Chapter 347: Descent into Darkness
by xennovel“I’m sorry!”
Carrying his backpack, Lu Xin walked through the pitch-black corridors of the building, speaking softly.
He was apologizing for not heeding his sister and father’s advice: “I’m beginning to understand you all better. I had thoughts of killing him, even turning him into a plaything, but in the end I chose my own way…”
He paused and smiled gently, “After all, the Old Director once said that education is all about finding the right method.”
“You’re the best, Brother…”
Sister dashed along the adjacent wall, visibly excited: “I love what you did.”
“Heh heh heh heh…”
In the pitch-black dark where no hand could be seen, a towering silhouette seemed to follow Lu Xin, exuding an overwhelming sense of dread.
A voice, laced with an eerie chill, chuckled: “I thought you were about to slip back into your old habits. This time, it’s barely passable—though still not entirely up to par—but it’s an improvement over before, isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Lu Xin couldn’t help but wear a look of surprise.
Was it really his Father who would compliment him?
Could it be that their trust in each other had finally grown?
……
He continued speaking softly as he strolled at his own pace.
It felt like a leisurely walk, yet he steadily moved closer to the intermittent vibrations coming from below.
Be it the uproar or the psychic impressions, both hinted at something terrifying lurking downstairs—a dread so deep it drove Lu Xin to seek it out.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, he reached a vast, empty office.
He sensed that the ominous presence was lurking just beneath this very office.
Yet the building was shrouded in darkness, the elevator was broken, and the maze-like corridors offered no clear path downward.
So, he nodded and declared, “This is the spot!”
Hehehe…
Father paused in surprise, then, understanding his meaning, burst into an excited laugh.
Sister, meanwhile, grew anxious and quickly jumped onto Lu Xin’s back.
Clatter…
Enveloped in darkness, Lu Xin had only a faint patch of light filtering in from the window.
As a result, he was surrounded by unending darkness.
Yet now, the darkness was coalescing at his feet.
Then, a formidable force hidden within the dark suddenly began to coalesce.
The floor started to tremble, and the entire room roared.
The decaying wooden floor exploded into splintered shards, revealing the cement layer beneath, tangled with steel bars, pipes, and other structural components.
Shadows seeped downward, slowly eroding the entire floor.
Rumble…
Suddenly, mud and debris burst into the air, and Lu Xin was hurled to the next level…
The corrosive shadows persisted as he tumbled down, level by level.
No elevator? Then I’ll improvise one.
……
Boom…
The lab’s door was kicked open, and Gecko was the first to rush in. Agile as ever, he wielded a makeshift sprayer in one hand and clutched a burst-fire handgun loaded with special bullets—snatched from one of Xia Chong’s teammates—in the other.
At that moment, the gun’s muzzle still smoked, casting a faint red glow.
“Nobody move. If anyone dares to make a move, I’ll shoot them dead…”
The bustling lab fell silent as every worker turned with fear-stricken eyes.
They had heard the commotion outside and knew an intrusion was underway, so they had been working frantically in hopes that the setup might buy them some time. But the Ability Users from Central City arrived faster than expected.
Crash…
Right behind Gecko, seven or eight figures barreled in.
At the very front was Xia Chong, clutching a submachine gun.
Her spent flamethrower, having run out of fuel, was left abandoned somewhere.
Beside her stood Chen Jing, dressed in a sleek combat suit.
She didn’t look good at all—a long cut along her lower abdomen had stretched all the way to her back.
Following behind were the Doctor, the Gothic-style woman brandishing a whip, and the refined man clutching a handkerchief to his mouth, among others.
It was evident they had all survived a barrage of vicious battles to make it here.
……
As they watched the intruders flood into the lab, the workers at the computers exchanged bewildered looks.
Many of them showed expressions of reluctant defiance.
Some discreetly reached for the gun mounted behind the desk.
Others slowly reached for the protective helmet hanging on the wall nearby.
“It’s over.”
Yet at that moment, the Gothic-style woman emerged from the crowd, her demeanor haughty and her expression teasing.
“Children, get down on your knees for your sister…”
As she spoke, she raised her whip high and slammed it down with force.
“Smack!”
A crisp crack rang out like a signal.
Throughout the office, every staff member’s expression turned vacant; some even slipped into a crazed, fanatical stupor, pushing aside desks and computers with a clatter or simply sliding to the floor, obediently kneeling.
“Hehehe, come forward and kneel—get closer to your sister!”
The Gothic-style woman’s alluring gaze swept over them, her smile growing even more provocative.
Her whip whirled in a graceful arc before crashing down again.
“Smack!”
