211: Chapter 211 Stealth in the Abyss

The smell of char and gunpowder smoke settled slowly in the damp air, like a muddy dirge. The chaotic wreckage at the shaft entrance and the churning, murky water below were the cold epitaph for the brief but intense explosion that had just occurred. As for the thick, rusted cast-iron main pipes stubbornly protruding from the edge of the ruins, they were like withered, skeletal arms reaching out from the walls of Hell, inviting one to their death.

Retreating was certainly safe. But the aftermath of the explosion, the brief disturbance of energy, and the death of the "watchdog" might have created a fleeting window of opportunity. An unexpected shortcut that could lead straight into the underground area of the "Dark Nest"—its allure was as immense as its risks.

Ling Ye's gaze lingered for several seconds on the main pipe, which had been exposed by the explosion and formed a narrow gap against the shaft wall. Deep within his pupils, coldness and determination, like tempered stars, slowly ignited.

He slowly exhaled a breath of murky air tainted with gunpowder smoke and a fishy stench, then climbed up from the ground. The burning pain and abrasions on his back provided a constant irritation, but they did not hinder his movements. The ringing in his ears subsided, and his senses became sharp once again. He quickly checked his equipment: the rifle barrel was slightly warm but fine; one grenade had been used, leaving one remaining; two rounds of ammunition had been consumed, but the stock was still adequate; his flashlight, combat knife, food, water, and key documents were all present.

He walked over to the chosen main pipe. The pipe was over half a meter in diameter, its surface covered in thick layers of scale, rust, and slippery moss, though the explosion had shaken much of it off, revealing patches of relatively rough, dark-colored raw metal. Due to the age of the structure and the impact of the explosion, the gap between the pipe and the shaft wall was, in some places, wide enough to insert an entire palm, though in most places it could only accommodate fingers.

There were no ropes, no professional climbing gear. There was only a pair of hands, a body tempered by a thousand trials, and a will to live while facing death.

He slung the rifle onto his back again, reinforcing it with paracord to ensure it wouldn't fall off or sway while climbing. He adjusted his satchel to his side to minimize obstruction. Then, he spat into his palms (even though he knew the effect would be minimal) and rubbed them vigorously against his trouser legs, wiping away the wet, slippery moss debris.

He took a deep breath, grabbed the upper edge of the gap between the pipe and the shaft wall with both hands, and dug his fingers tightly into the cold crevice and the rough, rusted surface. His military boots, with their non-slip soles, tentatively stepped onto a wider, protruding angle formed by the pipe and the wall below.

Steady.

Then, he began to move downward.

His movements were slow and extremely cautious. With every move, he first tested the stability of the stress points with his fingers and toes. The slipperiness was his greatest enemy. He had to keep his center of gravity close to the pipe, utilizing friction rather than relying entirely on the fragile gap. Cold air, carrying the stench of rust and moss, flooded into his lungs. Below lay bottomless darkness, the increasingly clear, rumbling sound of rushing water, and that lingering, murky atmosphere mixed with gunpowder smoke, the smell of char, and a faint sense of "discordance."

Climbing was far more difficult than it looked. The gap was sometimes wide and sometimes narrow; at times, he needed to insert his entire arm, leaving his body almost suspended in mid-air; at other times, it was so narrow he could barely hook onto a tiny protrusion with his fingertips. The pipe surface was exceptionally slippery; even the roughest spots were covered in an invisible, slimy film of microorganisms. Sweat seeped from his forehead and temples, mixing with dust and rust before flowing into his eyes, causing a stinging pain.

He focused entirely, pushing the body control brought by "Star Visualization" to its absolute limit, every muscle working in coordination like a precision gear. At the same time, his "Energy Perception" extended downwards, alert for any movement in the water and darkness below.

Having descended about five or six meters, he had already passed the area of the shaft entrance where the collapse was most severe. The sound of rushing water below was even more deafening, the air was filled with water vapor, and his vision became blurred. He paused, finding a relatively stable flange protrusion on the pipe for his feet to rest on, and took a moment to catch his breath.

Looking down, the beam of his flashlight barely pierced through the water vapor, illuminating a stretch of turbulent water churning with foam and oil about seven or eight meters below. The water surface was still about ten meters from his current position. The "rumbling" of the water came from there; it seemed to be the intersection of a large underground river or a main sewage treatment conduit. The water was dark brown, with various kinds of trash and... suspicious flocculent matter floating on it.

Above the water, on the shaft wall, he saw a pitch-black, circular opening about one meter in diameter, which seemed to be the outlet of another branch pipe, located about two meters above the water surface. The edges of the opening were smooth, showing signs of artificial modification, but it was pitch black inside, and there was no way to know where it led. Zhao Haichuan's map did not mark this branch pipe above the water.

Should he continue down the main pipe until he submerged into that murky, dangerous water to search for an underwater exit or proceed along the water's edge? Or should he attempt to traverse sideways and enter the branch pipe opening above the water?

Going into the water meant an unknown underwater environment, potentially lurking creatures, and the threat of the turbulent current. Entering the branch pipe would at least allow him to leave the water for the time being, but the situation inside the branch pipe was completely unknown; it could be a dead end, or it could lead to an even more dangerous place.

He needed to make a choice. Just as he was weighing his options—

"Drip."

A drop of cold, viscous liquid suddenly dripped onto the exposed skin of the back of his neck!

It wasn't water! The texture was sticky, carrying a hint of faint, sweet, fishy odor and a corrosive sting!

Ling Ye's body stiffened abruptly! He didn't look up; he didn't move rashly. He simply, slowly—extremely slowly—extended his "Energy Perception" upward.

Above his head, about two or three meters away, in the shadows on the back of the main pipe, he "felt" a cold existence clinging to the pipe—not large in size, but emanating a faint sense of "discordance"! That thing seemed to have been silently lurking there all along, like a spider waiting for its prey, waiting for a victim to pass by below! That drop of liquid just now was its... saliva? Or some kind of secretion from a detection/attack organ?

Damn it! There was something else! And it was right above his head! The explosion and climbing just now hadn't disturbed it at all, or rather, it had been nesting there all along!

Now, he was suspended on a slippery pipe nearly twenty meters high, with a lurking hunter above his head and murky, rushing currents and an unknown branch pipe below. He was caught in a dilemma.

He couldn't panic. Any sudden movement could cause him to lose his grip and fall, or immediately provoke an attack from the thing above.

He slowly, by the millimeter, tilted his head and glanced obliquely upward out of the corner of his eye.

In the faint illumination from the edge of his flashlight beam and the reflection from the water surface, he saw—

It was a monster the size of a washbasin, resembling a hybrid of a giant spider and a scorpion! Its body was covered in a dark blue, slippery chitinous shell, and its eight barbed limbs were firmly latched into the rusted indentations of the pipe. Its head had no eyes, only a pair of constantly twitching antennae with tips flickering with a sickly green light. And most terrifying of all was the curved, venomous stinger high up on its tail, which was needle-tube shaped at the tip and constantly dripping transparent mucus! That drop of liquid from just now had come from there!

Was it a mutated aquatic arthropod? Or a nest guardian that had adapted to the pipe environment after being contaminated?

It seemed to have sensed Ling Ye's "gaze"; its pair of sickly green antennae twitched even more violently, and the venomous stinger on its tail slightly adjusted its direction, aiming at Ling Ye's head and neck! A cold killing intent, like a tangible thread, coiled down upon him.

He had been locked on!