"Tap... tap... tap..."

In the dark and confined hallway, Yun You and the group of three wore heavy, fully-sealed hazmat suits, stepping over the hard rock steps and exploring the tunnels.

Initially, when they first entered the mine, Jack cautiously walked back and forth to see if normal entry and exit through the mine passage was possible.

At first, everything seemed safe; he could leave the pit freely and also communicate with the outside mine supervisor.

But as the trio continued deeper into the tunnel and passed the first corner, everything changed.

Almost in an instant, the light from the outside vanished completely.

When Jack turned his head around, the exit on the other side of the corner had transformed into a completely unfamiliar tunnel, pitch black, leading nowhere known.

Clearly, at the moment the trio stepped into the corner, the space within the tunnel underwent a significant change.

The exact reason for the change remains unclear, but it's certain that returning by normal means would likely be impossible.

This was the conclusion Jack reached after walking back for three hours... only to find himself emerging in a different fork in the path.

In Jack's words, it felt a bit like the urban legend of "ghost hitting a wall."

However, Yun You felt that the spatial characteristics exhibited by the tunnel were quite similar to the "Death Domain," both featuring disordered space and indeterminate time.

The cheap electronic watches on their wrists had already malfunctioned, and even mechanical watches had hands spinning erratically.

Fortunately, the Information Reconnaissance Chip in Yun You's ear and the Hacker Module in Frost Moon's mind were still functioning properly; otherwise, they might have already lost track of time.

However, the temperature and such remained relatively normal, not showing the "temperature spike" state mentioned in the miners' diaries.

"Wait a moment..."

While walking, Frost Moon suddenly halted.

A gray rocky wall, uneven in surface, stood before him.

"There are some brownish dried stains up here... appearing splattered, resembling bloodstains somewhat."

"Let me analyze it."

At these words, Yun You and Jack became instantly interested.

This area is located in the upper part of the mine, about 30 meters underground, the earliest excavation point of the entire tunnel system, so the overall space is quite large, allowing the three to observe the rocky wall together.

"It seems to indeed be blood."

Jack, gazing at the spot Frost Moon pointed to, frowned slightly.

It's a concave part of the rock wall, and although the surface gravel has fallen off quite severely, if you look closely, you can still spot traces of dark red stains within the sand's crevices.

The overall environment inside the tunnel is rather humid, so for it to dry out like this, it must have been around for quite a while.

"DNA comparison shows that this is human blood, and it was splattered by 'splashing.'"

Using the "forensic chip" in his brain, Frost Moon simulates and recreates the scene of the bloodstain's formation.

"According to big data analysis, this should be from a burly miner, suddenly struck by a sharp object, causing the skin to rupture, thus spraying the blood."

"Could it have been caused by a monster?"

"Not necessarily."

Jack shook his head.

He groped the wall, muttering, "I had an uncle who worked in the mine, and he said that over a decade ago, there existed a kind of 'Automatic Supervisor Robot' in the mine."

"This thing was equipped with highly advanced monitoring chips, with both hands transformed into iron whips, specifically to watch over and whip the miners. Anyone caught slacking would get whipped directly!"

"It could monitor the miners' current physical strength at any time, adjusting the whip strength according to the level of their slacking. Sometimes, the force was so strong it could even kill someone! It would whip someone, leaving them with lacerated skin, and some blood would splatter on the wall, which was quite normal."

"That's way too far-fetched!"

Frost Moon's mouth twitched uncontrollably, and he couldn't resist retorting, "Machines created by humans not only fail to help people, but actually beat them up... Even as dark humor, that's truly hellish."

"And if they can whip people, why can't they be used to mine?"

"Because it's cheaper to have machines whipping people than mining."

Jack shrugged, saying, "Cost reduction and efficiency increase, you know."

"In any case, it could potentially be man-made. But no matter what, its formation time should not be less than 5 years; that's almost certain, given the drying conditions here..."

"No, that's not right."

Midway through Jack's speech, Yun You, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke up.

She squeezed past the two, standing before the rocky wall, and gently touched the bloodstains, murmuring, "The appearance time of these bloodstains is probably only about 5 days old—no more than a week at most."

"...!"

Hearing this, Jack and Frost Moon were both stunned, a hint of perplexity flashing in their eyes.

They, of course, couldn't understand, because neither of them could see the information panel visible only to Yun You.

[AI Zhaocai No. 1 reminds you, information analysis completed]

[Target liquid is human blood, through cell detection, determined to belong to a 15-year-old female human, afflicted with an illness not recorded in the database, blood detached from the body for 5–7 days]

[The following is the scene analysis]

[A week ago, a girl approximately 15 years of age stepped foot here, attacked by an unknown entity, suffered arterial rupture, spraying out at least 300 milliliters of blood within 30 seconds, most of which splattered onto the rock wall and afterwards slid to the ground]

This was the information panel presented by the "Information Reconnaissance Chip" on Yun You's retinas.

Yuanbao's technical prowess was quite exaggerated, crafting chips considerably stronger than ordinary hacker chips.

The information derived from it was naturally more detailed and held greater credibility.

"The victim sprayed out at least 300 milliliters of blood, yet the rock wall only bears a few traces."

Yun You approached the rock wall, speaking in a low voice, "Moreover, in this humid environment, it couldn't possibly have naturally dried to this extent in a week."

"Could it be... it was absorbed into the rock and... underground?"

Speaking, Yun You instinctively lowered her head, as did Jack and Frost Moon, looking toward what they had long neglected...

The ground beneath their feet.

Then, astonishingly, the trio saw a thick, soft, pink fungal carpet, wriggling under their feet, resembling countless maggots writhing together on the steps...

Be it blood or water, any liquid would be entirely absorbed the instant it touched the fungal carpet.

The three had no idea when it appeared, nor did they sense any movement or aura.

It suddenly manifested, covering the entire ground.

"This is... the fungal carpet mentioned in the diary!"

Jack furrowed his brow, slowly raising one foot.

Under his metal boot sole, a piece of fungal carpet, unknowingly crushed, was writhing slowly, appearing less like fungi, more like some kind of highly active larva.

Luckily, their protective suit boots were also fully covered, with airtight plastic and steel plates shielding them from the fungal carpet, thus sparing their feet from direct contact with this bizarre plant.

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