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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 191: Signal Flare
“Ugh… cough cough…”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m… I’m okay…”
Jiang He lay sprawled on the ground, drenched and feeling dizzy, his stomach churning violently. There was nothing left to vomit; he had dry heaved for a long time, and his insides felt like they were tied in knots. Luci was in slightly better shape; perhaps due to her dulled senses, she quickly got up and pulled him onto a pile of corpses. The noise from the bodies being expelled from the pipe was considerable, and there were still many Zombies in the area, leaving them no time to linger.
The swift current wasn’t fatal, but the heavy corpses flying through the air were a different story. Fortunately, the two managed to change direction in time, leaning forward as they fell to dissipate some of the impact. If they had been hit head-on by a solid corpse, Jiang He figured his neck would have snapped.
“The water has stopped.” Luci stood barefoot against the pipe wall, feeling the current weaken. The initial rush of water had turned into a silent trickle that wound its way past her feet, merging with the viscous substance at the pipe's opening.
“Good, let me catch my breath.” Jiang He struggled to prop himself up, his vision fading in and out. Although the rotting bodies in the pool had cushioned his fall and prevented him from crashing into the concrete wall, the force was still more than most could withstand. As he regained his composure, he felt a flutter of anxiety and grew increasingly curious about what lay at the end of the pipe.
“Are you alright?” Jiang He tilted his head to look at Luci. Her long hair was soaked and clung to her cheeks and neck; her complexion was pale, and her lips looked frighteningly white.
“I don’t feel anything,” Luci shrugged helplessly. “It’s my first time being thrown into a sewer.”
“…”
After resting for a while, once Jiang He had regained enough strength, they swam across the pool of corpses again, climbing back up where they had fallen. The flashlight had fallen into the pool and was beyond repair; it was an old household model that couldn’t withstand such conditions. Not only that, but the fireworks in Jiang He ’s backpack were completely ruined as well. He wasn’t sure if his firearm had been affected; water dripped steadily from its muzzle.
Luci told him that it didn’t matter whether they had a flashlight or not. Although many of her senses were dulled, she still retained black-and-white vision. While she couldn’t see clearly, navigating in darkness was still manageable. Jiang He couldn’t comprehend what she meant by black-and-white vision but decided not to press further when he saw her confidence. He followed Luci, who seemed half-human and half-ghost, as they climbed up.
The wind howled through the pipe, growing colder as they ventured deeper. Luci felt nothing; however, Jiang He shivered uncontrollably, his teeth chattering audibly during moments when the wind died down.
After about ten minutes of climbing, Jiang He could no longer hold on and urgently tugged at Luci’s ankle to signal her to take a break. Climbing through a pipe wasn’t like hiking; their bodies had to coordinate every movement as they truly “climbed,” limbs pressed against the walls while sometimes using their bellies for extra friction. Cold and exhausted, it didn’t take long before their strength was completely depleted.
Luci carefully stepped over some grime in the middle of the pipe and squinted into the darkness ahead before shaking her head in frustration.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang He felt a jolt of anxiety; he feared there might be no way forward.
“I can’t see very far,” Luci said as she squeezed droplets of water from her hair. “I remember our visibility being about three to five meters before; it’s still the same now.”
"That's really strange," Jiang He panted, asking, "Do you have any other normal senses besides your eyes?"
"I don't know; it's hard to describe this feeling," Luci tilted her head in thought and gave a vague example. "It's like driving a bumper car. You can steer the wheel, but you can't control the direction. It feels... it feels like it's not your body."
"Is it like being under anesthesia?" The only similar experience Jiang He had was from getting a tooth extraction and circumcision; under anesthesia, he indeed felt like something was missing from his body.
"Something like that," Luci replied casually, having never been under anesthesia herself. They were completely talking past each other.
After a few minutes of idle chatter, the two resumed their climb. This time, Jiang He gritted his teeth and pushed through without taking a break. The higher they climbed, the more he worried about encountering a toilet again. The pipe behind them was no longer visible, and it was pitch black around them; they could only follow the sounds made by Luci. The sensation of being blind with eyes wide open was unbearable, and Jiang He couldn't help but wonder if all of this was just his imagination. Was Luci's ghost leading him onward?
