Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The moment the reality anchor was activated, all of the psionicists felt a muddying feeling but at the same time, the unpleasant scent of sulfur in the air dissipated as well. The refreshed air rejuvenated their spirits.
With the activation of the reality anchor, the final special task force of the Northern American – special task force six began their operation as well. They thoroughly inspected each and every dormitory and laboratory.
Half an hour later, all of the members of the special task force regrouped near the location of the reality anchor. Each one of them seemed perplexed by their findings or otherwise better referred to as lack of findings.
“Unable to identify any target…”
The leader of the special task force reported to the person in charge, “We’ve thoroughly inspected every identifiable location in the base but were unable to discover anything peculiar. We couldn’t find the octopus-like phantom monster that Detective Sean described either.”
There was a dark cloud on the faces of everyone present at the scene.
Things were even more problematic than expected considering that even the reality anchor seemed to be ineffective…
“Maybe those creatures fled when they saw us coming.”
Walter, who was the youngest of the group, mentioned half-heartedly. His tone implied that he was delighted with how things had turned out.
“Shut up!”
The leader Alex, on the other hand, did not seem pleased at all with how things had turned out and grunted angrily at this subordinate that caused him many headaches. Then, he turned to the others. “There’s no telling if those things have truly left. We’re not the only ones dispatched. There are two other teams dispatched with us and maybe they successfully accomplished their tasks.”
Apart from Alex’s team, there were two other teams dispatched by Blacklight Biotechnology. One of these teams was dispatched to the secret base in the middle of a desert housing the boy psionicist.
The other team was dispatched to Detroit. They were tasked with setting up a reality anchor nearby an orphanage and would be assisting the special task force to keep the situation in check.
“I hope so…”
The complexion of the temporary person in charge turned blank white like a sheet of paper. The blood was drained from his face and he looked like a walking corpse. He did what he could to compose himself to prevent a mass panic then turned to his assistant. “Deliver our latest status to the central. Task force six, continue the search!”
After another ten minutes of fruitless effort, they received more bad news – there were no signs of the monsters in neither the desert base where the boy psionicist was locked in nor in the orphanage located in Detroit.
This meant that the worst scenario had come to light. the reality anchor was completely ineffective!
“In that case, we’ll have to resort to plan B.”
Alex, who was watching over the reality anchor, approached the temporary person in charge and eyed him strangely before informing, “We received orders from above that if the initial plan doesn’t work out, then we’ll stay here and keep the reality anchor operating. Let’s see if these deaths continue occurring even when the reality anchor is active.”
“Is that so? That’s great!”
The temporary person in charge heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He instinctively swiped his hand across his forehead to wipe off sweat but the always sharp Alex noticed that there was not a single drop of sweat pooling on his forehead.
After the crowd had dissolved and everyone went back to their business, Alex returned to his team, still deep in thought.
“Boss, did you notice the complexion of the temporary person in charge…”
One of the members of Alex’s team approached Alex and whispered to him, “He’s as pale as a corpse. If he wasn’t up and walking, I’d probably think that he’s a corpse.
“I have to say, the situation here is very unsettling.”
Alex agreed with a subtle nod. “I’ll make sure to report everything to the central. For now, let’s just keep our eyes peeled and look out for any disturbance.”
…
“Ugh…”
When the task force arrived, Sean suddenly felt a suffocating feeling in his chest like he was surrounded by an intense, invisible force field.
At this hour, he was still in the Northern America Headquarters of the foundation. Due to the vast amount of cases reported last night, he was instructed to remain here and assist with the investigation.
“My body…”
Sean curled up like a worm inside the break room. The last time he had so much as a drop of water had to be at least four days ago. He gasped desperately and could feel every ounce of strength in his body slowly trickling away. It was as if there was a depthless, gaping hole inside his body draining away all his strength, leaving him breathless.
After what seemed like hours, Sean finally felt slightly better. He took a long drag of air and staggered to the bathroom. His reflection in the mirror made him jump.
The reflection in the mirror barely resembled himself. His cheeks caved inward and his complexion was deathly pale. He looked like a sick man who had been suffering from an eating disorder for years. His appearance was so haggard that even his entire aura had become unrecognizable.
