Chapter 2-2- Fog

Looking down at the fine metal grid covered with rust under his feet, Li You sat down and analyzed his current situation while recovering his strength.

First of all, he couldn't swim and didn't dare to go into the water. Secondly, he had the body of a little girl now. Even if he could go into the water, it would not be able to support him to swim to the other side. More importantly, there was no shore on the other side. If he wanted to swim over, he would have to start climbing. Even the top of the rock wall was curved inward... Overall, this place was simply a natural prison. It was impossible to get out by water.

I won’t be trapped here and die, right?

Li You was stunned for a while, feeling that the future was so bleak that he might as well jump in and start over.

Not long after that, a white bird flying by suddenly caught his attention.

This bird was large, about the size of a pelican, but more like a seagull. It plunged into the lake, and within moments, it had caught a fish in its mouth and emerged, looking quite agile.

Seeing its energetic appearance, Li You felt encouraged and inspired. He thought that since there were fish in the lake, could he find a way to catch them to solve his food problem?

But just when he thought he could try it, a larger shadow quietly emerged from underwater.

It was a fish, a gigantic one, at least five or six meters long. Calling it a water monster wouldn't be an exaggeration. It suddenly leaped out of the water, its purple-red body creating a violent splash.

Li You watched the scene in amazement, subconsciously believing it was a mantis stalking a cicada, while the oriole waited behind. But then something unexpected happened: the fish's head suddenly ripped apart, revealing a four-petal, chrysanthemum-shaped mouthpart. In the center was a three-tiered ring of sharp teeth, its turbine-like shape far more terrifying than a meat grinder. It chopped the white bird apart in one gulp, then flipped over and dove back into the water, as if it had never been there.

On the metal platform, Li You was stunned, and the enthusiasm he had just felt suddenly disappeared.

What the hell is this!

If I'm not mistaken, the fish's head is split open, right? That lamprey-like thing in the middle is its mouth, right?

Is this really a fish? Even if it is from another world, the appearance of this fish is too abnormal, right?

It's like growing up drinking nuclear waste water!

Wait a minute... Could it be that the tragic scene of dead bones scattered all over the underwater base is related to these horrific fish monsters in the lake?

The image of the fish monster's head splitting apart replayed in his mind, and Li You suddenly felt that this water platform was not so safe. He stood up and was about to move away from the edge of the platform when he suddenly noticed a line extending in the middle of the lake, splitting into two sides in the form of waves.

It's a fish!

That fish is coming!

What cut the surface of the lake was the fish monster's dorsal fin, but although it was called a dorsal fin, it actually revealed a fleshy crest-like wrinkle when you got closer.

It was moving at an extremely fast speed. Before Li You could react, it rushed out of the water and landed heavily on the platform, causing the water platform, which was as big as a football field, to tremble slightly.

“Fuck!!”

At this point, Li You finally got a clear look at it. It wasn't a purple-red fish, but rather a fish whose scales had mostly fallen off, revealing squirming flesh and tumors. Its pectoral fins had transformed into two short, hooked appendages. Its eyeballs were grayish-white and cloudy, hanging precariously from their sockets by a single, fleshy thread. Inside, countless tiny tentacles wriggled like swaying sea anemones.

If Li You hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that such a terrifying fish could exist in the world.

This is so weird, disgusting and bizarre!

But now was not the time to judge beauty or ugliness. He almost catapulted towards the side tunnel leading to the underwater facility, and turned around to close the door - fortunately, the door here was not broken, and there was still a simple mechanical structure that could be used to lock it.

After locking the door, Li You quickly rushed to the basement floor, and then heard a violent banging sound coming from above and behind. It was obvious that the fish monster that failed in the hunt was taking out its anger on the metal door.

He stood at the safety passage on the first floor, trembling and listening for a while, until the noise stopped and there was no sign of the door being kicked open. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that he had walked through the gates of hell.

At this moment, looking at the quiet, eerie and dark environment around him, he suddenly felt much more comfortable.

He definitely wouldn't go out again! There were no roads outside, and only a lake full of monsters. He didn't want to be attacked by a water monster one day. That would be too scary.

Of course, there might be monsters within the facility, but based on Li You's observations and speculation, this place had been destroyed for at least decades, and much of the paper had become so brittle that it crumbled to dust at the slightest touch. Even if there had been monsters in the past, they would have either starved to death or left. In any case, it was definitely safer than the water platform.

Moreover, the original owner had been able to stay in this facility before crossing over, which was another kind of proof of safety...

Well, the original owner might be extraordinary. But I haven't figured out exactly how.

Afterwards, Li You walked down the spiral staircase of the safety passage again. However, unlike when he went upstairs, he took a quick peek inside the other floors while going down. Although he didn't find much, he also didn't find any potential dangers.

A few minutes later, he walked back to the ninth floor underground.

However, the stairs did not end here.

With a little hope, he continued walking down and came to the door of the tenth floor underground.

After cautiously peeking around the entrance for a while, Li You was slightly startled by the scene that came into view: "Huh...?"

Like the floor above, there are also many fluorescent vines growing here, but the difference is that this floor is filled with white mist, making everything in the room look hazy.

Why is there fog?

He became alert, picked up an unknown hard fragment on the ground and threw it into the fog.

The next second, the crisp sound of collision with the metal floor echoed in the room. Li You pricked up his ears and listened carefully, but apart from the echo, there was no movement, everything was immersed in deathly silence.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned his gaze to the bottom of the stairwell. There was the way to the negative eleventh floor, but a closed metal door blocked his way, preventing him from exploring downwards.

At the same time, he also found a large number of dry bones scattered in the stairwell in front of the metal door. There were at least eight or nine complete human skulls, and there were some obvious claw marks on the wall.

This made Li You imagine a scene in his mind: monsters pouring in from the outside world, forcing the people in the base to flee deeper into the underwater facility. To save their lives, some people closed the safety passage, leaving everyone else outside...

What a terrible and sad thing, fortunately, it happened many years ago... He thought, then turned around silently, hesitated for a moment, and walked directly into the fog.

…

Unlike what I imagined, this layer of fog did not feel anything special after I walked into it. It was neither damp nor cold.

Li You walked slowly inside for a while, and suddenly felt a sense of sleepiness coming over him.

Is this... am I too tired... or... is it because of the fog...? This doubt emerged in his mind, and then he knelt down, leaning against the main stem of a thick fluorescent vine, and fell into a deep sleep.

(End of this chapter)