Blue Star

Iris has always been abnormal when he came down from the deep pit. According to the habits he learned in the past, there must be something under the library.It's just that it's not clear whether it's danger or ordinary biological perception.

Because he didn't feel aggressive in Iris' body, and he could even be called gentle.But he had a hunch that the things underneath must not be of the same kind as mermaids. In the ruined library far away from the port, there were only mutated plants and man-eating beasts.

The soldiers on the top floor of the cafeteria have already returned the same way one after another, and the team members who claimed to have fallen below did not call for help.

Without any hesitation, Captain Ossid walked up to Gu Li and used crystal mines to illuminate the corridor in the lounge on the next floor.Most of the curved aisles are open and rusty mechanical doors, only some of them are locked tightly.If it is a normal archaeological exploration, I am afraid it will have to be forcibly pried open.

The floors that are not exposed to light are dark and damp, and after 200 years, no one has visited them, and there are insect nets and crazy fungus everywhere.

Gu Li aimed the beam of light on the ring at the collapsed place in the middle of the corridor. There were a few scratches from military boots on the dirty floor tiles, and a large piece of fungus that became slippery after being trampled off.

Ossid glanced at the scene of the accident, turned his back to Gu Li and asked, "Is there any record of this kind of slime mold in the plant notes?"

Before the army had time to read the notes handed over to the elders, they just glanced at some of the plants that had been marked as extinct and submitted them.Usually, the elders will wait until the elders have studied it thoroughly before re-copying it into a book and sending it to the army for explanation.

Gu Li is not sure, most of the plants and fungi are beyond his knowledge.

"This kind of fungus is not recorded in the notes." He tried to guess: "However, there is a fungus whose shape is similar to what we see now, hairnet fungus."

He probably guessed what Ossid was wondering about, and explained: "Most of the hairy net fungus we have seen before are mature, dark brown and dense with a certain length, which looks like human hair. But when it is protoplasmic , but it is white dense small particles.

According to the environmental conditions of the library, most of what we see should be after adulthood.Because the growth rate of hairnet bacteria is very fast, at least it will not be sticky in flakes as seen now. "

Ossid heard what he meant, and shone the light source on the surrounding walls, "You mean, these bacteria are probably just larvae?"

The large area of ​​white slime mold on the wall was much larger than the hairnet fungus he remembered.Although the shape of the umbrella bag is similar, the protoplasm of the hair net fungus will be more plump and round, and there is no umbrella edge that expands outward.

However, all the animals and plants in this world are changing, and it is not surprising that they are different from the original ecology.Much like a baby salamander found in a harbor hold, many things are metamorphosed by magnetic fields.

"Will it be infected?"

He shone the light beam of the crystal mine on the collapsed part of the soldier's accident again, trying to find a way to go down safely.

In the past, Gu Li was sure that these plants were harmless, but now, he couldn't guarantee anything.I can only say: "At least there is no secondary change in my magnetic field."

Ossid put away the heavy crossbow, bit the handle of the crystal mine in his hand, put on his gloves and jumped down while supporting the collapsed part.

Gu Li was about to follow, but was stopped by Osid seriously: "Stay on top."

The light source shined on the surrounding floors, and when they saw the large cocoons all over the place, they couldn't help cursing secretly: "This group of damned ghosts have used the bottom of the library as their nest."

Gu Li looked at the scene on the next floor with an ugly expression. There were cocoons the size of an adult densely packed in the curved corridor.There are sticky white insect nets everywhere on the walls, on the ground, and on the top.As for the mutated mosquitoes that fled like crazy just now, many corpses stuck to these nets.

The next floor of the lounge is the dormitory. In some of the rooms where you can still see the whole picture, the severely rusted iron bed frame was also covered by insect nets and lost its original appearance.

The ground is mostly rust powder and wall ash gravel that has collapsed for a long time, coupled with sticky insect nets, every step you take is like a prey struggling in a cage.

"Don't make a sound."

Osid made Gu Li and Iris, who were squatting on the upper floor, hold their breath, and the wind from the corridor seemed to be very regular.

Most of the less than one-third part of the library is covered by vegetation. It is difficult to archaeologically, so no one has ever come down. Many door openings and internal facilities still maintain their original appearance.Even if there is a strong wind caused by bad weather, the sound of the wind will never come from the direction of the ground.

Ossid squatted down slowly, picked up a piece of gravel from his feet, and threw it in the direction of the stairs on the lower floor.The regular sound of the wind stopped abruptly, but soon it sounded again because the surroundings were too quiet.

"Female, sex." Iris suddenly said with gentle eyes.

