Chapter 326: A Mysterious Organization Appears

"The back door?"

Old Man Zhang pondered for a moment before nodding.

"I know where it is."

"Really?!"

A surge of joy hit Li Zhiyuan. "Can you take us there?"

"I suppose so." Old Man Zhang nodded hesitantly, then leaned close to Li Zhiyuan's ear and whispered,

"Isn't this just a safety drill? If we take the back door, aren't we breaking the rules?"

"How could it be against the rules?" Li Zhiyuan's mind raced.

"This is strategy. Think about it—if this were a real emergency, would the kidnappers forbid us from using the back door?"

"That makes sense!" Old Man Zhang nodded in sudden realization.

"Don't rush just yet."

The two spent another moment discussing the specifics of their plan.

Meanwhile, the rest of the medical staff, cafeteria workers, cleaners, and other employees frantically rushed out to join the patients. Clearly, most of them had no idea what was going on, staring up at the blaring alarms in panic.

As Li Zhiyuan plotted with the old man, he kept an eye on the crowd's reactions.

Once the plan was set, Old Man Zhang whispered to the other patients, then gestured to the crowd and pointed upward.

The crowd understood immediately. Scrambling for long bamboo poles and black electrical tape, they expertly covered every security camera in the lobby within minutes.

Even the hidden cameras were completely blocked.

Then, the group followed Old Man Zhang and bolted toward the back door.

"Hurry! Everyone! Run faster! Keep it down!"

Bringing up the rear, Li Zhiyuan urged the crowd on.

He knew covering the cameras wouldn't buy them much time. The real trial was just beginning.

Sure enough, moments after the group slipped out of the lobby, the burly man in the security booth noticed the monitors go black.

"The little chicks are playing hide-and-seek."

He spoke into his Information Component with a savage grin.

They were a team of true desperadoes from the vast, boundless Wasteland outside the Heavenly Kingdom, "picked up" by the Heavenly Kingdom's plutocrats and kept as mere servants.

To them, however, even a life of servitude was a sweet deal.

Compared to the Wasteland, this place truly lived up to its name as a "Heavenly Kingdom."

The Wasteland was a literal dog-eat-dog world. No one ever wanted to go back.

Shortly after he issued his orders...

Several heavily built men who had been stationed in the hospital's underground parking garage burst out of the elevators and charged into the lobby.

Their eyes narrowed. The lobby, packed just moments ago, was completely empty.

"Heh. They actually hid."

A shifty-looking, one-eyed man chuckled.

He swiped a hand over his face. Dense Weird Energy poured from his single eye and rippled across the entire hospital. A moment later, several blurry, shifting silhouettes appeared in his vision.

"Found you."

He whistled and led his men in pursuit.

They arrived outside a small janitorial closet.

His subordinates raised their guns and aimed at the narrow door, but the one-eyed man held up a hand, signaling them to lower their weapons.

The higher-ups had given strict orders: neither the doctor nor the patients could be killed.

"Take it easy. These guys are pure cash."

In his vision, the silhouettes huddled together behind the door.

He waved his right hand with a wicked grin.

"Break it down!!!"

Taking the cue, one of the thugs grabbed a fire axe and hacked at the narrow door.

The heavy steel blade bit into the fragile wood, sending splinters flying. The rhythmic thuds of the axe echoed coldly through the silent hall.

Soon, the battered door splintered to pieces, and the predatory thugs stormed into the closet.

Inside crouched a few trembling figures in white coats. Upon seeing the burly men enter, the captives—whose hands and feet were tightly bound—were scared out of their wits. They struggled desperately but couldn't make a sound, their mouths entirely taped shut.

The one-eyed man's expression darkened. He stepped forward, ripped the tape off their mouths, and hauled one of them up by the collar.

"Where are the rest?!"

"They... they all ran away!"

Pale with terror, the man quickly explained what had happened.

They were Chen Xiaojing's subordinates. They had been hiding in the crowd, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but they had been spotted ages ago. Not long after following the group, the patients had collectively beaten them to a pulp, tied them up, and dumped them here.

"Fuck!"

The one-eyed man clenched his right fist and punched the wall, a gloomy look in his eye.

"You said they have a secret passage?"

"Yes, I think so!"

The man nodded in a panic, then hurriedly clarified his allegiance.

"We're... we're on the same side! I work for Boss Chen too!"

"..."

The one-eyed man stared at his frantic display, sneered, and tossed him back to his men.

"Tie them back up!"

"The rest of you, search the place!!! Search outside, too!!! I want Anomalous Energy Detection across the board! I refuse to believe they can actually slip away!"

A profoundly sinister smile crept across his face.

"It's been a long time since we had this much fun. I never thought the day would come when we'd get to hunt citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom."

"Let's play, then."

By now, Li Zhiyuan had led the crowd out of the secret passage.

Staring down the seemingly endless alleyway before them, Old Man Zhang explained,

"Doctor Li, there's only this one path. Just keep going straight, and we'll reach the exit."

Old Man Zhang's words were meant to point the way, but Li Zhiyuan's heart sank.

