Into the Poison Nest

That bright biological heat source stood still in the green display of the night-vision goggles.

Lin Xiao held his breath and pressed a hand against Miller's arm, signaling everyone to stop moving. Hansen stood half a meter to his left, his breathing heavy and muffled inside his gas mask. Miller's gun barrel dipped slightly, but his finger remained outside the trigger guard, ready to raise it at any moment.

The translucent creature—Lin Xiao could see its outline clearly now—slowly turned in the fog. It had no eyes, at least no visual organs in the conventional sense, but the way it faced them carried a primal sense of "watching." Its limbs stretched out of the mist. They were not arms, but something more like a mixture of tentacles and bones. Pale blue fluid dripped from their ends, corroding tiny pits into the ground.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

The creature suddenly turned in another direction and extended a limb to touch the blue liquid flowing across the ground. The movement was gentle to the point of eerie, as though it was caressing it—or collecting it. Hansen whispered in his ear, "It... it's collecting the liquid?"

Lin Xiao did not answer. His gaze passed over the creature and settled on the control panel area thirty meters away. Between two shattered incubation chamber bases, a pool of liquid reflected the red alarm lights. The pipe array on the left could provide cover, but they would have to get around three slowly moving specimen creatures.

Time.

He glanced down at the tactical watch on his wrist. They had been inside the laboratory for seven minutes. There were still three hours and fifty-three minutes before the final Purification procedure set by the Watcher began.

"Follow me," Lin Xiao said in the lowest possible voice, his words muffled by the mask. "Keep your distance. Don't touch anything."

He moved left first. His boots stepped on the slick floor with a faint creak. Hansen and Miller followed closely behind, the three of them moving slowly through the fog in a triangular formation.

The first obstacle was the shattered incubation chamber base. Glass shards were scattered everywhere, soaking in blue liquid. As Lin Xiao went around it, he caught sight of the inside—the specimen that should have been there was gone, leaving only half-melted tissue behind. It looked like a lump of flesh dissolved by strong acid, its surface covered in tiny bubbles.

The pungent smell in the air grew stronger.

It was not merely a chemical smell. It was mixed with rot, corroded metal, and a sickly sweet fragrance so cloying it made him want to vomit. Lin Xiao's gas mask filtered most of it out, but that sweetness still slipped through the gaps in the filter cartridge and stabbed at his olfactory nerves.

"Captain," Miller suddenly said in a tense low voice. "The ceiling."

Lin Xiao looked up.

In the night-vision display, a smaller, blurrier heat source was slowly crawling out of a ventilation opening. It had no distinct shape, like a mass of melted gelatin, flowing down the outside of the pipe. When it dripped onto the ground, it made a soft patter. The liquid touched the floor and instantly corroded a fist-sized pit into it.

"Leave it," Lin Xiao said. "Keep moving."

They passed around the first base and entered the shadowed area of the pipe array. The fog was thinner here, raising visibility to about five meters. Lin Xiao could see the second base ahead—and it was worse. The incubation chamber had completely shattered, and the specimen inside had already "awakened," slowly crawling out through the glass fragments.

The thing's form was hard to describe.

It had a human outline, but every proportion was wrong—arms too long, legs too short, its torso twisted into an unnatural curve. Its skin was translucent, and pale blue liquid could be seen flowing through vein-like tubes inside it. Its head had no facial features, only a smooth oval bulge covered in tiny holes that opened and closed with its breathing.

"My God..." Hansen's voice trembled.

The specimen creature did not seem to notice them. With its overly long arms, it pawed at the floor, picking up glass shards one by one and stuffing them into the holes in its head. Each time it inserted one, the holes contracted with a faint gurgle.

"It's... feeding?" Miller asked quietly.

Lin Xiao shook his head. He did not know. There was no record of this sort of behavioral pattern in his memories. Doctor had only described their dangerous traits, never what they would do.

"Go around it," he ordered.

The three of them moved along the pipe wall, keeping as far away as possible from the creature that was "feeding." Lin Xiao could feel sweat sliding down his back and soaking the clothes beneath his protective gear. His gas mask restricted his vision, and breathing was becoming difficult. Every inhale took effort.

When they passed the second creature, they came within two meters of it.

Lin Xiao could clearly see the fluid flowing beneath its "skin," the fine wrinkles that formed as the holes contracted, and the movements of its limbs as it picked up the glass—slow, precise, almost ritualistic.

Then the creature suddenly stopped.

It turned toward them.

Hansen stopped breathing. Miller's finger tightened against the trigger. Lin Xiao raised a hand in a stop signal, his entire body frozen in place.

The specimen creature "watched" them for three seconds.

Then it lowered its head and continued picking up glass shards.

"Move," Lin Xiao whispered, a tremor in his voice that even he had not noticed.

They kept moving.

The third obstacle was a pool of liquid. Pale blue fluid had gathered into a small puddle about three meters across, its depth unknown. Half-melted plastic debris and metal fragments floated on the surface. Bubbles occasionally rose from the bottom, releasing thicker fog when they burst.

"We can't get around it," Hansen said quietly. "There are creatures moving on both sides."

