novelraw Chapter 214: Old Age
Chapter 214: Old Age
The broken door latch, reeking of damp and mold, clattered to the floor.
The carved wooden door could now be opened.
Lu Li grasped the handle and pulled gently. The bottom of the door grated harshly against the floor, opening a narrow gap.
A pair of dark eyes peered through the gap, surveying what lay outside.
A dark, wooden corridor. The night sea breeze carried in the stench of fish, several times stronger than it had been during the day. Oil lamps on the walls swayed in the draft, casting a dim, almost black light.
A ship's cabin?
The gap in the doorway widened. Lu Li peered out. The corridor was empty, and only the wind brought with it a murmur of indistinct sounds.
Lu Li watched from the doorway for several minutes, but the corridor remained empty.
He glanced back at the morgue drawer, now silent, then tightened his grip on the crowbar and slipped sideways into the corridor.
The door closed quietly behind him.Lu Li pressed himself against the wall of the dark corridor, moving silently in the direction of the sea breeze.
Doors of unknown purpose lined both sides of the corridor at regular intervals, all of them shut tight.
Creak...
Suddenly, just a few meters ahead, one of the doors swung open and a bizarre shadow slipped out into the hall.
It was a creature whose lower half resembled an octopus with a multitude of tentacles. It spotted Lu Li and let out a series of incomprehensible, hurried gurgles.
Lu Li’s hand instinctively went to the pistol at his belt, but he froze.
The octopus-like creature showed no aggression. Its gurgling sounded more like a summons than a threat.
One of the creature's slimy tentacles rose to pull the door shut. Then, the tentacle beckoned to Lu Li, inviting him to follow as the being moved forward.
After moving a short distance, the octopus-creature stopped and turned back, seeing that Lu Li hadn't moved.
"Ghrrr..."
It emitted a displeased gurgle.
Lu Li frowned and took a few hesitant steps forward. The octopus-creature shook its head and resumed its journey.
It wanted him to follow.
Confused about what was happening, Lu Li touched his own face.
It felt slick and cold. His face was coated in the same black substance.
Aside from his human frame, Lu Li was indistinguishable from these creatures.
Lost in thought, Lu Li followed the octopus-creature. After about fifteen meters, they reached an intersection, where the creature turned left.
Lu Li hesitated, then quickened his pace to follow the creature down the left-hand corridor.
This corridor was just like the last, with doors set at regular intervals along the walls.
The octopus-creature passed the first door and stopped at the second.
"Ghrrr..."
One of its tentacles pushed the door open, while its head-like form turned toward Lu Li, as if hurrying him along.
Lu Li walked over to the creature, his hand never leaving the grip of his pistol.
"Ghrrr..."
A tentacle gestured toward the room's interior, and the creature slipped through the doorway.
Lu Li froze. He was looking at the surface of the conveyor belt. This door led back to the kitchen, but from the ceiling.
So that was why he hadn't found any other way out of the "kitchen".
The octopus-creature gurgled again, beckoning him.
Lu Li took a deep breath, backed up two steps, then took a running leap through the doorway.
Just as he expected, the moment he passed through the doorway, gravity shifted. The pull moved from his back to a point beneath his feet. He shot through the opening and landed with a wet thud on the "kitchen" floor, sending up a spray of the black substance.
Clang!
The crowbar fell beside him.
The nearly three-meter drop, combined with the speed of his entry, made for a painful landing.
Lu Li bent his knees to absorb the impact, but it did little good. His knees struck the floor with a sickening thud.
Urged on by the octopus-creature, Lu Li struggled to his feet. His knees and ankles screamed with pain, but thankfully, he felt no broken bones.
If the floor had been solid, he surely would have broken something.
Lu Li retrieved his crowbar and looked up at the "cooks," who had gathered around him, cleavers in hand. They were making gurgling sounds, conversing with the octopus-creature.
The octopus-creature was apparently their superior. The massive backs of the "cooks" hunched over slightly, and a deferential tone crept into their gurgles.
Lu Li watched their exchange in silence. When it ended, the "cooks" and the octopus-creature turned their heads in unison to stare at the crowbar in his hands.
Lu Li knew instantly what they wanted.
After all, he was the one who had broken the machine by jamming the sea serpent into its gears.
With the creatures' eyes on him, Lu Li walked over to the conveyor belt where he had jammed the serpent and crouched. The motion sent a sharp pain through his knee, but it was bearable.
The conveyor belt was still. Chunks of dark-red meat and the mangled remains of the sea serpent were jammed between the gears.
Lu Li spent a few minutes prying the gears clean with his crowbar. Then, subtly rubbing his knee, he rose and gave the creatures a nod.
They understood the gesture. One of the "cooks" went back to the furnace and restarted the conveyor belt.
Whirring...
The conveyor whirred back to life, its gears turning smoothly.
This was partly because Lu Li had used some of the black substance as a makeshift lubricant.
Fish carcasses began to glide along the conveyor toward the furnace once more. The "cooks" returned to their posts, and the rhythmic chopping of their cleavers again drowned out the machine's hum.
"Ghrrr..."
The octopus-creature seemed to say something to Lu Li, a note of satisfaction in its gurgle. It drifted toward the door in the ceiling, then sharply coiled and uncoiled a tentacle. Leaving a puddle of the viscous black substance on the floor, it launched itself up toward the opening.
...
Lu Li stared silently at the ceiling.
Did he have to climb back out through the morgue drawer?
At least this time he wouldn't have to break the conveyor belt to get away.
It seemed these creatures now considered him one of them, a member of their crew.
The creatures' work, it seemed, was related to their physique; perhaps they were assigned jobs according to their build.
Lu Li's human physique was unusual, but not unique.
So my job now is... a repairman?
"Ghrrr..."
An indistinct gurgle sounded behind him. One of the "cooks" stood there, saying something to him before raising a short, malformed arm to point at the door in the ceiling.
Lu Li understood its gesture and nodded.
"Ghrrr..."
Muttering something, the "cook" scooped Lu Li up and, with a great heave of its arms, tossed him toward the door.
The force of the throw was perfectly calculated. Lu Li soared toward the ceiling, passed through the doorway, and was instantly seized by the shifting gravity, dropping hard onto the floor. His knee slammed down again, sending a sharp jolt of pain through him.
Lu Li slowly pushed himself up. In the room below, on the "kitchen" floor, the "cook" who had thrown him was already back at the furnace, resuming its work.
Aside from the fact that they had nearly chopped him into pieces, these creatures were actually quite friendly.