Chapter 604: Central Operating Room

"What is it?" the Writer and Chen Mo asked in unison, both of them watching me warily.

"It's nothing major, don't get worked up." I pointed at my clothes. "I wasn't paying attention when I came downstairs and tore a huge hole in these. Can I borrow some clothes? I still have to live stream, after all, and walking around with my skin showing like this isn't a good look."

They stared at me suspiciously, but I wasn't afraid of them noticing any flaws.

My sudden urge to change clothes was just a spur-of-the-moment idea from seeing the clothes inside the Writer's tent.

Even though I was wearing a Human Skin Mask, my clothes were still the same ones I wore at Century New Garden. If I ran into Chen Jiuge, he would inevitably make the connection.

I had rushed all the way here from Century New Garden to save time and never had a chance to change.

In truth, it wasn't a huge oversight. I already harbored murderous intent toward Chen Jiuge; the moment I saw him, I would show no mercy and do everything in my power to eliminate him, so it wouldn't matter if he saw my clothes.

But on the off chance I failed to kill him and let him escape, these clothes would become a glaring vulnerability. Doing this now was simply to prevent any accidents.

The Writer and Chen Mo were a bit speechless at my request.

"Suit yourself." The Writer casually grabbed a jacket from the tent and tossed it to me.

"Thanks." I swiftly stripped off my clothes, then waved a hand at him again. "Got pants?"

His face twitched slightly, but he suppressed the urge to refuse and pulled out a pair of pants.

I put away my phone and Brooch, walked behind the tent, and calmly changed clothes before pinning the Underworld Live Show Brooch in a more concealed spot.

"Let's head out." I tossed my old clothes into a corner and stretched my limbs. "The Third Ward is completely sealed off. We'll head to the seventh floor of the Outpatient Building first to look for the death certificate."

"We're just going over like this?" Chen Mo looked at my relaxed expression and the Writer's complete indifference, suddenly feeling that both of his teammates were incredibly unreliable. "Everything I said earlier was the truth! There's very likely something terrifying hiding in that place! Don't think I'm joking!"

"We didn't think you were joking. Why all the nonsense? Are we going or not?" I checked the time on my phone; it wasn't even 1:00 AM yet.

That gesture of mine had likely been misunderstood by Chen Mo again. He pointed at my hand. "Big bro, aren't you afraid of getting permanently banned by the streaming platform for broadcasting this kind of stuff?"

"I'd love to get perma—" It was a sharp question, and I only realized what I was saying halfway through. I immediately corrected myself. "Traffic is king these days. As long as people watch what I stream and I make money, that's all that matters. If I get banned, I'll just switch platforms. It's no big deal."

I strode out of the hospital room. As for what the Writer and Chen Mo would think of it, I didn't know.

Leaving the Cancer Rehabilitation Center, we walked along the desolate dirt path through the hospital grounds. The cold wind blew through the weeds, making them look like swaying ghostly silhouettes.

None of the three of us spoke as we silently entered the Diagnostic and Treatment Building.

The moment we stepped inside this building, it felt as though even our heartbeats accelerated. It was oppressive, leaving us with an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

"Here's the map for the Diagnostic and Treatment Building. The Central Operating Room you're looking for is on the top floor." I pointed at the heavily damaged directory on the wall and glanced back at Chen Mo. He held a fruit knife in one hand and a flashlight in the other. His movements were clumsy; despite trying to act cautious, he was actually making the most noise.

'I brought a dead weight, but he happens to be the provider of a new clue, so I can't abandon him. What a pain.' I was someone who pursued efficiency and absolutely loathed trouble. 'Killing someone rewards one point, while saving an innocent person rewards ten. It makes it hard to act.'

My gaze swept across Chen Mo's neck, a scarlet glint flashing in my eyes for a split second.

The water tank was located at the very end of the first-floor corridor. The Writer and I shared a tacit understanding; neither of us showed the slightest intention of checking it out, silently agreeing to keep the secret hidden.

"What's that sound? Did you guys hear that?" After entering the emergency stairwell, Chen Mo also heard the bubbling sounds coming from the water tank, though he quickly put the noise out of his mind.

