Few minutes into a fruitless search, the team found themselves at the base of the stairs leading to the next floor. They had traversed the conference rooms, cafeteria, storage rooms, maintenance areas, and employee locker room, yet uncovered nothing—only more lifeless bodies. This left them questioning the veracity of the enigmatic figure's claims.
"Do you believe that guy was being honest when he claimed there would be no enemies?" Henry inquired of Micheal, who was lost in thought, also grappling with the same question.
"He does not appear to be bluffing based on what we have observed, but we can't afford to take any chances. We're moving forward but stay alert for any hidden dangers or ambushes. We can't completely trust the words of someone who has done this to an entire area," Michael replied with a sigh. They then moved up the stairs to the next floor, which was the data storage floor. This floor housed the lab items storage unit, medical facility, a library, experimentation area, emergency response team headquarters, and the head scientist's private lab.
They soon arrived at the second floor without any obstacles. Once there, they took a moment to listen for any sounds or signs of an ambush, but they noticed nothing unusual. This floor was quiet, save for the occasional sound of a ripped wire releasing sparks and the blood dripping from the ceiling where a figure had been impaled through the mouth; there were no other sounds.
"It seems quiet here; let's proceed and investigate the item's storage unit first." Micheal addressed the team, who nodded in agreement as they advanced. They arrived at the first section, primarily a storage area, and cautiously entered the vast room, weapons drawn and poised for any unexpected developments.
This expansive room housed enormous shelves filled with scientific equipment. Two rows of shelves extended from their starting point to the far end of the room, allowing for ample space to move on either side and in the center.
Micheal used hand signs to direct Bai and Hei to the left side, while instructing Racheal and Henry to move to the right, positioning himself in the center. Once everyone was in place, he signaled for them to begin moving. This formation ensured that if one person was attacked, the others could easily identify the attacker from a distance and provide assistance.
They advanced, cautiously examining the shelves for anything that might be useful or raise suspicion, all while keeping a consistent distance from one another. In just a few seconds, the team reached the far end of the room, finding nothing out of the ordinary. The only notable detail was the absence of the characteristic blood-splattered floors and walls, likely due to the lack of any bodies present; it appeared that the violence had occurred elsewhere.
"Nothing," Bai remarked, his expression uneasy.
"Let's head to the medical facility; we're losing valuable time." Micheal responded for the others, only now becoming aware that the sun was rising. Following their captain, whose thoughts remained concealed, they proceeded to the next section of the second floor. This location housed the medical supplies as well, and after thoroughly searching it without success, they moved on to the library and then to the emergency response team headquarters. There, they encountered more lifeless bodies, a truly horrific scene. Upon arriving at the experimentation area, they discovered something intriguing that captured their attention.
"Wow, that's quite a large hole," Henry muttered,
staring at the massive opening in the wall. It appeared as though something had ripped through it to escape, and it had taken a significant portion of the wall with it.
"Creepers, Reapers, or Scrapers aren't usually this large; it also couldn't have been caused by a grenade. What could have possibly led to this?" Hei pondered, gazing at the hole, attempting to reconcile all the monsters he had faced thus far.
"Looks like Trevor did it," Racheal's voice came from behind them as she moved some boxes aside to uncover a large cage concealed by a curtain. A tag affixed to the cage bore the name 'Trevor'.
"Whatever or whoever Trevor was, it must have escaped from here, and it must have been enormous and powerful to break through refined steel like this." Micheal raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the cage. Whatever had escaped must have been incredibly strong; he had attempted to bend the bars with his hands and had to exert most of his strength to do so. This made him fully aware of the difficulty of what Trevor had accomplished.
"What's this? Fur?" Bai inquired with curiosity as he picked up a piece of fur. As soon as Henry noticed this, he moved forward and swiftly grabbed it from him, his eyes shining with enthusiasm.
"It's a cat, a Maine Coon specifically, white and blue in color, relatively young. They're known for their friendly nature and typically large size, though this one is quite exceptional," Henry remarked, his eyes softening as he spoke after taking a sniff of the fur. Upon completion, he let out a chuckle as he observed the faces of the team.
"Hahaha, I love cats; they give me peace," Henry explained, eliciting surprised looks from his teammates who then burst into laughter. It was indeed surprising that someone with Henry's appearance had such a preference—it didn't quite match.
"While I would enjoy standing here and pondering how a big guy like you has a fondness for cats, we have more urgent matters to attend to. Based on my analysis, it seems that our friend Trevor was somewhat of an experiment for our lab colleagues. Whatever the cause, it transformed an already large cat into something the size of an elephant. Let's search the area for any clues that could assist us in our battle against whoever orchestrated this," Michael instructed with a grin. They promptly began their search, scouring the entire room for any hint of a clue. After a brief search, Hei ultimately discovered something.
"Guys, I believe I've discovered something. Most of the others were already damaged, and their contents had spilled out. This was the only one that still had something inside," Hei called out, holding up a small canister containing a purplish liquid. As soon as Michael noticed the liquid, his expression shifted dramatically.
"I shouldn't have left my bag down there," Michael said with frustration, his eyebrows furrowing into a frown.
"What's wrong?" Bai inquired, perplexed by Micheal's words that seemed to lack context.
"This liquid resembles the one found in the brains of the Octo-worms. I had a sample in a canister that I placed in my bag, but it was all buried underground. If we had it here, we could have confirmed whether they were the same." Micheal responded with a sense of regret, stepping forward to take possession of the canister. He gazed at it with such intensity that it seemed as though he were engaged in a silent confrontation with it.
"Yes, I'm sure of it," Michael added with a look of certainty after a few seconds. This prompted the team to exchange looks of surprise; if this was true, it meant a whole lot of things.
"Assuming they are indeed the same, this presents numerous possibilities. It suggests that the scientists were conducting tests using this liquid prior to the outbreak. If they had access to it, does that imply they were developing Octo-worms before the outbreak occurred? Where did they obtain the liquid initially?" Henry contemplated, his thoughts aligning with those of the others.