NOVPUBChapter 1317: The Vermillion Lake (7)
Erik created the Dark Shapes that same night. The creatures sprouted to life from drops of blood that coalesced in eggs that grew before the naked eye.
Unlike the Chimaeric Demons, they matured in minutes rather than months. Within hours, he produced nearly five thousand of these new kinds of clones.
The Dark Shapes were humanoids no larger than a human, but with the same worm-like features Noah and the others had.
They had a human-like body, pale gray skin, and no distinct head—instead, their head connected directly to a long, worm-like neck with vaguely humanoid features.
Erik didn’t care about their appearance, though. With his vast mana reserves, he could create enough Dark Shapes that they would never lack companionship.
Besides, now that the world knew about his power, their appearance hardly mattered. The clones were stronger than most humans anyway—if anyone dared criticize them, they would face the consequences.
Erik gave them a simple mission: scout the Lorogia Region, find Blackguard bases, and report their findings. Doing that through the hive mind, brain crystal power, was going to make things easier.
“Go,” Erik said, and the creatures left their shelter in the middle of the night, some transforming into bats or nocturnal birds, others becoming rats, snakes, or bugs.
Erik thought.
[Assuming they survive the journey,] the system said. [The Lorogia Region is far, and they’ll encounter many Thaids along the way.]
With the Dark Shapes sent away, Erik retreated to his quarters. The creation process had drained his mana, and since the following day’s search demanded his full attention, he didn’t waste time and went to sleep.
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The next morning, Erik joined the others for breakfast. Aaron and Mickey mentioned having found nothing during their previous day’s search.
“The shore has been thoroughly searched,” Mickey said. “My bugs covered most of the eastern side but found no structures or material that would have been a sign of the Silverline corporation.”
Aaron nodded. “The slimes explored the area on the southern side, but they found nothing.”
“We need to search the western and northern sides, then,” Erik said. “Today, we’ll go there after having searched around the banks again.”
The group spent the day searching. Erik and the Chimaeric Demons killed any threatening thaids they encountered, and then the clones used the corpses as puppets to search. The undead scouts made it easier for them to search around. The problem was that they found no signs of the laboratory.
Days passed with similar results. The group explored caves, inlets, and rock formations around the lake.
Erik grew more and more frustrated as the week progressed. Each night, they returned to their shelter empty-handed.
At that point, they searched vast parts of the lake in all cardinal directions. Even the west and north held nothing important.
On the seventh night, the group gathered in the central area of their tree fortress. Martha made a meal from plants she grew and game the clones hunted, but the mood was grim.
“This makes little sense,” Erik said, pacing the room. “The information we found in the cave lab undoubtedly mentioned a facility at Vermillion Lake. It can’t just have vanished.”
“Maybe it was destroyed,” Ben said. “Or crumbled spontaneously after centuries of abandonment.”
“No,” Erik shook his head. “The Silverline Corporation built things to last. Their technology was centuries ahead of its time. I found two facilities myself, and they were still standing even if thaids made nests within them.”
Gwen thought about the Lake area. “We’ve covered every inch of the shoreline and found nothing. Either the information was incorrect, or—”
“What if it’s underwater?” Emily said, looking up from her meal and interrupting Gwen. There was a weird look in her eyes, as if she remembered something or connected some dots.
The group fell silent, all eyes turning toward her.
“I mean,” she said, slightly uncomfortable with the attention, “what if the lab isn’t near the lake or on the shore, but actually inside it? Beneath the surface?”
Erik stopped pacing. “That… could be possible. Thaids weren’t alive back then, so they wouldn’t have problems making something down there. The question is whether they had the technology to do something like that. Making underwater buildings is not easy, even with our level of technology.”
Erik inwardly turned to the biological supercomputer.
[I think yes,] the system said, this time with uncertainty. [The corporation prepared structures that should have kept their experiments trapped inside, even before they began experimenting with mana and all its implications. If they did that, I think they could have made an underground lab.]
[The technology seems improbable for that time. Also, most of their facilities were built on land, so there was no reason to assume this one would be different.] Erik then turned to the others.
“The system confirms its possible,” Erik said.
“That would explain why we have found nothing on land,” Aaron said. “And why the blackguards never located it.”
Floyd leaned forward. “If it’s underwater, it would need some kind of entrance point or docking facility, something that would allow people to come and go without flooding the place. Maybe we missed something along the shore: an underwater tunnel or passage.”
Emily’s idea was making more sense as they thought about it. 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
“I think it simply got filled with dirt and sand,” Gwen said. “The lab had to be safe since it was underwater, and monsters were kept there, but the docks, or the tunnels, or whatever entrance they made didn’t necessarily have to be that resistant. Maybe a leak flooded it. After centuries, it’s possible.”
Erik nodded. “Tomorrow we’ll search again.”
“Ok, but if Gwen is right, how do we plan to reach a facility that’s underwater?” Mira asked. “Even if we find the entrance, the lake is filled with thaids. I’ve seen them breaching the surface at night—there aren’t just a few of them.”
The group fell silent again.
“She’s right,” Martha said.
“I know she is right,” Erik said.
“Not to mention that some of us can’t breathe underwater,” Ben said.
“Thanks for having made that obvious.” Erik gave Ben an annoyed look. He sighed and turned to the window, looking out at the moonlight mirroring off the lake’s surface. The water was deceptively peaceful from a distance, but it wasn’t.
“We need to find the entrance first,” Erik said. “Once we locate it, we can make a plan to deal with the thaids and the underwater environment. Worst-case scenario, we kill them all, and then I and Martha will create another entrance.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just do this?” Gwen said.
“I’m the one who is going to fight. Cut me some slack!”
Everyone agreed with the plan, but they were still worried. They knew that finding the lab was just the beginning—getting inside it would be harder, and searching the place for the information they needed was even worse. It might be impossible altogether.
Before going to bed, Erik looked out at the lake one more time. Their answers were down there in the dark water.
Erik thought.
[Or something dangerous,] the system said. [Either way, we need to find it.]
Erik nodded, watching as ripples disturbed the lake’s surface.
