19: Chapter 9 Echoes of the Abyss

"Go!"

Ling Yue's voice was resolute, filled with unquestionable determination.

She shoved the device that had finished data transmission into her backpack, grabbed the edge of the emergency access hatch with her new mechanical hand, and leaped without hesitation into the deeper, downward-stretching darkness.

Lin Feng didn't hesitate for a second and followed right behind her.

He cast one last glance back—Lei Kun's tall figure stood like a reef blocking the iron door, the muzzle of his old-fashioned shotgun aimed steadily at the outside, exuding a cold aura of death.

The next second, Lin Feng's feet stepped into the passage.

Bang!

The emergency hatch above closed instantly after they jumped, completely sealing off all light and any sounds of the battle that might erupt from Lei Kun.

Absolute darkness and a sensation of weightlessness instantly enveloped Lin Feng. He slid rapidly down a steep, smooth metal chute, hearing only his own heavy breathing and the harsh sound of his body scraping against the walls.

>> Descending. Estimated Depth: 30m... 50m...

>> Ambient Temperature Dropping. Humidity Rising.

>> Energy Readings: Fluctuating. Background Radiation: Slightly Elevated.

The ability's prompts flickered rapidly in the darkness.

They were delving into older strata beneath The Nest, and the environmental parameters were beginning to become abnormal.

The slide lasted for about ten seconds before the slope suddenly leveled off.

Lin Feng fell heavily onto some kind of elastic, slightly damp, web-like material, which cushioned the impact.

Almost simultaneously, the sound of Ling Yue landing came from nearby, followed by a stifled grunt—her newly installed mechanical arm had clearly taken a significant impact.

>> Low-Light Vision Enhanced.

Her vision brightened slightly, revealing a blurry, greenish-gray scene.

They seemed to be in a massive, naturally formed cavern or an extremely ancient man-made culvert.

Underfoot was a thick layer of humus and fungal mixture that had accumulated over who knows how many years, feeling soft, greasy, and silent when stepped on.

The air was cold and humid, permeated with a strange, cloying scent that was a mix of ozone, minerals, and some unknown organism.

The surrounding space was exceptionally vast. In the distance, one could vaguely see gigantic, strange, columnar structures that seemed to be formed from the solidified secretions of some organism, covered in moss or fungi emitting a faint phosphorescence, providing the only source of light.

Above them was an endless darkness; only the pipe opening they had slid down remained like a distant, long-healed scar.

It was terrifyingly quiet here, with only the ethereal sound of water droplets falling into a deep pool occasionally drifting from far away, which only served to highlight the dead silence of this space.

"What... is this place?" Lin Feng asked in a low voice, as if afraid to disturb the tranquility.

"One of the project legacy from the old era. An abandoned underground ecological experimental zone, or some other hellish thing."

Ling Yue's voice held a trace of imperceptible tension as she quickly checked her new mechanical arm to ensure it hadn't been damaged in the fall. "The map only marked the entrance. What's below is also very vague in the information provided by The Engineer. It's said to connect to a deeper underground network, but no one has ever truly mapped it out."

She stood up, her mechanical eye and organic eye scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Her left hand drew a compact energy pistol from her thigh holster, its muzzle flickering with a faint charging glow. "Stay close to me, and don't touch anything. The ecosystem here... is deformed."

Lin Feng gripped his Wrench tightly and nodded.

The eerie silence here was more unsettling than the hail of bullets outside.

Ling Yue identified a direction and chose a passage that seemed to have a faint airflow, carefully walking deeper inside.

Lin Feng followed closely behind, feeling extremely uncomfortable with every step he took on the soft, silent fungal mat.

The passage twisted and turned, and the biomass structures around them became increasingly bizarre. The glowing moss would sometimes converge into eerie patterns, and at other times, flicker on and off like a heartbeat.

The cloying scent in the air grew stronger.

>> Airborne Spore Analysis: Non-Toxic (Currently). Psychoactive Compounds Detected (Trace Amounts). Caution: Prolonged Exposure May Cause Auditory/Vision Hallucinations.

