“Squelch.”
Their boots made a sticky, unpleasant sound as they stepped on the ground. The space beneath the metal surface was pitch dark, but Qiao Zhiya, with his excellent night vision, quickly took in their surroundings.
It was a vast, empty room with metal walls and sticky Zerg secretions. In the corners, there were clusters of white eggs, smaller than those within the Zerg Queen, encased in the fluid.
On one side, a thick metal door served as the room’s only exit. Qiao Zhiya’s face scrunched up, clearly distressed by the strong, unpleasant odor permeating the room.
Chu Rong took out a floating light, switched it on, and let it hover above them, scanning the room’s environment with a frown. He grabbed Qiao Zhiya’s hand and headed straight for the metal door.
The squelching sound of their boots on the sticky ground made their skin crawl. Qiao Zhiya’s ears were tense, and his steps were mechanical. If Chu Rong hadn’t been holding his hand, he would have bolted out of this uncomfortable place.
Sensing Qiao Zhiya’s stiffness, Chu Rong stopped at the door, gently squeezed his hand in reassurance, then touched the spiritual power simulator on his ears, enveloping him with his own energy. Once Qiao Zhiya relaxed a bit, Chu Rong turned his attention to the door.
The door was plain, with only a lock that required spiritual power to open. Chu Rong examined the lock’s structure, frowning.
The lock turned out to be linked, meaning if one was broken, the alarm devices at other linked positions would immediately be triggered.
This couldn’t be tampered with.
He decisively abandoned the idea of forcefully unlocking it, returning to the previously broken metal wall to observe. After confirming that there was no energy reaction inside the wall, he took out his daggers again, walked to a corner beside the door, first using his spiritual power to isolate the area, then directly cutting into the wall.
The metallic cutting sound echoed ominously in the darkness, causing Qiao Zhiya’s ears to tremble as he clutched onto Chu Rong’s clothes.
Chu Rong paused, raising his hand to gently pat his head before turning back to continue cutting the wall. Soon, he created an opening large enough for one person to pass through. After a brief inspection, he used his spiritual power to destroy the alarm system installed inside the wall before stepping out first.
Outside the room was a corridor, equally dark, with rooms on both sides, each fitted with linked locks, making it impossible to guess what was inside.
“This must be a Zerg breeding facility,” Chu Rong concluded after observing for a while, holding Qiao Zhiya’s hand. “Ning Tianxing is definitely not in this area. Let’s leave here first.”
Qiao Zhiya nodded, keeping pace with him.
The two proceeded down the corridor, leaving markers for the follow-up troops along the way.
A few minutes later, they reached a corner and saw a lift. There were eight buttons on the platform, indicating that this laboratory had a total of eight floors, and they were on the topmost one.
“About five floors have biological reactions, and the laboratory gets larger as you go down,” Qiao Zhiya spoke up timely, retracting his deployed magic.
Chu Rong observed the various settings on the lift and said, “Let’s go to the 6th underground floor first.”
Biological reactions indicated the presence of the Zergs. The area they arrived in was just a breeding ground for them. The important research data definitely wouldn’t be here; they needed to check places without Zergs.
Without knowing where the stairs were, Chu Rong decisively chose to use the lift. However, a new problem arose — the lift required spiritual power signature permission to operate.
He frowned, considering the possibility of forcibly breaking the permission intrusion system.
However, Qiao Zhiya had an idea. He handed Chu Rong a “spirit stone” and indicated for him to release a gentle spiritual power wave using it. Meanwhile, Qiao Zhiya took out a toolbox and swiftly dismantled the spiritual power signature identification device on the lift.
After some complex modifications, Qiao Zhiya drew a magic circle on the modified identification device and inserted a water-type magic stone into it. Activating the array with a “bang,” the array started working. The lift detected Chu Rong’s gentle spiritual power released by the “spirit stone,” and then a green light indicating clearance lit up. The lift was now usable.
“That should do it,” Qiao Zhiya turned to look at Chu Rong, his ears lively as he moved, making his little braids on top of his head even cuter.
Chu Rong’s expression softened, and he leaned down to kiss Qiao Zhiya’s ear, putting away the spirit stone and pressing the button for the 6th underground floor.
The lift descended slowly, with the windows flashing past the conditions of each level along the way. Qiao Zhiya’s night vision came in handy at this moment, but when he saw the countless metal doors on floors one to five, he wished he didn’t have night vision.
With a beep, the lift stopped, and the door opened, revealing the scene of the 6th underground floor.
To their surprise, instead of a laboratory as they imagined, the 6th underground floor was entirely composed of corridors extending outward from the lift, seemingly leading to nowhere, like a maze.
Chu Rong frowned, closing the lift again, and proceeded to the 7th and 8th floors.
