Several days later.

In a complex network of underground tunnels, within a dim pit.

Suren suppressed his breathing as much as possible, his gaze fixed intently on a spot hundreds of meters away.

There, a humanoid monster roamed aimlessly, hunting for prey in the cavern.

It wore remnants of human clothing and equipment, but its appearance had been completely transformed into a swollen, grotesque creature resembling a corpse in advanced decomposition.

Suren watched the monster, his finger already on the trigger of his alchemical-bullet-loaded rifle.

If it came any closer, he would blow its head off with a single shot.

[Aberrant Human]

Details: A demonic creature transformed from a human unable to withstand the corrosive power of the curse, possessing highly sensitive hearing. Devoid of intelligence, driven only by the instinct to hunt and kill.

Fortunately, after a while, the monster wandered off in another direction, not approaching Suren's hiding place.

Suren breathed a sigh of relief, "Hah... just how many strange creatures are there in this underground world..."

This wasn't the first time he'd encountered such a monster.

He'd run into one three days ago when he emerged from the secret passage.

At that time, he was completely unaware of the dangers of the underground cave and didn't realize that even the faint sound of his footsteps on the stones could attract these monsters with their acute hearing.

Fortunately, his enhanced eyesight allowed him to spot it in time.

The thing charged at him like a mountain of flesh, almost ending him on the spot.

It was impossible to get close to an Aberrant, or even a small scratch could splatter your face with its disgusting, rotten flesh and sludge.

Extremely corrosive and foul-smelling.

Ordinary bullets were almost useless, as effective as hitting a pile of mud.

"Blurp~" A bubble, with no effect whatsoever.

Fortunately, Suren had come prepared, using up several of those "high-explosive" alchemical bullets.

Precise shots caused violent explosions, like榴弹炮 (liú dàn pào, grenade launchers), tearing the monster to shreds.

But he didn't have many alchemical bullets left, and these caves held more than just this one type of monster.

If it weren't for him awakening the "Omniscient Eye," greatly enhancing his night vision, he would have died many times over, relying solely on that crude alchemical night-vision device.

Suren had initially thought this underground world was a large mine or cave system.

But the size of the underground space was unbelievably vast, with not only remnants of human cities but also a complete ecosystem with various animals, plants, and monsters lurking in every dark corner.

Had he ever seen a forest of luminous mushrooms dozens of meters tall?

Had he ever seen lizards the size of dinosaurs?

Had he ever seen red-eyed rats swarming like locusts?

Had he ever seen centipedes more than ten meters long with a thousand legs?

Had he ever seen giant tentacle monsters with eyes covering the walls?

Suren certainly hadn't seen them in his previous life; in just a few days, his brain had accumulated a lot of strange knowledge. Under the identification of the "Omniscient Eye," he also recognized many bizarre creatures.

These subterranean creatures were mostly grotesque and disgusting, like deformed creatures after nuclear radiation...

The living environment was extremely harsh for humans!

......

Fearing the monster hadn't gone far, Suren decided to stay in the pit for a while longer, replenishing his food and water.

"According to the map I found in the bald man's storage ring, I should be reaching the B-level area with a higher frequency of human activity. Maybe I can run into other wasteland reclamation squads and ask someone about the situation..."

Suren looked at the marked map and checked his food and water reserves again, estimating that his rations probably wouldn't last until he reached the human-populated city at the end of the map.

Alone, he had been cautious, not daring to casually shoot those subterranean creatures for fear of attracting even bigger trouble.

These past few days had gradually given him a more accurate understanding of this mysterious world with its supernatural powers.

The existence of such a large urban ruin in the underground world indicated that a large number of humans lived here thousands of years ago.

Moreover, Baldy Ivan and the others weren't miners, but their team seemed to be a "wasteland reclamation team" that specialized in exploring the caves and searching for supplies.

Their pale skin wasn't just because of their bloodline, but because of the paleness from not being exposed to sunlight for long periods.

