Watching the greenish creature scuttle away, a smile crept onto Charles's face. It seemed that for these living relics, their hatred for the Mihe was far greater than his own.

  "Keep going, hurry!" With Charles's command, explosives were placed on the door frames one after another.

  Various monsters were released, some of which were so grotesque that Charles struggled to find the words to describe them. Yet, he didn’t care about their appearances or unique traits; as long as they could cause trouble for the Mihe, they were temporary allies.

  Of course, not every living relic was as friendly as that green creature. Many attacked Charles and his team upon their release. Fortunately, the nearly two hundred armed humans were a formidable presence; any creature with a bit of intelligence would avoid confrontation.

  As Charles noticed that the expected Mihe had yet to arrive, he understood that his plan was working. Chaos must have erupted elsewhere.

  He approached the third-to-last door, ready to place explosives, when he was startled to see it swing open from the inside.

  A human—a completely naked child—stood there, his skin notably less pale than Charles's.

  "Who are you?" Charles asked, his face wary. The child, however, collapsed to the ground, screaming in terror.

  As the child's cries echoed, his fragile body began to change rapidly. His skin seemed to peel away, his body shriveling, and his light-colored lips elongated like a bird's beak. Before long, the boy was gone, replaced by a new Mihe that crawled up from the ground.

  It opened its long mouth and spoke hurriedly to Charles, raising its right leg, which had six toes, and began to move outside.

  "Is this how Mihe are born?" Charles wondered, looking at the iron door before him. He carefully pried it open with his black blade, revealing a large, grayish, slimy mass that appeared before him.

  The mass expanded and contracted irregularly, resembling an amorphous toad.

  “Pfft~” A naked woman was ejected onto the ground before Charles. She calmly pulled at the slime on her body and stood up.

  With a sorrowful expression, she spoke clearly to Charles. “157, please stop begging me. I wish I could help, but your matters are always under Dr. Pide's jurisdiction, and I can’t interfere.”

  Charles’s eyes widened in shock. He understood her words!

  But before he could respond, just like the previous child, the woman began to transform, screaming in anguish as she morphed into a new Mihe. When this Mihe opened its mouth again, the melodic female voice turned into a chaotic, hurried noise.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “It seems these Mihe were once human. Why did they end up like this?”

  With a swift strike, Charles silenced the chattering Mihe before reaching to the left side of the room, quickly locating a record book.

  **Project Code: 157**

  **Project Name: Yesterday's Theater.**

  **Project Description:** The appearance of 157 is that of a miniature theater stage, scaled down five times. Due to casualties caused by 157-1 on August 14, 1875, it was brought to the attention of Foundation members and was eventually found in a loft in Edinburgh.

  **Testing revealed:** Whenever the position of 157 is moved, it replicates all information from the surrounding environment within a fixed time period. When physical changes occur that do not align with the replicated information, 157 will produce 157-1 from behind its red curtain.

  **157-1’s physical characteristics:** It resembles a human from the replicated area and possesses human intelligence but has obvious cognitive distortions. 157-1 will spontaneously utilize all surrounding materials to restore the environment to the moment it replicated.

  **If obstructed or attacked,** 157-1 will retaliate against the obstructor. It possesses all abilities of the replicated human, including but not limited to firearms handling, combat skills, and item-level project utilization.

  **If the environment is completely restored,** 157-1 will cyclically repeat the actions of the replicated individual. This cycle has been determined to be six days.

  **If an intelligent being invades the control radius of 157,** 157-1 will perceive them as part of the area and compel them to play a role. If the actor resists, they will be captured and forced to comply. Excessive resistance will lead to punitive beatings, which will escalate with each act of defiance, potentially resulting in death. If the actor dies, 157-1 will collect their flesh, bones, and hair as materials for the environment.

  **Special Containment Procedures:** 157 must be contained in a 4m x 4m H-level containment chamber. Due to the unique nature of 157-1, a special task force must be on standby 24/7. Whenever 157-1 is produced, the task force will immediately neutralize it.

  **Appendix 1:** A proposal to use 157-1 as food for other projects, submitted by Dr. Pide to Foundation headquarters for approval.

  Reading the records on the wall, Charles finally understood why there was such a complete false city outside and why the Mihe acted out scenes from the Foundation's past. It turned out these Mihe were simply another type of relic held by the Foundation.

  "Wait a minute, it clearly says it's a theater stage, but this doesn’t look like a stage at all," Richard remarked, pointing at the disgusting mass in front of them.

  “Remember how we had to hear the Mihe speak under the influence of auditory hallucinations?”

  “You mean…” Just then, a human was expelled from 157, only to swiftly transform into a Mihe once more.

  “It seems the sounds from the depths of the ocean affect not just humans, but even these living relics,” Charles said, his brow furrowed.

  This explained why 157 had become what it was; it was supposed to replicate humans but instead produced humanoid monsters.

  “Hey, if 157 could talk, it would definitely feel wronged. It’s already bizarre enough, and to encounter something even weirder here is unexpected.”

  “Captain? Are you alright?” Dipp cautiously poked his head through the door.

  Glancing at the writhing 157, Charles shut the door behind him. Knowing the island's secrets hadn’t changed his situation, he realized he needed to leave quickly.

  “How many doors are left?” Charles asked.

  “Just two, but the last one seems different from the others.”

  Charles soon arrived at the final iron door, which was red and secured with chains adorned with glowing, intricate inscriptions.

  “Quick, set the explosives! Once we blow this open, we’re out of here.”