A female researcher in a white lab coat knelt with her back to the elevator. She leaned slightly forward, as if praying to the experimental bench in front of her. Her posture was both eerie and devout.

Her disheveled hair hung down her back, matted with dark red blood, and her lab coat was covered in stains and tears.

Luna Dawson slowly walked up and gently nudged her shoulder. The stiff corpse toppled over, and everyone gasped. Half of her head had been forcefully sliced off. Brain matter and blood had congealed on her cheek. Her eyes were wide open, freezing an expression of extreme terror and agony, yet the corners of her mouth were curled up in a bizarre, eerie smile.

Kevin Keane bent down and yanked a name badge from her chest. The photo on it was obscured by blood, but the text remained legible. Aside from her name, there was a line of Lorican text, with the title “Gene Editing Researcher” indicated below.

“She was a Lorican researcher,” Kevin said in a low voice, passing the badge around for the others to see.

The group’s expressions grew increasingly solemn as they inspected the badge.

Sweeping their gaze across the room, they easily noticed that the experimental benches on this floor were littered with experiment logs in various languages—Lorican, English, and a smattering of Russian. Clearly, this underground research institute was not staffed solely by researchers from Celestia; it had gathered scientists from all over the world to conduct this insane and cruel experiment together.

Passports and name badges of various nationalities also lay scattered on the benches. On some badges, the photos were still clear, capturing faces flushed with a fanatic zeal for scientific research. No one could have imagined they would end up like this.

The entire floor was crowded with dense rows of large incubators. Beneath the transparent glass covers, murky, pale-yellow liquid preserved a variety of biological remains. They were all chimeras of zombies and Aberrant Beasts: monsters with wolf heads and zombie bodies, birds with zombie arms growing from their wings, and bizarre, scale-covered creatures bearing human heads.

The glass of the incubators was spiderwebbed with cracks. Some had already shattered, allowing the liquid inside to seep out and form sticky puddles on the floor, exuding a pungent stench of chemical reagents mixed with rot.

The bodies of many researchers were strewn across the floor. Some lay curled up next to the incubators, while others had collapsed in front of the experimental benches. Covered in scratch and bite marks, they had long since stiffened and decayed. Flies swarmed above the corpses, their loud BUZZING making everyone’s stomachs churn.

The remaining dozen or so people quickly gathered at the elevator to wait. William Walsh stepped forward and pressed the “up” button, his fingertips pressing down with slight force, unable to conceal his underlying vigilance.

Meanwhile, on the first floor, Kyle Keith stood to one side of the crowd, his eyes glued to the elevator display. When he saw the number slowly tick to B1, his tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and he breathed a secret sigh of relief. It seemed Luna Dawson and the others had experienced a smooth journey down without encountering any sudden emergencies.

DING!

The crisp chime of the elevator rang out as the doors slowly slid open. It was completely empty inside, with only a faint scent of disinfectant wafting out.

“It’s our turn.”

Kyle Keith was the first to step into the elevator, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable aura of authority.

Clayton Churchill hurriedly followed right behind Kyle. Caleb Bell, the vice-captain of Omni Squad Two, escorted Sharon Sloan inside. He led the rest of the Squad Two members into the elevator in an orderly manner, instantly packing the cramped space to the brim.

“Huh, no wonder you two siblings had to take separate trips. It turns out this elevator has biometric authentication.”

Clayton’s gaze fell on the recognition device on the inner wall of the elevator. With a look of surprise, he couldn’t help but lean in for a closer look.

Sharon stepped forward and completed the iris scan at the device. Afterward, she disgustedly patted the shoulder that Clayton had just gotten close to, as if it had been tainted by something filthy. She repeatedly brushed off nonexistent dust, her expression full of disdain.

She turned to glare at Clayton, a mocking edge to her voice. “Do you Spiritual Ability Users become completely useless the moment you enter Decron?”

Clayton’s expression faltered instantly, a flash of embarrassment darting through his eyes. He quickly feigned composure and defended himself, “Yes, but if there’s a strong High Order superpower fluctuation, we can still faintly sense a trace of it…”

“I suppose that’s somewhat useful,” Sharon scoffed softly, the mockery in her tone intensifying. “If you were completely useless, Miss Sloan wouldn’t have revealed two supply caches just to recruit you people. If you really had no use, wouldn’t Miss Sloan’s supplies have been given away for nothing!”

Clayton’s face darkened completely. He clenched his fists but ultimately chose not to reply. He knew arguing with Sharon was pointless; it would only escalate the fight.

Caleb Bell, standing beside Sharon, twitched his mouth and hurriedly tried to smooth things over. His tone carried a hint of helplessness. “Miss Sloan, it was the captains of our Squad One and Squad Three who specifically requested that Spiritual Ability Users be brought along. Please don’t dismiss the other captains’ arrangements, and don’t underestimate them.”

Sharon pursed her lips, her face filled with contempt. “My brother and Captain Cole wanted useful people. But you two Spiritual Ability Users turned into trash the second you entered Decron. You’re completely useless! Miss Sloan spent the reserves of two supply caches to hire such a useless bunch. What’s wrong with me complaining about it? You suck, and I’m not even allowed to say it?!”

Perhaps because William Walsh wasn’t around to keep her in check, and Luna Dawson had already gone ahead, Sharon was left with no one to suppress her. She reverted to her usual arrogant demeanor, speaking with increasing brazenness.

Hearing this, Clayton immediately rolled his eyes and clapped back without holding back. “I suck? If Captain Dawson called me trash, I’d accept it! But who the hell do you think you are? With your pitiful skills, the few little splashes of water you squirt out can’t even put out the fire on your own legs. Last time, you almost turned into a roasted pig trotter!”

“Who are you calling a roasted pig trotter?!”

Sharon instantly blew her top. Her eyes went wide with fury, and she moved to lunge at Clayton to settle the score. She might not be able to beat Luna Dawson in a fight, but she could definitely take down this weakened spiritual power rookie. Truth be told, she had despised Clayton for a long time. He was always fawning over Luna, and that cheap, sycophantic smile he wore around her made Sharon furious just thinking about it!

Seeing this, Clayton deliberately made a funny face and said with a cheeky grin, “Bleh, bleh, bleh! Whoever gets mad is the roasted pig trotter!”

Caleb Bell felt his temples throbbing, inwardly groaning in despair. He knew that with Captain Sharon and Captain Cole absent, there was no one to keep Sharon in check. This was really going to blow up now.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when several sharp Water Blades materialized in Sharon’s hands. They slashed toward Clayton in unison, carrying a ferocious momentum.

Right as the Water Blades were about to hit Clayton, a freezing ice wall suddenly shot up between them. With a loud CRACK, the Water Blades smashed into the ice wall, instantly shattering into water droplets.

Kyle Keith, who had been closely watching the elevator floor display, slowly spoke up. His voice was freezing cold, carrying an intense, oppressive weight. “That’s enough.”

In his eyes, Sharon was just a useless troublemaker. Aside from being somewhat handy for biometric authentication, she only ever caused chaos.

Frowning, he swept his gaze across the group, his tone growing exceedingly grim. “Don’t you guys realize something is wrong? Logically speaking, even if we haven’t reached B1, we should have at least passed B10 by now. But we’re still going down, and you lot are still in the mood to bicker!”

At his words, the elevator instantly fell dead silent. Everyone’s eyes snapped up in unison to stare at the elevator display.

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