Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Along the way, they stumbled upon the wreckage of an aircraft. It was identical to Lu Fen's. An Zhe estimated the direction and concluded that this plane had crashed before Lu Fen's. He had witnessed its descent.

After three or four planes had fallen in succession, he had not seen any more aircraft from the base in the skies. Presumably, the base had noticed the peculiar changes and ceased sending out fighter jets.

However, this aircraft seemed to have fared better than Lu Fen's. It hadn't exploded, and aside from external damage, everything else remained intact.

Lu Fen approached and extracted the black box from the wreckage. After a moment's hesitation, he climbed into the cracked cockpit – the edges of the door bore marks of gnawing.

The monster had already consumed the pilot's body. The bloodied clothes were now dried, and scattered across the cockpit were fragmented bones picked clean of flesh. The skull lay beneath the control panel, only half remaining, with razor-sharp tooth marks along its edges.

An Zhe followed him inside. For a brief moment, Lu Fen considered asking him to leave, to spare him from the grotesque sight. But then he saw An Zhe's calm gaze and realized that he was not afraid of human remains.

Beneath the control panel was an upside-down flight manual. A pilot's guidebook, it contained basic operation procedures, instrument usage and purposes, as well as solutions for various unexpected situations.

Lu Fen reached out to retrieve the manual. Something unknown was happening to it. The black ink sank deeply into the paper, seeping outward, as tiny black tendrils unfurled, distorting the printed text on the entire page in a strange manner, resembling an ominous symbol.

An Zhe also gazed at the page, struggling to decipher the characters. This particular page detailed possible engine malfunctions.

And so he learned that the plane had crashed due to engine failure, and right up until the moment of impact, he had been frantically searching the manual for any possible solution.

Then – in that instant – the plane crashed, the manual fell to the ground, and lives were lost.

As An Zhe was carried down from the aircraft's steps by Lu Fen and placed on solid ground, he heard Lu Fen say, "The plane I was on also crashed due to engine failure."

An Zhe furrowed his brow.

Lu Fen continued, "But other components malfunctioned as well."

Lu Fen: "Was there an issue during manufacturing?"

"Fighter jets of the PJ fleet have completed multiple missions, and they underwent inspections before takeoff," Lu Fen explained.

They walked forward, where Xi Bei and Grandfather were waiting ahead.

An Zhe couldn't fathom the reason for the aircraft's malfunction. He asked, "Then why did it happen?"

"I don't know," said the colonel, a rare occurrence for him to admit such ignorance.

As if recalling something, he casually said, "The PL1109 also had engine trouble during landing, but it still managed to land safely."

The PL1109 was the base's most advanced fighter jet. From what Lu Fen implied, all aircrafts were now at risk. When he left the human base not long ago and looked back at the main city, he saw the PL1109 descending slowly. It turned out that Lu Fen had already been on the brink of life and death back then.

"Then...," An Zhe whispered, "Are you not going to fly anymore?"

Lu Fen didn't respond; he only stroked his hair.

After reuniting with Xi Bei, they briefly discussed the situation there before continuing their journey.

In their field of vision, there was nothing but wilderness.

Xi Bei surveyed their surroundings. "The monsters have really decreased in number. There used to be quite a lot of them."

An Zhe understood the implications. Many creatures, big and small, had died and become part of the hybrid monsters. Due to the decrease in the total number of monsters, this place seemed much safer. However, the individual monsters were now more dangerous.

But all these changes had occurred within just over ten days. The weaker monsters had been wiped out, and the process was too swift. An Zhe recalled the monster that had greedily consumed genes without any regard for consequences. Its actions seemed overly hasty.

A similar scene flashed through his memory—autumn's end in the Abyss.

In winter, the Abyss turns damp and cold. After a snowfall, frost covers the ground and trees. Many monsters retreat, seeking warm caves to hide in. To survive the entire winter, they frenziedly fight each other for flesh, storing nutrients for the harsh season or dragging their enemies' corpses into their shelters as provisions. The month preceding winter is the most perilous and bloodiest time in the Abyss.

Now, such slaughter was happening outside as well.

The journey wasn't long, and with their cautiousness and choice of concealed routes, perhaps augmented by luck, they managed to avoid encountering any terrifying hybrid monsters.

