66: Chapter 66 Infiltrating the Quarantine Zone Ruins

Under the lights of the Deep Rock Workshop, Lin Qiming checked his equipment for the last time. The plan had already deviated from the original "fishing" script, but the core objective remained unchanged—to penetrate deep into Sector B-9, touch the truth, and obtain power. The contact with Calix (which would be another important sub-plot) required timing and more thorough preparation. For now, taking advantage of the window where the Iron Tooth Gang was temporarily retreating due to internal strife and losses, the Adeptus Mechanicus exploration team hadn't yet pushed into the core area, and various factions were mutually suspicious in an eerie silence, it was the perfect time to infiltrate the ruins of "Isolation Zone 73".

"One last inventory check," he said to the empty air, placing items one by one into his specially made dark gray expedition backpack, which served both as protection and concealment.

Protective gear: Improved filter mask (with extra filter cartridges), full-coverage hazmat suit (homemade using multi-layered tarpaulin and lead foil lining, bulky but necessary), cut-resistant gloves, reinforced boots. Weapons: Fine dagger (main hand), modified crossbow "Silent Speaker" (with 15 mixed arrows: standard, explosive, fluorescent), high-intensity stun grenades x4, fragmentation grenades x3. Tools: "Abyss Gazer Type-II" probe, multi-functional tool pliers, climbing rope, lighting beacons x6, radiation dosimeter. Survival: High-energy Nutrient Paste x10 tubes, water purification bags, first aid kit (containing anti-radiation medicine and antidotes). Special: stc core kept close to his body, the remaining two ancient one fragments (backup energy), and a few gadgets for forging tracks or creating chaos.

"The equipment weight exceeds thirty kilograms; in an environment like Sector B-9, mobility will be greatly compromised," Hephaestus evaluated. [But considering the radiation, biochemical contamination, and potential structural hazards, protection takes priority over agility. It is recommended to prioritize relatively stable, well-ventilated passages when planning the route, avoiding narrow climbs or wading through deep water areas.]

"Understood." Lin Qiming finished dressing and took one last look at the workshop. Xiao Haozi was squatting on the console, its black eyes full of worry. "Watch the house, little guy. If there is any abnormality, warn me in the way we agreed upon." He patted Xiao Haozi on the head, and the latter let out a "squeak" and nodded vigorously.

When the night (subjective time) was at its deepest, he left the workshop, like a shadow dropped into ink, silently merging into the darkness of the Hive Bottom. Relying on the paths mastered from previous reconnaissance and the intuition of a [Hive Survivor], he bypassed all areas with active movement and headed straight toward the depths of Sector B-9, toward the entrance of "Isolation Zone 73" which was sealed off by Imperial concrete and warning signs.

The closer he got to the destination, the more suffocating the environment became. The air was no longer just filthy; it took on a viscous texture, mixed with radioactive dust, old chemical reagents, and some... indescribable, sweet, fishy smell, as if things were slowly rotting but not yet fully dead. The debris on the ground began to show more wreckage of standard Imperial equipment, and faded danger symbols and incomplete serial numbers could occasionally be seen on rusted pipes. The readings of the [Abyss Gazer] continued to climb; ancient one signals, Necron residues, Warp contamination, Imperial radiation sources... various energy characteristics intertwined into a chaotic "Information-State Swamp".

"The environment here is practically a tailor-made culture medium for the birth of all sorts of indescribable things," Lin Qiming complained internally, while being extra careful to avoid puddles of suspicious color on the ground and the shimmering dust suspended in the air.

Based on the vague structure in the database and the sporadic information provided by Old Cole, combined with on-site reconnaissance, he found one of the main entrances to the isolation zone—a large tunnel entrance completely sealed off by heavy concrete gates and metal support beams. A huge red Aquila and the words "Entry Prohibited: Imperial Property" were painted on the gate, but time and humidity had caused the paint to peel and rust to erode it. There were traces of later human attempts to cut or blast the edges of the gate (likely early scavengers or the Iron Tooth Gang), but they had all stopped after a superficial attempt and had clearly failed.

"Can't use the front gate." Lin Qiming had expected this. He searched along the maintenance corridor outside the tunnel. Such large Imperial facilities usually had spare ventilation shafts, maintenance passages, or emergency exits. Sure enough, behind a collapsed slope about two hundred meters from the main gate, he found a circular shaft cover about one meter in diameter, half-hidden under rubble. The cover was heavily rusted, with pry marks on the edges, but it seemed to have been loosely covered back up again.

"Someone has been here, and they didn't want anyone else to know." Lin Qiming observed carefully. The traces were relatively new, no more than a month old. Was it the Adeptus Mechanicus exploration team? Or Grail's people? He gently moved the cover aside (it made a teeth-grinding friction sound), and a colder wind, carrying a stronger smell of metal and ozone, surged up from below. The shaft was bottomless, with a rusted ladder on the inner wall.

