Volume 5: Bottomless Sinkhole Chapter 283 Feeding

Layton only took one look and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Wow! Wow! ... The internal structure of this thing is too delicate, isn't it? Many transmission rods are as thin as a hair. Fortunately, the strength of this alloy is high enough. If it is made of another material, this thing will be scrapped after starting it once."
"Then can you tell the function of these mechanical parts?" Ke Lan asked.
"Too difficult... This thing is many times more sophisticated than the differential engine. It can't be analyzed by the naked eye. It must be scanned by a computer... Besides, I don't know if there are crystal structures embedded in these mechanical parts. If so, it will be even more complicated." Layton smacked his lips and said, "Also, I can guarantee that this kind of precision equipment is 100% equipped with anti-theft measures. If it is forcibly disassembled, it will self-destruct at best, and at worst... I don't know what will happen at worst, but it will not be good at all."
After studying it for a while, Layton decisively chose to give up - even if this thing was completely dismantled and transported to the research institute, it would probably take several days for those experts who have been immersed in mechanical engineering for most of their lives to fully understand the principles of this thing.
"Can we find the metal stick that the exiles stuffed in? It should be something like a key. If we have that thing, we should be able to activate the mechanism of this base." Ke Lan said.
"No... I was also looking for the metal rods that the mercenary mentioned, but I couldn't find them at all." Layton shook his head. "Either the metal rods have been swallowed, or the mercenary remembered it wrongly."
"But we didn't find these things on the exiles." Ke Lan said a little disappointedly. Now the clues are right in front of them, but the problem is that they are helpless with this clue - just like facing a turtle with its head and limbs retracted into its shell.
"Let's put this aside for now and check other places. " Ke Lan said.
He walked quickly to the edge of the stone platform, first shone the flashlight on the outer ditch, and then easily climbed over.
According to the mercenaries' description, the light pink meat paste suspected to be "Xiran" was surging up from the bottom of the stone platform. So in addition to this base, the stone platform itself must also have hidden secrets.
With a "click", the hard rubber sole of the boot stepped on the bottom of the groove outside the stone platform, but before Ke Lan bent down to check, he felt something wrapped around the instep of his foot.
Through the boots and socks, Ke Lan could feel that thing had the toughness of rubber, wrapped around his ankle with a force that was neither loose nor tight... However, this thing did not make any aggressive moves, it just rubbed on Ke Lan's boots, like a well-behaved and docile puppy...
Ke Lan slowly pointed the flashlight in his hand towards the ground, and saw that the bottom of the ditch was covered with light pink flesh paste in less than a second. A tentacle-like limb extended from the flesh paste, like some kind of mollusk, and wrapped around his boots several times.
Layton, who was following behind Ke Lan but had not yet come down from the stone platform, had also seen this scene. A look of nervousness appeared on his face, and he subconsciously raised the gun in his hand.
But at this moment, Ke Lan raised his hand, stopped Leighton's action, and shook his head at him.
Bullets are useless against this thing, and it doesn't seem to show any hostility.
"Damn it! Damn it! What should I do now?... Ke Lan, tell me, what can I do to help you?" Although his words were full of anxiety, he had to lower his voice for fear of disturbing the pink "meat paste".
"Just stand there and don't move." Ke Lan said to him, and then he turned to Asano Akira, "Asano, can you find my location now?"
"Yes." Asano Akira nodded, holding the sword. "As long as you make a sound, I can find you."
"Well, I'll tell you about my plan..." Ke Lan said quickly, "I plan to try the method that the mercenary said, to feed these things with blood... But I don't know whether the information provided by the mercenary is true or false. If something unexpected happens later, I will try to jump up, and Layton, you have to find a way to catch me. Then, Asano, you are responsible for cutting off the things chasing after me - if they catch up with me."
As Ke Lan spoke, she slowly bent down and untied her shoelaces from the quick buckles at the top of her boots.
"Is this... is this really okay? Aren't you afraid that the mercenary is cheating us?" Leighton said worriedly.
"So didn't I tell you to be prepared for the second case?" Ke Lan glanced at him and said.
"But this is too risky..."
"Actually... I think that guy shouldn't have lied to us. Now a minute has passed, but this thing still hasn't made any aggressive moves, and it hasn't even continued to move up along my legs... This shows that its characteristics are completely different from the 'Xirang'." Ke Lan said, "Okay, I'm going to prepare to bleed... If it makes any unusual movements, I will break free of my boots and jump up, and then my life will be in your hands."
"I...I will catch you." Leighton gritted his teeth and nodded to Ke Lan.
Ke Lan took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a dagger from his waist, and slashed his arm lightly.
Suddenly, a drop of blood oozed out from the incision, slid down the skin, and finally fell on the pink flesh paste at Ke Lan's feet.
