Chapter 22. 1068
Watching the sharp teeth inched closer to his head, Charles swung the cloth sack in his grasp with all his might in his moment of desperation. The force of the recoil thankfully propelled him out of danger's way.
However, the impact had allowed the creature's sharp teeth to bite onto the cloth sack.
Rip!
The cloth sack tore apart as the countless relics within spilled on the ground with a cacophony of tinkling sounds.
Among the scattered relics, the ancient oil lamp trembled slightly before it suddenly emitted a radiant burst of light and illuminated the entire corridor, turning the entire area to be as bright as under daylight.
The flying locusts seemed to be startled by the sudden burst of radiance and convulsed as if jolted by an electric shock.
With such an opportune moment to escape, Charles had to seize it. Without a moment of hesitation, he held onto the remaining handful of relics in the torn cloth sack and made a dash for the exit.
Charles pushed his body to a human's limits and sprinted for nearly five minutes straight. He only came to a halt when he was certain that none of those flying creatures had followed him.
Panting between breaths, he counted the few relics left in his possession. His heart sank. The torn cloth sack now held only four relics.
"Fuck! You wretched bugs! Just you wait! Once I become rich, I'll return and turn all of you into food!"
After releasing all his pent up frustration, Charles stood up and surveyed the dimly lit surroundings. If the previous place reminded him of a hospital, the current place he was in was more akin to a military base. The walls were no longer pristine white tiles, but rather, thick steel panels.
He had never been to this section and it seemed like he had stumbled here in his attempt to escape.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Charles' voice echoed through the air.
He cautiously moved along the wall as he ventured deeper. Not long after, a massive circular iron door that was nearly five meters in height appeared before him.
Despite the door having a thickness of half a meter, it bore visible signs of damage— a long crack that cleaved the door into two.
Charles carefully put his head through the crack and peered within to discover a vast space beyond.
Suddenly, a distant cough echoed from within and startled Charles.
"What the...? There's a living human within?" Charles muttered to himself.
Casting a quick glance behind him, Charles carefully stepped through the crack and entered the space beyond.
The moment he entered the space, the scene that greeted him left him astonished. It was a long tunnel resembling an air-raid shelter, with iron doors spaced every hundred meters.
The nearest door had been dislodged from its hinges and was embedded into the ceiling.
Cough! Cough!
The sound of coughing echoed from a distance. It was unmistakably the cough of an elderly person.
Charles slowed down his pace and carefully moved toward the source of the sound. Very soon, Charles came face to face with the origin of the coughing sounds.
In the room behind Door 4, a gateway composed of gruesome elements—shattered organs, congealed blood, lifeless eyes, withered limbs, and a mutilated brain—stood in the center. A flowing purple liquid filled the frame of the fleshy door, and at the bottom left, a bloodied upper body was embedded into it. It was the origin of the coughing sounds.
The bloodied figure opened its eyes and stared at Charles, who was standing at the entrance of the room.
"Ah...096, you have finally found another host? Come closer, my friend. Ever since I have been sent to this wretched place, I haven't seen you for a long while. Let's catch up."
He knows me? Wait, no. He recognizes the mask on my face?
Charles's gaze scanned the room and fell on the record book on the wall.
Project ID: 1068
"Haha, I was thinking who could it be, and it turns out to be you, 1068. Long time no see, my old friend. Yeah, I'm 096." Charles responded with feigned familiarity as he approached the meaty gateway.
The bloodied corpse scrutinized Charles for a few seconds before it shook its head and remarked, "No. You are not 096. You have yet to become it."
Realizing that he couldn't deceive the being, Charles abandoned his pretense and questioned, "You. Do you know where's the exit?"
"Asking an immobile old man for directions... Isn't that too impractical? Have humans degenerated into idiots after so many years?"
Years? This thing has been around for years? Will it perhaps know something about the surface world?
After pondering for a brief moment, Charles decided to ask him about information regarding the surface world.
"Ah... the sun. Of course I know about it. It's that thing that hangs in the sky. It's been a while since I have basked in its warmth. Can you move me outside and let me enjoy some sunlight?"
Hearing such an exhilarating news, Charles leaped toward the creature like a monkey. Holding the bloodied corpse's head in his hands, he asked in excitement, "When did you see it? How long ago was that?"
"Damn it! Don't pull my head! I still have my sense of touch!"
Swoosh!
Charles unsheathed the black blade attached to his calf and held it against the being's face. He threatened it with a stern tone, "Stop the crap! Speak up!"
A tinge of fury appeared on 1068's bloodied face.
"The door attached to my body! Pass through the door and you will be able to see the sun."
"The door?" A sudden thought emerged in Charles's head as he approached the door and reached for the record book hung on the wall beside it.
A few seconds later, Charles stormed toward the fleshy corpse in rage and swung his knife at its neck.
"How dare you lie to me! It clearly states here that your door leads to other worlds. No living creature that entered has ever come out!"
As 1068 let out a scream of agony, the entire fleshy gateway convulsed as if in pain.
"You piece of trash that is only fit for wiping one's arse! I curse you!" 1068 dropped its pretense and lashed out at Charles.
"Cut the crap and start talking! Any more nonsense and I'll chop your head off!"
Faced with the imminent threat of the blade, 1068 eventually relented.
With a dejected expression, it started, "I can't recall the exact time, but the last time I saw the sun was when they brought me aboard a ship. I was on the ship for a very long while."
"Hahaha!" Charles let out a manic laughter as he ecstatically did a few somersaults in the air.
"I knew there must be people who had come down from the surface! I knew it!! If they have a way down, then I can surely use the same way up!" However, Charles' joy was short-lived as a familiar red glow illuminated the area outside Door 4.
"Argh! Those wretched bugs are here again!" Charles looked left and right for a place to hide, but to his dismay, he realized that aside from the fleshy gateway, there was no cover at all.
Charles' mind raced and a sudden idea emerged in his head. He dashed toward a corner of the room and like a lizard, he rapidly scaled the wall and reached the upper left corner.
Pressing his limbs tightly against the walls with his formidable body control, Charles wedged his entire body into the corner.
Just as he was done positioning himself, three flying locusts floated into the room. Their translucent bodies shimmered with a red glow.
The locusts didn't seem to notice Charles and directly approached 1068. They began regurgitating and disgorging a stream of half-decomposed rats into the black door.
They... they are feeding 1068? But why?
Just when Charles was feeling puzzled, 1068 started talking again. "Dr. Tina, you're still as beautiful as ever."
Who is it talking to? Another doubt formed in Charles' mind.
Just then, he saw 1068 tilting his head to look at him. A smug grin appeared on its contorted grotesque face. A sense of foreboding washed over Charles.
"Dr. Tina! 096 has escaped!! It's currently hanging at the upper left corner of the room! Contain it quickly!"
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