Li Zhui released the lizard creature, allowing her to sink to the bottom of the water. He, too, felt his body weaken and drifted freely in the water, adopting a fragile and helpless demeanor.
Unaware that the lizard creature was not truly dead, his lapse in caution would later prove to be a grave mistake.
He had not brought an oxygen tank, but he was not lacking in air, for gills had grown on his body.
After the fusion of the Lingtai and axolotl encapsulated form, gills had begun to sprout on both his gill arches and the back of his neck. It wasn't until yesterday that he began to learn how to breathe underwater.
In these past few days, as his memories returned and through his interrogation of Shen Jilan, he began to piece together a rough understanding of his past and present.
His original name (as per his colonial certificate) had been He Xiaoqiang, while "Li Zhui" was a name he had chosen for himself.
Eighteen years ago, he had been sentenced to death for the murder of a security officer working for the Dongtai Corporation, as decided by the Civil Arbitration Committee.
But in reality, the death sentence had not been carried out. Instead, he had been sent directly to the CZR3857 Research Institute, where he became a subject of volunteer experimentation.
He was first used as an explosive test subject before being handed over to the genomics department.
There, his genes were fused with those of an albino axolotl to create a transgenic humanoid axolotl.
After several generations of breeding and acceleration, one of the axolotls reached the required size for surgery. It was then merged with Li Zhui's body.
The implantation of the Lingtai, however, had been the spontaneous idea of Shen Jilan, which, to their surprise, turned out to be a stroke of genius.
A sudden thought struck him—can I still be considered human?
If judged by human standards, he had died four times.
Before Li Zhui could ponder this further, he sensed a sudden, intense ripple in the water—something had stirred again!
Amemiya Satoshi had already committed all available personnel to the mission.
This time, however, they dared not advance recklessly. Each step forward was preceded by a stun grenade, followed by careful search and reconnaissance.
Li Zhui, of course, had to retreat—not just to the core zone, but to escape the ruins entirely. As for where to go, he had no clear plan, only able to take things one step at a time.
Previously, he had ventured out to scout. Upon hearing the explosions, an idea had struck him. He entered through the eastern breach, flanking the frogman team, cutting their communication lines, and launching a surprise attack.
Swimming through the steel wall breach, Li Zhui arrived at the door to the cryo-chamber. The door opened automatically, and he was swept inside, water and all. The door shut behind him, and the pumps immediately began to drain the water.
The medical room door opened, and a snake-like creature leapt out—but no, she had a new name now—She Yao Yao.
She was wrapped in bandages, with only her eyes and mouth visible, and a mesh veil draped over her head.
Three days ago, Shen Jilan had performed plastic surgery on Yao Yao's head, removing the snake's skin and replacing it with artificial flesh.
Li Zhui briefly explained the situation, and though Yao Yao could understand, she couldn't respond. Her vocal cords had mutated, and all she could produce were hoarse, hissing sounds.
Shen Jilan explained that the genetic interference, particularly the embedded serpent genes, had disrupted the human genome's expression.
By the early hours of the 24th, Li Zhui had noticed the water flowing.
Determining that the water was draining downward, he risked being devoured by the octopus-like creature and carefully made his way through the platform's cracks, entering the water-filled chamber beneath the ruins. There, he found the water's outlet.
In the past two days, they had been busy preparing for evacuation, uncertain of what lay ahead. Li Zhui decided to take extra supplies, especially food.
He entered the electrical room and was immediately greeted by a tirade. "Ungrateful dog! Let go of me! You want to kill me or violate me, it's all the same!"
It turned out that Shen Jilan had been chained to the power distribution cabinet, on the brink of madness.
Li Zhui said nothing, unlocked the chains, and dragged her away.
He opened a cryo-chamber and tossed her inside, followed by food, water tanks, and two recently confiscated oxygen tanks.
He closed the three layers of hatches, set the chamber to ambient temperature, and the hatch automatically locked. Only from the outside could it be opened.
Yao Yao put on a dry-suit and sealed breathing mask. Of course, she could only wear the top part; the lower portion still consisted of her original leather shorts.
Li Zhui carefully checked everything, ensuring nothing was left behind, then smiled and signaled to Yao Yao, who nodded in response.
He opened the cryo-chamber door, and the water surged in.
When the water reached about a meter, he began to push the cryo-chamber toward the end of the corridor. He disengaged the manual valve and opened the large door.
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the third level. Li Zhui felt that this farewell from the creature was quite fitting!
He and She Yao Yao each pushed a cryo-chamber along the winding corridors, heading toward the sewage treatment area on the eastern side.
Beneath the fourth floor, there had originally been a sewage tank measuring 30m×20m×10m. However, during the fall, the tank had been completely destroyed, and under the immense force of the sewage drainage pipes, the three-meter-thick platform had been torn open, leaving a gaping crack.
Halfway through, Li Zhui abandoned the cryo-chamber and turned back, swimming toward the breach in the southwestern main area.
She Yao Yao pushed the cryo-chamber through the massive crack, letting it fall freely, before returning to push another chamber forward.
As Li Zhui had anticipated, a special operations team was already lying in wait outside the breach.
Having recently suffered a major defeat, and following Amemiya Satoshi's orders, they were instructed to wait for the main force to sweep through the upper three levels before launching an assault.
Li Zhui drew a stun grenade from the confiscated diving vest, pulled the safety pin, and tossed it outside the breach.
The results were catastrophic for the enemy!
