Chapter 82-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 82 Black Dental Clinic (Thirteen)
Even if the Sanitation Center deployed at maximum speed, it would still take at least ten minutes on the road. But they had dispatched aerial mechanical surveillance units.
Surveillance drones were spread throughout District 103, perched in various corners of the city like eight-legged spiders. Once large-scale urban contamination occurred, the surveillance drones would move simultaneously, flying out of their nests like bees, able to report back on the entire District 103's situation at the fastest speed.
The surveillance drone closest to The Ant Nest was at The Hive. It normally perched atop utility poles or on building rooftops, blending into the background. Now, receiving unified deployment orders, nearby residents could finally realize surveillance drones had been lurking around them. Ten surveillance drones had already entered The Ant Nest.
The surveillance drones navigated through The Ant Nest's complex interior. Since they didn't know exactly where the problem was, the ten drones spread across six areas of The Ant Nest to search, then transmitted images back to the Sanitation Center's Technology Department.
"This is really quite eerie," said the technician in charge of control while watching the images.
Due to The Ant Nest's strange structure—oppressive corridors, interconnected interiors—even technological products could easily get lost inside.
There were no lights inside The Ant Nest. The video feed they saw was green. They hadn't seen anyone along the way and couldn't understand why there was abnormal data.
There were some traces of human activity in the corridors—a few scattered black pill boxes and syringes, as if someone had been doing drugs here.
"Who do you think lives here?" the technician asked.
"I heard it's nearby Defectives. They have nowhere to live, so they come in and find an empty room."
"Isn't the metal contamination severe here?" another technician asked.
"Still better than sleeping on the streets. Wait, I think something's happening on my end."
One of the surveillance drones was responsible for buildings 30 to 40. It had just patrolled to the first floor of Building 36 when a rustling sound suddenly came through.
Rustle rustle—
"Did you hear that?" The technician stopped chatting and held his breath to listen. Technology was advanced now. Audio devices could accurately capture sounds at the scene. Even if you weren't there, you could feel like you were.
The eerie rustling mixed with static. They captured the audio, amplified it, and listened repeatedly.
Rustle rustle—crackle crackle—
"What's that sound?"
"It's kind of..." the technician said uncertainly, "kind of like insects?"
Very much like insects. In a dilapidated old building, any sound would be amplified. Insects shaking their many legs while crawling on the ceiling would leave similar sounds.
"I-I think I hear human voices?"
The audio was very chaotic, but the technician kept feeling there was a human voice mixed in. Was someone talking, or was someone calling for help?
The technician controlled the machine while leaning closer to the screen. This was completely a human instinctive reaction—when you can't hear clearly, you always feel like getting closer will help you hear better.
The technician's face was almost pressed against the screen when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a black face appeared on the screen.
The technician's body stiffened. Cold sweat broke out on his back. He was completely frozen.
The face on the screen instantly filled his vision. It was a blurry face with only two black holes where the eyes should be. The edges of the black shadow were writhing, like thick black blood.
It was hanging upside down from the ceiling, a pair of empty eyes staring at the surveillance drone.
The technician wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he kept feeling this black shadow could see through the screen, directly into his own eyes.
Even though he knew this was impossible—they were far apart, he was in the rear support of the logistics team, and there was an electronic screen between them—it was impossible to be seen through.
But at that moment, he inexplicably felt it. The other was looking at him.
He's looking over. He saw me.
These two sentences were all that filled his mind. He couldn't even look away. His face was pressed tightly against the screen, unable to move. He was like an ant locked onto by a predator.
"Shit!" The colleague beside him reacted. He hadn't directly made eye contact with the black shadow on the screen—he only saw there was something foreign inside and immediately transmitted it to the Abnormal Incident Investigation Team's leader.
"What is this thing? A Contaminant? But there's no detected significant increase in contamination concentration." His hands tapped the keyboard, completing the work at hand, completely ignoring the person beside him.
After he uploaded the images and reported the scene situation, when he wanted to continue exploring, he noticed his colleague was acting strange.
"Hey? What's wrong with you?" He pushed his colleague but couldn't move him.
He only saw his colleague's eyes were somewhat unfocused, his whole person appearing very dazed, then showing a silly smile.
"Hehehe—"
The technician got goosebumps all over. To be honest, compared to the black shadow on the screen, his colleague scared him more. "Wh-what are you laughing at?"
His colleague didn't reply. That smile seemed frozen on his face.
