The night wind of Grey Harbor carried the stench of decay, seeping into the gas mask. Lu Chen crouched at the edge of a twelfth-floor rooftop, his cybernetic left eye adjusting its focal length. Seven hundred meters away, the vine-entangled spire of a church glowed an eerie bluish-gray under the moonlight.
"Raven, you have twenty minutes," rasped Tang Jiu's voice through the earpiece. "The military patrol is sweeping the western slums."
Lu Chen's fingers brushed over the vibroblade at his waist, its hilt still stained with the brain matter of a soldier he had killed three hours ago. He watched the shambling Eroded circling the fountain in the church plaza—infected wretches hunched over, mindlessly repeating their former morning routines.
Suddenly, the stained-glass windows of the church exploded. A petite figure leaped from the third floor, her black nun's robe billowing. She rolled upon landing with inhuman precision. The Eroded pursuing her crashed through the stone railing and plummeted, splattering the plaza with dark green pus.
Lu Chen's pupils contracted slightly—when the girl turned, a silver cross pendant gleamed from beneath her robe. The very same pendant from his employer's photograph.
"Change of plans." He tore out the earpiece and sprinted toward the adjacent building. His mechanical joints emitted a faint hum as a grappling hook shot from his wrist, embedding itself into a concrete wall fifteen meters away. The night wind lifted his tactical coat, revealing the faded "Black Tower" company tattoo on his back.
As he scaled the church's side wall, a sickly sweet scent flooded his nostrils. Instinctively, he rolled aside—where he had stood, the stone now sizzled with corrosive acid. In the moonlight, three "Housewife" type Eroded approached, cleavers raised. Their aprons still bore cartoon teddy bears.
The vibroblade crackled with electric blue arcs as Lu Chen spun, decapitating the first attacker. Rotted mammary tissue gushed from its severed neck. Before the filth could touch his skin, he ducked into a slide, driving the blade into the abdomen of the second.
His cybernetic eye blared a warning—the final Eroded's cleaver was mere inches from his temple.
The black-robed girl flickered like a ghost. She struck the creature's chin with a midair kick, then landed and pressed her cross against its forehead. A piercing shriek tore through the night as the Eroded convulsed, smoking violently before crumbling to ash.
"You—" Lu Chen began, but the girl suddenly grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the confessional. She pried up a floor tile, revealing a hidden passage, and gestured a countdown.
Five. Four. Three—
The entire church shuddered violently. Stained glass shattered into dust as a deep, resonant pulse rippled through the structure.
As they plummeted, Lu Chen seized the girl, deploying a backup grappling hook to anchor them to the rock wall.
Twenty meters below, something massive tapped its chitinous limbs against the cavern floor. Its swollen abdomen pulsed with phosphorescent sacs, illuminating the walls, where hundreds of cocoons clung in clusters.
"The Breeder," he cursed under his breath. These mutants were only supposed to exist in the Core Zone. His employer never mentioned a Brood Nest beneath the church.
The girl suddenly broke free from his grasp. She snatched his vibroblade and lunged into the abyss. Lu Chen reached for her but only tore away her robe—moonlight revealed the barcode imprinted on her nape.
A Black Tower test subject.