Chapter 112 The Water Monster Appears? The First Giant Fish Mutated by Nuclear Contamination

The alarm blared throughout the entire base!

Red emergency lights flickered back and forth in the hall.

Huo Yuan grabbed the tactical vest hanging nearby and threw it on haphazardly.

He didn't even bother to button it properly.

He grabbed Lin Xingwan roughly and rushed towards the underwater monitoring room on the second basement level.

"Sister-in-law! Boss! Over here!"

Lu Ting shouted from the end of the corridor.

There was a stale, smoky smell in his mouth.

He was so anxious he kept scratching his hair, and there was black mud under his fingernails.

"The impact is too strong!"

"The shock-absorbing pads on the bottom level are about to crack!"

Lin Xingwan didn't say a word.

Her boots clacked rhythmically against the cold steel floor.

As soon as they entered the main control room, a rancid smell of machine oil hit them.

On the screens, red light accompanied the screaming of the alarm.

"Beep—beep—"

Qian Duoduo was hunched over the keyboard.

He held a half-eaten spicy snack in his hand, his mouth greasy.

Sweat streamed down his layers of fat-laden neck.

"Boss, Sister-in-law, the feed is up!"

He slammed his oily hand onto the keyboard.

On the main screen, there was a patch of murky, muddy water.

That was the deep-water zone outside the base.

Under the intense glare of flashlights and infrared probes, a black shadow, seven or eight meters long, was thrashing around in the water like it had gone mad.

"Bang!"

Its heavy body smashed viciously against the metal frame of the flood control net.

A dull tremor reverberated through the base once more.

A plastic bucket in the corner used for scrap metal tipped over with a "clang."

Rusty nails spilled all over the floor.

"Holy crap, look at that thing."

Lu Ting stared at the screen and couldn't help but dry heave.

"Is this even a fish? Why does it have so many eyeballs?"

On the large screen, the monster's full appearance was illuminated clearly by the infrared fill light.

It was a catfish mutated by the dual contamination of nuclear wastewater and The Apocalypse virus.

Its body looked like an elongated black leather bag, covered in yellowish slime.

At the gills on both sides, two rows of ghastly white eyeballs had grown out.

Those eyes had no focus, clouded with the milky film typical of dead fish eyes.

Its mouth was ridiculously large, with the corners split all the way to its belly.

Inside, it was densely packed with black fangs as sharp as steel saws.

"Bone spur mutation," Lu Dachui chimed in from the side.

His tattered undershirt reeked of sour sweat.

He picked his nose and wiped the snot onto a rag by his feet.

"Those scales have completely keratinized; they look like iron plates."

"Ordinary bullets probably wouldn't even leave a white mark on it."

"It wants to get in."

Lin Xingwan crossed her arms, her fingertips tapping lightly on her elbow.

The giant mutated catfish rolled over in the water.

Its massive head was pressed tightly against the titanium alloy flood control net.

Its scarlet fish mouth opened and closed, gnawing on the metal mesh, emitting a teeth-grinding, screeching "screech—screech—" sound.

"It was lured here by the scent of humans," Huo Yuan said, his voice cold and hard.

"Under this water, the scent of living people is too obvious."

"Sister-in-law, can this thing be eaten?"

Chef Li chimed in from the side.

He was wearing an apron stained with black grease and holding a chipped ladle.

"Li and the others just broke their fevers; they need some meat to build their strength back up."

He sniffed.

"I see plenty of meat on this big fish; if we can get it in, it'll be enough to feed us for a week."

"Eat my foot!"

Old Zhong spat out a puff of smoke from behind.

His cloth shoes were covered in mud, and the sides were soaked through.

"This fish took a bath in nuclear waste."

The old man shot Chef Li a sidelong glance.

"You take one bite, and by tomorrow your kidneys will rot into tofu dregs."

"Alright, alright, I won't think about it then."

Chef Li shrunk his neck back in disappointment.

"Stop with the idle chatter."

Lu Ting slapped the table, making the steel cups on it rattle.

"Zhao An, how long can this flood control net hold?"

Zhao An was holding a large tea mug.

A few soggy, shredded tea leaves floated in the mug, and the rim was covered in yellow tea stains.

He spoke with a slight stammer.

"The... the net definitely won't break."

