Volume 1, Chapter 35: The Laboratory

Rumble!

In mid-air, having confirmed that no living soul remained on the cruise ship, the Devourer-Demon spat out a beam of black light, tearing a massive hole in the center of the giant vessel. It then unfurled its red, fleshy wings and sped off into the distance.

Amidst the roaring sounds, vast quantities of crimson seawater surged through the hole and into the heart of the ship. The hull began to tilt slowly.

Once he confirmed the Devourer-Demon had departed, Chen Fan emerged from the safe. His eyes were wide with terror, and his body felt frozen.

What greeted his eyes was a long, red corridor.

The floor of the corridor was carpeted with red bones, submerged in thick, viscous plasma. This plasma flowed sluggishly, seeping into the cracks in the floorboards.

With a rhythmic crunching sound, he stepped over the skeletons as he moved forward. The bones were incredibly hard, and the shattered fragments acted like blades, piercing the soles of his shoes.

He reached the expansive public activity area. On the circular walkway, the white balconies, and beneath the stainless-steel tables, piles of gruesome skeletons were heaped—the entire area was filled with bone. Layer upon layer.

This was a purgatory of bones.

Putrid, bloody liquid gathered into bubbling rivers, flowing slowly. Under the lights, the red bubbles burst one after another. The stench was overwhelming; his chest heaved, his head swam, and he felt as though he could no longer breathe.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Chen Fan hurried toward the warehouse area at the lowest level.

He arrived at the warehouse zone. It was already half-submerged in crimson seawater; he had to be quick.

There were twenty-three large warehouses in this area, each packed with valuable supplies. There were two diesel warehouses, their interiors crammed with blue fuel drums. He gathered these with the utmost speed before rushing to the others. The two ammunition warehouses were similarly packed, and with a surge of adrenaline, Chen Fan cleared them out as fast as he could.

Three hundred and six barrels of diesel and 1,156 crates of ammunition—that was the tally Catherine had calculated.

Two minutes later, all the supplies from the twenty-three large warehouses were stuffed into Chen Fan’s system inventory.

He left the warehouse area and dashed toward the upper work zone. The area contained much precision machinery, such as industrial water purifiers, CNC machine tools, and forklifts. He took everything he saw, refusing nothing.

"How much more can it hold?" Chen Fan asked nervously.

"Keep loading," Catherine replied. "The system inventory isn't infinite, but it’s more than enough to hold all these items."

"Understood!" Chen Fan finally felt at ease and stowed several dozen more machines into his inventory.

The red seawater had risen, submerging his abdomen. The water was icy, and his stomach contracted reflexively. He let out a long breath and headed for the gun turrets. Regardless of the type of artillery, he took them all, storing them into his inventory.

Just before the crimson tide completely swallowed the work zone, he broke through the water and reached the living quarters. Guided by the golden-red light points, he darted through the various rooms, successfully retrieving twenty-nine large, blast-proof safes.

After collecting a large quantity of daily necessities, he headed for the deck.

Over five hundred assorted firearms lay scattered across the bone-strewn floor, stained red by blood. Under the flickering lights, the surfaces of the weapons shimmered with a cold, metallic sheen. Such a vast arsenal of guns, artillery, and ammunition was comparable to an entire army, yet in the face of the Devourer-Demon, it had been useless, shattering like glass.

He sighed.

The tilt of the deck was becoming increasingly severe. Without further hesitation, he stored all the firearms into his inventory and sprinted toward the lifeboat deck. He packed fifty fiberglass lifeboats into his inventory before setting his sights on an aluminum alloy lifeboat nearby.

With a splash, the aluminum boat hit the water. Chen Fan scrambled aboard, started the engine, and sped away into the distance amidst the roar of the motor.

After covering five hundred meters, he looked back. The luxury cruise ship had sunk three-quarters of the way; only the bow remained afloat on the crimson sea. Tens of thousands of gruesome bones drifted on the surface, rising and falling with the waves. The stench of rot hit him like a tide, and swarms of ancient creatures, alerted to the carnage, swarmed in. The surface of the sea churned violently, like boiling water.

