Chapter 126 Hands in the dark.

Chapter 126: Chapter 126 Hands in the dark.

Smoke and debris filled the entire area as fire began burning through parts of the supermarket. The smell of blood, burning corpses, and charred flesh made the air so unbearable that Luna wanted to gag immediately. She covered her nose.

"Okay, boys, this is the time we have to move our asses out."

Luna was the first to get up. She pulled out a flashlight from her space and switched it on. Everything she had been using lately was coming from her space. She didn’t even want to look at the expenses right now because she knew she would probably collapse if she saw how much she had spent. But after everything was over, she would calculate her main balance—her apocalypse coins, her actual money, everything she had earned from the stockpiling she had done. Then she would know exactly how much she had left. For now, survival came first.

"I can’t see a thing," Ethan commented.

Luna immediately remembered another feature of their uniforms. She put the flashlight away. "Tap the button on your breastplate and use the goggles provided. You’ll be fine."

The others looked at her, then did exactly what she said. The moment they tapped the button on their breastplates, their uniforms responded. A small mechanism shifted, and something translucent appeared over their eyes. Goggles. The lenses adjusted automatically, and their vision suddenly changed. Everything became greenish, but they could now see objects from an incredible distance. Even through the thick smoke, they could make out things that ordinary human eyes would never have been able to see.

Kai blinked. "Whoa." He waved a hand in front of his face. "I can actually see."

"Of course you can," Luna said. "I didn’t give you useless equipment."

Kai smiled. "You’re so thoughtful."

"Don’t push it."

Despite having recovered slightly thanks to Ethan’s healing abilities, none of them were in perfect condition. They still had small injuries. Their movements were slower. Some of them limped. But they continued toward their destination.

As they walked, the goggles revealed dozens of corpses scattered throughout the ruined supermarket. Some were civilians. Others appeared to be guards or awakened fighters. The explosion had killed almost everyone who hadn’t been protected by Luna’s equipment. They hadn’t even seen the person responsible for the attack. But no one could be certain that the danger was over. At least, thanks to Luna’s SSS-tier uniform, they had survived.

Kai looked around. "Gosh, it reeks of death and desperation." He grimaced, his eyes moving from one corpse to another as they searched for the exit. "We need to get out of here." He suddenly stopped. "Wait."

Luna looked at him. "What?"

Kai scratched his head. "I just remembered something."

"What?"

"We didn’t come here through a door." Everyone stopped. Kai pointed around them. "So how the hell are we supposed to know this is the road to the exit?"

Adrian gave him a tired look. "I could create another portal."

"You could?"

Adrian shook his head. "I said I could. I didn’t say I have enough strength left to do it."

Kai’s expression dropped. "Great."

Luna sighed. She pulled up her system panel. A glowing map appeared in front of them, with a navigational arrow pointing directly ahead. "Just follow this."

Kai stared at the glowing arrow. "That’s it?"

"Yes."

"What if it’s wrong?"

Luna turned toward him. "Then we’ll die."

Kai’s face changed.

Luna continued walking. "Unless you want one of the corpses lying here to wake up and drag you straight to hell, I’d suggest you keep moving."

That immediately worked. Kai rushed ahead. "Why didn’t you say that earlier?!"

Rowan shook his head. "Idiot."

"At least I’m a living idiot."

"You won’t be for long if you keep running ahead."

Kai stopped immediately and waited for them.

The others followed. Thanks to Luna’s navigation system, they eventually found what appeared to be the exit. A long, narrow passage stretched before them. It was dark. Very dark. The walls were lined with strange enclosures, and the tunnel seemed to descend deeper into the earth. The passage looked almost endless.

Everyone stopped. Nobody wanted to take the first step.

They looked at each other.

Ethan swallowed. "Are you all thinking what I’m thinking?" He stared into the tunnel. "What I’m seeing is unsettling as hell." He took a small step backward. "And I’m not sure I want to enter that place."

Rowan slowly rubbed his face. "Yeah." He stared at the passage. "If we enter there, we might as well die." He sighed. "Or rot inside. I don’t know." He looked toward the darkness. "We won’t know until we get there, right?"

Kai immediately shook his head. "You want to find out what’s inside before you admit that it might be dangerous?" He pointed toward the tunnel. "Absolutely not." Then he pointed at Rowan. "Go check it out."

Everyone turned toward him in shock.

Kai shrugged. "What?"

"You can’t be serious," Ethan said.

