Ethan and Samuel had just run a few steps in the direction of the lobby when they heard several gunshots. Their hearts froze, and they quickened their pace. Yet the ground beneath their feet became sticky for some reason, as if it were melting. With every step they ran, they could hear the tearing sound of the soles being forcibly pulled from the ground. Ethan noticed that there were large black spots on the wall swept by the electric light, as if it was rotting a little bit, and it seemed that the ink was smudged through the paper.
The base is being infected, and they are already surrounded, Ethan thought, and a burst of despair for no reason suddenly swept through.
He wasn't a pessimist, but the annoying tinnitus kept stirring a tight nerve in his head. The dark surroundings, the incomprehensible creatures and environment, the inexplicable visions that flashed into his mind from time to time, everything was pulling him into madness.
He seemed to hear a voiceless voice telling him in the gap between the tinnitus: give up, give up, surrender, accept, merge...
Fusion, fusion with eternal chaos, fusion with all people and all creatures of the universe, no more lonely, no more fear, no more sadness...
It's like, back to the state before birth...
Ethan suddenly noticed that he had stopped.
He didn't even know when he stopped. He was standing in the darkness, holding the completely extinguished flashlight in his hand.
"Samuel?" He called tentatively, but his voice seemed to be absorbed by the darkness, and it didn't travel very far and didn't hear back.
Intuition told him that he was no longer following Samuel.
Where has Samuel gone? Where is he himself
Is he alone
With trembling hands, he hurriedly shook the flashlight. In the darkness, apart from the sound of the flashlight's gears rubbing, he could only hear his own rapid and irregular breathing. The faint light was like a life-saving straw, and he never knew that he would be ecstatic about this little bit of light. His wrist was sore, but he didn't dare to stop until the light was finally strong enough to illuminate the distance in front of him three or two steps away.
He stood at a crossroads, surrounded by corridors that stretched silently on all sides. He didn't know this place, and he didn't remember going through it from the medical warehouse to the lobby.
Did it go wrong? When did you get separated from Samuel? Why don't you remember at all
One question after another appeared and burst in his mind like a bubble. He couldn't concentrate on thinking. The anxiety and panic made his palms sweat. He could barely hold the flashlight. Just look around and you can figure out your situation.
There are still many places in the main building of the base that he has not been to, especially the corridors that connect with other greenhouses or buildings in the residential area are very complicated, and it is really easy to get lost in the absence of lighting. He told himself over and over to calm down and not to panic, not realizing that he was murmuring out the thoughts in his mind. The four forks look exactly the same, and there is no sense of direction at all. Ethan swallowed in his dry throat and chose the fork on his left.
The sticky feeling under my feet is still there, and the air seems to be getting more and more humid. He saw that the black mildew spots on the joints between the ceiling and the walls were getting denser and denser, and the water-stain-like marks were still spreading down. The doors of each room were closed, and the door, which was dusty but still intact when they first arrived, now seemed to be a remnant from ancient times, with dark red and dark green rust on the edges, Ethan tried He pulled a few of the doors without password locks, and found that they could not be pulled at all, as if they had been rusted.
The surroundings were terribly quiet, as if he was the only one left in the entire base.
"Samuel!!! Otto!!!" Ethan shouted in vain all the names he remembered, choosing among the ever-present forks. The corridors are literally endless, and they all look the same. He felt as though he had fallen into a vortex of decaying corridors and couldn't get out.
Then he walked into a dead end.
At the end of the cul-de-sac there is a gate, unlike all other gates. It is a double-opening mahogany door with even classical carvings and brass handles. It is calm and clean, as if it was still in use not long ago.
Ethan felt that this door was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it for a while. It's just that the door gave him an extremely evil feeling, as if there were a pair of empty eyes behind the door, peeping at him through the crack of the door without blinking. He took a few steps back, and when he turned around, he froze.
A human-shaped shadow was standing motionless at the entrance of this dead end, looking at him with his head tilted.
Ethan's body froze, his heart beating in his throat.
"Who?"
The other party didn't answer, still tilted his head and looked at him motionless.
Ethan looked around in panic, instinctively asking for help. But at the moment, deep in the labyrinth of this dark corridor, he was alone.
The other party still tilted his head and looked at him motionless.
"Who the hell are you! I have a gun in my hand!" Ethan didn't know that his voice was shaking, without any deterrence. He deliberately put a hand in his pocket, trying to scare him.
Suddenly, the man moved.
To be precise, it wasn't that the man moved, but the surface of his body suddenly moved. In the meager light of the flashlight, the black image suddenly became frizzy, and countless tiny hair-like things quickly grew out of his surface, dancing in the air like the strange insects he had seen before, and like the corals in the sea. . The human figure quickly turned into a human-shaped hairball-like object, but still tilted his head, looking at Ethan as if a little curious. Although Ethan couldn't see his eyes, he just knew that he, or it, was looking at him.
Ethan suddenly understood that the God of Entropy had found him. He was caught in its snare and was about to be eaten.
He started to back away, but when he moved, the thing moved suddenly. It's rushing towards him!
