Chapter 205: Kill the Prisoner (14)

Was it really possible...

...that even He Yu—the very embodiment of "crazy"—considered this plan insane?

—Then just how fucking insane was it?!

Duan Yuchen felt they were already doing something completely crazy.

No...

They'd been doing crazy things ever since entering this instance.

He couldn't even imagine what something even crazier would look like.

【Bullet Screen: "...A plan that even He Yu calls crazy? Fuck, I want to hear it."】

【Bullet Screen: "AHHHH this is getting exciting!"】

The gray-faced creature lunged forward.

Duan Yuchen raised a sturdy metal rod in front of himself.

BANG—

The rod was crushed apart with one hand.

The claw-like fingers reached straight for Duan Yuchen—

But behind him, Qu Wu yanked him backward.

The two slammed into the movable bed behind them.

Luckily Qu Wu had reacted quickly.

Otherwise, Duan Yuchen would've already been caught.

From the side, Siya slashed toward the gray-faced creature's head.

Qiong thrust two thin steel wires directly toward its eyes.

Unable to dodge both attacks at once, the creature could only retreat several steps.

Eugene's mechanical arms were tied up by two gray-faced opponents.

With a burst of strength, he lifted himself into the air, kicked backward, and sent the retreating gray-faced creature flying toward Ling Buchen.

Ling Buchen had already been prepared.

Holding Li Zhan's zither, he floated into the air.

The corridor ceiling wasn't very high.

The instant he rose, his fingers accelerated.

Powerful energy rippled from the strings.

Instead of forming blades this time...

...the energy twisted into ropes, binding the two gray-faced creatures together.

The creatures struggled frantically.

Ling Buchen's face turned pale.

His fingers danced wildly across the strings.

Laners' eyes widened.

Even his usually numb expression filled with shock.

He stared in disbelief.

"This..."

"This is..."

"...the divine power you've been researching?"

Dr. Ganlun's eyes blazed with fanaticism.

"Yes!"

"Yes, it's divine power!"

His voice became shrill with excitement.

"Capture them!"

"Capture every single one!"

"Not one can escape!"

—

For the moment, all four gray-faced creatures were restrained.

The others finally had a brief chance to breathe.

Duan Yuchen turned toward He Yu.

"So what's this crazy plan of yours?"

He was on the verge of collapsing.

Things were already a complete disaster.

The last thing he wanted...

...was to hear He Yu's "crazy plan."

He could already imagine it.

Whatever He Yu had in mind...

...would definitely make the current situation even worse.

Adjusting his glasses, He Yu smiled faintly.

"If there's truly no way to avoid it..."

"...then perhaps we should voluntarily cooperate with Dr. Ganlun."

"Maybe we'd suffer a little less."

As he spoke...

...his gaze lifted upward.

It was almost as though he were speaking directly to Dr. Ganlun himself.

In another room...

Both Dr. Ganlun and Warden Laners froze.

On the projection before them...

He Yu was looking directly toward their location.

Those black eyes...

...seemed to be staring straight at them.

—How did he know where the surveillance cameras were?!

Laners opened his mouth.

Before he could speak...

Dr. Ganlun excitedly activated the communication channel.

"Of course."

"You're all my treasures."

"I can't bear to lose any of you."

"Don't struggle meaninglessly."

"Come."

"Join me."

Duan Yuchen and the others: "!!!"

This wasn't a crazy plan.

He'd simply gone insane!!

Eugene gritted his teeth.

His mechanical arm spun violently.

He sawed through two gray-faced creatures and finally pulled his arm free.

Yet...

Even after that...

They still weren't dead.

These monsters feared neither death nor pain.

They possessed neither reason...

...nor emotion.

"Fuck!"

"He Yu, you're a complete lunatic!"

"I refuse!"

Eugene understood perfectly what He Yu meant.

His "crazy plan" was...

...to deliberately allow themselves to be captured.

To get close to Dr. Ganlun.

Then strike when the opportunity came.

It truly was insanity taken to its absolute limit.

Yes...

It would allow them to approach Dr. Ganlun.

But it also guaranteed they'd become experimental subjects.

If Eugene hadn't witnessed Zhen Xing's condition...

