Chapter 104: Investigation (Part II)

Her name is Crystal Mill. Six months ago, the Federal General Military District dispatched her to the Northern Military District to oversee a major scientific experiment, a deployment that also saw her promoted to the rank of Major. However, what followed was something she never could have anticipated.

Upon arriving in the North, she felt that the changes in this world were far more drastic than anything she had known in her thirty years of life, or even the thousands of years recorded in books. It began with scenarios straight out of low-budget science fiction horror films: biochemical viruses, reanimated corpses hunting the living—the apocalypse. She had watched countless movies and dismissed such tropes as absurd, yet one day, they became her reality.

Once the military district had barely stabilized, the base was overrun by creatures resembling the extraterrestrial monsters from those very horror films—white, octopus-like monstrosities. In just half a month, tens of thousands had proliferated throughout the base, and the entire military district was systematically slaughtered.

She had escaped to this underground containment facility with a group from her project team. Despite the rigorous security, these pervasive creatures had infiltrated even here. Their bodies seemed capable of slipping through the tiniest fissures, even ventilation ducts. They were indifferent to extreme heat, cold, and all manner of conventional weaponry, leaving one without even the slightest desire to fight back.

Everyone could only watch as the creatures butchered their comrades and then turned on them. Mill acted decisively, donning a hazmat suit and retreating into an isolation chamber. The Colonel in charge of the military unit had reacted just as quickly, and together they escaped the chaos, slamming the airtight glass door shut. The suits were connected to oxygen supply lines, and the chamber itself was completely sealed from the outside air, making this ten-square-meter space the safest place in the base for the moment—though it merely delayed their inevitable end.

While dying in a radiation chamber was a bleak prospect, it was far better than having those monsters burrow into your stomach, consume your organs, and emerge from within you.

Just as she had descended into despair, living people suddenly appeared in this military base that should have been completely purged. Moreover, the tone shifted abruptly; the science fiction aesthetic vanished, replaced by something supernatural. First, a man in a black shirt used a single finger to crack the high-durability glass door, visible to the naked eye. Then, a bespectacled man of East Asian descent in a white shirt pointed his finger, and a drop of black liquid manifested out of thin air. He controlled its flight, and upon striking the glass, it hissed as if melting through it.

"That black liquid is highly acidic!" Mill concluded, forcing herself to remain calm. "It’s useless. That door is made of a composite material; it’s not just blast-proof and impact-resistant, it’s immune to all chemical corrosion..." Before she could finish, her voice trailed off. The glass door she had been boasting about was visibly melting away.

Who were these people? Mill’s worldview, already numbed by recent events, was shattered once more. It felt as though fate was determined to shock her at every turn.

"W-what do you want? You..." the Colonel stammered, his bravado crumbling as he tried to threaten them. "I am a direct subordinate of the Northern Military District Commander. I..." His voice was cut short.

The drop of black liquid, having melted the door, flew straight at the officer. He visibly dissolved before her eyes, turning into a puddle of liquid. The sight was so visceral that even Guo Lang felt a wave of nausea, thinking to himself, "Damn, this brother Xie is truly a degenerate."

"Shall we go now, Miss?" Guo Lang asked with a smile.

Glancing at the pool of liquid nearby, Mill suppressed her nausea and managed a strained, difficult smile. "Do I have any other choice?"

***

Federal Calendar Year 241: June 17, 7:00 AM. The first bizarre deaths occurred in the barracks. A squad of ten soldiers died in their quarters, their expressions twisted in agony. According to surrounding soldiers at the time, no screams were heard; the night had been perfectly quiet, and the patrols reported nothing unusual.

June 17, 1:00 PM. The bodies were sent for autopsy. In this era, consent from the victims' families was unnecessary, as few soldiers in the military district had any living relatives left.