'The sound seems to have gotten louder. What exactly is hidden inside that water tank?' I stole a glance at the Writer. His face was placid, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

I slowed my pace and fell to the back of the group, pondering inwardly.

Earlier, right when I was on the verge of seeing what was hidden inside the tank, the Writer had shown up and ruined my plan. His timing had been suspiciously perfect. This man definitely knew something. He might even be an insider from Xinhu Cancer Research Hospital; that tent and those supplies had likely been prepared well in advance.

'What kind of secret could be worth guarding in an abandoned hospital?' I looked at the walls and ceiling, which were still pale even after so many years, my brows furrowing together. 'What is the meaning of tonight's live stream? Shouldn't the theme be the live show streamers hunting each other down? Why does it feel like things have changed? Also, Chen Jiuge set off an hour ahead of me—where is he now? And where did those kidnappers and Gu Bei hide? Out of all these people, who are the real live show streamers?'

Most of the internal hospital directory was damaged and illegible. Adhering to the principle of better to have one less trouble, we followed the emergency stairwell straight toward the seventh floor.

It was a good idea, but we hadn't gone far before encountering an unexpected hitch.

On the landing between the first and second floors of the stairwell, I found a cigarette butt that hadn't completely burned out.

"The other party must have heard us and quickly tossed the cigarette, but it ended up falling from the stairs above, preventing them from stomping it out in time." I picked up the cigarette butt and shot a glance around. "There's someone else in the building. You two, be careful."

I held the cigarette butt up to my eyes for a closer look, suddenly feeling a sense of familiarity. 'Isn't this the brand I usually smoke? Five bucks a pack. It's a cheap local brand common in both Jiangcheng and Xinhu.'

Like clothes, cigarettes could sometimes reflect a person's status. Powerful people smoked premium cigarettes without paying for them. Rich people also smoked premium cigarettes, but they bought them themselves. Those with neither money nor power, stuck in dire straits, could only smoke cheap, low-quality cigarettes when the craving hit—just like the old me.

'Whoever is smoking this probably isn't a live show streamer. It might be a kidnapper. After all, some habits are ingrained in the bone and can't be changed overnight.' I tossed the cigarette butt away and continued up the stairs behind the Writer and Chen Mo.

By the time we reached the third floor, the ground was littered with things that shouldn't belong in an abandoned hospital.

Mud-stained leaves, strips of cloth bearing fresh blood, and some food wrappers.

"Someone stayed here for a while." The Writer rubbed his head. "How strange. I searched so many places, so how did I not run into them? To think outsiders came into the hospital and I didn't even know. Should we check the third floor? They might be hiding in one of the departments."

"Time is limited. Let's deal with the main issue first." The atmosphere in the hospital was growing increasingly tense and eerie. I had a premonition that once deaths began to occur, or once a corpse was found, the entire situation would become unpredictable and might even collapse completely.

Chen Mo strongly agreed with my view. The minority obeyed the majority; even if the Writer was slightly displeased, he could only hold it in.

Without further delay, the three of us ran all the way to the seventh floor of the Diagnostic and Treatment Building. Moving together as a trio significantly lowered our sense of fear.

We pushed open the stairwell door, revealing a pitch-black corridor with no end in sight.

The oppressive feeling reached its peak on this floor, making it somewhat difficult even to breathe.

"The Central Operating Room..." I was the first to step into the hospital corridor. The doors to the rooms on both sides were completely plastered with seals—a sight that hadn't appeared on any of the other floors.

The hospital's interior was dry and enclosed, and with very few insects around, it had basically maintained its original state from years ago.

"Stop looking around. Let's find the operating room first." Drawing closer to the location mentioned on the note, Chen Mo grew extremely nervous. He gripped his fruit knife, his voice trembling.

The top floor's corridor was exceptionally long and deep. We walked for a full half-minute before the three of us finally found the Central Operating Room mentioned on the note.

This department's doors were much larger than the others. Chen Mo couldn't wait to rush inside, but I threw an arm out to block him.

"What are you doing?!"

He glared back at me, but I didn't mind and simply explained, "On this entire top floor, the seals on this door are the only ones that have been torn off. Be careful, there might be something nasty inside."