If he hadn't seen what had happened to Wanrenzhan...

Perhaps he wouldn't have opposed the idea so fiercely.

But one look at Zhen Xing lying there...

And another thought of Wanrenzhan's unknown fate...

He Yu's plan had an even lower chance of success than simply breaking out.

The moment they were captured...

They'd immediately be injected with anesthetics.

Then Dr. Ganlun would simply inject every one of them with another serum.

How could they possibly resist after that?

Their ability to remove wristbands...

Their overwhelming combat strength...

...had all already been exposed.

If they were captured now...

Not only would they fail to avoid the Night of Chaos...

They'd never escape again.

—The idea was so insane they didn't even want to think about it.

Duan Yuchen clenched his teeth.

"He Yu."

"I know you're trying to save Wanrenzhan."

"But we can't afford that anymore."

"We have to get out before tonight."

"Besides getting captured..."

"...do you have any other plan?"

The entire reason they'd risked escaping today...

...was to avoid another "special arrangement."

To avoid being injected again.

At the same time...

They hoped to escape before the Night of Chaos caused them to lose consciousness.

He Yu's proposal completely contradicted everything they'd planned.

They'd only just managed to convince themselves to risk everything for his immediate escape plan...

And now...

...he wanted to throw it all away for another plan that was the exact opposite?

—This was dancing on the edge of death.

—Their hearts couldn't take it anymore.

【Bullet Screen: "Fuck... I knew he was crazy, but not THIS crazy."】

【Bullet Screen: "First He Yu proposed escaping immediately—that crazy plan. Now he's proposing something even crazier. What the hell is he thinking? Walking straight into the doctor's hands is suicide."】

【Bullet Screen: "...Something feels off. Could He Yu be doing this on purpose?"】

He Yu usually had little difficulty convincing the group.

After all...

He was the team's brain.

The others were its hands...

Its weapons...

Its tools.

Most of the time...

They simply followed his decisions.

Just as the audience expected He Yu to persuade everyone once again...

He tilted his head.

"So..."

"You're really not willing to try this plan?"

Eugene kicked another charging gray-faced creature.

Its body was so ridiculously hard that the kick made his foot hurt.

The creature merely took one step backward.

Breathing heavily, Eugene shouted,

"No!"

He Yu spread his hands helplessly.

"All right."

"Then we'll have to proceed with Plan B."

"We'll find the exit."

"And leave as quickly as possible."

The moment he finished speaking...

He shoved Zhen Xing's movable bed forward with all his strength.

The bed shot ahead at astonishing speed.

He Yu grabbed hold of it.

His slender figure leaned slightly over the moving bed.

His eyes remained fixed ahead.

Sharp.

Focused.

He'd...

...given up on the crazy plan?

Everyone froze for a second.

Then instinct took over.

Eugene grabbed hold of two gray-faced creatures.

Ling Buchen restrained the other two.

They opened a path.

Allowing both the bed and He Yu to glide smoothly through.

Duan Yuchen and the others immediately sprinted after him.

None dared let the bed out of sight.

"ROAR—!"

One gray-faced creature bellowed.

By then...

He Yu had already crossed beyond the first laboratory.

Sliding toward the open area between the two massive laboratories.

"Capture them!"

Dr. Ganlun shouted from another room.

The instant his voice fell...

Four more gray-faced creatures appeared.

They landed precisely in the open space between the two laboratories.

The bed came to a stop.

"I think..."

"I know where the exit is."

He Yu looked toward Duan Yuchen.

"Can the four of you keep those four occupied?"

Duan Yuchen: "???"

Qiong, Siya, Qu Wu: "???"

—They couldn't use equipment!

What were they supposed to do?

Hold them back barehanded?

With only their own bodies?

He Yu continued calmly,

"Or we could always reconsider Plan A and voluntarily—"

Before he could finish...

Duan Yuchen...

Qu Wu...

Qiong...

And Siya...

All four threw themselves at the gray-faced creatures.

They reacted even faster than the monsters themselves.

Clearly...

Compared to He Yu's crazy plan...

They'd rather hold the monsters back with their bare hands.

His weapon already broken...

Duan Yuchen could only wrap both arms tightly around the first gray-faced creature.

