"What's wrong?" Angelina couldn't help but ask when she saw Zhang Heng standing at the entrance of the elevator in a dazed manner.
"No, we can't take the lift!" Zhang Heng was frowning hard.
"Why is that? Are you saying that you'd rather take the stairs to get down there instead?" Angelina asked in return.
"No, not the stairs, either." Zhang Heng shook his head and continued, "There's too little space to maneuver in both of those places. If we were to run into that octopus-like necromorph, we'd be done for."
"But, how are we supposed to get to the bottom of the base if we can't use the elevator or stairs?"
"I remember the layout of this particular base and, if I'm not mistaken, there should be a huge chasm about one kilometer in diameter at the center of the base, no?"
"Well, you're right. That's where the simulation of space combat takes place. The entire base was designed to be ring-shaped just to wrap around that training ground."
"Well then, why don't we just drop to the bottommost part straight through that training ground then? How about that, eh?" Zhang Heng asked.
Angelina couldn't argue any further with Zhang Heng about that and simply decided to just take him to the training ground instead. It was worth noting that the base was so huge that the place felt like a small city in itself, with its design incredibly complex. One would only find one huge steel gate after another when walking through the base and everywhere they walked seemed to look near-identical, making it feel as if they had found themselves in some deep, inescapable labyrinth.
Furthermore, the pathways were often caked with dried bloodstains. The place looked like a typical scene from a horror film, with the bloodstains everywhere, combined with the very dim lights.
Zhang Heng kept his guard up throughout the whole trip, fearing that a necromorph would emerge out of nowhere all of a sudden. Worse still, he had to split a part of his attention to be on guard against Angelina, and that mental tension made him look very worried.
About three or four hours passed and Angelina's breathing gradually became increasingly labored. She wasn't the only one in such a state, as even Zhang Heng was beginning to show signs of exhaustion. The trip wasn't like his usual casual walks, as he had to keep himself tense and on edge all the time in that place where dangers lurked everywhere. If he didn't, some necromorph might charge out of any dank corner and snap their necks without warning.
However, things still looked weird, as he noted that they hadn't encountered even a single necromorph over the course of several hours, as if they had all disappeared without a trace in a single moment.
"Should we take a break?" Angelina sighed and asked at that moment. "One of the most important factors to survival is to maintain your strength. If we keep going like this, we'll all be dead tired before we even reach the training ground, and you're not telling me that you're gonna fight necromorphs when you can hardly even move, right?"
"Agreed." Zhang Heng nodded and pulled open a door by his side. There was a sign on the door saying 'barracks', but it was all dark inside.
Zhang Heng put his night vision to work without making a fuss about it. He could confirm that it was safe inside at the very instant he pulled the door opened. There was no necromorph to be found in there, only splatters of dried, blackened blood on the ground.
That room was indeed a barrack for the troops of the base.
He figured that there were hardly any humans who came in after the troops were corrupted by the Marker. The cots in the barracks smelled moldy and wet, and there were some cots that weren't tidied up, looking very messy. All of that seemed to tell them that the calamity that came all of a sudden, over a year ago, did really happen after all.
Zhang Heng looked around the place after stepping inside, inspecting every nook and cranny, from under the cots to even the drawers. He found no danger lurking within, and no leads of any kind as well.
Zhang Heng was very, very exhausted by then, both in body as well as mind. Keeping oneself tense and on edge for prolonged periods of time would tire one out quickly. While his body had been modified by the T-Virus, he was still just a human after all.
"Zhang Heng, you look like a mess. Get some good rest. We'll be the ones to do guard duty instead," Angelina said with a grin, after she and the others got into the room.
"Alright. I'd just hand the place to you guys then." A hint of wariness appeared in his eyes as he walked up to a cot near the very center of the room, before lying down and shutting his eyes.
He had no intention of falling asleep just like that. While Angelina was also a human, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't just cut his throat open when he had fallen asleep. While he was unable to think of any reason why she would do so, he wasn't about to assume that she was helping him out of the goodness of her heart. The way she just decided to follow him without making any requests or demands alone was more than enough to put him on edge.
Zhang Heng extended all of his other senses as soon as he closed his eyes. If someone were to get near him at that moment, he would be able to tell even with his eyes closed.
That was an ability he acquired after he injected himself with the T-Virus. The virus's purpose was to develop the perfect creature, which naturally made it imperative to include enhancing said creature's detection and perception abilities.
But… why couldn't I shake off this feeling of unease still? What the hell is it that I've overlooked?
Zhang Heng shut his eyes and thought about it, replaying everything he had been through since the very second that he arrived at that Dead Space plane. However, he still couldn't find what was the thing that he had overlooked, no matter how hard he searched.
He, while in a half-asleep state, felt someone approaching him after some time. He opened his eyes right away and saw Angelina sitting at the side of his cot, affection in her eyes.
"Do you think I'm pretty, Zhang Heng?" Angelina blurted out—something that he had never anticipated.
Zhang Heng narrowed his gaze without saying anything. He was even more tense now than he had been before.
"Don't hide your desires. Human civilization has collapsed. Morals and ethics are no more. If you want, I would…"
Angelina pushed some button somewhere before she finished her line. That airtight security suit just disengaged quickly, revealing that supple body of hers underneath.
Zhang Heng gasped and a fire seemed to have been lit inside him. He looked around on reflex and found no one else around.
"No need to look around. The four of them gave us the room. Just the two of us." Angelina flashed a sheepish grin and gradually lowered herself to his side. Her lustrous golden hair fell onto his face, making him feel ticklish inside out.
He began to figure if it would be alright for him to just let loose for a bit…
Zhang Heng's eyes looked rather shifty as he slowly raised his hand and made a move for the perky spot on her body, before realizing something all of a sudden. His expression changed drastically and pushed her down to the floor.
"Zhang Heng, what's wrong?" Angelina's reddened face quickly turned pale, as she asked in disbelief.
Zhang Heng was just as stunned himself. He looked down on his hands and felt himself being rather dazed. He felt his heart pounding really hard on his chest for a brief moment, as if to remind him that something bad was waiting to happen if he were to give in to his carnal desires. He shook his head in reflex and did nothing to explain himself.
What was even more weird was that Angelina didn't bother asking any further. She simply stood up without saying anything and left the room right away, making it look like what just happened was all just his imagination.
…
The night passed uneventfully and Zhang Heng got back on the road after resting for about 10 hours. About a day had passed since he first arrived in the Dead Space plane.
He walked for several hours more before finally seeing reinforced glass in front of him, instead of the regular walls. Behind the glass was a thick, pitch-black darkness.
"This is where the space-combat simulation took place, a huge hole with a diameter of one kilometer and completely sealed to maintain a vacuum within, just like how it would be in space, completely weightless," Angelina explained briefly.
Zhang Heng walked up to the glass and found the darkness out there to appear bottomless. He didn't say anything in response.
He kept feeling as if he was in a dream, ever since he had arrived in that plane somehow, and he kept feeling as if he had overlooked something. However, when he thought about it, everything seemed like sand slipping out of his fingers, keeping him from figuring it out.
Wait. Darkness?
Zhang Heng seemed to have realized something right away and a thought appeared in his mind. He stopped walking and beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
"What is it now?" Angelina asked, feeling concerned.
Zhang Heng didn't answer and simply turned around slowly. The four western men who had been following the two of them all the time seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
Yet another thought came to his mind as his pupils contracted, as if he was awakened to some divine truth.
He turned around yet again right away and found that Angelina, who should have been by his side, had disappeared without a trace as well.
Well, so this is what happened then!