Ethan also turned around and ran, running at a speed he had never reached in his life, and within seconds he rushed to the mahogany gate. He slammed into the whole person, but the expected impact did not occur, the door was easily knocked open by him, and he fell in.
Behind the door turned out to be a bright, warm and comfortable, with a little orange sunlight sprinkled on his skin, a long-lost and friendly smell.
"Hahahahaha..." A series of deep laughter stopped in Ethan's ears, but he was struck by lightning. He raised his head and saw the man in a simple white shirt and bare feet, sitting on the wide windowsill of the bay window and reading a book. His eyes were the deep blue of the sky before dawn, his thick eyebrows flew up slantingly, and the short beard on his chin had a rough but charming touch to the touch.
Ethan was completely dumbfounded, he just lay on the ground like this, keeping an embarrassed posture, staring at each other blankly.
"Why don't you get up? You like my floor so much?" Roland's voice was mellow, his low tone made him say something casually like he was flirting. Ethan has never been able to refuse him.
Ethan stood up slowly and smiled. His laughter was a little forced, a little dry.
"I see, I'm probably dreaming." He raised his dark green eyes, his expression a little hollow, "Why the fuck do I still see you? You son of a bitch!"
Knowing that it is him behind the door, it is better to stay outside and let yourself be swallowed by the shadow.
Roland closed the book and stepped on the wooden floor with his bare feet. He has always liked things that are nostalgic and fragile, wooden floors, paper books, old wines. He was wearing a loose white shirt and casual trousers, his hair was a little messy, and he had an uninhibited smile on his face, and he still looked so beautiful.
It was such a beautiful demon who personally pushed him into the forbidden city and ruined his life.
"I know you hate me, and I know you're not having a good time." Roland's steps were calm and graceful, unhurried, his eyes locked firmly on Ethan's, "So, I'm here to pick you up."
Ethan laughed nervously, "Pick me up? Take me to the Third Reich or the Ophiuchus Alliance? How stupid do you think I am to believe you? Why are you here? Am I dead? ?"
"No, you're not dead. If you're willing to follow me, you don't have to be afraid that you'll die in the future." Roland stopped two steps in front of him, his warm palm gently running down his cheek Sliding down, it didn't touch his skin, just through a little bit of air, the warmth had already spread to Ethan's skin. Roland raised his brows slightly, his deep pupils were full of apology and distress, "You don't belong to a place like the Forbidden City at all. You are such a gentle person who has been silently taking care of your family and friends, acting dutifully. Playing the role of Beta. You're tired, and no one understands how tired you are. But I know, I've always known."
Roland's words are like a spell, misty in the golden sunlight, "I know how boring and lonely your life is, and I also know that what you fear most is loneliness. Come and come with me, leave behind the forbidden city and death, we will later We'll never be apart again, you and me, and everything, we're one, we'll never be apart."
The scent of Roland was a touch of musk, his broad, strong, above-average alpha arms had embraced him so tightly, those full, sexy lips had kissed him so affectionately. He had already decided to hate him to the bone, but Ethan was puzzled by the decay and death he had just experienced.
Yeah, what's there to miss? Even if you are lucky enough to survive the darkness outside, you will have to face the boundless life in the forbidden city when you go back. They say that the Forbidden City is like a black hole, whoever goes in can't go out again.
Roland stretched out his hand to him, the hand was thick with knuckles, but it was very firm and warm. Compared with everything behind it, it is really beautiful.
Together forever, no fear, no death, no betrayal, no forbidden city.
Even if it was a dream, it would be nice to die in such a dream.
Just as Ethan's hand moved slightly and wanted to lift it up, suddenly his body was hugged tightly by another body. Those arms were equally strong and warm, tightly wrapping around his body. At the same time, a light aura that did not belong to Roland also enveloped him, faintly wafting the holy smell of the sunset and blue sea.
"Ethan! Be awake!" There was a languid and familiar voice in the clearness. Priest Tanithel still had one hand around his body, and the other gloved hand was raised, and there was a small blue patch on it. An irregularly shaped thing that looks like a small piece of eggshell.
In an instant, the opposite "Roland" suddenly opened his mouth wide, his jaw opened to an impossible length, and the other face was elongated and deformed. A blood-frozen terrifying scream came from that black hole. In an instant, all the sunlight suddenly went out, and darkness came from all directions again, and everything was rapidly decaying. "Roland"'s body also quickly turned black and withered like mold, and finally dissipated like smoke.
Ethan gasped, blinking blankly. In front of him is still a corridor, the difference is that he is still held tightly by the priest. He seemed to have just realized what had happened, and tightly grasped the priest's arm around his waist, "That's... that's..."
Tanithel sighed softly in his ear, "You are affected by the power of the God of Entropy, she is calling you, using your own memories and complexes to make you voluntarily absorbed by her and become a part of her. Now Her power is gradually infiltrating this base, and what you just saw is an illusion created by the energy she has infiltrated and your brain waves, and then the illusion is materialized in her limb cells. Once you touch it, you just saw Anything that arrives will be infected by her."