Grinding his teeth, he shouted,

"He Yu!"

"Hurry the fuck up!!"

The gray-faced creature was unbelievably savage.

Yet for some unknown reason...

It never tried killing him with one decisive strike.

Instead...

It beat him over...

And over...

And over again.

Those fortress-like fists smashed against Duan Yuchen's head.

His vision blurred.

Stars exploded before his eyes.

Yet...

He refused to let go.

The thought of Plan A flashed through his mind.

His grip only tightened further.

He forced himself to pin the creature in place.

Siya reacted the same way.

Using her knife, she tried shoving another creature into the wall.

Without equipment-enhanced attack power...

She stood no chance.

The creature casually swung back once.

Her blade shattered.

The impact sent Siya coughing blood.

It felt as though she'd been struck by an iron hammer.

Qu Wu and Qiong likewise used their own bodies to hold back the remaining two monsters.

These were creatures that even Eugene and Ling Buchen struggled against.

Facing them barehanded...

Only two blows were enough to make both of them foam at the mouth.

Their eyes rolled back.

Eugene and Ling Buchen retreated around the monsters.

Counterattacking while drawing all four creatures after them.

He Yu didn't waste the precious seconds his teammates had purchased with their lives.

Almost the instant the struggle began...

...he rushed straight into the area where the gray-faced creatures had appeared.

This place lay exactly between the two laboratories.

Whether left or right...

Everything was equally close.

The creatures had descended here.

Which meant Dr. Ganlun could directly control this location.

Without Dr. Ganlun...

Was escaping this floor impossible?

No.

When staff transported experimental subjects...

They clearly didn't require Dr. Ganlun's presence.

While silently thinking earlier...

He Yu had reconstructed the entire ninth floor inside his mind.

He had already determined where the "elevator" was.

The appearance of the gray-faced creatures merely confirmed his deduction.

The Federation's elevators differed entirely from Blue Star's.

They were closer to teleportation devices.

This prison's elevator...

...was even more unique.

Because...

He Yu had ridden it before.

Last night...

When he'd been drugged unconscious...

They had transported him to the ninth floor.

Although he hadn't witnessed the whole process...

He'd reconstructed every detail afterward.

He remembered every single sentence spoken.

Every person's position.

Closing his eyes slightly...

Last night's memories merged together with the mental map he'd just completed.

He pushed Zhen Xing's bed into position.

Then adjusted his own footing.

He no longer relied on his eyes.

Only memory.

At this moment...

He almost forgot the laboratory around him.

Forgot the danger surrounding him.

—His teammates were protecting him {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} from all of it.

This position?

No.

Here?

Still wrong.

Not here either.

He circled the movable bed.

Constantly changing his own position.

Occasionally adjusting the bed itself.

Duan Yuchen finally collapsed.

He couldn't hold on much longer.

His body slid toward the floor.

Yet...

His hands still clung desperately to the gray-faced creature's leg.

He refused to let go.

—

In another room...

Dr. Ganlun's neck had turned crimson from excitement.

"My God!"

"These people have incredible determination!"

"Excellent!"

"Perfect experimental subjects!"

"I want them all!!"

Beside him...

Laners watched He Yu suspiciously.

...What exactly was he doing?

Everyone else was risking their lives to buy Number One time.

So what was Number One doing?

Qiong staggered.

A heavy blow smashed her into the wall.

Ling Buchen's zither played frantically.

The energy transformed into ropes again...

...wrapping tightly around a gray-faced creature's neck.

Eugene was also tied up.

Grinding his teeth, he roared,

"Let's see how you attack without hands!"

His chainsaw slashed directly toward the creature's arm.

—Let's see you catch me after your arms are gone.

Found it!

He Yu suddenly stopped.

His eyes flew open.

They shone like blazing stars.

"Everyone!"

"Come here!"

"Eugene."

"Ling Buchen."

"Bring them!"

The instant he spoke...

The nearest Siya dodged a gray-faced creature and threw herself onto the movable bed.

She grabbed hold of it tightly.

Ling Buchen abandoned the creatures' necks.

Instead...

His energy ropes wrapped around Qiong and Qu Wu.

