Chapter 1 Aftermath

After receiving confirmation from the command center, the security team prepared to escort Feng Bujue back.

For Brother Jue, this development was obviously unfavorable, but being captured was better than being killed on the spot. In any case, there was no time limit to the main quest of this script. As long as he was still alive, he would have a chance to turn the tables.

Thinking this, he obediently accepted his capture.

"Move faster, no funny business." This was the sentence Brother Jue heard the most on the way to the ninth basement level.

Of course, even if they didn't say it, Brother Jue wouldn't try anything. He currently possessed only the physical abilities of an ordinary person, while his escorts were a group of heavily armed security personnel with special forces-level skills. With such a disparity in strength, wit alone couldn't change the situation.

Furthermore… Feng Bujue was well aware that this world, filled with *** projects, had many heaven-defying resources that could be utilized. With his understanding of ***-related materials, as long as he stayed in this script for a while, he would definitely gain great benefits. Considering this, he was even less willing to take unnecessary risks.

"Maintain formation, watch the stairwell corners." After entering the stairwell, the eight members of the security team dispersed to Brother Jue's front and rear, surrounding him and continuing forward.

First floor, second floor, third floor…

The stairwell markings went from B1, B2, B3… all the way to B5.

Just as they were going from the fifth basement level to the sixth, suddenly!

*Crackle, crackle… crackle, crackle…*

Accompanied by a strange sound, strands of black, vine-like substance burst forth from the ground below the stairs, corroding large areas of the floor and walls.

"Holy crap!" Feng Bujue reacted faster than all the surrounding security personnel. He recognized what was coming at a glance. "Run!"

His shout startled the eight team members who were staring blankly at the wall, but they didn't realize what the black corrosion marks meant.

After all, they were just security personnel within this facility, not MTF (mobile task forces). Due to clearance issues, they were also unaware of the details of all the *** projects in the base, especially the Keter-class projects…

"Shut up! Don't move!" the team leader snapped at Brother Jue, then said to his men, "Don't panic, prepare to engage."

"Engage your ass!" Feng Bujue roared. "If you want to die, go die yourself, I'm not going to be buried with you!"

"I told you to shut up… you listen… urgh… ah!" The security personnel turned his head to yell at Brother Jue, but…

Just then, a black figure suddenly "floated" up from the ground behind him, grabbing his throat.

In the next second, the three security personnel standing in the front row instinctively raised their guns and opened fire in unison.

*Tututu…*

The three were well-trained and had good marksmanship. Moreover, they were very close to the target, so precision shooting wouldn't harm their comrades.

But… the black figure's actions weren't affected in the slightest.

"It's useless! Run!" Feng Bujue shouted again in a very serious tone.

But… the people didn't heed his warning and continued firing…

"Tch… a bunch of idiots…" Brother Jue was anxious, but he was surrounded in the middle of the group, and he was handcuffed. If he made any sudden moves, he would probably be shot.

He could only continue to wait until these security personnel realized the severity of the situation…

…………

[Item #: ***-106]

[Object Class: Keter]

[Special Containment Procedures: The containment area for ***-106 consists of two layers. The first layer is a locked room made of lead-lined steel. This room must be sealed within 40 layers of identical material, with a gap of no less than 36 cm between each layer. The support frames between the layers must be randomly arranged. This room must be suspended at least 60 cm away from any surface using eLo-iid electromagnetic support.

The second layer of containment consists of 16 spherical "rooms," each filled with a different liquid and lined with random support frames and surfaces. The second layer of containment should be fitted with a lighting system that can instantly flood the area with no less than 80,000 lumens without personnel intervention.

Both containment areas should be monitored 24 hours a day. Any signs of corrosion on the surface of the containment area, on personnel, or within 200 meters of 106's room should be reported to site security immediately.

Any personnel or objects lost to 106 will be considered missing in action, and no rescue attempts will be made.

Under no circumstances should any physical contact be made with 106. All physical contact requires a two-thirds majority vote from O5 personnel. All such contact must be carried out at AR-II maximum security sites, and only after all non-essential personnel have been evacuated. All personnel (including researchers, security, D-class, etc.) must remain at least 60 meters away from the containment room at all times, except in the event of a containment breach.]

[Description: ***-106 appears to be an elderly humanoid male, usually in a highly decayed state. His appearance varies, and the degree of "rot" has been observed in various forms.

***-106 is not very agile and sometimes remains motionless for a day, waiting for prey.

***-106 can cause any vertical surface to peel away and can hang upside down in unpredictable ways.

***-106 attempts to incapacitate its prey, usually by attacking major organs, muscle tissue, or legs; it then drags the injured prey into its "pocket dimension."