They set out at eight and, by nine-thirty in the morning, an ancient city half-buried by sand appeared before them.

It was vast, stretching to the horizon. Among the undulating, interconnected structures, remnants of roads could vaguely be discerned. Unlike the orderly, geometric buildings of the Northern Base, this city was disordered, lacking any pattern. High-rise towers stood beside squat dwellings, round structures nestled beside rectangular ones, while the roads twisted and turned. In the center of the city loomed a dark red tower, with an overpass collapsed halfway, its surface covered in a tangle of withered vines, blocking the road ahead. Buildings of all colors dotted the landscape, but their multitude of hues blended together in An Zhe's sight, gradually fading into a misty gray.

An Zhe gazed into the distance at the sprawling expanse. If not for seeing it with his own eyes, he would never have imagined such a labyrinthine city. If he were a resident here, getting lost would surely be a common occurrence.

Dark clouds obscured the sun, casting the sky into gloom, and a faint mist hovered around them.

"Follow me," Xi Bei said. "Our mine often comes here to scavenge supplies. We have a stronghold within the city. Actually, we could live here too, but we're afraid of monsters. Grandpa insists that only the cave is truly safe. Three uncles once found the cave life unbearable and moved to the city, but we've had no news of them since."

After following Xi Bei through the maze of structures, they arrived in a densely populated area, where large, gray apartment blocks crowded closely together. In the distance, a square could be discerned, with a white spherical object in its center. Amidst the silent city, the only sounds were the wind whistling through the buildings and their footsteps.

Lu Fen kept watch, while Xi Bei, with his grandfather on his back, kept his head down, saying, "We'll be there after crossing that square, very soon."

In that moment, Grandfather let out a sudden "cough."

His vocal cords vibrated, repeating a single syllable persistently. Mucus in his throat muffled his voice, making it barely audible: "Pro..."

"Pro, pro..."

Xi Bei asked, "What?"

Lu Fen abruptly halted.

An Zhe looked at him and saw him staring intently at the square ahead.

Then, he uttered a sharp word, "Run!"

Without time for further contemplation, An Zhe's arm was yanked, and he instinctively followed Lu Fen as they dashed into the nearest building. Xi Bei, unsure of what was happening, swiftly carried Grandfather on his back to catch up.

The residential building was familiar to An Zhe. Upon entering the stairwell, they were confronted by a grayish-white, clothed skeleton leaning against the corner, seemingly merged with the pale wall. However, with no time for a closer inspection, An Zhe, already weakened, lagged in climbing the stairs. Lu Fen promptly scooped him up and ascended swiftly. The staircase was spacious, with three apartments per floor. Around the eighth level, they found an open door, and Lu Fen rushed in with An Zhe, followed closely by Xi Bei. As soon as Xi Bei entered, Lu Fen shut the door behind them. Dust covered every piece of furniture inside the room; a skeleton lay slumped on a couch in the living room.

This was a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment with a north-south layout. The living room extended outward from the building, featuring a vast floor-to-ceiling window.

Lu Fen gently set An Zhe down, his breathing heavy from the haste of their sprint. An Zhe had never seen him like this before.

But in the next moment—

He saw Xi Bei staring out the window, his face pale and his gaze unfocused.

Following his lead, he looked out as well.

White.

A massive, white, spherical creature, almost the height of half a floor, was approaching them with an eerie gait—nearly hovering, like a ghostly apparition. It was the same object that An Zhe had mistaken for a white decoration from afar in the square earlier. In reality, it was a colossal monster.

As it drew closer, two streets away, An Zhe could discern its form. A shapeless mass, supported by undulating tentacles or snail-like appendages beneath, with the front part moving for locomotion and the elongated rear dragging behind. Its body—a near-circular form—was covered by a translucent membrane, somewhere between pale and gray. Beneath the membrane, countless indescribable shapes, possibly organs, in shades of black or flesh-colored, swarmed with writhing tendrils, limbs, or something else.

The closer it got to the neighborhood, the more visible the grotesque details became. This was a hybrid form beyond human comprehension; its eyes were nowhere to be found. Xi Bei's eyes were fixed on it, as if he would die from sheer terror at any moment.

It grew even nearer.

Everyone in the room held their breath.