Boom!

The bow disappeared beneath the waves. A vortex formed, dragging thousands of skeletons down into the depths. The last of the lights vanished. In the faint starlight, the bones continued to bob with the waves.

He let out a long sigh. The tragedy of the Titanic had repeated itself after all. And this time, it was far more horrific.

When he first arrived in these waters, he had seen vast quantities of bones and wondered where they came from. Now, he seemed to know the truth. Was this also the work of the Devourer-Demon? Perhaps.

If so, the high-ranking members of the Black Rock Organization were likely still alive, and they were the ones commanding the Devourer-Demon to do this. What exactly was the goal of the Black Rock Organization? Why did they send this terrifying behemoth to devour humans everywhere?

He sighed again, for he could not know.

After traveling several hundred kilometers, at the break of dawn the next day, he finally approached the shore. He was less than fifty meters from the beach when an unexpected turn of events occurred.

The red seawater in front of him suddenly churned. A prehistoric giant crocodile surfaced, blocking his path. Its body was massive, roughly thirteen meters in length and weighing nearly ten tons, exerting an immense sense of oppression on Chen Fan.

It was a Sarcosuchus, a creature that lived in the early Cretaceous period about 110 million years ago. Under the influence of the Law of Time, it had survived in this crimson ocean. Due to its limited intelligence, it had blocked his path, perhaps thinking the entire lifeboat was something it could eat. It was originally a freshwater creature, yet it now lived in the red seawater—was this also due to the Law of Time?

Chen Fan frowned slightly. He exhaled a breath of stale air, lamenting once more that the Law of Time was truly too grand.

"It seems to be suffering from something," Chen Fan observed, his eyes narrowing. After a moment of careful scrutiny, he found the cause. On the top of the Sarcosuchus’s head was a hole containing a red, deformed tumor. The tumor was wriggling violently, but the crocodile's skull was too hard for it to burrow inside.

Chen Fan understood: the Sarcosuchus wasn't blocking him to eat him, but to have him remove the red tumor. It was like a humpback whale stopping a human to have barnacles removed.

He glanced at the beast’s long, massive jaws and swallowed hard. Its bite force was a terrifying 80,000 Newtons; if it bit him, he would likely burst on the spot. Looking at its gargantuan head, he tentatively said, "I can help you, but don't bite me, okay?"

The Sarcosuchus possessed high intelligence and shook its grayish-brown, massive head.

Chen Fan reached out with his left hand and killed the lifeboat engine to prevent the noise from making it restless, then paddled slowly toward it. It was so massive that it felt strangely secure, yet Chen Fan still experienced a stress response—his pupils constricted and his heart hammered, terrified it might suddenly attack.

Why did he feel cold? Was it the sea breeze? No, it was because he was too nervous. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, and his back was already soaked. Chen Fan breathed deeply, suppressing his anxiety, and continued to approach.

He finally reached it, less than a meter away. The sound it naturally emitted was like the low hum of an eight-cylinder engine—only about 50 decibels, but it had a piercing quality that made his heart tremble. Amidst the humming, ripples spread across the red water as if raindrops were falling into it.

Chen Fan felt a flicker of worry. While the Sarcosuchus had some intelligence, it was still an animal with limited capacity; it might not distinguish between friend and foe. Swallowing again, he moved forward and parked the lifeboat next to its head. Its head was larger than the boat itself, covered in thick, grayish-brown scales that gave it an impenetrable, heavy appearance. Near the end of its upper jaw was a peculiar depression called a "bulla," and the fleshy hole was four fingers above it.

Regulating his breathing, Chen Fan drew a military knife, attempting to insert it into the hole to pierce the red tumor.

Catherine’s voice suddenly rang out: "Don't kill it. Take a bottle and put the tumor inside. I want to study it; perhaps we can find a way to kill the Devourer-Demon through it."