***-106 seems to prefer humans aged 10-25 as prey.

***-106 can cause a "corrosion" effect on any solid matter it touches, leading to physical breakdown of the material after a few seconds of contact. The material will undergo rusting, decay, and eventual collapse. 106 creates a black, mucous-like substance on the material, similar to the material coating its body. This effect is particularly harmful to living organisms and is believed to be a "pre-digestion" behavior. This corrosion effect will last for up to six hours after contact, after which it will "burn out."

***-106 can pass through solid matter, leaving a corrosive slime trail. 106 can "disappear" into solid matter, entering a space presumed to be a "pocket dimension." 106 can then exit through any solid matter connected to the solid matter it entered (e.g., it can "enter" the inner wall of a room and "exit" through the outer wall, or enter a wall and exit through the ceiling).

Regarding the "pocket dimension," it is currently impossible to determine whether this is the key to 106's original form or simply a "nest" it created.]

[Limited observation of the "pocket dimension" shows that it consists of rooms and halls with [DATA EXPUNGED] entrances. This activity can last for "days," and some items are released. Obviously, these are for hunting, retrieval, or [DATA EXPUNGED] purposes.]

…………

***-106 (the_old_man), the Old Man. One of the most deadly and difficult Keter-class projects to deal with.

Physical restraint is impossible, and direct physical damage… at least at this stage, seems to have no effect on him.

Due to its extremely difficult-to-contain nature, the Foundation re-evaluates it every three months or after a containment breach.

Although the organization has been soliciting more effective, proactive, and forward-looking special containment measures to contain 106, the problem remains unsolved.

So all they can do is maintain continuous surveillance and establish a rapid response mechanism.

Unfortunately… what is happening at this moment seems to prove that this method isn't very effective.

"Ah—ah!"

Finally, about thirty seconds later, the leading security member in charge of giving orders let out two final groans and became motionless…

The black corrosive substance spread from his throat, destroying most of the tissue in his upper body; the weapon in his hand had long fallen to the ground, and his limbs were hanging limply.

By now, the other security personnel had basically stopped shooting, and they had finally noticed… that the black monster wasn't afraid of bullets at all.

"What the hell are you still standing there for! Get moving!" Feng Bujue shouted again, turning around and trying to run back upstairs.

As he shouted, 106 slowly dragged the corroded fellow into the ground…

Seeing this, the remaining security personnel hesitated for a few seconds until one of them said, "Let's go! Up!" Only then did they start moving.

These guys had finally decided to run, which relieved Feng Bujue. He knew… as long as they kept jogging and watched out for dark matter in all directions, there was a high probability of dodging 106.

"Hey, Dan, unlock his handcuffs." After running not far, the team member who had just directed everyone to retreat said to one of the people near Brother Jue.

Dan hesitated for a few seconds after hearing this. "Are you sure? Gore."

"Don't be so wordy at a time like this." The man called Gore replied. "The captain is dead, I'm in charge here now."

With the situation being what it was, Dan didn't have any room to object. He immediately took out the handcuff key and unlocked Brother Jue's handcuffs while running.

"Oh~" The corners of Feng Bujue's mouth slightly curved up. "Looks like… there are still one or two people who understand reason…"

"Save the chatter." Gore replied. "I just don't want to see anyone else get killed by that monster." He paused for half a second. "Quickly tell me everything you know."

"I can…" Brother Jue gave the other party a vague answer, then changed the subject. "But before that… do you have clearance to enter B3?"

"Huh?" Gore was slightly stunned. "What do you want to do?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Feng Bujue said. "Of course, I want to go in." He told a lie without batting an eye. "If we want to deal with that monster, we have to use something in B3."

As they were talking, they had arrived at the entrance to B3.

"Everyone, follow me in!" Gore weighed the situation for less than two seconds before making a decision. He took out a pass card from his pocket and opened the electronic door to B3.

Then, the eight of them filed in and entered the corridor of B3.

The lighting here was different from other places. Even though it had switched to emergency power, the light in this level was still white, as if it wasn't affected by the outside world.

"Looks like… this level has its own independent power generation device." Feng Bujue said as soon as he entered the corridor.

"Alright, we're here at B3." At this moment, the team member named "Dan" next to Brother Jue turned his head and said to him, "Now you can tell us… what is that monster?"

"Let's talk as we walk." Feng Bujue said. "That guy can walk through walls, and we might get caught if we stop."