"Are you psychically contaminated?" The technician waved his hand in front of his colleague's eyes. His colleague had no reaction at all.
With trembling hands, he reached under his colleague's nose. He felt no breath. His colleague was smiling but wasn't breathing. He had inhaled but couldn't exhale. If this continued, he would suffocate to death.
He immediately pressed the distress button. "Help! Abnormal situation in the logistics Technology Department. Suspected Psychic Contamination. Repeat, abnormal situation..."
...
Zhu Ning and Pei Shu had reached a cooperation.
They had known each other for less than ten minutes, then somehow had to work together. Liu Niannian was the only acquaintance between them, serving mainly as a mediator. Otherwise, Pei Shu was afraid he couldn't resist wanting to punch someone.
The three-person team retreated all the way. The good news was that Zhu Ning's idea was surprisingly decent.
The entire interior of The Ant Nest was metal construction. Zhu Ning's Metal Manipulation talent was maximized here, especially with The Ant Nest's sky bridge structure—block both ends and it became a natural cage.
Liu Niannian acted as bait, using firepower to drive the Xenomorphs. Pei Shu set fires. Zhu Ning blocked both exits of the corridor. Metal conducted heat. Once successful, the cage closed, and screams of Xenomorphs came from inside.
Their screams were very eerie, very much like human voices, giving Zhu Ning the illusion that she wasn't killing Xenomorphs but living people.
Liu Niannian probably hadn't done this much before. She was a bit dazed the first time she heard it.
Both Zhu Ning and Pei Shu frowned. Even if you knew the other party was a monster, when their screams sounded too much like humans, it naturally caused revulsion.
Not revulsion toward the monsters, but revulsion toward oneself.
They successfully sealed the dental clinic with this plan, then retreated from the corridors of Buildings 35 and 36. It seemed to be going smoothly—even too smoothly.
Liu Niannian was more attentive. She asked, "Are you okay?"
Zhu Ning wasn't wearing a helmet, so her nosebleed was particularly obvious. She had overused her abilities.
"I'm fine." Zhu Ning wiped under her nose, touching a handful of wet blood.
She felt that if she kept using it like this, she'd get herself killed sooner or later. She had to think of a way to reduce her dependence on the System.
Zhu Ning took the lead. According to the rough plan she and Pei Shu had made, they should go down from Building 36. After successfully reaching the ground, they would each go their separate ways.
Their current position was the 35th floor of Building 36. Going down floor by floor, they could reach the ground in four minutes at the fastest. But Zhu Ning stopped.
"What's wrong?" Liu Niannian asked from behind.
"Shh—" Zhu Ning stopped the people behind her. "Listen."
Liu Niannian had been saved by Zhu Ning before and trusted her abilities. Hearing this, she stopped and really started listening carefully.
Rustle rustle—
An eerie sound came from the dark emergency stairwell. They had heard this sound before, so logically it shouldn't seem strange anymore. But this sound was a bit more eerie than before.
It seemed to... have an echo, and was mixed with the sound of people talking. Although she couldn't hear clearly, her intuition told her it should be people talking.
Zhu Ning was constantly on guard against unknown dangers. Even though she could use her Metal Manipulation talent freely here, she couldn't help but feel a bit scared. They only had this last stretch of road left. After finishing the stairs, they could leave The Ant Nest.
Zhu Ning was on full alert, slowly leading the people behind her. Pei Shu was the rear guard, Liu Niannian was sandwiched in the middle. Their speed suddenly slowed as they began to inch downward.
34th floor, 33rd floor, 32nd floor...
Going down floor by floor, each floor showed nothing unusual—just identical emergency stairwell stairs.
And there was no contamination source here anymore, so there wouldn't be any psychic breakdown situations. Zhu Ning had walked up smoothly before. Now she had to slowly walk down.
19th floor, 18th floor, 17th floor...
The floors kept decreasing. Still no danger.
Was Zhu Ning being paranoid? Her Danger Sense hadn't gone off either. Very likely there was no problem at all.
A person couldn't stay tense all the time. People needed to alternate between tension and relaxation. Staying constantly tense would cause stress responses.
But her sixth sense kept urging her to leave immediately. She quickened her pace. By the time she reached the 13th floor, Zhu Ning had already relaxed somewhat. She had just let out a breath, not even breathing evenly yet, when she suddenly froze.
A black shadow appeared at the stairwell corner.
That thing seemed to flow down from the ceiling. A thick, foul-smelling black liquid slowly flowed down from the ceiling gaps and stairwell cracks, then gathered into a human figure, standing upside down at the stairwell corner.
