Chapter 26 White Hole Island (3)

Chapter 26 White Hole Island (Three)

After the strange creature that had lingered finally left, Shi Wu noticed the sky beginning to show the faintest hint of dawn.

"Thud, thud, thud."

A soft knocking sound came from his left.

It was as if something had bent down and was lightly rapping on the steel plate with its knuckles.

Once, twice, three times—it even seemed somewhat polite.

"What the hell is that? How annoying!" the middle-aged man instinctively shouted.

Silence fell all around; no one was willing to warn him.

"Thud-thud, thud-thud-thud."

At the same time, the rhythm of the knocking changed, as if responding to the middle-aged man.

Then—

"...How annoying?"

The voice still had the tone of a young girl, but now carried an indescribable, sticky, damp quality, like something just pulled out of water.

"Damn you," the middle-aged man cursed. "Just wait until we get to the island—I'll make you pay."

He shouted defiantly, but cold sweat was already beading on his forehead.

The voice continued to mimic, growing more frequent and chaotic in tone.

"How annoying? How annoying? How annoying?"

Then the syllables began to overlap, the intonation becoming disordered, as if dozens of mouths—dozens of young girls' faces—were all trying to speak through the same narrow pipe at once.

"...Damn you damn you damn you..."

Repetition turned into overlapping, overlapping into stuttering. The voice carried a kind of mental pollution, like a sharp needle piercing the scalp.

The middle-aged man kicked the door violently, but as soon as he lifted his leg, he watched in horror as a soft, sticky, cylindrical object slowly extended from the window.

Its shape resembled a human limb, but its skin was a deathly white, semi-transparent state—like a corpse soaked in water for too long, rotting and then fusing back together. Perhaps it was more accurate to say it resembled a thick tentacle.

The soft tentacle moved swiftly, without the slightest hesitation, and directly seized the middle-aged man's wrist.

"Ahhhhh—let go of me! Let go of me!"

The middle-aged man let out a piercing scream as he was brutally dragged toward the iron door by that wet, slimy hand.

The infrared detection light fell in patches on his face, illuminating rapidly spreading, bluish-purple, bruise-like ripples across his skin.

His arm began to turn pale, blisters swelling on the skin. Then, his muscles tore, and layers of skin peeled away. It was as if he had been submerged at the bottom of the sea for countless years, his entire body dissolving into a sticky, gooey slurry that dripped onto the floor with a soft "plop."

His lower body also began to melt. Amidst the middle-aged man's continuous pleas and cries for mercy, all that remained in the end was a scattered pool of blood and clothing, piled limply in front of the cell door.

Dead silence.

An unbearable stench instantly assaulted the air, mixed with the smells of corpses, fish, and decay, making Shi Wu feel like retching.

But that "tentacle" hadn't left yet.

It was still slowly sliding within the window, its hand bending, stretching, imitating a human lightly knocking on a door.

Then, a voice emanated from it again.

It was the middle-aged man's voice.

"Let... go of me?"

"Let go of me? Let go of me... let go... of me..."

The voice persisted, echoing over and over, like a tape recording stuck on repeat—distorted, confused, carrying a kind of meaningless obsession.

The tentacle didn't leave. It remained, "patrolling" aimlessly in the corridor, in front of every cell door.

Whenever it slid to a door, it would pause for a few seconds, lightly tap the door panel twice, then slowly turn and slide to the next one.

And the smell in the entire corridor had long become unbearable.

Shi Wu had seen people die before, but this was the first time—the first time he had no room to hide, forced to passively accept it, where even breathing felt like a luxury.

He felt like he was about to vomit, his vision already beginning to swim with spots.

But he knew now was not the time.

Everyone in the cells was forcibly suppressing their instinct to retch. Some hung their heads in silence, some turned pale green, some clutched their stomachs trembling, their lips turning white, yet not a single person dared to make a sound.

"Ugh—!"

Accompanied by a fit of choking coughs, Scarface from the cell diagonally opposite finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

He hunched over as if trying to turn his stomach inside out, and a mouthful of vomit slammed onto the steel floor. Thick, semi-digested food mixed with stomach fluids splattered, spraying disgusting liquid everywhere.

The next second, the monster "whooshed" and pounced onto his cell door.

The monster used the middle-aged man's voice, but what came out was a childish, girlish, coquettish language.

"I'm so cold... so cold, so cold. Brother, hold me, please..."

Scarface's face was deathly pale, devoid of any color. One could even see the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.

His entire body had begun to stiffen as he retreated backward, trying to hide in the corner, pressing his face against the wall to avoid seeing or hearing.

"Brother, I'm so cold..."

The middle-aged man's voice paired with a young girl's coquettish words—Scarface instantly felt as if he had seen an angel. His body's urge to vomit grew increasingly violent, as if completely out of control, his soul about to be vomited out along with it.

"Ugh!!!..."