The 7th floor was similar to the 6th, with complex passages with unknown destinations. The 8th floor was a closed, vast space, empty and seemingly of no use.
“We need to find a way to infiltrate the laboratory’s system to get the map of the facility; otherwise, we might be trapped here,” Chu Rong said, leading Qiao Zhiya back to the lift. After observing the assimilated spiritual power identification device for a while, he quickly connected a complex device from the spatial button to the lift and started operating it.
Qiao Zhiya was puzzled but didn’t want to disturb him, so he obediently stood aside without speaking, silently deploying magic to detect his surroundings.
Thanks to the spiritual power assimilation Qiao Zhiya did earlier, Chu Rong soon traced the center of the blockade system for the entire area using this identification device. Following the military’s code habits, he began to attempt to crack the closed data of this area.
After a quarter of an hour, he stopped, taking out a map projected by the device.
“Ning Tianxing indeed used the Federal Military’s blockade method,” he recorded the map and raised the lift back to the 6th floor. Then, he pressed a few buttons on the device. A sound of metal movement came, and the intricate passages on the 6th floor suddenly began to automatically retract and move, making way for a straight passage.
Qiao Zhiya’s eyes brightened, turning to look at Chu Rong admiringly.
“It’s just some simple system cracking. Ning Tianxing is too arrogant,” Chu Rong patted his head and held his hand, walking towards the passage.
After passing through the passage, they saw light ahead. Chu Rong reached out and turned off the floating lamp, gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to tread lightly as he led him towards the brightness.
A few minutes later, a row of adjacent laboratory doors appeared before them.
The two glanced at each other. Chu Rong walked up to the nearest laboratory door and gently pushed it open.
Inside, a scene of chaos greeted them, with instruments scattered and drugs spilled all over the floor. There were several corpses of both experimental subjects and researchers in white coats, surrounded by bloodstains.
The researchers’ deaths were all extremely tragic, some even missing limbs, seemingly torn apart alive by the experimental subjects.
Chu Rong quickly turned back to block Qiao Zhiya’s view, but Qiao Zhiya had already glimpsed a bit. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Chu Rong’s clothes and shook his head, saying, “It’s okay, I-I can help them by offering prayers.”
In the traditions of the Magical Continent, when encountering unattended deceased, it’s best to give them as dignified a resting place as possible.
Chu Rong furrowed his brow and soothingly patted Qiao Zhiya’s head before stepping into the laboratory. Qiao Zhiya closed and opened his eyes forcefully, calming his breath, embracing reverence for the deceased. He tiptoed into the laboratory.
Once inside, the scene became even more horrifying.
Blood covered the ground, and grotesque experimental subjects lay sprawled, some with humanoid features, while others were unrecognizable. Some had scales, others had exoskeletons covering their bodies, a bizarre amalgamation of human and animal traits, eerie and unsettling. Yet, without exception, their expressions were filled with pain and hatred. Even in death, their eyes were wide open, exuding a deep crimson aura of vengeance.
Qiao Zhiya’s ears drooped, and he pursed his lips, gently releasing a touch of wood-elemental magic to tenderly stroke their faces, causing them to close their eyes. He then gently wrapped them with vines, creating small vine graves for each.
“I will make sure to have them properly laid to rest,” Chu Rong assured, having confirmed that all important data in the laboratory had been wiped clean. He reached out to touch Qiao Zhiya, comforting him in a low voice.
Qiao Zhiya nodded, obediently allowing himself to be led out of the laboratory by Chu Rong.
One laboratory after another, some spacious, some filled with the stench of blood and sin. Various deceased experimental subjects appeared before them, and vine graves were erected one after another. However, as expected, all the data inside had been wiped clean.
At last, seeing that Chu Rong didn’t linger any longer, they followed the traces of the cleaned laboratories towards the possible location of Ning Tianxing.
But even after traversing the entire area, they didn’t catch a glimpse of Ning Tianxing or any living creature. After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the end of this area — a row of lifts with the letter “D” inscribed on them.
Approaching cautiously, Chu Rong found that unlike the other lifts in the laboratories, this one had additional options besides floor numbers — it had the letters A to E.
“These letters represent different zones. We are currently on the 6th floor of Area D,” Chu Rong explained, taking out the previously cracked Area D map and choosing to go to Area A with Qiao Zhiya.
[Ding. Area A is the highest-level restricted area. Please undergo identity verification first.]
“The highest-level restricted area?”
Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya exchanged glances. Qiao Zhiya immediately stepped forward with his toolbox to assimilate the lift, while Chu Rong took out the “spirit stone” to release his spiritual power.
After a few minutes, the indicator light on the lift turned green, indicating that it was ready for use.
Chu Rong put away the spirit stone and pressed for Area A again.
