Volume 4, Chapter 38 – Twenty Minutes in the Corridor

“Two people actually dared to come to the lab and stir up trouble. I’d really like to see how my lovely little darlings tear you both to pieces. Hahaha…”

A sickly smile spread across Rainer’s face as he stared fixedly at Anran, who had just flipped him the middle finger.

No matter how battle-hardened a soldier was, facing six fully restored test subjects would get them torn to shreds in an instant.

Even the powerful evolvers in the organization would have only one fate if they were swarmed by his little darlings: death!

A moment later.

The rumbling sound made Anran, who had just killed Test Subject No. 16, freeze for a second.

She quickly jumped down from the incubation tank. Not even bothering to help Aila down, she rushed into the corridor outside, just in time to see the isolation door ahead slowly opening.

This is bad.

Realizing that at once, Anran shouted, “Aila, get down by yourself, quick! Run with me!”

Aila, who had originally been waiting for Anran to catch her, jumped down directly. The floor even shook a little.

Anran turned into a hundred-meter sprint champion and dashed to the control switch in a flash. She was moving so fast she nearly slipped on the culture fluid flowing across the floor.

Tap tap tap!

Her fingers rapidly struck the control switch.

One of the isolation doors behind the running Aila slowly closed.

“Those bastards are definitely trying to let those monsters out.”

With a grim expression, Anran looked around alertly. A hatch had just opened in the ceiling, so she immediately activated Mechanical Interference, then shot and broke the gun extending from it.

“Anran, Anran, what happened?” Aila asked in confusion.

“The people hiding inside are trying to release all these monsters and have them kill us.”

Anran explained while patiently operating the control panel.

Each door took about five seconds to open or close. There were thirteen isolation doors in total. Excluding Test Subject No. 24, there were still six monsters left inside the incubation tanks.

Anran knew her greatest opponent wasn’t those monsters, but the bastard currently competing with her over who could open and close the doors faster.

Once the test subjects were released from the incubation tanks, they wouldn’t necessarily attack her and Aila. If the doors leading to the other side were opened, they might even go after Rainer instead.

“Heh…”

As for how to guide that group of monsters by opening and closing doors, a math problem like that obviously had to be handed over to Aila.

“Aila, I’m leaving this task to you.” Anran rubbed Aila’s head, then explained the whole situation to her.

“Don’t worry, Anran!”

Aila accepted the task with ease.

Anran quickly ran to the storage room and brought back the spider robots and the computer.

She had the two spider robots move along the walls, one on the left and one on the right, advancing little by little every time the doors opened or closed. At last, near where Test Subjects No. 7 and No. 8 were, they ran into the big-mouthed monsters that had been released.

There were three of them in total, crammed into the narrow space.

They had just rushed over from next door and were desperately pounding on the isolation door, producing a heavy thudding sound.

Rеаԁ οո КαtRеadіnɡСаfe

The saliva dripping from their mouths released white vapor the instant it hit the floor.

“Like something out of Alien.”

Anran frowned. It looked like some kind of highly acidic substance.

Rumble…

At that moment, the door behind the big-mouthed monsters slowly opened again.

Thud thud thud…

So the big-mouthed monsters ran back again.

Rumble…

Then the door in front of them suddenly opened.

The three big-mouthed monsters instantly split into two groups again.

“This is bad, the last door opened!” The man in the lab coat’s face changed, and he hurriedly hit the close button. Fortunately, there were no test subjects there at the moment.

His heart pounded wildly. This was too damn intense. If the test subjects didn’t come over and eat him, then after this happened a few more times, he’d be scared to death anyway.

“Whew. If only Mechanical Interference had a slightly larger range.”

Anran stared ahead. If its range were just a bit bigger and it could jam those cameras farther away too, then the people on the other side would learn exactly what it meant to lift a rock only to smash their own foot with it.

“S-supervisor, they’re also opening and closing doors nonstop on their side. There’s no way to drive the test subjects over there.”

The man in the lab coat shouted bitterly.

Rainer’s face turned livid. He hadn’t expected things to develop like this. After all, he had been the one to give the order to release the test subjects.