While no one died, a few idiots were added to their ranks, two more became mentally incapacitated, and the mentally disturbed were too numerous to count.
The grenade allowed them to make their escape from the ruins without resistance.
The vast water cavity originally had two hidden water channels—one in the southwest connecting to Luwei River, and the other in the northeast leading to Longling River.
Now both water routes had collapsed, but to the east, a deep crack had appeared, and the water flowed out from there.
The crack outside had a lip-shaped opening, while the inside resembled an olive pit, about 300 meters long and 50 meters at its widest. It was large enough for a person to slip through, with as many as thirteen openings.
Based on previous reconnaissance, Li Zhui deduced that only two of these routes were viable.
The first was the large crack extending from the northeast corner, which was highly likely to lead to the surface. The second was a deepening fissure in the southeast corner, through which a strong current of water had flowed earlier, undoubtedly forming a new waterway.
Li Zhui chose the upward route, as She Yao Yao could not breathe underwater.
Thus, their movements completely defied the predictions of Dongtai's think tank, who, after analyzing surveillance footage, had concluded that Li Zhui would descend into the lower passages.
At the northeastern corner, two cryo-chambers and several oxygen tanks had already been stacked. It turned out that Li Zhui had been moving his belongings since the early hours of the morning.
Li Zhui gestured for She Yao Yao to go first. He lifted an oxygen tank, spread his legs wide, and used his feet to push off the rocky wall, ascending.
After climbing about three meters, several cracks appeared. Li Zhui opened the valve, directed the air toward the top fissure, and soon the water was forced out, signaling that this was a viable path.
He continued to explore other cracks until his oxygen ran out, and by then, he had already formed a rough plan. However, he was not keen on progressing further, as his physical state had deteriorated drastically.
He returned to the entrance and picked up another oxygen tank. But halfway up, his strength failed him, and he lost control, falling back down with the tank.
Just as he was about to fall into the crack, She Yao Yao grabbed the oxygen tank. Her serpentine tail, like a bamboo pole, stretched against the rock wall, lifting both the tank and Li Zhui upward.
At this moment, Li Zhui's body could no longer resist the overwhelming fatigue, and he closed his eyes, falling into a deep slumber.
After expending countless stun grenades, the special operations team finally secured the entire ruin.
The technicians immediately opened the safe, retrieved the surveillance black box, and sent it by helicopter to the command center.
To their surprise, Shi Weikang was among those accompanying them. This man had truly survived against all odds, but his future was now sealed. The best he could hope for was spending his life in prison.
Upon seeing Shi Weikang, Amemiya Satoshi's emotions could not be described merely as shock or anger. If he had not received a good education from a young age, he would have undoubtedly used a blunt knife to slowly carve Shi Weikang apart!
The surveillance footage revealed that since the evening of June 11, five batches of experimental subjects had escaped from the CZR3857 Research Institute.
The first batch consisted of humanoid white rats. After the institute collapsed into the water cavity, the humanoid white rat chamber cracked, and they quickly found damaged ventilation ducts, escaping upwards layer by layer, ultimately disappearing into the fissures.
The second batch comprised humanoid axolotls and frogs. In the early hours of June 12, Juliet was devoured by an octopus-like creature, and Xiao Meini led these creatures out through a breach in the fourth level.
The third batch consisted of the octopus-like creatures. After failing to attack the core area on June 19, the octopus shifted to the third level. After smashing through the reinforced concrete wall of the main area, it was immediately ambushed by the transgenic lizards. Outnumbered, it too escaped through the breach in the fourth level.
The fourth batch: transgenic lizards.Their escape was entirely the fault of Shi Weikang.
In the early hours of June 12, after the failure of the plan to seize the core area, he released the transgenic lizards and, in turn, took control of the lizard chamber. Remarkably, he endured for over ten days in this situation.
On the night of June 23, as the water began to flow, the lizards stirred restlessly and eventually left the ruins.
The fourth batch comprised CHT1024 and CHT9413—experiments of the highest level, possessing human-level intelligence! Their escape could not simply be described as a disaster; it was a cataclysm of monumental proportions.
"How did he manage to survive?" Amemiya Satoshi asked, his expression devoid of emotion.
Shi Weikang stood trembling before the desk, not daring to raise his head. "I... I suppose... it's just his fate, perhaps."
"Dr. Shi, you are a scientist, so I would expect you to answer with scientific reasoning," Amemiya Satoshi said, his eyelids flicking upward, sending a sharp, cold glare in his direction.
"Yes! Yes!" Shi Weikang bowed repeatedly. "Because, all of CZR3857 Research Institute's thirty years of accumulated knowledge were invested into him."
Amemiya Satoshi waved his hand, and his subordinates promptly escorted Shi Weikang out.
He let out a soft sigh. This matter had far exceeded his decision-making authority, and the only course of action was to report it directly to Fujiki Teito.
By the time he had relayed half of the details, Fujiki Teito was already drenched in cold sweat. He raised a hand, halting Amemiya Satoshi's report, and nodded toward his personal secretary. The secretary immediately understood and dialed the CEO's office.
This oversight was catastrophic! If not sealed promptly, the consequences would be far more severe than any flood or earthquake could ever cause.
Within thirty minutes, the armed guard units, the colonial security forces, the special operations teams, and the security branch's diving squads from Chongdongdao, Zhengnandao, Xixi Dao, Chongxidao, and Chongnandao were all ordered to assemble urgently.
A bottomless pit awaited their arrival, one that would never be filled.