Shi Wu: Visual, auditory, olfactory triple attack. Enough, I feel sorry for this Scarface.

The monster didn't take any further action, only continued to mimic, its voice growing shriller, stickier, even gradually taking on a hint of laughter.

"Brother... I'm here... brother brother brother brother... brother brother brother..."

It was only then that Shi Wu finally got a clear look at its form.

No longer a tentacle, nor a vague, indistinct shape.

In the dim corridor lighting, amid the sounds of dripping mucus, it was merely a shifting, unnamed viscous blob.

It had no true facial features, only some red protrusions that resembled "eyes." Its outer layer was like transparent jellyfish, but softer and thicker. Only the folds floating on its surface, resembling "mouths," continued to open and close, incessantly mimicking human voices.

It pressed against Scarface's window, as if fawning over him, but throughout the entire process, it never truly entered the cell.

It attacks people.

But not indiscriminately—it was waiting for a response.

Everyone stared, transfixed, at the monster, no one daring to speak, no one daring to move.

Until—

"Please note, this voyage is about to enter its final stage."

A broadcast suddenly crackled to life.

The drawling female voice was as slow as ever.

"Five minutes until the end of the polar night. Twenty minutes until arrival at the final destination, White Hole Island."

The monster seemed to understand, its whole bulk gradually withdrawing from the window, then slowly retreating into the shadows of the corridor.

Just as it completely disappeared, the lights in the entire corridor suddenly brightened.

"Zzt—"

The access control system at the cell doors emitted a sound.

Several guards, clad in full hazmat suits and wearing gas masks, entered the corridor in an orderly manner.

Their gazes swept around, taking in the puddle of foul-smelling liquid seeping from the corner cell door. They merely exchanged glances, as if already accustomed to such sights.

One of them waved a hand, signaling the others to clean up first.

He himself proceeded to open the cell doors one by one.

"No dawdling. Move."

Everyone filed out of their cells one after another, their footsteps chaotic, their expressions numb.

Scarface still had smears of vomit at the corner of his mouth, his entire being looking utterly hollowed out. He was barely able to walk, supported by a guard on each side.

The young girl, however, flashed Shi Wu a quick, slight wink.

"Hurry up." Another command.

The crowd was herded up an iron ladder, ascending, passing through several hatches, and finally stepping onto an open deck platform.

"Aah..."

As soon as they took their first breath of the outside air, many let out an involuntary gasp.

Though the sea wind carried a heavy salt tang and corrosive mist, it was already much better than the stifling cabin.

Shi Wu looked at the sky outside.

The mist was thick, obscuring the sun. In the distance, the sky faintly revealed a sliver of grayish-white light, as if dawn had not yet truly arrived.

After herding everyone onto the deck, the guards left. The remaining players spontaneously gathered around Shi Wu.

Shi Wu glanced around. Not counting the middle-aged man who'd died last night, there were now six people left: one woman and five men.

"That scared me to death, really scared me to death." The young girl broke the silence, hugging her arms and constantly rubbing her skin. "You know what? When I first woke up last night, I almost thought I was losing my mind. That thing's voice was exactly like mine..."

"Bro, I was really terrified at that time." She still sounded shaky. "I was really afraid you'd actually believe it then."

Shi Wu heaved a light sigh. "Almost. Thankfully, you reminded me later, otherwise I might have really responded."

The young girl straightened up a bit, her expression instantly relaxing, looking completely different from her earlier listless self. "Really? Did I really help you?"

Shi Wu turned his head, looking at the girl's eyes that had lit up again, the corner of his mouth quirking up slightly. "Yeah, thanks to you."

Sometimes even a space pirate like him found these trials hard to endure, let alone ordinary people. And sometimes, just a gentle word could help someone else get through the toughest part.

Beside them, Scarface took a long moment to recover, letting out a "Guh..." as if wanting to vomit but unable to. "You had it easy. I was the one who truly questioned life on the spot."

He cursed furiously, his face alternating between green and white. "I really almost vomited up my bile. When I heard it using that uncle's voice to coo 'brother, brother, brother, brother, brother' at me, I nearly dropped dead on the spot, you know?"

Ha! The other players nearby couldn't help but laugh.

"Scarface bro, tough luck."

The heavy atmosphere lifted noticeably, and the time to disembark onto the island was fast approaching.

"Look, is that the island?" someone exclaimed in surprise.

Shi Wu looked into the distance. The sea was no longer calm; mist surged from all sides like a tide. The island ahead was shrouded in heavy black and gray.

Most striking was the structure at the island's center.

It was tall and steep, as if rejecting sunlight. Black-gray spires rose in clusters, its windows all elongated and hollow, like vertical, gaping mouths. The entire building was surrounded by layers of iron mesh and fences. The castle-like facade was densely covered in rust and bloodstains.

Sinister, silent, oppressive, regimented.

This was Shi Wu's first impression of White Hole Prison.