Mutants - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Fossils

The burly man was probably amused by Sui Xin's expression, as he continued to say with a smile, "Actually, we're all mission-takers who've been screwed over and trapped here. We're from the same company, so there's really no need to kill each other. But you have no idea how long we've been locked in here, short on food and drink. Anyone would go crazy. We're just trying to be responsible for our own lives and our companions', so we have to make sure you're not a threat."

Sui Xin couldn't tell if this man was really going to string her up, but she knew she'd be finished if he did.

There would be no chance of escape.

"Isn't it enough that I told you about the medicinal herbs? Besides, you need me."

The youth sneered, lifting her chin with the back of his blade. "Of course you have to talk. Otherwise, it'll hurt when we cut off your fingers one by one. We might need a woman, but we don't necessarily need a weakling with zero combat ability."

This was, in fact, a dual threat.

Physical and psychological humiliation and suppression were common interrogation tactics, and they had been quite effective throughout history.

Sui Xin was terrified, her face growing paler, but she did her best to save herself—her mouth was the only part of her with any real combat power.

"I'll talk, I'll talk. You should go verify if those herbs are effective first."

"I said I'm useful to you because—I'm guessing you've been trapped here all this time. You clearly could have escaped when people like us opened the door from the outside, but you didn't. There's only one possible reason for that."

"There's something you want in here."

"And once you leave, you can't get back in."

"Given that you know nothing about the situation outside, it seems you haven't even been to places like the herb storage. You're just guarding the excavation area. That's not logical. At the very least, you could find nutrient packs in other places. You're so short on them, yet you don't dare to go out. Putting it all together, it means the excavation area's main gate has a rotating password. Ye Chen and I could both enter using the same password one after the other, which means it corresponds to our specific survey team's password and identity verification. The password and identity verification you have are old, so naturally, you can't get in. That's why you didn't immediately interrogate Ye Chen and the other guy for the password after capturing them and then try to escape when it was my turn to open the door… because you know that kind of move won't work. You've probably tried it before and failed, which is why you're stuck here."

"You'd rather risk starving to death here than go to the outpost, which means you also know that the main gate outside is even harder to get through. It also means the prize inside the mining area is so great that you're willing to wait for survey teams to arrive one by one, preying on them to snatch their nutrient packs just to survive."

"On the other hand, you're also facing the threat of the Ironworms. I'm guessing the prize you want deep in the excavation area is the Marine Fossils, but that area happens to be full of Ironworms. With all that, how could you not need someone like me to assist you?"

"And please, whatever you do, don't string me up. My constitution isn't great, and I'm already weak. If you hang me up, the physical stress will be too much. I won't be able to take it and might just die. That would be a loss for you too, wouldn't it, big brothers?"

Her voice was soft and weak, as if she didn't dare to offend them, yet she had to step on their weaknesses to gain some standing for herself. It was quite a contradiction.

She looked fragile, but there was something to her on the inside.

The youth fell silent, while the burly man's eyes flickered. Finally, he smiled. "As expected. No one who makes it into the Think Tank is a simple character. You little weakling, your brain really works well. It's just as you said. We do need you."

"But we also do need to test whether the herbs you mentioned are effective."

Sui Xin had actually noticed earlier that both men had a strong reaction when she mentioned the herbs. At first, she thought it was because of the Fungal-Insectoid Mutants, but since they hadn't encountered any inside and the main gate blocked the way, they shouldn't have been so alarmed.

That meant it was because of the Ironworms and the herbs.

After a round of speculation and analysis, she had made this probing statement, and unexpectedly, it hit the mark.

The burly man left in high spirits, not mentioning stringing her up. However, the youth remained, making Sui Xin a little nervous.

The youth: "What, scared? Weren't you quite the talker just now?"

Sui Xin looked at the long blade that was still at her neck. It would be a problem if this person guarded her here constantly, but she didn't dare tell him to get lost…

This person was truly detestable.

