BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1238 : The Silent Massacre

"Show us," Mira said. "Take us to where you found the human traces."

The clone gave a quick nod. Within seconds, a group of Chimaeric Demons gathered around them—the ones who weren't busy joined the three girls.

The clones led them through the shelter first, as it was the only way to access the cave system, which was deeper into the alcove in which they made the shelter.

The clones used a mix of rock and wood to create several interconnected chambers. Makeshift beds lined the walls, while storage areas held what little supplies they'd salvaged.

Piles of wood were stacked around, sorted by size and type. The clones had been gathering wood from the surrounding forest, preparing materials for the expansions and reinforcements they were going to make.

Like Erik, they spotted the signs of thaids marking the trees, or the remnants of some fights, and deduced that if these trees were strong enough to resist the thaids, they might use them. Of course, cutting them required a lot of time, but with the combined efforts of the clones, it became relatively quick.

They had both new and old logs. The fresh ones were still wet with tree sap, while some older ones were dry and ready to use for building.

The biggest logs would be used to hold up the shelter, medium-sized ones would compose the walls, and smaller branches were set aside for other tasks.

Next to the wood, they kept their simple tools made from stone, bone, and wood itself.

The clones were so good that they even created a crude ventilation system, ensuring fresh air circulation throughout the space. It was crafted from hollow bamboo-like reeds and found growing near some water source, with some sections bound using natural fiber ropes and sealed with clay.

Defensive positions had been established at strategic points, with clear lines of sight to all potential approach routes.

The shelter was crude and obviously rushed, and though basic, it showed ingenuity in its construction.

They lit up the shelter using glowing mushrooms they found in the deep parts of the cave. The clones moved these mushrooms and placed them carefully around the shelter to provide light where needed.

"Great job with this," June said, touching the smooth wooden wall. The clones had done impressive work, despite the situation.

"Thanks, elder brother."

The group went deeper into the caves, moving past their shelter. The tunnel got narrower, going from about ten feet wide to just under seven feet, so they had to walk in a single line.

The cave walls were rough and had sharp, shiny rock formations sticking out. Water drops fell from above, making small pools on the bumpy ground.

They walked behind the clones for about ten minutes through these twisting tunnels. The only sounds were their footsteps and breathing bouncing off the walls. Then they reached the place.

"There," one of the clones said, pointing to a wider section of the tunnel.

They found clear signs that humans had been here long ago. Scattered across the cave floor were the remains of what looked like to be research equipment.

Rusted metal cases bore faded logos of who knew what institution or organization. Broken sample containers and corroded measuring devices were scattered everywhere.

As the clones said, this was no recent human activity. The level of decay and corrosion on the equipment suggested this site was centuries old. Even the metal components were severely deteriorated, far beyond what a few years of exposure would cause.

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The most pressing question, though, was what happened here. If this place was really the remnant of the ancient human populations living on Mur before it fell, these people's sudden death was particularly mysterious.

There were no bodies to be found, at least at a first glance, and the damaged equipment showed signs of a violent struggle.

The metal equipment was covered in deep scratch marks that no normal human weapon could have made.

Instead of clean cuts, the metal was bent and twisted, showing that whatever did this was strong, at least like a thaid.

The marks looked like they came from enormous claws or talons—each scratch had three or four parallel lines, like when a beast claws through paper.

The scary part was that these same claw marks appeared on everything in the cave. All the equipment—from storage boxes to metal beams to research tools—had been torn apart in the same way.

Whatever did this had to be much stronger than any normal animal, since it could easily rip through military-grade metal.

For thaids, that was nothing much, which meant a thaid, or a group of thaids, did this.

The group searched around, but they found no notes or records that could explain what happened here.

"No bodies," Amber said, kneeling to examine a torn metal case. "Not even bones."

June nodded. Even he had not found bodies despite having searched. He then examined the equipment. "Look at all this," June said. "Lab coats, military gear, research tools—there must have been dozens of people working here. These researchers weren't alone either. The military presence suggests they had protection. Researchers followed by the military is an unusual event. I think this was a Silver Line Corporation facility of the sort."

"And yet they all vanished," Amber said, her voice grim. "Scientists, soldiers—an entire research team gone without leaving remains behind."

Amber stood, brushing dust from her knees. "You and the clones are right. Everything points to the fact that this was a Silver Line Corporation facility and that something terrible happened here. No one just abandons a secure facility like this, leaving all their equipment behind, unless they had to face what for them was a literal monster. But what?"

"Whatever attacked them," Mira said, studying the violent destruction around them, "it didn't just kill them—it made them disappear completely. They got likely devoured."

"I think there are two possibilities here," June said, voicing what the clones were thinking. "Either this expedition got found out by the primordial Thaids that appeared around that time, and they were all killed... or there was another abomination here. Maybe even some early Thaid specimens that escaped and slaughtered everyone."

The thought of the human abomination Erik found in Liberty Watch made everyone shiver.

The silence that followed was heavy. Thaids were common, so they weren't a problem. The theory about their presence wasn't even far-fetched based on what they knew happened to Mur in ancient times.

The timing of the scientists' and guards' deaths suggested their killer was active during the period of the Thaid emergence on Mur. The creature must have either hunted the team down or—more worryingly—escaped from a research facility hidden within these caves, which was exactly what they hoped to find.

However, they were making too many assumptions and had already convinced themselves that a Silver Line Corporation facility existed here.

The second theory—that of a thaid being created here before escaping and killing everyone—was far more troubling than simply the thaids following the group.

The beast Erik found in Liberty Watch had proven stronger than any local thaid, suggesting a similar creature here would have likewise dominated the area. Given they were on Mur, this meant if such a creature existed, it would be far stronger than anything else in the surroundings.

Mira kneeled beside a particularly well-preserved piece of equipment. "This is standard research gear for that time."

"How do you know?" Emily asked?

"Because I studied that period. Mercenaries often found relics of the past while hunting, and they were paid better than the thaids' bodies most of the time. Many of my friends found abandoned houses deep in the forests during their hunts, and there are even entire cities on Mannard covered by vegetation. We had to learn what valuable items we might find, if only to avoid getting scammed when selling our findings."

Amber approached what looked like the remains of some Kevlar vest. The protective gear had been torn apart by something clearly stronger than an untrained and crystal-ess human. The fabric was shredded.

There were even some military-grade rifles, their barrels twisted by either time or something else. The weapons showed signs of having been fired, with spent shell casings scattered nearby.

"Whatever happened here," June said, "they tried to fight back."

"What's worse is that I think these people weren't running from something," Mira said, studying the equipment.

The group kept studying the equipment more.

"I think the clones are right," she said. "Look at how the equipment is scattered," she gestured at the debris field.

"It's not in a pattern you'd expect from people fleeing. The heaviest equipment is deepest in the tunnel, and the defensive positions are facing inward, not outward."

"And look at these sample containers," she added, lifting a corroded metal case. "They're clustered around specific points—as if they were the very things these people were trying to protect."

"We need to search the cave," Mira said. "If there is a Silver Line Corporation's facility here, we struck gold. We might be able to use the place as a shelter, and one much better than the one we made at the cave entrance."

At that point, even Amber had to nod, albeit she didn't like the situation a bit.