The credibility of this sentence was beyond doubt. The security team members had all seen how the captain had died, and they didn't want to be suddenly dragged into the walls or ceiling.

"Okay, you still walk in the middle." Gore said after hearing this, then turned to look at Dan. "Dan, report the current situation to Commander Kozmo." After giving these two orders, the vice-captain walked to the front of the group and led the way.

"So…" Feng Bujue began to narrate as he jogged along with them, "You may have heard of this thing's designation, it’s ***-106…"

Over the next five minutes, Brother Jue explained the 106 file to these people in detail. At the same time, he didn't forget to observe the environment on both sides of the corridor. He didn't miss a single one of the signs posted at the intersections of the corridor.

"You kid… are you making this up?" After hearing a long description, Gore suddenly turned his head and said to Brother Jue, "Since it's supposed to be under constant 'surveillance,' why haven't I ever seen any surveillance footage of this project in the monitoring room?"

"Hmph…" Faced with this level of questioning, Feng Bujue wasn't flustered at all and answered fluently, "What's the use of asking me this question? I'm just a D-class personnel. You know better than I do how your organization operates."

When Gore heard this and thought about it, he immediately felt that the other party was right. This kind of Keter-class project probably had a dedicated monitoring team responsible for observing it, and they didn't need to worry about it.

"Okay… let's just assume what you're saying is true." Gore continued, "Do you know how to deal with that 106?"

"Run." Feng Bujue replied with an obvious tone.

"What?" Gore was obviously angry. "What do you mean?"

"It means there's no way." Feng Bujue shrugged and smiled. "There's no feasible way to eliminate this project at this stage, and its weaknesses are also very limited… probably only the four points of 'being disturbed when facing complex randomly arranged building structures,' 'retreating into the pocket dimension when encountering sudden strong light due to disgust,' 'disliking lead,' and 'being confused by liquids.' But these four points don't cause any substantial physical damage to it, they're just containment measures…"

Before Brother Jue could finish speaking, Gore turned around and grabbed his collar. "Then why did you say there was something in B3 that could deal with him?"

Although Gore was wearing a helmet, Feng Bujue had no doubt that Gore was currently wearing an incredibly ferocious and angry expression.

"Calm down, buddy." Brother Jue smiled and replied calmly, "Actually, what I really meant was… there's something here that can help us escape."

"You bastard…" Gore pushed him to the ground and pointed the muzzle of his assault rifle at Brother Jue's forehead. "Do you think I'm a three-year-old?" He said fiercely, "According to you, 106 isn't very agile. If we want to run, can't we just go anywhere?"

"Hmph… how foolish." Feng Bujue snorted coldly. Facing this situation, his attitude became even more arrogant. "Don't you understand? This base is finished." He knew that to convince others, he had to have enough confidence, even if it was nonsense, he had to make it sound more real than the truth. "Do you think that this is the only Keter-class project that has escaped?"

As soon as these words came out, all the security personnel felt a tremor in their hearts.

"You cannon fodder really have no self-awareness…" Feng Bujue's brainwashing began again. "You've also heard the document description of ***-106. When this kind of Keter-class project gets out of control, even if agent-level personnel are captured, they won't be rescued. And what are you… compared to us D-class personnel, you're just a group of higher-level sacrifices. Compared to that commander hiding in the distance controlling you, aren't I the one who is in the same boat as you? At least my current situation is the same as yours. If we're going to die, we'll all die together."

Unconsciously, he had pulled the group of people who had come to capture him to the same position as himself. However, these Foundation security personnel had also been strictly screened. How could they be so easily swayed?

"Hmph… you really dare to say that…" Gore snorted coldly. The gun in his hand was still pointed at Brother Jue's forehead, but his tone was slightly calmer. In the next second, he turned to Dan and said, "Dan, how's the contact with the command center?"

"I can't get through." Dan shook his head. "I've been calling since we entered this level, but there's no response."

Hearing this, Feng Bujue was overjoyed. He took advantage of the situation and put on an expression that said, "I knew it all along." "I don't need to explain any further, right… you're just a bunch of abandoned pawns, a bunch of expendable items that can be replaced at any time." He spread his hands. "Instead of serving those superiors who have abandoned you, why don't you think about how to save your lives?"

The security personnel looked at each other in silence…

Feng Bujue knew that they had taken the bait. "If you don't mind, I'll continue with the topic of 'why we came to B3'…" He paused for a moment. "Actually, it doesn't matter whether we escape to B1, B2, B3, or any emergency shelter. As long as we stay in this base, we're all going to die sooner or later. If we want to survive… the only way is to use 'space jump' to go somewhere else."