"Big brother, I haven't offended you, have I? We're all poor souls trapped here. Why must you be like this?"

"I hate the company's Think Tank. They're insidious and vicious. The smarter they are, the more dangerous."

The youth grinned, revealing pale teeth. The blade slid along her soft neck. The slightest mistake could slice open her delicate skin and cut her trachea.

Sui Xin's body remained perfectly still. She said softly, "No matter what kind of person someone is, it all depends on the cage they're trapped in. In a cage like the Tianxi Group, mid-level people like us naturally have the advantage. But in a cage like the wilderness, it's your world."

The youth: "But we can't give you a chance to talk and stir up trouble, can we?"

The blade suddenly stopped at her throat, as if he was about to cut her vocal cords—This psycho! A cut there wouldn't just take my vocal cords, it would take my life.

Sui Xin didn't even dare to breathe. She could only force her neck back, exposing her slender throat and snow-white jaw, but her voice was clear.

"Judging by your earlier performance, you must have mastered combat among the three trials of a Martial Initiate. You should have become an Adept long ago, yet you were still selected for this kind of suicide mission team and ended up in such a state. It's either because you offended a superior and were framed, or there's something wrong with your body, preventing you from becoming a Martial Initiate. Let me guess, could it be both?"

She deliberately used a rather arrogant tone to taunt him.

Bang!

He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her, chair and all, to the ground.

"So arrogant. You really think you can survive just because you have a little value?"

The youth's eyes were filled with killing intent. His wide, scar-covered hand was large enough to cover half her face, and his fingers squeezed the pale flesh of her cheeks, leaving deep red marks.

Sui Xin felt a sharp pain in her back from the chair digging into it, and her face hurt too. These combat personnel were strong as oxen.

"What I mean is, I know a little about medicine. If we get out, I can prepare a prescription for you for free—the force of your two-handed downward slash when you jumped down was about the same as your one-handed slash at me. It's clear you have a problem exerting force with your left hand. There must be something wrong with it."

"Actually, I can understand you. We all have our ailments, and we've all offended superiors and been framed to end up here—otherwise, do you think an analyst like me is really here for archaeology? It's because I refused to be coerced… If you don't believe me, go interrogate that Ye Chen. He knows I'm valuable, yet he was so decisive in trying to assassinate me. Isn't it because he'd already received orders from that bastard superior to get rid of me? According to company regulations, he can't deal with me without reason, so he could only let me die here."

The youth's eyes flickered. He narrowed them and sneered, "Trying to build a connection and win me over?"

Sui Xin felt the pain in her jaw intensifying. "Of course. If you can get a share of the profits from the ruins, and then escape, you can buy medicine to treat yourself directly. Recovery won't be difficult. By then, you'll successfully become an Adept, and your future will be bright. But you should know that this kind of medicine is often very expensive—if you don't mind, let me participate in this project. You can have all the benefits I get."

"Surely you're not afraid you can't handle a little weakling like me?"

In this world, who could refuse Alliance Credits?

No one.

The youth's eyes darkened slightly, and the pressure from his fingers gradually loosened.

A minute later, Sui Xin and the chair were still on the ground. It was uncomfortable, but at least she wasn't dead.

The iron door closed and was locked.

Sui Xin was exceptionally weak, gasping for breath, her head covered in cold sweat. The acidic, cramping pain in her stomach made her feel nauseous.

It was so uncomfortable.

But… as she struggled to breathe, she strained to make the fingers inside her sleeve reach a vial of reagent that had fallen out of the inner pocket of her protective suit when the youth had forcefully pushed her down.

Inside the vial—another batch of Ironworms.

Earlier, to deal with Ye Chen and his group, she had collected some Ironworms from the pharmacy and put them in test tubes. Since there were many of them, she had put two tubes in two different pockets.

One tube had been used, and she hadn't had time to use the other. It still contained some blood.