This lift had no windows for external viewing. They could only watch the indicator lights on the control panel as they passed Areas C and B before gradually coming to a stop after passing several detection and blockade lines.
Before the lift door opened, Chu Rong shielded Qiao Zhiya behind him.
Once the door opened, a straight passage appeared before them, lined with laboratory doors on either side. However, unlike Area D, there were fewer laboratory doors here, but each laboratory was larger in size.
Chu Rong extended his mental power, ensuring that there was no one nearby, before swiftly leading Qiao Zhiya into the passage. They pushed open the door of the first laboratory they came across.
Compared to the laboratories in Area D, this laboratory was much more high-end and spacious, but similarly cluttered with scattered instruments. There were no deceased experimental subjects or researchers on the ground, only some hurried footprints stained with mucus.
“It’s Ning Tianxing.”
Chu Rong estimated the size of the footprints, not lingering for long. He immediately took Qiao Zhiya to a few other laboratories.
“They’ve all been cleaned out.”
After a search, Chu Rong’s expression remained calm as he spoke, then he took Qiao Zhiya to check the remaining floors of the laboratories in Area A. However, without exception, they all seemed to have been thoroughly cleaned out. Consequently, they didn’t linger any longer and returned, taking the lift to the next level, Area B.
Area B was similar to Area A, with the laboratories near the 6th floor entrance all open and showing signs of being rummaged through.
Chu Rong promptly led Qiao Zhiya to Area C. This time, there was finally a change. As soon as the lift door opened, a large group of bizarre experimental subjects rushed towards them, emitting sounds resembling animalistic roars.
These were the first living experimental subjects Qiao Zhiya had seen, having previously only encountered deceased ones. Before he could react, Chu Rong swiftly hugged him, blocking his line of sight.
Chu Rong kicked away several experimental subjects that lunged towards them, closed the lift, and pressed the button for Area B.
“Area C hasn’t been cleared out yet. Ning Tianxing must still be in Area B,” Chu Rong said, rubbing Qiao Zhiya’s stiffened ears. He took out his communicator to inform Fan Xiangnan and the army units following them to seal off and search all the laboratories in each zone. Meanwhile, he retrieved his weapon and held it firmly in his hand.
Qiao Zhiya regained his composure, remembering the humanoid experimental subjects emitting animalistic roars and the scales he had seen on the arms of the Imperial High Advisor. A sense of dread crept over him as he felt like he had discovered something terrifying.
Upon reaching Area B, Chu Rong didn’t hesitate. He swiftly and silently followed the open laboratory doors, tracking towards the possible location of Ning Tianxing. Qiao Zhiya, using the agility granted by his elf and dwarf heritage, effortlessly trailed behind him.
“Bang!”
As they reached the 4th floor, the sound of a weapon attack suddenly echoed from a corner. The two halted their steps, exchanged glances, and moved swiftly towards the source of the sound.
“Laoshi, the teleportation device has been destroyed, and only half of the Zergs were released,” the young man said nervously, looking very flustered.
Ning Tianxing kicked away an experimental subject attempting to ambush him, disdainfully glanced at the young man, and waved his hand, saying, “You’re utterly useless! Is the timed explosives set up? There’s nothing crucial in Area C, just blow it up. Get ready, we’re leaving immediately.”
The young man’s eyes lit up at the mention of leaving. He nodded hastily and ran out.
Chu Rong, lurking around the corner, appeared soundlessly. He ambushed the young man from behind, trapping his body and covering his mouth with one hand while injecting a syringe directly into his neck with the other.
The young man’s eyes widened in shock, unable to struggle. His body stiffened, then slumped to the ground.
Qiao Zhiya quickly approached, using vines to securely bind him. He curiously examined the strange headgear on the young man’s head, hesitating to touch it.
Chu Rong pulled him over, deactivated the protective shield on the young man’s wrist, and then gestured for him to stay outside. He proceeded alone, cautiously heading towards the laboratory where Ning Tianxing was located.
Inside the room, Ning Tianxing was extracting the last bit of data. He regretted setting up the system that required data retrieval from each laboratory one by one to prevent collusion and leaks among the researchers. If he had known it would come to this, he would have set up a central system instead. All he would need to do then was wipe out the data with a single keystroke during evacuation.
“Damn Chu Rong!”
He cursed under his breath once again, his expression filled with malice and anger.
If it weren’t for Chu Rong discovering this garbage planet and swiftly eliminating the Ning family’s influence, capturing An Xei, how could he have ended up in a situation where he had to abandon the laboratory he had meticulously prepared for years!
Thinking of An Xei only fueled his anger, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
That useless waste had no use in staying alive. He might as well kill him! He would only cause trouble alive!
“Beep.”