After nearly twenty minutes, the long tunnel finally came to an end. Jiang He suddenly felt the strong wind in front of him vanish. Looking ahead, he realized Luci had disappeared.
"Luci?!" Jiang He's scalp tingled with panic as he thought to himself that this was serious—had he really encountered a ghost? With that thought racing through his mind, he hurriedly scrambled upward using both hands and feet. But just a few steps in, his hand suddenly found nothing beneath it, and he tumbled forward, crashing into some metallic object with a loud clang.
"I'm here," came Luci's voice from the darkness, followed by some rustling sounds as light suddenly flooded in.
Jiang He quickly raised his hand to shield his eyes and peeked through his fingers. Before him lay an expansive space—it was an empty factory! Unable to hide his shock, Jiang He scrambled up from where he had fallen onto the iron frame. Before he could take in his surroundings, someone grabbed his arm and yanked him behind a curtain.
"Shh!" Luci whispered urgently, stopping Jiang He from resisting. "I didn't turn on the lights; someone is coming."
Jiang He immediately halted his movements and turned to look at their position. Behind them stood a massive steel structure towering over ten meters high. The base was surrounded by a ring of cold, smooth metal plates forming a cylindrical shape. The upper structure consisted of numerous metal components of various shapes, with a dark conical machine standing inside that clearly exhibited technological features. The curtain blocking their view was actually an oil cloth covering this metallic contraption.
"No wonder it's called Launch Base; what a sight," Jiang He thought to himself while holding his breath to listen for any sounds outside. Luci touched the two-meter-high metal plate and whispered, "We need to climb up; we’ll be discovered here."
"How do we climb?" The surface of the metal plate was smooth with tightly sealed joints—there was nowhere to step.
"You'll step on me to get up," Luci replied quietly but suddenly changed her expression, raising her finger to signal silence while pointing outside the oil cloth.
Footsteps grew closer, the sound of shoes clicking against the smooth floor becoming clearer along with occasional voices.
"Did you hear wrong? There's no one here," said Man A.
"Something's definitely going on; I heard it," Man B replied.
Jiang He and the other man fell silent, pressing their bodies against the metal sheet to make the oilcloth appear as natural as possible from the outside. The teal oilcloth, though it carried a mixed scent of dust and machine oil, was intact, with no gaps to peek through. The footsteps of the two men lingered just outside the oilcloth, and they could even hear their breathing.
"Must be the water valve; come on, we haven't been busy enough these past few days," Man A said with a yawn, clearly dissatisfied with his companion's suspicions.
"No," Man B's voice turned serious as he whispered, "Wasn't the shelf just knocked over?"
"Huh? I didn't notice; maybe it was accidentally bumped into," Man A said as he took a few steps and stopped in front of Jiang He.
Luci glanced at Jiang He, who was sweating profusely. The guy was only separated from Jiang He by a layer of oilcloth, and they could almost see the outline of his back pressing against it.
Jiang He suddenly calmed down, slowly drawing out his machete, intending to strike unexpectedly. Luci noticed his movement but did not stop him. Her hand drifted toward the gun at her waist, and Jiang He understood, shifting slightly in her direction. Luci reached out to extract the gun, glancing down to find her face falling; the safety was still on, and knowing Jiang He's usual habits, it likely wasn't even loaded.
The man outside exclaimed in surprise, seemingly having made a new discovery. With a click, he chambered a round, and the man in front of the oilcloth seemed to sense something was wrong and stepped away from it.
Jiang He looked down at his feet and suddenly realized that the other party might have discovered the water stains. Without hesitation, he swung his knife forward! At that same moment, Luci chambered a round and rolled out from under the oilcloth.
Their first collaboration went surprisingly well; as Jiang He swung his knife, he sensed something was off—the man had already moved away. The oilcloth was pierced by his blade but didn’t even graze the man's heel.
"Damn!" Jiang He thought to himself as gunfire erupted suddenly.
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