It was Jenny's blood, of course. She couldn't bear to use her own, and the pharmacy was a dry environment with no water.

Now, it could be put to use.

But if that detestable guy hadn't pushed her down, allowing the test tube in her pocket to slide out, she would never have been able to get it with her hands bound.

The worms crawling on her skin were utterly disgusting, but they didn't burrow into her body because she had ingested some chinaberry bark and had also applied some powder to her underwear and skin, precisely to prevent the Ironworms from entering her body.

That was why she dared to carry two test tubes of Ironworms on her person, but the sensation was still terrifying.

She was both afraid it wouldn't work and disgusted by it.

Fortunately, they were even more disgusted by her. Even with some blood on her, they didn't want to get close, eagerly crawling out of her sleeve.

When they reached her palm, Sui Xin mustered her courage, grabbed a few, and placed them on the rope around her wrist.

The sensation on her hand gave her goosebumps all over her body.

They struggled and began to release corrosive fluid.

The rope was organic.

Snap.

The moment the rope on her wrist was corroded and broke, Sui Xin's hands were free. She carefully glanced at the iron door and listened to the sounds outside, then quickly untied the ropes on her legs.

She couldn't get up; she had no strength. She took out a spare nutrient pack from an inner pocket.

In a crisis, if her backpack was taken, the nutrient packs hidden in her clothes were life-saving rations.

It was a good thing these people were afraid she had worms on her and didn't dare to search her body.

Sui Xin quickly drank one, which suppressed the pain from her hunger, and her dizziness improved a lot.

The biggest advantage of being a big eater was the relatively efficient absorption of rations.

Then she controlled her breathing and got up.

The door lock was metal, which the Ironworms couldn't corrode, so it couldn't be opened. But then, she raised her head, looked up, and saw the ventilation duct.

The panel was made of a high-strength, lightweight composite plastic material. It was organic and very hard. Normally, even physical force or a bullet might not penetrate it in one go, but the Ironworms could corrode it.

Sui Xin quickly put all the Ironworms back into the test tube, then stood on the chair, smeared some of her own blood on the panel, and held the mouth of the test tube up to the gap in the duct panel, letting them crawl out, lick the blood, and release their corrosive fluid.

Before long, the panel's fasteners were dissolved.

Sui Xin pulled it off, reached her hands inside to get a grip, and climbed into the duct opening. She was about to leave, but after a moment's thought, she put the panel back and placed a few Ironworms on top of it.

She put the remaining Ironworms away safely. This stuff was useful, especially for surprise attacks.

The inside of the duct was dim, but the air circulated. It was just stuffy. Having escaped, Sui Xin didn't care. After confirming the thickness and material of the duct, she controlled her strength and climbed as efficiently as possible.

Fortunately, although the building wasn't particularly tall, the material and thickness of the duct provided decent soundproofing, so the people below wouldn't hear the noise from inside.

Unless she made a particularly loud noise and the people below were exceptionally sharp.

But she wasn't sure of the duct's layout and could only judge the direction of the air circulation.

She didn't have much time. If the youth or the burly man went to the cell and discovered her escape, they would naturally find the trick with the duct opening and come after her.

Sui Xin didn't dare to delay. While she still had some strength, she climbed hard, looking for a suitable exit and peering down through the gaps in the duct openings at regular intervals.

So far, she had only seen the two men. She didn't know the exact number of people in this group of survey teams, but she figured that the total number of members sent by the previous eight teams must have been over a thousand. There were surely quite a few survivors, all trapped here by the company's various setups, just waiting for this live broadcast to achieve its purpose.

Too few people wouldn't be effective.

But too many people also posed a great threat.

The reason Sui Xin didn't dare to side with the burly man and his group, instead choosing to trick them and escape, was because if there were many of them, and they were comrades who had been through life and death together for a long time, a community of shared interests, they would never treat her as one of their own, even if she helped them temporarily.

