Mermaid Effect

A few hours later, the sound of mechanical broadcasts echoed inside the destroyer, and other scientists, including Simon, would assemble on the deck with the soldiers preparing for the experiment.Although it was late at night, the searchlights of the helicopter illuminated this small sea area like daylight. On the side of the destroyer, dozens of small boats were heading towards them, and the officers were following the list one by one. people in groups.

"A security check is about to take place. I will temporarily turn off the communicator... Rand, I wish you luck."

Rand and Munster hid in the cracks of the armory amidst the noise of the crowd, using shadows to conceal their existence.

After pressing his earlobe, Simon's instructions to lower his voice came from the built-in communicator.Then, after a soft sound, the voice inside was cut off abruptly.

"Good luck to you too."

Rand said softly to Simon, who could no longer hear, with a hint of melancholy in his tone.

When those people started to board the boat, Munster and Rand also dived into the bottom of the sea from a dead corner of the deck along the ship's wall.The sea is icy cold and as black as ink, and the sea level is turbulent because of the strong wind stirred up by the helicopter that is too low.

The mist turned into ice crystals the moment it splashed out of the sea, and was blown and stirred by the wind to form a cloud of pale white ice mist that hung over the sea.

Almost no one spoke. Floating in the icy air were the rustling of people's winter clothing rubbing against each other, the roar of helicopters, and the regular sound of waves.Under the searchlights, everyone seemed to be moving like expressionless machines, almost like a dialogueless episode of some absurd drama.

Rand and Munster took a last look at the direction of the crowd, then Rand put on a respirator for himself, hugged Munster tightly, and sank into the bottom of the sea in silence.They only left a small vortex on the sea surface, but that vortex was quickly annihilated in the waves one after another.

The huge and dense darkness entrenched on the surface of the water, they have a strong sense of oppression, Rand even had the illusion that they are some kind of heterogeneous and ancient monsters, trying to devour all life around the corner.His breathing quickened a little, Munster noticed his nervousness, turned his head and kissed his ear lightly.

don’t worry--

It lip-synced to Rand.

The blue light made its face look ghostly and uncertain, and with that inhuman beauty, it became more and more similar to the evil and ethereal magical creature in the legend.

Rand nodded towards it, indicating that he could adapt.

They slowly swam to the bottom of a small boat. With the sound of the motor behind the small boat, the small, extremely fragile-looking temporary sea vehicle drove towards the other side of the darkness, while the helicopter The light of the sun shrouded them all the time, and a fragile bluish-white light was scattered above the water.Not long after swimming, Rand felt a pinprick-like pain in his skin, and the low temperature of the sea water was eroding his fragile human body.Now he finally had a deep understanding of what Simon said, "It is not recommended that you stay in the water for too long".

Although the protein injected before would protect him from the physical trauma caused by the low temperature, the pain caused by the cold itself would not disappear.

After 10 minutes, they finally saw the true appearance of the -2 floating island laboratory.There is still a huge dark figure under the water surface, and the red warning lights dotted on certain parts are flashing regularly like the eyes of a devil.While seeing it, Rand suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of tension, perhaps because Vincent was involved, Rand felt a little nervous.This floating island gave him a terrible feeling. Just seeing it, Rand couldn't help feeling that something bad might happen.

"arrive"

Munster reached out and patted Rand. On the side of the floating island, a huge mechanical sound sounded, and the dark alloy metal door was lifted slowly and cumbersomely, causing a lot of water splashes.

The floodgates are open.

The speed of the small boats slowed down quickly, and they lined up in a line and slowly entered the interior of the sluice.

On the other side of the sluice, there are brilliant lights that must be found in artificial buildings, and the light almost divides the inside and outside of the sluice into two completely different worlds.Rand and Munster stuck themselves to the bottom of the boat at this time, and followed the boat into the interior of the floating island in a rather dangerous posture.If you look up from the bottom of the water, you can vaguely see the situation on the pier, which can be said to be almost empty. Rand originally thought that there would be a large number of people inside the base to meet Simon and others. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. There are not even guards on duty on the pier, and there are only flat-panel and mechanical voices without any emotion, guiding the group of silent outsiders how to assemble and how to enter the interior through the gateway according to the signs... …

What a strange feeling——

Rand hid in the shadows, frowning as he watched the scene in front of him, the feeling of uneasiness in his heart was constantly fermenting.

This group of people... No, this base has an aura that makes him very uncomfortable.

He could feel that something was very wrong, but he couldn't point it out specifically.

After everyone left the pier, Rand took off his heavy diving suit behind the filter nest, and then took out the dry clothes he had prepared in advance from the waterproof bag.

It was a plaid shirt, a light beige wool shirt and a white study coat. Of course, there were also woolen trousers and leather shoes of a dull color.

Rand put this set of clothes on himself, and his frail temperament made him look even more like a researcher than Simon.

"Crack-"

Rand took out the last thing from the waterproof bag, a breastplate, and buckled it on his chest.

