Tomb raider: You're going to extract my alien bloodline?

Chapter 24 Alone

The echoes of Zhang the Bald's "specific plan" were still ringing in the air when a crew member's urgent report came from outside the cabin door: "Advisor Zhang, Miss Ning, we've reached the designated location. The frogmen down below have reported that the location has been confirmed and the entrance has been found!"

Just moments before, Zhang the Bald had seemed serious, as if about to launch into a long speech, but in an instant, all expression vanished. He stood up nimbly, his face once again plastered with his signature smile, as if his previous seriousness had been merely an illusion. He waved his hand dismissively: "Now that we've found it, let's set off! What are we waiting for?"

He looked at the bewildered Wu Xie and said very naturally, "Comrade Xiao Wu, you lead the team, we'll follow you."

"Huh? Me? I'm leading the team?" Wu Xie pointed to his nose, his face blank. "Weren't we supposed to be discussing the specific plan?" He was internally screaming: I'm leading the team? What team am I leading? I don't even know which leg to step with first! Uncle San's notes didn't mention this!

Zhang the Bald chuckled, "As for the specific plan, of course we'll have to go into the tomb and find a 'corpse' before we can discuss it in detail." With that, he pushed Wuxie out.

Ah Ning was clearly more accustomed to this efficiency-first approach and immediately made the decision: "Everyone, change into your diving suits immediately, check your equipment, and go into the water in ten minutes!"

Everyone sprang into action, and unsurprisingly, an accident occurred when the diving suits were being distributed. Even though the fat man had taken the largest size diving suit and zipped it all the way up, his round, white belly still stubbornly peeked out, rising and falling with his breath.

Wu Xie pointed at the fat man's belly, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight: "Hahaha! Fatty, your fat is truly unbeatable! Even a diving suit can't contain it!"

The fat man, enraged, retorted, "Go away! What do you know? This is called reserve rations; it can stave off hunger in a pinch!"

Qin Yuan changed into a well-fitting diving suit and glanced at Zhang the Bald beside him. Although this guy had a receding hairline and his face was disguised as greasy, once he put on the diving suit, his figure was surprisingly well-proportioned and upright, with smooth muscle lines and no trace of the bloatedness of a middle-aged man.

Qin Yuan walked over and casually patted Zhang the Bald's arm. The arm felt strong and powerful. He teased in a low voice, "Professor Zhang, you're quite the hidden talent. You've maintained a good physique for middle age."

Zhang the Bald stiffened, adjusted his diving mask, and chuckled dryly, "Haha, I exercise regularly, I exercise regularly..."

At this moment, the fat man, having dismissed Wuxie, came over again with a knowing look on his face. He pulled Qin Yuan aside and whispered with a pained expression, "Little Blackie! How many times have I told you? Why did you go and mess with that bald guy again? If you really like men, when we get back, I'll find you a few handsome young men at Panjiayuan, guaranteed to be a hundred times better than this bald guy!"

Qin Yuan was both amused and exasperated by the fat man's persistent misunderstanding. He glanced meaningfully at Zhang Tuzi, who was checking the oxygen valve not far away, and smiled at the fat man, "Alright, then Fatty, you'd better put your heart into finding someone. As for the requirements... they can't be worse than our Brother Zhang."

The fat man didn't understand the deeper meaning in Qin Yuan's words, and just thought that he had unique tastes. He repeatedly assured him, with an expression that said, "Brother, I won't discriminate against you."

With everything ready, the group entered the water one by one. The icy seawater instantly enveloped their bodies, and the light quickly dimmed. They turned on their diving headlamps and, guided by the frogman in front, descended into the depths of the sea.

Below, the outline of a massive ancient shipwreck gradually comes into focus, like a sleeping behemoth lying prostrate on the dark seabed. The hull is mostly decayed wood, covered with a thick layer of coral and seaweed.

On one side of the ship, there is a large, irregular hole that was clearly excavated later. The edges of the hole are rough and pitted, not like it was dug by man, but rather like it was forcibly dug open by some animal.