Gu Li reached out and grabbed Iris who was about to jump down, and asked in a low voice, "What female? A mermaid?"

Although I think it is pure nonsense that mermaids appear here, but what else can attract male mermaids besides the same kind?

When the mermaid is in heat, it emits a scent that attracts the other half, but now he doesn't feel anything more than the rotten smell of the fungus, and he can't tell the difference.

There was a small amount of blood on the place where Osid was standing, and in the direction leading to the next floor, many insect nets had been cut open by daggers.There were no dead bodies or remains, and it was at least guessed that the fallen soldiers were still alive.

Gu Li saw that Osid was going in the direction of the regular wind, so he couldn't help persuading him: "If they have already been infected..."

"I will kill them with my own hands and take away the code tags that belong to them." Osid's eyes were firm. "My soldiers, even if they are infected, still belong to humans."

Gu Li didn't speak any more, and jumped down with one hand supporting the ground.Immediately, Iris followed closely behind.

Osid was a little annoyed, "Go up, down rescue doesn't need you clumsy recruits."

"Since they belong to human beings, I have the right to protect their safety." Gu Li waved the light beam emitted from the ring, easily cutting through the dense insect net in front of Osid.

There was a sound of hurried footsteps from the corridor on the top of the lounge, and the lighting from the crystal mine hit Gu Li from top to bottom.

Remy, who did not follow the team back to the base, leaned half his body in. After seeing the dense scene around him, he couldn't help being stunned. He quickly adjusted his mentality and reported to the captain.

"The rain has become heavier, and we missed the last batch of climbing ropes. People from the second team are still pulling the ropes, but some people are still injured..."

Ossid frowned, "Let them leave as much as possible. Once the rain is heavy, it will be difficult to stop. If we can't leave, we will guard on the upper floor. If we have a situation, listen to my whistle and prepare for rescue."

"Yes!"

Remy took out the rescue rope from his bag, threw the top end to Gu Li below, tied the end part around his waist, and then went back to the place where he entered the library to guard.

Gu Li caught the rescue rope and quickly knotted it around his waist, but when he raised his hand again to light it with the ring, he suddenly found a little blood on the leather glove, which was touched from the rescue rope.Looking up at the place where Remy left, he cut the insect net with a heavy heart and followed Osid.

Half of the stairs going down from the dormitory floor collapsed, and thick tree roots penetrated the library building from the outside and grew downward, covering nearly two-thirds of the bottom of the library with interlaced roots.The original human civilization has been turned into an abyss of ruins, and even the most basic exploration value has been lost.

The two soldiers who needed to be rescued were on the roots of the tree three floors down, and their hands and feet were slightly or severely injured.Sitting half-lying on the front of the arched tree roots, if there is a slight mistake, it will fall to the bottom of the library tens of meters down.

When the soldiers saw the captain who came to the rescue, their pale and terrified faces finally turned red.But they quickly made a booing gesture, signaling to the three people who came to rescue not to make a sound.He signaled the captain to look down with his eyes, his cheeks and palms were covered with fine sweat from nervousness.

Gu Li was stopped behind by Oxide's outstretched arms, but even so, he still saw the scene under the library.

At the bottom of the library that was penetrated by external force, at a depth of more than 40 meters, a huge creature resembling a Peterpus salamander is curling up to build a nest.And the regular sound of wind that had been felt before was the breathing of this salamander.

The raised bones on the body are more mature than the mutated creatures found in the town, and the smooth amphibian skin on the epidermis has also become dry and hard like armor.The curled body is about 30 meters long and nearly ten meters high. Assuming that the body is fully stretched, it should be longer than estimated.

This is a female salamander. If I guess correctly, it should be in estrus.Occasional tail wagging gestures and dawdling movements, as well as male salamanders approaching it from time to time around, can well prove this point.

The size of the male salamanders is not that huge, but the length of each salamander is about ten meters.

Surrounding the salamanders are mostly thick tree roots that have been bitten down, and some of the intact ones are also covered with cocoons.Just like the ones seen on the dormitory floor, they are almost everywhere in sight.

The two wounded soldiers looked up nervously, and the cocoon closest to them seemed to be moving.From time to time, there was the sound of the cocoon being bitten from the bottom of the downward-facing cocoon.

The soldier dragged his injured arm and moved back, but the dark tree roots were so smooth that they would slide back to the original place if they were not careful, and there was even a risk of falling.

Osid raised his hand and made a stop gesture to the two soldiers, then carefully put down the backpack, took out a bundle of rescue ropes from inside and slowly put it where the soldiers were.