Lin Xiao looked left—a specimen creature was slowly crawling along the wall, its limbs leaving corroded marks across the metal surface. To the right—two smaller creatures lingered along the puddle's edge, as if testing it.

"We go straight through," Lin Xiao said. "Light steps, fast pace. Don't stop."

He stepped into the puddle first.

The instant the liquid covered his boots, the outer layer of his chemical-protection boots gave off a faint hiss. Corrosion. Lin Xiao could feel weak vibrations through the soles as the material slowly dissolved. He quickened his pace, lifting his feet as high as possible with each step to reduce contact time.

Hansen and Miller followed close behind.

The three of them waded through the puddle, stirring ripples through the blue liquid. Sediment from the bottom rose up, and Lin Xiao saw fragments of half-melted tissue floating to the surface, twisted in shape like limbs violently torn away.

Then he stepped on something.

Soft. Elastic.

He looked down—it was a human hand. It had already half melted, its skin stripped away to expose the bones beneath, which were also covered in corroded pits. The fingers were still curled in a grasping pose, as though they had been trying to seize something in their final moments.

Lin Xiao forced himself to look away.

Keep moving.

Five steps.

Ten steps.

Fifteen steps.

They crossed the puddle and stepped onto relatively dry ground. Lin Xiao looked down to inspect his boots—the outer layer was covered in small pits, but it had not been eaten through. Hansen's boots were in slightly better shape. There was a clear corrosion mark along the outside of Miller's left boot, but it was intact as well.

"The control panel is up ahead," Lin Xiao said, pointing into the fog.

There was a relatively open area there, with a huge console embedded in the wall. Its screens had shattered, but the physical buttons and valves remained. In front of it, three specimen creatures moved slowly—one was ramming the wall, one was circling on the ground, and one stood motionless, as if "dormant."

"Hansen, go to the main console. Try to restore some of the power and activate the isolation doors," Lin Xiao quickly assigned. "Miller, find the physical activation valve for the backup Purification system. It should be on the wall to the right of the console, with a red manual wheel. I'll handle the worst leak."

"Understood," they replied in unison.

"Remember, don't fire unless it's absolutely necessary," Lin Xiao added. "Our objective is to activate the system, not eliminate them."

The three split up.

Lin Xiao rushed toward the depths of the laboratory, where the leak originated. Several large incubation chambers had completely shattered. Deep blue liquid gushed from ruptured pipes like a waterfall, collecting into a small river across the floor. Wherever it touched metal supports and plastic equipment, it gave off a continuous sizzle as white smoke rose and mixed with the fog.

The pungent smell in the air reached its peak here.

Lin Xiao felt his eyes beginning to sting. Even through the lenses of his gas mask, the irritating gas seemed able to seep in. He narrowed his eyes and searched the fog for the manual shutoff valve.

Memories flipped rapidly through his mind.

Doctor had once described the design of this kind of laboratory—to prevent automated systems from failing, all critical pipelines had physical manual valves, usually behind maintenance panels at the pipe connections.

Lin Xiao swept his gaze around.

On the left, a ruptured pipe was gushing liquid. The valve should be—

He rushed over.

The ground was slick, and he nearly fell. He steadied himself with a hand against the wall. Heat flared from the metal beneath his palm—an exothermic reaction caused by corrosion. Lin Xiao jerked his hand back and saw tiny dissolved marks already appearing on the surface of his glove.

No time to worry about that.

He crouched and felt around beneath the pipe. Sure enough, there was a square maintenance panel secured by four bolts. The bolts had rusted over and could not be turned by hand.

"Damn it," Lin Xiao cursed under his breath.

He pulled the dagger from his waist, wedged the tip into a bolt's groove, and twisted hard. Metal scraped with a piercing creak, unusually clear between the pulses of the alarm.

A specimen creature was drawn by the sound and slowly turned around.

Lin Xiao moved faster.

The first bolt loosened.

The second.

The third.

The fourth—

The panel fell away, exposing the manual valve inside. It was a red wheel about twenty centimeters in diameter, its surface covered in rust. Lin Xiao gripped it and twisted with all his strength.

The wheel did not budge.

It was rusted solid.

He gritted his teeth and threw his whole body into it, the muscles in his arms tightening to their limit. The wheel let out a grinding metallic groan and slowly turned half a rotation.

The force of the liquid jet weakened somewhat.

But it was not enough.

Lin Xiao kept turning it. One rotation, two, three—

Crack.

The wheel suddenly jammed and would not turn any further. He looked down and found that something seemed to be blocking the valve core—perhaps corrosion debris, perhaps congealed specimen fluid.

The leak had been reduced by about sixty percent, but liquid was still seeping out continuously.

He needed to seal it temporarily.

Lin Xiao looked around for usable material. Not far away, he spotted a damaged fire cabinet with its door half open. Inside were several fire blankets and rolls of sealing tape.

He rushed over, grabbed a bundle of fire blankets and two rolls of high-temperature sealing tape. The blankets were made of specially treated silicate fiber, theoretically capable of resisting heat and corrosion for a short time.