The fat man swam to the cave entrance, gestured with his hand to indicate the claw marks, then made a gesture reminiscent of Sun Wukong shading his eyes with his hand, and pointed to the cave entrance. The meaning was clear: this was probably the work of a sea monkey.

The group cautiously entered the shipwreck through the tomb robber's hole. Inside was a relatively spacious passageway, flanked by rows of life-sized humanoid stone sculptures. These sculptures were ancient in style, with blurred faces, exuding a quiet eeriness. On the forehead of each sculpture, three circular bronze fish patterns with snake-like eyebrows were clearly carved.

Even more bizarre were the eyes of these stone sculptures, arranged from the direction they entered, from near to far. The closest sculptures had their eyes tightly closed, as if asleep; the ones in the middle were half-open, seemingly awake; and the eyes of the sculptures in the deepest part were fully open! The hollow stone eyeballs stared into the depths of the passageway, as if warning something.

Although according to the original story, these stone sculptures seemed to be just decorations and posed no real danger, Qin Yuan's instincts kicked in as he looked at the row of eyes that were gradually opening and the strange snake-eyebrow bronze fish mark on their foreheads. He felt a very subtle sense of being spied on and a warning of danger.

"Something's not right..." Qin Yuan's inner alarm bells went off. He deliberately slowed down and lagged behind the group, following along while observing the stone carvings more carefully, trying to find the source of his unease.

Just as he stopped in front of a stone sculpture with half-open eyes, reaching out to touch the engravings on the bronze fish with snake-like eyebrows—

"Splash!!!"

A violent churning of water and a dull thud suddenly came from the front of the tunnel!

Qin Yuan looked up abruptly and saw the headlamp beams swaying wildly. The people in front of him were frantically swimming back towards him, sprawled out in all directions. Behind them, a large clump of seaweed, writhing like a living creature, was relentlessly pursuing them at a speed defying fluid dynamics!

At the core of that clump of "seaweed," a distorted and blurry human face could be vaguely seen, exuding a strong aura of resentment and death!

Forbidden Woman!

Qin Yuan's pupils contracted! They were still quite a distance from the end of the passage, so how did this thing appear ahead of time? Or was it because his butterfly had stopped there that it caused some unknown change?

Just as the old woman's long hair, like countless tentacles, was about to wrap around Wuxie's ankles at the back, Zhang the Bald, who was at the front, suddenly stopped and turned around, facing the hard stone wall. He seemingly casually lifted his foot and kicked hard on a very hidden protrusion in the stone wall!

"Boom!"

A dull thud of machinery whirring echoed through the water! Suddenly, without warning, a hidden door slid open on the very stone wall where Zhang the Bald man was standing, creating a powerful suction current!

Caught off guard, Wu Xie, Fatty, A Ning, and Zhang the Bald, who were rushing in front, were instantly swept into the hidden door by the current of water!

With a "click!", the hidden door closed again at an extremely fast speed, perfectly shut, as if it had never been opened.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

By the time Qin Yuan realized what was happening, he was all alone in the dark passageway, along with... a clump of seaweed that had rushed up to him, radiating a chilling, deathly aura.

He was left alone outside with the Forbidden Woman!

Countless strands of hair, like living venomous snakes, danced silently in the water, slowly enveloping Qin Yuan. The distorted face hidden deep within the strands of hair seemed to be facing him, revealing a silent, malicious smile.

Suspended in the water, Qin Yuan gazed at the terrifying being before him, a being beyond human comprehension. Far from being alarmed, the cold, alien bloodline within him surged even more intensely. He exhaled a string of bubbles, feeling the restless urge to transform stirring in his fingertips. His pupils gradually dilated and straightened, better adapting to the darkness of the seabed.

"Very well," Qin Yuan sneered inwardly, assuming a fighting stance as the Forbidden Woman slowly approached. "Perfect, I'll use you to test my new ability."