As the data transfer finally completed, he quickly disconnected the devices and turned to rush to the next laboratory. However, his eyes met a sharp dagger, and then everything went black as a fierce wave of killing intent swept over him.
He stared wide-eyed, watching the dagger plunge towards his fatal point, unable to dodge. All he could see was a pair of icy black pupils staring at him.
“Chu… Chu…” He stuttered like a duck being strangled, unable to speak a complete sentence.
He watched helplessly as he was about to meet his end, but suddenly, his body heated up. His spiritual power surged uncontrollably with the heat, and his blood seemed to flow faster, making him feel like his body was about to explode.
The dagger was deflected by the force of the outburst, but his skin was inevitably scratched. Finally coming to his senses amidst the horror of suddenly seeing Chu Rong and feeling the killing intent emanating from him, he reached for his chest without thinking, activating a black hole and jumping in without hesitation.
Chu Rong furrowed his brow, blocking the violent force, and watched as the black hole dissipated. He then bent down to pick up the data transfer device that Ning Tianxing had dropped while fleeing. Squinting, he turned and walked away.
Outside, Qiao Zhiya was surreptitiously reaching for the young man’s headgear when he saw Chu Rong emerge. He quickly withdrew his hand, glanced at Chu Rong’s back, and then frowned, asking, “Where’s Ning Tianxing?”
“He escaped,” Chu Rong replied, lifting the young man and gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to follow. He quickly said, “Go to the underground 8th floor of Area D. That spacious area is likely where Ning Tianxing retreated to!”
Based on their current search results, this comprehensive experimental building only had that area whose function was unclear. The upper two floors were intentionally turned into a maze-like structure, while the remaining five floors were filled with Zergs, suitable for escaping and hindering pursuers.
On the way there, Chu Rong contacted Fan Xiangnan via communicator, instructing him to lead people back to the 8th floor of Area D to wait. He also ordered several teams to guard all the elevator entrances and exits of the laboratories on each floor, conducting a thorough search to locate the bombs Ning Tianxing had previously planted and dismantle them as soon as possible.
As Chu Rong had speculated, the black hole had indeed transported Ning Tianxing to the 8th floor of Area D. After being expelled from the black hole, he lay on the ground gasping for breath, gradually calming down. He knew that Chu Rong had already seen through his delaying tactics. Propping himself up with the palpitations he felt after the emergency teleportation, he found the hidden teleportation device in the wall, activated it, and then brought out a small spaceship for retreat, placing it in the center of the area. As the device activated, he systematically switched off all the switches next to the device and located the bombs he had previously set up to detonate the device.
After making all preparations, he held the bomb detonator and boarded the small ship, anxiously waiting for the teleporter to activate while closely watching the elevator. With his mouth wide open, he gasped for air, suddenly feeling a splitting headache.
Something wasn’t right.
He raised his hand to cover his slowly stabilizing heartbeat, then pressed his forehead, trying to muster his spiritual energy. Shockingly, he realized that there was an extra sharp force in his brain that didn’t belong to him, widening his eyes in horror.
This was Chu Rong’s power, he wouldn’t mistake it! Chu Rong had somehow injected a strand of spiritual energy into his brain when he attacked him just now, and he hadn’t noticed it at all!
‘No, how did Chu Rong do it? Th-this was clearly something only an SSSS -level expert could accomplish. Could it be that Chu Rong…’
Before he could fully grasp this point, a dense sound of footsteps suddenly came from the elevator. He was shocked, quickly looking outside through the ship’s detection screen, only to see Fan Xiangnan suddenly leading a large group of soldiers out of the elevator, startling him almost to the point of collapse.
This was impossible, how could they have arrived here from Area B so quickly?
He was horrified to see that only half of the red lines on the ground were lit up, knowing that the device still needed time to fully activate. He gritted his teeth and glanced at the detonator, unable to care about it anymore, and pressed it directly.
However, the expected explosion did not come. He was stunned, remembering the utterly useless Assistant No. 09, he angrily discarding the device. Seeing Fan Xiangnan and the others almost reaching the ship, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Suddenly, he thought of something, turned around, and rushed to another exit of the ship, then to the control panel of the teleporter, where he found a red lever and pulled it hard.
“Die, all of you!” he shouted loudly, looking at Fan Xiangnan and the others approaching, smiling coldly: “I won’t live, so neither will any of you!”
As his words fell, the thunderous sound of metal movement came. Fan Xiangnan keenly sensed that something was wrong and quickly ordered the soldiers to stop and activate the protective shield, looking up towards the source of the sound.
The next second, the metal roof above suddenly slid open from the middle to both sides, the sound of the Zergs’ roar echoed, and countless small Zergs that had broken free from their restraints rushed towards them from below, directly engulfing them.
“Squelch.”