"Why?" Kai crossed his arms. "He’s always trying to be the hero." He glanced at Rowan. "And that’s what he always does. He disregards everyone else in an attempt to make Luna proud."

Rowan’s expression darkened.

Kai continued, "You can go on and play hero. But if you die, remember that no one is going to cry for you twice."

Rowan’s fist immediately tightened. He stepped toward Kai. "Say that again."

Kai raised his eyebrows. "What? Did I lie?"

Rowan was about to punch him, but Luna grabbed his arm. "Don’t."

Rowan looked at her.

Luna turned toward Kai. "And you." Kai blinked. "I know you love taunting people, but it’s enough for today." She released Rowan’s arm. "He’s just trying to be useful." Luna glared at Kai. "You can’t disregard his efforts by saying he’s only doing this to make me proud."

Kai facepalmed. He stared at the ceiling. Was Luna really this clueless? Or was she pretending? It was obvious Rowan wanted to prove himself. He didn’t understand how making Luna proud would help them survive, but that was Rowan’s problem.

"Well..." Kai sighed. "Who am I to come against what’s destined?" He raised both hands in surrender.

Rowan rolled his eyes. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Before Kai could answer, Adrian finally stepped between them. "We’re all going."

Everyone looked at him.

Adrian pointed toward the tunnel. "We’ll find out what’s inside together." His voice was calm. "We’re a team." He looked at each of them. "No one person should bear the consequences alone."

His words immediately calmed the tense atmosphere.

Luna sighed. Dealing with four men was a nightmare. Four grown men who could destroy an entire building but somehow couldn’t stop arguing with each other. God help her if all her children turned out to be boys. She was going to suffer for the rest of her life.

"Fine."

Rowan took the first step. The others followed.

The moment they entered the tunnel—darkness swallowed them. It was so sudden that all four of them stopped. For a moment, the goggles couldn’t see anything. Nothing. Not even the walls. They stood rooted to the spot.

"What the hell?" Ethan whispered.

Then, slowly, the goggles adjusted. Their vision returned. They looked at one another.

Kai swallowed. "Okay." He glanced around. "What the hell is this creepy shit?" He took a frightened step closer to the others. His eyes moved from one side to another. In an apocalypse, you couldn’t trust anything. A dark tunnel could hide anything—a monster, a trap, a mutated creature, or something far worse.

Luna was already working. She activated her system panel. "Scanning." The system began analyzing everything around them—the ground, the walls, the air, the temperature, the surrounding energy. She made sure it searched for every possible threat.

Nothing.

A message appeared.

[No threat detected.]

Luna frowned. There was nothing. But her instincts were screaming otherwise. She had survived long enough to understand that sometimes the most dangerous things were the ones your system couldn’t immediately detect.

"I can’t find anything big." She looked at the others. "Let’s move fast and get the fuck out of here."

They immediately hurried forward. Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel. One step. Then another. Then another. The deeper they went, the quieter it became. Too quiet.

Kai looked around. "I really don’t like this."

"Nobody asked," Rowan replied.

"You’re welcome."

"That doesn’t even make sense."

"Neither does this tunnel."

Adrian sighed. "Can you two shut up for five minutes?"

They continued walking.

Then—Slither.

Ethan stopped. His eyes widened. "Did you hear that?"

Everyone froze. The tension immediately returned.

Kai looked around. "Probably nothing."

Ethan shook his head. "No." He listened carefully. "There was something."

Rowan’s eyes narrowed.

Luna raised one hand. Everyone stopped moving. Silence.

Then—Slither. Something moved. Not in front of them. Not behind them. Inside the wall.

Ethan’s face paled. "Something is moving."

Kai looked at the wall. "Stop being paranoid."

Suddenly—something wrapped around Ethan’s ankle.

"What the fuck?!" Ethan screamed. He was violently yanked backward. "HELP!" His body slammed against the ground as whatever had grabbed him began dragging him deeper into the darkness.

"Ethan!"

Luna immediately turned. At the same moment, something wrapped around Rowan’s leg.

"Shit!" Rowan stumbled. His body was dragged several feet. "Get it off me!"

Luna rushed toward them. She activated her gloves. Her eyes widened. It wasn’t a rope. It wasn’t a snake. It wasn’t even some strange mutated creature. They were bones. Skeletal hands were emerging from beneath the ground and crawling through cracks in the walls. Dozens of them. They wrapped around their legs with terrifying speed.

One skeletal hand grabbed Ethan. Another grabbed Rowan. Then more began reaching for Kai and Adrian.