They would most likely get rid of her once she's served her purpose.

The key was—the safe houses in Tianxi Group's ruins generally had two functions. The first was security, with a capacity determined by the internal space; it could even hold three hundred people. But the second function, such as opening an escape route, would initiate a self-destruct mode once activated. Furthermore, it was designed to allow only a few people through. Afterward, the passage entrance and all the gates within the outpost would enter a sealed state, similar to the effect of the ancient dragon-locking stones. Then, an internal explosion would slaughter all intruders to prevent them from giving chase.

Sui Xin didn't know if the current safe house had this second function, or how many people the passage entrance would allow through, but based on her previous knowledge, it seemed only 20 people could pass.

So, what made her think she could replace one of their comrades and become one of those 20?

And knowing the true nature of this mission, the planning department would only be more cunning and cruel. The risks were completely unpredictable.

So, it was better to rely on herself than on anyone else.

Sui Xin decisively chose to run first, regardless of whether others lived or died.

Sui Xin was keen to determine the number of people in this group. After crawling for some distance, she saw one or two patrol members systematically inspecting the corridors below. From the perspective of frontline combat doctrine and psychology, based on the number of patrols and their spacing, she could roughly deduce the team's size—about 60 or so people.

Ah, was the death rate that high?

At least a thousand people had explored back then, and after two years, only a few dozen survived?

This was much less than Sui Xin had estimated, but it was still more than she could handle.

Sui Xin continued to climb. Suddenly!

A voice, not too loud but not too soft, came from a duct opening ahead.

"You dare to keep climbing?! You bastard!"

In that instant, Sui Xin was nearly scared to death.

It was like when Sun Wukong was called by a demon with a gourd.

Demon: Do you dare to answer!

Sun Wukong: It's me, it's me, it's me!

Sui Xin: Not me, not me, not me!

But her body was certainly more honest than Sun Wukong's; with a guilty conscience, she didn't dare to move a muscle.

Fortunately, a second later, Sui Xin realized the person below wasn't talking to her, but to someone else—there was someone else climbing below, who was then beaten.

Fist met flesh.

Sui Xin carefully looked down through the gap and saw Ye Chen and Chucks being beaten.

The one hitting them was that detestable youth.

This guy was a sadist, treating all his prisoners with equal brutality, beating the two of them like punching bags and interrogating them through the beatings—no doubt to verify the information she had provided earlier.

But no matter how he interrogated them, Ye Chen didn't say a word about the Fungal-Insectoid Mutants.

The youth didn't think Sui Xin was lying; on the contrary, he believed she was telling the truth. The reason this Ye Chen wouldn't talk was that if he revealed the existence of the Fungal-Insectoid Mutants, the two of them, as external carriers of the worms, would definitely be killed.

Sui Xin saw that the youth was wearing two pairs of gloves. Every time he punched or kicked, he would retreat a little after striking. He also wore a helmet, clearly on guard against worms emerging from Ye Chen and the other man to attack him.

The fear of death is human nature, after all.

Sui Xin didn't pay them much mind, nor did she care if Ye Chen lived or died. She began to crawl forward carefully, even more cautiously than before, because the youth had the aptitude of an Adept…

This area should still be the prison section, but on the edge of it, some distance from the cell where she was held. They were probably kept apart to prevent them from colluding to escape.

Over there was the dining and medical area. Ahead…

After crawling for a while longer, not too far, Sui Xin identified the different departmental divisions in the corridor below. After all, they were former frontline combat personnel from the company and still used its structured system of departmental divisions, which were orderly. So, she took a little time to make a judgment and finally determined the location of the exit—the number of patrol guards at the entrance suddenly increased to four, indicating that the area ahead was the weapons and resources section. Beyond the weapons section was usually the combat briefing area. This was so that after a battle plan was decided, weapons and energy resources could be quickly collected before heading out to fight. In that case, there must also be a temporary exit here, so that in case of an enemy invasion, combat personnel could quickly take another route to outflank the enemy from behind.