Suren suspected that even his destination wasn't on the surface, but underground.

However, all of this was speculation.

If he could survive to reach his "destination" in a few more days, he would probably know for sure.

.......

Soon, the feeling of fullness from the food made Suren feel that his glycogen was sufficient, and he could continue on his way.

At this time, he suddenly thought of something and took out the [Pestoya's Brooch] that he had previously placed in his storage ring.

For the past few days, Suren had been pondering what the unknown information of "???" displayed on the brooch was.

The mystery of Pestoya's death by burning had been perplexing him.

An abandoned manor that had been deserted for a thousand years, a ghost species, a story with obvious doubts...

It was as if a jigsaw puzzle was missing a "crucial link."

Having watched more than a thousand horror movies and completed countless horror games, Suren had a gut feeling that there was something wrong with this brooch.

And with so many strange supernatural forces in this world, it might be a big trouble.

If he didn't know, he would just ignore it. But since he had doubts, Suren didn't plan to keep this "potentially explosive" thing with him.

Now that he was far enough away from the manor, he wasn't worried about triggering anything bad.

Without hesitation, Suren dug a hole in the stone pit, buried the brooch, and marked it.

Thinking that if there were no problems, he would dig it out again later when his knowledge could identify the hidden information on it.

Little did he know that soon after he buried it, a certain will within the brooch awoke, and a murmur seemed to echo from the abyss: "Eh... has that kid discovered something?"

.......

Suren didn't know that just a few days after he left "Stormwind Manor" through that secret passage, a team of men in black arrived quietly.

In the dilapidated manor, a blond youth in a pink suit was leisurely drinking coffee. The eerie and terrifying atmosphere in front of him seemed to be commonplace, not affecting his mood in the slightest.

Soon, the blond youth's subordinates had violently broken through the "cursed space" filled with bizarre dolls.

A burly man in a black suit walked over with a box and reported, "Young Master Evan, there was a 'ghost species' in the cursed space of this manor, and we have eliminated it."

The burly man spoke casually, as if he was experienced in handling such matters.

After a pause, he opened the box to display the spoils and said, "This is the 'cursed object' found after killing the weirdo, which should be the source supporting this cursed space. Master Nick has already identified it, and the quality of this cursed object is very high, and its effectiveness is also very good..."

The blond youth glanced at the black butterfly brooch in the box. Seeing that it was a women's item, he wasn't very interested and waved his hand, saying, "Miss Theresa likes to collect these accessories, send it to her mansion when we get back."

The burly man respectfully said, "Yes, Young Master."

.......

This group of people also seemed to possess the same "treasure map" as Suren, and they quickly found the underground passage, then found the shattered altar through the maze.

The blond youth was still looking forward to the legendary ruins of the "Twilight Cross Society," the most mysterious and powerful alchemical organization of the last era, which had shocked the clan elders. He fantasized that if the altar really existed as recorded in the deciphered content of the manuscript, then he might be able to awaken a legendary super-talent ability.

But he didn't expect to hear some "bad news" soon after.

The black-suited guard captain walked over with a slightly ugly expression and reported, "Young Master, we have explored the basement and it does match the deciphered content in the [Isaac Alchemy Manuscript]. But the ancient altar in the secret room has been destroyed and can no longer be used for sacrificial rituals. And..."

The blond youth vaguely felt that he was about to hear something bad: "And what?"

The burly man said, "Moreover, after careful investigation, we found traces of recent human activity in the basement. So we judged that the altar may have been triggered by someone else..."

Hearing this, the blond youth angrily said, "How is that possible! We are the only ones who know this information!"

After the huge gap of losing the treasure, he suddenly thought of something and angrily said, "Damn it! That old fellow from the Rega family must be messing with us again!"

"What about the ancient city ruins over there?"

"We've already sent people to investigate, but no one has returned alive... The preliminary assessment is that the danger level is at least 'red'."

......

On the other hand, Suren finally encountered living people after walking for a few more days.