They are trapped here!
When the Tech-Priest analyzed and confirmed the presence of a large signal-jamming device, Captain Topaz, as the leader of the expedition team, vaguely sensed the root of the problem, but he couldn't confirm it yet.
"Are the sample analysis results out?" He suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharp and grave, looking at the Tech-Priest.
Upon their arrival on this world, they had collected samples of the pink ocean's water and given them to the Tech-Priest for analysis. By now, the results should be almost ready.
More importantly, Topaz had a very bad premonition that needed verification.
However, the Tech-Priest shook his head.
"No, we were too rushed when escaping just now and lost a lot of equipment. I need to find equipment here before I can conduct more in-depth research."
This answer greatly disappointed Topaz. He frowned in thought for a moment, then looked around at the remaining members of the exploration team and said, "From now on, no matter what happens, everyone must stay together. Activate the mental shielding device at full power. The communications officer is responsible for attempting to contact the mothership."
"Yes, Captain."
Everyone responded in unison.
"Maintaining the mental shielding device at full power consumes a lot of bio-energy. We can't replenish energy in time here. Is it necessary?" The Tech-Priest, from his perspective, raised a question.
The armor worn by the exploration team integrated many functions, such as survival in various extreme environments and a mental shielding system to prevent Warp influence. However, both of these were the expedition team's last resort life-saving measures, requiring immense energy!
Running at full power, they could only last twenty minutes at most!
But now, in such a dangerous environment, consuming energy was equivalent to consuming to live. Once they lost the protection of their armor, they were very likely to be completely wiped out.
Regarding the Tech-Priest's doubts, Topaz merely gave him a cold glance, too lazy to explain the reason.
"Although you are a Mechanicus Priest, you are also a member of the exploration team. Here, I am the boss, and you must obey my orders unconditionally!"
The Tech-Priest stared at him for a few seconds, eventually lowering his head in silence.
"I understand. I will obey your orders, Topaz."
From the perspective of the usually calm Mechanicus Priest, who was accustomed to analyzing data and evaluating results, Topaz's decision was undoubtedly accelerating their demise and was not the correct decision.
But the true reason, only Topaz knew.
From the moment they were forced into the wreckage of this mechanicus ark, encountered the death of teammates corroded by the strange water, and had their signal blocked, unable to contact the mothership, he no longer believed that his group of people could to live and get out!
That's right, Topaz could clearly realize that all of them were doomed!
Reason?
There was no reason. It was laughable to say, but the root of all Topaz's decisions was his intuition!
But he trusted his intuition!
Before joining the Emrys family, he was a slave and scavenger in the underhive of a Vigilus. It was by relying on his intuition and being cautious that he had survived until now and met Emrys.
He had always believed in his intuition.
And today, his intuition foretold death. Whether it was the strange water or this sunken mechanicus ark, they made his nerves tense, a fear like being pricked by needles constantly pervaded his mind!
Topaz had a faint suspicion in his heart, but he didn't voice it without concrete evidence.
"Analyze the water components as soon as possible." He turned to the Mechanicus Priest and whispered, his tone devoid of respect.
In the face of crisis, the Mechanicus Priest was too lazy to argue with him, only saying ungraciously.
"I will analyze it as soon as possible, but lacking equipment, it will still take at least more than ten minutes."
Topaz nodded, then gathered everyone, re-confirmed their equipment and that all functions were normal, then, following the Tech-Priest's guidance, explored deeper into the mechanicus ark along this unknown pipeline.
But soon, they encountered a problem.
The pipelines branched out in all directions, like a maze, making it difficult to find the correct path. In desperation, he could only entrust it to the only expert, the Tech-Priest.
"This is a pipeline for transporting energy." The Tech-Priest squatted down, inspected it for a moment, then confirmed the direction of advance.
He pointed to an opening and said.
"Here, according to Mechanicus custom, the path ahead should lead to the mechanicus ark's most important energy compartment."
"Good, then let's go this way."
Topaz was about to lead his men in, but then he heard a chilling cracking sound from the surrounding pipe walls!
His face suddenly darkened, and he looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw that the pipe walls around them had burst with several terrifying cracks, and then a pink, gelatinous water suddenly sprayed out from those cracks!
"No, run!" Topaz's pupils contracted sharply, and he roared, ordering everyone to immediately dodge the water.