Their boots made a sticky, unpleasant sound as they stepped on the ground. The space beneath the metal surface was pitch dark, but Qiao Zhiya, with his excellent night vision, quickly took in their surroundings.
It was a vast, empty room with metal walls and sticky Zerg secretions. In the corners, there were clusters of white eggs, smaller than those within the Zerg Queen, encased in the fluid.
On one side, a thick metal door served as the room’s only exit. Qiao Zhiya’s face scrunched up, clearly distressed by the strong, unpleasant odor permeating the room.
Chu Rong took out a floating light, switched it on, and let it hover above them, scanning the room’s environment with a frown. He grabbed Qiao Zhiya’s hand and headed straight for the metal door.
The squelching sound of their boots on the sticky ground made their skin crawl. Qiao Zhiya’s ears were tense, and his steps were mechanical. If Chu Rong hadn’t been holding his hand, he would have bolted out of this uncomfortable place.
Sensing Qiao Zhiya’s stiffness, Chu Rong stopped at the door, gently squeezed his hand in reassurance, then touched the spiritual power simulator on his ears, enveloping him with his own energy. Once Qiao Zhiya relaxed a bit, Chu Rong turned his attention to the door.
The door was plain, with only a lock that required spiritual power to open. Chu Rong examined the lock’s structure, frowning.
The lock turned out to be linked, meaning if one was broken, the alarm devices at other linked positions would immediately be triggered.
This couldn’t be tampered with.
He decisively abandoned the idea of forcefully unlocking it, returning to the previously broken metal wall to observe. After confirming that there was no energy reaction inside the wall, he took out his daggers again, walked to a corner beside the door, first using his spiritual power to isolate the area, then directly cutting into the wall.
The metallic cutting sound echoed ominously in the darkness, causing Qiao Zhiya’s ears to tremble as he clutched onto Chu Rong’s clothes.
Chu Rong paused, raising his hand to gently pat his head before turning back to continue cutting the wall. Soon, he created an opening large enough for one person to pass through. After a brief inspection, he used his spiritual power to destroy the alarm system installed inside the wall before stepping out first.
Outside the room was a corridor, equally dark, with rooms on both sides, each fitted with linked locks, making it impossible to guess what was inside.
“This must be a Zerg breeding facility,” Chu Rong concluded after observing for a while, holding Qiao Zhiya’s hand. “Ning Tianxing is definitely not in this area. Let’s leave here first.”
Qiao Zhiya nodded, keeping pace with him.
The two proceeded down the corridor, leaving markers for the follow-up troops along the way.
A few minutes later, they reached a corner and saw a lift. There were eight buttons on the platform, indicating that this laboratory had a total of eight floors, and they were on the topmost one.
“About five floors have biological reactions, and the laboratory gets larger as you go down,” Qiao Zhiya spoke up timely, retracting his deployed magic.
Chu Rong observed the various settings on the lift and said, “Let’s go to the 6th underground floor first.”
Biological reactions indicated the presence of the Zergs. The area they arrived in was just a breeding ground for them. The important research data definitely wouldn’t be here; they needed to check places without Zergs.
Without knowing where the stairs were, Chu Rong decisively chose to use the lift. However, a new problem arose — the lift required spiritual power signature permission to operate.
He frowned, considering the possibility of forcibly breaking the permission intrusion system.
However, Qiao Zhiya had an idea. He handed Chu Rong a “spirit stone” and indicated for him to release a gentle spiritual power wave using it. Meanwhile, Qiao Zhiya took out a toolbox and swiftly dismantled the spiritual power signature identification device on the lift.
After some complex modifications, Qiao Zhiya drew a magic circle on the modified identification device and inserted a water-type magic stone into it. Activating the array with a “bang,” the array started working. The lift detected Chu Rong’s gentle spiritual power released by the “spirit stone,” and then a green light indicating clearance lit up. The lift was now usable.
“That should do it,” Qiao Zhiya turned to look at Chu Rong, his ears lively as he moved, making his little braids on top of his head even cuter.
Chu Rong’s expression softened, and he leaned down to kiss Qiao Zhiya’s ear, putting away the spirit stone and pressing the button for the 6th underground floor.
The lift descended slowly, with the windows flashing past the conditions of each level along the way. Qiao Zhiya’s night vision came in handy at this moment, but when he saw the countless metal doors on floors one to five, he wished he didn’t have night vision.
With a beep, the lift stopped, and the door opened, revealing the scene of the 6th underground floor.
To their surprise, instead of a laboratory as they imagined, the 6th underground floor was entirely composed of corridors extending outward from the lift, seemingly leading to nowhere, like a maze.
Chu Rong frowned, closing the lift again, and proceeded to the 7th and 8th floors.
