At the Antarctic United Nations Observatory, numerous technicians and scientists manned various observational equipment linked to the search party down below. The last few minutes had been filled with an eerie silence from the expeditioners’ end.
“Something is wrong. Why haven’t we received any information from them? They should at least report that they are safe.”
In the observation room, an observer said anxiously.
“Could something have happened?”
Another observer muttered in a low voice, which drew the angry looks of the crowd.
This observer hurriedly raised his hand in apprehension and smiled bitterly, “I was just joking, just joking.”
His words really had the connotation of cursing someone to death, and he regretted it after saying them.
The others glanced at him and paid no attention to him as they continued to observe the data shown on the screen.
“According to our instrument readings, the people underground in Antarctica haven't moved at all. They are still at a depth of 913 meters below ground. This is impossible. Even if there were some issues down there, they shouldn't remain still. Moreover, based on the data from the chips we injected into them, their life signs are stable, and there is no immediate danger to anyone.”
The leader of the observation team stroked his chin, puzzled.
As soon as he finished his words, one of the observers shouted in alarm, “Leader, there is a change! There is a change! The meteorite fragment that we had been observing is glowing!”
The moment the observer finished speaking, everyone's faces turned pale, and they quickly gathered around. They saw on one of the screens that the meteorite fragment was emitting a bright red light. It blinked several times in succession, and then, right before their eyes, the meteorite fragment disappeared!
“It disappeared?? What’s going on? The fragment disappeared! Where did it go?”
The leader of the observation team shouted while rubbing his head.
No one could answer him. As the fragment was regarded as extremely dangerous, no one had actually come into any contact with it at all. They only used remote observation methods to keep watch over it. Since no locator was placed on it, no one knew where the fragment had gone.
At this moment, another observer shouted, “Leader, there is a change in the vital signs of the members of the expedition team personnel. Vital signs… vital signs are disappearing!”
“What?!”
The observation team leader immediately pushed away the crowd and ran over. Sure enough, the vital signs of some members of the expedition team had disappeared. His face changed drastically and yelled, “Quickly pass this news to the top!”
After thinking for a moment, he quickly added, “Notify the Antarctic base to signal the highest level of alert. Prepare to abandon everything and evacuate. The expedition team sacrificed themselves beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. We can’t tell if there is anything unknown and mysterious down there!”
The technicians immediately busied themselves. Soon the entire Antarctic base was on high alert. All personnel acted according to the code they had learned during the drills.
……
Under the Antarctic and inside the spaceship, the explorers covered their ears with pained expressions as the chants of ‘Cthulhu fhtagn’ drilled into their heads. They knew that staying there was meaningless so they began to move.
The interior of the ancient alien ship was very bright, with visible light sources, which eliminated the need for additional lighting and made the team feel slightly more at ease. Being in a well-lit environment allowed them to detect potential dangers early, and for humans, being in a well-lit place was always more reassuring than in the darkness.
“Everyone follow me and watch your steps!”
The major led a group of soldiers to scout ahead. The scholars walked in the middle, and the rest of the soldiers protected the rear.
“What the fuck. Which bastard is continuously shouting ‘Cthulhu fhtagn’!”
A grumpy expert cursed, but when he shouted the words ‘Cthulhu fhtagn’, his expression turned crazed as he began to dance around and drool from the corners of his mouth.
“Johnson!!”
The expert beside him saw his expression change drastically and immediately came over to slap him hard. The intense pain made Johnson come back to his senses.
“Don’t say that word!!!”
The expert who saved Johnson yelled.
Johnson clutched his head in horror and nodded repeatedly. He shivered, “If… if we make it back alive, I think I need to go see a psychiatrist.”
The others didn’t say anything because everyone felt that they should also go see a psychiatrist after all this.
“This looks like a door.”
The major walked up to a wall and, upon seeing the deteriorated yet highly advanced-looking door, he gave it a strong pat. They didn't have a map of the spaceship's interior, so they had no idea where they were.
Someone came over to help him examine the door, while Gui Bin stood idly by, looking around. Soon, in the midst of a fleshy and honeycomb-like wall, he noticed a symbol.
“Wait, don’t touch that door. The symbol here is exactly the same as on the badge the Elder Thing gave us earlier!”
Gui Bin tried to stop those studying the ‘door’ in a panic but was ultimately a step too late.
The door was opened.
To the astonishment of everyone, they looked inside the door, and soon, each person revealed a mix of surprise, confusion, and fear. Their emotions shrouded their hearts.
“Deep ones?!”
Behind this ‘door’ appeared the deep ones, the creatures that once wreaked havoc in Tokyo. These fish-like monsters exuded a viscous liquid from their bodies, and it seemed like they were performing some sort of ritual behind the door. All the incantations like 'Cthulhu fhtagn’ were actually chanted by them.
“No, that’s not an ordinary deep one! That's the deep ones’ high priest! I recognize it. I recognize it! It's the same one that had a huge battle with that immortal elder in Tokyo. I remember it escaped into Tokyo Bay. And now, it's appeared here in Antarctica!”
Gui Bin recognized the leader of the deep ones, and his fear intensified. This deep one was capable of battling the immortal elder for hundreds of rounds and couldn't be killed even by the main battle tanks of various countries!
Encountering it here was certain death.
The major and the soldiers reacted even faster. They were only stunned for a moment before they raised their guns and started shooting.
“Da dada dada—”
Tracer rounds poured relentlessly, raining down on this group of deep ones. When these bullets hit the high priest, there were clanging sounds as they ricocheted off its skin. On the other hand, when they hit the regular deep ones, they caused some wounds, but these wounds were incredibly shallow.
Leaving aside the high priest, it would take heavy firepower and more ammunition to keep just an ordinary deep one!
After being attacked, these deep ones jumped and screamed while baring their teeth, but none of them moved.
“Why aren’t they moving? Could it be that they are in the middle of a ritual and can’t move?”
The crowd shook inwardly and let out a joyful smile. If that was the case then things couldn’t be better.
Then, everyone took the same action — turning around.
Even if this group of deep ones couldn’t move, their current weapons wouldn’t be able to do anything against them, so it would be better to run away now.
When the major turned his head, he saw that there seemed to be something next to the ‘door’. Without much thought, he grabbed it with his hand and placed it into his pocket.
Immediately, the deep one high priest jumped and shouted in a strange accent, “Shoggoth!!”
“Rumble rumble rumble—”
The spaceship shook violently!!
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