Gu Li stepped forward to help, and handed the end that needed force to Iris.The mermaid has great strength, so it shouldn't be too difficult to pull three people up.

In order not to make a sound, Osid removed the metal buckle at the front end of the rescue rope.But in this way, the rescue rope without gravity is easily blown off the direction by the salamander's breath, and the soldiers' positions cannot be found after several times down.

Oxide had no choice but to pull back the rescue rope, and Gu Li said softly, "Tie me up with a rope, and I'll go down to meet him."

The movement of the metal buckle thrown out was not small, but if he was tied down, at least the sound could be minimized, and then he could safely climb to the soldiers' position with the rescue rope.

Osid hesitated for only a few seconds before agreeing to his proposal.

Among the three people who came to the rescue, only Gu Li was the lightest.Moreover, the wizard can control the magnetic field of the crystal ore, even if any accident occurs, he can deal with it.

Seeing Gu Li tie the knot behind his waist around his waist, Iris clamped Gu Li's shoulders with a grim expression, motioning him not to go down.

Before seeing a female salamander, he could smell something like a mermaid in estrus.But when he saw the smelling body, all he had left was a cautious defense and an attack that was about to explode at any time.

Gu Li pulled away Iris's hand and whispered: "Pull me up later, I need your help, don't let me die in this kind of place."

Without waiting for Iris to object again, he quickly tied the safety rope around his waist, and then lightly jumped back, jumping from the collapsed stairs to the nearest section of winding tree roots.

When climbing with hands and feet, he lowered his breathing and voice as much as possible, and only when he reached the top of the two soldiers did he gesture to Osid to prepare to go down.

After a period of training, Iris seems to have a higher level of understanding of human beings.Gu Li gestured for a tightening motion, and Iris obediently tightened the rescue rope that bound him.

Gu Li breathed out, tightened the rope and slowly descended along the intertwined tree roots.He could see the surface of the cocoons close at hand, and he could also see the various books and rusty iron pipes at the bottom of the library that the salamanders used to build their nests.

Suddenly, the huge female salamander stopped breathing, moved her left limb and changed into a curled up position.

The few people who didn't even dare to breathe could only stop all their movements, and continued to release the rescue rope after making sure that the salamanders hadn't found them.

Gu Li felt thirsty, and after making a swallowing movement, he fell down one meter again.

When he lowered his head, he saw a lot of waste products under the feet of the female salamander. Among the broken and incomplete machinery, a book with folded kraft paper caught his attention.

Because the books have been placed in the damp ground for a long time, the surface of the books has been severely rotted.But even so, he saw exposed hand-drawn mechanical drawings.

The temperature controller, the scribbled characters came into view, and the name of Patriarch Elder was impressively marked on the inscription.

He retracted his gaze, and landed safely and smoothly on the roots of the wounded soldiers.He untied the rescue rope that tied him, and carefully moved the front end to the position of the soldiers.

The two soldiers were very grateful, and explained while tying the rescue rope: "There are salamanders on the dormitory floor, and we accidentally fell down to avoid them."

"It's useless to explain. I will tell the captain myself after I get up. What I need to make sure is whether you have been infected."

The two soldiers hurriedly shook their heads, "No, no, it's just a fall, we were not bitten by any creature."

Gu Li watched the first soldier fasten the safety rope, then stood up and gestured upwards to the captain and Iris above, and then began to pull people up quietly and steadily.

Another soldier with a broken leg grabbed Gu Li's hand and climbed up to a relatively safe place. He looked at the cocoon closest to them with a pale face, and said in a trembling voice: "There are salamanders inside the cocoon, and the entire library The bottom is the nest of salamanders!"

Gu Li couldn't help feeling chills down his spine. He helped the wounded soldier to sit within the range he could protect, then stood up and walked to the front of the tree root.Looking around, in the entire collapsed library, there are nearly thousands of cocoons, overlapping and spreading all over the tree roots and walls.

And the one closest to them, after a moment of restlessness, crawled out of the cocoon that was bitten open at the lower end, and a dozen or so palm-sized baby salamanders crawled out.

He took a step back and turned the ring, and after lighting up the light beam, a protective layer of water molecules was propped up between the two rescued soldiers.

The soldier who was first pulled to a safe position stood above the heads of the two of them and put the rescue rope, and said in a low voice, "Come up quickly, these cocoons are hatching, and there are at least thirty infected salamanders in one cocoon!"

Gu Li tied the lowered safety rope around the waist of the soldier who broke his leg, and then took out another bundle of spare safety rope and tied it to the stronger place of the tree root.

Looking at the huge salamander curled up underneath, he said with a little guilt: "You guys go up first, I'm going down to get something very important."