He hurled both of them toward the bed.

Dizzy and disoriented...

They instinctively grabbed hold.

Eugene kicked one gray-faced creature away.

His chainsaw swept backward.

The creature instinctively dodged.

That instant—

He flashed forward.

Grabbing Duan Yuchen...

He reappeared beside the bed.

Just before Eugene seized it...

He Yu stomped lightly three times beneath his feet.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Soft footsteps echoed.

The moment Eugene grabbed the bed...

All eight people...

...vanished.

Dr. Ganlun froze.

Laners slowly inhaled.

His expression became grave.

"Number One..."

"...must die."

"He's too intelligent."

Dr. Ganlun remained utterly stunned.

"How did he know?"

"How could he possibly know the way out of the ninth floor?!"

"Who told him?!"

Not only prisoners possessed wristbands.

Every staff member's intelligent terminal contained lethal security programs.

No one could betray Dr. Ganlun.

And yet...

He Yu had successfully led everyone out of the ninth floor.

Laners turned toward the doctor.

Expressionless, he said,

"I warned you."

"You would regret this."

"Some people can become experimental subjects."

"Others..."

"...cannot."

"You believed you could keep them under your control."

"But in reality..."

They hadn't merely reached the ninth floor unexpectedly.

They'd found Zhen Xing.

Then...

They'd escaped the ninth floor successfully.

Dr. Ganlun's face darkened.

He immediately shut down the prison teleportation system.

Coldly, he declared,

"No."

"They're still nowhere near capable of making me regret anything."

—

Underground Level Eight.

Everyone's vision blurred.

The next moment...

They stood once more on the familiar eighth floor.

They'd passed through this very place on their way down to rescue Zhen Xing and Wanrenzhan.

They knew it well.

The guards stationed here had already been dealt with by Eugene and Ling Buchen earlier.

Because they'd returned so quickly...

The bodies still littered the floor.

This level served only as the universal injection area.

Dr. Ganlun rarely came here.

The laboratories weren't located here either.

Security wasn't nearly as strict.

At least...

There were no irritating photon blades.

No attacking walls.

Qu Wu stared in disbelief.

"You actually found the exit?!"

He Yu smiled faintly.

"I'm afraid..."

"...we don't have time to chat."

The moment he finished speaking...

He shoved Zhen Xing's bed forward again.

Without looking back...

He sprinted away.

The instant they left the area—

Eight gray-faced creatures came charging after them.

Eugene: "???"

"Fuck!"

"Again?!"

Duan Yuchen's vision still spun.

He shouted toward He Yu's back,

"He Yu!"

"Teleport again!"

Without turning around, He Yu answered,

"He definitely shut it down."

"Run."

Everyone: "............"

—There were so many things they wanted to say.

He Yu ran with absolute purpose.

Everyone immediately followed.

Duan Yuchen and Qiong were injured.

Eugene simply carried them while running.

The rest pushed themselves to the limit.

Behind them...

The gray-faced creatures pursued relentlessly.

Whenever they nearly caught up...

Ling Buchen remained at the rear, playing his zither to delay them slightly.

Not long afterward...

Two gray-faced figures appeared ahead.

Their almost completely white eyes stared blankly at the group.

Each held an enormous warhammer.

Expressionless.

Motionless.

He Yu: "..."

He stopped the bed.

Then quietly stepped aside.

Eugene dropped Duan Yuchen and Qiong beside it.

The two barely managed to grab the bed to keep from collapsing.

Meanwhile...

Eugene had already charged forward.

Both chainsaws slashed toward the two creatures.

VMMMM—

Only two shallow wounds appeared.

A faint barrier seemed to surround their bodies...

...greatly weakening Eugene's attacks.

He stared in disbelief.

"They actually have defensive equipment?!"

Before he finished speaking...

The two gray-faced creatures swung their hammers.

Savage.

Brutal.

Like wild beasts.

Eugene pressed his lips together.

He produced an enormous shield.

BOOM!

The hammers crashed down.

Eight terrifying gray-faced monsters behind them.

Two even stronger ones in front.

This situation was enough to make anyone go bald.

Eugene gritted his teeth.

Holding the shield firmly.

Yet the twin hammers continued descending.

