Chapter 38. New Beginning (10)
Krieeek...
I carefully opened the door. The cry of the hinges echoed softly in the dimly lit space.
Usually, it was such a small sound that I wouldn't even notice, but given the current circumstances, even that slight noise grated on my nerves.
I feared that the ghouls, reacting to this sound, would swarm us and attack once more.
... Splish
Next was the sound of me stepping into water. A burst water pipe continuously spewed water, and as if something blocked the floor drain, water started to puddle.
Before stepping outside, I turned to look at Nadia, who had her ears perked up. She tried to detect if any monsters were lurking around, with shallow, trembling breaths in the air.
Nadia was a beastman—a canine one at that. Generally, beastman were known to have vastly superior senses compared to others, but this wasn't entirely true for Nadia.
And for a good reason—she was still suffering from aftereffects of past injuries. Even though she had fully recuperated after I found her in the alley and brought her to the hospital, her past continued to haunt her.
This made Nadia different from typical beastman. Yet, her senses remained sharper than most, relatively speaking.
After finishing her search, Nadia shook her head, indicating that she heard no suspicious sounds. When I gestured towards the outside as if asking if it was safe to go, she hesitated for a moment before nodding.
As I moved to head outside, Nadia suddenly grabbed my arm. I looked at her, wondering if she had something to say, and she sent me a message.
- Be careful. And if you're going to fight, let's do it together.
Seeing the concern in her eyes, with fear not fully vanquished, I gave a thumbs-up. Or rather, I was about to, but decided to simply give a firm nod indicating acknowledgment. There was no need to show my shaky hands.
Leaving Nadia behind, I slowly ventured outside. I was debating whether or not to turn on the flashlight but decided against it. The ghouls had shattered the door completely, allowing the outside light to faintly illuminate the interior.
... Splish... Splish...
I stepped cautiously, each step drowned out by the sound of water pouring from the pipes. I opened the door to the immediate compartment. Then, in standby mode, Carry slowly opened one eye.
Seeing that we were safe, Carry barely contained its excitement, almost buzzing around, but calmed down the moment I lifted my finger to gesture silence. I pointed to myself, then to Carry, and finally to the door.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】
Understanding my intent to go together, Carry gave a thumbs-up like usual. Good. Very reliable.
As Carry's thrusters glowed, it levitated, carefully maneuvering to avoid hitting the walls and stood beside me.
There was some noise from the thrusters, but it wasn't at maximum output, and at this level, it was akin to breathing sounds, not bothersome.
Carry and I stealthily moved and peeked out. We scrutinized the area as thoroughly as possible. The cargo sector warehouse hall was filled with traces left by the ghouls, as if to announce their passing.
Though the pipes here hadn't burst like in the restroom, the floor was covered in a sticky, viscous substance. The place was a mess, to say the least.
'How did they destroy the lights?'
Did they hit the ceiling lights while descending from the ducts? This place wasn't particularly bright to begin with, but now, it was even darker.
I confirmed that there were no ghouls roaming the warehouse hall and let out a sigh of relief, retreating back. However, there was still no broadcast that the quarantine was lifted.
I thought maybe the quarantine was lifted even if there wasn't a broadcast yet, but the door to the next area remained closed, with hologram screens glowing red.
This meant there were still ghouls somewhere in this area. We needed to find them to move on to the next area.
'We must kill them.'
Their number should be small. I expected no more than four. If there were more, there would be more noise.
I tapped Carry, mouthing Nadia's name, and Carry, recognizing it through its lens, flew to where Nadia was and brought her to us.
Feeling the constant unease, she seemed to collapse as soon as she reached me. Holding her up, she sent me a thankful glance.
There were no longer any corpses in the restroom. At least three bodies had been there, but the ghouls took them all.
Relieved not to see the grotesque state of those bodies any longer, the first emotion wasn't relief or curiosity about why the ghouls took the bodies.
It was regret.
'I should have grabbed their bracelets.'
Most of them were likely lower or mid-rank workers like us, given they were in the cargo warehouse restroom, but verification is essential.
Had I been lucky enough to get a supervisor-grade bracelet, it would've greatly facilitated our upcoming tasks. With that rank, at least here in the mining base Heaven, there wouldn't be any issues due to insufficient authority.
'It's all in vain now.'
In the chaos of the ghouls rushing in, I didn't even think of grabbing the bracelets; I was preoccupied with hiding. All that remained in the restroom was a burst water pipe, water mixed with blood, dismantled security robots, and broken partition doors.
Determining that there was nothing more to gain from the restroom, we slipped by the twisted door and went outside. We couldn't stay there forever; we had to move forward despite the fear.
Slowly, carefully. Clenching my fists to be ready for any sudden ghoul attack, I could already hear their distant noises.
There they were, ghouls lingering in the break room where they had pushed us to the brink. Since we needed to deal with them to lift the quarantine, we crept towards them.
【Grr...】
【Creee...】
The ghouls weren't doing much inside, just standing there as if in standby mode.
They occasionally twitched as if not completely insulated from external stimuli. The sight of them twisting joints with their blue crystal-lit bodies and the terrible grating sound of the crystals rubbing together was utterly eerie.
Had the sound of water from the restroom not hidden us, they surely would have attacked us as they were.
'... Two of them.'
Even though I got closer, it seemed they still hadn't noticed our presence. Looking around, those two appeared to be all there was.
I reminded myself of an earlier thought—always act as if there are more enemies around than you can see. Be cautious. The enemy is stronger than us.
'We can do this.'
If we ended it swiftly without a trace, any other ghouls wouldn't notice. There hadn't been any other presences felt between the restroom and the break room.
