Earth Dungeon 121.2

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Chapter 121.2. Underground

"I got the creeps, seriously, cut me some slack."

The young man who had tangled with Mogami earlier grinned thinly, shouldering an automatic rifle as if to show off.

"Alright, nothing abnormal inside. Everyone, come in."

Several individuals, armed with automatic rifles, checked the room and then gestured for the others to enter. The rest quietly entered without making a sound.

Inside the room, darkness also prevailed, and only the light of flashlights illuminated it.

Aside from a large generator-like device on the wall, there was nothing else in the spacious room. One person from the group approached a large generator, about 20 meters tall, and began checking if it was in working order.

As Mogami and the others watched with anticipation, silently observing without interfering, some time passed. The man conducting the inspection wiped his forehead, then smirked.

"It's fine. It doesn't seem to be broken. It'll start running once we flip the switch."

"Hey, what about the fuel for this generator? Is it a fuel cell? Kerosene? Gasoline?"

A young man who had been interjecting since the investigation raised a skeptical voice. It was a reasonable question. The generator had been left untouched for over ten years. Both kerosene and gasoline could have evaporated or become unusable.

"It's fine... The fuel here doesn't decay or evaporate. It's because of this."

Mogami pressed a switch on the side of the generator, and a panel opened with a clanking sound.

"What's this? Isn't a crystal embedded here? What is this? A battery, Mogami?"

In the opened panel, a pitch-black crystal was embedded like a battery.

"...I don't know... Just like this gun, I haven't figured out the true nature of this crystal."

Mogami sighed while showing the gun in his hand.

"Over ten years of investigation, and we still don't know anything... But, we'll collect the necessary materials and resume the investigation."

"Using some incomprehensible thing and going underground..."

A young man made a displeased face in response to Mogami's answer. The other young faces exchanged glances, expressing confusion.

"Because it's something incomprehensible, we can have hope. If you don't like it, you're free to leave, right?"

"No... We also need weapons."

"Yeah, we can't go back empty-handed."

"We'll stick with Mogami from the beginning."

The reasons varied, but those who followed had no intention of going back. Mogami breathed a sigh of relief, signaling the man operating the generator.

"Do it."

"Understood."

Pulling the lever and flipping the switch produced a heavy sound, and the generator started to operate with a vibrating sound. The panel on the generator emitted light, projecting the situation inside the building as a hologram.

"Not only the fuel is unknown, but the system of this hologram was also not understood... No, most of it was unknown."

"You can regret that later, Mogami. Now, let's supply power to the building."

"Yeah, do it."

Even though the structure was not understood, the usage was simple. Such machines were designed to be easily operated by anyone.

Pressing the panel, the ceiling brightened, illuminating the surroundings. Despite the absence of lamps, the ceiling itself began to glow. Just with that, it was evident that unknown materials and advanced machinery were in use.

However, understanding was limited to that. The structure remained incomprehensible.

One of Mogami's companions peered outside the door, and the pitch-dark world without a trace of light had transformed into a world of light. Outside the window, many buildings stood tall in the darkness.

Only this building shone brightly, like a glimmer of hope amid hell.

However, Mogami and the others soon realized it was not a light of hope.

"Aaah!"

"Wooah!"

"Dazgegege!"

Voices resembling human screams echoed from the surroundings. It was a voice filled with suffering, as if echoing from the depths of hell, conveying a terrifying feeling of hatred towards something.

"Let's go down before the zombies find us! Head to the elevator!"

"Yeah!"

As the agonizing voices echoed through the building, everyone hurriedly ran.

"Is the elevator ahead, old man?"

"Yeah, but don't rush too much!"

Ignoring Mogami's warning, the young man quickened his pace and advanced. Running past the eerie wall covered with stalactites, he found the elevator hall and the terrifying voices heard from various directions became closer.

The young man forcefully pressed the elevator switch on the wall. With a click sound, the light came on the elevator switch, and the displayed floor on the panel next to the door kept increasing rapidly.

"Hurry, hurry! Hey, hurry up even more!"

Persistently pressing the panel, the young man ignored Mogami's urging, and Mogami aimed his gun, vigilant of the surroundings.

"Until the elevator arrives, everyone, guard this place!"

"Yeah, got it."

"Prepare for combat!"

Kneeling down, everyone spread out, holding their guns with tense expressions, guarding the elevator hall.

The groaning voices gradually approached.

"They're here! Crystal zombies!"

Someone noticed a figure running from the depths of the corridor and alerted the others.

A creature approached from the depths of the corridor, swinging its limbs with all its might. It was human, but its entire body was covered with jet-black crystals, its eyes glowed red with madness, drool dripped, and it bared its jagged teeth, wearing blood-stained clothes.

It was human, yet not human. It was the end result of a former human covered in a black aura.

"Shoot, shoot!"

In response to Mogami's words, a comrade pulled the trigger of the gun. Light, dry sounds echoed, and high-speed bullets hit the former human, breaking the crystals covering its body, embedding the bullets, and defeating it.

The crystal zombie fell backward, convulsing. However, more of the same creatures appeared one after another.

With a thunderous noise and the simultaneous gunfire of allies, they took down the creatures one by one.

"Here they come, they're here! Ugyaaah!"

With a popping sound, when the arrival of the elevator was indicated, the young man joyfully shouted with the door opened behind him, but,

"Woooh"

"Aaah"

"Dazgegege"

Crystal zombies inside the elevator swarmed him, biting and devouring him. Listening to the sounds of bones breaking and flesh being torn apart, Mogami wore a stern expression and disengaged the safety on his gun.