Like mountains collapsing.

One direct hit...

...would flatten him completely.

Even his shield couldn't withstand the force.

Ling Buchen wasn't faring any better.

The eight gray-faced creatures chasing them from the ninth floor were all injured.

Some had even lost limbs.

But there were still eight of them.

Far too many.

Ling Buchen threw out every defensive item he possessed.

Drank another potion.

His fingers flew madly across the strings.

"Eugene."

"Don't confront them head-on."

"Their bodies are abnormal."

He Yu's expression was unusually serious.

Eugene's SSS combat power was absolutely genuine.

These gray-faced creatures didn't possess SSS attack power.

But their defensive ability...

And raw physical strength...

Were horrifying.

Which meant...

Their equipment combat power was low.

Yet their own bodies possessed absurdly high combat power.

Extraordinarily high.

Then...

Thinking of Zhen Xing.

Thinking of Wanrenzhan.

He Yu finally understood.

He now knew exactly what kind of experiment Dr. Ganlun had been conducting.

His expression grew even graver.

The Federation's greatest scientists had never accomplished this.

Yet a mere NPC inside an instance...

...had.

Although Dr. Ganlun had gone in the wrong direction...

...he'd grasped the fundamental principle.

It reminded He Yu...

...of Mr. Louis in the <Death Countdown> instance.

The Ghost Town mayor who had utilized Yu Qi.

A sharp light flashed through He Yu's eyes.

The audience immediately sensed it.

【Bullet Screen: "What did He Yu realize?"】

【Bullet Screen: "AHHHH this is terrifying! I don't even dare watch from first-person anymore!"】

Eugene never noticed He Yu's expression.

Putting away the shield...

He attacked again.

The chainsaw aimed directly at the creature's neck.

The gray-faced creature blocked it with one arm.

The chainsaw cut halfway through.

Even the bone was exposed.

An ordinary person would've lost all combat ability.

These creatures...

...kept fighting.

The half-severed arm...

...didn't seem to affect them at all.

"He Yu!"

"If we don't fight them head-on, then how the hell do we fight?!"

Without answering...

He Yu grabbed the unconscious figure lying on the bed.

Then threw him toward Eugene.

"Catch."

Eugene instinctively caught him.

Only then did he realize...

It was Zhen Xing.

Eugene: "..."

The gray-faced creatures attacked again.

Behind them...

Ling Buchen finally failed to hold the line.

Two completely intact gray-faced monsters rushed toward He Yu and the others.

Without hesitation...

Eugene swung Zhen Xing like a weapon.

The instant the creatures' attacks were about to land...

They abruptly withdrew.

Even taking two steps backward.

Eugene: "!!"

Huh?!

Like someone discovering the greatest treasure imaginable...

He began wildly swinging Zhen Xing toward every incoming attack.

The approaching gray-faced creatures immediately became hesitant.

—Just as expected!

Dr. Ganlun wouldn't allow Zhen Xing to be injured.

That was why he'd been able to bypass the photon blades downstairs.

And now...

He could also restrain the gray-faced creatures.

Eugene's eyes sparkled.

He laughed excitedly.

"Nicely done, Zhen Xing!"

"You're unconscious and still fighting!"

"Good brother!"

"Good teammate!"

As he spoke...

He mercilessly hurled his "good brother" and "good teammate" straight toward another massive cleaver.

【Bullet Screen: "......"】

【Bullet Screen: "...Right now I just want to know what Zhen Xing is thinking."】

【Bullet Screen: "I want to know what he'll do after waking up. Hahaha."】

【Bullet Screen: "First contestant in history to continue contributing massively to the team after passing out. LMAO."】

Everyone retreated behind Eugene and Ling Buchen.

Ten gray-faced creatures truly were difficult to deal with.

But...

They had Zhen Xing.

—At this moment...

He was the strongest defensive equipment they possessed.

Ling Buchen asked,

"Back to where we came down?"

He Yu nodded.

"Yes."

The elevator no longer functioned.

Their only escape route was the hole they'd originally cut.

The ninth-floor ceiling had repaired itself because those laboratories were critically important.

The eighth floor...

...was merely an injection area.

Perhaps the hole hadn't been repaired.