Back at the leak, Lin Xiao quickly spread out a fire blanket and wrapped it around the ruptured pipe opening, then wound layer after layer of sealing tape around it. The tape hissed when it touched the liquid, and its surface rapidly turned black, but it did not dissolve immediately.

After wrapping it more than ten times, the leak was mostly stopped.

Only a small amount of liquid seeped through the gaps, dripping onto the floor and corroding tiny pits into it.

Lin Xiao let out a breath and stood up.

Then something caught the corner of his eye.

Deep in the laboratory, within a shadow.

It should have been an equipment storage room. The door stood half open, and there was no light inside. But through the green display of the night-vision goggles, Lin Xiao saw a heat source—a humanoid heat source, dressed in a complete high-grade protective suit, with a distinct outline and quick movements.

That person was stuffing a metal container the size of a briefcase into a ventilation duct.

The movements were practiced and without hesitation.

After the container was completely shoved into the duct, the person turned and quickly left through another exit, vanishing into the fog.

The entire process took no more than ten seconds.

Lin Xiao froze where he stood.

That was not one of Blood Axe's people—Blood Axe's men all wore basic protective gear, not that kind of high-grade suit. Nor was it one of Fletcher's people—Fletcher's men were all outside.

Who was it?

What was in the container?

Why risk an attack from the specimen creatures to sneak deep into the laboratory at a time like this and stuff something into a ventilation duct?

Countless questions flashed through Lin Xiao's mind.

But he had no time to investigate.

"Captain!" Hansen's voice came from the console, carrying a trace of excitement. "I restored part of the power! The isolation doors are activating!"

Lin Xiao turned to look.

The lights around the console flickered several times, then stabilized. The isolation doors in the walls let out a heavy mechanical rumble and slowly closed, cutting off the depths of the laboratory from the outer area.

At the same time, Miller shouted, "Found the activation valve! Opening it now!"

Lin Xiao could see Miller straining to turn a red manual wheel. As it rotated, the ventilation outlets of the Purification system in the ceiling began to operate. A powerful suction sound rose as the fog was rapidly drawn out of the laboratory and fresh air pumped in through another channel.

Visibility slowly improved.

The fog was thinning.

The specimen creatures seemed to sense the environmental shift. They began to grow restless, moving faster and releasing low hisses. The translucent creature from before turned toward the Purification system vent, extending its limbs as though trying to stop the airflow.

"Miller, get back!" Lin Xiao shouted.

But he was too late.

The translucent creature suddenly accelerated and lunged at Miller. Its limbs whipped through the air, flinging blue liquid everywhere. Miller instinctively raised his gun—

"Don't shoot!" Lin Xiao roared.

Miller's finger froze on the trigger.

The creature stopped abruptly one meter in front of Miller. It "watched" him, the holes in its head rapidly contracting with urgent gurgles. Then it turned toward the Purification system's activation valve and stretched out a limb to seize the wheel.

It was... closing the valve?

Lin Xiao rushed over.

He approached from the side. Instead of attacking the creature directly, he grabbed the other side of the wheel and twisted it in the opposite direction with all his strength. The creature sensed the resistance and tightened its limb. The wheel gave off a creak of twisting metal.

Hansen rushed over as well and grabbed the wheel. Three people and one creature began a bizarre tug-of-war.

The wheel shifted slightly under the force of both sides, sometimes left, sometimes right. The Purification system's suction became unstable, at times powerful and at times weak.

Lin Xiao could feel the creature's strength—it far surpassed a human's, but it was not impossible to resist. Whenever its limbs exerted force, the blue fluid beneath its translucent skin flowed faster, like some kind of energy transfer system.

"Hold on!" Lin Xiao said through gritted teeth.

Sweat ran down his forehead and dripped into his eyes, bringing a sharp sting. Inside his gas mask, his breathing grew rougher, every inhale burning hot.

Seconds passed.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds—

The creature suddenly released the wheel.

It stepped back. The holes in its head contracted more slowly, producing a low sound that was almost a sigh. Then it turned and slowly walked toward the depths of the laboratory, disappearing into the thinning fog.

The other specimen creatures also stopped their agitation and began following it, like a flock of sheep being led away.

The Purification system's suction stabilized.

The fog was drawn away at a visible rate.

Visibility rapidly increased to ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters—

Lin Xiao released the wheel, leaned against the wall, and gulped down air. Hansen and Miller also collapsed to the ground, their gas masks filled with the sound of heavy breathing.

The alarm gradually died away.

The red warning lights went out.

The laboratory lights fully came back on, illuminating the hellish scene.

Shattered incubation chambers.

Flowing blue liquid.

Corroded floors and walls.

And the specimen creatures that were leaving—they formed a line behind the translucent creature and disappeared through an emergency exit passage deep in the laboratory.

"Did they... leave?" Miller asked in disbelief.

Lin Xiao did not answer.

His gaze turned toward the equipment storage room in the shadows, toward the ventilation duct opening.

It was empty now.

Only a fresh scrape mark remained along the edge of the opening, the metal surface scratched bright.

The container had already been sent away.

By that mysterious person, into the ventilation system.

Where had it been sent?