Chapter 747: Missing Person Notice
“I see, I understand.”
The man casually tore off his protective suit, collapsed onto the ground, and began rapidly dehydrating and deforming.
In just two seconds, it transformed into a fleshy tumor covered in writhing limbs.
“Now that’s not normal.”
A muffled voice came from inside the tumor.
As the man deformed, Lin Ye and Colt opened fire on it, but rifle bullets only managed to push it back, failing to even interrupt its transformation.
Boom!
Lin Ye pulled out a shotgun and blasted the tumor monster lunging at him into the air, but its skin was tough—even the shotgun couldn’t pierce through, only leaving shallow wounds on its surface.
Colt quickly drew the large-caliber sniper rifle strapped to his back and fired a shot at the tumor monster.
Boom!
This bullet punched through the monster’s body, but still couldn’t stop it.
“Swap!”
Lin Ye shot the tumor monster back again, then swapped weapons with Colt.
Colt continued suppressing the approaching monster while Lin Ye, based on the tumor monster’s movement patterns, deduced its internal structure and pinpointed its core.
Boom!
The sniper rifle’s bullet pierced through the tumor monster’s body. This time, it didn’t get back up—it twitched on the ground for a moment before going still.
Lin Ye examined the corpse briefly before leading the others forward.
Just five minutes in, they encountered a second human wearing the same protective suit.
“Are you going to transform directly, or do you want to go through the motions first?”
Lin Ye raised the sniper rifle, aiming at the person’s chest.
“I’m normal! I’m not one of those monsters!”
The figure screamed as it approached.
Boom!
The bullet tore through the suit’s chest. Something inside began convulsing violently before finally going still after a moment.
“That’s it? Dead?”
Colt asked in surprise.
“Lucky shot—hit a vital spot.”
This time, Lin Ye didn’t bother checking the body. He’d already figured out enough about these things.
Along the way, they encountered more of the same monsters, each taken down by Lin Ye with a single shot.
“There’s something over there.”
Ephesus suddenly spoke up.
“Let’s take a look.”
Lin Ye moved toward where she pointed. He couldn’t see the strange changes here at all—only normal objects were visible to him.
Soon, they found what Ephesus had mentioned.
It was a swimming pool that looked relatively normal—roughly 80 meters long, 40 meters wide, with eight lanes. It was filled with blue liquid, and the bottom was completely invisible.
Next to the pool stood a ten-meter-high diving platform.
“No way I’m jumping in for a swim.”
Colt had never been to a swimming pool, nor had he learned to swim.
“There seems to be a piece of paper stuck up there.”
Wen Luo was looking up at the platform.
“Looks like a flyer. That paper wasn’t there before.”
The flyer had appeared just as Colt spoke. Lin Ye saw it clearly.
“Better not touch anything here. Let’s just find the survivors.”
Colt didn’t want to get anywhere near this bottomless pool.
“I’ll go up and check it out. You all wait here.”
Lin Ye climbed the stairs to the platform and grabbed the flyer.
It was a missing person notice, but the only thing on it was a blurry face—a person with medium-length black hair, a beige collar visible, and a cute orange-yellow squirrel hairpin.
Lin Ye handed the notice to Colt. Staring at the face, Colt felt a strange sense of familiarity.
“…What does this mean? Is she in there? If I jump in, can I bring her back?”
Colt looked at Lin Ye. He still couldn’t remember anything about that person, but he didn’t think he had any other acquaintances here.
“Are you sure that’s who you’re looking for?”
Lin Ye had no intention of saving a stranger—much less bringing something else up.
“…I’m not sure, but even if there’s just a sliver of hope, I want to try.”
Colt stared at the notice, especially that squirrel hairpin. He was certain he’d seen it before, even if he’d lost that memory.
“Fine. Let’s just hope nothing weird comes up.”
Lin Ye climbed back onto the platform.
“Wait! If anyone’s jumping, it should be me! If something happens to you, even if we save someone, we’ll never find our way back!”
Colt scrambled up after him.
“No, it has to be you who jumps for the ritual to work. If I jump, it’s meaningless. But we can try swapping out the offering.”
Lin Ye pulled the white bone-like cube from his pocket and reached out over the platform.
Ripples appeared on the pool’s surface, and a gradually expanding whirlpool formed at the center.
Lin Ye tossed the cube into the pool. It was swept into the whirlpool’s core and vanished into the depths.
Another missing person notice appeared on the platform.
Colt snatched it up quickly. It was the same blurry face, but on the back, there were strange, intricate patterns drawn.
“What does this mean?”
Colt handed the notice to Lin Ye, figuring this was better left to a professional.
“Looks like a map. I need to study it.”
Lin Ye took the notice and descended the platform with Colt.
“Do we need to find a place to study this map?”
Colt asked anxiously.
“No, we’ll continue along the circular route. I’ll study the map as we walk.”
Lin Ye planned to make a full circuit first before considering anything else.
Once he completed the loop, he’d have a general understanding of the area.
The group pressed on, occasionally encountering new tumor monsters, all dealt with by Lin Ye.
As they moved, Lin Ye studied the missing person notice. But even after memorizing the entire map, he had no idea what it meant.
‘Is this really a map? Could it be some kind of weird symbol?’
Lin Ye didn’t know what that pool was, but if it tried to fob him off with some garbage, he’d make whatever the ritual pointed to pay the price.
“There’s something over there.”
Ephesus suddenly spoke up again.
She seemed to have adapted to the environment, able to spot unusual objects in the distance.
“…Let’s take a look.”
So far, Lin Ye hadn’t found a single living survivor—only tumor monsters.
Soon, they found what Ephesus had pointed out—a fleshy plant covered in various organs hanging from its branches.
“Finally, an acquaintance. Big shot, care to give a hint?”
Lin Ye’s eyes lit up. He approached the plant but kept a safe distance.
An eyeball hanging from a branch shifted to look at Lin Ye, then, after a moment, turned away.