Sui Xin calculated this in her mind and quickly crawled past the weapons section.

And then… she stopped, her gaze fixed on the gap in the duct panel, looking down.

Someone below had just said something.

"I have a bad feeling about this. If that kind of worm can control corpses and turn them into human monsters, and it can also spread, then there won't be just one."

The burly man was worried.

Sui Xin saw that as he spoke, his arms were still gesturing, a behavior that indicated he was trying to persuade the person in front of him, and that person had the authority to make decisions.

As far as she could see, there were two other men beside the burly man, both frowning in thought, and they seemed to have differing opinions.

"Lao Zhang, I know you're cautious, but even if this outrageous thing is true, they're still locked outside. They can't get to us. Acting prematurely is too risky."

"Exactly. And I don't think what that person said is necessarily credible. If that monster is really so dangerous, how did someone as weak as her survive? And without being infected."

Lao Zhang pointed to the herbs on the table. "Is this not credible? She's a knowledge-based personnel. You all know how damn smart those perverts in the Analysis Department are. She just arrived at the outpost and already discovered these secrets. And I only said her physique is poor, but her reactions are incredibly sharp. She can even exchange a few moves with Xingxing."

What concerned Sui Xin more was that some of her confiscated items were also on the table. Because Lao Zhang was focused on the herbs and nutrient packs, her other things had been sorted. The reagent tubes were there too, but they had labels on the outside. Usually, they would only be opened when needed. Non-professionals like them wouldn't rashly open the reagent caps for fear of spilling something, so they didn't know what was inside.

There were indeed reagents, but one of the tubes contained—the Salmon-Host Myxosporean King.

Now that she had benefited from the Ironworms, she felt that these worms and such were quite useful, more reliable than human subordinates. As long as you grasped their biological weaknesses, you could do anything.

Unfortunately, it was not in her hands right now.

The man in front was leaning against the table, arms crossed. He was young, with plain features, but his body was strong and heroic. His brows were like swords, giving him a very shrewd look. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow. "She fought with Xingxing?"

"She did. Her physique couldn't keep up, but she knows a lot about us frontline combat personnel. She figured out what we were after in minutes. Although that also means she's dangerous… the thing we're after really requires this kind of person to help."

"Otherwise, how are we going to take away those Pure Marine Fossils? That place is frozen deep inside, and there are several Bruces and so many Ironworm nest pools."

Hearing this, Sui Xin's mind reeled.

Pure Marine Fossils?

For real?!

The main purpose of developing the ruins was definitely the Marine Fossils. This stuff, like iron or metal ore, was primarily rock material with complex elements inside that required separate refining. The yield was very low, and there were processing costs. But Pure Marine Fossils were different.

They were high-purity crystals. Only those with over 70% purity were called pure. The extractable material in ordinary Marine Fossils was only 1%.

The difference was enormous.

And Pure Marine Fossils were easy to transport and didn't require difficult intermediate refining. Most importantly, the crystal bodies contained within these pure fossils not only had high purity and yield, but the ancient deep-sea creatures sealed inside were generally of extremely high class and quality. If they contained special genes relevant to contemporary genetic research, their value would be even more terrifying.

This thing was priceless. It was a monopolized resource that could generate more wealth.

For a large consortium, it wasn't a major strategic core. Every ruin would yield such rare pure forms. Though precious, they had reserves; it wasn't unique. But for people like them, it was different.

It could be said that they could use it as capital to rise, start a company, and transcend their class, no longer being lower-class people who lived by the sword.

However, those few Bruces had also been troubling them for a long time.

Sui Xin suddenly understood that the initial incident at the outpost was not the consortium's doing, but a problem with the excavation work itself. The appearance of the Bruces had ruined the work in the excavation area, probably killing many people. The consortium must have found out later. They should have had the ability to solve it, but they didn't intervene. Instead, they left this pure fossil as bait to trap these people.

