Stunned by Keli's remark, Kazuma, who had intended to alleviate the oppressive atmosphere, was left speechless.
"How about I tell two jokes!"
Keli raised his hand, indicating he had some jokes that spanned history, connected races, and required a certain level of knowledge to understand.
"You better not!"
The other two said in unison.
Everyone was fed up with Keli's dark humor.
However, the two didn't notice that their voices seemed a bit too loud.
In this sewer, where only the sound of water could be heard, their echoes continuously propagated, reverberating against the cave-like walls.
Just as the trio was about to continue forward, a sudden sound came from the depths of this underground water network.
"Roar!"
The sound wasn't very loud, but its faintness seemed to be due to the great distance.
It was somewhat like a wolf's howl, yet also like the cry of an ape.
And because it was only an echo, its exact location couldn't be pinpointed, like hearing a beast's howl in the night in a valley without knowing where it came from.
The sound penetrated the trio's ears through the thin fabric, and the three, who had just been joking, instantly fell silent. Kazuma immediately felt the hairs on his body stand on end, and goosebumps rose.
The trio stood motionless, like the Seven Fairies enchanted by a monkey's immobilization spell, even their footsteps halted, hoping to catch the sound again.
But there was nothing. The sound seemed to be a collective hallucination of the trio, appearing once and then falling silent.
"Huff… huff…"
Holding his breath, Kazuma could only hear the violent pounding of his own heart and the heavy breathing of his two companions through their masks.
But then he noticed that the chat room in his mind lit up.
[Keli: Stay quiet, let's keep moving]
[Sato Kazuma: Ok]
[Kirito: Alright]
The trio lightened their footsteps, walking deeper step by step.
They walked for half an hour continuously but didn't find the source of the sound; instead, they discovered a small door.
"What is this…?"
Kazuma softly uttered a hesitant sound and stepped forward to look at the door.
The small door opened with a pull, letting out a "creak" sound.
Keli, seeing this, had a thought.
As expected, what appeared in their sight was a cramped space.
Inside were three stretcher beds, but the sheets on the beds were nowhere to be seen.
There were also items such as petroleum jelly and iron barrels containing unknown substances piled inside the room.
This should be the base mentioned by the old homeless man.
Keli gestured for them to go in and look.
This location didn't seem very hidden; in fact, it was right by the side of the sewer path.
It was probably visible to patrols passing by.
But then again, those homeless people probably wouldn't truly explore this underground world; finding this place was already good luck.
However, the door was not at ground level, but rather elevated.
[Sato Kazuma: There's nothing here...]
Keli also came in, squatted down, and carefully inspected the area.
Then he discovered something unusual.
[Keli: What's this?]
Keli, through his gloves, pulled something out from under the bed.
Kazuma and Kirito immediately crowded over.
But what they saw made them swallow hard.
They were fingernails, with dried black stains on them, like bloodstains.
[Sato Kazuma: These should be human fingernails. There might have been a struggle here before, but this place has already been cleaned up by someone.]
Keli nodded in agreement, but besides that, the trio searched around and found nothing else unusual.
[Keli: Let's go.]
Just as the trio was about to turn and leave, they unexpectedly heard some strange sounds outside.
"Thump! Thump!"
It was a sound like a canine creature digging in water, and the sound was very close!
The trio spun around suddenly!
The lights on their three miner's hats suddenly illuminated the area.
"Screech!"
Because of the strong light, a sharp screech suddenly came from there.
Immediately following was the sound of something entering the water.
But that one glance was enough; it had glossy, black fur and was the size of a small dog.
And there was more than one.
Without time to ponder the sudden situation, the three immediately assumed battle stances.
Kirito, who had entered last, was the first to swing his bass bag in front of him, open the zipper, and pull out his katana with one hand.
The katana was already held horizontally in front of him.
The three's reaction was timely, because the thing that had submerged quickly poked its head out, and not only it, but also the accompanying patter of tiny feet.
Soon, a group of "rats" appeared before them.
Their dark fur reflected streaks of light, they had bright red noses, reddish limbs, and yellowish claws, yet they were the size of a medium-sized dog, more like capybaras than rats.
However, these creatures showed none of the capybara's docility or cuteness; instead, they had a nauseating aura.
This was because these rats had many bizarre features.
Their eyes had no pupils, only swollen white areas like they were entirely made of whites, as if diseased.
Although their fur was sleek, there were patches of baldness, revealing diseased skin, making them look like animated corpses.
If an ordinary person saw such a terrifying sight, their first reaction would undoubtedly be to flee in panic.
However, the reactions of the few people were not like this; although their noses did not catch the familiar scent, the three could all feel a sensation originating from deeper within their bodies, a feeling that was urging them on and providing a vague sense of direction in their minds.
Although it sounded really strange, their current feeling was that they were surrounded by a bunch of grilled skewers.
The only thing was that the skewers were a bit odd, like grilled bamboo rats or something, which some ordinary people might find unacceptable, but they knew it was edible.
However, it seemed the other side thought the same.
The rats quickly gathered at the door where Keli and the others were, and began to jump up, trying to get in. Only then did the three realize that the number of these rats was not small; on the contrary, it was extremely large, a dense swarm pouring into this place.
"Damn it, how did those homeless people live here for a while?"
Sato Kazuma looked at those things and began to regret that they should have brought some hand crossbows or compound bows.
However, those things came extremely fast, surging forward before the few could react.
Kirito raised an eyebrow, slashing with his katana.
An odd rat that was stepping on its comrades to get to the front was instantly decapitated.
"Tsk!"
The surging tide of rats did not stop; one was dealt with, and a second immediately jumped in.
Keli, without saying much, also raised his meat cleaver, which was said to be able to chop ox bones, and bent down to join the fight. The two blocked the one-person-wide doorway, striking down any rat that came up.
Kazuma, meanwhile, aimed his headlamp to ensure the two didn't make any visual errors.
Some tiny light particles floated towards the two in front of the door.
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