My Abyss Survival Diary

Chapter 58 Internal and External Troubles

Simon turned around and saw the withered old man standing behind him.

"Professor Loris, do you have any ideas?"

Professor Lorris did not answer. He stared intently at Simon's backpack, his gaze unlike any he had ever shown to anything else. His cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, as if he had become several years younger.

"That piece of meat, the incriminating evidence, in your bag..."

Simon's hand instinctively rested on his backpack, and Professor Loris moved closer step by step, his cane poking two small dents in the muddy ground.

He stood in front of Simon, his fingers outstretched, the tips almost touching the fabric of his backpack.

"Let me see it, Simon!" His voice trembled with excitement, and his whole body shook.

He realized that something was clearly wrong with the professor, but considering the bigger picture, Simon still opened his backpack and took out a large piece of flesh, reddish-black and wrapped in cloth, as evidence of the crime. Dark red blood seeped out from the seams of the cloth.

Professor Loris held the piece of meat in his hands, his fingers digging into the folds of the fabric.

His ten fingers were pressed against the surface of the flesh, his knuckles bent, and his fingertips exerting a slight pressure, as if he were caressing a fragile, rare treasure.

Seemingly sensing his presence, the surface of the flesh suddenly throbbed violently, and Professor Loris's body trembled as well.

"See that? It's responding to me! It's responding to me!" Professor Loris exclaimed with an excited tremor.

He held the piece of meat up to his eyes, his face so close that the tip of his nose almost touched the cloth.

"All the answers to biology are in here." His voice was low, as if he were talking to himself. "The Hungry Angel has devoured too many creatures—plant genes, animal genes, even the genes of the Abyss. This piece of flesh holds all the secrets of the Abyss!"

He looked up at Simon, his eyes moist, his lips trembling. "Give it to me to experiment with. I can save Elphis, I can save that little girl! I can make any kind of injection!"

Simon reached out and forcefully took the piece of meat back from Professor Loris's hand.

Professor Lorris's fingers wouldn't loosen, so Simon pried them apart one by one and stuffed the pieces of meat back into his backpack.

"Please help Elphis treat the shrapnel in the wound in her back..." Simon's gaze shifted to Flanie, who was bound by ropes. "Then extract the purple serum from her blood to treat Elphis. I know it's difficult, but I hope you can give it a try."

He then looked up at Mr. Bell, who had remained silent throughout the camp:

"Mr. Bell, could you please hunt a beast? We need its bone marrow as material for an inhibitor."

Mr. Bell straightened up from the tree trunk and slung the bow back over his shoulder: "Give me a few hours."

"Be careful." Simon nodded.

Mr. Bell turned and walked into the fog, the bear ears on his bear-head hat swaying twice in the mist before disappearing without a trace.

Professor Loris stood still, his fingers still in the same position as when he held the piece of meat, fingers spread wide with knuckles slightly bent. He carefully observed Simon's expression, his mouth opening and closing.

"Listen to me, Simon, that piece of meat is far more valuable than you imagine. Give it to me to study, and in just a few days, I can..."

"Professor Loris," Simon interrupted him, "I cannot give you the flesh that is evidence of the Hungry Angel's sins. Many people are eyeing this piece of meat, so it's safer to keep it with me."

Professor Lorris's hand fell limp in disappointment.

"Alright, whatever you say. I'll go get the medicine." His voice returned to calm, but there was a subtle chill in his tone.

Simon watched his retreating figure. The withered old man was hunched over, his cane digging deep into the mud, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Brienne's head bobbed in the birdcage.

"Did you see the last look he gave you?" she asked softly.

"I saw it."

Simon could see it clearly: Professor Loris's last look at him was filled with intense obsession and greed.

As a top-notch scholar of mechanobiology, seeing chunks of flesh from a creature capable of infinite self-healing would certainly be exciting.

But there was something wrong with that look in his eyes. Simon could sense a suppressed madness. If the old man were a few years younger, he might have pounced on him and snatched the piece of meat.

Professor Loris is in danger right now. He is driven mad by his morbid greed and thirst for knowledge, but there is nothing he can do. He is the only one who can take care of the wounded and make medicine. Simon can only pray that his illness will not flare up too soon.

"That look wasn't very friendly..." Brienne sighed. "With internal and external troubles, I feel exhausted just thinking about you."

Simon tightened the backpack straps and slung it over his shoulder.

"There's no other way; now we have to think of a way out."

After Brock's betrayal, their entire team suffered greatly. Elphis was seriously injured, Flani was transformed into a monster, and their cooperation with the Cave Thieves became a mere shell of its former self.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to ask the last remaining cave raider who could still speak to him.

He saw Simon approaching and visibly shrank back in fear.

"I didn't know Brock was a traitor, really! I swear!"

Simon walked up to him and grabbed his collar tightly with both hands.

"Don't, don't touch me!" Piqué stammered.

"Tell me the truth and I'll let you go! Now answer my question..."

As he spoke, Piqué's neck began to break out in a dense rash, spreading from his collar all the way to his ears. He also had it on his arms, with the part of his wrist exposed from his sleeve covered in red spots.

Simon had no choice but to let go, and Pique fell to the ground, using his hands to brace himself as he took two steps back.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me either." Pick looked down at the red rash on his arm and replied pitifully, "I've been like this since I was little. It happens whenever I come into contact with people, so I prefer to be with animals. They don't give me rashes."

Simon crouched down to meet his gaze: "Tell me Elphis's evacuation plan, how to contact the people to meet him."

"Using birds to deliver messages, it takes two days to fly from the first level to the stronghold on the second level. Once the people on the second level receive the message, someone will come to meet them."

"Write a letter and send it now!" Simon breathed a sigh of relief, finally finding a glimmer of hope.

But hope was quickly dashed, and Pique shook his head nervously.

"I don't know the code. There must be a code in the letter for them to come to the first floor to meet us. Only the boss knows the code, and if he doesn't tell us, no one else will." After hesitating for a long time, Pike added, "Brock might know the code."

Simon sighed, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him.

After saying goodbye to Pique, he walked back to the tent, lifted the curtain, and went inside.

Having not rested for a long time, he placed the birdcage on the ground, put his backpack under his head as a pillow, closed his eyes, and took a short nap.

I just hope that when he wakes up he will hear good news and see the light at the end of the tunnel.