Chapter 745: Entering the Chasm
Wen Luo ultimately followed after him. She had a feeling that if she didn't follow now, she would spend every single day and every single night afterward drowning in regret.
The four of them put on pale-yellow protective suits inside the booths. The suits came in all sizes, so even Ephesus and Colt could find ones that fit them properly.
Since the protective suits were a bit bulky, Lin Ye placed his various weapons where he could easily reach them.
Ephesus and Wen Luo were tasked with carrying the remaining weapons. Lin Ye walked in front, while Colt brought up the rear.
After passing through the disinfection corridor, they entered the room containing the chasm. Susie was outside operating the instruments and opened the door leading into the chasm.
Behind that door lay the chasm itself. Unlike the portals, Lin Ye could see what was on the other side through the chasm.
The other side of the chasm was a pure white space, with tiny pale-yellow particles floating in the air.
Lin Ye stepped through the chasm into the pure white space. On this side, he still couldn't use spiritual energy or mental energy. Some instruments and equipment were placed near the chasm, but there wasn't a single person here.
[Warning: You have entered an unstable zone. Please evacuate this area as soon as possible.]
A dark red system notification appeared before Lin Ye's eyes. This was the first time he'd seen such a warning outside the Shelter, but he didn't stop walking.
The others followed him through the chasm. After they passed through, Susie closed the door. She would open it again when they returned.
The operating procedure for the door was posted on the wall. If the door were left open too long, it might attract dangerous things.
"It looks like something happened here, which is why the base is short on personnel."
Lin Ye found some shell casings and bloodstains nearby, but the pure white walls around them showed no traces at all.
"What's going on here? Why do I feel like those walls are constantly moving?"
Colt suddenly crouched down, bracing himself against the ground as if he couldn't maintain his balance.
"Moving? I don't see any walls moving. I only see ordinary white walls, but I can't really make out things in the distance. Can you guys see anything far away?"
Ephesus looked at the blurry scene in the distance and felt a bit uneasy.
"...I'm not sure. I'm a little disoriented."
Wen Luo suddenly turned to look behind her. She needed the chasm behind her to gauge her surroundings and sense of direction.
"Grab the protective suit in front of you. Don't let go. Don't touch anything else. And don't think about questions related to this place. I'll lead you forward."
Lin Ye only saw a normal pure white space. Aside from being excessively white, the surrounding walls looked perfectly fine.
He suspected this had to do with mental strength. Although he couldn't use mental energy right now, his mental strength hadn't changed, which was why this place didn't affect him.
This also reminded him of that monster's original definition of a deity.
A deity is a beacon in the mental world.
The system said this was an unstable zone. Perhaps because he was a deity, he could move normally here.
Lin Ye began moving forward. Everywhere he looked were pure white walls. The ground was also white. Above, he couldn't see any ceiling—just an expanse of white untainted by the slightest hint of darkness.
Those walls didn't seem like parts of some building. They were discontinuous, amorphous structures, which looked extremely strange.
Lin Ye couldn't determine the layout of this place through the terrain. He could only forcefully memorize the nearby terrain, or he would easily lose his sense of direction.
"It looks like something is approaching from ahead."
Ephesus could only see color patches writhing in the distance. Her vision wasn't the problem—she just couldn't clearly perceive anything beyond a certain range.
Lin Ye stopped walking. He didn't see what Ephesus was talking about, but in a place like this, he had to be extremely cautious.
Two seconds later, a writhing chunk of meat crawled out from behind the wall. It was a bit smaller than a soccer ball, with a human mouth on top. The mouth had clean white teeth and a pink tongue inside.
If you looked at just that mouth, it was no different from a normal person's mouth.
"Who are you people?"
The mouth crawled up to them and spoke in a perfectly normal male voice.
"We're scouts sent in to explore. And who are you?"
Lin Ye didn't rush to fire. He still didn't know what the hell this thing was.
"I'm a security guard here. Can you still find the chasm entrance?"
The mouth spoke urgently.
"I can, but you need to tell us what happened here first."
The mouth didn't seem to realize what state it was in. Lin Ye wanted to get some information about this place from it.
"No, you have to take me back right now! The terrain here keeps changing. If we don't bring a guide line, it's hard for us to get back to the base. You just got here—you still have a chance to return!"
The mouth said excitedly.
"Then tell me quickly what happened here. After you finish, I'll take you back."
Lin Ye certainly wouldn't bring it back to the chasm. Right now, only Susie was on the other side.
"What happened... We were attacked by something. I don't know what the attack was. The base sealed the doors... I was..."
The mouth suddenly began to tremble violently. A second later, it exploded into a puddle of dark red bloody mist.
"What the hell is this place..."
Colt felt a very bad vibe. He still couldn't remember who that important person was. If that person was still alive, they might have survived here for five days, or even longer.
Lin Ye stepped around the puddle of bloody mist and continued moving forward. He didn't go back to find the chasm—that was a problem to solve only after finding his target.
"Wait, there seems to be something up ahead. Something... of a different color."
Colt suddenly spoke up.
"Is it moving?"
Lin Ye asked.
"...It looks like something stationary."
Colt wasn't sure. The constantly shifting walls around him were affecting his senses.
"Then let's go take a look."
Lin Ye moved in that direction. After walking about two hundred meters, they finally saw what Colt was talking about.
It was a pure black patch of ground embedded within the white floor. The black patch was a perfect square, about a meter on each side.
On top of that black patch sat a pure black box.
The material of the box was unknown. It had no decorations, just a standard rectangular shape. There was an opening at the top of the box, and through the gap, all they could see was pitch black.
Lin Ye didn't approach the black patch. He felt like this thing might be some kind of trap, but he wasn't sure if traps even existed in a place like this.
"I can try shooting it."
Colt drew his pistol and said.
"No, let's go somewhere else."
Lin Ye decided not to touch this area.