Woo-woo-woo, ha-ha-ha~
The puppet only emitted a chilling, cyclical laugh, without triggering any other dangers. Caleb stepped forward to inspect it. When he touched the puppet, no information prompt appeared, nor did he find any switch buttons on the puppet.
'Remote control? Or perhaps... a timed activation device installed on the puppet?'
Caleb moved his camera away from the puppet, slowly panning it to survey his surroundings. Looking through the small screen of the camcorder, everything was coated in a ghastly green pallor. Unbeknownst to him, he had entered an area resembling a workshop. Numerous wooden boxes were scattered on the ground, and several lathe-like machines were placed against the walls. On a nearby workbench, several unfinished mechanical devices remained. Further away, a heavy iron chair with steel spikes embedded in its cushion was placed. On a wall not far from the iron chair, a thick iron door was closed, and oddly, a red heart-shaped pattern was drawn in the center of the iron door.
Caleb's attention was immediately drawn to the heart-shaped pattern. 'Follow the direction of the heart...' He recalled the content of that small piece of paper. 'It should be the final escape exit, right?'
Caleb immediately walked in that direction. With his field of vision reduced by 50%, his attention was fully concentrated on the small screen of the camcorder. As the iron door slowly came into view, he saw a rotatable wheel on it—an older style of rotating bolt door. Caleb held the camcorder in one hand and gripped the wheel with the other, beginning to turn it counter-clockwise.
The darkness limited Caleb's vision to the small camcorder screen. The echoing laughter of the puppet continued to interfere with Caleb's hearing.
Just as Caleb was concentrating on opening the escape door, a blurry shadow subtly shifted about four or five meters behind him. The shadow, using the cover of darkness and the puppet's laughter, silently approached Caleb. When it got within three meters, it launched an Ambush, lunging forward fiercely.
'?'
Maintaining a Cautious Stance, and with his heart rate accelerated, granting him an increase in all attributes, Caleb's senses were several times sharper than an ordinary person's. Even under conditions of restricted sight and sound, he still detected the anomaly from behind him. Immediately, without thinking, he ducked down, covering his head and performing a tactical roll to the side.
Thump!
The attacker missed, its body crashing heavily against the iron door. After steadying himself, Caleb immediately aimed the camcorder in his hand towards the iron door.
Roar!
In the small, green-glowing screen, a disheveled, terrifying pig's head rapidly approached. Caleb reacted swiftly, immediately pulling his feet back and pushing off the ground with force. His body was propelled backward by this push, retreating half a meter.
During the retreat, he did not forget to switch his Cautious Stance to an Active Stance. After a 'ding' sound, his body felt slightly warm, his limbs were infused with more strength, and he was in a state of having warmed up and being ready to sprint at any moment.
However, that backward kick, while helping Caleb temporarily escape danger, also sent him into another perilous situation. His back happened to press against something hard. Judging by the distance, the hard object behind him should be the spiked iron chair placed in front of the escape door.
In a hurried movement, Caleb moved the camcorder lens away. Darkness immediately enveloped him. Once the night vision function of the camcorder was lost, his naked eyes could not see anything at all.
Moments later, a whooshing sound came from his ears, approaching with extreme speed. The pig-headed monster had already turned around and was charging back towards him.
'He can see me?!' Caleb was slightly surprised. He only had time to lift the camcorder for a quick glance. A silver flash struck him.
—You were hit by the Disciple's attack, Health -20%.
The camcorder screen was directly sliced in half, and Caleb's palm also suffered a deep cut from the blade. A pain like a bee sting came, and he noticed the red health bar at the bottom of his vision sharply decreased. And after the camcorder was damaged, the night vision function instantly disappeared, and his vision was immediately swallowed by endless darkness.
'Darn it.' He immediately dropped the camcorder, and taking advantage of the moment before the pig-headed monster could retract its hand, he quickly rolled to the side, escaping from the suppression.
The attacker was relentless. After successfully landing a blow, he gave Caleb no chance to breathe, viciously pouncing again. In the dark environment, his eyes could not see, so he could only rely on his hearing. With his senses enhanced, it was easy for Caleb to pinpoint sounds. But now, with the puppet constantly making noise, the difficulty of pinpointing sounds increased dramatically.
'The sound of wind is coming from directly ahead, very fast, but the attack range is not large... Is the opponent just swinging a weapon directly forward?' After barely hearing this, Caleb moved two steps sideways by a small margin. The opponent's attack immediately missed, and at the same time, Caleb noticed the opponent's heavy breathing close by.
Good opportunity! He immediately sank his shoulder and twisted his waist, accumulating all his strength in his shoulder, then delivered a fierce shoulder charge against his opponent. Passive defense had never been Caleb's style!
"Uh-ah…" The pig-headed monster was caught off guard and hit in the chest, letting out a painful grunt.
—You attacked the Disciple, target Health -10%.
Caleb took the opportunity to retreat a few steps, again creating distance from his opponent. 'I need to find a way to disarm him.' After only a brief contact, Caleb could feel that the opponent was strong, agile, and very tricky. Even without a weapon, such an opponent would not be easy to deal with.
However, after this skirmish, the other side fell silent. The opponent did not choose to pursue, seemingly disoriented by the shoulder charge and unable to pinpoint Caleb's location for a moment.
'So he can't see me?!' That accurate directional judgment earlier was merely because he had already noticed Caleb's position. In this way, if both were 'blind', the gap in equipment and physical fitness could somewhat be compensated.
Caleb adjusted his breathing, lightened his steps, while concealing himself, blending into the darkness, and slowly moved towards the direction of the target in his memory.
Woo-woo-woo-ha... ha-ha...
At this moment, the puppet's cyclical chilling laughter became unstable, showing signs of insufficient power supply. After a few seconds of intermittent, eerie laughter, the laughter gradually faded, until it finally stopped.
The surroundings immediately fell into extreme silence. This situation was an excellent opportunity for Caleb. His enhanced hearing could be utilized to its fullest extent without interference.
Hoo-hoo~
Soon, he easily captured a slightly heavy breathing sound from his front-left.
'This time, it's my turn!'