June 17, 6:00 PM. Preliminary results were in. The victims had no external injuries but showed signs of intense struggle. It was unknown why there were no cries for help. Though there were no surface wounds, all internal organs were missing, and even the blood had completely dried up, leaving only skin and bone. The brain remained intact, suggesting the victims had been fully conscious at the moment of death.

June 17, 9:00 PM. High command held a military meeting. Aside from us researchers, the military brass attended. It was decided to suppress the news to avoid widespread panic and to organize a secret investigation.

Clearly, this was a grave error.

June 18, 6:00 AM. More casualties. This time, three full squads perished. High command again opted for a news blackout, and our research department was ordered to work overtime to analyze the solution found on the victims, hoping to identify the culprit.

June 18, 6:00 PM. A major breakthrough in analyzing the bodily fluids. We identified an alien biological solution, confirming the deaths were caused by a xenobiological entity rather than human agency. However, as for the specific creature, we scoured every biological database and found not a single clue.

June 19, 7:00 AM. Nearly an entire regiment was wiped out across various outposts. High command could no longer suppress the news. Soldiers began gathering to demand answers, and the Commander had to address them personally. The entire district fell into utter panic.

June 20, 9:00 AM. Despite everyone being on high alert, casualties continued to mount daily. The monsters were elusive; so many had died, yet no one had even seen what they looked like.

June 21, 2:00 PM. The monsters appeared in public for the first time. They were milky-white, soft-bodied creatures, roughly the size of a small dog. It was hard to imagine these were the culprits behind the deaths of thousands of soldiers, as they didn't appear particularly powerful. Soldiers attempted to attack, but the creatures were incredibly agile and seemed unfazed by gunfire. Their hunting method was unique: they would attach themselves to a person and seep through the ears, nose, mouth, or eyes, draining them into a husk in mere seconds.

June 21, 3:00 PM. The entire base was surrounded by these white monsters. I don't know how many there are—tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? All I see outside is a sea of white. Data shows that the military has no effective way to target them. They don't fear firearms, and their agility makes them difficult to hit. Even when hit, they sustain little damage. We tried flamethrowers, electric shocks, and even soldiers acting as human bombs, but nothing was effective. Their resilience and regenerative capabilities far exceed our imagination.

June 21, 7:00 PM. The base has essentially fallen. Only a few soldiers remain to protect the high-ranking officers in the containment facility, but even they haven't escaped the hunt. The creatures are inescapable; no matter how well you seal a room, they get in. We concluded that their bodies can squeeze through gaps less than a centimeter wide, flowing like water. This filled us with despair, for no matter how secure the facility was, there were always ventilation shafts—and those were entry points to them.

June 22, 1:00 PM. We retreated to the underground lab...

*Click!* Guo Lang turned off the digital recorder. He looked at her gently, his demeanor a stark contrast to his earlier behavior. He asked in a soft tone, "Are you a researcher?"

"Yes..." Mill was devouring the bread and elven fruit Guo Lang had brought, her cheeks bulging like a squirrel’s. She could only manage a nod in response to his question.

Guo Lang waited a moment. As she swallowed and reached for another piece, he quickly asked, "What field?"

"Bio... biological cytology!" She was breathing heavily. Having gone so long without food, the sudden intake made her feel lightheaded.

"It's okay... eat slowly, don't rush, stay calm!" Guo Lang smiled as he looked at the recorder in his hand. "I like researchers. You have such excellent habits; it's quite commendable!" The recording had told him almost everything he wanted to know.

Xie Lin stroked his chin. He finally understood what Guo Lang had meant by "internal deployment." These monsters were indeed the nightmare of soldiers dependent on conventional modern weaponry. Because the creatures were individually weak, yet weapons were ineffective against them, it was easy for such forces to be routed. This was exactly why undead entities were so effective in this plane; biological weapons were a hard counter to civilizations that relied too heavily on external tools.

"Do you have any ideas about this thing?" Xie Lin asked.

Guo Lang mimicked Xie Lin, stroking his chin and nodding. "Yeah, more or less... I think I know what kind of pattern this is!"