Chapter 1889 - 1888: Denos’s Home

The tightly closed engineering elevator descended rapidly, like a passage falling into an abyss, accompanied by some urgent mechanical friction sounds, continuously running.

The elevator only had floors 1 and -1, but the -1 floor was fifty meters underground.

Boom——

Accompanied by a fierce yank and a noticeable feeling of being overweight, the elevator stopped, and the ’-1’ floor indicator lit up.

Click——

The elevator opened, dim lights illuminating the scene outside the elevator.

The dark security uniform appeared in Geslo’s field of view as the elevator doors opened.

The bewildered security personnel stood outside the elevator door, looking up at Geslo with a hint of confusion; he did not recognize Geslo.

"Hello." Geslo smiled and nodded at him, then raised his hand and directly approached, a slender anesthetic needle ejecting from his wrist, piercing the security personnel’s body before he could speak.

Feeling the security personnel’s entire body collapse and lie against him, Geslo breathed a sigh of relief, "Almost got exposed."

He raised his head and looked around; several security personnel were standing on either side of the elevator door, staring dumbfounded at him—and at the security personnel who was already unconscious and lying against him.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

"Well," Geslo coughed, "it seems your companion has fainted."

The surrounding security personnel exchanged glances and then, without hesitation, pulled out pistols from their waists and aimed them at Geslo.

"You really don’t care about your companion’s life, huh," Geslo immediately raised his hand, pushing the security personnel lying on him to the left.

The person pulling the gun on the left was slightly stunned, dodging away, then Geslo jumped to the left, hiding behind a metal table.

Bam bam bam——

Fierce gunshots erupted behind him, hitting the metal table and scattering sparks.

On top of the table were some paper documents, some hit by bullets, scattering paper flowers.

Geslo raised his head to glance at the enemy outside the table; in the moment the paper flowers flew, he pulled a pistol from his pocket and fired a few shots outside.

Accompanied by one or two muffled sounds, the outside security personnel were hit in the hands and legs, causing some blood flowers to splatter, and the gunfire suddenly quieted down.

Geslo glanced at the documents on the table, quickly grabbed a relatively intact ’map handbook,’ and looked around.

Dim lights illuminated the underground structures, narrow alleyways, dense earthen walls, and houses built from earthen walls filled his gaze.

This place seemed to be some kind of square area, cleared to form an open space, acting as a transfer station connecting the surface and underground.

And in the corner of the square, a machine stood with a slight humming sound.

The machine resembled an air conditioner, with several fan blades oscillating and blowing some kind of gas.

He immediately raised his gun and fired several shots at the machine below.

"Protect the oxygen machine," a cry of alarm emerged from the crowd, "Without oxygen, we’ll all die here."

Thus, several security personnel immediately ran towards the oxygen machine.

Geslo took the opportunity to grab some scattered documents on the table, tossing them into the air, then leaped backward, escaping into a narrow alley squeezed between two earthen walls.

He leaned against the edge of the earthen wall, quickly walking along the alley into the depths of the structures, eyes scanning the stone low walls built below the earthen walls, "This is truly an ancient city."

He raised his head and looked around.

At the top of these structures were obvious rock formations, about ten meters above the ground, with some taller earthen walls and buildings completely penetrating these rocks, covered by them.

Below, some shorter structures retained their structure, looking like a city built within a rocky cave.

There weren’t many security personnel around; it was evident these developers didn’t have enough manpower, not hiring many people.

"How’s this city preserved so well," Geslo picked up the map handbook in his hand, eyes scanning the surroundings, "I thought they excavated a city from underground; I didn’t expect there to be a city directly buried here."

He glanced downward, looking at the contents of the map handbook.

Inside was a rough map of the explored areas of the underground palace, with many dead-end roads marked as rock layers.

He lowered his gaze, examining some annotations on the map.

