Chapter 324: Hell Laboratory

Chapter 324: Chapter 177: Hell Laboratory

“Hey, buddy, you have no idea just how insane those people were.”

“If Satan were here, he’d probably run home to his mommy.”

…

Xu Huo read through it, one word at a time. The text wasn’t in the language of the Eastern Country, but a Western one.

Most of it was meaningless, but when there was information…

Every single word was utterly horrifying.

“Anesthesia, syncope, loss of consciousness, and the like all reduce ‘activity’.”

“Physical stimulation is used to push the organism’s consciousness to its absolute limit, thereby extracting the components with the highest ‘activity’.”

“Therefore, blood is drawn regularly, and bone marrow is extracted from living subjects without any anesthesia.”

“However, this only applies to the extraction of ‘active substances’ in large quantities. Organs are not viable. Observations from organ studies show that live-harvested organs, when compared to normal ones…”

Xu Huo’s face was devoid of expression as he silently recited the words from the file.

The others around him fell silent.

After a moment, as he finished another sentence, the air around him grew as still and silent as a graveyard.

“Lab 005 seems to have come up with some more… interesting ideas. That whole group of Satans left.”

‘More interesting ideas…’

“Did it say where they went!?”

Sun Jian’s expression was incredibly dark. He looked like a rampaging Titan, radiating pure, unadulterated rage.

“I’ll kill them!”

“It doesn’t say. The files are meticulous. There’s no personal information on any of their personnel.”

Xu Huo let out a heavy breath.

“Or perhaps, they don’t know themselves.”

“The Special Fifth Bureau should have already arrested the research staff. Since you didn’t get anything out of them during interrogation, it’s highly likely they don’t know.”

The researchers hadn’t left. Only that group of Satans did.

They were still here, responsible for producing the anti-aging drugs.

And this… was just one branch office.

“Pull up the security footage.”

Xu Huo said suddenly, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of them.

This was the control room, so they could access most of the internal surveillance feeds.

Zhang Liang tried to access them, but he had good news and bad news.

The bad news was that the footage was set to auto-delete.

The good news… was that there were audio recordings.

Zhang Liang slowly clicked on a recording. A piercing scream erupted from the speakers.

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

“CRACK!”

The voice was hoarse, but that only intensified the sheer agony in the sound. It was a scream of utter despair, torn from the very soul.

And mixed in with the screams were…

the crisp sound of bones snapping, one after another, and the cheerful laughter of several people.

Zhang Liang paused, then played another recording.

“SIZZLE~”

This time, there was a sizzling sound, just like meat on a grill.

A pleasant sound, if it hadn’t been caused by sulfuric acid.

This must be part of the process for the “Creator’s Game.”

Xu Huo remained expressionless. He paused.

He looked up at a specific feed on the monitor.

It showed a fighting ring.

According to Zhou Hou, the “creations” of the Creator would either have their components extracted or be forced to fight each other in this ring.

They would watch a match where two deformed monsters of their own creation beat each other to a pulp.

Xu Huo looked away.

He went back to the files and continued to search for something.

A moment later…

Xu Huo pulled out a particular file.

It was a record of payments and disbursements.

It detailed the source of the victims.

The identities of the Satans were a mystery, but the information on their suppliers was perfectly clear.

Xu Huo closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath.

“This is for the police to handle.”

…

…

It was just as Zhang Liang had said.

This group had vanished a month ago, before the case was even officially opened. No one knew where they’d gone.

“By cross-referencing the lab files with Sima Kong’s financial records…”

“…we’ve managed to tentatively map out a profit chain.”

“After the lab’s ‘medical waste’ was deemed to have no further value, Sima Kong was sent to ‘clean up.’ However, for his own selfish gain, he didn’t kill these people.”

“He found Chen Jin.”

Chen Jin was one of the four identified victims among the five dead—a businessman with a mysterious source of income.

“The two of them were in cahoots. Chen Jin used these people to turn a profit. Once he’d made enough, he planned to get out and go clean, all while providing a cover for the lab’s operations.”

“It wasn’t until Zhou Hou showed up that the whole case was blown open.”

「In the municipal bureau office.」

Zhang Liang’s face was impassive, but his eyes were bloodshot. He spoke as he smoked his cigarette.

The ashtray beside him was already overflowing with ash and cigarette butts. He’d empty it into the trash, and it would be full again in no time.

“What about the rest?”

“What are your theories?”

Xu Huo replied.

Beside them, Zhao Gang wasn’t talking about overtime pay or work-related injuries anymore. He was silent for a moment before speaking up:

“Renovating that air-raid shelter is not a one-man job.”

“Installing a complete ventilation system, a power supply, and all that lab equipment… no single person could have done all that.”

“There must be other companies in Jiangsan City in league with them.”

“In fact… it’s very likely that building this place was, in itself, a way for them to raise their status within their own circles!”

‘Human desire comes down to two things.’

‘Survival and health.’

‘The former can be thought of as money, the latter as longevity.’

‘Money is no object to the lab’s clients. What they care about is their appearance and their lifespan.’

‘Control over appearance and lifespan is like the leverage a factory boss holds over his workers.’

‘And what’s the use of that?’

‘Workers can be exploited, and so can these clients, though the method of exploitation is different.’

‘These people aren’t short on cash, which means they must have high social standing. If you can make people like that do your bidding… well, there’s no limit to what you can get done.’