23: Underwater Museum: Cocoon of Flesh and Blood and Black Stele

The images on the screen were instantly swallowed by a dark liquid, with rows of depth data flickering wildly in the corner.

[Depth: -5m... -10m...]

[Water Temp: 12°C] [Radiation: Rising steadily]

As the fiber optic cable continued to spool out.

This inconspicuous "eye."

Was falling silently into the depths of the sunken city, a place filled with the unknown and terror, in Jiang Ran's stead.

Inside the cockpit, all the lights had been dimmed to their lowest setting.

Jiang Ran and Su Qingyu's faces were illuminated by the dim blue light from the main screen.

They held their breath, staring intently at the real-time footage sent back by the nautilus.

It was as if they were personally standing in that cold, deathly silent underwater world.

[Current Depth: -25m]

[Signal Strength: Stable]

As the depth increased, the underwater scene, which should have been pitch black, revealed a suffocatingly eerie sight.

The river water, filled with Heavy Water and radiation-loving microorganisms.

Was not murky under the searchlight; instead, it looked like a massive, translucent piece of blue amber.

Within this "amber," the ruins of the former city stood silently.

The nautilus glided silently over a street.

In the footage, a tilted traffic light pole passed by.

The traffic lights had long since gone dark, but they were covered in a layer of fuzzy, moss-like organisms that emitted a pale purple fluorescence.

They swayed slowly with the current, like ghosts waving to passersby.

On both sides of the street, former shop signs and abandoned vehicles were covered by this glowing fungal carpet.

"This isn't an ecosystem that should exist on Earth."

Su Qingyu looked at the glowing plants, her voice tight. "These plants are absorbing the radiation in the water and releasing that toxic Heavy Water.

They're turning this city into a massive alien petri dish."

"It's not just the plants."

Jiang Ran manipulated the probe to change direction.

[Depth: -45m]

[Detected a large amount of biological activity.]

A school of fish appeared in front of the camera.

They were a school of Grass Carp that should have lived in shallow water.

But now, their bodies had doubled in size.

Their scales had fallen off, and their skin had become a translucent grayish-white, even allowing a clear view of the pulsing dark-red organs inside.

Eerily, this school of fish showed no signs of foraging or wandering.

They formed a neat line, like a group of devout pilgrims.

With dull eyes and stiff movements, they swam in unison toward a certain direction in the depths.

"That's the effect of the signal."

zero's voice chimed in at the right moment: "A 'Gathering' command.

The nerve systems of these lower organisms have been taken over by that low-frequency signal.

They are heading to a sacrifice point."

"Follow them."

Jiang Ran steadied the control lever.

Allowing the basketball-sized nautilus to silently blend into this eerie school of fish and continue its descent.

[Depth: -60m]

[Arrived at target area: Jiangcheng City Museum.]

As it reached the bottom, the outline of a grand yet sinister building finally emerged in the dim blue light.

It was originally a massive building in a traditional style, with upturned eaves and thick stone walls.

But now, it looked more like a devil's den.

Countless thick, blood-vessel-like black vines snaked out from cracks deep in the ground.

They were tightly wrapped around the museum's pillars and walls.

These vines were still pulsing rhythmically, seemingly pumping something into the building's interior.

The museum's vermilion doors, which should have been closed, had been violently smashed, forming a dark, gaping entrance.

The school of "pilgrim" mutant fish.

Swam into that black hole in a line without any resistance, vanishing into the endless darkness.

"This is it."

Jiang Ran looked at the black hole, a strong sense of crisis rising in his heart. If he had brought the black iron down just now, those massive vines wrapped around the building probably would have ensnared the hull.

"zero, activate active sonar."

"I want to see exactly what's hidden behind those doors."

[Command confirmed. Sonar pulse transmitted.]

The image on the screen instantly switched to sonar imaging mode.

An invisible beam penetrated the walls, outlining the internal structure of the museum.

A second later.

Su Qingyu gasped.

In the museum's originally empty central hall, a shadow so massive it inspired despair loomed.

And the mutant fish that had swam inside.

The moment they entered that shadow, they were instantly decomposed and devoured by countless tiny tentacles.

That wasn't some kind of refuge.

It was a hatchery.

"Don't turn on the lights."

Jiang Ran's voice was extremely low in the cockpit, as if he were afraid of disturbing the terrifying existence sixty meters below.

He turned off the nautilus's main searchlight and only turned on the low-light night vision mode.

The screen's image changed to a grayish-green monochrome.

In the center of the deathly silent museum hall, the massive shadow finally revealed its true form.

It wasn't a single creature.

It was a massive Flesh Cocoon formed from the entanglement of countless mutant fish, human corpses, and black vines.

It was like a beating heart, occupying two-thirds of the hall's space. The mutant fish swimming in in a line.

Were crawling into the gaps of the Flesh Cocoon like moths to a flame, only to be dissolved and absorbed, becoming nutrients for its growth.

"It's hatching..."