And even if it had...

As long as it wasn't electrified...

Eugene could cut through it again.

It was their only hope.

Hearing the conversation...

Eugene and Ling Buchen protected the other five from front and rear.

Eugene gripped the unconscious Zhen Xing tightly.

Lifting him...

Swinging him...

Treating him entirely as a shield.

The opening wasn't far away.

With Zhen Xing protecting them...

They reached it quickly.

Perfect.

The hole remained.

No electricity.

"Don't come any closer!"

Eugene held Zhen Xing in front of himself.

The gray-faced creatures hesitated.

Laners' expression darkened.

"Doctor."

"Are you really going to keep holding back?"

Dr. Ganlun's face was equally grim.

But asking him to abandon Zhen Xing...

Or Number Two...

...was impossible.

Number Five still hadn't died.

He hadn't even lost consciousness yet.

What a perfect experimental subject.

And these people...

...what perfect experimental subjects they all were.

Conflict flashed across his face.

But during that brief moment of hesitation...

Ling Buchen flew up through the opening.

A long chain descended.

He Yu...

Duan Yuchen...

Qiong...

Siya...

Qu Wu...

All grabbed hold tightly.

Eugene remained below.

One chainsaw in hand.

Zhen Xing raised high in the other.

Guarding the rear.

Never allowing the gray-faced creatures to attack.

The instant Eugene grabbed the bottom of the chain...

It shot upward.

Carrying everyone toward the seventh floor.

The gray-faced creatures lunged desperately.

One managed to catch only Eugene's pant leg...

...tearing it completely off.

The others passed safely through the opening.

But just as Eugene himself was about to pass...

Mechanical claws suddenly shot out from the opening.

They grabbed directly toward Zhen Xing.

He Yu kicked one away.

Ling Buchen jammed another with a piece of equipment.

Zhen Xing's clothing was torn apart.

Fortunately...

He himself passed through safely.

The entire group entered...

...the underground seventh floor.

The place where everything had begun.

After being dragged around like this...

Zhen Xing's clothes had become tattered beyond recognition.

He looked as though he'd suffered unimaginably brutal abuse.

【Bullet Screen: "Can't wait to see Zhen Xing's reaction after waking up."】

【Bullet Screen: "LMAO. Poor little Xing. He passed out, yet still had to endure all of this."】

No one had time to talk.

No one had time to stop.

Having learned their lesson...

The moment they reached the seventh floor...

They immediately rushed toward the training-room staircase.

Behind them...

All ten gray-faced creatures continued their relentless pursuit.

They charged up the stairs.

Into the unseen sixth underground floor.

The moment everyone entered...

The gray-faced creatures suddenly stopped chasing them.

Leaning against the doorway, Siya let out a long breath.

Qiong resumed working on the wristbands.

Qu Wu gasped desperately for air.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Eugene sighed.

"I'm exhausted."

He placed Zhen Xing gently beside them.

"We worked this hard..."

"...and only managed to save one half-dead guy."

"The other one might already be dead."

"No."

"He's still alive."

He Yu answered with complete certainty.

Qiong looked puzzled.

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because Dr. Ganlun took Wanrenzhan away?"

He Yu shook his head.

"When I proposed cooperating with him..."

"...he answered that he wanted us alive."

Alive.

He wanted them alive.

Since Wanrenzhan remained important to him...

...he had to still be alive.

At least...

He was alive for now.

What happened afterward...

...was another matter.

Duan Yuchen had finally regained enough clarity to think.

Pressing against the bloody wound on his arm, he looked suspiciously at He Yu.

"When you proposed that crazy plan..."

"...did you already know we'd reject it?"

—He still couldn't stop thinking about it.

The more he thought...

...the more it felt as though He Yu had deliberately proposed Plan A.

Just to test Dr. Ganlun's reaction.

To confirm whether Wanrenzhan was truly alive.

At the same time...

By presenting an impossible Plan A...

...everyone had accepted Plan B without hesitation.

Just now...

The four of them had literally risked their lives to hold back the gray-faced creatures.

He Yu looked at him.

Tilted his head.

Then smiled faintly.

"What do you think?"

Duan Yuchen: "..."