As if given a cue, all the lab personnel went into a frenzy, shoving and crawling forward.
They crawled even faster than they could run, resembling a swarm of giant rats.
Despite the anger and resentment etched on some faces, their bodies obeyed without question.
Behind the Gothic-style woman, Gecko pounded his slightly trembling leg with force.
……
Swish, swish, swish…
When nearly the entire office was on its knees, every gaze shifted to one individual.
The only one unmoved sat in a transparent glass chamber, clad in a white coat and manipulating a complex electronic instrument. His furrowed brow spoke of deep concentration.
Dr. Zhao Shiming.
As the Gothic-style woman cracked her whip, dense ripples appeared on the surface of the glass chamber.
But those ripples were fleeting, trembling on the surface without breaking through.
“Dr. Zhao Shiming, I’m Xia Chong, the temporary commander of the 1024th Special Pollution Incident. We’re here to get you out.”
Observing his still figure inside the glass room, Xia Chong’s eyes narrowed.
Her gaze swept over Chen Jing as she stepped forward, addressing Dr. Zhao Shiming:
“You can come out and go back with us.”
Inside the glass chamber, Dr. Zhao Shiming cradled the instrument, his fingers delicately adjusting its settings. Shaking his head slowly, he remarked, “Why the rush? I wish we could delay things just a bit longer…”
“Is it that Black Table injured you?”
Xia Chong stepped forward again and said in a low tone, “Then come with us—there’s a medical team waiting outside the city!”
“No.”
Dr. Zhao Shiming continued his work without pausing, his tone laced with regret as he replied, “With you arriving so swiftly, how can I possibly stand aside?”
“How can I explain to everyone that I was forced into all of this?”
……
“Swish!”
With a deadpan expression, Xia Chong’s voice suddenly took on a commanding tone: “Whatever you’re doing, stop right now.”
Dr. Zhao Shiming appeared not to register her order, instead working even faster.
Chen Jing said nothing as she suddenly raised her weapon and fired two bullets at the glass.
She was using standard bullets—against the reinforced glass, they were surprisingly more effective.
“Bang” “Bang”
The two bullets left faint white stains on the glass.
“I’m sorry!”
Dr. Zhao Shiming glanced at the spot where the bullets struck; his fingers moved swiftly, yet his voice remained calm and even wistful as he said, “But I cannot stop. You abnormal ones will never understand such temptation…”
“No one can stop when faced with such a lure!”
……
It was now evident: members of the Central City and Qinggang joint team launched their attack simultaneously.
Gecko reloaded his burst-fire handgun, swiftly switching out the special bullets for ordinary ones before firing forward.
Four consecutive shots struck the same target area.
The white marks on the glass deepened until, with a resounding “crack,” spider-webbed fractures appeared.
Gecko raised his gun again, releasing the final bullet from its barrel.
At that moment, the Gothic-style woman raised her whip high, swinging it into a wide semicircle.
The refined man standing behind her, handkerchief in hand, waved it gently, giving it a slight shake.
A warped force field burst outward rapidly with his movement.
……
“Smack…”
At that very moment, Dr. Zhao Shiming put aside his instrument and slammed a red switch.
Boom!
The lights in the entire lab began flickering unpredictably.
Every computer screen, displaying a myriad of data, showed numbers skyrocketing past critical red levels.
Clatter…
In the middle of the lab stood a glass pool, perfectly positioned between the joint team’s Ability Users and Dr. Zhao Shiming’s glass chamber. Inside, something violently pounded against the pool’s thick, reinforced glass, instantly splintering it into crisp white cracks.
A verdant, saline liquid seeped from the cracks, rapidly expanding into a spray-like cascade.
Ha ha…
Inside the glass chamber, Dr. Zhao Shiming burst into an undignified, maniacal laugh.
“Did you see it? This is God!”
……
Amidst that laughter, Gecko’s fifth bullet sped toward the center point, marked with intricate, spider-web white patterns.
The Gothic-style woman’s whip swung in a half-circle in the air, poised to crack through the silence with a sharp, crisp sound.
The refined man’s handkerchief, as he waved it, released a rapidly expanding, ripple-like warped force field that stretched halfway out.
At that exact moment, a tentacle, about two to three meters in length, suddenly protruded from the glass pool.
For an instant, time seemed to stand still.
That bullet came to a halt just ten centimeters from the glass chamber’s wall.
The whip, having swung through a half-circle, suddenly froze in midair.
The rapidly expanding ripples instantly recoiled and slammed into the refined man’s chest.
……
Everyone looked up in shock, and then their eyes suddenly started bleeding.