Its arms seemed to be crossed. More precisely, it looked like an upside-down black bat.
Its appearance wasn't much different from the previous Xenomorphs, except its movements were a bit eerie. Its two eyes were extremely empty. They were clearly just empty holes, but you couldn't see through those eyes to what was behind—as if you had fallen into an invisible vortex.
Although she didn't know what this was, instinct told her this was definitely different from before.
Zhu Ning and this black shadow met face to face. Neither moved. The shadow it cast fell on Zhu Ning, as if enveloping her entire being.
She forgot how long she had been frozen. She forgot the flow of time. She even forgot why she was here, forgot where she was.
In that instant, she had forgotten everything. Her mind went blank. She stood there like a wooden chicken. A sensation she had rarely experienced in her life happened in an instant.
At that moment, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. A chill rose up her entire back. All the blood in her body was frozen. Something fine was crawling through her blood vessels.
She couldn't even think. It was as if she couldn't breathe.
Liu Niannian behind her had no idea what had happened to Zhu Ning. Of the three of them, only Zhu Ning had stepped into the corridor corner first. Liu Niannian was about to follow when she felt her neck tighten—Pei Shu behind her grabbed the back of her neck and forcibly pulled her back.
So Liu Niannian couldn't see what Zhu Ning saw. She could only see Zhu Ning eerily frozen in place.
She wanted to ask what was wrong with Zhu Ning but couldn't get the words out.
The moment she opened her mouth, she felt something blocking her throat. Liu Niannian couldn't describe that feeling. She tried to speak, but a mysterious unknown force stopped her.
"Close your eyes," Pei Shu said in a low voice.
Liu Niannian obediently closed her eyes. After closing them, her perception of the outside world became more acute.
Liu Niannian felt Pei Shu's subtle movements behind her. He was gripping the back of her neck, which could transmit emotions. Pei Shu's grip was getting heavier, and his fingers were even trembling slightly. Pei Shu was afraid.
Liu Niannian felt Pei Shu's fear. In all the time Pei Shu had been her teacher, Liu Niannian had subconsciously thought he could handle everything. Liu Niannian had never seen Pei Shu afraid.
What was ahead? What had happened to Zhu Ning and Pei Shu?
Hiss—
Zhu Ning felt her brain was in extreme pain. This was the first time she had experienced this kind of pain. Before, it was vague and hard to describe—she could only feel it was like needles pricking.
But this time, she felt as if something in her brain had vibrated. Pain came from all directions, as if the thing in her brain had curled into a hedgehog, pricking her fragile brain until it nearly crashed.
Human pain existed to avoid danger. Zhu Ning had never so deeply felt that there was something in her brain.
"Hah—"
Zhu Ning had been frozen stiff, completely unable to breathe, thinking she was certainly dead. When the pain in her brain spread, like a jammed machine being pressed with a restart button, she actually exhaled deeply.
Zhu Ning was able to breathe. She lowered her eyes, choosing not to continue making eye contact with the black shadow before her, instead looking at her own toes.
After Zhu Ning looked away, the rustling sound above her head seemed to grow lighter.
Zhu Ning couldn't stop shivering. She clenched her teeth hard to keep herself from losing composure, whispering a warning: "Don't—don't look at its eyes."
She had felt the power of its eyes. With just one look, it could make her freeze in place. This didn't even count as Psychic Contamination—Zhu Ning's sanity hadn't dropped at all.
Zhu Ning's words reached Pei Shu and Liu Niannian's ears. Neither of them had directly looked into the black shadow's eyes, so they were less affected by its intimidation.
Liu Niannian kept her eyes closed. Pei Shu, hearing Zhu Ning's warning, stared at his own toes.
Since lowering her head, Zhu Ning felt the black mass above her head seemed to have shifted slightly. Could it only detect people's gazes? Or did they harvest fear through human eyes?
Zhu Ning was certain of one thing: the eyes had to be the window. They had to transmit through line of sight.
And the black shadow didn't seem that sensitive. For example, even after seeing Zhu Ning for so long, it hadn't immediately pounced to feed.
Pei Shu said this thing was a Xenomorph. It seemed the types of Xenomorphs were more complex than she had thought. The one before her was harder to deal with than the ones upstairs.
The biggest evidence was that she couldn't stop shivering. Her profession required her not to tremble, but her right hand holding the gun was shaking.