In that case, this piece of pure fossil was likely not very large.

And the consortium should have already surveyed the fossil reserves within this ruin's excavation area. They had likely mined it to its limit. Even if they solved the trouble with the Bruces and the Ironworms, the subsequent resources wouldn't increase, making the investment disproportionate to the return.

Later, the human experimentation and live broadcast projects were established—the existence of the Bruces and the Ironworm nest pools made the live broadcast plan feasible.

Sui Xin had more or less pieced together the general details of Tianxi's live broadcast plan. The youth below also said, "For some reason, I feel that the arrival of this ninth survey team is very different from our previous teams. First, according to their description, their poison incubation period was much shorter than the previous ones. Did they say twenty-something hours? And they were fine soon after."

"More importantly, I still don't understand why the consortium keeps sending teams of roughly the same level, with similar weapons and resources, and no overall improvement in capability. They call them survey teams, but it's basically like sending them to their deaths. The number of people who entered and survived this time is even smaller than in our time. What's the point?"

"I suspect this excavation area was meant to trap people like us from the beginning, constantly increasing the numbers. Plus, this woman mentioned two types of worms, and that other kind is even more dangerous than the Ironworms. It doesn't take that long for such low-level creatures to emerge and evolve, after all, their life level is very low…"

Lao Zhang was startled. "The company has been experimenting on them all along and then released them here on us? Damn it, could this be an experiment? We're being experimented on?"

If nothing else, the appearance of the Fungal-Insectoid Mutants had indeed given these people a wake-up call.

After all, where there's smoke, there's fire.

"If we've been under the company's control all along, then sending these people in is still for their experiments. The risk is too great. Get the men ready. I suspect Xu Wen's side will be eager to make a move too. That old fox has a technical background; his brain works better than ours. Although we have the upper hand in terms of force and have controlled the entrance recently, they must have people watching from a distance. The commotion you and Xingxing made when taking down these three was definitely noticed by them."

His decision was clear, and the others had no objections, but the other two had concerns.

"We've been assembling armored vehicles with low-temperature resistance and high-heat circulation for the past six months, and so has Xu Wen's side. But to safely withstand the freezing ability of the Bruces, it's still a bit of a struggle. We don't have enough energy cells either. If we make a move just like this, isn't the risk too great?"

"Because Xu Wen's side has technical support, their assembly efficiency and finished products are probably better than ours. In a head-on fight outside, our forces are stronger than theirs. But once we enter the deep pit controlled by the Bruces, where it's freezing cold, if the vehicle performance isn't up to par and our condition is affected, it will be very difficult to succeed."

This was also reasonable.

Liu Yong, as the leader, was also cautious. He waved his hand and ordered Lao Zhang, "Go bring that woman over. I'll ask her some more questions. Maybe that woman's brain is of some use."

"Are you sure she doesn't have any worms on her?"

Lao Zhang: "No. Xingxing deliberately touched her to scare her. Logically, if she had worms on her, given her professional background, her first reaction would be to threaten us with them. But she didn't."

Sexual contact would definitely transfer the worms. This was also why these men hadn't thought about touching any of the female team members from outside for so long. Not to mention that after being trapped for so long, their minds were full of fossils and nutrient packs. The fate of someone who had let his lust get the better of him in the past was enough of a warning for them.

Liu Yong nodded. "This kind of person is easy to control. We'll see if she can come up with any ideas. But we can't be too trusting. Once we get what we want, we'll dispose of her."

Another person, Zhao Er, raised an eyebrow. "Boss, are you thinking about what happened with that female technician who betrayed us back then?"

"Xu Wen was ruthless back then, taking all the technicians with him and even planting a spy."

"Jian Siye, that bitch."

