Lynn fumbled in the dark for about twenty minutes, and having not yet seen the narrow crevice he had used to escape, he began to doubt if he had taken the wrong path.
The cave was so dark, and the flashlight could only illuminate a distance of about three meters, making it completely impossible to see beyond that.
When he came this way, he had probably walked for less than 20 minutes, but all he saw now was stone wall, stone wall, stone wall.
He couldn’t find that narrow crevice at all.
Every now and then, he would step on gravel, resulting in a crunch that echoed far away in the cavernous cave.
Every time he made a sound, he would stop, lie flat on his side, hold his breath, and listen for any cultist movement around him, terrified that a horde of monsters would suddenly pounce out from the dark caverns.
“…System, did I go the wrong way?
Why does it feel like I’m drifting further off track the more I walk?” [The direction is correct.
It took you about the same amount of time to run from the cultist camp to that abandoned Hive City, but you were running for your life then, moving faster than you are now.
Now that you’re fumbling slowly in the dark, your sense of time will be different.
Keep walking forward, and you should be able to see the light soon.] “The flashlight won’t be seen by them, right??” [Walk a bit further, and you’ll have to put the flashlight away.
Their camp has light sources that can be seen from far away.] “Oh.” Lynn continued walking forward.
After walking for about another ten minutes, he finally saw that narrow crevice.
Lynn put the flashlight away, squeezed through the narrow crevice, circled around for a bit, and saw the blurry red light in the distance.
The red halo was like a thin mist, faintly visible at the end of the distant passage, like a half-closed eye in the darkness.
Hmph.
Heretics, bet you didn’t expect this!
Daddy is back!
Lynn’s heartbeat quickened.
He lightened his footsteps and clung to the stone wall, inching closer bit by bit.
Those Chaos cultists seemed to still be in the cave where the sacrifice was held.
Chaos entities were constantly and aimlessly flickering around, occasionally blocking the red light.
Outside that cave was a passage, and at the end of the passage was a corner.
The light spilled over from that side, dyeing half the edge of the stone wall a dark red, while the rest remained pitch black.
It was very quiet over there; there seemed to be no people and no Chaos entities.
Without alarming the Chaos entities outside, Lynn took a wide detour from the side.
Behind the corner was a wider passage, with a few diverging paths on both sides.
The floor of one of those paths was much smoother than the surrounding area, making it look like people went in and out frequently.
A tattered piece of cloth hung over the entrance of that cave path, looking like a door curtain.
If he guessed right, that might be a cultist storehouse or resting area.
Wow…
he seemed to have found the Chaos cultists’ living supply depot.
Was this their active time or resting time?
Unsure.
He didn’t know the cultists’ daily routine.
Lynn hid in the darkness like a cat, cautiously observing for five minutes.
No one.
He waited another five minutes.
Still no one.
Still not feeling entirely at ease, he confirmed with the system again: “System, is there anyone in there?” [Judging from the air circulation, there is a high probability that there is no one.] “Then I’ll go in and take a look?” [Be careful.] Lynn took a deep breath and hunched over to walk forward.
He tried his best to lighten his footsteps and make no sound.
He scurried to the cave entrance in a flash, lifted the curtain, and slipped inside.
Success!
Looking around and seeing no one, Lynn immediately stood up straight, excitedly examining the things in the cave.
This was a cave.
It was an organized storage space!
This cave wasn’t large, only about a dozen square meters.
A dark red lamp hung from the ceiling of the cave—that dark red, uncomfortable-looking lamp used by the cultists.
Though not very bright, it was fine; it was enough for him to see the entire layout of the cave clearly.
A wooden crate was piled against the wall on the left side of the cave.
There was a rough brand on the surface of the crate.
He couldn’t make out the pattern, but he could smell grain, a dry scent like grain mixed with preservatives.
Opening the crate, he saw there was indeed a cloth bag inside containing marching rations, compressed biscuits, and protein blocks.
Hanging on the right side of the cave were some clothes: a green hazard suit, shoulder pads, kneepads, a flak vest, and a helmet.
These things hanging on the iron hooks on the wall looked like they had been there for some years, probably previously belonging to some unfortunate Astra Militarum guardsman.
Lynn quickly stripped those things down and put them on.
They were a bit heavy, but acceptable.
His original clothes were all burned into tatters by those cultists.
He clasped his hands together.
Don’t blame me, brother; it’s all for the Emperor.
Let me borrow your clothes to wear; I’ll wear them back to the Imperium for you.
…
Although Astra Militarum armor was a “better than nothing” situation, it was at least better than wearing nothing.
With Level 1 Armor equipped, Lynn finally felt some sense of security and went on to look at the other things.
In the middle of the cave was a rough wooden table, with several plates on it containing half-eaten food.
There were dry rations, protein blocks, some dark paste, and some unidentifiable lumpy things.
Beside the table was a chair, and draped over the chair was a cultist’s robe with dark red stains on it.
Standing in the cave, Lynn chuckled.
He had hit the jackpot.
This was clearly their storage room, or perhaps the private storage space of some minor cultist boss.
These stored supplies were more than enough for him alone, enough for him to eat for many, many days.
Loot the storehouse!
Time to loot the storehouse!
At the very back of the cave, leaning against the stone wall, was a metal water barrel.
It was about the size of a modern water cooler jug, cylindrical, like a small jerrycan, with a valve on the side that you could twist to drink water.
Good stuff!
Lynn’s eyes lit up, and he picked it up.
There wasn’t much water left inside, but it was no problem; with this barrel, he could go draw water from the underground river himself.
The compressed dry rations in the crate were as hard as bricks, jarring to bite into, but they were edible and filling, stacked neatly piece by piece in a bag.
Lynn picked up a piece and weighed it in his hand; it was heavy.
This one piece of compressed dry ration was enough for him to eat for a day.
Next to them were protein blocks.
They didn’t look very appetizing, individually vacuum-sealed in tin foil, like a pile of ham sausages stacked in the crate.
Lynn picked one up, tore open the packaging, took a bite, and his eyes lit up.
It had the taste of ham sausage.
He finished a block in two or three bites.
It was a bit salty, but very savory.
Salty is good; salt is an important nutritional component for humans.
Lynn poured all the compressed dry rations and protein blocks into a bag, and then slung this heavy bag onto his back.
They were all his, take them all!
Wow!
His luck was turning around!
It was finally this little unlucky guy’s turn to get lucky!
A huge harvest!
There was a small crate placed on top of the large crate, and he opened it to take a look too.
He hadn’t seen the stuff inside this crate before; it was a kind of gray powdery substance.
He opened the crate and sniffed it; it had an indescribable, faint fishy smell.
“System, what is this?” he asked the system.
[I don’t know.] “Should I take it?” [Not recommended.
These cultists’ things might be used for cult rituals.] Understood.
Lynn tipped the crate, and the powder inside fluttered down, scattering all over the floor so it couldn’t even be swept up.
He couldn’t use it, but he could toss it away for them.
He didn’t care; whatever he couldn’t take with him, he’d toss it all out for them.
Thaniel_a_goodchild.