"It's made of special titanium alloy, it's nuclear explosion-proof."

"But..."

He took a sip of tea.

"This beast is too strong."

"If it keeps ramming like this, the shockwaves will travel along the base."

"The foundation on the bottom level won't be able to take it, and the steel reinforcements will suffer fatigue and snap."

The hall went quiet.

Only the beeping of the alarm and the sound of the monster gnawing on the net from the screen remained.

Lin Xingwan stared at the screen.

A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes.

"Duoduo, the electric net is useless against it?" She asked.

"Sister-in-law, we tried!"

Qian Duoduo hurriedly tapped a few keys on the keyboard, pulling up the electric net data.

"We just activated fifty thousand volts, but that fish skin is too thick; it's like it's wearing a rubber suit."

"The electric shock just makes it go berserk, and it hits even harder!"

"Then we have no choice but to kill it."

Huo Yuan patted the hilt of the sword at his waist.

That Tang sword had tasted blood in the firelight last night, and now it held a restrained, cold gleam.

"How do we kill it?"

Lu Ting scratched his forehead.

"Use a mortar? If we fire a cannon in the water, the shockwave will crack the pressurized cabins on the bottom level."

"No cannons."

Zhao An quickly waved his hand.

"If the waterproof rubber seals of the watertight compartments get cracked, this water could flood us directly into a water curtain cave."

"What about that boat that Lu Dachui modified?"

Lin Xingwan turned to look at the old man who was currently picking his foot.

"The water tank?"

Lu Dachui looked up and grinned.

"The collision bumper is at the water surface, and this beast is fifteen meters underwater."

"Unless it jumps up itself, we can't hit it."

"Then isn't it useless?"

Lu Ting muttered from the side.

"What the hell do you know!"

Lu Dachui glared, spitting on the ground.

"That's a work of art I modified! Do you even know what art is? You brute!"

"Enough arguing."

Lin Xingwan interrupted them.

She pressed down heavily on the control console with her fingertip.

The red light on the screen flashed even more frantically.

The giant mutated catfish seemed to have lost patience; its massive body suddenly retreated a dozen meters.

Then, like a grey torpedo, it accelerated and charged over again!

"Bang—!!"

This tremor was greater than any before.

A precision level on the console slid directly onto the floor.

It shattered into pieces, and the red oil inside spilled everywhere.

The soles of Lin Xingwan's feet went numb.

This was a precursor to a foundation earthquake.

She couldn't wait any longer.

"Huo Yuan."

Lin Xingwan turned her head.

Huo Yuan had already stepped back half a pace.

He reached back and pulled open the deep-sea diving equipment locker on the wall.

The locker door opened, revealing a row of black underwater blast suits.

There were also those few man-portable sonic guns recently seized from the museum.

Huo Yuan pulled the gun from its clip.

The gun body was cold and hard, emitting a faint blue metallic sheen.

"Bombing it will destroy the defensive net."

He slung the gun strap over his body.

"I'm going out to skin it alive."

"By yourself?"

Lin Xingwan frowned.

She stepped forward and grabbed the collar of his anti-static undershirt.

"This fish has thick skin; a pistol won't penetrate it."

Huo Yuan looked down at her.

The eyes that had originally held tenderness were now filled with an extremely cold, wolf-like ferocity.

"But the blade in my hand can cut through its gills."

He reached out with his rough fingers and pinched her cheek.

"Wait for me to come back, and I'll get you some fish bones to play with."

"Lu Ting, grab the sonic locator and come with me to the decompression chamber."

Huo Yuan put on his black diving helmet, his voice sounding muffled inside the visor.

"Got it! Brothers, grab your gear!"

Lu Ting spat on the ground and picked up an underwater speargun.

"Today, one way or another, we're going to let this big black fish know who the real bastard is in these waters!"

The two men strode out of the main control room.

The sound of the iron door closing echoed through the silent corridor.

Lin Xingwan stood in front of the screen.

She watched the giant mutated fish on the screen as it retreated again, preparing to launch its next strike.

Her palms.

Without her realizing it, they were already drenched with sweat.

"Sister-in-law, Boss's air pressure chamber readings are normal."

Qian Duoduo stared at the screen, wiping the spicy snack oil from the corner of his mouth with his chubby hand.

"They're about to, go underwater."