Chapter 4: Steam Jet

"You really didn't buy any intel from the information merchant and just came straight here?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that explains why you dared to stay in room 2012."

"..."

"This 'Abnormal Creature Shelter 407' currently has four known floors, with a hundred rooms on each floor. Some rooms contain monsters, some are vacant. The twelve hours when the iron doors are closed represent night; monsters will go berserk and wander the bunker corridors. Anyone who leaves their room would get killed. Monsters occasionally burst into rooms to kill as well. The twelve hours when the iron doors are open is considered day. The monsters will be stuck in their rooms. This is the best time to explore this alternate dimension. However, it is not entirely safe. If you want to kill monsters for material, you need to explore the rooms. And to open a room, you will encounter unknown creatures... This is why the death rate is so high."

"How dangerous is a B-tier catastrophe likely to be?"

"Currently, we know that there is a B-tier mutation monster in rooms 1099, 2012, 3045, 4011. Except for the Corrupted Giant in 1099, which was killed. The other three B-tier catastrophes haven't been killed yet, instead, they have killed at least hundreds of people. After all, this space limits the tier of the entrants, and it's tough to kill a B-tier catastrophe without a large team."

"Yet you still...?"

"The Fallen Witch Sect is unique and spiritual. She has her weaknesses. I have some special methods to restrain her, which will reduce the difficulty significantly. I will explain some details later."

"..."

This mechanical arm girl, although unphased and wary of strangers, doesn't mince her words.

Her direct and no-nonsense character.

Leonard Churchill found it to be quite to his liking.

He tried to disguise his ignorance by asking some ambiguous questions and gradually learned some useful information.

Through their conversation, he began to unravel the mysterious fantasy world.

It apparently is a world where both humans and monsters possess extraordinary power, atypical items like steam machinery and magic-powered cards.

...

Open the door, be cautious, and search.

The mechanical arm girl could handle it all alone.

Leonard Churchill didn't have to do anything, just follow her and play the supportive role.

There were vacant rooms for over a dozen miles.

Leonard Churchill walked leisurely.

He did not feel any danger despite the 70% fatality rate.

However, as they were walking, he seemed to notice something unusual, his expression turned serious, silently pondering,"The distance between each room is twenty steps...Is there something wrong with the layout of room 2012?"

He didn't know the significance of his small discovery, so he kept quiet and continued onward.

The gas lamps in the corridor were not stable, their dim yellow light casting elongated shadows.

As they were talking, they arrived at the door of room 2049.

As before, the mechanical arm girl intended to go inside for a look.

Just as she pushed the iron door open, however, a sudden change occurred.

The noise of the door opening startled the creature inside. With a 'clang', the heavy door was blown open by a gust of wind, hitting hard against the wall.

A repugnant odor of rotting flesh mixed with blood rushed towards them.

On seeing this, Leonard Churchill's pupils shrank abruptly.

They had opened so many rooms and this was the first time they had encountered a monster.

Before he even had time to react, a monstrous, skinless two-headed hunting dog sprang out.

Despite it being a mutated dog, its size was akin to a male lion, and it exerted a pressure like nothing less than seeing a demon.

He also instantaneously read the prompt on the monster's head.

'Bas Double-Headed Hunting Dog'

Explanation: A first-tier D-class catastrophe body, a hellish breed mutated dog-like creature excelling in mental intimidation. It possesses astonishing burst speed and biting capability.

"Mental intimidation? The monsters in this world are not quite normal..."

Leonard Churchill immediately understood what that physically intimidating pressure was. His hand, which was resting on the revolver at his waist, instantly tightened in a defensive posture.

But clearly, the mechanical arm girl was faster.

It was as if she wasn't taken aback by the monster that sprang out from the room. She raised her steam gun attached to her right arm like a flash of lightning, calmly pulling the trigger.

The high-pressure spray gun let out a roar, and her body trembled slightly.

"Boom!"

The deafening sound of an air explosion echoed in the corridor at that moment.

The monster was less than a foot away from the girl at that point. Still, the moment the white fog sprayed out from the gun muzzle, the lion-like body hung in the air. After a moment's pause, its muscles began to tear apart under the high pressure and rapidly transform into a cloud of blood.

"Sizzle~"

The sky was filled with an eruption of bright red.

The steam disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the view became clear.