Ke Lan and Layton both held their breath, stared at the blood bead with wide eyes, while Asano Akira had already used his thumb to push the sword half an inch out of the sheath.
After coming into contact with the drop of blood, a small crack instantly appeared on the surface of the meat paste, and it swallowed the blood bead... Then, the meat paste at Ke Lan's feet began to slowly wriggle, and several clumps of flesh buds grew out of the meat paste. These flesh buds quickly extended and stretched into slender tentacles. These tentacles surrounded Ke Lan's boots, but did not launch an attack. They just swayed gently, touching the surface of the boots from time to time, looking very "curious".
No, that's not right... Rather than being curious, Ke Lan felt that... these tentacles were like "acting like a spoiled child"...
Layton was completely stunned. He didn't know if this situation could be considered an "accident" as Ke Lan said. He stretched out his robotic arm, but froze in mid-air, not knowing whether he should lift Ke Lan up from below.
"What's wrong?" Asano Akira asked softly. He couldn't see the scene below, so he could only guess based on the sound. "It seems like there are a lot more subtle noises... Ke Lan, how are you?"
"Shh... don't act rashly... I'm not in danger, not for now." Ke Lan said, "I think... it probably wants more blood..."
He raised his arm, pinched it with his other hand, and squeezed a few drops of blood from the cut.
The few drops of blood fell and were quickly devoured by the meat paste. At this moment, the tentacles seemed to have gained great satisfaction and moved slowly... This reminded Ke Lan of the people who had inhaled a large amount of Dream Date Incense. How similar were their appearances of shaking their heads with their eyes closed, just like these tentacles...
After about five or six minutes, the tentacles wrapped around Ke Lan's ankles reluctantly let go of him and retracted into the body of the meat paste, while the meat paste spread on the ground also quickly shrank and gathered.
"I think... it should be okay. That guy didn't lie to us." Ke Lan said as he pulled out a bandage from his waist bag and wrapped it around his wound.
"Hu——" Leighton exhaled heavily, having been holding his breath for a long time, and raised his hand to wipe away the sweat on his forehead; Asano Akira's tense body also relaxed, and with a "swish", the small piece of the blade that had been pulled out returned to the sheath.
"Do you want to come up?" Leighton stretched out his hand, trying to pull Ke Lan onto the stone platform, but the latter waved at him.
"Wait a minute."
After saying that, Ke Lan walked towards the shrinking flesh, which made Layton nervous again: "Hey, hey... Ke Lan, what are you doing? You just got out of danger, don't provoke this thing again!"
"I just want to see where they came out from." Ke Lan replied.
The pink flesh paste scattered at the bottom of the ditch squirmed and gathered together, gradually transforming into a python-like creature. Its movement also became like a snake, dragging on the ground.
Ke Lan chased after the "meat python" and walked around the stone platform for a while. Only then did he discover that at the bottom of the stone platform, close to the bottom of the ditch, there was a cave with a diameter of about half a meter.
Ke Lan watched helplessly as the "meat python" crawled into the cave and disappeared from his sight.
"There's actually a cave entrance here!" Layton exclaimed, "This location and angle are really hidden. If you stand on the stone platform, the cave entrance is in the blind spot of your vision. If you stand opposite the stone platform, the shadow cast by the stone platform will just cover the cave entrance... Unless you point the light directly at the cave entrance, it will be easily overlooked."
Obviously, those mercenaries did not notice the entrance to the cave...they only had their eyes on the jar that was the target of the mission, and had no intention of carefully examining the cave.
But Ke Lan knew clearly that there must be a passage underground, otherwise the pink meat paste could not have appeared out of thin air and disappeared out of thin air - unless it could seep directly from the ground.
Ke Lan squatted in front of the cave entrance, used his palm to measure the size of the cave entrance, and then began to take off his equipment.
"Wait...you're not planning to go in, are you?" Leighton said in surprise.
"What else? Did you bring a remote-controlled robot?" Ke Lan asked back. At this time, he had taken off his gear belt and cold-proof jacket, leaving only his underwear and a fleece jacket that had a slight cold-proof effect.
"B-but...that thing just got in there?"
"But that thing didn't show any hostility towards me, did it?" Ke Lan tore off a few pieces of heating patches called "warm packs" and stuck them inside her fleece jacket, but despite this, a chill continued to penetrate into her thin clothes.
The temperature in this place is still too low, Ke Lan thought to himself. In this case, his body temperature can't be maintained for long. If it takes too long, even if nothing unexpected happens, he will still die from hypothermia...
"Fifteen minutes. If there is nothing found, I will return in fifteen minutes." Ke Lan said. Including the time required for the return trip, half an hour is almost the limit of his physical condition.
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