Falling into the Abyss

Chapter 12: Atonement: Red Earth (X)

Taking off his spacesuit, Samuel ran into a bathroom and scrubbed himself all over. Although he knew that those bugs could not stick to his body through the thick spacesuit, he still couldnt stop imagining what would happen if his skin was infected with those things.

Ethan poured himself a full glass of red wine with shaking hands and gulped it down before refilling his glass and drinking again. The wine slowly diffused and burned its way to his stomach, and the warm feeling finally dispelled some of the cold terror from his heart. His hands were still shaking uncontrollably, and his teeth were clenched as though there was no way to keep them apart. He heard footsteps and looked up to see Tanisiel walking through the corridor and stepping straight into a biological analysis room. Ethan gritted his teeth and stood up to catch up with him.

He opened the door of the analysis room and unexpectedly saw Tanisiel holding the test tube containing the strange insects mucus in his hand. It seemed that he was planning to place some of it on a slide, intending to analyze it with an intelligent microscope. He exclaimed, We have to contact the mothership. Its too dangerous here!

Tanisiel did not even raise his head. He put on his gloves and carefully dripped the dangerous liquid sample onto the glass slide, asking, Do you think the Mothership will care? Of course, they know theres something weird here, or else they wouldnt have brought all of you.

Ethan took a step forward, and his fist clenched so tightly that his fingernails pricked his palm. They dont care about us, but they would certainly care about your safety. If people see Jeff, do you think theyll be as polite to you as they are now?

Tanisiels movement paused momentarily, glancing over and raising his eyebrows. He asked, Are you threatening me?

Upon hearing the priests slightly surprised and dangerous tone, Ethan refused to flinch. Its not a threat, but a fact. Everyone would be afraid in the face of death, especially when they are faced with death in that sort of manner. Even though it is very risky to threaten you using the Mothership, it is still a path to live compared to dying. Seeing that the priest was silent, he took a few steps forward, his firm gaze meeting the silver-gray eyes through the lens. He continued, Dont forget, we are a group of exiles. We can do anything when pushed to the edge.

Tanisiel suddenly chuckled, as though he had seen something lovely. I didnt expect you to be so brave, even though you look very much like a weak chicken. Dont worry, I contacted the Mothership just now. Theyll send Eve soldiers down.

Really? How many people are they sending?

The Eves and the Earthlings will send a few people down each, as well as your chief security officer.

After hearing this, Ethans tense heart finally relaxed. He leaned heavily against the table behind him, taking off his glasses and rubbing between his brows to alleviate his headache. Thats greatThats great as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something, What are they going to do here? Wont they just send you back?

Tanisiel shrugged and replied, I dont know. They only said they would come here to provide support for us.

Ethans breathing, which had just stabilized, quickened again. His face was pale, and he felt his heart sinking into the abyss. Immersed in his thoughts, he did not notice that Tanisiel had approached him. He tilted his head slightly as if appreciating his frightened expression. Suddenly, Tanisiel stepped forward and sniffed Ethans neck.

Ethan was startled. His entire body went stiff, and he exclaimed, What are you doing!

Ethan was momentarily stunned by his smile but frowned again shortly after. He thought that the priest was trying to change the subject, so he turned to leave, slightly angry. However, Tanisiel seized his wrist.

The priests long and beautiful hand was unexpectedly powerful, and it was like an iron shackle, difficult to break free from. Ethan didnt understand what the priest was doing, so he turned around and glared at him, exclaiming, Let go!

I want you to order Gina to completely close the clinic and allow no one to enter except me,  regardless of their reason. Tanisiel still had his perfect smile and gentle tone, but no matter how Ethan listened, he felt it was an order. So, he said with some provocation, Do you want to seal the medical lounge so that the others cant see it and rebel?!

Yes, Tanisiel replied sincerely and without hesitating.

Ethan was speechless from his reply and couldnt think of anything to counter him with. He glared at the other man and spoke between gritted teeth, Not only do I refuse to seal it, but Im going to warn everyone!

Tanisiel leaned in slightly, and the distance between the two men shrunk beyond a comfortable distance. The priest suddenly pushed Ethan against the wall and imprisoned him with his arms. His silvery-gray eyes stared into Ethans pupils as if he were looking into his soul. Have you forgotten your identity? Ordo you enjoy me forcing you?

The other party deliberately dragged out his voice, happening to touch upon several of the secrets hidden in Ethans heart. Ethans forehead was sweating, and he wanted to run away. Even if I dont say it, Samuel would.

Im not asking you not to talk. Im merely asking you to block off the medical lounge using your highest authority. As long as they dont see it with their own eyes, they wont be blinded by fear, and we can also prevent those mindless people from touching the things that came out of Jeffs body. Tanisiels other hand gently grasped Ethans chin, and he lifted it with an expression that refused to take no for an answer, forcing the other party to meet his line of sight. His voice began to sink deeper and deeper as he continued, You know Im right. Im the only one on the Mothership whos willing to help you. Youd better be obedient.

The current position of the two men was very ambiguous. Ethan, who was embroiled deep in his current predicament, did not realize the door was opened. Tanisiel, though aware of their approach, did not care.

When Otto had gotten up, planning to go to the bathroom, he had heard the sound of something crashing into the wall. When he opened the door to check, he was shocked silly by the sight.