The entire room was filled with radiating flesh and blood, the smell was so strong that it made one feel like throwing up, even through the gas mask.

"Such powerful destruction."

Leonard Churchill looked at this Steam Black Technology, and suddenly felt that it was a wise decision not to have started a conflict earlier.

In such a narrow bunker, this was much more useful than bullets. The killing range of the high-pressure cannon was simply invincible.

Perhaps this person was also issuing a warning in this way: don't try any tricks in my presence.

Leonard Churchill's eyebrows raised slightly, thinking to himself: straightforward indeed.

He glanced at the emptied pressure gauge on the mechanical arm and estimated the charging time. It should exceed thirty seconds. This could indeed be a weakness.

If this temporary teammate had any ill intentions, this point could also be taken advantage of.

The girl with the mechanical arm quickly killed the monster, turned her head and looked at Leonard Churchill, "You..."

She swallowed whatever she was about to say.

This shot did indeed showcase her strength.

But what surprised her was that this guy was not deterred by the catastrophe?

"A talent in mental power enhancement, huh..."

She muttered to herself, saying no more, and walked into the room.

...

Out of the hundred rooms on the second floor, they had investigated over forty, but only one room, 2049, contained a monster.

The rooms that were not opened were marked as "unknown risk rooms" by the Information merchant.

The girl with the mechanical arm had a very clear target, the Fallen Witch Sect, and therefore had no interest in the monsters in other rooms.

She also had no intention of taking the elevator to other floors.

But what surprised Leonard Churchill was that besides them, there were no other people on the second floor. However, they did come across more than a dozen dead human bodies.

Wanting to gather more information, he asked, "Are there no other people on this floor?"

The girl with the mechanical arm's tone was noticeably better, as Leonard Churchill had not given her any trouble along the way. She explained, "The mutation monsters on the second floor are mostly of the spirit type. These monsters usually have some weird attack methods and are tricky to handle. The easy-to-kill monsters were mostly wiped out yesterday. The rest are troublesome monsters that need some tactics to be dealt with. So the average hunters prefer to go to the third floor with higher fatality rates, rather than picking a fight on the second floor. This is a hundred-member team space, so there should still be dozens of living people upstairs and downstairs. But it is best not to encounter them if you can."

Speaking of which, she added, "Don't touch those unopened doors, nobody knows what's inside. If you encounter a Catastrophe of class C or higher, you could potentially be wiped out."

"OK."

Leonard Churchill didn't say much.

This is the advantage of buying information.

You won't stumble upon monsters you can't handle.

The girl with the mechanical arm said, "Let's go, we're going to the next room."

...

While Leonard Churchill and the girl were searching the vacant rooms on the second floor, twenty or so well-equipped individuals were clearing up the body of a class B Catastrophe, a Corrupted Giant, outside room 1099 on the first floor.

This crew were not ordinary treasure hunters, they were the elite vanguard of the Blackwater Mercenary Corps.

Only an elite team like theirs, with effective teamwork, could hunt a class B disaster as non-professional players.

Even so, the casualties were not small.

But looking at their gains, the mercenaries broke into smiles.

"Hahaha... We actually got a shining silver Finished Contract Card, and it's the rare sequence of the Four of Clubs-Mystery. We're going to make a fortune this time!"

"Yeah. This stuff is hot at the auction house. We'll definitely get a nice bonus this time."

"Hey, have you noticed? Even though we got a shiny silver card, the 'boss' doesn't seem interested at all. What on earth is he looking for?"

"What do you know? Didn't you hear the captain say that our 'boss' is a real big shot from the Upper City. The Silver Talent Card, which we think is very rare, may not be a big deal to those big shots. He obviously wants more rare materials. And this Alternate Dimension is less than 50% developed, so there are still many hidden plots. Maybe we could even get the legendary Gold Cards..."

"Well, that makes sense."

"So what if it does? Killing this Corrupted Giant, our Mercenary Corps's two elite teams suffered heavy losses. Who can kill the class B Catastrophes on the second, third, and fourth floors?"

"Yeah. This space limits the tier of entry, and the monster strength is ridiculously high. I've explored dozens of Alternate Dimensions, but I've never encountered anything so bizarre..."

"Who cares. The boss has personally gone to the fourth floor, we just need to wait here and do our job for the pay."

"..."