The 7th floor was similar to the 6th, with complex passages with unknown destinations. The 8th floor was a closed, vast space, empty and seemingly of no use.
“We need to find a way to infiltrate the laboratory’s system to get the map of the facility; otherwise, we might be trapped here,” Chu Rong said, leading Qiao Zhiya back to the lift. After observing the assimilated spiritual power identification device for a while, he quickly connected a complex device from the spatial button to the lift and started operating it.
Qiao Zhiya was puzzled but didn’t want to disturb him, so he obediently stood aside without speaking, silently deploying magic to detect his surroundings.
Thanks to the spiritual power assimilation Qiao Zhiya did earlier, Chu Rong soon traced the center of the blockade system for the entire area using this identification device. Following the military’s code habits, he began to attempt to crack the closed data of this area.
After a quarter of an hour, he stopped, taking out a map projected by the device.
“Ning Tianxing indeed used the Federal Military’s blockade method,” he recorded the map and raised the lift back to the 6th floor. Then, he pressed a few buttons on the device. A sound of metal movement came, and the intricate passages on the 6th floor suddenly began to automatically retract and move, making way for a straight passage.
Qiao Zhiya’s eyes brightened, turning to look at Chu Rong admiringly.
“It’s just some simple system cracking. Ning Tianxing is too arrogant,” Chu Rong patted his head and held his hand, walking towards the passage.
After passing through the passage, they saw light ahead. Chu Rong reached out and turned off the floating lamp, gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to tread lightly as he led him towards the brightness.
A few minutes later, a row of adjacent laboratory doors appeared before them.
The two glanced at each other. Chu Rong walked up to the nearest laboratory door and gently pushed it open.
Inside, a scene of chaos greeted them, with instruments scattered and drugs spilled all over the floor. There were several corpses of both experimental subjects and researchers in white coats, surrounded by bloodstains.
The researchers’ deaths were all extremely tragic, some even missing limbs, seemingly torn apart alive by the experimental subjects.
Chu Rong quickly turned back to block Qiao Zhiya’s view, but Qiao Zhiya had already glimpsed a bit. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Chu Rong’s clothes and shook his head, saying, “It’s okay, I-I can help them by offering prayers.”
In the traditions of the Magical Continent, when encountering unattended deceased, it’s best to give them as dignified a resting place as possible.
Chu Rong furrowed his brow and soothingly patted Qiao Zhiya’s head before stepping into the laboratory. Qiao Zhiya closed and opened his eyes forcefully, calming his breath, embracing reverence for the deceased. He tiptoed into the laboratory.
Once inside, the scene became even more horrifying.
Blood covered the ground, and grotesque experimental subjects lay sprawled, some with humanoid features, while others were unrecognizable. Some had scales, others had exoskeletons covering their bodies, a bizarre amalgamation of human and animal traits, eerie and unsettling. Yet, without exception, their expressions were filled with pain and hatred. Even in death, their eyes were wide open, exuding a deep crimson aura of vengeance.
Qiao Zhiya’s ears drooped, and he pursed his lips, gently releasing a touch of wood-elemental magic to tenderly stroke their faces, causing them to close their eyes. He then gently wrapped them with vines, creating small vine graves for each.
“I will make sure to have them properly laid to rest,” Chu Rong assured, having confirmed that all important data in the laboratory had been wiped clean. He reached out to touch Qiao Zhiya, comforting him in a low voice.
Qiao Zhiya nodded, obediently allowing himself to be led out of the laboratory by Chu Rong.
One laboratory after another, some spacious, some filled with the stench of blood and sin. Various deceased experimental subjects appeared before them, and vine graves were erected one after another. However, as expected, all the data inside had been wiped clean.
At last, seeing that Chu Rong didn’t linger any longer, they followed the traces of the cleaned laboratories towards the possible location of Ning Tianxing.
But even after traversing the entire area, they didn’t catch a glimpse of Ning Tianxing or any living creature. After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the end of this area — a row of lifts with the letter “D” inscribed on them.
Approaching cautiously, Chu Rong found that unlike the other lifts in the laboratories, this one had additional options besides floor numbers — it had the letters A to E.
“These letters represent different zones. We are currently on the 6th floor of Area D,” Chu Rong explained, taking out the previously cracked Area D map and choosing to go to Area A with Qiao Zhiya.
[Ding. Area A is the highest-level restricted area. Please undergo identity verification first.]
“The highest-level restricted area?”
Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya exchanged glances. Qiao Zhiya immediately stepped forward with his toolbox to assimilate the lift, while Chu Rong took out the “spirit stone” to release his spiritual power.
After a few minutes, the indicator light on the lift turned green, indicating that it was ready for use.
Chu Rong put away the spirit stone and pressed for Area A again.