"Seems there’s only a small city," he quickly said under his breath, "These tomb-raider developers think that what’s buried might be more than this, but only this area was pushed upward due to geological movement, which allowed them to detect it,"

He flipped through photos in the handbook, looking at those fragmented rock layers, "I’m sure there’s a larger city deeper underground, and they’re trying to transport equipment down below to explore deeper underground cities."

Geslo raised his head, looking at the surrounding earthen walls, "These guys are really bold, a city fully buried underground, didn’t they think about why it’s buried, this kind of place must harbor unknown horrors."

"Perhaps the lure of profit is so dazzling that they can’t see the darkness beneath it." He Ao’s voice echoed in his ear.

"Indeed," Geslo nodded with deep understanding, "The old gentleman is truly knowledgeable and insightful."

"Alright, stop flattering me," He Ao rasped, "Look at the map in your hand, go check the area marked with the coffin icon."

"Alright." Geslo wasn’t embarrassed, nodded, opened the map, first finding the coffin icon, then confirming the plaza he had just descended to, and walked straight ahead.

The further he walked, the less the dim lights became, until the surrounding ’paths’ turned completely dark.

Crisp footsteps echoed from behind, security personnel holding flashlights illuminated the darkness, vigilantly observing the surroundings.

——

Vissen surface

A slight chill wind blew through the torn plastic sheets sealing the window, entering the narrow apartment room.

An elderly woman, pale-colored, her skin wrinkled, sat at the foot of the bed, sorting through some mechanical parts, separating them into different plastic buckets.

A somewhat thin man sat on the bed, covered with a thin blanket, taking out each part, cleaning the dust off, and handing it to the woman beside him.

Bam——

The old door was directly pushed open, making a creaking sound, and a young tall silhouette appeared behind the door.

Several similarly strong silhouettes stood behind him, looking into the room.

"Mom!" Anke rushed over to the thin elderly woman at the bedside.

The elderly woman raised her head, her somewhat disheveled white hair slid along her pale shirt, looking at the tall silhouette in front of her.

After a brief pause, her cloudy gaze finally locked onto Anke, and she said with a slight tremble, "Anke?"

"Anke?!" The emaciated man lying on the bed also lifted his head, looking at Anke with some surprise, "How did you come back?"

"Big brother, you’ve lost so much weight?" Anke immediately lifted his head, glancing around, "Where’s sister-in-law?"

"Gone," the thin man shook his head, "Her brother came and forcibly took her away."

"She just abandoned you like that?" Anke stood up instantly, "She just left you here to die?"

"Don’t," the thin man’s body leaned forward, accompanied by the creaking sound of the iron bed, he reached out and grabbed Anke’s wrist, "She didn’t abandon us,"

The man pointed to the plastic bucket beside the bed, "She brought this back from the factory, one cent each, she’ll come back in the evening to sort them. Without this work, we would have died long ago."

"And yet she still..." Anke was momentarily at a loss for words.

"She follows her brother and father, at least having food to eat," the thin man looked up at Anke, smiling, "With us, she’d really just be waiting for death, she couldn’t support the two of us sick people."

Anke was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"How about you?" the thin man looked at Anke’s strong body and lightly knocked on Anke’s thigh, "Looks like you’re doing well in the army? Is the war over? We’ve heard nothing from you for so long, we thought you died on the battlefield."

He paused, "It’s good to still be alive, it’s good to still be alive."

"Yeah," Anke opened his mouth, hesitating a bit, "My situation is a bit complicated..."

At this time, a tall and thin man behind him suddenly spoke, "Anke, what’s your brother’s condition?"

"His leg was broken." Anke glanced at the covered thin blanket, pausing.

From the moment he entered, he could smell a faint, decaying odor.

"Can I take a look?" the tall and thin man rasped, "I’m a nurse, Mr. Eric specifically asked me to come."

Hearing this, Anke perked up immediately, looking at the tall, thin man, he quickly stepped aside, "Thank you, thank you."

"It’s alright," the tall and thin man stepped forward and lifted the thin blanket from the bed.

Instantly, a strong stench filled the entire room.

