As Charles watched the sharp teeth approach his head, he instinctively swung the large bundle in his hands, using the recoil to escape danger. However, the tug tore his clothes, scattering countless artifacts on the ground with a clattering sound. Among them, an ancient oil lamp trembled slightly before suddenly emitting a dazzling light, illuminating the entire corridor like daylight.

  The flying leeches, seemingly stimulated by something, began to shake as if electrocuted. Seizing the opportunity to escape, Charles dashed forward, clutching the remaining small bundle of items.

  He ran at the limit of human speed for nearly five minutes, and when he saw nothing pursuing him, he finally stopped, panting heavily. Looking down at the few artifacts left in his arms, he felt a pang of regret; only four items remained in his tattered clothes.

  “Damn it! You snot worms better watch out! I’ll remember this grudge! Once I get rich, I’ll come back and boil you all alive!!”

  After venting his frustration, Charles straightened up and surveyed his dim surroundings. If the previous place resembled a hospital, this one was entirely a military base. The walls were no longer bright white tiles but thick steel plates.

  He hadn’t been here before; it seemed he had wandered into another area.

  “Hello? Is anyone there?” Charles’s voice echoed in the air.

  He walked along the wall, and soon a nearly five-meter-tall circular iron door appeared before him. The door, almost half a meter thick, was not intact; a crack nearly split it in two.

  Charles cautiously leaned in to peek inside, discovering a vast space beyond.

  Suddenly, a distant, hoarse cough echoed from within, startling Charles. “What’s going on? Could there be someone alive in there?”

  After glancing back, Charles carefully stepped over the crack and entered.

  As soon as he stepped inside, he was stunned by the sight before him: a long tunnel resembling an air raid shelter. Every hundred meters, there was an iron door. The nearest door had come off its hinges, embedded in the ceiling.

  “Cough... cough!” The cough came again from further inside, sounding like an elderly person.

  Charles slowed his pace and felt his way toward the source of the sound.

  Before long, he found the source of the coughing: broken intestines, congealed blood, lifeless eyeballs, withered limbs, and a decayed brain. A grotesque door made of these materials stood in the center of Door No. 4, with a writhing purple liquid inside.

  On the left side at the bottom of that door was the upper half of a bloody corpse; the earlier cough had come from it. The mangled figure opened its eyes and looked at Charles.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Ah~ 096, have you finally found another host? Come here, come here! Since I was sent to this hellhole, I haven’t seen you in a while. Let’s have a good chat.”

  He knows me? No, he recognizes the mask on my face?

  Charles’s gaze swept over the record book on the wall, noting the project number: “1068.”

  “Ha ha, I thought I recognized you; it’s 1068! Good friend, long time no see! That’s right, I am 096,” Charles said, approaching the flesh door with familiarity.

  The bloody corpse on the door stared at Charles for a few seconds before gently shaking its head. “No, you are not 096; you have not become it.”

  Seeing that he couldn’t trick this guy, Charles decided to be straightforward and asked, “Hey, do you know where the exit is?”

  “Isn’t it unrealistic to ask an immobile old man for directions? Has humanity really become that foolish over the years?”

  Over the years? Has this guy been around for a long time? Does he know anything about the surface?

  After pondering for a moment, Charles began to inquire about surface information.

  “Ah~ the sun! Of course, I know what that is; it’s that thing hanging in the sky. I haven’t basked in the sun for a long time. Can you move me out so I can soak up some rays?”

  Hearing this thrilling news, Charles jumped up like a monkey, tightly holding the bloody corpse’s head and excitedly shouting, “When did you last see it? How long ago was that?”

  “Damn! Don’t pull my head!! I still have feeling!”

  “Clang!” Charles pulled the black knife embedded in his calf and pressed it against the creature’s face, threatening in a stern tone, “Stop the nonsense! Just tell me!”

  A hint of anger appeared on 1068’s bloodied face. “The door on my body, pass through the door on my body to see the sun.”

  “Door?” Charles thought of something and walked toward the entrance, looking at the record book hanging on the wall.

  A few seconds later, he stormed back, slashing the knife across its neck. “You dare lie to me! It clearly states above that behind your door is another world! No living creature that entered has ever come out!”

  With a scream from 1068, the entire flesh door seemed to convulse in pain.

  “You worthless trash meant to wipe butts! I curse you!” 1068 dropped its pretense and began to curse at Charles.

  “Speak quickly! If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll chop your head off!”

  Faced with the blade so close, 1068 finally relented.

  With a dispirited expression, it said, “I forget how long it’s been; the last time I saw the sun was when they put me on a ship. I sat on that ship for a long time.”

  “Ha ha ha!” Charles, filled with joy, began to flip in the air, laughing maniacally.

  “I knew someone came down from the surface! I knew it!! If they can come down, I can definitely go up!!”

  But before Charles could revel in his happiness for too long, a familiar red light flickered outside the door.

  “Oh no! The snot worms are back!” Charles looked around for a place to hide, but soon realized that in the entire room, aside from the flesh door, there was not a single thing to take cover behind.

  Charles’s mind raced, and suddenly he thought of a plan. He dashed to the corner of the room and, like a gecko, scampered up to the upper left corner.

  Charles pressed his limbs tightly against the walls, using his incredible body control to wedge himself in the corner.

  Just as he steadied himself, three flying leeches, glowing red, floated in.

  The leeches didn’t notice Charles and swam directly to 1068, beginning to vomit, with half-rotten mice pouring into the door.

  “They... are they feeding 1068? Why?”

  While Charles was puzzled, 1068 began to speak. “Dr. Tina, you are still as beautiful as ever.”

  “Who is it talking to?” Another question popped into Charles’s mind.

  At that moment, he suddenly saw 1068 looking up at him, a smug smile spreading across its bloodied face. Charles’s heart sank.

  “Dr. Tina! 096 has come out!! It’s hanging in the upper left corner of the room! Quickly contain it!!”