From Robinson Crusoe

"Raphael, have you gone mad?"

The two soldiers, who had been hit by bullets, were bleeding from beneath their bodies, which stood out starkly against the gray-white floor tiles.

The power of modern firearms is undeniable; such an injury in an environment filled with radiation, pollution, and unknown pathogens would essentially be fatal.

The remaining Alexander's Legion soldiers outside the confessional room shouted curses as they dodged the gunfire coming from inside.

The lights that were just shining neatly straight ahead have become completely chaotic.

Amidst the stark contrast of light and shadow, the angel relief atop the main entrance to the confessional appears particularly menacing.

Chen Zhou only had a rifle. After noticing that Ivan was acting strangely, he rolled to the side of the corridor.

The Frenchmen's curses had barely subsided when the soldiers in the confessional responded with bullets.

Flames flickered in the cramped space. Alexander's Legion in front, Ivan's confidants in the middle, and Vladimirovich's Legion behind formed three separate groups. Only Chen Zhou stayed away from the others, observing coldly from a relatively safe corner.

……

Having gone through the baptism of war together and faced life and death for many years, no one knew why their once close comrade would suddenly change his temperament and shoot them.

But when faced with the threat of death, no one will sit idly by.

Attack, retaliate...

Gunfire erupted in succession, and Alexander's legion was quickly reduced to half its original size.

Neither the advanced drones nor the robotic dogs were of any use, and the communication channels were in complete chaos, with French, Russian, and English interspersed throughout, occasionally mixed with Ivan's manic laughter.

……

Chen Zhou turned off his headlamp and crouched in a corner, quietly observing everything.

The extraordinary perception ability was fully activated for the first time, revealing every detail of the battlefield in perfect detail, even capturing the traces of bullets in flight.

Besides the sounds of people's heartbeats and pulses, he could vaguely hear the crackling of electricity coming from the confessional room.

Immediately afterwards, he heard Ivan say "sing hymns".

The voice sounded like hundreds of children straining from their parched chests, broken and intermittent, yet possessing a bewitching magic—

On the bed of the dead, I heard the whispers of the shadow of death.

They crushed the bones and blood of the believers and cried out...

"Forget the holy name of God!"

Indulging one's desires is the true meaning of life!

……

The chilling chanting, once it entered Chen Zhou's ears, drowned out all the sounds of gunfire on the battlefield. Even when Chen Zhou used his hearing with extreme restraint, he could still hear the chanting—

It resonates in the brain, not in the ears.

Chen Zhou discovered that the more he focused his attention on the chanting, the clearer the sound became, and at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a sense of wanting to participate in the battle.

Fortunately, he is no longer in the same state as before. His extreme sports experience over the past two years has greatly improved his control over his body.

He can completely block out his hearing if he wants.

Although this cannot completely eliminate the chanting in his mind, it can greatly alleviate the effect of the sound on him.

……

"Confession room..."

Watching the mercenaries kill each other because of the noise, and recalling Ivan's words to him, Chen Zhou quickly found something unusual—

Ivan said the base has four floors, with the basement level being the living area for most of the ordinary staff.

Upon entering the base, what he saw and heard largely matched Ivan's account, but as he walked along, Chen Zhou felt that the layout was too much like an underground "simulated town," with very little equipment related to the modification experiments.

Only now did he realize what was happening and come to a bold guess—

Perhaps the entire transformation base doesn't have a living area at all; it's all a large experimental field built for human experimentation. It's just that the experiments on the basement level are special, giving people the illusion that this is a living area.

After all, even if the Soviets were deeply influenced by religion, it was impossible for them to build a separate confessional in a secret base and ostentatiously lay out elaborate reliefs on the ground, thus greatly increasing the area occupied by the confessional.

If he's not mistaken, the basement level might be the "Slavic Tundra 13 Confession Room" mentioned in the photo.

Based on what we've seen so far, this is most likely a kind of mentally distorting sonic weapon.

I just don't know why, even after the base has been abandoned for many years, it is still able to function normally...

What made Chen Zhou even more nervous was that Ivan, whose hearing had been modified, was obviously more susceptible to the influence of "hymns," yet he left the base abnormally and concealed the crisis existing on the base's lower level in his narration.

What does this mean?
If Ivan isn't insane, then he's completely untrustworthy for doing something like this.