The photo shows him with a deadpan face next to his "name", Christopher Robin.After seeing the name, Rand was taken aback for a moment, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Next, he needed to use the researcher identity that Simon had faked for him to get as close to the confinement chamber as possible.What they were thinking at the time was that for such a large but hastily rebuilt secret base, the composition of the insiders should be complicated.And Rand will be able to fish in troubled waters in such a situation, but the reality is that the entire secret base is as quiet as a cemetery. If it weren't for the small boats still shaking gently on the water surface of the artificial dock, Rand would almost think that those so-called The scientists who came to aid and the soldiers who were about to undergo experiments were hallucinations produced by themselves under pressure.

The blower was humming far above their heads. It was loud, as if the fan blades had not been cleaned for a long time and the surface was frozen.

The weirdness that Rand felt intuitively became more and more intense.

He ventured to poke his head out of the filter tank, and surveyed the entire pier with a scrutinizing gaze.

There are obvious mottled marks on the walls, some metal plates have been rusted due to salt brine, the lights have been flickering, and the air is very cold, which proves that the heating is not channeled here. The entire dock... Or, the feeling of the entire base is So dilapidated and gloomy, Rand didn't think this was what a military base should look like.

Something must have happened here!

He knocked on his communicator, trying to contact Simon, but there was only a harsh white noise on the other side, and he didn't turn on the communication as agreed——

Rand's heart beat faster.

"Rand?"

Munster watched Rand's expression nervously, and he raised his tail and asked.

Rand took one look at it, and immediately realized that the monster was waiting for his instructions, and once he made a decision, it would not hesitate to carry out its orders.

No, this is not the time to be nervous and panic.

Rand forced himself to calm down, and he needed more evidence for the vague idea that appeared in his mind.

……

With Munster's assistance, Rand tried to climb through the vent to a dressing room outside the pier.

According to the rules of the base, the first thing for external personnel to do after entering the base is to undergo inspection and body disinfection. After that, they disinfect and seal up the clothes brought in by the outside in a locker room, and then put on the uniform prepared for them by the base. Uniform—the same one Rand was wearing.And when Rand jumped out of the ventilation hole and entered the locker room, he found that there was no one there. Under the dim light, there was a messy storage room on the ground, scattered seats and a lot of broken glass.

There was stagnant water on the ground, exuding a strong stench.

Rand can now be sure that Simon and the others should not have entered this place-judging from the scenes he can see so far, this place has been abandoned for a while.The air is very humid, and the ground exudes a strong sour smell from fermented garbage.Munster poked his head out from the ventilation opening, then hooked his tail around the edge of the ventilation opening and leaned down slowly, hugged Rand's waist with his hands and lifted him up.

"I'll hug you from the ceiling."

It looked at the sewage on the ground in disgust, and said.

Rand shook his head at it.

"No, we still go through the ventilation pipe."

He said.

A little further ahead is a small chapel, where, as a rule, a short assembly is held for researchers who change clothes after disinfection.As Rand imagined, the situation here is also very bad.

The metal wall was damaged, and the heating pipe hidden behind the wall was leaking water. Now Rand knew the source of the stagnant water.

If Rand guessed correctly, the rooms along this vent would have been flooded with stagnant water.

"That's not right."

Rand spoke to Munster—as if speaking to himself.

He took out the dagger that Simon had given him from the inside of his clothes, bowed his body, and slowly stepped on the stagnant water on the ground to the door of the chapel.

After opening the door, the outer corridor was a terrifying darkness.

There were no guards, no lights, it was as silent as in a different dimension... Rand licked his lips and walked out.

"—You should try to avoid this corridor, which is connected to the room where the inspection terminal is placed. The base personnel responsible for verifying identity information are likely to enter and exit here. If you are seen by them, they will give you this The 'totally unfamiliar' face creates wariness..."

Rand still remembered the warning Simon had given him earlier.

"There's no sound of human activity here...heartbeat, breathing, footsteps, nothing."

Munster followed closely beside Rand, and it whispered to Rand.

"In theory, Simon and the others should be here now."

Rand replied.

Rand took a step forward, but at this moment, the tip of his shoe kicked something small made of metal.

The thing flew out and struck the ground many times, leaving behind a clear metallic sound.

"Ding-ding-ding-"

The sound that should be insignificant on normal occasions was frighteningly loud at this moment, and the echo echoed for a long time in the deep corridor like a monster's throat.

Rand's expression changed, he lowered his head slowly, and touched his feet a little.Soon, he picked up one of the numerous metal pipes from the sticky ground and put it in the palm of his hand.

Smell it in the nose, you can clearly smell the gunpowder remaining in the metal tube.

This is an empty warhead—and at Rand's feet, there are a large number of warheads scattered all over.

"God...what the hell happened here..."

In the darkness, he couldn't help murmuring.

And in the dark place he couldn't see, there was a soft humming sound——

Hundreds of bright red shimmers suddenly lit up in the darkness.