If there was only one path, then just as they could exit, others could naturally enter from the outside.

If someone waited to block the entrance, they would be trapped like rats, doomed to be snuffed out.

What should they do...

He looked at the towering wall a few meters to their left and asked,

"What's on the other side of this wall?"

"A road. Another street."

Old Man Zhang replied.

"We climb the wall."

Li Zhiyuan made his decision, but another problem immediately presented itself. Many of the patients were frail and elderly; expecting them to scale a wall by themselves was completely unrealistic.

"How many of you have a Tier?"

He began to poll the group.

The result surprised him. Out of the forty to fifty patients, over a dozen had a Tier. There was even a Third Tier among them, though unfortunately, that person was missing a foot and lacked their former combat strength.

But it should be enough.

"Everyone! Those with a Tier, climb up first. Then pull the elderly and the children up after you."

Li Zhiyuan began to coordinate. A rabbit-like animal species scaled the wall in a few bounds, then stretched out its tail. The previously ball-like tail dropped down, long and sweeping like a fox's.

Soon, the crowd began to scale the wall.

But the process was far from smooth. Li Zhiyuan watched as several elderly patients tried to climb, failing again and again.

He stared down the end of the alleyway, where the faint sound of footsteps already seemed to be echoing. A heavy wave of anxiety washed over him.

They were running out of time... What should they do now...

...

...

"Right, right next to the hospital. There's a small alleyway. That's where the secret passage leads."

Chen Xiaojing gripped the steering wheel and roared at the burly man on the other end of her Information Component.

"Block them in there! Don't let a single one out! We'll be there in about ten minutes!!!"

The Information Component disconnected. Yan Jing looked at the surrounding streets and quickly recognized the area; they were nearing the park by the hospital.

It was as close to the hospital as a car could get. Any further, and they would have to go on foot.

"We're here! Hurry, Mr. Luo, let's go!!!"

The sports car screeched to a halt, and Chen Xiaojing scrambled straight out of the vehicle.

But she was stopped by Yan Jing, who stepped out of the car much more slowly.

"Chen Xiaojing."

"What is it, Mr. Luo?"

Chen Xiaojing turned around to look at him.

The setting sun dipped low, using the park's towering wall as a dividing line. The world was split into gold and gloom, with the two of them standing in separate halves.

Chen Xiaojing seemed to sense something—no, she had perhaps anticipated this all along.

Her breathing grew heavy, her chest rising and falling.

"Don't go any further."

Yan Jing's expression remained perfectly calm.

"Even if you go, you won't win this time. There's no chance of victory."

"What... what are you talking about?"

Chen Xiaojing stared at him in utter disbelief. She took a few steps toward Yan Jing, her entire body trembling faintly.

"Did you see something?"

"Yes."

Yan Jing said softly, "Someone is already heading there."

...

...

High in the air above the hospital, Xiao Xin held up a camera, snapping a rapid burst of photos at an apparently empty space.

Then, Xiao Xin checked the screen. In the frame that had shown nothing just a moment prior, a well-proportioned figure in a black tuxedo was sprinting across the roofs of a row of Anthill buildings, heading straight for the hospital.

"Can you hear me?"

The person pressed a hand to the Miniature Earpiece in his ear.

"I hear you. The hospital ahead of you has a massive signal jammer. I'm detecting Weird Energy fluctuations equivalent to ten to the fourth power. In other words, there are roughly four Third Tiers and one Fourth Tier in there, or two Fourth Tiers and a bunch of small fry."

An incredibly calm voice replied over the earpiece.

"Copy that."

The person vaulted onto a high wall. With a flip of his hand, he effortlessly cleared it and touched down on a roof, giving him a perfect view of the alley beside the hospital.

By now, most of the patients had made it over the alley wall, but several had failed to cross and were stranded in the alley, boxed in by their pursuers.

A man who looked like a doctor was grappling with a massive thug.

Within seconds, the brute drove a savage punch into his stomach. The doctor collapsed to the ground, curling up as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"Is that the guy who gave us the evidence?"

He asked, watching Li Zhiyuan lying on the ground, still screaming at the others to run.

"Yes."

The voice in the earpiece continued.

"The target is an illegitimate daughter of Chen Wang, the current fourth board member of the Galaxy Group. Her name is Chen Xiaojing."

"The intel provided by the informant is largely accurate. Based on the current situation, her crimes include human trafficking, false imprisonment, abuse, coercing intellectually disabled individuals..."

The voice in the earpiece rattled off a long list of charges. Hearing this, the Youth in the tuxedo nodded and said softly, "Therefore..."

"She is sentenced to death."

The Youth's tone was breezy and casual, like a Deity issuing a decree.

The next instant, pitch-black thruster flames erupted from his feet. He descended from the sky at a terrifying speed and slammed into the alleyway, the horrifying force of his impact shattering the ground beneath him.

He grabbed a thug standing right in front of him. The sleeve on his right arm shredded as a massive, thick mechanical arm woven with metallic veins expanded outward. With a single strike, he hurled the brute into the adjacent wall.

Blood splattered outward in a radial burst.