……

"Damn it, we need to get out of this hellhole right now!"

The firefight lasted for some time, and the gunman in the confessional was hit by several Molotov cocktails and was no longer able to fire.

The flames radiated intense heat, scorching the bodies of the dead and detonating the remaining ammunition and explosives.

The oxygen in the air was being consumed rapidly, and the soldiers wearing protective suits all felt suffocated.

Vladimirovich's men, positioned at the rear, were the least affected and had maintained a zero-death record until now. However, bullets are merciless, and injuries are inevitable.

While ordering his strongest men to cover the wounded's evacuation, Vladimirovich openly stated his intentions over the communications channel—

This operation was clearly not as simple as the employer had described; Ivan had concealed far too many dangers.

If he had known that this would happen only on the basement level, he wouldn't have taken the deal, let alone for a million dollars a day, or even a tenth of that.

This is a deal with no chance of survival.

Seeing Alexander, who had been shot and was urgently bandaging his arm, Vladimirovich felt a chill run down his spine.

Fortunately, he was the vanguard and managed to break through the ice during the exploration. Otherwise, if his subordinates had explored the lower level, his army would be suffering heavy casualties now.

The money earned at that time might not even be enough for the compensation.

"We'll settle accounts with that old man after we get out."

Having made up their minds to leave, Vladimirovich's men retreated at almost full speed.

They not only had to be wary of attacks from the abnormal beings of Alexander's legion directly in front of them, but also of the sneak attacks from the giant rats they had seen before.

……

In this chaotic situation, apart from Chen Zhou, no one paid attention to the whereabouts of Ivan and his confidants, and Vladimirovich was no exception.

Only Chen Zhou, sensing something was wrong, saw Ivan and his confidants turn off all their headlamps, bypass the battlefield, turn towards the side door of the confessional on the side of the corridor, and disappear without a trace.

He now had two choices.

First, prioritize your own safety. If you sense something is amiss early on, quickly follow Vladimir Vladimirovich's group and leave this dangerous place. Otherwise, if the crazed Ivan causes further trouble, it will be difficult to leave. Second, follow Ivan and observe his intentions. If an opportunity arises, decisively thwart his plans.

Although this puts oneself in a dangerous situation, it allows one to resolve as many potential problems as possible.

After all, Ivan's purpose is unclear, and among all those currently exploring the base, perhaps only Ivan himself knows what he is up to.

If Ivan has truly gone mad for some purpose, he might blow up the base entrance and kill everyone with him. In that case, killing Ivan would be the optimal solution.

Otherwise, once he arrives at the entrance with Vladimirovich, he will most likely be trapped inside the base by Ivan's subsequent crazy actions, at which point he will truly be trapped with nowhere to go.

……

Faced with danger, Chen Zhou, no longer the naive man he once was, decisively chose to follow Ivan.

The root of the problem is inextricably linked to Ivan; no one else can provide the answer except by capturing Ivan.

Moreover, Chen Zhou was still unclear about what Ivan wanted to do by offering him such a large reward.

If he were truly important, why would Ivan abandon him and take his own trusted men on this mission?

Is Ivan insane or not?
……

As the headlamps were switched off one by one, the base was plunged into darkness.

The hazy darkness, the occasional gunshots, the crawling of rodents, and the chaotic footsteps made this place an unknown and primeval forest.

Anyone who makes a sound or emits light will become the target of everyone's attention and the center of everyone's gaze.

In Chen Zhou's eyes, even in pitch-black environments, the scene still presents a hazy, grayish texture, like an old black-and-white photograph.

Although the lack of color distorts the image, the pure black, white, and gray tones also give the picture more detail, allowing him to focus on other details.

Maintaining a distance of about 15 meters from Ivan, Chen Zhou carefully controlled his steps.

Like a nimble big cat, he quietly slipped behind Ivan and his confidants, using the raised reliefs on the wall and the dim environment as cover.

Just minutes earlier, Ivan and his confidants removed their protective helmets and put on head-mounted night vision goggles.

Ivan's dry hair was exposed, and as he continued to walk, strands of hair gradually fell out.

When Chen Zhou followed him into the side door of the confessional and walked along the cemetery passage filled with lead coffins to the end, he had become bald.

Behind that wrinkled head, a six-pointed star outlined in red paint could be vaguely seen. Many mysterious symbols of unknown meaning were written on the six-pointed star, which reminded Chen Zhou of the priests in movies who were in charge of evil rituals.