The events that had just happened, the tragic state of his teammates after the water had invaded their bodies, were still vivid in his mind!
"No, this way is impassable!"
Topaz and the others wanted to enter the pipeline of the energy compartment, but it was already filled with the gelatinous water gushing from the cracks.
The viscous touch, stepping on it felt like sinking into a swamp, with a dragging sensation that filled their hearts with dread!
"Take another path!"
In his urgency, Topaz couldn't care about much else and could only lead the panicked crowd to the only pipeline that hadn't been flooded with water yet.
Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
In the dark pipeline, there were only heavy gasps. Almost every one of them was desperately sprinting forward, not daring to delay at all.
Because behind them was the water surging into the pipeline, that viscous, tar-like, swampy, pink gelatinous water,
was chasing them!
If they were a second slower, they would be swallowed by the water!
But running in such an extreme state, even with the assistance of their exploration armor, their physical strength was inevitably approaching its limit!
And so, someone fell behind!
Thump!
A dull thud made Topaz look back, but that one glance horrified him.
The fallen teammate was struck by the surging water, which seemed to carry immense force, shattering his armor.
After losing his protection, the gelatinous water, like a to live creature, like sharks smelling blood, scrambled to envelop him!
Immediately after, amidst the man's horrific screams, a thick, gelatinous pink liquid continuously flowed from his eyes, mouth, and nose—his seven orifices. His entire face was twisted, contorted, and terrifying!
"Ah ah ah ah—"
He stared with bloodshot eyes, appearing insane, tearing at his own skin with his bare hands, peeling off layers of skin, bloody and raw, uttering meaningless wails.
"It's inside! It—it's inside! Ah ah ah—It's crawled into my brain!"
Then, under their gaze, the man poked out his own eyes, and with those bloody, dark, hollow sockets, he stared intently at them, his entire facial skin, including the muscles, twisted into an extremely bizarre expression, and he let out a hoarse, sinister, sharp laugh with his damaged vocal cords.
"Not—one—of—you—will—leave—"
This thing has an "awareness"!
Its voice seemed full of allure, like an invisible giant hand, dragging their reason, slowly sliding into the abyss!
Invaded by fear to their bones, everyone seemed to forget to run, standing still, like ants trapped within grid lines, knowing danger was approaching, but their bodies simply wouldn't obey, only able to watch as their companions, who had been invaded by the gelatinous water and had died but were still "To live," walked towards them step by step with strange and kneeling gaits.
Fear, shock, awe...
Countless negative emotions filled Topaz's mind, making him feel as if he had returned to the Frontier world, to the days dominated by chaos.
Are we going to die here?!
Topaz suddenly bit his tongue, the sharp pain and blood pulling him out of this strange emotion, his eyes bloodshot and on the verge of splitting.
"I was born on the Frontier world! You think you can scare me with this little thing?!"
"Run—!!!"
Topaz, his heart filled with fear, broke free from the invisible restraint, squeezing all the air from his lungs, and let out a furious roar with all his might!
Everyone, who had been controlled by that eerie sound and paralyzed by fear, was awakened by his shout.
Bang!!!
A scorching melta bomb, dragging terrifying destructive power, shattered the person's head with one hit!
Blood and brains splattered!
Everyone finally broke free from the control, Topaz roared in an incoherent voice.
"Run, don't stop, Tech-Priest quickly play the Imperial Creed, this is a psychic attack!"
In just a few seconds, Topaz made a series of the most correct decisions.
The Tech-Priest, still shaken, immediately used the sound array system to begin playing the Imperial Creed, attempting to resist this strange emotional control.
Everyone fled frantically, not daring to stop.
Behind them, the pink gelatinous water surging into the pipe suddenly seemed to go berserk, using immense pressure to forcefully crush the hard pipe wall, and accompanied by a roaring surge, it attacked!
"Son of a bitch (Low Gothic profanity), do you really think I'm scared of you?!" Topaz cursed, pulled out a melta bomb, and threw it fiercely.
"Burn you damned Chaos scum!"
He didn't know what this thing was, but calling it Chaos was always right!
Boom!
The melta bomb exploded in the pipe with a burst of fire, the high temperature instantly ignited the water!
