The Record of Unusual Creatures

1As the group was just about to pass through the hall's door, a wall panel closest to them suddenly lit up and a human figure appeared on the screen. Hao Ren and the rest immediately reacted in shock as they saw the figure on the screen. It was a dignified middle-aged man with white hair. He was wearing a smart black uniform with gold linings, and two rows of big gold buttons ran across the length from his neck to the belt.      1

The man on the screen looked at Hao Ren and his group. The surprise was apparent in his eyes. "How did you people end up outside?"     

Hao Ren had already reconciled the fact that the planet had no inhabitants, that it was a planetary level ghost city. Yet, on the screen, someone was shown alive, and that shocked the jimmies out of him. "F*ck me... Someone's still here on this planet?"     

"Someone's still here?" The middle-aged man on the screen was perplexed. "What are you talking about? Did you all leave the sanctuary? Or, did you come from other areas?"     

Vivian immediately caught on and coughed softly. "We-We came from another place. The last place had some issues and we got lost here."     

She purposely kept things vague out of caution and tried to muddle the group's origins. The man on the screen however, did not pay too much attention and simply nodded. "Very well, the most important thing is that you're back in a safe area. I hope all of you weren't harmed by the reactor's radiation. The guidance robot will bring you to the sanctuary, and the civil officers will be checking on your situation."     

As he finished, the screen faded and the slate returned to a proper wall. Hao Ren and the rest looked at each other. They were curious about the sudden appearance of the man, yet they could not tell what was amiss.     

"There's still someone on this planet?" Lily muttered, her face incredulous.     

Vivian rubbed her chin. "Based on what the man said, there seems to be a sanctuary of sorts... I never thought that we would actually run into survivors!"     

Under the guidance robot's lead, the group went past the hall and entered a long corridor, which was lit with red light. The robot advised that they would complete the contamination process at the end of the tunnel. As he walked, Hao Ren mumbled. "Something's not right..."     

"It's definitely not right." Vivian remembered their previous discussion. "The planet's sun went supernova 10,000 years ago, but the planetary reactor was only activated a hundred years ago. So technically speaking, any survivors would've already missed the escape window. Even if some survived, why haven't any of them taken flight? Don't tell me they fell into slumber on a frozen iceball of a planet for millennia?"     

"You think people sleep like you?" Lily quipped. Her words stung.     

This husky just could not help taking a jab at her mortal enemy even in the most inopportune times.     

Nangong Wuyue had a complicated look on her face, a mixture of anticipation and fear. "Will my parents be in the sanctuary?"     

Hao Ren immediately realized the possibility. "Yes! If there's a shelter, your parents might have been brought there as well, just like us!"     

Everyone thought that it was plausible and hastened their steps across the corridor. As they reached the end, another guidance robot was waiting for them. The little robot opened the semi-circle hatch at the end of the tunnel and a special room appeared before them.     

There was nothing in the empty room, only a tubular platform in the middle. There was a semi-transparent glass door in front of the tube, and through it, an elevator-like mechanism was visible. It seemed like the sanctuary was underground.     

To arrive at the shelter without a hitch, Hao Ren and the rest were very cooperative. They waited quietly for the robot to activate the elevator and ushered them into it. As everyone stepped into the elevator, something caught Hao Ren's attention.     

It was a long, serpentine tail... Wuyue's.     

"Wait a minute." Hao Ren raised an eyebrow as something ran through his mind. "Wuyue, have you been in this shape since just now?"     

Wuyue did not understand the question and simply wiggled her tail as she coiled into a more comfortable form (in a narrow place like an elevator, her serpentine form took up quite a lot of space, but she did not have the chance to change into another form). "Yeah, what about it?"     

"...The man on the screen didn't seem to be alarmed by your form." Lily realized what Hao Ren was talking about as she touched her ears and tail. "My form too..."     

Wuyue's tail immediately coiled into a tighter form as she got nervous. "Could this be a trap?"     

By then, the elevator door had closed, and the platform was descending at an increasing speed. Hao Ren saw the metallic frame and levels that flashed by, gritting his teeth. "Well, forget about it. We'll see when the time comes. Just stay alert, but don't make any unnecessary movements unless it's an emergency."     

Lily nodded as she summoned her Frostfire Claws. "No worries, Mr. Landlord, I'll protect you!"     

Vivian immediately pushed the husky aside. "You fool, keep your claws. This is an elevator... Aargh, my shirt! It's one of my two only good shirts!"     

"Can you two bloody behave?" Hao Ren gave the two bickering fools an exasperated look as he shuffled into a corner to cool down. Y'zaks looked down on the floor of the elevator platform: the floor was made out of transparent glass and one could see what was going on beneath them. Only towards the far end of the elevator tube could someone see a faint source of light. "Looks like the sanctuary's somewhere really deep underground."     

"Or, they're using geothermal energies to maintain the ecosystem." Hao Ren thought. "The most common way for a low tech civilization to survive."     

The elevator did not seem to have an end as the party were on alert for a long while. Lily's serious demeanor barely lasted five minutes before she squatted down and started to draw figures on the floor. Only when she finished a sketch of three puppies did everyone feel a shudder as the sound of mechanical locking came from the outside.     

Y'zaks looked up as he spoke, "It appears to be about 10 km deep... Looks like you're right. They're using the lava to maintain the heat level of the sanctuary."     

With a hiss, the elevator door opened. Nangong Sanba immediately threw out a small runic card and it turned into a human silhouette who took a few steps. Seeing that no traps or whatsoever were triggered, he lifted his crossbow and carefully moved out. "All clear, let's move."     

"Your brother seems reliable at times." Vivian quipped.     

Wuyue pouted. "If he didn't even have such basic demon hunting skills, he'd probably be dead somewhere in a haunted castle—"     

Wuyue's own sentence was cut short by her own yelp. As the group got out of the elevator, the scenery that greeted them left all of them stunned.     

Beyond the elevator was not a foreboding steel sanctuary, or layers upon layers of small habitable blocks akin to a prison. It was a huge, proper city!     

A wide and clean road stretched for miles on end as buildings of various shapes as well as sizes made up the rows along the street. Between them were lush greenery and decorative structures. Turning back, Hao Ren realized that the elevator they took earlier was actually a pillar connecting the sanctuary to the surface of the planet. The elevator stood in the center of a plaza, which intersected a few trunk roads. From afar, Hao Ren could see a few other similar pillars.     

It seemed like the entrance and exit were not restricted to the one they came from.     

Lily gawked at the scene for a good while before she managed to speak. "...For a sanctuary... this place is pretty grand!"     

Y'zaks looked up again and noticed that the city was not shrouded in darkness. Conversely, it was very well lit by seemingly powerful lights. Blinking hard, the demon saw from the gaps between the "web of lights" a massive rock roof and equally massive supporting metal structures. "Above the place is lava... This is a giant cavern. Not sure if it was excavated or formed naturally."     

Vivian looked at the rock dome above them as she muttered, "A cavern, eh..."     

Hao Ren quipped without even thinking. "Don't tell me you're gonna take a nap here."     

Vivian immediately recoiled as she shook her head. "Don't worry, I can control myself!"     

Turning away, Lily spat. "Pfft, Battie."