Chapter 742 - 98: Elevator
Su Changxing guessed that Mu Donglai and the others probably came from a world where the player system was still mature.
Their combat forms and healing methods were simple and efficient, as if they had undergone extensive refinement.
After dealing with their injuries, they decided to take a look around this floor first; after all, just going upwards endlessly didn’t seem like a feasible plan.
However.
Just now, Su Changxing sensed a slight connection, which was between him and the Ratman Statue.
Because he became the owner of the other half of the Ratman Statue, and the two parts of the statue were inherently one, such a connection was created.
This also dispelled one of Su Changxing’s concerns.
Previously, he suspected that the Ratman Statue might not be in this space, that this place might not be the same as the Black Dog Gang building at all.
Now it seemed that the Ratman Statue was indeed here, and this place was likely the Black Dog Gang building, although some unknown change had occurred internally.
This floor had everything but people: food, drinks, entertainment; it seemed to be a place where members of the Black Dog Gang gathered for fun.
"Have you discovered anything?" Huang Yeying asked when she saw Su Changxing observing the surroundings attentively.
Su Changxing, lost in thought, said, "I’ve been here before; this is probably the third floor of the building, meaning that we’ve walked for so long and only reached the third floor of the building."
Zhong Qijun, hearing Su Changxing’s words, also analyzed:
"The space here is wavy, so even if it’s layered, we’d find it hard to notice. We might have been going in circles within the same space just now."
Mu Donglai, not very familiar with this, took a deep breath and asked, "Then how should we get out? Or should we try to break through the ceiling?"
Zhong Qijun nodded, "Though it’s quite crude, we can give it a try. However, this space seems to be reinforced, and breaking through might be difficult."
In the previous combat, it was apparent; they hadn’t caused any damage to the stairs, only killed those rats.
Zhong Qijun used two mechanical arms to raise a large firearm, aiming it at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger.
With fierce sparks, the bullet hit the ceiling and exploded.
Aside from turning black, there was no change, not even a trace left on it.
Mu Donglai and Huang Yeying remained inactive; Zhong Qijun was the strongest among the three of them in attack strength. If he couldn’t break it, they certainly couldn’t either.
Mu Donglai looked at Su Changxing, who was sitting on a bench watching the scene, and said, "Why don’t you give it a try? Among us, your destructive power might be the strongest."
It was apparent from the previous battle with the Rune Warrior; with just a casual shot, Su Changxing could break through the Rune Warrior’s defenses.
That was indeed quite exaggerated.
And no matter how many methods they had to deal with the Rune Warrior, if they couldn’t break through its defenses, it would be in vain.
That thing was immune to most negative effects and could not be disturbed by Spiritual Class methods, requiring solid force to take it down head-on.
"Hmm, let me try."
Su Changxing slowly got up from the chair, drew the firearm at his waist, aimed at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger.
Roaring gunfire.
As some small stones fell, a moderate-sized hole unexpectedly appeared in the ceiling.
Su Changxing used a considerable amount of power with that shot, but still couldn’t penetrate the ceiling’s wall entirely.
Even so, Mu Donglai and the others were filled with surprise.
"Awesome, Brother Liu Luola, looks like we might be able to blast through the wall and climb up." Mu Donglai said with excitement.
Su Changxing frowned and shook his head, "Seems like it’s still not possible."
Looking up again, the wall with the big hole had already returned to its original state, and the fallen stones had vanished as well.
Fell into silence.
"This seems like some rule-based power, indeed." Mu Donglai appeared unsurprised, having anticipated this.
Zhong Qijun confidently stated, "But this is certainly not a fully closed space; the passage upward must be hidden somewhere else."
Su Changxing smiled, "Do you think that elevator might be the way up?"
"Maybe we could have just taken the elevator from the first floor and skipped all this hassle."
He said it somewhat jokingly, not truly believing it, feeling that the elevator was a trap; when people couldn’t find the way up, they’d think it was a passage.
Piecing things together, it seemed that Karis didn’t want anyone else to find the Ratman Statue, disguising it this way.
After hearing Su Changxing’s words, the three of them fell into silence, evidently feeling that the elevator was highly problematic, but since they couldn’t go up, it appeared to be the only way.
Mu Donglai’s face changed slightly, leading the way back, "We can try with something first."
He pulled the elevator lever and threw the corpse of a rat from the staircase inside, sending the elevator to the top floor.