“There must be something wrong with my body…”
With things the way they were, something drastic must be happening to him as if his body was experiencing some kind of inexplicable metamorphosis. He was about to call someone, anyone for assistance, but some unknown presence deep inside his mind would not allow it.
What seemed like a thundering voice inside him forbid him from reaching out for help. These contradicting emotions bubbled and boiled inside the pot that was his mind, filling him with confusion and terror.
“We’re almost there, we’re almost there…”
The strange verse suddenly rang inside his mind and faded out. Sean jumped immediately. He snapped his neck in all directions but could not find where this voice came from. “Who’s that? Who’s talking to me?
“Come out! Quit lurking and get out of here now!”
Sean howled and screamed like a man who had lost his mind. The walls inside the tiny and cramped bathroom answered him with echoes of his hollow voice.
Just as he felt like his mind was about to collapse into itself, his eye suddenly caught a view of the mirror. What he saw inside the mirror terrified him down to his core!
The world inside the mirror had become indescribably dark as traces of faint-yellow mist patrolled the air all around him. The worst of all, he saw his figure standing idly inside the reflected world but it was not mirroring his actions.
“Who are you?”
Sean’s breathing quickened. He slowly inched toward the mirror and extended an arm forward to touch it. The moment his fingertips touched the mirror, the whiffs of yellow mist dispersed and the reflection returned to normal again.
“An illusion?”
Sean’s eyes turned into wide circles. He continued gazing into his reflection, which looked back at him with soulless eyes and suddenly grinned ear-to-ear. It was then when he felt something lurching out of his stomach.
Sean looked at his stomach through the reflection in the mirror. He saw tentacles slowly prying themselves out of his stomach. Tentacles shaped like the legs of an octopus, their texture was dirty and pale. He could even see tiny but dense strands of hair lined along their surface…
First, there was one tentacle, then another, then another…
“Ahh…”
Sean’s slow whimper slowly turned into a gut-wrenching scream…
…
“Tap, tap, tap…”
It was midnight. Urgent sounds of footsteps tore through the tranquil night. Five guards assigned to night duty of watching over the reality anchor exchanged glances. Without a shared word between them, they put their hands to their weapons and prepared for the worst.
“Bang!”
The door was flung open hurriedly. It was a familiar face, except this person’s face was horribly pale as he announced as loud as he could, “It happened again! Even more deaths!”
“What?”
Alex’s expression sharpened with an alert. “Who was it? Did you notice any hostiles?”
“There are a lot of casualties. Even the person in charge is dead!”
The agitated messenger informed, “Orders came from the central. They want us to evacuate the headquarters immediately and to bring the reality anchor with us!”
Alex knitted his brows into a frown when he heard this. Though he had some questions about this decision, it was his duty to carry out the orders of Blacklight Biotechnology.
“Hurry, we can’t hang on much longer!”
The messenger noted the hesitation in Alex’s eyes and quickly urged again. “Get out of here now, you must protect the reality anchor!”
Alex clenched his teeth, turned to the others, and barked his orders decisively, “Walter, Richard, shut off the reality anchor right now. We’re going to transport the core component to the headquarters!”
They carried out their orders as soon as it was given. Within seconds, the reality anchor was properly deactivated and a fist-sized orange gemstone was extracted from one of its sockets. All five of them proceeded to sprint for the door.
As they traveled across the corridor, they could hear the harsh blare of the alarm systems resounding across the compound, mixed with the loud rattle of weapons firing. Men dressed in large white coats ran with them, all of them flocking toward the exit.
Now that the reality anchor was shut off, their psionic powers were slowly returning to them. With a swift motion, Alex pulled one of the panicking researchers to his side with his psionic power and shot a question at him, “What’s going on, where’s task force six?”
“They’re in the backroom battling these unknown beings!”
The researcher uttered in between frantic sobs, “Monsters… There are monsters everywhere, you can’t see their shapes with your eyes. There are so many dead that it’s impossible to count them all, please… Please let me go!”