"Understood," Chen Fan nodded and sheathed the knife.

He glanced at the crocodile’s eye and his brow furrowed instantly. Inside the eye socket, there was another red tumor! It seemed to have replaced its actual eyeball.

"What is going on here?"

Just then, the situation took a drastic turn. The Sarcosuchus before him instantly exploded into fragments in the water. Five red, deformed tumors emerged from the putrid flesh and shot toward Chen Fan!

"These tumors actually possess intelligence!" After a night of rest, Chen Fan’s body had recovered. Without hesitation, he channeled the "Quake" technique.

Rumble!

His right hand shot forward, fingers closing, and a web of red lightning intertwined. The red tumors were incredibly clever, seemingly possessing team consciousness; they bunched together and lunged at him.

Chen Fan’s eyebrows shot up, and he barked, "Die!" A massive surge of red lightning rolled out. With a thunderous boom, the red tumors shattered in mid-air.

"I thought I told you to keep one," Catherine complained.

"Next time," Chen Fan replied.

After deactivating the Quake technique, Chen Fan looked ahead and saw a metal plate floating on the sea. It bore the inscription "1283 Laboratory." The plate had been hanging around the Sarcosuchus’s neck; because it was submerged, he hadn't noticed it at first.

Without a doubt, this laboratory belonged to the Black Rock Organization, and the Sarcosuchus was one of their test subjects. This explained why it, a freshwater creature, was living in the sea—it had mutated!

"Are there any remnants of the Black Rock Organization nearby?"

His eyes darted around. He quickly went ashore, entered a dense forest, and hid his body. The first rays of dawn had not yet hit the surface, and he guessed the remnants were still resting in the lab.

For now, he just had to wait patiently. Of course, he wouldn't be idle. He took out all the safes he had obtained, extracted the contents one by one, and stowed them into his inventory. He repeated this motion until all twenty-nine safes were open.

His heart soared with joy. A quick count revealed 145 Alien Demon Stones and 340,000 Star Sea Coins! These coins were in denominations of 100; they were identical in size to 100-yuan Huaxia bills, and their texture and material were nearly identical, though the colors, patterns, and designs were completely different. The face of the Star Sea Coin featured a sun occupying two-thirds of the note, with solar textures filling the rest. The back depicted a brilliant galaxy, with a bright full moon adorning the edge.

Additionally, he found a magazine recording the geography and social situation of the Southern Region. He had no time to read it and stowed it away, focusing his attention on the Alien Demon Stones.

Before long, he refined and absorbed all the stones. Although his Star Sea level hadn't yet broken through to Level 1, he felt his strength had surged significantly. He only needed about fifty more stones to reach Level 1 Executor. Upon reaching that level, he would gain his own Star Sea skill. What would it be?

He looked forward with anticipation, then took out the two head-sized Thunder Source Stones and quickly refined them.

Thunder rumbled within his body. He opened his eyes, and his sockets had turned into two pools of lightning. The massive power of thunder surged into every one of his cells, refining and strengthening him repeatedly. He felt his body surging with restless energy, as if it were about to explode. He quickly channeled the Quake technique to suppress and guide the violent electrical force.

Half an hour later, the refinement ended. His physical fitness had improved dramatically. He felt increasingly powerful—a sensation that was exhilarating and intoxicating.

"With your current physical strength, you should be able to maintain the Quake technique for over fifty seconds," Catherine whispered in his ear.

"That's great!" Chen Fan was ecstatic.

"Don't get too happy yet. The stronger your body becomes, the greater the 'power' of the Quake technique. The greater the power, the more burden it places on your body. Therefore, no matter how much you improve your physical fitness in the future, you will only ever be able to maintain the Quake technique for under a minute."

"Understood..." Chen Fan sighed. He looked around and climbed into the canopy of an old tree. The tree was twenty meters tall, and its crown formed a thick cover, perfect for hiding and observing.

