204: Chapter 204 Bloodstained World

The heavy fire door was like the boundary between life and death, isolating the dead silence of the stairwell from the unknown horror outside. The cold touch on the fingertips was the chill of the gun's metal, and also the biting cold of reality.

The door seemed to still retain the lingering traces of the desperate pounding and eerie sucking from just moments ago. The air was filled with dust, a musty smell, and a trace of... a very faint, indescribable sweet, bloody scent, as if a mixture of rust and rotting fruit was seeping in extremely slowly from under the door crack.

Ling Ye's body was frozen like a sculpture in the shadows of the corner. His breathing was suppressed to the minimum, and the beating of his heart became slow and heavy under the forced suppression of his will. The "Ancient Ring" mark deep in his Soul transmitted a trace of an extremely slight, defensive tremor, and the faint light of the "xuanyuan ring" on his right hand also seemed to freeze for a moment. This was not a warning, but more like an instinctive rejection of some "incompatible" existence.

The thing outside was definitely not benevolent, and it was likely related to the pollution of the "abyssal eye".

Waiting meant placing himself in a passive position. No one could guarantee that the thing wouldn't return, or that others of its kind were wandering nearby. The longer the time dragged on, the more variables there would be.

Retreat back to the underground? That meant giving up this exit that was so close at hand, returning to the maze-like pipeline world that had already been exposed (at least to the Mutant group), and searching for other unknown and potentially more dangerous paths. This was not his style.

Then, the only remaining choice seemed to be... actively exploring, and even, if necessary, breaking through head-on.

But it was by no means reckless. He needed information, even if it was just a glimpse.

His gaze swept across the stairwell. There were some broken cleaning tools, discarded pipeline parts, and an overturned, empty plastic bucket piled here. The voice-activated light overhead had long been damaged, and only the faint light from the floor below barely outlined the contours.

He retreated half a floor silently, coming to the stair landing. This place was relatively open and had a closed window with frosted glass. The window faced outward and might provide another observation angle.

The window latch was rusted shut. He pulled out his multi-purpose combat knife and carefully pried it with the tip. After a slight "click" sound, the latch popped open. He pressed his palm against the glass and slowly pulled it inward to create a gap.

Damp, cold air carrying heavy smoke and a burnt smell rushed in instantly, mixed with the faint wailing of sirens in the distance, the blurry clamor of crowds, and a low-frequency roar as if heavy machinery were moving.

It was the surface! This was the sound of the surface! Chaotic, but full of the traces of "humans".

He carefully poked half his face out and looked out through the gap in the window.

The first thing that came into view was the narrow, cluttered backyard outside the window. The courtyard wall was high, covered with moss and rusted barbed wire. Looking over the wall, he could see a patch of low, dilapidated building roofs, many windows broken, walls with smoke and fire marks, and in some places, faded warning tape still remained. Further away were the outlines of several taller grey buildings, appearing oppressive and silent under the lead-grey sky. In the sky, there were no birds, only a few wisps of black smoke rising leisurely from different directions.

This seemed to be an Industrial Zone or an old residential area on the edge of the city; the building density was not high, but it had clearly experienced the baptism of chaos. There was no obvious large-scale destruction seen, but a sense of desolation and abandonment rushed at him.

His gaze searched rapidly. In a corner of the courtyard wall, there was a small, rusted iron gate, half-hidden, and outside the gate seemed to be a small alley. And in the shadow of the building opposite the alley, he saw a huge, not yet completely dried dark red stain, with some broken clothing fragments and an overturned trash can scattered nearby. On the ground near the stain, there were several messy dragging marks extending into the depths of the alley.

He didn't see any moving "things". But those traces and the distant sounds all signaled that danger was everywhere.

He withdrew his gaze and slowly closed the window tightly. The world outside was more... direct and cruel than he had expected. What was wandering outside that fire door was likely just an insignificant corner of this "Crimson World".

Now, he had to have a more direct understanding of the situation outside the door. Rushing out blindly was seeking death.

He returned to the fire door, crouched down, and carefully inspected the door gap. The sweet, bloody smell did indeed seep in from under the door gap, very faintly. There was no obvious damage or signs of forced prying on the door hinges and latch, so the door should still be able to open and close normally.

He needed to "take a look" outside. But he couldn't open the door directly.

