My Abyss Survival Diary

Chapter 23 An Unexpected Encounter with an Old Friend

As the dark night falls, the fungal corpses that were active during the day fall silent, curling up into a ball on the damp soil.

It's no secret that the fungal corpses lie motionless on the ground at night; it's a fact known to everyone on both Klein's and Theodore's sides.

Both sides would peel off the flesh from the back of the fungal corpse's neck at night as evidence of their sins, exchanging it for indulgences. This was a quick and safe method.

Why do the fungal corpses curl up and remain motionless at night? Clay asked Mr. Bell about this and received a rather chilling answer: the flesh of guilt periodically modifies the human body. It manipulates the fungal corpses during the day, and the night is when the mycelium modifies the human body.

Nighttime presented the perfect opportunity to safely obtain the evidence of the crime—the flesh—and also the ideal time to ambush Theodore.

Simon guessed that Theodore, who had lost an arm, wouldn't personally hunt for the evidence, but he still wanted to launch an ambush.

The reason is simple: when Theodore learns that his men have been ambushed on their way to hunt for the flesh of the guilty, anger and fear will inevitably cloud his already unwise mind, causing him to make the wrong judgment.

In a place where the spores' faint light couldn't reach, Simon leaned against a giant tree covered in moss, closed his eyes, and used his ears to gather more information.

Footsteps, footsteps that sounded like a limp...

After becoming accustomed to his enhanced senses, he can glean more information from sounds, such as the weight of the person making the footsteps, or even their physical condition.

Something felt off, so he continued to listen intently.

He was surprised because, if he wasn't mistaken, the footsteps belonged to a tired and injured elderly person.

Tonight they had planned to ambush Theodore's henchmen, but unexpectedly, a person appeared. He immediately waved his right hand towards a large tree in the distance, a pre-prepared signal to halt the operation and wait for the right opportunity to release the person first.

Soon, three figures appeared in Simon's field of vision.

"Hurry up, old man! Stop dawdling, get what you need now!"

A shout came from the fog, and the hunched figure sandwiched between the two tall figures visibly trembled.

"I'm sorry, please, please forgive my useless old arms and legs..."

He tiptoed away from the huddled fungal corpses on the ground, faced the giant tree covered in moss, took out a small shovel, and scraped off the solidified resin from it.

Carrying a harpoon, Simon silently approached, closing the distance to twenty meters without the two enemies noticing.

click -

Pulling the trigger, the loaded steel crossbow bolt was fired, striking one of the enemies in the back.

Before the enemy could even let out a scream, he was pinned to the tree. Just as he opened his mouth, a clenched fist loomed larger and larger before his eyes, knocking him unconscious with a single punch.

Another enemy looked at the strangely shaped harpoon, then at Simon in front of him, a look of shock on his face. Without hesitation, he turned and ran away. Simon stood still and did not give chase. A soft gunshot rang out, and the fleeing enemy slowly fell to the ground.

He gave a thumbs-up to the distance, then approached the old man who had squatted down with his head in his hands.

"you……"

Simon looked at him, about to ask a question, but was stunned by his familiar appearance and froze on the spot.

He knew the old man.

"Curator Loris?"

Loris Hespass, a renowned biologist in the Sun Empire, served as the honorary curator of the Forbidden Library after his retirement.

He had given many lectures on "mechanical biology" in the library and had done a lot of research on the integration technology of prosthetics and the human body. Later, he was transferred twice. Simon originally thought he would continue his research in some imperial institution, but he was unexpectedly transferred here.

"Oh, Iron Emperor, Simon, I never expected to see you here..."

Upon seeing an acquaintance, Loris was initially shocked, but then his tense nerves instantly relaxed, and tears streamed down his face.

"What's going on? Why are there only three people today?"

Klein walked over from a distance, carrying a sniper rifle, his face full of doubt.

"Let's talk about it when we get back..."

Following Klein's footsteps, the three bypassed the large swarm of fungal corpses and walked for about ten minutes back to their makeshift camp.

There were no tents or campfires, only three clean pieces of cloth where one could lie down and take a nap when tired.

"We have a guest." Badar looked at Curator Loris, who shuddered in surprise.

"This is Curator Loris," Simon introduced the withered old man to the two men. "A renowned scholar of the Sun Empire, professor of mechanobiology."

Curator Loris responded in a hoarse and weak voice, "Stop flattering me, Simon. All you have in front of you now is a useless old bone."

Listening to their conversation, Klein frowned and pondered for a while. He didn't know what mechanical biology was or what a professor was, but he roughly knew that they were scholars. He suddenly turned to look at Simon beside him and carefully examined his face.

"Wait a minute, you know a professor, which means... you were a scholar before you entered the Abyss?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I used to be a scholar too," Simon nodded. "You look surprised. Why, don't you look like it?"

"I thought you used to be a professional assassin or something," Badar interjected, and Klein nodded in agreement.

"A professional killer?"

"Maybe they're retired veterans or something, anyway, it's all about killing people." Klein shrugged and added.

What are these two talking about? Simon smiled helplessly.

Klein then looked at Loris: "You were brought out by Theodore's men, weren't you? What do they want you for?"

Curator Loris sighed heavily.

Simon looked him over; his deeply lined face was etched with exhaustion and helplessness, and his arms and fingers trembled involuntarily, indicating that he had suffered a great deal.

"I was sent to this abyss six months ago. Theodore knew me and gave me an empty hut to do experiments... His demands were bizarre. I didn't have any suitable equipment, and I was old, my eyesight was failing, and my hands were shaking. If I couldn't complete his tasks, he would torture me."

Simon's confusion lessened considerably.

On the day Anthony sacrificed himself, he kept thinking about how Theodore and his group of illiterate, uneducated people had managed to concoct a liquid that could stimulate the sense of smell of creatures from the abyss.

It now appears that it was configured by Curator Loris.

"A few days ago, Theodore came back with a severed arm. He wanted me to reattach his arm or he would kill me. I had no choice but to help him with the research."

"Reattach an arm? Hmph, how could that be possible?" Klein scoffed coldly.

"No, it might be impossible outside, but it's possible in this abyss," Curator Loris rambled on. "The creatures here have extremely strong growth potential; the plants grow more than ten times faster than outside. As long as we extract the growth hormone, it's absolutely possible."

"How is Theodore's injury now?" Simon asked the most crucial question.

"I bandaged his wounds, but without me, he couldn't have reattached his severed arm... His camp is in chaos. In the past few days, many people have challenged him, and he has gone on a killing spree in the camp, killing many people. He has also killed many of his loyal subordinates. After killing people, they send the bodies to the Great Hollow to be disposed of. It takes several trips back and forth. By the Iron Emperor, it's terrifying."

Loris looked visibly shaken as she spoke.

Upon hearing this, Simon and Klein exchanged a glance.

They had thought they would have to wait for the right moment, for Theodore's camp to be sealed off and drive him to madness, but now it seemed he had gone so insane that he was even killing his own men.

Now is the best opportunity!