Hallucinogenic spores? Lin Feng felt a chill in his heart and quickly held his breath, though he knew this was only a stopgap measure.

"Cover your mouth and nose, speed up!" Ling Yue had clearly realized it too; her voice came through the fabric, sounding somewhat muffled.

The two quickened their pace, almost breaking into a jog. But in this eerie environment, the speed only increased their sense of unease.

Suddenly!

A faint yet incredibly clear... crying sound? It drifted vaguely from the dark corner ahead.

It sounded like a little girl's crying—helpless, fearful, and intermittent.

The hair on Lin Feng's arms stood up instantly! How could there possibly be a little girl in a place like this?!

"Auditory interference! Don't believe it!" Ling Yue snapped, but her pace slowed involuntarily, and her grip on the gun tightened noticeably.

The crying seemed to be right behind the corner, so real, clawing at the softest part of the human heart.

>> Acoustic Source Analysis: Artificial. Pattern: Designed to Mimic Distressed Human Child. Origin: Unknown. Purpose: Likely Lure or Distraction.

The ability's analysis put Lin Feng slightly at ease, but his heart was still pounding wildly. The two exchanged a glance, and Ling Yue gestured for them to slowly flank from the side.

They held their breath, pressed against the cold, slippery cave wall, and inched toward the corner.

The crying grew clearer, as if it were right by their ears.

Ling Yue suddenly raised her gun and flashed out!

The muzzle pointed forward—there was nothing there. There was only a small, slightly open cavern with a tiny pool in the center, the water emitting a faint, milky-white light. The crying... seemed to have come from the direction of the pool, but now it had eerily vanished.

Inside the cavern, only the sound of their breathing and the dripping of water remained.

"What's going on?" Lin Feng asked nervously.

Ling Yue didn't answer. Her gaze was locked onto the glowing pool, her eyes filled with vigilance and... a hint of confusion. She slowly walked forward, crouched down, and cautiously touched the pool water with the muzzle of her gun.

Hum...

The moment the muzzle touched the water's surface, the glowing moss all around the cavern suddenly flared in brightness! The twisted patterns seemed to come alive, beginning to flow and reorganize frantically!

At the same time, the eerie crying sounded again! But this time, it didn't come from one direction, but from all around—from the cave walls themselves, and even from deep within their minds! It began to distort and change, mixed with other sounds—the sharp screech of metal scraping, indistinct screams, and some kind of inhuman, low roar...

>> Warning: Psychoactive Spore Concentration Spiking!

>> EM Field Fluctuation Detected! Interfering with Neural Activity!

>> Hallucination Risk: Extreme!

Lin Feng felt a wave of intense dizziness. The scene before his eyes began to twist and ripple, and the sounds in his ears grew increasingly chaotic, as if countless people were screaming and whispering right beside him!

"Steady your mind! It's environmental hallucination! It's combined with the magnetic field here to affect the brain!" Ling Yue's voice also trembled slightly. She bit her tongue hard, trying to stay awake with the pain. "Look for patterns! These sounds and images aren't completely random! They are responding to our thoughts and emotions!"

Lin Feng forced himself to calm down, trying hard to ignore the horrific auditory hallucinations and distorted vision, and submerged his consciousness into the "Source" System.

>> Filtering Audio/Visual Noise... Searching for Patterns...

>> Detecting Repeating Data Fragments Beneath Hallucinations: [Project: Genesis], [Subject: Epsilon], [Containment Breach], [.../Cryo-Archive-7/... ]...

>> Translating...

As if parting layers of mist, some incomplete log fragments, seemingly originating from the extremely distant past, pierced through the interference of the hallucinations and appeared directly in his consciousness!

**[... Ecological experiment 'Genesis' has experienced uncontrollable mutations... Epsilon Series samples demonstrate... assimilative properties...]

**[... containment breach in sector gamma! They are learning... mimicking our voices... cries for help...]

**[... Emergency protocol initiated... Freeze all... Abandon... Deep Archive...]

These fragmented pieces of information were like cold daggers, piercing through the horrific hallucinations and revealing the terrifying truth of this area—this place was once an ecological experimental zone that was abandoned after a terrible accident! Those cries and strange noises were likely some sort of... mimicry and lure performed by residual anomalous ecological samples based on ancient records!