After exchanging a brief glance with Nadia, I gradually increased the output of the plasma cutter I held. Nadia prepared to ambush with spare tools she had ready.
With a buzzing sound, a blue blade formed. For a moment, the ghouls twisted so abruptly with a crack, I thought we were exposed, but thankfully, we weren't.
... Step
I took a step, holding my breath. Carry secured our rear, while Nadia and I aimed to eliminate the enemy before us. To fulfill our roles, we collected our breaths and simultaneously plunged the plasma cutter into the ghouls' necks.
【... Ggk!】
Caught off-guard by our sudden attack, the ghouls, of course, couldn't regain their senses. They opened their four-segmented jaws, ready to shriek, but only the sound of air escaping emerged.
We took that opportunity to crank the tools' power to maximum, and the intensely blazing blue blades severed their necks, scattering afterimages. Despite severing their heads, they watched us intently.
The eyes held an intense, unmistakable malice. Deeply hostile glares persisted until the dismembered heads hit the floor.
We couldn't relax just because we'd beheaded them. We needed to ensure they were dealt with conclusively. Their unique regenerative ability made them incredibly tenacious.
Instinctively sensing this need, I swung the plasma cutter, severing one arm and quickly slicing the other.
It was almost simultaneous.
Seeing this, Nadia didn't hesitate. She gripped her tools tightly to steady her hands and swung with a borrowed strength from her suit. Her speed was undeniably slower than mine, and she was aware of it.
Yet, despite her urgency, she wasn't overtaken by fear. She firmly believed I would assist her after incapacitating a ghoul completely, and indeed, it happened as she believed.
Poof!
The two ghouls were torn apart by our coordinated attack, with body parts thudding to the ground. A head rolled and bumped into my foot, the ghouls' unique flesh boiling like broth before settling down.
The scene was so surreal I almost chuckled unwittingly.
The sensation of burning flesh and bone in my hands,
the metallic, iron-filled stench assaulting my nose,
the grotesque scene flashing before my eyes,
the sticky sounds echoing in my ears,
the metallic taste of saliva sliding down my throat,
with all these vividly etched into my memory, constantly reminded me that this was, indeed, reality. I desperately fought to keep my wits.
We were still at the mine's entrance. We hadn't accomplished anything. Having come this far, I couldn't give up due to hardship.
And so, regardless of that resolve, Nadia and I could only focus on steadying our ragged breaths, remaining speechless for a while.
〈No unauthorized living forms detected. Lifting quarantine for this sector.〉
Even long after the broadcast announcing the quarantine lift.
***
Even though the quarantine was lifted, allowing movement to other areas, Nadia, Carry, and I remained put. Or rather, we couldn't move.
The tension surging through my body accelerated muscle fatigue, making rest imperative.
I knew staying amidst corpses wasn't good. The pervading smell of blood was enough to make my head throb.
But the scent wouldn't vanish wherever we went; it didn't seem to matter where we were. The stench emanating from the ghoul corpses blended with it, concealing it.
The stench too overwhelming, I stifled the urge to retch, bewildered by our strange willingness to tackle this unimaginable task. Anger welled up at our mental stamina being chipped away mercilessly.
Having roughly piled the bodies in a corner, we caught our breath surveying the break room interior. Despite being a space meant for rest, it was sparse: just a locker, table, and chairs.
Base Heaven wouldn't indulge mere lower and mid-rank workers with much.
The most conspicuous was a half-ruined store kiosk where the arm of likely a man who failed his own scheme lay caught, its severed end ragged and torn.
Reluctantly yanking out the arm revealed a wrist still sporting a blackened bracelet.
The store kiosk, flashing warning messages about the now-late user Darren, and its vicinity, where security robots and ghouls had clashed—I could guess the collision's cause.
He deliberately tampered with the store to summon the nearby security robots. While they engaged the ghouls, he took refuge in this lounge.
【A recent audio and video log detected. Would you like to view it?】
Clicking yes, unstable, flickering holograms unfurled around us.
「- Log replay -
'All of you, get lost, you dumb bastards! If the security team won't come, at least get those damn robots to show up!'
A man—Darren, to be precise—was furiously hammering the kiosk with a metal rod.
【Abnormal impact detected. Verifying user identity. Mid-rank worker, Darren. Warning: You are currently committing a severe contract breach. The store is SSTC's valuable asset. Cease your destructive and looting actions immediately.】
'I don't care, damn it! Call the security robots! Hurry!'
【Security robots are en route. Estimated arrival: 1 minute.】
'Yes! Yes, I'm saved!'
Believing his scheme worked, Darren wore a face of palpable relief. Stashed in the chaotic warehouse hall, he shouted excitedly seeing approaching security robots.
'Hey! Over here, here! Quickly, safe-'
【Contract violator identified. Amidst global base emergency status, instantaneous judgment is decreed in line with security protocols.】
- Log ends -」
The hologram cut off as the scene showed security robots summoned by the store aiming shockwave emitters at Darren and those nearby.
Examining his bracelet revealed Darren was a middle-grade laborer. He wasn't someone to utilize the chip the broker had provided.
"Whew..."
Darren's approach might have been effective initially, but a few days later now, it was unfeasible. There were no remaining security robots, after all.
But there was always a chance the base's system, in an effort to reclaim control, was producing robots. Those newly created robots might be fighting against the ghouls somewhere.
I entertained such optimistic thoughts for a moment, only to find unease swelling within.
- Nadia, can you move?
- Yes, I can.
We were discussing releasing Carry from alert mode and moving on when I suddenly received a communication from Celestia.