Enforcer Manual
Chapter 268: When You Gaze Into the Abyss_1

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: When You Gaze Into the Abyss_1

The machine gunner couldn’t beat the Flying Dragon, and Song Lan thought that made sense.

And after Oleg mentioned that this pit could incubate such flying mutant creatures, he knew he’d definitely make friends with the one beneath the pit.

The two waited for Oleg’s team to carefully complete the finishing work, which was aimed at cleaning the mutant creature eggs at the entrance of the pit. Even the medical team that had lived here for only a month didn’t know how these eggs came about. No matter how clean they were removed the day before, a new batch would appear right on time the next morning.

If the eggs weren’t cleaned up before nightfall, the mutant flying creatures would hatch.

Watching those eggs ignited by flamethrowers, Song Lan had mixed feelings.

Yet, to avoid having Oleg turn around and give him a rocket to verify his identity, Song Lan had to suppress the thought, "Why don’t you guys leave an egg, I want to see what the mutant creature looks like."

It didn’t matter, they would grow back tomorrow.

He comforted himself with this thought.

After the work was completed, Oleg brought them to a sealed building, which was an indoor sports center before the outbreak of the infection, and had become the temporary base for the medical squad after a comprehensive disinfection process.

After taking off his exoskeleton armor, Song Lan finally met Dr. Oleg in person.

A tall man with skin tanned dark by the "external" harsh climate, a crew cut, and his left hand replaced with a mechanical prosthesis, he made a first impression more of a boxer than a doctor.

He took them to the conference room and said, "Our research has hit a bottleneck. To further obtain information about the source of infection, we’ll have to go deep into the pit. However, on one hand, we’re completely ignorant about the interior of the pit; on the other hand, the narrow spaces inside are not suitable for the movement of exoskeleton armor."

While they were willing to take risks, it didn’t mean they wanted to rush in thoughtlessly.

As a medical squad, they were well aware that without the protection of the exoskeleton armor, they would probably not be able to handle even the mutant civilians, let alone the unknown mutant creatures lurking deep in the pit.

Recklessly entering the pit was akin to throwing their lives away, but they were unwilling to give up now. This was the closest they’d ever been to the source of infection, and Oleg had a premonition that the secret behind the frequent infections in the third country was probably hidden beneath that pit.

Only by investigating the source of the infection itself could there be a chance to resolve the virus fundamentally.

"A few days ago, Andrew rushed into the pit alone."

"Are you sure he didn’t just fall in by accident?"

Lu Xiang couldn’t help but ask, because from the notes Andrew left behind, he seemed to be full of complaints about Oleg and the mission itself, which didn’t look like he voluntarily went into the pit for investigation.

Based on the information she had at the moment, they couldn’t completely trust Oleg.

Firstly, he stole an "Commander IV" exoskeleton armor from the dispatched troops and cut off communication with the external department, which meant he’d planned this from the beginning.

"Of course not, Andrew is the bravest lad I know. He proposed the idea of sending an exploration team into the pit a long time ago and volunteered to start the reconnaissance work. We stopped him every time, but a few days ago, when no one was looking, he sneaked in alone."

Oleg’s regretful expression seemed genuine. He was the closest one to Andrew at the time, but when Andrew decided to rush into the pit, he hesitated.

"Actually, every night for the past few days, I’ve been thinking about something."

He looked out of the conference room window; the Sun was about to set, and soon nightfall would come, bringing the long night that drove the town’s residents mad—the main culprit.

Oleg felt that he might have gone mad himself, "Deep within my heart, there might also be some kind of desire, hoping someone could break the deadlock."

Conscience and responsibility made him reject Andrew’s suggestions time and again, yet when Andrew entered the pit alone, when he created an "irresistible" reason, Oleg hesitated.

By the time he came to his senses, Andrew’s figure had already disappeared into the dark depths of the pit.

"Andrew spent nearly half an hour in the pit and brought back a message—besides the corrupted nest, there were also traces of human life beneath, as if returning to primitive living, carving murals on the walls, seemingly worshipping something, which they appeared to call ’Queen’s Nest’."

Indeed, none of the team had expected Andrew to return, and the message he brought back was indeed of breakthrough significance.

At least, for the first time, they began to understand what they were truly facing.

"I suspect the entire underground pit is the ’Queen’s Nest,’ and the thing those people worship is hidden deep within the nest. Andrew’s return brought us confidence. We had already started planning to delve deeper into the pit, but that very night, Andrew donned his exoskeleton armor and ran out."

After nightfall, it was a common understanding that no one should go out.

Oleg read the information in the memo. Andrew mentioned in the memo that he fled because he was worried about others discovering his infection, but this clearly did not match what they knew.

"Are you sure that Andrew was already infected when you saw him?"

Oleg asked gravely.

"Positive, his facial skin was already necrotic, completely losing sanity, not even knowing how to get out of the exoskeleton armor... Why do you ask?"

"Because on the day Andrew returned, we performed six examinations on him, and the results all showed no sign of infection."

Oleg’s expression grew serious; this was exactly the news he least wanted to hear.

As a medical team, how could they not conduct a thorough examination on Andrew after his return from the pit? And Andrew was aware of all the examination results, so, logically, he should not have developed the idea in his memo unless...

"Unless he encountered something else in the pit that caused his mental instability. We are certain that there were no signs of infection on him before he left this place. The infection must have occurred after he left."

This seemed to confirm another speculation in Oleg’s mind, "The closer you are to the source of infection, the more likely you are to become mentally unstable, which is also one of the symptoms of infection. We can only perform physical examinations and cannot know if the infected’s mind has been affected."

If this hypothesis held true, then they would never be able to understand the true nature of the ’Queen’s Nest.’

Because even if they truly reached the deepest part of the nest, they would likely have gone mad already.

"Then let us conduct the investigation."

Song Lan volunteered eagerly.

Eager for a more amiable interaction with the "Queen’s Nest," he almost wished Oleg and the others would not follow him.

"You?"

"Unified Technology has anticipated such a scenario; hence, the exoskeleton armor is equipped with special countermeasure devices. This is the latest technology of Unified Technology... the strength of ’Doomsayer Mark I’."

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