Chapter 49 - 45: Drilling Platform

Chapter 49: Chapter 45: Drilling Platform

The two accompanying squads of experimental subjects had already rappelled down to the drilling platform below. With a wave of Yin Zhen’s hand, Lighthouse and White Phosphorus were the first to jump out of the cabin. Yin Zhen followed as the third, and Tuner brought up the rear. This was the usual tacit understanding of the Bloodthorn Squad.

Another helicopter hovered not far away. Adeline used the shadow cast by the helicopter to teleport directly onto the exposed tower of the drilling platform below.

Yin Zhen landed steadily. The platform beneath her feet was slowly tilting, letting out a grating CREAK with the rise and fall of the waves.

The abandoned drilling platform was completely unrecognizable. The iron frames were covered with scarlet flesh membranes, and grayish flocculent matter hung from the railings. Stepping on it felt as soft and mushy as rotting meat.

All the team members spread out, guns raised as they checked their surroundings. Several spherical reconnaissance drones hovered in mid-air, their searchlights sweeping across walls where rust and tumors intertwined.

Tentacles hung from the twisted pipes, and the valve knobs looked like some sort of animal’s eyeballs, turning to track the movements of the people around them. However, in the sunlight, these once extremely dangerous things were quiet and did not actively attack them.

"We found something over here!"

Hearing the voice, Yin Zhen quickly walked over. Ian and Amelia were already there.

On the edge of the platform lay a twisted corpse. It was a member of the Blood Clan. The flesh and blood had grown together with the iron frame behind it, making it impossible to tell where the meat ended and the metal began. Its skin was gray and its eyes were cloudy, but it hadn’t rotted yet. The crucial point was that half of its body was exposed to the morning light, yet it hadn’t turned to ashes.

Everyone was stunned for a moment when they saw this corpse, especially Ian. Underneath his helmet, a massive wave of emotion surged in his usually calm eyes as he stared unblinkingly at the part of the corpse exposed to the sunlight.

"This is impossible..."

All members of the Blood Clan, including the Fallen Species, would turn to ash upon contact with sunlight after death. The same was true for Blood Clan members parasitized by Mutants.

"Starting sampling now." Amelia crouched down and took out her tools from the Sampling Box.

"No need to sample. We’re taking the whole body back!" Ian interrupted Amelia.

Amelia looked up at Ian, shrugged, and signaled for Cole behind them to bring over a body bag.

"Captain!" White Phosphorus called out to Yin Zhen from a distance.

Yin Zhen turned and walked over. Lighthouse was crouching beside a massive iron plate, his fingers dug into the crevices, veins bulging. The iron plate was lifted and slammed onto the deck, making a dull THUD.

Below was a pitch-black passage. Seawater surged underneath, soaking some unrecognizable wreckage. Light blue fluorescent jellyfish bobbed in the darkness like ghostly lanterns.

Tuner lowered a spherical reconnaissance drone. The moment it touched the water, its indicator light went out. It sank with the current, never sending back any Signal.

Lighthouse scratched his head. "Our communication devices will definitely fail once we go down there. How are we supposed to contact each other?"

Just as he spoke, a voice echoed simultaneously in the minds of Yin Zhen, Lighthouse, Tuner, and White Phosphorus.

"This is where my Extraordinary Ability comes in." It was Cole’s voice, unhurried and steady. "As long as you don’t set up a Spiritual Barrier, just say ’Call Cole’ in your mind, and I will relay your message to the others. One-to-one, one-to-many, both work."

Yin Zhen understood. So this was Cole’s Special ability; it was indeed very practical in this situation.

"What’s the range?" Yin Zhen asked.

"As long as there’s no other spiritual power interference, covering the entire drilling platform shouldn’t be a problem. My ability isn’t very suited for combat, but when it comes to passing messages, I’m the fastest."

Yin Zhen gave a hum of acknowledgment and said no more.

She glanced back. Ian and Amelia had already packed the corpse into the Sampling Box and were carrying it toward the helicopter. Turning back around, she stared at the pitch-black passage. The secret hidden below must be related to the main plot of the Red Corpse World.

"I’ll go down first."

Tuner reached out to stop her. "Lucia, stop rushing to the front for everything. I don’t want anything to happen to you again. Let the experimental subjects go down and scout first."

Lighthouse nodded eagerly beside them, while White Phosphorus was already calling for people. A squad of experimental subjects was summoned over.

"Go down and scout!"

Under White Phosphorus’s order, five experimental subjects entered the water one by one. Among them, Yin Zhen spotted a female subject from her own batch. The woman had definitely recognized her too, casting a confused glance in her direction before jumping in.

