Number-075

Liu Xin failed to notice anything unusual about him and watched eagerly as they approached.

Zhou Ze's lips moved a few times, but in the end, he lowered his eyes halfway to avoid that expectant gaze.

"We will now conduct experiment thirty-six on Number-075. According to experimental procedure, Class-D Personnel entering the containment chamber must wear standard..."

An unfamiliar man's voice came over the speakers, but he abruptly stopped mid-sentence, seemingly to speak with someone else.

"...What? You mean now?"

"Honestly..."

After a burst of crackling static, the voice came over the speakers again, though it was clearly no longer the same person.

"The experiment is about to begin. Your task is to attempt to collect the subject's secretions. Security personnel, please hand the containers to the Class-D Personnel..."

The familiar voice and its rising inflection made Zhou Ze's pupils constrict.

Dai! Yong! An!

Zhou Ze clenched his teeth and drew a deep breath. The dry air scraped through his nose and throat like fine grains of sand, bringing a searing sting.

Several security personnel exchanged confused glances, opened the silver briefcase, and took out several pale blue, translucent beakers, handing them to the three Class-D Personnel.

"The experiment begins..."

A low hum sounded, and the heavy alloy door slowly opened like the gaping, bloodthirsty maw of some ancient beast.

Dazzling light spilled through the gap, casting an ever-widening strip across the floor.

The three Class-D Personnel took deep breaths, gripped their beakers tightly, and cautiously stepped inside.

Before them lay a vast space the size of a soccer field. Dozens of high-wattage xenon lamps hung from the ceiling, illuminating the entire area as brightly as daylight.

Even under such bright light, the corrosion marks and dried, dark stains covering the walls and floor remained clearly visible. An indescribable odor drifted through the dry air, making them feel as though they stood beneath a scorching sun.

At the very center of this almost absurdly empty space sat a single, unremarkable safe. The arrangement reminded Zhou Ze of the earlier Game Box experiment.

Only when the massive door closed behind them with a dull click did Liu Xin seem to snap out of a dream. He looked down at the pale blue beaker in his hand and asked in confusion:

"Aren't we supposed to collect some kind of secretion? Nobody even told us how!"

At his words, a tangle of emotions surged through Zhou Ze, leaving him irritated.

This experiment was clearly Dai Yong'an's way of coming after me. How could it possibly be that simple...

"Ah... ah..."

The other Class-D man beside them had seemed to lose his soul the moment he entered the chamber. His eyes were vacant, meaningless moans escaped his mouth, and his body trembled so badly that he could barely hold his beaker.

"Buddy, what's wrong with you?" Liu Xin gave him an odd look and patted his shoulder.

The man shuddered, turned his head, and forced a bleak, despairing smile.

"I... I'm about to die. So are you..."

Liu Xin frowned. "Fuck, what are you talking about? Don't go cursing us like that!"

The Class-D man stared blankly at the safe in the center of the chamber and muttered to himself:

"Ever since I was little, my intuition has been sharp... so sharp..."

"Bullshit." Liu Xin looked disdainful. "If you're that good, how'd you end up in here?"

Watching Liu Xin's back, Zhou Ze sighed silently.

Honestly, being able to stay optimistic and positive in an environment like this was a rare talent in itself.

Suddenly, a faint hissing arose, like countless tiny bubbles bursting at once.

A fine mist then sprayed from gaps in the ceiling, quickly spreading throughout the space.

At the same time, a cold, mechanical announcement sounded over the chamber's speakers.

"Rise in containment chamber humidity detected. 0.25%, 0.38%... 0.56%..."

"Warning. Air humidity in Biological Containment Zone 23 has reached the threshold. High breach-risk alert. Initiating Emergency Protocol A-23. Expanding lockdown to the level-three security perimeter..."

The Class-D man's trembling body suddenly went still. His eyes unfocused, and he murmured hollowly, "It's coming..."

Zhou Ze, who had been staring fixedly at the safe in the center of the chamber, broke out in goosebumps.

His instincts screamed warnings, and an indescribable sense of danger swept through his entire body.

He grabbed Liu Xin's shoulder and shoved him aside with all his strength while throwing himself in the opposite direction. Both men skidded almost flat against the rough floor, leaving streaks of blood.

Boom...

The safe burst apart as though a speeding train had slammed head-on into it. Metal fragments scattered like bullets, tracing countless lethal paths through the air.

Amid the thick smoke, a dark shape shot out at astonishing speed, hurtling toward them like a cannonball.

The Class-D man did not even have time to scream before the dark shape struck him head-on. His body flew like a rag doll, leaving a long smear of blood across the hard floor as rubble and metal fragments scattered around him.

Having dodged immediately, Zhou Ze and Liu Xin rolled several times across the floor before scrambling to their feet, every muscle taut with the surge of adrenaline.

"Fuck... what the hell is th..." Liu Xin stared in shock at the spot where they had just stood, the rest of his words lodging in his throat.

A dust-covered trail of blood stretched from the center of the explosion to the containment chamber's door. Crushed limbs and bodily tissue lay scattered everywhere, and the air reeked of blood and scorched flesh.

All that remained of the Class-D man was a little over half his body, embedded deep in the metal door. His mangled torso resembled a grotesque sculpture.

His still-beating heart pumped blood in vain. It gushed from his horrifically ruined body, pooling into a dark red lake on the floor.

Only a few strands of blood vessels and muscle connected his head to his torn neck, and the culprit behind it all crouched on his lolling head.

It was a giant snail the size of a soccer ball. Six clawed tentacles forming pseudopods extended from beneath its shell and coiled around the head. Dark brown mucus constantly oozed from its mouthparts, giving off sizzling wisps of smoke as it visibly dissolved the head's skin, flesh, and bones.

His mouth bone-dry, Liu Xin swallowed with difficulty and murmured in disbelief:

"We're supposed to collect this thing's... secretions?"

But Zhou Ze's eyes were vacant, and he gave no response.

All he could hear now were chaotic whispers spilling from the void. They came in an overwhelming swarm, like countless tiny insects crawling through his brain. Those disordered murmurs seemed almost tangible, dragging his consciousness into chaos.

While he stood dazed, the giant snail, having completely digested the head, slowly adjusted its orientation atop the ruined corpse. Two mucus-covered, clawed pseudopods swayed through the air as if probing, scanning their surroundings like radar.

At last, they stopped swaying and locked precisely onto Zhou Ze.

"Watch out!"