Heavens, was the priest robbing Samuels toy?!

Hello! Boy toy! What the hell are you doing? Otto was a person who was loyal to his friends. Seeing this, how would he be able to suppress his anger. His legs stretched out, and he crossed over to where they were. The ruckus made Ethan tremble, and he began to struggle. Tanisiel calmly let Ethan go before straightening his clothes and speaking lightly in Ethans ear, People are starting to wake up. Youd better do it as soon as possible. Then he turned and left.

Otto wanted to fight with Tanisiel, but the other party gave him a faint glance, and the eye on his forehead opened to form a thin line. He suddenly felt a strong deterrence from that eye, rendering his entire body unable to do anything but inexplicably obey him. It was not until the other partys figure had disappeared past the end of the corridor that the strange feeling was relieved.

Otto was so angry that he let out a series of swears before hesitantly looking at Ethan and asking, Are you alright?

Ottos tone contained the typical sense of concern for Omegas, but Ethan just felt pissed off hearing it. He tried to calm down and replied, Im fine, thank you.

What did he want?

Nothing, we just had a bit of a disagreement, before he knew it, he had slipped back into talking like a bureaucrat from when he worked at the Energy Bureau. Otto just looked at him suspiciously and left.

Ethan slid down the wall until he rested on the floor. He held his head in his hands, feeling exhausted. He remained silent for quite a while before he said to the empty space, Gina, I want to use my first level of authority to seal the medical lounge. No one is allowed to enter there except me.

Ginas soft, obedient voice sounded in his ear, Understood.

Ethan seemed to suddenly recall something and went on to ask, Has the AI microscopes analysis been completed?

Gina replied, Its done. Would you like to see the report now?

Yes.

A clear image projected in front of him, with dense words in the Earthling language beside it. It was full of jargon that Ethan could not understand, but Ethan was still dumbfounded when he saw the image.

They had thought that the liquid on the slide was originally packed with cells or bacteria, but what Ethan saw was a mass of small, slender, human-faced monsters, all twisted and tangled together

Monsters as small as cellsthe folds on their heads scrunched up into human faces.

Could this bethis was why they could drill into the human body through the skins sweat pores? And then they would proliferate rapidly in the human body, before soon breaking out of the body?

Soinside the body of that strange bug was a bunch of small strange bugs. Then, what was inside the body of these small strange bugs? Would it be even smaller strange bugs?

An endless cycle, wasnt this what Tanisiel had claimed to be eternal?

Caught in his nightmarish imagination, he quickly shifted his gaze away. It was absolutely not an ordinary creature. To put it simply, it should be impossible for these creatures to exist. Yet, here they were.

Andlooking at Jeff, were those monsters all born from other human bodies? Was this the truth behind the disappearance of the developers? But then why didnt they have time to leave behind any messages? What did these monsters have to do with the dark things in the sky from that video?

Most importantly, were there any other similar insects in Base No.18?

When Samuel came out after showering, he immediately woke up some of his younger underlings and asked them to wake the rest. There were 33 hours in a day on Red Earth, and it was about 6 a.m. currently. The huge red sun had just emerged from the horizon, and the dark purple sky was gradually turning orange. Base No.18, where they were staying, was located in a relatively dry grassland located far from the coast, with little rainfall. Most of the time, the weather was very sunny, but even in the daytime, you could see the shadows of one or two curved moons hanging in the West.

Many nonhumans rushed to occupy the toilets, while some of them began to eat their compressed food in the hall to supplement their energy. Samuel looked impatiently at his underlings, who were in dispute due to someone occupying the toilet first. His fingers were constantly rubbing against each other in an attempt to mitigate his inner anxiety.

All of you here, listen to me. From now on, you are not allowed to leave the base without my consent. If you see any living things on this planet, whether they are plants, animals, or insects, you are absolutely not allowed to come into contact with them without permission. Tell me directly if you see anything, understand?!

His voice was as loud as a bell. Most of the fifty nonhumans, who were not at all his people, seemed complacent since Samuel was always aggressive and had a plan in mind.

However, not everyone was subject to his leadership. Another Alpha, Cavin, who had a subpar relationship with Samuel narrowed his eyes. He suddenly said in a cold voice, Jeff is gone.

Samuel pursed his lips momentarily. Just as he was thinking about telling him about Jeffs condition, Derek spoke nonchalantly as he drank a box of milk, Hes basically dead. You dont want to see him.

Ethan and Samuel were stunned. Ethan couldnt help standing up and questioning, YouYouve been in the command room?

Wasnt the command room accessible only with a certain level of authority? Wasnt Ethan the only one qualified right now?

Derek shrugged his shoulders and wiped the milk stain from his lips. He replied, Didnt you want me to fix Ginas communication system? Its not difficult to see what you did two hours ago when I have access to Ginas central programming, and the cameras are not too terribly encrypted.

Dereks words caused a commotion. Cavin scowled and questioned, What have you done to Jeff?!

He was infected by local organisms, and we isolated him to prevent the spread of the virus. You probably wont see him for a while, before Samuel or Ethan could speak, Tanisiel walked out and spoke calmly, with a gentle smile on his face. The ten thousand function sphere twirled up and down around him as he continued, But you dont have to worry because support will be coming very soon.

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