According to Yunho and Mingi, the Purple Vents were dangerous for three aspects. The toxic gasses, the depth, and the readiness of any and every creature to kill any- and everything that moved. Apparently, Jongho had once tried to get down there using the Prawn Suit and was nearly killed by something they had not even seen. It had left a gaping hole in the suit and had narrowly missed doing the same to Jongho.

Hongjoong could barely wait to get down there.

From Delta Island they could dip right down in one of the trenches underneath the island and be on their way. Yunho and Mingi were at both of their sides today to make sure they didn't miss any possible dangers. Hongjoong felt safe next to Yunho, but at the same time the extra precaution made a ball of nervousness bounce through his body.

He was glad to have Seonghwa at his side. The man never failed to make Hongjoong remember how to breathe.

The shimmering light on the surface of the water quickly left them as they sunk down to more dangerous territories. The smaller and passive fishes they were used to, too, stayed clear of such unknown depths. Soon, they had left most of the Feather Fishes and Arctic Peepers behind to find themselves surrounded by eerie dark stone walls that led them straight down into the canyon.

"How soon will dangers appear?"

"You will see the vents first. From then on, at any time." Mingi's deep voice seemed dull in the darkness. Hongjoong's cold blue light did little to raise their spirits.

It took them a while to reach the end of the trench they were passing. As it cleared they found themselves in a large cave system that opened in the vast ocean. As usual, some flourescent flora and fauna lit up the scene, but all of them got overshadowed by the little volcano-like structures that were spilling purple gasses in the water. It was oddly warm here just how around the Spires, and as much as Hongjoong appreciated it, it made things even more eerie.

"What are they?" Sulfur, maybe?

Hongjoong directed his gaze at Seonghwa, who was already busy scanning their surroundings. He was frowning as he saved all data to his computers, clearly not too satisfied with the results.

"Yunho, what is a Shadow Leviathan?" Instead of answering Hongjoong's question, Seonghwa addressed their alien friends. His voice was tense, and he did not move even a centimetre from Hongjoong's side. The human nervously fiddled with his light. He dimmed it a bit so it wouldn't attract those weird Crashfish that were already raising their eyebrows at them.

"Shadow? No idea. We haven't met something like that ever since we came here."

"Nothing good from the sounds of it. Is one around?"

Seonghwa shook his head, making Hongjoong's shoulder drop in relief.

"My scans tell me that something like that is native in this biome. If we don't meet it, all the better. Then we just have to worry about that Chelicerate over there." Seonghwa pointed at some undefined direction, making all of their heads snap around.

Indeed, in the distance was a large red shadow that was sliding through the waters with suspicious nonchalance. It nearly looked as if it was tricking them into thinking it had no ulterior motives when really it was spying on them. Upon watching it a few minutes longer, Hongjoong believed to notice how it sneakily closed in on them.

A smart one. Hongjoong wasn't too keen on getting to know its sleek and large body from up close. From what he estimated, it was about as big as the Reaper had been. It looked a bit like a shrimp with its colour schemes only that it had fins and was less bend.

"It's the same one we always see here, damn. Big killjoy." Mingi was scowling at the heinous fiend with clear distaste.

"So, what's our goal? Is there anything specific we came here for?" Hongjoong quickly directed the conversation at the most important bits. Maybe they would be able to finish soon.

"Nothing in particular. We need to see what's down there, but whenever we get anywhere near finding out we get interrupted. There are some Alterra scraps that point at the remains of a crashed ship that mark our way and that's about it. I can't tell you what it is exactly that's in need of our presence."

Hongjoong nodded as he glanced back at the leviathan that was eyeing them up and down slyly by now. Its large glowing eyes seemed hungry.

"I see. Then let's hurry there. Maybe we will get done before anything bad happens."

"We'll keep an eye on you. If it attacks we will drag you right out of here." Mingi's dark voice was steady around the promise. Hongjoong gritted his jaw before diving deeper down.

The other three followed, and Seonghwa finally started with his data dump.

"The Purple Vents is one of the three thermal biomes the team will visit. The biome's terrain has a unique yellow coloration, is noticeably perforated in most areas, and consists of plateaus, a stark contrast to the overall gray and rocky terrain of the other thermal biomes. The biome possesses very few Flora species that can only be seen thriving in the green pool-like formations that are scattered throughout the biome. Lithium and Salt Deposits can sometimes be found within these pools. Similarly to the Thermal Spires, the biome hosts a number of Cryptosuchuses. Additionally, the biome also hosts the Chelicerate we see over there. Currently we are approaching the Deep Purple Vents biome that contains our point of interest."

Hongjoong studied the mostly empty and rocky cave. It seemed as if the poisonous vents were deadly not only to humans, but to all living organisms. He wondered what this leviathan lived off.

"If we enter the canyons quickly we might be able to shake this friend over there off, but we also could get trapped." Yunho's hand pointed at the dark depths further ahead of them as they continued dodging the purple gasses.

"In the worst case scenario we could ask Jongho to come down here with the Prawn Suit and get rid of that thing. Jongho said it's meant to withstand the large predators here."

"In the utmost worst case scenario I will also be able to kill the creature."

Hongjoong turned to Seonghwa, his eyes wide.

"Don't," he softly said, "you got hurt last time."

