Entering this phase space, the first thing Xia Li smelled was an indescribable odor.

  The stench of decay fermented over many years.

  The space outside the research facility wasn't large, already eroded by grayness, with objects losing their color.

  Phase spaces left unmaintained for long enough would eventually have everything inside naturally gray-ify and decompose into base-state matter.

  That expanse of gray colorlessness was the characteristic of graying—a matter-reduction reaction occurring when space loses stability.

  Xia Li kicked open the main door and walked into the research facility...

  Membrane-like substances, dried and hardened, were splattered across walls everywhere. The floor was covered with a layer of desiccated meat scraps.

  Seeing this, Xia Li instantly understood.

  "Looks like some infinitely-regenerating organism escaped containment, which led to this research facility being abandoned."

  Building a biochemical research facility in phase space was actually a very wise decision. If any uncontrollable danger occurred, just abandon it.

  Xia Li continued exploring. This research facility was quite large. On the facility's zone map, he saw five main areas.

  Experiment Zone, Preservation Zone, Security Zone, Residential Zone...

  And the Core Sample Repository.

  Though both served the purpose of preserving things, whatever qualified as "core samples" should be what this facility actually researched—the truly valuable stuff.

  Memorizing the zones and routes, Xia Li decided to check them sequentially. Everything here had long been forgotten.

  First-generation phase gate...

  That was technology from around 2120 CE. Over four hundred years had passed. Whether anyone who'd worked in this laboratory was still alive today was uncertain.

  If everyone who knew about this place had already passed away, then...

  It fell to him to witness the past!

  Xia Li walked to the Experiment Zone entrance and yanked open the rusted door with brute force. Various unnameable apparatus greeted his eyes.

  Most were restraining devices—columnar, bed-shaped, chair-shaped, cage-shaped.

  Probably used to restrain test subjects. The Experiment Zone floor was also covered with a layer of dried brown residue.

  Very obviously...

  That was blood. Blood had once flowed like rivers here. Shattered skeletal remains were scattered everywhere—not a single complete corpse to be found.

  Neither human nor demon.

  "Demons killed humans, ate humans, then were trapped and devoured each other until a final victor emerged. But what meaning did victory have in this space?"

  Xia Li shook his head and continued searching. The Experiment Zone had many computers, but all were acid-corroded and completely broken.

  Xia Li couldn't even extract any data.

  "Looks like after the monsters died... the decomposing remains produced complex chemical reactions, causing the air to become highly acidic..."

  "What a pity..."

  Understanding the Experiment Zone had nothing left, Xia Li immediately headed to the Preservation Zone.

  Opening the Preservation Zone door, the interior matched Xia Li's expectations.

  Many glass tube-like devices were set up inside—nutrient pods isolated from the external environment, perfect for preserving biological organisms.

  The only fortunate thing was that many nutrient pods remained undamaged.

  But without power supply, the organisms preserved within had dissolved into the nutrient solution, becoming tanks of foul water.

  Unwilling to give up, Xia Li examined each nutrient pod, trying to find something that had retained its form.

  Perhaps his persistence paid off—Xia Li actually found one.

  An adult-sized spider with a body that looked not soft but extremely hard—a spider with an exoskeleton. Developing insect characteristics had allowed its remains to be preserved.

  【Found two similar species in database】

  【Demon type: Armored Spider. Demon subspecies: Bone-Shell Spider】

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  【This organism has characteristics of both. Scanning exoskeleton composition...】

  【Five-layer structure, from inside to outside: muscle layer, cartilage layer, chitin layer, calcium layer, keratin layer】

  【This layered structure is both sturdy and highly flexible, effectively absorbing impacts, capable of withstanding explosions and large-caliber bullets】

  "That's really tough."

  Probably only large-caliber armor-piercing rounds could cause effective damage. How humans had survived facing such creatures back then—Xia Li couldn't imagine.

  Moving on without lingering...

  Xia Li continued searching. After a while, he found another preserved test subject—a plant with obvious animal muscle tissue. A large flower.

  Its half-animal, half-plant structure had apparently helped it survive the erosion of time.

  Continuing forward...

  Xia Li gradually reached the end of the Preservation Zone. The nutrient pods here were noticeably larger.

  But they were either damaged and empty inside, or contained large tanks of black-red foul water.

  Approaching the final nutrient pod.

  Xia Li's eyes widened instantly. Preserved within was a humanoid skeletal creature with bones that even had a metallic sheen.

  "Mech-Corpse!!"

  Xia Li recognized it immediately—this was exactly the Mech-Corpse he'd wanted to investigate.

  "Test Subject Number... H251B"

  Xia Li memorized the test number, then directly punched through the nutrient pod. The Mech-Corpse preserved inside fell out.

  Xia Li immediately examined it closely.

  "No... wait, the bones are decayed? Only the outermost layer has metallic characteristics?"

  "This must be a prototype Mech-Corpse..."

  Mech-Corpse combat capability was terrifying—besides their indestructible bodies, they had abilities like invisibility and phase movement.

  All things Xia Li had seen in Ning Ge's memories. Ning Ge's combat power after becoming a Mech-Corpse was fearsome.

  How could it be this fragile thing before him?

  Still, Xia Li cut off a section of bone and stored it in his phase ring.

  Next was the Security Zone.

  Unfortunately, the Security Zone yielded absolutely nothing—just many destroyed cells, now empty of anything valuable.

  Quickly moving to the Residential Zone.

  This area was similarly devastated, also severely damaged—the site of the fiercest fighting.

  The brown bloodstains on the ground were clearly thicker than in the Experiment Zone.

  Just standing here, one could almost hear the screams and wails of the past.

  Xia Li walked to the corridor entrance. Signs on the wall indicated the zone divisions.

  Cafeteria, gym, recreation area, rooms...

  Even participants' names were marked above, probably for convenience in finding people.

  These names were marked in English, but some clearly belonged to people from other countries based on different notation styles.

  Heaven Chip's built-in translation displayed several possible interpretations. Xia Li chose the names most consistent with human naming conventions.

  "Yagyu Munero... I feel like I've heard this name somewhere..."

  【Yagyu Munero, current Head of Biotechnology Department at Yagyu Military Industries】

  Heaven Chip provided the man's current identity. Xia Li noted this information.

  "JIN ZAI JUN"

  "Kim Jae-kyun or Kim Jae-jun? Whatever, doesn't matter. Might be an ancestor of that Kim Soo-tae guy."

  "YAN·QING"

  "Yan Qing?"

  Suddenly, Xia Li spotted a crucial English spelling. Though there was a possibility of a different person with the same name—after all, it wasn't written in Chinese characters—this was enough reason for Xia Li to investigate further.

  Xia Li memorized these three room numbers. If this research facility had any survivors, they would have evacuated in haste back then, surely leaving behind much useful information.