Chapter 33

The purple-red shadow of the mutant forest was left behind. Chen Mengzhou, carrying a heavy machine gun ammunition belt, flashed continuously among the twisted trees. Each space jump landed accurately dozens of meters away, and the speed was so fast that only faint ripples were left in the air.

Northwest direction. Coordinates S-114.

Project Pandora, Gate, Living Catalyst… These words coiled around her mind like venomous snakes, emitting an ominous aura. The Foundation had temporarily lowered its priority in hunting her, meaning this project was more important and urgent to them.

They must be stopped. Whatever is behind that "gate," whatever "Pandora" means, a plan that requires the sacrifice of a large number of lives must not be allowed to succeed.

Moreover, she had a hunch that all of this must have some profound connection with her identity as an "anchor", with Kronos, and with the cold mission of "correcting mistakes".

As they ran at full speed, the terrain gradually became low and muddy. A familiar, sickening smell of decay and a faint odor of sulfur filled the air. The soil beneath their feet gradually gave way to a dark gray, bubbling swamp. Twisted, strange plants began to appear, emitting a faint phosphorescent glow.

The edge of the Death Basin.

According to the coordinates, the S-114 area is located in the northwest corner of this vast radiation swamp, on a relatively dry plateau. There used to be a large old industrial park there.

The closer you get, the more turbulent the energy in the air becomes, and occasionally you can even see tiny, spontaneously generated and annihilated spatial cracks. The structure of space and time here is extremely unstable.

Chen Mengzhou slowed down his pace and raised his spatial perception to the extreme, like the most sophisticated radar, scanning every inch of land and energy field in front of him.

Soon, she "saw" it.

Approximately three kilometers ahead, the abandoned industrial park was enveloped by a powerful, artificial energy field! A semicircular, imperceptible energy barrier, like an inverted bowl, tightly enveloped the entire core area of ​​the industrial park! The barrier's energy frequency was extremely high and constantly changing, clearly a state-of-the-art defensive technology!

Within the barrier, the energy reaction was dense and orderly. A large number of personnel (at least hundreds, judging by their energy signatures, most with weak life signals, seemingly imprisoned), heavy equipment, and an indescribable, extremely violent core energy source that seemed to be constantly tearing and reassembling space!

That's where Pandora is!

Beyond the barrier, the patrol's energy signature was clearly discernible. They were well-equipped and heavily guarded. Not only were there the black-uniformed "Scavengers," but there were also armed individuals wearing various types of armor, with even more complex energy signatures—mercenaries! The Foundation had hired external forces to strengthen the perimeter security!

The defense is much stronger than expected.

Chen Mengzhou lay on the edge of a steaming muddy pool, his eyes penetrating the sparse and strange vegetation, coldly observing the death factory shrouded by an invisible barrier.

A brute force attack was impossible. The strength of the energy barrier was such that even with her current strength, it would be difficult to break through in a short period of time, and it would only alert the enemy.

Need to sneak in. Or... let the other party open the door on their own initiative.

She glanced at the patrols, especially the mercenaries. Their discipline was clearly inferior to that of the scavengers, and the energy fluctuations between them also revealed a certain laxity and complaints.

The opportunity is there.

She waited patiently, like the most experienced hunter.

As time passed, the sky in the swamp grew darker and darker, and the unsettling phosphorescence became more and more obvious.

Finally, a patrol team of four mercenaries came towards her, cursing and swearing. They seemed to be patrolling the edge of the area, far away from the main force.

"Damn, this place stinks! Can't we squat somewhere else?" "Be content, the 'fuel' in there is miserable..." "Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't you want to live? If those perverts from the Foundation hear you, they'll throw you in too!" "Tsk... the commission is high, but this job is not a human job... You have to listen to ghosts howling in there every day..."

They were talking as they passed by less than ten meters away from Chen Mengzhou's hiding place.

Now is the time!

A cold light flashed in Chen Mengzhou's eyes, and his figure disappeared in an instant!

The next second, she appeared like a ghost behind the last mercenary in the team! Her arms clamped around his neck like an iron clamp, and the spatial energy trembled slightly!

Snap!

With a slight crisp sound, the mercenary collapsed instantly, without a sound!

The three people in front were unaware and continued walking forward.

Chen Mengzhou gently put down the corpse and flashed again!

Puff! Puff!

There were two more extremely slight muffled sounds, and the bayonet accurately pierced the back of the heads of the other two mercenaries!

It was not until this moment that the last mercenary heard the sound of someone falling behind him and turned around in horror!

What greeted him were a pair of cold eyes devoid of any emotion, and a cold pistol silencer pressed against his brow.

"Don't move, don't make any noise. Answer my question." Chen Mengzhou's voice was as low as ice.

The mercenary was so frightened that his soul was shattered, his penis was instantly soaked, and he nodded desperately.

"How do I get through the barrier?" "There's... a password... and a dynamic code... which changes every half hour... and... an ID card..." the mercenary replied tremblingly, almost crying. "What are the current passwords?" "The... the password is 'Pandora', and the dynamic code... is '7-Alpha-3-9-Kilo'..." "Where's the ID card?" "It's... in my left pocket..."