……

"Move it away."

Ivan's voice became clearer after he took off his helmet.

In stark contrast, his figure became increasingly hunched over; his nearly 180cm frame had shrunk to less than 165cm, making him look like a withered monkey surrounded by a group of tall, burly confidants.

At his command, Ivan's trusted aide immediately tightened his gloves and walked toward the oversized lead coffin located at the end of the cemetery.

……

Before starting the tracking, Chen Zhou deliberately discarded the Geiger counter to avoid revealing his location.

However, Ivan and his confidants did not discard the counter.

While still outside the confessional, the alarm of the Geiger counter never stopped until they entered the deep lead coffin tunnel, where it finally quieted down, only beeping every few seconds.

However, when Ivan's confidant used the pre-prepared equipment to secure the lid of the lead coffin and started the motor to pull it back, the Geiger counters immediately began to beep wildly.

At the same time, a faint blue light emanated from beneath the lead coffin lid.

There was no need for testing; Chen Zhou could sense the rapidly increasing radiation levels inside the tunnel simply by relying on his body's instinctive senses.

……

"Damn it, the old man is trying to find someone to die with him!"

Fortunately, he hadn't taken off his protective suit, and Chen Zhou immediately decided to evacuate the tunnel.

Although his resistance to radiation far exceeds that of ordinary people, he still cannot stay in such an environment for long.

No matter how strong one's body is, it is still within the realm of flesh and blood. Even spending just one second near this level of ionizing radiation can damage or even break one's DNA. At that point, let alone someone who is only slightly stronger than an ordinary person, even a "super soldier" from an American blockbuster might not be able to save his life.

……

The blue light beneath the coffin lid grew brighter, so bright that it made Chen Zhou, who was retreating, question something—

What intensity would be required to produce such bright light?

As far as he knew, even the blue glow produced by Cherenkov radiation was far from reaching this level.

You have to understand that the light emitted by nuclear fuel rods when an atomic reactor is started up is what you'd expect. How could there be such a high-purity radiation source in such an old and outdated base?

If the Soviet Union could really manufacture such a thing, how could it have lost the Cold War?

Just like Ivan said, they were so close to success, and from any perspective, they shouldn't have given up on the research.

Thinking did not stop Chen Zhou from continuing his retreat.

However, as the coffin lid opened wider and the blue light became increasingly pronounced, even making the remains inside faintly visible, he stopped.

The contrast between the dark environment and the blue light may have created the illusion that the blue light, once fully illuminating the tunnel, did not appear as bright and vibrant, but instead presented a clear, pale blue hue.

A blue that was exactly the same as the blue Chen Zhou had seen several times during the challenge.

"How can this be?"

Chen Zhou could hardly believe his eyes.

He found the groove where the two lead coffins intersected, stepped inside sideways, and then took off his helmet and pulled a necklace from the clothing around his neck.

The necklace is inlaid with a square blue crystal in white gold. The crystal is sky blue, and a simple comparison reveals that it is exactly the same blue color that blooms inside the lead coffin.

This crystal is the only item left to Chen Zhou by the Time and Space Administration after the private space failed.

To commemorate his past experiences, Chen Zhou had the crystal inlaid and then hung it around his neck, occasionally taking it out to play with it.

Although there are similar artifacts on Earth, none can compare with the craftsmanship of the Time and Space Administration in terms of properties.

In short, based on Chen Zhou's understanding, neither modern cutting tools nor extreme environments on Earth can damage the crystal, let alone cause any changes to it.

Chen Zhou had always thought that his intersection with the Time and Space Administration was like two intersecting straight lines, with no chance of ever converging again. He never expected that he would see the familiar blue light again here.

Without putting his helmet back on, Chen Zhou opened his eyes wide, his gaze piercing through the gaps in the silhouettes of Ivan's confidants, and finally saw what was inside the lead coffin—

It was a solidified "crystal statue" with a general outline similar to that of a primate, its body composed of countless tiny blue cubes.

It was exactly the same blue humanoid creature that Chen Zhou saw in his confused state when he returned to the modern world, except for its solidified body.

With just one glance, Chen Zhou could conjure up images of "staff of the Time and Space Administration," "higher-dimensional beings," or "aliens." (End of Chapter)