As Jake climbed down the stone stairs, the sound of his footsteps echoing against the stone, he watched as the area slowly twisted around him. Groups of small fish seemed to go past him, moving through the air with the ease of traversing water. Seagrass started to grow between the cracks and gaps of stone, swaying as if they were driven by an invisible current.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, he found himself in a reception area. As he started to explore the room, something caught his eye. A map of the grounds was hung up on one of the walls, seemingly unaffected from the changes. As he got closer to the map, he noticed that it didn’t just have the plans for the current floor, but the one below it.

‘Using half of an entire floor as a containment unit, huh?’ he thought as he committed the map to memory. There were only a few types of creatures where that response was not only valid, but needed. However, he could hazard a couple of guesses.

Once he finished memorizing the map, he made his way towards the door. Letting a small breath, he twisted his body before slamming his foot into the door, causing it to slam open. As he stepped into the hallway, he was met with a small school of fish moving past him. However, something about the fish was odd. They were bigger, seemingly larger than a catfish. Not just that, they had visible fangs, each one gleaming like freshly polished marble.

Odd.

As he continued down the hall, he entered what seemed to be a research wing. The smell of various chemicals surrounded him, masking the scent of sea salt.

‘Creature mutates surrounding flora into a more aquatic state,’ he thought as he hopped through a broken window. As he started to comb through the lab, pocketing any materials that he could, he suddenly heard something. A low gurgle, as if from someone drowning, echoed through the area. Putting his hand on his pistol, he turned his gaze out the window, slowing his breath.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Soon enough, multiple Mermen came into his view. However, they seemed different. A head or so taller than their brethren, they were covered in what seemed to be natural armor, almost like segmented plates.

Moving his hand to his knife, he let out a small breath before dashing forward. Leaping through the window, he jammed the blade into the neck of one of the Mermen. Twisting his body, he ripped the blade out of its throat before kicking one of them in the chest, causing it to stumble back. Taking out his pistol, he then fired a round into its skull, bursting it like a watermelon. Quickly turning around, he tossed the knife into the throat of one of the mermen before opening fire, each head bursting open. As he watched the bodies crumple to the floor, he holstered his pistol before making his way towards the corpses. As he went through processing the bodies, he noticed something. The Cores, they were misshapen. Rather than clear gems, it was more like lumps of blackened stone.

‘A Demon,’ he thought as he tossed the Core aside. It seemed to be a lesser one, considering the level of mutation was rather tame. Either that, or it was planning something.

Regardless, it was a possible threat to his plans, so it had to be removed.

Turning around, he started to make his way towards the armory, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the hall. Putting down the monsters in his path, he found himself in front of a steel door. Sliding the door open, he quickly got to work. As he combed through the few weapons that were stored, his eyes landed on a shotgun, seemingly made for more combative situations. As he picked up the weapon, he gave it a silent look over.

This would work.

Pocketing the magazines for the weapon, he stepped out of the armory before making his way to the elevator. The material storage could wait.

He had something more important to kill.