Chen Mengzhou quickly searched for his ID card and asked, "What's going on inside? What is the 'catalyst'? Where is the 'gate'?" "I... I don't know... We are only responsible for the periphery... Inside are people from the Foundation and the Scavengers... We can't enter the core area... I only know... They send people in every day... They are all survivors captured from all over the place... They have never been seen coming out since they went in... Inside... The energy fluctuations inside are very scary... There are often screams... It seems... It seems like some kind of ceremony is being held..."

Survivor! Living Catalyst! As expected!

Chen Mengzhou's eyes grew even colder: "Where is the command center? Where is the energy barrier generator?" "The command center is in the main office building of the former industrial park... There seem to be several barrier generators... The largest one... is in the basement of the office building..."

After asking for the required information, Shen Mengzhou did not hesitate at all.

puff!

With a slight sound, a bloody hole appeared between the eyebrows of the last mercenary, and he fell backwards.

The four bodies were quickly dragged into the nearby muddy pond and sunk, erasing all traces. Chen Mengzhou changed into a relatively well-fitting mercenary combat uniform and helmet, concealing his face. He temporarily hid his heavy machine gun and excess ammunition, carrying only his rifle, pistol, and bayonet.

She took the ID card and walked quickly towards the entrance of the energy barrier.

Soon, a checkpoint made of sandbags and barbed wire appeared before their eyes. The entrance was gleaming with the faint light of an energy barrier. Four scavenger soldiers and two mercenaries were guarding the door, watching outside vigilantly.

Chen Mengzhou lowered his helmet and walked over, imitating the mercenary's casual pace.

"Stop! Command!" a scavenger soldier shouted coldly.

"Pandora." Chen Mengzhou replied in a deep voice while handing over the ID card.

The soldier swiped his ID card on a device and looked at the dynamic password on the screen next to him: "Dynamic code?"

"7-Alpha-3-9-Kilo."

The instrument lights up green.

The soldier looked her over and seemed to find her a bit unfamiliar, but since her identity verification was correct, he didn't think much about it and waved his hand, "Go in. It's almost time for the guard change, don't run around."

"Understood." Chen Mengzhou responded in a low voice, took the ID card, and quickly walked through the water-like energy barrier.

An even more intense feeling of energy oppression and... an indescribable, desperate wailing feeling instantly enveloped her!

Inside the barrier, the air seemed to have solidified, filled with a humming sound of high-frequency energy vibrations and faint, inhuman screams coming from the distant core area.

She didn't dare to stay and quickly moved towards the main office building according to the information provided by the mercenary.

The further in she went, the tighter the security became, and the higher the proportion of scavenger soldiers. She had to avoid the main roads as much as possible and use the ruins and shadows to advance.

Finally, the five-story main office building came into view. Standing at the entrance were eight scavenger soldiers in full exoskeleton armor, and the reflection of a sniper's optical scope was visible on the roof.

There's no way to sneak in quietly.

Chen Mengzhou hid behind a broken wall, observing the structure of the office building. His spatial perception extended upwards.

Most of the rooms were occupied, and the energy response was dense. The entrance to the basement was inside the building and was also heavily guarded.

But... she noticed the building's ventilation system. Huge ventilation ducts extended from the side of the building, leading underground...

Maybe... I can get in from there?

She circled around the back of the office building and found the ventilation duct's exit. The grille had long since rusted. A subtle vibration of spatial energy caused the internal locking bolt to snap silently. She removed the grille and slipped in like a cat.

The duct was thick with dust and oil, narrow and dark. She could only crawl forward, relying on her senses to determine the direction, moving towards the source of the airflow in the basement.

The pipes were so complex that they reached dead ends several times. As time passed, she could feel the energy fluctuations from below becoming more and more intense, and the desperate wails became clearer and clearer!

Finally, she found a branch pipe leading downwards. From below, she could faintly hear the roar of machinery and human voices.

Carefully, she pushed the vent grille open a crack.

The scene before her made her pupils shrink suddenly and the blood in her body almost froze!

Below was a vast, renovated underground space! In the center, a massive, ring-shaped device constructed from some kind of dark metal and glowing crystals was in the air! Countless thick energy conduits connected the device, and at the other end of these conduits were connected to transparent life support pods arranged like a honeycomb!

In each life support pod, a naked, agonized figure was immersed, constantly dissolving, its pure life energy being drained away! Men, women, young and old alike! Their screams were absorbed by the soundproofing, leaving only their distorted faces and disappearing limbs visible!

Hundreds and hundreds of life support pods! A display case from hell!

The extracted life energy flowed along the conduit and into the central ring-shaped device. Inside the device, terrifying energy was converging, forming a dark blue vortex that spun continuously and tore through space! At the center of the vortex, a strange and bizarre space could be vaguely seen, a scene that was definitely not Earth-like!

"Gate"! They are using the life energy of living people to forcibly tear apart space and open a "gate"!

This is the Pandora Project! This is the Living Catalyst!

