SCP Corporation: Contain Bonfire-Chapter 68 - Figure in the Mist_1
Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Figure in the Mist_1
Chapter 68 -68: Figure in the Mist_1
Nightfall, at the location of a food warehouse in the castle, guarded by many soldiers, several of the sentries couldn’t help but yawn from sleepiness and fatigue, as one leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
“Don’t sleep! Or you might be beheaded…”
“I, I just dozed off for a moment, it’s okay…”
Another sentry, holding a spear, spoke listlessly, “And who knows if what that big shot said about everything getting better in just one more day is actually true…”
During the day when the battle was raging it wasn’t so bad, but as night deepened and all was quiet, waves of exhaustion would hit, making it terribly hard to stay awake.
“I’m not sure, but I’m a bit hungry rather than sleepy…”
“Hungry… I feel it too.”
The soldier, embracing his spear and closing his eyes, suddenly felt his stomach churn, giving off a loud rumbling protest.
Following this sound of hunger, another soldier’s stomach began to rumble too.
Gurgling, gurgling…
Near the warehouse, it was as though after rain in the fields, with frog-like noises starting up one after another.
“So hungry… Shall we eat a little bit? They only asked us to stay awake, no other requirements, and it’s going to be safe after just one more day…”
“Yes, safety is almost here…”
“I’m so hungry…”
Clang, clang, clang…
Unable to resist any longer, a soldier set down his spear and walked towards the warehouse, his eyes growing more vacant as he stared at the scarce leftovers of dried meat and bread inside.
As soon as one of them stuffed a piece of black bread into his mouth, everything seemed uncontrollable from that point onward.
Meanwhile, in a hall within the castle of Black Stone City, Colin, standing by the window, glanced outside and saw a sea of people.
Under his command, all types of people—be it the displaced or regular citizens—in Black Stone City had been relocated nearby.
Without any proper census taken, only a rough estimate could be made that at least over fifty thousand people were here. Because of the large number of people, the management was sloppy, with poor sanitary conditions resulting from the accumulation of waste and odorous sources, making the hygiene situation near catastrophic.
Even Colin inside the castle could sense it was as if he were standing on a fertilized farm outside.
But now Colin couldn’t afford to focus on managing all that…
He had this nagging sense of an unclear crisis looming, feeling like some major trouble was about to happen without knowing in what form it would arise.
“That thing demanded we do not sleep, and I’ve arranged it as much as possible; I hope staying awake really solves the issue…”
Colin rubbed his forehead, which gave him a headache just thinking about it.
Even if he demanded people forcibly stay awake, there would still be incidents of sneaking sleep, and after realizing that doing so brought no consequences, it would embolden them even more. Some even secretly spread rumors claiming he was a demon sent to prevent common people from sleeping.
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And “Beast Transformation Syndrome” had quieted down for just a day or two…
Those who spread such words were the “Judges” within the city. Though Helena had them under control and they didn’t dare to speak outright, they still caused trouble in the shadows.
Colin didn’t indulge them; he had them all arrested, even killed a few to set an example.
However, the rumors had already spread, making those who already didn’t trust him feel even more hopeful.
“They’d better not wreck my fight for survival; otherwise, not a single one in that prison will live.”
Colin exhaled heavily, growing increasingly restless.
Suddenly, he frowned as he sniffed the air that carried a distinct stench, detecting a scent that seemed out of place.
The direction is…
Sniffing, Colin looked toward that place, the food warehouse?
Thinking of that thing which could induce intense “Hunger,” he suddenly had a hunch about where the next disaster might strike…
He pursed his lips and, without giving it much thought, took up the Contrarian Revolver Gun and walked towards that place.
“What happened?”
Calder followed immediately upon seeing this and waved his hand behind him, bringing a small squad with him.
“Something’s not quite right at the warehouse location…” Colin didn’t hide it as he’d had a decent collaboration with the Warden these past few days, even though the man would snitch to Helena all day long.
“How could it be?”
Calder was stunned for a moment. The warehouse was said to be the most protected place aside from around Helena herself. How could anything have happened there?
If there really was a problem, there would certainly have been some noise, wouldn’t there? It’s not possible that an entire army was wiped out, right?
“Did something happen?”
How should I know? I just feel something’s off…
Colin grumbled inwardly but said expressionlessly:
“We’ll know once we get there.”
Calder wanted to ask more, but he noticed that Colin, having just left the main castle building not long ago, suddenly stopped in his tracks, staring outside with a grave look.
At that moment, as he looked out following Colin, it seemed like he saw nothing… No, that’s not right?!
Where are the people?!
Where did they go?
“Hurry to the warehouse area!”
After Colin spoke, he strode quickly towards the warehouse. After a little more than a minute, before he even got close, he heard a faint gurgling sound coming from that direction.
It was like the strange call of some species of frog…
And furthermore, what made his heart tremble most was the faint white mist emerging around him.
“It’s not dark green…”
After observing, Colin let out a slight sigh of relief. At night, Black Stone City would gather some ground mist, so it wasn’t particularly strange.
Next, he squinted his eyes, his pupils contracting vertically in the process, transforming into a non-human appearance as his vision penetrated the white mist to look inside.
Soon, he noticed that the reason there were no people around was that all the soldiers had gone towards the warehouse…
The ground was covered with footprints leading in that direction, as well as weapons dropped halfway there.
Clearly, something had happened up ahead while they were unaware.
As Colin hesitated, uncertain whether or not to go and investigate, he suddenly heard staggered footsteps within the thin white mist.
A shaky figure emerged from within it…
“Is that you, Wo De?”
Calder, standing next to Colin, recognized the person by their build, “Why did you come from over there? What happened?”
The soldier named Wo De did not answer, just continued to approach haltingly, his figure wavering from out of the mist, and indistinct whispers could be heard, but they were inaudible from this distance.
Colin frowned and stared at the figure, reaching into his collar with his right hand to grip the handle of the gun, while his left hand clutched a golden rectangular card.
Behind him, amid a series of “whooshing” sounds, Calder and the others drew their long swords.
If they didn’t notice something was amiss at this point, it would be a grave disservice to the brains that had taken so much effort to grow atop their necks.
A dozen seconds later, the figure in the mist gradually came into view, and at the sight of him, everyone was taken aback for a moment.
What was going on?