"What do we do?" Zhu Ning asked in a low voice. She didn't dare make too much noise, afraid of disturbing the Xenomorph right above her head.
Pei Shu had been frowning deeply. He hadn't expected to encounter a High-Level Xenomorph here.
High-Level Xenomorphs fed on human fear, which was why they lived symbiotically with Contamination Zones outside the walls. They generally lived near contamination sources, eating fearful humans.
Outside the walls, these things weren't rare. Every investigator outside the walls had seen them to some degree. But inside the walls, they were really too rare.
Pei Shu's reply was equally quiet: "High-Level Xenomorph. Don't look at it. Move slowly."
If conditions allowed, Pei Shu would have wanted to switch to leading the team himself. But right now, any subtle movement could trigger a change. He couldn't smoothly switch positions with Zhu Ning, so he had no choice but to place his hopes on her.
What did Pei Shu mean? Have Zhu Ning lead the team and move under this thing? Was this really a solution? Zhu Ning was even a novice who had never seen this thing before. What if moving failed?
But Pei Shu's voice sounded very certain. Zhu Ning couldn't think of a better solution at the moment. Pei Shu had rich experience operating outside the walls. Perhaps this was an expert's advice to a novice.
When encountering unknown creatures, don't move rashly, don't use firearms rashly, don't panic rashly. Maintain maximum calm.
Your survival probability was closely related to your mental fortitude. This was an easy principle to understand, but it really tested personal qualities. Most people understood the principle but simply couldn't do it.
Pei Shu actually wasn't sure about Zhu Ning's mental fortitude. The Xenomorph before them wasn't very strong compared to those outside the walls, nor was it terrifyingly invincible.
But normal people would panic the first time they saw a High-Level Xenomorph. Once panicked, it wouldn't be strange to do something stupid—especially since Zhu Ning had never encountered one before.
Pei Shu had already calculated in his mind what to do if the situation got out of control. He had devised two plans, ready to step in at any moment.
Fighting would be very troublesome. The three of them definitely couldn't get away unscathed. Pei Shu privately didn't want to see that scenario.
Liu Niannian was equally afraid. If fear could be transmitted, her fear was now doubled. Something that even Zhu Ning and Pei Shu were afraid of—she hadn't even seen a corner of the monster and was already instinctively terrified.
She was very afraid of dragging them down. If something happened, Pei Shu would give up his own life to protect her. She had just come out for an adventure; she didn't want to cost someone their life.
She kept breaking out in cold sweat. For the first time, she deeply regretted her rash actions. At the same time, her panic reached its peak. She was terrified of making a mistake. Once she made a mistake, all three of them would be in trouble. That wasn't what she wanted to see.
Liu Niannian was still panicking, her palms full of sweat. Suddenly, Liu Niannian felt warmth in her palm.
Zhu Ning's trembling hand grasped her trembling hand.
Zhu Ning's hand was slender—a hand that had held guns for years. Even at this moment, it seemed very strong. She held Liu Niannian.
Liu Niannian's hand had been shaking. Zhu Ning's hand was also shaking. But after the two hands clasped together, the trembling disappeared.
A steady, gentle strength transmitted through their gloves. Liu Niannian had never been held like this before.
"Follow me closely. Don't look up." Zhu Ning's voice was very tense, yet she still said these words.
Somehow, this was more reassuring than if Zhu Ning had remained completely calm. Zhu Ning was also very scared. She wasn't completely composed. She was trembling. But she could move forward, and Liu Niannian could too.
Liu Niannian kept her eyes closed, but she could feel Zhu Ning. The other was leading her by the hand.
In the darkness, Zhu Ning was her guide. She just needed to relax and follow Zhu Ning.
Zhu Ning reached back to grasp Liu Niannian's hand, moving very slowly—almost inching along. She couldn't ignore the gaze from above. That gaze had too strong a presence, pressing down on her spine like a weight, about to bend her over.
Cold sweat kept flowing down Zhu Ning's back. She was getting colder and colder. If this continued, she might get hypothermia. For a moment, she couldn't tell if she really felt cold, or if the black shadow hanging upside down from the ceiling made her think she was cold.
She did only one thing: stare at her feet and lead the team forward.
Drip—
When Zhu Ning walked directly under the black shadow, a drop of thick black liquid fell. Zhu Ning wasn't wearing a helmet. The slime landed right on the back of Zhu Ning's neck—ice cold, as if trying to burrow into Zhu Ning's skin through the gap in her protective suit.
(ꏿ﹏ꏿ;)
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