Su Qingyu covered her mouth, struggling to keep her stomach from turning. "This signal is collecting 'biomass' for it."

"Go around it."

Jiang Ran maneuvered the basketball-sized nautilus.

Like an inconspicuous plankton, it glided slowly against the hall's ceiling.

The target wasn't this Flesh Cocoon.

The signal source locked by zero was behind this Flesh Cocoon.

Deep inside what was originally the museum's "Treasure of the Museum" exhibition area.

The nautilus carefully passed through several thick, vessel-like vines.

Finally, in the darkness ahead, an object appeared that made both Jiang Ran and Su Qingyu feel suffocated.

It was a stone tablet.

A rectangular black slab, about three meters high and one meter wide.

It floated silently in the water, half a meter off the ground.

It completely defied the laws of physics.

When the surrounding disgusting flesh, vines, and fungal carpets that grew wildly approached within half a meter of it.

They all seemed to hit an invisible barrier, unable to encroach upon it in the slightest.

It was entirely pitch black, its surface smooth as a mirror, without any signs of artificial carving or any moss attached.

In this chaotic, decaying, and mutated underwater world, it represented an ultimate, cold geometric order.

And that ghost frequency, which induced the city's creatures to come and "sacrifice" themselves, was emitting from its interior.

"What is this material?"

Su Qingyu stared at the screen. "It doesn't reflect light at all; it's like a black hole."

"zero, scan it."

[Attempting active scan...]

[Warning: A high-dimensional force field exists on the target's surface; sonar beams are being absorbed.]

[Attempting close-range contact.]

Jiang Ran took a deep breath and maneuvered the nautilus to slowly approach.

When the mechanical probe was less than ten centimeters from the stone tablet, a sudden change occurred.

On the originally pitch-black surface of the stone tablet, rows of pale gold flowing light suddenly lit up.

They weren't words, but some extremely complex three-dimensional geometric shapes, rapidly changing and reorganizing on the tablet's surface.

At the same time, zero suddenly issued an urgent alert in the cockpit.

[High-bandwidth data stream detected!]

[The other party is attempting to overwrite the system... Firewall activated.]

[Reverse-parsing data packets...]

"What did you parse?"

Jiang Ran stared intently at the screen.

zero was silent for two seconds, then a piece of cold, emotionless translated text was projected onto the main screen:

"...Ecosystem remodeling progress: 12%..."

"...Atmospheric composition adjustment in progress... Heavy Water concentration reached standard..."

"...Phase one cleansing complete, awaiting the arrival of the Harvesters."

"Boom!"

These lines exploded in Jiang Ran's mind like a thunderclap. His suspicions were confirmed.

This wasn't a natural disaster; it was a "cleansing."

Earth was being reshaped by some high-level civilization into a colony suitable for their survival.

And humanity was merely the dust being wiped away.

"Harvesters..." Jiang Ran muttered to himself.

Just then, the image on the screen shook violently.

The activation of the stone tablet seemed to have disturbed the massive "Flesh Cocoon" nearby.

"Roar—!!!"

Although separated by a screen, the terrifying vibration transmitted through the water still made Jiang Ran's eardrums ring.

The massive Flesh Cocoon suddenly split open with a crack.

A giant tentacle, covered in suckers and sharp teeth, instantly shot out.

It moved so fast it created cavitation bubbles in the water, heading straight for the nautilus hovering in front of the stone tablet!

It was the "Guardian Beast" of this stone tablet.

"Retreat!"

Jiang Ran yanked the control lever back.

But it was too late.

The tentacle's speed far exceeded the limit of the micro-thrusters.

"Bang!" The screen's image instantly turned into static.

[Signal lost.]

[nautilus destroyed.]

The cockpit fell back into a deathly silence.

Jiang Ran slowly released the control lever, which was now covered in sweat, and looked at the black screen before him, his expression turning more serious than ever.

Although he had lost an expensive probe, he had obtained the most crucial intelligence.

"Cleansing, sowing, harvesting."

Jiang Ran leaned back in his seat, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Since you want to turn Earth into your back garden..."

"Then let's see if your hoe is tougher, or my warship is."

Just as he was about to order a departure from these dangerous waters, zero, who had been on alert, issued another warning.

This time, it wasn't from underwater.

It was from the surface.

[Warning: Radar has detected multiple high-speed surface targets approaching!]

[Quantity: 3 vessels.]

[Identification: Armed Patrol Boats.] [The other party is activating fire-control radar to lock onto us!]

Jiang Ran snapped his head up.

On this night when the heavy rain had stopped, someone actually dared to be out wandering?

And they were heading straight for this museum?

It seemed he wasn't the only one with eyes on this stone tablet.

"Just in time."

A bloodthirsty sneer curled at the corner of Jiang Ran's mouth as he pressed the fire-control system's activation button.

"I just lost a probe and have a belly full of fire with nowhere to vent."

"zero, deactivate stealth."

"Show our fangs."