Not long after, a figure appeared in his line of sight, walking toward him at a steady pace. It was a woman in black. Her figure was stunning, and under the sunlight, her skin shimmered like silk, exuding an alluring luster. Her full breasts were prominent, drawing the eye.

Clearly, this was a remnant of the Black Rock Organization.

Chen Fan raised his sniper rifle, aimed at her lower leg, and pulled the cold, rough trigger.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the forest. The animals and mutant creatures in the area were startled and fled. Her lower leg was pierced by the bullet, and flesh and bone fragments sprayed out from the exit wound. Overcome by agony, she collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

Chen Fan lowered the rifle, climbed down from the tree, and strode toward her. When he reached her, he pointed the muzzle at her head, his eyes cold. "Are you a remnant of the Black Rock Organization?"

"Kill me if you want!" she spat, her eyes filled with venomous hatred. She was beautiful, with a face like a celebrity, plump and inviting, but Chen Fan would show no mercy.

He sneered and raised his heavy boot, stepping onto her wound. A crunch echoed as he crushed the bone. Her face turned deathly pale, but she remained silent.

"Keep it up," Chen Fan repeated the process. Only after he had crushed the bones in both her legs did she finally break, looking at him with eyes filled with fear.

"I'll ask you one more time: what is your name, and are you a remnant of the Black Rock Organization?" Chen Fan sat on a rock, looking down at her.

"My name is Ling Lan. I am indeed an... experimental staff member of the 1283 Laboratory!" Her eyes were full of resentment, fixed on him.

"The red tumor inside the Sarcosuchus seems to be a Devourer-Demon seed. How did your 1283 Laboratory obtain them?" This was his greatest mystery. To understand the ultimate secret of the Black Rock Organization, he had to track the source of these seeds. And to do that, he had to investigate the laboratory.

Moreover, the Devourer-Demon had just consumed the flesh and blood of tens of thousands of people. He could not sit idly by; he had to do something.

*What does this have to do with me? I didn't do it. I can't just throw my life away, can I?*

The thought bubbled up from deep within him. He didn't resist it; he felt it was a reasonable thought. After all, one's own life was paramount. Putting himself in a desperate situation to uncover the truth and seek justice for tens of thousands of people was stupid—it didn't fit his style at all.

*What does the so-called truth have to do with me? What does it matter if the Black Rock Organization destroyed this world? What does it matter if they killed everyone on earth? What does it matter if the people on the ship died unjustly? If I were the one who died, would they seek justice for me?*

He had his own goals, and he could not change them mid-course to engage in random, messy business. If he truly committed himself to this, it would be like a soldier on his way to the front lines suddenly stopping to play with cats, chase women, gamble, and drink—that would be insane.

From this logic, even if he did a great deed, he was still acting like a fool because he had compromised his own goal. If it only delayed his goal, that would be one thing, but if it cost him a heavy price, it could ruin his life. There were countless such examples in reality. He would never be the next one.

*Fine. I’ll do my best while ensuring my own safety. If there’s danger, I’ll retreat immediately.*

"Director Luo Tong of the lab brings back a batch every month. As for where he gets them, I don't know," she said, telling the truth, no longer daring to hide anything.

He looked into her eyes. "Where is the 1283 Laboratory? Besides you, how many people are there, and what are their means?"

The woman didn't dare hold back. After revealing all the key information, she glared at him viciously. "I can only tell you that the 1283 Laboratory is extremely dangerous. If you dare to go, you will surely die!"

Chen Fan’s eyes flickered. After a moment of hesitation, he blew her head off and began to stride forward.

According to her, the lab had only four people. With her dead, there were only three left: Director Luo Tong, the guard Qian Lin, and the assistant Sun Chong. Qian Lin and Sun Chong were not to be feared, but Luo Tong... he seemed to have something strange about him.

The laboratory was located beneath a mountain. The mountain was highly recognizable, looking like two humps leaning against each other. It was barren, with only a single, crooked old tree growing at the summit.