He dropped a lighting beacon; the light fell downward, illuminating a section of the shaft wall about twenty meters deep, with darkness remaining below. The estimated depth was likely over fifty meters. There was no reason to retreat. He secured the climbing rope as a safety line, took a deep breath, and began to climb down.

It was terrifyingly silent inside the shaft, with only the sound of his own breathing, the friction of his clothes, and the creaking of loose rust flakes occasionally stepped on under his feet. The further down he went, the colder the air became, and the smell of ozone and metallic fishiness grew stronger. The [Abyss Gazer] showed that the intensity of ancient one signals and mixed contamination below was rising sharply. After descending about forty meters, his feet touched solid ground—the bottom of the shaft was a horizontal, circular pipe about one and a half meters in diameter, leading into the deep darkness. The inner wall of the pipe was smooth, made of some kind of alloy material, but it was covered in thick dust and strange dark green growths that looked like moss but weren't.

He chose to move to the right (judging by signal strength and airflow direction). The pipe wound and twisted, sometimes sloping upward, sometimes extending downward. After walking for about ten minutes, a faint light source appeared ahead—not illumination, but some kind of dark green, firefly-like glimmer attached to the pipe wall, flickering on and off.

"Necron energy residue... so thick?" Lin Qiming warily slowed his pace. These green lights seemed inactive, just pure energy deposits. But the sheer quantity indicated that Necron activity had once been very frequent in this area, or that a large Necron unit had been destroyed here.

After moving forward a bit more, the pipe suddenly opened up, connecting to a larger, artificially excavated space. This was clearly one of the peripheral areas of the isolation zone: an abandoned secondary Pump Station or buffer room. The room was about ten meters square, with rusted machine wreckage and overturned cargo crates piled in the corners. Imperial-style pipe interfaces and instrument panels (all damaged) remained on the walls. But the most striking thing was the floor—scattered with dozens of metal fragments of various sizes, flickering with a ghostly green light, as well as a few relatively complete human skeletons! The skeletons were wearing tattered Imperial technician uniforms, their postures distorted, and some bones showed abnormal discoloration or hyperplasia.

"Accident victims... or the remains of later intruders?" Lin Qiming did not approach the skeletons; the [Abyss Gazer] showed that the radiation and contamination around them were extremely high. His gaze was drawn to a heavy, half-open blast door on the other side of the room. Behind the door was a downward-sloping corridor illuminated by lights (a few surviving emergency lights emitting a pale, sickly light), the walls of which were covered in charred burn marks and huge claw marks!

"This is it... the peripheral corridor of Isolation Zone 73." Lin Qiming's heart accelerated slightly. He checked his equipment, gripped the "Silent Speaker" tightly, and cautiously stepped over that half-open blast door.

Inside the door was another world. The cold lines of Imperial architecture were intertwined with traces of some unnatural destruction. The air was deathly silent, with only an extremely faint dripping sound coming from somewhere in the distance. Most of the room doors on both sides of the corridor were wide open or damaged, with a mess inside. Scattered fragments of documents, damaged instruments, and more human remains could be seen everywhere on the floor, as well as... some unidentifiable, weird residues mixed with metal and organic matter.

He moved slowly along the corridor, [Information State Perception] fully activated, trying hard to distinguish the chaotic information flow in the environment. The blue "pulse" of the ancient ones beat steadily and powerfully in the depths, the green "cold current" of the Necrons was distributed like a spider web in certain areas, while the "stains" of Imperial pollution and the "filth" of the Warp were everywhere, like background noise.

Suddenly, the [Abyss Gazer] vibrated violently, pointing to an open laboratory door to the front left. A strong warning came through the psychic link—there was a high-intensity activity signal inside the door, mixed with both ancient one and Necron characteristics! And it was moving toward the door!

Lin Qiming instantly flashed to a recess in the wall opposite the corridor, held his breath, cocked his crossbow, and aimed at that door.

In the darkness, two ghostly green points of light, like will-o'-the-wisps, slowly lit up in the shadows inside the door.

[Successfully infiltrated the periphery of Isolation Zone 73.]

[Environmental hazard level: Extremely high (multiple pollutions superimposed).]

[Discovered large amounts of Necron energy residue and remains of accident victims.]

[Encountered unknown activity signal (mixed ancient one/Necron characteristics), combat probability surging!]

[System evaluation: Welcome to the luxury themed haunted house jointly built by Imperial bureaucracy and technological arrogance, complete with free Warp gifts. The ticket is your life, the tour guide is your intuition, and the souvenirs... are very likely extra parts on your body or missing pieces of your soul. Enjoy your tour, and try not to become part of the exhibits.]