Having collected the information he needed, Alex let the researcher run into a nearby elevator.
“Boss, we…”
Walter stepped forward. There was a tint of excitement on his juvenile expression.
“Don’t even think about it. We have a mission to accomplish.”
Alex remarked sternly but he still turned to the direction where they heard the gunshots coming from and considered with a silent expression. In the end, he still maintained his stance. “First things first, let’s get out of here!”
With that, he continued sprinting for the exit just like all the researchers around them.
The rest of them kept their heads down and followed.
Within a few minutes, there was already a large crowd of researchers gathered around them. Alex kicked the final door in their path open and arrived at the main hall of the Blacklight Foundation Headquarters. There were hundreds of researchers gathered here by this point. They crowded around the only elevator that could get them out of this place, pushing each other out of the way for their only chance at survival.
“Walter.”
Alex studied the situation, his sharp eyes beamed with an icy glare. “Open a path!”
The young man Walter could not have been any more delighted by the given order. He raised the pulse rifle and aimed it at the ceiling, then he clenched the trigger and swiped!
In an instant, shards of concrete and building materials rained on the panicking crowd below them!
“Ahh!”
The gathered crowd below hugged their heads with their arms and tried to get away from the crumbling structure. As if the scene was not chaotic enough already, there was now another element of panic!
“Get out of the way if you don’t want to die!”
Walter declared loudly. Then, he shoved a researcher who was in his way to the side as he continued stomping toward the elevator.
The rest of the team followed Walter’s lead.
Just like this, the five of them managed to brute-force their way to the elevator. By this point, the elevator was at full capacity with more than thirty people cramped inside it like a pack of sardines. The ones who were close to spilling out of the elevator tried desperately to shut the elevator door but it would not comply. Judging by the looks of it, nobody was about to make it out of here anytime soon…
Walter smirked devilishly then raised his rifle and pointed it at the group packed inside the elevator. “I’m asking politely now.”
“We’re not stepping out!”
The people inside protested. “Let us go first, you guys wait your turn!”
“Screw you!”
Walter’s gaze sharpened and prepared to fire a warning shot.
“Walter!”
Alex stopped him just in time. He extended his right palm and faced it toward the elevator. With a subtle motion, more than half of its occupants felt an invisible force gripping at them. It did not matter how much they tried to resist it, their bodies would not obey them and in an instant, all of them were flung out of the elevator!
“Ahh!”
There were many profanities thrown around at Alex and his subordinates. Regardless, the exiled occupants could not resist the invisible power of the psionicists!
With that out of the way, all five of them charged into the elevator. The other researchers gathered outside the elevator tried to capitalize on this golden opportunity but their sneaky intentions were thwarted by the barrel of a rifle.
“You guys wait for the next turn!”
Walter mocked them before pressing hard on the elevator button, beckoning it to shut immediately. The ones gathered outside watched in despair as the elevator began its ascent to the surface!
On the surface, an alloy dining table inside a farmhouse slowly opened from the middle, revealing a depthless pit underneath it. Moments later, brief glimpses of light graced the surface as a platform appeared from deep underground. Its occupants were a crew of terrified researchers and five fully suited, intimidating task force soldiers.
“They’re here!”
Upon reaching the surface, they heard muffled shouts. The soldiers quickly raised their rifles cautiously. It was their fellow soldiers camouflaged as farmers greeting them by the entrance. The soldiers put their arms in the air to signal that they were not a threat.
“There are many casualties down there. It’s far worse than the last time, call for backup!”
Alex called for the others to put their rifle out of the way and quickly addressed the surface soldiers, “Where’s the transport? We need to get out of here immediately!”
“The transport is…”
One of the surface soldiers turned to look outside the farmhouse. Before he could finish his mention, the ground beneath their feet rumbled and interrupted his sentence.
Alex was the first to sense the incoming danger. His cheeks turned horribly pale and he bellowed, “Run!”
Without sparing a moment, they dashed out of the farmhouse!
As soon as they emerged from the farmhouse, the entire land trembled beneath their feet! A deep, tremoring roar rumbled from deep underground!
“Rrr-!”
