Bob gave an affirmative answer.
"Continue forward, and if you encounter any anomalies, please stop."
Esther instructed, as Bob’s first-person view continued to move forward on the screen.
The voice of the child in the earpiece remained indistinct, as if it hadn’t gotten any closer due to Bob’s advancement, while the surrounding darkness seemed to grow even thicker.
Bob’s breathing became rapid.
This sound was clearly transmitted into Esther’s ears.
"Commander, I feel something’s not right."
Bob spoke hurriedly, but before he could finish, the voice abruptly cut off.
"What’s the situation?"
Esther asked repeatedly, but there was no response.
On the screen, Bob still appeared to be standing from the first-person angle, without any change in height or any sideward shift; Bob should still have been standing.
Only, this kind of standing, like a statue, motionless.
And just as Esther continued to call out to Bob, a face suddenly pressed against the camera carried by Bob, filling the entire screen with its image.
It was a face similar to that of a human, but ’it’ had no mouth, no nostrils, and no pupils, just a face with blank eyes, staring straight out of the screen at Esther.
Esther’s heart tightened.
Her breathing slowed a notch.
The members of the mobile unit around her subconsciously raised their guns.
But the next moment, that face disappeared. Discover more content at empire
Gone along with it was the camera.
The screen went pitch black.
Esther’s brow furrowed tightly as she stared at the dark screen. After a second’s pause, she said, "D-1667, remove from the roster."
"Commander! Commander!"
"I’ve made a discovery!"
Just as D-1667’s name was being erased from the roster, Hosea, now D-1668, suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention to another screen.
There, on what had been a solid wall, an opening leading down a corridor appeared.
"D-1668, report your situation."
"There’s another hidden door here, this must be what we’ve been looking for, and the staircase before must have been a trap."
Hosea reported truthfully on how he had discovered the hidden door.
At the same time, he expressed pity for Bob, hoping Bob was safe—unaware of Bob’s fate due to the different channels.
Of course, even if he had known, Hosea wouldn’t have cared.
He would have just been grateful for his own survival, and for regaining his freedom.
"Very well, D-1668, please explore the corridor in front of you."
Esther issued a new command.
Hosea responded, even giving a mock salute.
He was in a great mood.
Because he knew that in this race with Bob, he was the one who had won, again.
Luck and experience were on his side.
Just like now, experience told him that since this was the real object of their search, the place should be very safe.
However, Hosea maintained the necessary vigilance.
He moved downwards slowly.
After about 20 meters in, suddenly, from within one of the walls, came the sound of gears turning.
On the two smooth, pitch-black walls, a row of tubes as thick as two fingers appeared, from which a liquid with a distinct smell began to spurt out.
Hosea instantly recognized the liquid and agilely backed up several steps to avoid the spray, but the discharge of hydrochloric acid didn’t stop.
It seemed it was not a trap, but... extraction?
Hosea tentatively speculated.
"Commander, there’s a row of tubes here, which seem to be extracting hydrochloric acid. I haven’t detected the end of the corridor; I must be at a midpoint. What’s inside, I can’t ascertain for now."
Hosea reported in detail.
While he was reporting, the amount of hydrochloric acid being withdrawn from an unknown source increased.
Even Hosea, wearing a protective suit, had to retreat to the entrance.
He didn’t move far away, because, as he reached the entrance, the accumulated hydrochloric acid, much like a pond being filled, simply vanished.
"There must be a drainage mechanism in the floor that I’m unaware of!"
Then, he prepared to re-enter the corridor.
But just then, from a spot untouched by the beam of his powerful headlamp, a low growl came—
Hosea didn’t have time to react, and his body was sent flying.
A tremendous force crushed Hosea’s body.
It also destroyed all the equipment. Watching the darkened screen, Esther called out without hesitation, "On guard!"
Although she hadn’t seen anything, Hosea’s fate was enough to inform her that something had ’escaped’ from the corridor!
And her instinct told her that it was something terrifying!
Because she felt a sense of danger like never before.
Instinctively, Esther gripped her gun tightly.
It wasn’t just Esther feeling this way.
The members of the mobile unit felt the same.
Following Esther’s command, they immediately spread out, each nervously watching the dark corridor. One of the members, following the team leader’s order, threw a flare down the pitch-dark corridor.