No30 Ch14

“What?”

As his vision gradually cleared, Dylan looked around in bewilderment.

The power was returning. Liella, who had also turned around, blankly took in the brightly lit living quarters before suddenly snapping to her senses and checking the window. Sure enough, some of the humans near Unit 30 were turning their heads this way. Liella frantically pulled down the cover and drew the curtains.

“Haa, haa…”

Could this have been the destination?

Did someone get inside?

Just then, the lights went out again all at once. It was as if someone had turned them on to check if the power was working, then quickly turned them off.

“Wasn’t this exploration ship supposed to be broken?”

Dylan asked, unusually serious. He seemed to have reached the same conclusion as Liella.

“I don’t know. Maybe the power was cut off as an emergency measure, and it’s just a matter of turning it back on.”

“Then who checked the power? Was it that bastard?”

It was impossible to know. It would be a relief if it was Aslan, but she had a bad feeling. As soon as she made her decision, Liella dashed out of the room and fumbled for the flashlight on the living room table. Even as she cocked her pistol with a click, her mind was a mess, jumbled with the other team’s pleas for help over the radio, the sound of explosions, and Anton’s face as he told her to put her hands up.

It was definitely a person, not a monster, but sometimes that could be more dangerous. That was one lesson she had learned from Anton.

“Someone might have gotten inside the exploration ship. We should arm ourselves.”

“Ah… shit, of all times for that bastard to be gone.”

“That’s why we need to be even more alert. Judging by the explosions and the use of flares, they’re people who are familiar with weapons. I think one of us should approach them in a friendly manner at first. The other one can hide and watch, and shoot if the situation turns ugly.”

Liella had expected him to object, but Dylan was surprisingly cooperative in this emergency situation. While he was securely locking the hatch to the living quarters, Liella hid behind the sofa.

She was scared. How long had she been living in the dark that the thought of the lights turning on was even scarier? It felt as if her safe home had been invaded.

“Hey, is there any chance it could be a rescue team?”

Dylan asked anxiously, sitting on the edge of the sofa. Liella pondered.

“I wish it were. But no matter how I think about it, I have a bad feeling.”

“Ha, well, what’s the worst that could happen? Even if they’re intruders, there’s one good thing.”

“A good thing? What’s that?”

“You said there are monsters in the hallway, right? They’ll be unexpected gatekeepers.”

Dylan grinned. Liella’s eyes widened.

Now that she thought about it, he was right. Assuming they came from the lower floor, the intruders would have to face the tall woman and Anton. Should she consider this fortunate? As she strained her ears to listen to what was happening outside, she heard an artificial sound crackling from somewhere.

-This is Abyss 1, … Abyss 1… Calling all exploration ships that can hear us…

“What? Where is that sound coming from?”

“It’s the radio on the dining table. The red light is flashing.”

-We have found paradise here… I repeat, we have found paradise here. Leave your exploration ships and come down to the hole where the light is coming from. The deepest paradise has abundant water and food. We can live here.

As they listened dumbfounded, the transmission, which had been repeated twice, abruptly cut off. An eerie silence fell.

“……”

Without realizing it, Liella jumped up from the sofa where she had been hiding and ran to the dining table. It was more unfamiliar than a gun, but she knew how to use it. She had watched Aslan try to make contact several times.

She pressed the button on the left and awkwardly imitated him.

“This is Unit 30, this is Unit 30. Do you hear me?”

“……”

“Are you the ones who just entered the exploration ship?”

“……”

She waited, but the radio was silent, as if it had never emitted that androgynous voice. Liella turned to Dylan and asked hesitantly.

“Was that a dream? I wasn’t the only one who heard that, right?”

“…No, I heard it too. Something about paradise, they were trying to sell us something. Ah, shit, what the hell is going on?”

Dylan scratched the back of his head roughly and cursed.

She was confused. What should she do? When would Aslan come back? Should she just wait? Liella stood in the middle of the living room, lost in thought for a moment. It was then that she suddenly heard a series of gunshots from the hallway. As expected, someone had entered the exploration ship.

People shouting, footsteps. The sound of the hatch turning, as if someone was trying to open it.

