Bang, bang, bang …
Above the putrid swamp, the sound of knocking echoed from the white carcass troughs.
The troughs were made of stainless steel. The formalin-soaked Necro-skins were very heavy. If not for the pulley at the bottom, the men would have had a hard time moving them. The rectangular trough was locked from the outside. Even with the knocking coming from inside, it was still stable.
The knocking became more intense and urgent.
Yu Chi's group aimed their rifles at the trough. They did not move recklessly. Deng Ximei's group of three retraced their steps carefully.
The eight troughs that were scattered across the swamp were making similar noises. The things trapped inside kept knocking against each other and groaning could be heard.
"Ximei, what do you think?" Yu Chi asked anxiously, "Should we open it?"
The group turned to Deng Ximei but Deng Ximei's senses were muddled. There was life inside but it was blurry, murky, and stagnant like a ball of mud. She could not tell whether it was good or bad. At the same time, the knocking inside the trough reached its peak. Then it slowed down.
The thing inside appeared to be suffocating. If they wanted to capture it alive, they had to open the trough as soon as possible.
If they wanted to suffocate it, they only needed to watch it die. But this might be the Thing of Darkness' trick to make them lower their guard.
"It's dying." Deng Ximei frowned in thought. "I can't tell what it is."
"In that case, I don't think we should open it." Lou Xiaoning said harshly, "Let's give it a taste of formalin."
Feng Peiqian and Bell Grant agreed. Based on the current situation, the Fog Breakers did not need to take any more risks.
They had no idea how the Necro-skins managed to come back to life. Perhaps they were nourished by the black goat's power when they crossed the boundary. But from the available information, this was a species that had destroyed the foreign civilization. They had a powerful body — this was something that Phecda at Eastern State had discovered during their battle with them. In the Phecda World, they were only lacking in intelligence and knowledge, but here, inside the black goat's womb, the situation was vastly different.
The Necro-skins that were struggling in the trough were probably the kind that Carlop and the doctors were fighting against.
They might be stronger than the zombies and Deep Ones, they might even be as difficult to deal with as the flying polypus hydroids and locusts.
Their small team of eight had just arrived in this foreign land, and they still hadn't stabilized their footing. Taking this risk wasn't wise.
"In any case, I'm not going to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation if I open the door." Uncle Dan joked. "I've never taken formalin before."
Peacock and Malachite nodded in agreement. Deng Ximei stared at the corpse trough and did not say anything. She felt too strange. When the life inside the corpse trough died again, her heart tightened, it did not feel like the heartbeat of a dead enemy.
One by one, the corpse troughs stopped moving and became silent again, just like the surrounding rotten mud.
"Dead?" Yu Chi looked at Deng Ximei and then at the group. He had been feeling anxious for some reason. "Let's open this carefully."
They did not intend to bring these corpse troughs with them. Not only did they want to save energy, increase their speed, and improve their concealment, but these corpse troughs were stuck in the mud. Once they moved them, it was very likely that they would sink into the mud.
But of course, they had to open the corpse trough to see what was going on. Whether the Necro-skins inside were dead or alive, they had to be dealt with before the team could move out. Otherwise, there would be an unknown danger lurking behind them.
Originally, every corpse trough was equipped with a remote-controlled automatic opening mechanism but all the devices they brought were broken. This one was no exception, it was unresponsive.
Therefore, they had to open it manually. The mechanism should still be working, they only needed one person to unlock it and push on the lid.
"I'll open it." Malachite volunteered. The most dangerous person in this mission would be the one who opened the trough.
"Be careful." Peacock warned. Kathlyn also told Tom to be careful but Tom was reluctant. He hoped that Bell Grant would go first. Tom said, "Grant is the best choice. Theoretically speaking, he has a higher chance of survival than the rest of us. He is more suitable for the adventure …"
"You have a point." Bell Grant was not afraid. "Guys, let me do it."
"Alright, it's already dead while you were fighting for it." Uncle Dan joked, "It's too late to save it."
The last person to open the trough was Bell Grant. The others surrounded the trough at various key points. Even the sky was guarded. Even if a monster leaped into the air once the lid was opened, it would be covered by Peacock and Uncle Dan's firepower.
Lou Xiaoning, who was responsible for aiming at the front, was even more excited. She was hoping that the thing would fake its death so that she could shoot to her heart's content.
"Is everyone ready?" Bell Grant asked. He was only three steps away from the trough. After getting the confirmation that everyone was ready, he took another step forward and used the rifle in his hand to open the lid. The trough clicked and it was still silent.
The group held their breaths and their arms that held their guns were as hard as steel.
Bell Grant used the barrel to push against the outside of the trough and pushed with both hands. With a click, the stainless steel trough slid back on its own.
No monster leaped out and no black fog surged. The trough was still silent but the group's nerves were taut. They did not dare let their guard down.
As the lid moved back, the scene inside the storage tank was slowly revealed to Grant Bell. At this moment, only he could see it. No one else in the distance could see it, so he didn't know why Bell's expression changed so suddenly. It was as if he was stunned.
"Oh, no …" Bell Grant mumbled. "How, how is this possible …"
His face paled and his legs wobbled. He almost lost his balance. It was hard to tell what kind of shock was going through his mind.
"Grant? Grant? "Lou Xiaoning called," What's going on inside? "
The anxiety in Deng Ximei's heart intensified.
"You guys … come and take a look …" Bell Grant sounded panicked. "Perhaps this is just my imagination?"
"I'll go take a look. It might be a source of stress. Keep your eyes peeled!" Yu Chi hurried forward. Even though he had PTSD, it was abnormal PTSD. A normal source of stress would not affect his mind. If he was fine, the others would be fine …
No, he had PTSD but the others did not. If he was fine, the others would be fine too.
Yu Chi's mind was driven by a strange impulse. His logic was messed up and he lost control of his steps.
"Captain Yu!" Feng Peiqian called out urgently. "You've just lost one of your mental pillars."
The others also did not think it was a good idea for Yu Chi to take a closer look but Yu Chi had already approached the trough. He was close enough for him to see what was inside.
In that instant, Yu Chi was stunned as well. His face flushed red, and then he looked lost.
The thing soaking in the formalin was not a Necro-skin but a dead human male. The unshaven face was filled with agony at the moment of death.
Yu Chi saw himself, the dead body was him …
Or rather, it was an exact copy of Yu Chi, with the exact same physique and facial features.
For the first time, he saw himself with his own eyes.
But the dead body … was it really him?
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