Two legs, in various stages of decay, were exposed to everyone’s view.

Even the special forces members standing at the back slightly twitched their noses, subconsciously turning their heads a bit.

The thin man lying on the bed said somewhat awkwardly, "It’s been too long."

The tall and thin nurse didn’t speak, just looked at the two legs, "Haven’t you treated the wounds?"

"At first, the building company’s leader arranged for someone to treat me," the thin man said in a low voice, "But after I got home, they never came again. Initially, there was some money to hire a doctor, but then savings ran out, and credit cards stopped working, so there was nothing more that could be done."

"Your brother’s condition is quite serious," the tall and thin man looked at Anke, "It needs to be treated immediately; if delayed, both legs might not be saved, and the infection is spreading through his body. Do you know where to find medicine? Preferably an underground doctor."

"There’s an underground doctor nearby," Anke immediately said, "I’ll go get him."

At this time, the white-haired old woman suddenly grabbed Anke’s hand, seemingly just snapping out of her daze, looking up with her cloudy eyes at Anke, "Anke, you’re back?"

"I’m back, Mom, I’m back." Anke squatted down, looking at the old woman, gently embracing her.

"It’s good that you’re back, it’s good that you’re back," the old woman held Anke’s broad body, "Their sons are all dead, all dead, I shouldn’t have let you be a soldier."

Hearing this, Anke was momentarily speechless, only able to gently hold his mother.

Then he released her, "Mom, big brother’s situation is very serious, I have to go get medicine. It’s been a while since you’ve had any medicine, hasn’t it?"

"Medicine?!" the old woman paused slightly, looking up at Anke, grasping his hand tightly again, "Child, where did you get the money? You can’t do anything foolish!"

"I have money," Anke gently broke free from his mother’s grip, looking at her frail face, pausing, "I got a stroke of luck, made a lot of money."

"What did you do, child," the old woman gazed at Anke in a daze, "We can’t afford that kind of money!"

"It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s a bit complicated to explain," Anke smiled, "Anyway, I have money now."

He looked up, turned to the special forces members behind him, "Please take care of my big brother and mother, I’m going to get some medicine."

"We’ll go with you," two of the special forces members at the back quickly said, "We need to ensure your safety."

"We’ll stay here," the tall, thin nurse said gently, "I brought some medication, I can start with some simple disinfection and treatment."

Anke paused slightly and nodded, "Alright."

Then he turned and rushed outside, with the two special forces members following him.

The wrinkled old woman stared blankly as the figure in front of her disappeared, reaching out into the void, grasping nothing, "Child, you can’t do anything foolish, child."

"Auntie, Anke is doing well now, everything is fine," the tall, thin nurse gently grasped the old woman’s hand, "You don’t need to worry."

"Really?" the old woman stared blankly ahead, slowly lowering her hand, "Really?"

The tall, thin nurse nodded gently.

——

Underground

"Up ahead should be where the coffin was uncovered," Geslo looked at the map in his hand, "This city is so strange, we’ve been walking for so long and haven’t seen a single skeleton, not even animal remains, it’s like a model city,"

He looked at the mud walls on both sides, "Could it be that the people living in this city got word before it was buried and fled? According to the map, the marked location should be right here,"

His gaze went forward, finally landing on a small courtyard gate illuminated by lights, "Is it here?"

The bright lights illuminated the surrounding roads, clearly indicating the developer’s emphasis on this place, with a lot of lighting set up here.

This small courtyard was clearly larger than other houses, obviously, the person living here had a prominent status in the city.

"Is there really no one guarding this gate?" Geslo compared it to the map, slowly moving forward, reaching the small courtyard gate

Just as he was about to push the door open, He Ao’s voice suddenly came to his ear, "Retreat."

Geslo didn’t understand why, but still immediately retreated, moving away from the small door.

And where he had just been standing, the stone door tile wriggled slightly, a white skeletal arm reached out from below, grasping at the air.

After several futile attempts to grasp something, the arm slowly retracted below the stone slab.