306: Chapter 36 Abyss Choice

Chapter 36: Abyss Choice. The effects of the medicine are kicking in.

The world became very noisy.

The sound of water droplets hitting rusted iron pipes was like the clanging of gongs, and the movement of rats crawling in the sludge sounded like thunder.

Even the vibration of rows of heavy manhole covers being run over by vehicles dozens of meters above his head felt like someone was tap-dancing on his brain.

Chen Mo leaned against a moldy wall, gasping for breath.

Every breath of air carried the scent of rust and sulfur, as if he had swallowed a handful of steel needles.

"Heart rate 180," green text's voice boomed in his mind with heavy emphasis. "Your adrenaline secretion has exceeded the limit. Right now, you're like a balloon filled with air—one touch and you'll pop."

"Shut up."

Chen Mo shook his head violently, trying to shake off the double vision before his eyes.

A red warning box was still flashing on his retina; it was a signal that his prosthetic was overheating.

But he couldn't worry about that.

Ahead was a fork in the road.

To the left was a dried-up sewage canal, its walls covered in glowing moss.

To the right was a pipe still flowing with a thick, black liquid, emitting a pungent chemical acid smell.

"Go left," green text calculated quickly. "That's a shortcut to the Core District of Scrap Iron City, and the structure is complex, suitable for..."

Vrrr.

The data drive in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

It felt heavy.

Like a hand giving him a hard shove.

The direction was to the right.

Chen Mo stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" green text grew anxious. "Don't just stand there! Sonar shows a group of miniature Drones approaching rapidly! They're less than three hundred meters away!"

Chen Mo didn't move.

He stared fixedly at the gas-filled pipe on the right.

That strange feeling was back.

The data drive wasn't just vibrating; it was heating up, burning like a piece of red coal fresh out of a furnace.

Through the fabric, that burning sensation bored into his thigh muscle and crawled up his nerves.

It wanted him to go right.

This feeling was so intense it didn't feel like a suggestion; it felt more like an order.

"Right."

Chen Mo gritted his teeth and turned, rushing into the pipe that reeked of acid.

"Are you crazy?!" green text shouted. "That's a Chemical Waste Area! The acidic gases there could eat right through your lungs! And it's a dead end! It's clearly marked on the map!"

"The map is old."

Chen Mo didn't stop.

He tore a piece of cloth from his tattered combat suit, dipped it in some muddy water on the ground, and covered his nose and mouth.

The black liquid beneath his feet was very slippery; every step required his full strength just to maintain balance.

Buzz buzz buzz—

The sound behind him changed.

It was no longer a low-pitched echo, but a dense, sharp sound of vibrating wings.

It was the "swarm."

A type of suicide Drone only the size of a palm, carrying a small amount of high explosives.

Once they locked onto a target, they would swarm like hornets, burrowing into any crevice to detonate.

"They're here!"

Chen Mo spun around abruptly, his shotgun pointing into the dark void behind him.

Hundreds of red dots lit up in the darkness.

Like countless bloodthirsty eyes.

"Get down!" green text screamed.

Boom!

The first Drone crashed into the pipe above Chen Mo's head, exploding into a fireball.

Debris and iron shards fell like a rainstorm.

Chen Mo rolled on the spot, sliding into the black sewage ditch.

The highly corrosive liquid instantly soaked through his clothes, and a burning sting flared on his skin.

But he had no time to cry out in pain.

Bang!

He pulled the trigger.

The shotgun spat out a massive tongue of fire, and countless steel pellets swept through the air in a fan shape.

Crack-crack-pop.

Over a dozen Drones were blown apart in mid-air, falling as clusters of fireballs.

But for a swarm of hundreds, this was a mere drop in the bucket.

The remaining swarm was enraged, emitting even more piercing shrieks as they pressed down from all directions.

"It's no use! There are too many!"

green text reported errors frantically. "Run! There's a valve fifty meters ahead! Close it!"

Chen Mo scrambled forward.

It wasn't even running; it was swimming through the sludge.

Explosions filled the air behind him.

Heatwaves pushed against his back, threatening to cook him alive.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

The massive red handwheel was right before his eyes.

As long as he turned it, this heavy Blast Door would drop, separating him from those damned mechanical hornets.

But the gate was open.

Just as Chen Mo reached out to grab the handwheel...

The data drive vibrated again.

This time, it wasn't a push.

It was a pull.

A massive surge of electricity instantly took over Chen Mo's right arm.

That newly repaired mechanical arm was completely beyond the control of his brain, stopping dead in mid-air.

"Shit! What is it doing?!"

Chen Mo watched helplessly as his hand froze there, refusing to budge no matter how hard he strained.

"That drive hacked into your driver program!" green text shouted in terror. "It's locked your Servo Motors!"

The swarm was now less than ten meters away.

That scalp-numbing buzzing was right in his ears.

Chen Mo watched as those red dots grew larger and larger.

Was he going to die?

Die at the hands of some inexplicable hard drive?

Just then...

His right hand suddenly moved.

Not to close the door.

But with a sudden punch, it smashed into an inconspicuous pressure gauge next to the gate.

Crack!

The glass dial shattered.

That old gauge, which looked like it was only for displaying air pressure, was actually a disguised mechanical switch.

Rumble—

The ground beneath his feet suddenly split open.

This wasn't an ordinary crack.

It was a hidden slide.

Before Chen Mo could even be surprised, he fell right through.

At the very instant he fell...

The Blast Door above him slammed down with a loud thud, blocking all the incoming fireballs outside.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Muffled explosions came from outside; it was the sound of the swarm crashing into the steel plate.

But none of that mattered to Chen Mo anymore.

He was sliding down.

The slide was very steep and very slippery, as if it had been coated in oil.

Everything around him was pitch black, with only the whistling wind in his ears.

"That actually worked?"

green text's voice sounded a bit weak. "There's no record of this place even in my database. That drive... how did it know there was a secret passage here?"

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He was trying to slow down.

He pressed his still-functional left hand firmly against the wall, creating a trail of sparks from the friction.

But it was useless; the acceleration of gravity sent him hurtling like a cannonball toward the unknown abyss.

A dozen or so seconds later...

The slide finally leveled out.

Chen Mo went flying, landing heavily on a pile of soft, spongy material.

There was no pain like he had expected.

It felt like there was a thick layer of rubber beneath him.

He struggled to sit up, raising his shotgun and looking around warily.

This place was huge.

Extremely huge.

Although there were no lights, Chen Mo's Night Vision Goggles could still barely function.

In his green-tinted field of vision were rows of massive cylinders.

Each one was three stories high, arranged neatly and stretching to the edge of his vision.

This place looked like a warehouse.

Or... a morgue.

"Those are Cultivation Tanks."

green text's voice became very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something. "They're models from many years ago. This design style... it's Pre-war."

Chen Mo walked up to the nearest cylinder.

The glass surface was covered in dust, thick as a blanket.

He reached out and wiped it.

Inside was a murky green liquid.

He could vaguely see a dark shadow floating in the liquid.

Humanoid.

curled up。

Covered in tubes.

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