This lift had no windows for external viewing. They could only watch the indicator lights on the control panel as they passed Areas C and B before gradually coming to a stop after passing several detection and blockade lines.
Before the lift door opened, Chu Rong shielded Qiao Zhiya behind him.
Once the door opened, a straight passage appeared before them, lined with laboratory doors on either side. However, unlike Area D, there were fewer laboratory doors here, but each laboratory was larger in size.
Chu Rong extended his mental power, ensuring that there was no one nearby, before swiftly leading Qiao Zhiya into the passage. They pushed open the door of the first laboratory they came across.
Compared to the laboratories in Area D, this laboratory was much more high-end and spacious, but similarly cluttered with scattered instruments. There were no deceased experimental subjects or researchers on the ground, only some hurried footprints stained with mucus.
“It’s Ning Tianxing.”
Chu Rong estimated the size of the footprints, not lingering for long. He immediately took Qiao Zhiya to a few other laboratories.
“They’ve all been cleaned out.”
After a search, Chu Rong’s expression remained calm as he spoke, then he took Qiao Zhiya to check the remaining floors of the laboratories in Area A. However, without exception, they all seemed to have been thoroughly cleaned out. Consequently, they didn’t linger any longer and returned, taking the lift to the next level, Area B.
Area B was similar to Area A, with the laboratories near the 6th floor entrance all open and showing signs of being rummaged through.
Chu Rong promptly led Qiao Zhiya to Area C. This time, there was finally a change. As soon as the lift door opened, a large group of bizarre experimental subjects rushed towards them, emitting sounds resembling animalistic roars.
These were the first living experimental subjects Qiao Zhiya had seen, having previously only encountered deceased ones. Before he could react, Chu Rong swiftly hugged him, blocking his line of sight.
Chu Rong kicked away several experimental subjects that lunged towards them, closed the lift, and pressed the button for Area B.
“Area C hasn’t been cleared out yet. Ning Tianxing must still be in Area B,” Chu Rong said, rubbing Qiao Zhiya’s stiffened ears. He took out his communicator to inform Fan Xiangnan and the army units following them to seal off and search all the laboratories in each zone. Meanwhile, he retrieved his weapon and held it firmly in his hand.
Qiao Zhiya regained his composure, remembering the humanoid experimental subjects emitting animalistic roars and the scales he had seen on the arms of the Imperial High Advisor. A sense of dread crept over him as he felt like he had discovered something terrifying.
Upon reaching Area B, Chu Rong didn’t hesitate. He swiftly and silently followed the open laboratory doors, tracking towards the possible location of Ning Tianxing. Qiao Zhiya, using the agility granted by his elf and dwarf heritage, effortlessly trailed behind him.
“Bang!”
As they reached the 4th floor, the sound of a weapon attack suddenly echoed from a corner. The two halted their steps, exchanged glances, and moved swiftly towards the source of the sound.
“Laoshi, the teleportation device has been destroyed, and only half of the Zergs were released,” the young man said nervously, looking very flustered.
Ning Tianxing kicked away an experimental subject attempting to ambush him, disdainfully glanced at the young man, and waved his hand, saying, “You’re utterly useless! Is the timed explosives set up? There’s nothing crucial in Area C, just blow it up. Get ready, we’re leaving immediately.”
The young man’s eyes lit up at the mention of leaving. He nodded hastily and ran out.
Chu Rong, lurking around the corner, appeared soundlessly. He ambushed the young man from behind, trapping his body and covering his mouth with one hand while injecting a syringe directly into his neck with the other.
The young man’s eyes widened in shock, unable to struggle. His body stiffened, then slumped to the ground.
Qiao Zhiya quickly approached, using vines to securely bind him. He curiously examined the strange headgear on the young man’s head, hesitating to touch it.
Chu Rong pulled him over, deactivated the protective shield on the young man’s wrist, and then gestured for him to stay outside. He proceeded alone, cautiously heading towards the laboratory where Ning Tianxing was located.
Inside the room, Ning Tianxing was extracting the last bit of data. He regretted setting up the system that required data retrieval from each laboratory one by one to prevent collusion and leaks among the researchers. If he had known it would come to this, he would have set up a central system instead. All he would need to do then was wipe out the data with a single keystroke during evacuation.
“Damn Chu Rong!”
He cursed under his breath once again, his expression filled with malice and anger.
If it weren’t for Chu Rong discovering this garbage planet and swiftly eliminating the Ning family’s influence, capturing An Xei, how could he have ended up in a situation where he had to abandon the laboratory he had meticulously prepared for years!
Thinking of An Xei only fueled his anger, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
That useless waste had no use in staying alive. He might as well kill him! He would only cause trouble alive!
“Beep.”
