THE LAST KEEPER-Chapter 137. CONTAINMENT WING II
The Containment Wing was like entering a whole new world in itself. It smelled of a particular stench that hung in the walls. It wasn’t repulsive, more like disturbing, and it instantly made one who smelled it uncomfortable. Steel, antiseptic, rot, and something metallic beneath it all. the thirty feet steel door was just one of the many, and the lower they went, the more different doors Loka had to open, and each had a different system of locks and bolts to turn to open. The doors themselves were bulky and so thick that they were the same size or bigger than Loku.
With every door opened and every door shut behind them sagiri could feel everyone grow uneasy, but for some reason, he was not. He should have been after dealing with the gravescale, but on the contrary, he was curious. The only thing that made him uneasy was the many doors that kept shutting behind them. His hate for confinement had not changed.
After the fourth door, they finally broke into a level with an elevator on it. There were different men and women in red combat suits, like Captain Loka. Many tribes of the West believed that many beasts were afraid of the red colour, and it was normal for them to have a stripe of red in their clothing to scare away feral beasts. Perhaps they had believed it so much that it had started working.
In groups of three, they stood in front of circular cells. The cells were arranged in a circular descent, each one reinforced with layered barriers and humming restraints with some sort of innovation from the central plains. It was the highest form of restraining a person or a beast, and if they tried to escape, the humming restraints could burn them alive. The warriors manning the circular cells did not even turn to salute their commander.
How lethal were the contained beasts that the watching warrior could not dare take their eyes off the cell? Indeed, as the containment division commander said, containing them is not a one-time thing but a lifelong duty.’
The group was about find out soon enough as they approached the cells. They first passed small cages that were not manned, and they held weird looking, ranging from small creatures that one could only wish did not attack in a group. One looked like a mutated porcupine with sharp nails on its skin that looked more threatening than the regular porcupine. Its teeth were bigger than its face and prolonged so far.
"Creepy," Ulekai shuddered, pulling himself between the group.
"Coward," Kaka hissed, still walking with his head held high, even with the uneasiness currently rolling off of him.
Another small cage held just a small shadow, a shadow beast? It felt like it was staring at them even if it did not have eyes. How did the containment wing even manage to acquire such? Or perhaps it was the seventh wing that caught it and handed it over once they were done with it.
The three warriors standing in front of a cell stepped aside when Loku got closer, and a creature came into sight. immediately everyone in the group stepped back, even Kaka. What a monstrosity
"This is the Plague Hound, it was born from a hound as you heard, but when it died, it did not stay dead for long because of some parasite from the nation east of tagayia and by the time we caught it, it had killed half a village with a plague. It is a walking plague. Once you touch it or its liquids, you will be dead in half a day, right after you bark like a hound and start excreting dark goo." Loku asakana explained as if that wasn’t the scariest piece of abomination anyone had ever heard.
The creatures or the monstrosity behind the cage’s skin stretched charcoal. It’s Jaws that open too wide, hang open, and a black, stinking tongue hangs out. It did not look like it was being fed, but somehow it was alive or half dead. Even worse, it did not have eyes anymore.
"why cant you just kill it?" Kaka asked, staring at the hound rift hound with disgust.
"If it were killable, it wouldn’t be in containment," Loku answered rather politely. "We only keep the ones we can’t kill or the ones that are still under study," he said, moving across the room to another cell manned by three other warriors.
"Use your brain sometimes, bami king," Kiuga jabbed, but not even Sagiri could dare fight in such an environment, so he just hissed and followed after Loku, who was already standing in front of another cage.
"This is the armored ant, just like its name. Half a century ago, it emerged. No one knows where it came from, but this giant insect creature was captured during a city perimeter breach. By the time it was caught i hear it had killed a thousand warriors, and it only stopped when it saw a flower field. A brave warrior put flowers on its way till it entered this cage," Loka said. The cage was indeed covered in flowers, and the creature was just sitting, staring at the flowers. "It had been staring at them for half a century, and it also ages slowly."
The creature looked like a giant ant, but with a thick armored shell, slight heat radiating from cracks in its plating with every breath. It emitted low clicking sounds every few seconds as if it was marveling at the beauty of flowered. Everyone in the group could only hope that Tagayia never ran out of flowers or that it got bored with flowers again. The ant was 20 feet long, and even its legs were the size of a man.
Next, it was the Copying Fish, Loku looked like he took pride in explaining, and he even told the group he was the one who caught the beast. The copycat fish was the least threatening beast so far, and smaller than the creatures in the room. Even so, it was twice the size of a division commander.
"This is the copycat fish. They rarely appear in deep oceans, yet this was found deep in the Zoli Seas. It had been luring fishermen by mimicking the voice of those closest to them, and when they went looking, unaware that they were walking into its turf, it ate them whole. I was the one who caught this one with my team," Loku said with pride, and it was truly worthy of it.
The humanoid form was kept behind soundproof barriers. It looked like a fish with human limbs, but paler. Its cell was clear and full of water. Even with the barrier loku explained that the copycat fish still tried to mimic the voices of loved ones of the warriors manning it. It was an evil type of creature indeed.
The group toured two more creatures before they walked into another section. This one was not manned. It held Fragmented Remains. Only parts of beasts that were unique. One was of a limb still that twitched even long after its owner had passed. Perhaps a previous holder of a cell in containment, another was of a tissue regenerating despite being detached, but died soon after, and the process repeated itself.
"Researchers are trying to understand how it sustains itself. It also moves when exposed to heat." Loku explained, staring at the limb with fascination.
Another of the specimens was a Parasite Cluster contained in a small tank.
These small creatures were the cause of a disease outbreak. It is very recent and among the still fully traditional hunters deep in the west. They are Capable of burrowing into hosts and causing them immense pain that they end up dying of pain. The East Healing Research Headquarters are still working on a cure as we speak," Loku said. Everyone visibly shuddered and moved away from the small see-through tank. No one would want to suffer from such a fate, and even worse, a cure for it had not been discovered yet.
A few more specimens later, each more fascinating than the last, and the group was released by containment division commander Loku. he walked the group back to the fourth door, and right when they were about to reach it sagiri suddenly froze. Something had stirred. not inside of him, but it had triggered the archive violently. something was stirring far beneath the core of the fourth wing, and deep in its loins, something was calling and stirring.
Maybe recognition.
The feeling hit him hard and painfully deep in his chest, and he staggered back, clutching his chest. He could feel Nokai stir in his pocket, and he instantly commanded it to stop. It tearing through its clothes could have sealed his fate.
"Stop!" he snarled.
Everyone stopped instantly at the sudden outburst, and being on edge, it made them turn to him quickly. Even the instructors watching the cells turned to look at him in uniform, and if anyone could have seen the contained beast at the moment, they had all looked at him, even the armored ant.
"What is it?" someone asked in alarm.
"Are there any more contained beasts below this place?!" he asked with the same intensity.
