Born in apocalypse

As they entered the room, they finally saw the horror in front of them in full glory.

Ethen and Grace couldn’t control themselves and vomited everything in their stomachs into a corner. Even Jackson was about to do the same but he somehow managed to prevent himself from doing the same after witnessing the terrifying sight before him. Only Emma and the archer remained unfazed after witnessing the scene.

There was a body cut exactly in half, lying in a pool of blood that was most likely his own. However, this wasn’t even the most horrifying part.

There was another body, though referring to it as a body felt like an insult to an ordinary body. It resembled more of a meat paste than anything else, and even that hadn’t been spared. Rats and ants were constantly feasting on the remains, scattering them all over the room.

"Is anyone here?" Jackson quickly called out, trying to signal if anyone was present. If someone were here, then this was his chance to escape. However, after waiting for a minute with no response, he hurriedly exited the room.

While exiting the room, Jackson exchanged a meaningful look with Emma, silently signaling her to take action. Emma quickly grasped his intent and approached Grace.

She retrieved an item from Grace’s backpack and examined it closely. The item resembled a compass in shape. Gazing at the compass, she reentered the room.

Jackson noticed that Ethan appeared puzzled by Emma’s actions, so, taking on the role of a leader, he began to explain the purpose of the compass.

"It’s an item she received as a reward from the second quest. I don’t know the exact details, but with the help of this compass, she can trace anyone if she can detect the mana signature of that person. However, there’s a limitation: the compass can’t identify the mana signature if more than 24 hours have passed. But we’re in luck today, and it hasn’t been 24 hours, so we can determine the location of the culprit."

Ethan was taken aback by the item’s description but understood that such magical items were indeed possible, as he had one himself.

After a minute, Emma emerged from the room and conveyed, "There isn’t any mana signature left on the corpses here," she said with a disappointed expression.

"Okay, let’s check the other corpses," Jackson replied as the group continued to explore the station, hoping to find a corpse with the foreign mana signature.

After a while, they came across a corpse that bore multiple cut marks on its body, as if it had been used as a practice target for a swordsman. The head was completely severed and appeared to have been burned away.

Emma swiftly approached the body and set her compass on the corpse. She began channeling her mana into the compass, her expectations relatively low. However, this time something different happened; the arrow of the compass shifted direction and pointed toward a specific path.

"We’ve got it," she exclaimed, standing up and moving away from the body. No matter how much she moved, the compass consistently indicated the same direction.

Jackson nodded, and the group exited the station. While they walked, Ethan couldn’t help but ask,

"Who are these people? I mean, are they even people anymore after killing like this?" Ethan expressed. His thoughts were constantly moving and he was forced to remember the condition of the corpses.

None of the corpses appeared to be the result of human actions; each one bore the marks of something more sinister as if they had been brutally massacred by sinister entities.

Jackson let out a sigh as he regarded Ethan and remarked, "Who knows, maybe we really are up against devils..."

Upon hearing his boss’s response, Ethan shuddered and continued walking in silence. After walking for some time, they finally emerged from the station and started heading towards the helicopter.

As they approached, the helicopter’s pilot, who had remained in his seat, furrowed his brow and said,

"Where are the ones who will carry these guns?" the helicopter pilot inquired, gesturing toward the bags containing the weapons.

"Everyone is dead," Jackson swiftly replied as he boarded the helicopter.

"What do you mean everyone is dead?" the pilot asked, his face displaying shock and disbelief.

"Exactly what you heard. Quickly follow the direction Emma will tell you," Jackson said, not entertaining further questions.

The driver, not having the courage to ask any more questions, simply nodded and started the helicopter. Emma promptly provided him with directions, while Jakson established a connection with their superiors.

"What did you find?" came the inquiry from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"We didn’t manage to find any living persons in the station, but we’ve noticed that at least twenty corpses or living persons are missing, and the ones Danny had kidnapped are gone as well," Jackson summarized and reported.

"Did you find the boss’s corpse?"

"No, we didn’t find his corpse, but we believe he’s dead," Jackson replied.

"How can you be so sure?" came the question.

"I’m not entirely sure, but we found two corpses in his cabin. One belonged to his friend, and the other was brutally mutilated. I think the mutilated corpse was that of the boss," Jackson explained.

"Oh, okay. Did Emma manage to find the location or not?" came the next question.

"Yes, she has found the location, and we are following it at this very moment," Jackson replied.

"Okay! Continue the line and report if you found anything."

"Okay"

The helicopter traveled for another few minutes, before stooping beside the river bed.

Looking at his location Jackson picked up the walkie-talkie once again and said,

"We have reached the sea and from the looks of it the culprit is on the other side of the sea should we continue or not? Jackson asked.

There was no sound from the other side for a few seconds before Jackson heard the reply, "No, return to the base."

Jackson was surprised when he heard the command and even asked a second time, but the result was the same.

’Why did he stop us from going there?’ With this thought in his mind, he signaled the driver to turn the helicopter.