Thinking for a moment, he had an idea. He took off his backpack and took out the roll of electrical tape and a small piece of paracord. Then, he found a relatively clean, long-handled dustpan among the cleaning tools. He used the tape to firmly tie the tactical flashlight to the end of the dustpan handle, with the light head facing forward. Then, he used the paracord to tie a slipknot on the dustpan handle near the flashlight switch, holding the other end of the rope in his hand.

A simple, remotely controllable "searchlight and bait" was completed.

He gently pressed the inner door handle of the fire door downward to confirm it wasn't locked from the outside. Then, he pressed his ear against the door panel and listened intently again.

Complete silence. Only the faint noise from the surface in the distance.

This was it.

He took a deep breath, gripped the rifle with his right hand (safety off, finger lightly resting on the trigger guard), and slowly gripped the inner door handle with his left hand, gently turning it all the way down.

"Click."

A slight sound of the latch rebounding.

He didn't pull the door open immediately, but used his toe to push the door inward extremely slowly, creating a gap about two fingers wide.

The sweet, bloody smell suddenly became stronger. The light outside the door was slightly brighter than in the stairwell, the kind of pale fluorescent light common in poorly maintained public areas.

No movement.

He held his breath and carefully extended the dustpan with the flashlight tied to it through the door gap, with the flashlight head facing the corridor ahead. Then, he slowly pulled the paracord, using the slipknot to trigger the flashlight's strobe switch!

"Shhh—!!!"

The blinding, snow-white beam of light illuminated the narrow corridor outside like lightning! The strong light in strobe mode flickered at an extremely high frequency, enough to instantly attract the attention of any light-sensitive existence, and also allowed Ling Ye to see the situation in the corridor during the flashing moments!

First flash: The corridor was about ten meters long, with closed doors on both sides (possibly equipment rooms or old offices), and the floor was old tiles, covered with dust and messy footprints. At the end of the corridor, there seemed to be a turn.

Second flash: On the floor in the center of the corridor, there was a large pool of sticky, dark red and black liquid, which seemed to be mixed with broken tissue and clothing fibers. The liquid spread into a half-open room on the left.

Third flash: Right next to that pool of liquid, about five meters away from the fire door, an indescribable shadow seemed to be startled by the sudden strong light and twitched and contracted violently! The thing was pressed against the left wall, dark in color, almost blending into the wall's shadow, but under the strobe's strong light, it still revealed a portion of its disgusting outline—it seemed to be a constantly wriggling aggregate of coelenterates, magnified countless times, with a surface covered in wet, slippery mucus and fine suckers. Several sharp-ended, tentacle-like or mouthpart-like fleshy protrusions extended from the edge of its "body," and the tip of one of the protrusions was still dripping dark red mucus!

That was it! The thing that was sucking outside the door just now!

Fourth flash: The thing seemed to be irritated by the strong light and made an extremely faint "hissing" sound, like airflow passing through a narrow pipe. Its entire "body" suddenly retracted into the shadow of the corner, and at the same time, several fleshy protrusions waved wildly, seemingly wanting to knock away the "light source" (the dustpan), but the distance was not enough.

Ling Ye had seen the situation clearly in the interval of the strobe. There was only one! It was not large (about half a person's height), but its form was strange, its attack method was unknown, and it had an obvious reaction to strong light! Its location just happened to block the path to the end of the corridor, but it was still some distance from the fire door.

In the blink of an eye, Ling Ye made his decision.

The moment the fourth strobe flash went out and the light was about to fall into darkness, he violently pulled the fire door wide open and lunged out from inside like a cheetah! At the same time, his left hand released the paracord (letting the dustpan and flashlight fall to the ground, continuing to strobe and create interference), and his right hand instantly raised the rifle, the butt pressed against his shoulder, his eyes looking through the crude iron sights, locking onto the wriggling shadow curled up in the corner amidst the alternating pale light of the corridor and the strobe of the flashlight on the ground!

The thing didn't seem to expect a living creature to rush out from behind the "light source," and its reaction was half a beat slow.

That was precisely that half-beat!

Ling Ye's finger steadily pulled the trigger.

"Bang—!!!"

The deafening gunshot exploded in the narrow corridor! The huge recoil hit his shoulder socket, and the familiar smell of gunpowder filled the air.