At that Seonghwa sheepishly ducked his head before he continued watching the lazy leviathan to make sure it didn't come too close. Hongjoong thought its beak-like mouth looked funny.

"It won't be able to follow us in the caves, I agree. Since we are already here, let's check it out as far as possible. Otherwise we will run in the same problem over and over again."

"Alright."

All tense, they made their way over to the entrances of the canyons. Their gazes kept going over their shoulders to the leviathan. However, either it wasn't hungry or they had luck today since it didn't move to stop them. It seemed rather curious about where they were going. Hongjoong tried to gauge its intelligence to calculate the risk of an attack as soon as they returned but got nowhere. The leviathan remained a mystery.

Soon enough the little group dipped down over the edge with relieved sighs. Their shoulders dropped as they found themselves in a tight tunnel that made it impossible for any large predator to pass.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa exchanged distorted smiles.

"See? Alterra." Yunho pointed at one of the walls in front, making Seonghwa and Hongjoong close in curiously. Hongjoong held onto the wall to shine his light as Seonghwa's blue scanners ran over the scrap of metal that was stuck inside the rocks.

"How long has it been here?"

"A while. My scans say it's about a decade old. If we find a serial number I can search my data bases for a ship. Depending on the circumstances, though, it could be that Alterra deleted some records to keep them secret." Seonghwa's fingers brushed over the object gently. It didn't budge.

Yunho and Mingi exchanged a glance.

"Let's see, then. Now that you are around we might actually get further."

With that Seonghwa continued to lead them. He found some more scraps, scanning all of them and piecing them together in a hologram blueprint. Oddly enough, the thing soon started taking on a shape that was very much familiar to Hongjoong.

"Could it be... A Life Pod?" After the eight piece, he spoke up.

Seonghwa stopped in his search, tapping away on his wrist to pull up a reference of the older models.

The semblence was proof enough.

"So not a ship... But a Lifepod. Maybe they had an accident and a person crashed here. Well, and got taken apart."

Seonghwa was still for a second, then his eyes went down.

"There's a base. Right underneath us."

Hongjoong's eyes widened in shock. Seonghwa's face was drawn with doubts as he continued. Neither moved for a long second.

"It shows no signals of life, but- It's not registered in my database either."

Stunned silence enveloped them. In the distance, the roar of some fish on its hunt for prey sounded.

"Let's check it out."

Bravely, Hongjoong was the first to go, followed right up by Seonghwa. Yunho and Mingi flanked them as they entered another big room in the caves. It opened up to them dark with its vents like the horrifying maw of a huge monster.

As Hongjoong looked around he believed to see a large shadow disappear in the foggy waters far from where his sight ended, but he wrote it off as a trick of light. For now, he concentrated on the little base that was underneath them.

As they neared, they found traces of age on it. A thick layer of mosses and rust covered it, and even some dents and scratches from unwilling enemies had left their traces. The doors looked still intact, though, and Hongjoong didn't hesitate to beckon Seonghwa over.

"No water inside. Also no signs of electricity or heating systems, though." Seonghwa's velvety voice was laced with suspicion. Hongjoong's heart beat faster.

"We'll check it out. You wait here and see if there is something that might be useful. Be careful, though. We are not alone." Hongjoong squinted at the waters again, not finding any creature nearby. The deafening silence made him nervous.

Yunho and Mingi sternly nodded before they took off. Seonghwa opened the door, so they could pass the airlock.

Hongjoong slipped inside of the dark base smoothly. As he took his helmet off he already looked around. Despite the obvious signs of long use with little maintenance here, the place looked put together well. As it had been left it must have been in peak condition.

While walking down the corridor the human wondered if the person in the Lifepod had survived long enough to build this base and hide here for a while until the failing systems had inevitably led to their death. If the team was lucky they had left some logs for them to base their story off off.

When Hongjoong stepped over the treshold of the living room he belatedly noticed that something was terribly off.

Right in front of him was a little lamp that sat on a table that had a comfortable chair right next to it. The open book next to the lamp weirded out him far less than the flickering thing itself.

It was on.

An old model, sure, from the looks of it lithium-powered, but any battery would have given out within a decade.

So it being on meant that it had fresh batteries. Batteries made from the rich lithium deposits in the Purple Vents Biome.

Seonghwa's warning voice came a tad too late.

"Hongjoong, my sensors, they-"

And then, there was already something springing at Hongjoong from his peripherals. It was huge and had white fur with a large mouth full of teeth that was wide open. Hongjoong could only stare as they closed in on his head, ready to snap it right off. Numbly, he heard Seonghwa yell his name in warning.

The beast's weight hit him hard. Seonghwa was still too far back to catch his fall as Hongjoong crashed on the ground and instinctively protected his head. Right after his harsh landing he reached out to fend the monster off, only to get interrupted by another, new voice.

"Halt! Yohan, get down there!"

The voice was shrill and panicked, making Hongjoong wince even in his status of shock. Despite the odds, it worked just fine. The massive Snow Stalker stepped down from his chest politely and trotted off to find some metal scraps to chew on.

Hongjoong laid frozen for a scary second before Seonghwa already raced over and helped him to his feet. Protective, he stood in front even as Hongjoong tried to peek around his shoulder.

In front of them was a rather young man with dark eyes that were wide with worry. He didn't even mind Seonghwa, just staring straight at Hongjoong.

"Are you alright?"

It seemed as if they had found another survivor.