The figures of the five experimental subjects quickly disappeared into the cluster of faint blue jellyfish. The helicopter hovering above finished receiving the corpse and began its return journey, guarding against the reappearance of the red light that could destroy electronic equipment.

About five minutes later, Cole’s voice rang out in everyone’s minds.

"The water currents interfere with electronic devices. After diving about a hundred meters, there is a massive cavity below. There’s no water, and no Mutants have been spotted so far."

"Into the water!"

Yin Zhen gave the order. Lighthouse and White Phosphorus went into the water one after another, and she followed closely behind. Tuner still guarded her back.

The seawater was freezing, carrying the stench of rust and rotting meat. Fluorescent jellyfish drifted past them, their light blue glow reflecting on the visors of their helmets before vanishing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

Gripping the crisscrossing steel rebars and railings in the water, Yin Zhen dove for about a hundred meters. It felt as if she had passed through a barrier; the water currents and buoyancy suddenly vanished. She dropped onto a slanted platform. Tiny dust particles floated in the air, emitting a faint red glow like ashes drifting in the light.

These were the very spores that would enter the bodies of the Blood Clan through their wounds and parasitize them.

Yin Zhen looked up. The seawater was suspended above their heads, held up by something invisible.

"It’s a Spiritual Barrier." Adeline’s voice came from behind. She calmly stepped out of the shadows. "Whatever is down here has very strong spiritual power."

Cole followed closely behind, his single eye staring at the transparent barrier overhead. "I can sense its general outline. It’s huge—much bigger than I estimated from above. It’s sleeping right now, so we’d better blow it up before it wakes."

The Blood Clan’s night vision was excellent. Without needing a light source, everyone could clearly see the interior of the drilling platform. The passage was mostly blocked by flesh membranes, forcing them to squeeze through sideways. The fluorescent light seeped out from the gaps in the membranes, flickering and rising and falling like breaths.

White Phosphorus pulled out a waterproof structural blueprint and unrolled it. The others gathered around.

Tuner smoothly stepped in to separate Ian from Yin Zhen, giving him a polite smile as he flicked a stray lock of Golden hair from his forehead, showing off his boast-worthy handsome face.

White Phosphorus spoke rapidly, "This drilling platform belongs to the Kostia Energy Company. Three months ago, they sent out a distress Signal, saying they discovered something underwater. After that, they lost all contact and couldn’t be found anywhere. Two weeks ago, it surfaced from the seabed again, looking exactly as it does now."

White Phosphorus moved her finger down, tapping a red circle.

"The core of the β-type Biomass Aggregation is very likely here in the lower wellbore. Right now, we are at..."

She looked up and scanned her surroundings, searching for an identifiable location marker. There was a rusted nameplate above her head, which she squinted at for a few seconds.

"The power unit. That’s where we are now."

Ian spoke up. "I want to take a trip to the control center. The drilling platform’s work logs might still be there. I need to know exactly what they found when the incident occurred. It might be related to that corpse that wasn’t afraid of the sunlight."

Yin Zhen gave Ian a deep look. He was turning his head to look for the way to the control center, avoiding her probing gaze.

Yin Zhen suppressed her inner suspicions. "Adeline, take a squad and follow them to the control center. I’ll take the Bloodthorn Squad and the other team to the wellbore to install the explosive devices."

Adeline frowned. She had come down here to complete her mission. She had to participate in the elimination of the β-type Biomass Aggregation and couldn’t let anyone steal the kill again. Her word count was already stuck on the warning line for a downgrade, and she didn’t want to lose her current Talent and Luck Value.

But before Adeline could speak, Amelia raised her Sampling Box. "The company sent me here to collect samples from the core of the aggregation. I have to go down with you."

Yin Zhen stared at Amelia. That sweet face bore no extra expression; she was simply smiling. However, Yin Zhen found it annoying, truly wishing she could just pull out her gun and blow her away right now.

She now strongly suspected that Amelia was Nan Jiamu. If not, then she had to be some hidden important figure in the Red Corpse World, no less significant than a protagonist. The ’enemy’ mentioned in the Event Card could also be referring to her own enemy, Nan Jiamu.

"I have to go with you too," Cole chimed in. "The spiritual power interference here gets stronger the further down we go. It’ll be easier for me to contact the top from the bottom. If I stay up here, it’s highly likely we’ll lose contact once you go down."

Yin Zhen remained silent for a few seconds.

If these people were all Players, and they were all aiming for the β-type Biomass Aggregation, then once they got close to the target, they would find an excuse to split up with her without her even needing to do anything. After all, there was only one ’kill’ to claim!

"Fine. But all of you remember this—if something goes wrong, I will not save you!"

White Phosphorus and Lighthouse nodded beside her. They had always prioritized the survival of their own squad members; this was the consistent principle of the Bloodthorn Squad.