As the chains shifted, the elevator slowly moved upwards.
They waited briefly, then saw the elevator had already gone to the top floor. It paused for a moment, and the chains began to slide again, moving the elevator down to their level once more.
With a ding-dong, the elevator doors slowly opened. The rat’s corpse inside had vanished, and even the blood was immaculately clean.
Su Changxing spoke, "This isn’t the same elevator as before."
He had left some subtle marks inside the elevator earlier, but when it came down again, they were gone.
Huang Yeying looked at Mu Donglai, and with a grave expression asked, "Do we really want to go up this way? It seems like a dead end. Let’s not rush; we should see if there’s another way up."
This suggestion got Mu Donglai and Zhong Qijun’s approval. They didn’t need to hurry; there was plenty of time.
"Wait, let me try again."
Su Changxing said, and picked up a rat’s corpse to throw it into the elevator.
The elevator doors gently closed again, the chains sliding. When it came back down, it was the same situation; the rat’s corpse had vanished.
However, what was different was that as the doors opened, everyone took a few steps back simultaneously, sensing a suffocating atmosphere.
"What is this!" Huang Yeying’s face went pale, as he aimed his crossbow at the elevator entrance. After the doors opened, he found nothing inside.
Su Changxing noticed something as well and proceeded to throw another rat inside. The elevator doors closed slowly, the chains sliding, and it went to the top floor again.
As the elevator was about to return, a foul odor crept into the air, like urine mixed with the smell of a corpse, jolting the senses.
Zhong Qijun’s eyes widened, and he darted towards the stairs: "This way, there’s been a change in space. We should be able to go up this time!"
Su Changxing glanced at the still-closed elevator one last time and immediately followed Zhong Qijun.
The others reacted the same way, not because they believed Zhong Qijun’s judgment, but because they sensed something terrifying in the elevator.
As Su Changxing ran, he looked back at the elevator, and through the gap, a flood of blood gushed out like a spring, turning the surrounding floor redder by the moment.
The elevator doors opened more slowly than before, as if they were packed with something inside, increasing the friction.
Swoosh～
A heap of intestines and organs tumbled out of the elevator, spilling into the hallway. Some had already decayed, turning a blackish-green.
"Ugh!!!"
A monkey-like cackling sound echoed from inside the elevator, resonating throughout the corridor, filling the mind with such noises, conjuring up gruesome and terrifying images.
Bang～
The wall facing the elevator cracked apart in a large section.
A massive hand, covered in black long hair, with red nails and a rough texture, stretched out from the elevator, slamming into the wall. It wasn’t intentionally striking, just inadvertently bumped into it.
This was how Su Changxing perceived it, and it was also the last image he sensed.
At this moment, they had run over a hundred meters up the stairs, and the foul smell still lingered in the air.
Zhong Qijun stopped, seemingly assessing which direction to take next.
"What was that thing!" Huang Yeying finally broke under the pressure, squatting down by the wall, her face pale, lips trembling uncontrollably, her entire face numb.
It wasn’t that her mental resilience was weak, but rather the unknown thing in the elevator inherently carried a psychological impact.
She probably had the weakest spiritual power among the three of them.
Su Changxing’s face was also grim, but his heart wasn’t stirred; he even felt like laughing, only keeping up appearances for the other three.
"That thing might be a Demon," he said uncertainly to the three of them.
"Demon! Are you sure?" Mu Donglai was evidently familiar with Demons.
Su Changxing shook his head, "I’ve never seen one either, but I know some things about Demons, so I deduce that thing is a Demon."
Traces of panic appeared on Zhong Qijun’s face. He took a couple of breaths and led the way up again without stopping:
"Who knows if that thing will follow us? We must leave here first. I’ve already found out how this space connects. Just follow me."
Unexpectedly, they then felt a vibration from beneath their feet, as if the whole building was shaking.
Su Changxing was the second to follow Zhong Qijun up.
So far, Zhong Qijun’s judgments had not been wrong, and perhaps he indeed knew how to get up.
However, as they continued running, the pounding sound from below grew closer, accompanied by unclear monkey shrieking.
They all felt that whatever it was getting nearer and their hearts pounded in their throats, nerves tightly wound.
"This way!"
Zhong Qijun shouted, changing direction again, running into the floor through a corridor opening.
This was the fifth floor, with beds scattered about, the air filled with the scent of disinfectant, rows of medicine and surgical tools on the shelves by the wall.