They had made their plans and split up to carry them out. Sui Xin was watching, dead nervous. If Lao Zhang went back to find her now, he would surely discover her escape quickly. Did she have enough time to crawl to the exit and break through the defenses? It seemed the other two were going to rally the men for battle, which meant they would soon gather towards the exit.

Mainly, Sui Xin hadn't expected the forces here to be divided into two opposing factions. The information she brought had indirectly prompted the other side's leadership to decide to act preemptively, fearing their rivals would strike first. This compressed her survival time.

For a moment, Sui Xin was frantic. Then she felt the reagent test tube still in her pocket. An idea sparked in her mind, and she retreated.

Since it wasn't far, she quickly returned to the cell where Ye Chen was being held. Zhou Xingxing was no longer there, probably called away by Lao Zhang. She saw Ye Chen and the other man below, in a miserable state and both unconscious.

Thinking of the ruthlessness Ye Chen and his group had shown her, she narrowed her eyes and poured the worms out of the test tube.

The worms fell through the gap. After landing, carrying the scent of blood on them and being exposed to the air, they had to quickly find a source of blood. So they crawled rapidly towards the unconscious Ye Chen and the other man on the ground.

By this time, Sui Xin had already crawled back to her previous route. A moment later, she heard screams coming from the duct opening behind her.

On the corridor side, after Lao Zhang called Zhou Xingxing out, he told the latter to get ready to move out with the other combat personnel. Zhou Xingxing was surprised by the sudden action but said nothing. "So you're going to grab that woman now?"

"Yes, the boss wants to ask her for more information. Anyway, let's hurry."

Zhou Xingxing: "What about the two inside?"

Lao Zhang: "Those two have no value. Get rid of them early to avoid any hidden dangers…"

Zhou Xingxing raised an eyebrow and agreed.

After they finished talking and were about to go their separate ways, screams suddenly erupted from the nearby cell. The two were startled and ran towards the cell together. The door was closed. Lao Zhang drew his gun in preparation. Several nearby patrols also quickly came over. Zhou Xingxing took the lead and quickly opened the door.

Swish!

Everyone aimed their attacks at the people inside, only to see Ironworms crawling all over Ye Chen and the other man.

"Damn it! They really had worms on them, and they've broken out!"

"Shoot them! Quick!"

"Get someone over here to disinfect and sterilize!"

"Check if there are any more worms. This stuff reproduces quickly… Prepare to dispose of the bodies. Is the incinerator activated? Hurry!"

They had suffered enough from the Ironworms and were terrified. Most of the personnel were mobilized, and it was a chaotic scene. The other combat personnel who had been notified by Zhao Er and the other man also came over.

While their personnel were in turmoil and drawn away, Sui Xin took advantage of the chaos and quickly crawled to the duct outside the briefing hall that led to the exit. She saw that the guards here had been reduced to two, but there might be more guards further away, just at a greater distance, and the lighting was dim.

She couldn't use a gun.

Sui Xin estimated the situation and remembered the items on Liu Yong's desk. She crawled to the briefing hall. Liu Yong had already received the news and rushed over. The place was empty. So Sui Xin came out of the briefing hall's duct opening, landed softly, and then stealthily crept to the desk. She directly took the car keys from the desk, swiped a tranquilizer gun from a rack, and finally glanced at the underground route map on the wall.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside.

"Hurry!"

"Damn it, outsiders are really trouble!"

"There were a lot of nutrient packs, but they also brought worms. If we had known, we would have killed and burned them when they came in."

"There's still that woman, who knows what's up with her."

"Boss Liu told us to go check on her. She's a troublemaker too."

These people, wearing combat boots, ran past the front of the office with a clatter, completely unaware that the troublemaker they were talking about was pressed against the back of the office door.

After these people passed, Sui Xin quietly opened the door and felt her way through a small door that connected to the outside.

There had to be an exit here. Otherwise, they would soon find their way here from the other side, and she would be doomed!

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