"It's recordings!" Lin Feng shouted, his voice hoarse from resisting the hallucinations. "It's the remnants of a past experimental accident! They are mimicking the victims!"

Ling Yue heard this, and a flash of realization and a deeper chill crossed her eyes. She seemed to have also captured certain fragments of information, and her face grew even paler.

Just then, in the center of the glowing pool, a blurry... figure made of light and water vapor began to slowly emerge?

The figure was distorted and unstable, like a holographic projection with a bad signal, but one could vaguely discern a human shape wearing some kind of old-fashioned research uniform. It was facing their direction, slowly raising an arm, as if pointing to another direction in the cave, or perhaps issuing a warning.

Its "mouth" opened and closed, but no sound came out—only a silent roar.

But Lin Feng's "Source" System captured a faint, nearly dissipating directional Data Stream, as if it were the final message this residual image was attempting to convey:

**[... Run... Do not trust... The echoes... They are... living in the walls... Archive... The Key...]

The message ended abruptly there, and the figure made of light and shadow vanished instantly like a candle in the wind.

The surrounding frenzied hallucinations and noise receded and vanished quickly like a retreating tide. The glowing moss resumed its original slow rhythm of brightening and dimming, and the cavern fell back into that eerie silence, leaving only the sound of Lin Feng and Ling Yue's pounding heartbeats.

The two collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air, drenched in cold sweat, as if they had just awakened from a nightmare.

"What... was that just now?" Lin Feng asked, still shaken.

"Residual... memories? Or some kind of... ecological recording?" Ling Yue's tone was uncertain, filled with unprecedented shock. "'They'... 'living in the walls'... 'Archive'... 'The Key'..." She repeated the fragmented words, her eyes flickering uncertainly.

She looked sharply at Lin Feng: "That 'optimization ability' of yours, did it... read something just now?"

Lin Feng hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Some fragments, about the 'Genesis' project, containment breach, and also... a warning."

Ling Yue took a deep breath, her gaze becoming incredibly sharp. She looked toward the depths of the cave that the light figure had pointed to: "It pointed the way. 'Archive'... Could a backup or a related item of the project legacy be here?"

Great risks are often accompanied by great opportunities. This unexpected discovery might far exceed their expectations.

Just then, Lin Feng's device (which Ling Yue had shoved back to him earlier) suddenly vibrated slightly. A new encrypted message from an unknown but extremely high-priority temporary channel forcibly popped up:

**[Interference cleared. 'Razor' has been led to the wrong area but is still actively searching. Lei Kun is safe and has evacuated to backup point C.]

**[The energy fluctuations in your anomalous zone have been captured by the 'Sky Curtain' secondary monitoring network. Priority: Low (Temporarily classified as background noise).]

**[Suggestion: Utilize the current window of opportunity to explore the indicated direction. Look for any clues related to 'Cryo-Archive-7' or 'Genesis'. Note: There may be unrecorded biological or structural risks in this area.]

**[— — The Engineer]**

The message appeared like a ghost and vanished instantly; the channel closed.

The Engineer! He/She had known about this place all along! Could it even be that the weakening of the hallucination interference just now was related to his/her "interference clearance"? He/She was guiding them to explore!

Ling Yue looked at the message, her face unreadable, only letting out a cold snort: "As expected, nothing can be hidden from him/her."

She stood up, her new mechanical hand emitting a faint hum, pointing toward the depths of the cave: "It seems we have no way back."

Lin Feng also stood up, gripping his Wrench. Fear was still present, but curiosity and the clues revealed by The Engineer that the project legacy might be related to this place attracted him like a magnet.

The two took a brief rest and once again stepped toward those unknown depths, shrouded in eerie history and danger.

This time, they were even more vigilant, guarding not only against physical dangers but also against those whispers and echoes from the past that might still be "living in the walls."

The echoes of the abyss had reached their ears. And the secrets of the past were waiting to be unveiled.