helena moved close to the tank and shone her flashlight over the faintly flickering surface. Jay glanced into the depths beneath the water, and his expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly warned, "Huntress, get away from there!"
The moment Helena heard his voice, she hurriedly retreated, but she was already a step too late. A massive black shadow surged upward from the depths, its outline rapidly expanding across the surface. The dark water suddenly exploded as a gigantic beast burst out amid violent spray, opening a blood-soaked maw that sent chills down the spine as it lunged for Helena's head. It was a full seven meters long. Several horrifying bone spurs pierced through the skin along its back, radiating a dazzling blue glow like glow sticks—the source of the room's light.
Its sharp fangs snapped down at Helena's head. It came too fast, and Helena had no way to evade. The shadow of death engulfed her in an instant.
In that split second, Jay charged forward like a blue whirlwind. He grabbed Helena's arm and yanked her far behind him, then fearlessly launched himself toward the gaping jaws, like a bullet fired from a gun straight into that revolting mouth.
The enormous monster's jaws slammed shut. It looked as though it had swallowed Jay whole. A roar filled with rage and pain erupted from its throat as its body twisted violently, churning up white foam across the surface. Then it suddenly plunged beneath the water.
The ripples on the surface gradually calmed, and the dark blue light drifted farther and farther away before quickly sinking back into the depths. Helena, who had just brushed past the Grim Reaper, was still shaken. She stared anxiously at the surface, unable to stop herself from worrying about Jay.
More than ten seconds later, the black shadow rose to the surface again at astonishing speed. Helena instinctively stepped back, her right hand pressing against the multifunctional belt hidden at her waist. The shadow shot out like a rocket launching into the sky, white waves rising several meters with it. The beast left the water entirely and crashed heavily onto the metal floor, its long body writhing in agony like a live fish stranded out of water.
Its upper jaw had been forced open by brute strength, its fangs snapped clean in half and apparently swallowed into its own stomach. Jay flew out from its mouth while holding its jaws apart with one hand. Pale-faced, he dropped to one knee and muttered, "No, I think I'm going to die."
Feeling secretly guilty, Helena hurried over to support him. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you?"
"Hurt me? It almost killed me with that disgusting smell." Jay's expression was awful. "Can you imagine how bad its breath was? God, I thought the garbage dump on Warworld was foul enough, but apparently I was too young."
Helena froze, then could not help rolling her eyes at him. So he had only been overwhelmed by the stench, making her worry for nothing.
Jay pinched his nose. "The sewer smells like perfume to me right now."
"Then you can bottle some up and rub it on every morning when you get up," Helena said irritably.
Jay smiled. "Really? You'd still be willing to partner with me if I did that?"
"Partner? Dream on." Helena smiled as well. "I'd stay as far away from you as possible."
She cast a disgusted glance at the huge thing still twitching on the floor. "What exactly is this thing? Do all alien animals look like this?"
"I can see its DNA," Jay said. "It looks like... it was originally just a fish, from Earth."
What could possibly have happened to turn a fish into such a massive carnivore? They hardly wanted to think about it.
"The door's over there." Jay pointed ahead. The two temporarily set aside the question of the fish and entered the next room. The instant they did, they could not help drawing in a sharp breath. Compared to what they saw now, that mutated fish was practically an adorable Chihuahua.
This room was countless times more spacious than the previous one. Eerie, dim green light filled the entire chamber, coming from the rows upon rows of biological culture tanks. There were too many to count, arranged in neat formations that stretched beyond sight. Inside every tank floated a grotesque monster, and some still visibly had humans as their base material.
Jay felt his breathing catch. He could hear Helena's breathing growing heavy as well. He could not help saying softly, "God, this place is... it's practically..."
"Hell." Helena said the word he had wanted to say, then fell silent.
(Thanks to reader Yan Yan Yan Que An Zhi Hong Hu Zhi Zhi for the 5,000 Qidian Coin reward!)
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