As the data transfer finally completed, he quickly disconnected the devices and turned to rush to the next laboratory. However, his eyes met a sharp dagger, and then everything went black as a fierce wave of killing intent swept over him.
He stared wide-eyed, watching the dagger plunge towards his fatal point, unable to dodge. All he could see was a pair of icy black pupils staring at him.
“Chu… Chu…” He stuttered like a duck being strangled, unable to speak a complete sentence.
He watched helplessly as he was about to meet his end, but suddenly, his body heated up. His spiritual power surged uncontrollably with the heat, and his blood seemed to flow faster, making him feel like his body was about to explode.
The dagger was deflected by the force of the outburst, but his skin was inevitably scratched. Finally coming to his senses amidst the horror of suddenly seeing Chu Rong and feeling the killing intent emanating from him, he reached for his chest without thinking, activating a black hole and jumping in without hesitation.
Chu Rong furrowed his brow, blocking the violent force, and watched as the black hole dissipated. He then bent down to pick up the data transfer device that Ning Tianxing had dropped while fleeing. Squinting, he turned and walked away.
Outside, Qiao Zhiya was surreptitiously reaching for the young man’s headgear when he saw Chu Rong emerge. He quickly withdrew his hand, glanced at Chu Rong’s back, and then frowned, asking, “Where’s Ning Tianxing?”
“He escaped,” Chu Rong replied, lifting the young man and gesturing for Qiao Zhiya to follow. He quickly said, “Go to the underground 8th floor of Area D. That spacious area is likely where Ning Tianxing retreated to!”
Based on their current search results, this comprehensive experimental building only had that area whose function was unclear. The upper two floors were intentionally turned into a maze-like structure, while the remaining five floors were filled with Zergs, suitable for escaping and hindering pursuers.
On the way there, Chu Rong contacted Fan Xiangnan via communicator, instructing him to lead people back to the 8th floor of Area D to wait. He also ordered several teams to guard all the elevator entrances and exits of the laboratories on each floor, conducting a thorough search to locate the bombs Ning Tianxing had previously planted and dismantle them as soon as possible.
As Chu Rong had speculated, the black hole had indeed transported Ning Tianxing to the 8th floor of Area D. After being expelled from the black hole, he lay on the ground gasping for breath, gradually calming down. He knew that Chu Rong had already seen through his delaying tactics. Propping himself up with the palpitations he felt after the emergency teleportation, he found the hidden teleportation device in the wall, activated it, and then brought out a small spaceship for retreat, placing it in the center of the area. As the device activated, he systematically switched off all the switches next to the device and located the bombs he had previously set up to detonate the device.
After making all preparations, he held the bomb detonator and boarded the small ship, anxiously waiting for the teleporter to activate while closely watching the elevator. With his mouth wide open, he gasped for air, suddenly feeling a splitting headache.
Something wasn’t right.
He raised his hand to cover his slowly stabilizing heartbeat, then pressed his forehead, trying to muster his spiritual energy. Shockingly, he realized that there was an extra sharp force in his brain that didn’t belong to him, widening his eyes in horror.
This was Chu Rong’s power, he wouldn’t mistake it! Chu Rong had somehow injected a strand of spiritual energy into his brain when he attacked him just now, and he hadn’t noticed it at all!
‘No, how did Chu Rong do it? Th-this was clearly something only an SSSS -level expert could accomplish. Could it be that Chu Rong…’
Before he could fully grasp this point, a dense sound of footsteps suddenly came from the elevator. He was shocked, quickly looking outside through the ship’s detection screen, only to see Fan Xiangnan suddenly leading a large group of soldiers out of the elevator, startling him almost to the point of collapse.
This was impossible, how could they have arrived here from Area B so quickly?
He was horrified to see that only half of the red lines on the ground were lit up, knowing that the device still needed time to fully activate. He gritted his teeth and glanced at the detonator, unable to care about it anymore, and pressed it directly.
However, the expected explosion did not come. He was stunned, remembering the utterly useless Assistant No. 09, he angrily discarding the device. Seeing Fan Xiangnan and the others almost reaching the ship, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Suddenly, he thought of something, turned around, and rushed to another exit of the ship, then to the control panel of the teleporter, where he found a red lever and pulled it hard.
“Die, all of you!” he shouted loudly, looking at Fan Xiangnan and the others approaching, smiling coldly: “I won’t live, so neither will any of you!”
As his words fell, the thunderous sound of metal movement came. Fan Xiangnan keenly sensed that something was wrong and quickly ordered the soldiers to stop and activate the protective shield, looking up towards the source of the sound.
The next second, the metal roof above suddenly slid open from the middle to both sides, the sound of the Zergs’ roar echoed, and countless small Zergs that had broken free from their restraints rushed towards them from below, directly engulfing them.