These Waters, he didn't know what substance they were, but they ignited so easily, raging fire instantly filled the entire pipe, scorching high temperatures accompanied by heat waves rushed towards them, making them feel as if their skin was about to be cooked!
But, he had to say, Topaz's accidental action inadvertently bought them time!
"These things are afraid of fire?!" He looked at the ignited water, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Logically, water and fire are incompatible, even a melta bomb shouldn't be able to ignite 'water,' but this pink gelatinous liquid ignited as easily as gasoline, which meant—a flash of insight crossed Topaz's mind.
"Use fire! This thing is afraid of fire!"
Soon, one melta bomb after another was thrown out, and the gelatinous water surging into the pipe was ignited by these things!
The air was filled with a burnt smell!
They seemed to hear screams, but listening closely, there was nothing.
"Hurry!" Topaz knew very well that their few melta bombs couldn't stop this thing!
Blocked by the burning melta flames, everyone quickly retreated along the pipe.
Around them, the pipe walls constantly echoed with the sound of the water violently striking them, the steel groaning under immense pressure, as if it could collapse at any moment, completely submerging them in the sea!
"Run!"
"No matter what happens, don't stop, run, run!"
Topaz continuously encouraged everyone.
Most of these people came from the Wanderer's Port, originally just slaves, and although they had been trained for a long time, in terms of mental fortitude, they were ultimately not as resolute as elites.
He had to encourage these people, to keep their hope alive, otherwise, under immense pressure, it would be difficult to guarantee they wouldn't break down.
Thus, Topaz was like a beacon in the night, illuminating hope and a path to survival for everyone ahead, they ran tirelessly for a long time, until they stumbled into a strange place.
At this moment, both physically and mentally, they were on the verge of their limits.
But fortunately, that thing didn't seem to have pursued them.
Topaz collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his eyes bloodshot, still vigilantly checking his surroundings.
It wasn't a problem not to look, but this look made his previously relaxed nerves tighten again, cold sweat seeped from his pores, every single hair stood on end!
Their location was an empty cavern, at the very bottom of the entire mechanicus ark wreckage, on the edge of a man-made excavated mine pit, and deep within the pit, a giant pink fleshy tumor, like a cocoon, was suspended in mid-air by a mechanical arm.
It extended a dense, net-like structure, connecting to every part of the mine pit, fusing with the steel!
The fused parts showed a vascular network, like the heart of a giant life form, beating rhythmically once every minute!
"This is"
Topaz's pupils contracted slightly, this place gave him a very bad feeling, a strong sense of unease enveloped his heart!
"Stay here!"
"Stay here!"
"Stay here!"
Just then, from the depths of this pipe, echoed calls came, one after another.
Then, Topaz and the others' expressions drastically changed.
In the depths of this passage, several figures suddenly appeared in their sight, stumbling and swaying like children learning to walk.
"Trao, Fakor, Keith, Brandon—"
Looking at those swaying figures, like shadow, Topaz's heart suddenly sank, an expression of disbelief on his face, and he subconsciously called out their names.
These people were all their companions!
To be precise, they were members of the previous two exploration teams who had set foot on the mechanicus ark wreckage but had mysteriously disappeared!
Their bodies were broken, and from the damage to various parts of their armor, they must have encountered fierce combat, and traces of Imperial standard laser guns and bolters could even be found.
Some people were missing an arm, some were missing a leg.
And even more, some were missing half a head, with only half a face remaining, still barely recognizable, walking in bizarre postures.
Their only commonality was probably the pink gelatinous liquid flowing from their orifices!
"You can't escape—"
"This is the destined end"
Those completely controlled "companions" shouted in unison, with eerie smiles on their faces.
The strange tsunami, the 'biological' ocean, the blocked signals, the flesh-corroding water, the controlled companions—combining all the situations they had encountered along the way, the answer was already obvious.
"This is a trap!"
Topaz looked at those people and understood.
This world—no, this ocean, including the Mechanicus Ark sunken here, was all a giant 'trap'!
The purpose was to attract them!
The ocean here is a giant organism with "awareness," it lures other organisms into its domain, then devours them!
The former companions let out high-pitched cries!
"Join—us—"
"Abandon flesh. Embrace fusion."
"Accept—truth—"
"Become—the Cocoon of the Omnissiah—"