Ark Undead

The ground was a pile of steel slag.

It shattered completely, like broken glass, and with the passage of time and the ravages of life, it has almost turned into a pile of fragments, or even ashes.

Within this mass of debris, a small area, completely pulverized into dust, could be pieced together to form the shape of a footprint.

"footprint?"

When W saw the footprint, she perked up; she had finally found something that interested her.

“It’s obvious that the situation is different from the surrounding area. Someone has stepped on this ground and continued to walk forward.”

The greyhound changed direction and brought the crystal in its hand closer to examine its size carefully.

"The shoe print is blurry, but judging from its size and area, it should belong to a man."

"Theresis?"

W asked instinctively.

"Uncertain, but it's highly likely to be him."

Greyhound nodded and looked in the direction of the footprints.

It was still dark over there, a place where no light could reach.

If Theresis's trail is found here, it means they're on the right track and their target is not far away.

"Let's keep going, we're not far now."

Greyhound stood up, dragging the crystal he had created in his right hand, and silently continued walking forward.

After seeing the footprints, W's fear was somewhat dispelled by the excitement of finding a clue.

With a little effort, W caught up with the greyhound.

This time, they didn't take many steps forward before they realized that they seemed to be walking upwards.

"Uphill?"

Greyhound felt the gravity and stomped his feet hard.

He then realized that the path beneath his feet wasn't a hard stone road; each step he took left a mark.

“You should have noticed it as soon as you saw the footprints. From there, we were already stepping on the mud.”

W was skeptical of her own judgment; after all, she also felt that the existence of stone and dirt roads at an unknown depth underground was bizarre enough.

"It must be soil...that's the feel of it."

"Don't overthink it, just treat it like soil."

Greyhound quickly interrupted W. If W stopped talking mid-sentence, then she would truly be withdrawn again.

"Oh."

W also realized that she seemed to have a bit too much of an imagination.

So, after confirming that it was uphill, the two continued walking uphill.

Before long, they found a very clear series of footprints.

"The size of the footprints is basically the same as the previous ones, so they are the footprints of the same person."

Greyhound quickened his pace, and W also perked up considerably.

As they climbed higher, the road became increasingly steep.

Until they saw the stairs.

"stairs?"

W saw the steps at the greyhound's feet and couldn't help but reach out and hold the spotlight close to the ground.

The steps are made of stone bricks, but within the bricks are bits of steel.

This combination left W somewhat puzzled.

Greyhound then threw the crystal in his hand up the stairs.

The crystal traveled dozens of meters and landed on the steps above.

It's still a staircase.

"Why are there such long stairs? Are we going to walk all the way back to the ground?"

W paused for a moment, then said.

The greyhound's gaze, however, was not on the steps.

When the crystal was thrown, that fleeting glimpse illuminated the surrounding scenery, making him unable to resist walking to the side.

Noticing the greyhound's movement, W turned his gaze in that direction.

Then he saw the greyhound walk over to something he couldn't tell what it was.

"This is..."

W slowed down.

"Corpse."

Greyhound said.

"There were no rotting corpses."

Yes, this is a corpse, a corpse that has not decomposed.

But its body was as thin as paper. Not only was its body proportion unlike that of a human, but it was also withered and emaciated, and its chest was pierced, yet no fluid flowed out.

Under the white light of the searchlight, the person's entire body appeared eerily black.

He lay there on the steps, motionless.

Faced with this scene, W dared not reach out to investigate.

But the greyhound raised his hand, conjured a crystal staff, and gently poked it into the corpse.

The crystal staff sank easily into the remains that were once flesh and blood, and as the greyhound slowly exerted force, the crystal staff sank deeper and deeper.

When Greyhound tried to pull the crystal staff out, the flesh and blood that had once been attached to it stuck to the staff.

As the greyhound raised its crystal staff, it drew out a line that looked like gel.

The corpse was covered in an extremely greasy and sticky substance.

Its body looks as if it had been thoroughly soaked in some kind of oily substance, which is why it looks the way it does now.

W's expression changed slightly. To be honest, she had seen corpses before. But a corpse in this condition was simply unacceptable.

Even a rotting corpse is several times better than this.

"What the hell is this thing?"

W couldn't help but curse out loud.

"I don't know, but he's definitely been dead for a long time."

Greyhound shook his head; he felt a little nauseous too.

He simply threw the crystal staff in his hand to the ground.

Without Greyhound's Originium Arts enhancement, the Crystal Staff quickly dissolved in the air, its light vanished, and the two turned their attention back to the stairs.

"This is the first body we found."

Greyhound said.

"The first corpse in this city."

It was only then that W realized they had been in this dead city for two or three days, and this was actually the first person they had seen.

Although it is dead.

"We saw the same pattern on the stairs as we did at the elevator. So it must be something similar to the elevator, in other words, it must have been made by someone."

Perhaps the answer can be found by continuing up the stairs.

It was fortunate that Greyhound was able to remain sober and maintain basic rationality in such a situation.

W took two steps back and took a deep breath.

What else can we do but keep going up?

So they continued up the stairs, their footsteps and breathing becoming the only sounds they could hear.

The higher they went, the more corpses they saw scattered haphazardly on the steps.

It was as if they had pushed open the gates to hell, and the sight of hell was appearing before their eyes for the first time.

They had to carefully find a foothold, otherwise they might accidentally step on a corpse.

W didn't want to experience that feeling. Because before her, the greyhound had already stepped on it once.

The expression on the greyhound's face was the most interesting W had ever seen, but this time, she didn't have time to appreciate it properly.

Having forgotten how much time had passed, Greyhound stepped onto the top of the stairs and stood on the flat ground.

"arrive."

The greyhound stared ahead.

Although it was still dark, he could vaguely see a huge object standing not far in front of the two of them through the glowing crystal in his hand.

What is it?

W came up after the greyhound, and when she saw what was in front of them, she frowned slightly.

"It's huge, is it a building?"

"It doesn't look like it, it looks more like... a stone tablet?"

Greyhound took two more steps forward, and he could barely make out the enormous thing piled up among countless corpses.

It was a dark, cold stone tablet.

Around the stone tablet, countless corpses surrounded him, kneeling before it in a pleading gesture.

Some even tried to climb the stone tablet, but the dead bodies seemed to have become one with it, hanging on the tablet, their bodies flowing down the tablet like asphalt.