Beast!!!

Even though Chen Mengzhou had a strong will as strong as iron, he felt a strong sense of nausea and overwhelming anger when he saw this purgatory-like scene!

These lunatics! To open a broken door, they actually carried out such a large-scale and inhumane massacre!

They must be stopped! Now!

Her eyes quickly swept across the basement. Next to the ring-shaped device was a control console, where several Foundation technicians in white coats were frantically operating. A dozen or so Scavenger soldiers were also on guard.

The power disparity is huge. But we must act!

She took a deep breath and was about to jump down and destroy it regardless of the consequences.

Sudden!

The energy vortex in the center of the ring suddenly surged violently, emitting a piercing shriek like shattering glass!

"Oh no! Energy overload! Abnormal space-time structure feedback!" A technician shouted in horror!

"Stabilize it! Inject more catalyst!" roared another person who looked like a supervisor!

More life energy was forcibly injected! The dire situation within the life support chamber intensified! But instead of stabilizing, the vortex became even more violent! It even began to reversely drain the energy from the device itself!

Buzz——!!!

A distorted energy pulse of indescribable color suddenly erupted from the center of the vortex, sweeping across the entire basement like a shock wave!

Snap! Bang! Boom!

The console screens instantly shattered! Black smoke billowed from the equipment! Several nearby technicians were vaporized without even a scream!

The dozen or so scavenger soldiers were also hit by the pulse. The exoskeleton armor on their bodies made a wail of overload and they were blown away with screams, and their lives or deaths were unknown!

The entire basement was instantly plunged into chaos, darkness and explosion!

Only the vortex in the center was still raging wildly, as if it had opened something that shouldn't be opened!

Chance!

A godsend!

Without any hesitation, Chen Mengzhou slammed open the vent grille and jumped down!

The moment it landed, the rifle was already spewing out flames!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Several technicians who were lucky enough not to be affected by the pulse and were still in a daze were shot in the head instantly!

She was like the Grim Reaper, moving quickly amidst the explosions and flames, clearing out all the Foundation personnel who could still move!

At the same time, she rushed to the main control console (although most of it was broken), trying to find a way to shut down the device!

Right now!

From the raging vortex of energy, an immense claw, composed entirely of distorted light and shadow and chaotic matter, suddenly emerged! Immediately following, a soul-shaking roar filled with boundless greed and brutality erupted!

Whatever is on the other side of the gate... is coming!

Chen Mengzhou's scalp felt numb, and without thinking, he aimed his rifle at the energy conduits connecting to the life support cabin and fired wildly!

Puff! Puff!

The tubes burst one after another! The supply of life energy was suddenly cut off!

The ring device in the center groaned as if it was overwhelmed, and its energy level dropped sharply!

The vortex became unstable! The giant claw that had just stretched out roared angrily, as if it was being forcibly pulled back by a force!

"No!!!" The surviving Foundation director, his face covered in blood, frantically rushed towards a spare manual overload button! "Restart the energy! It must be turned on!"

Chen Mengzhou turned the gun around!

puff!

The bullet hit his arm accurately!

But he was still a step too late! His other hand had already slammed down hard on the red button!

Buzz!!!

All the remaining backup energy was activated and injected into the device with all efforts!

The vortex suddenly lit up again! The giant claw suddenly stretched out a large part!

At the same time, due to the drastic change in the direction of energy supply, the structure of the entire ring device made a fatal breaking sound!

"Let's destroy it together!!!" The director of the foundation laughed wildly!

Chen Mengzhou's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints! The device was about to explode! Along with this space, all the energy within, and even the monster trying to get through!

She turned abruptly and rushed towards an emergency evacuation exit that she had memorized when she came here! That was the one she had discovered when she scanned the structure just now!

Behind him was an extremely dazzling white light and the monster's unwilling roar!

Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A deafening explosion sounded! The terrifying shock wave and energy storm instantly engulfed everything!

Chen Mengzhou only had time to push open the door to the evacuation passage before he was violently knocked away by the destructive energy surging from behind him. His vision went black and he lost consciousness...

A huge explosion erupted from underground in the S-114 base, lifting the entire main office building into the sky, and a small mushroom cloud slowly rose.

The powerful energy fluctuations even temporarily disrupted the outer energy barrier.

Chaos and dead silence.

a long time.

In the charred ruins, a hand suddenly stretched out from under the rubble.

Chen Mengzhou struggled to climb out of the ruins. His body was charred, his clothes were tattered, blood was oozing from the corners of his mouth, and he was seriously injured.

She looked back and saw a huge deep pit behind her, and everything had turned to nothing.

The Pandora Project...seems to have been destroyed.

But...is it really over?

She staggered towards the depths of the swamp, having to leave here immediately.

And deep within the core of the explosion, in a dimension unnoticed by anyone...

An extremely tiny, twisted energy spore that did not belong to this world, along with the final aftermath of the explosion, dissipated silently, merged into the surrounding space cracks, and disappeared.

Once Pandora's box is opened, even if you force it shut, something will always slip out.

The disaster never really ends.