Even without seeing it, she could picture the scene in the hallway. She could also hear the sharp scream of a woman. Liella reflexively raised her arms to cover her head and muttered softly.

“…I think I was wrong.”

“What?”

“What are we doing? There are people outside, and we have a safe space here.”

There are good people and bad people in the world. Just because she had met bad people before didn’t guarantee that the people she was about to meet would be bad too. Even if she had a bad feeling, she thought it was unlike her to act this way.

“Hey. I’m just saying this because I’m anxious. You’re not seriously thinking of going out there to help them after locking the door so securely, are you?”

“You said it yourself earlier. There’s a strange law in this world that only hurts those who are afraid. And we have enough food to last for six months.”

She didn’t want to be afraid of injustice and give up without even trying to believe. Ignoring Dylan’s curses, Liella ran towards the direction where she could faintly hear the woman’s groans and knocked on the door.

“Hey, can anyone in the hallway hear me?! If you can hear me, turn off the lights first!”

She knew that people who used flares would know this, but she pointed out the most important part just in case. The hallway suddenly fell silent, and then a young man shouted back.

“There’s no need to turn off the lights! The thing in the hallway is already dead!”

“Dead? It could, uh, die?”

She was so surprised that her pitch was slightly off. Perhaps that made her seem more human, as the other person’s voice became somewhat less wary.

“Yeah, of course! We killed it! All three of us are pretty badly injured, though!”

Three. The same number as them. Liella thought that the other person had mentioned the number of people on purpose.

“Is that the living quarters? Let us in! One of us is really badly injured! It’ll be dangerous if she doesn’t get treatment now!”

Was it the woman who had screamed earlier? Hearing the word “injured” made her anxious. Just then, Dylan interjected sarcastically from behind.

“Hey, you know how in old fairy tales, the wolf comes to the house and pretends to be the grandmother?”

Liella sighed deeply. She could understand if distrust of humans became a belief, but from a practical standpoint, they had to let these people in. If it was true that they had killed “them,” then they had to find out how.

Liella pondered and thought about what Aslan would do in this situation. When she had trouble making a decision, it helped to imagine that she had become someone else.

“Are there only three of you in total? How many guns do you have?”

“Assault rifles and three pistols each, five flares, three grenades, that’s all!”

“Put everything down in the hallway and come in. If you bring even one thing in, I’ll shoot you right away!”

She doubted whether she could actually shoot someone. But fortunately, her tone was assertive.

There was a moment of silence, and then the answer came back, “Okay.”

“We’ve put down all the weapons. Open the door. She needs help urgently!”

Before opening the hatch, Liella turned to look at Dylan one last time. Holding a flashlight in one hand and a knife in the other, he shrugged with an expression of resignation. Liella took a deep breath and finally opened the hatch.

With a creaking sound, a gap large enough for one person to pass through opened, and Liella hid behind the door, holding her breath.

She heard a sound, and then a friendly-looking blond man entered first, holding up both hands and limping. Liella quickly scanned him. There was no obvious place to hide weapons in his blood-stained navy blue uniform. The same was true for the chubby black-haired man who followed, and the red-haired woman on his back.

They weren’t a rescue team, but they didn’t look like murderers either. These people were just people who had participated in the Abyss Project. Reassured by the sight of the same uniform, Liella rushed towards the unconscious woman and shouted.

“Put her down so I can see her condition. Dylan! Bring the first aid kit from my room!”

The woman was covered in so much blood that it was difficult to tell where she was injured. As the black-haired man silently lowered the woman to the floor, Liella began to take off her outer clothing with trembling hands. Where is it, where is the blood coming from?

“Miss, are there only two of you on this exploration ship?”

“Yes.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re all dead.”

She answered vaguely and unbuttoned the shirt. She finally found a stab wound on her shoulder, but it was gradually healing. Could it be that these people are like us… She was shocked and staring when the woman, who she thought was unconscious, suddenly opened her eyes. At the same time, she heard a cold, metallic sound ringing in her ears.

“Oh, you guys worked together?”

It was the blond man who had come in first. He grinned as he pointed a gun at Liella’s head. It was the one that had been on her waist.