The 7.62mm full-power rifle bullet, traveling at over seven hundred meters per second, tore through the air and precisely drilled into the central area of the wriggling shadow!

"Splatter—!!!"

A dull thud accompanied by the sound of liquid bursting! Dark red slurry mixed with pale green and grey-white viscous substances sprayed out violently from the bullet hole, splattering all over the walls and ceiling! The shadow emitted a shrill, inhuman screech, like countless glass shards scraping together! The entire body twitched and expanded violently, then suddenly burst!

It wasn't an explosion, but a rupture like an over-inflated balloon! More mucus and tissue fragments splattered everywhere, and an extremely intense, sweet, bloody stench instantly filled the entire corridor!

The moment he fired, Ling Ye had already turned sideways to hide behind the fire door frame, avoiding most of the flying filth. He quickly ejected the shell, pushed another round into the chamber, and the muzzle remained pointed at the mess.

The screeching faded rapidly, and the sound of dripping mucus gradually subsided. The shadow went completely limp, turning into a pool of viscous substance that continued to wriggle but quickly lost its activity. Some small, parasite-like white thread-like objects twisted a few times in the mucus and then quickly stiffened.

It was dead.

Ling Ye slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air that tasted of gunpowder. His heart beat steadily and powerfully in his chest; there was no fear, only the cold clarity after a battle. He glanced at the flashlight still strobing on the ground (the light was already beginning to fade) and didn't go to pick it up. Instead, he scanned both ends of the corridor quickly.

The gunshot was so loud that it must have alarmed everyone around. He had to leave immediately!

He hesitated no longer, raised his rifle, lowered his body, and quickly and vigilantly passed through the corridor, avoiding the pool of filth. When passing the half-open room, he glanced inside; it seemed to be an abandoned storage room, with dragging marks and more bloodstains on the ground, but no other movement.

The end of the corridor was indeed a turn to the right. He pressed against the corner and quickly poked his head out to look.

Behind the corner was a shorter corridor, and at the end was a glass door with a green "Safety Exit" sign; natural light seemed to be seeping in from outside the door! The glass door was stained, but it seemed intact.

That was it!

He hesitated no longer, dashed over, and pushed open the glass door—

The blinding, grey-white daylight instantly rushed into his eyes! At the same time, a clearer air from the surface, mixed with the smell of burnt, blood, dust, and the distant clamor, rushed in!

He stood at the back entrance of an old building. In front of him was a small, trash-filled concrete open space, and outside the open space was the small alley he had seen from the window earlier. Opposite the alley were low brick walls and dilapidated buildings. The lead-grey sky hung low, and the sun could not be seen.

He was out. He had truly returned to the surface.

But before he could even feel "freedom," a hurried sound of running footsteps suddenly came from the depths of the alley, along with a man's panicked shout:

"Over there! Gunshots! Is it the army?! Wait for us!"

Immediately after, Ling Ye saw three people scrambling and rolling out from the corner of the alley! Two men and one woman, all wearing ragged and dirty civilian clothes, their faces filled with fear and panic. Seeing Ling Ye standing at the back door with a gun, they were stunned for a moment, and then ecstasy erupted in their eyes!

"Help... help! There's something chasing us behind!" the middle-aged man running in the front screamed, his voice distorted by fear.

Before the words fell, at the corner of the alley, a tall, hunched "humanoid creature" covered in dark brown proliferating keratin, with arms mutated into huge bone blades, suddenly poked out half its body! On its twisted face, there was only a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth, and three constantly rotating, pale white compound eyes on its forehead!

Another Mutant! And it looked stronger and more aggressive than the one in the Warehouse!

The three people scrambled toward Ling Ye's direction, and that humanoid Mutant let out a bloodthirsty roar, moved its deformed long legs, and lunged toward them—and toward Ling Ye—fiercely!

The speed was extremely fast! The distance closed rapidly!

Ling Ye's eyes sharpened, he raised his gun instantly, aimed—

However, just the split second before he pulled the trigger, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the second-floor window of the building behind him, where the reflection of a lens seemed to flash and vanish!

Someone! Spying!

A survivor? Or... something else?

In the blink of an eye, the muzzle was pointed at the lethal threat lunging from the front. And the spying from behind was an unknown hidden danger.

He had no time to weigh the options. His finger had already pulled the trigger—