Those two were slapping him in the face with their actions.

And he could only take it, because he had no time to keep tangling himself up in this. In a little over ten minutes, that tube of serum had to be finished and injected into Test Subject No. 24.

The most crucial and important data absolutely could not fail at this moment.

“Hold out for twenty minutes. Once Test Subject No. 24 is fully completed, those two are dead for sure!” After saying that, Rainer returned to the lab. On the way, he even locked the main door from the inside.

“I…”

Fuck!

The man in the lab coat stared dumbfounded at Rainer’s retreating back.

How can he be this shameless?

He was the one who insisted on releasing the test subjects. The moment anyone objected, he cursed them out. And now that bastard Rainer saw it couldn’t be done, he just left like this?

Fuck!

The man in the lab coat cursed furiously in his heart.

He had always known Rainer was terrifying and moody, but he had never expected him to be this shameless too.

The man in the lab coat darkened his face and looked back at the surveillance screen.

Rеaԁ оn ΚаtRеαⅾinɡСαfе

If this kept going, he’d break down sooner or later. He might as well gamble once.

After pressing the switch one more time, the man in the lab coat walked to the monitoring room door, locked it directly, and shoved a desk against it.

There was nowhere left to run. All he could do now was leave it to fate.

As for those isolation doors, whoever wanted to operate them could do it.

Anran quickly noticed that the isolation doors had stopped moving.

Although she didn’t know why, she knew there wasn’t much time left. If Rainer really finished Test Subject No. 24, she’d have no choice but to abandon the mission and run.

“Aila, slowly let these monsters over to our side one at a time,” Anran said.

There was no need to hold anything back anymore.

The mechanical armguard, the mechanical boots, and the Red Silk Reagent.

She had no reason to fear a one-on-one fight.

“No problem.”

Aila nodded and began methodically controlling the isolation doors.

About half a minute later, a hideous monster shot out from behind a door.

Like a starving ghost that had been locked in a barracks for three years, it lunged straight at Anran the moment it saw her.

“Come on, then!”

As Red Silk Reagent splashed out, Anran quickly pulled away. With the aid of Precision Shooting, the first bullet struck the monster squarely in the face.

“It ricocheted?”

Anran, who had retreated to the edge of the wall, went blank for a moment. The bullet hadn’t pierced the monster’s body at all. It had only left a pale mark and floated up a painless “-36.”

This…

Scout.

Name: Test Subject No. 23 [Suppressed]

“It’s this intense right from the start?”

If the face couldn’t be pierced, then what about the abdomen?

Bang!

Without caring about anything else, No. 23 lunged directly at Anran.

“-79”

Four arms, one pair of scythe-like blades and one pair of sharp claws, came slashing toward Anran’s chest with howling force, while its gaping mouth spewed a suffocating stench.

A blade instantly sprang from the mechanical armguard, and with 49 points of Strength behind it, Anran met No. 23 head-on.

But that only knocked aside its attack from the right. On the left, Anran had no choice but to use the rifle’s body to block.

Her 29 points of Strength actually fell behind in the clash with No. 23.

Read οո КatRеаԁiոgСαfe

Her body tilting slightly, Anran still squeezed the trigger several times in succession.

Bang bang bang!

“-35” “-68” “-125”

Screech!

No. 23 raked a claw across the wall, producing a harsh, piercing sound. Anran hurriedly took the chance to retreat two steps. Lowering her head, she saw that the rifle she had used to block now had a huge notch cut into it.

“This…”

It’s still in a [Suppressed] state, and it’s still this strong?

The corridor was narrow, so No. 23 actually didn’t move very well, but its massive size also made it hard for Anran to dodge.

“Aila, focus on attacking its abdomen.”

Anran dodged one of No. 23’s swipes. The rifle was almost out of bullets, and there wasn’t time to reload, so she had even less hope for the pistol.

Shing!

Crimson Blade slashed out in an instant. The edge caught on No. 23’s claw, and instead of retreating, Anran pressed forward. The blade on the mechanical armguard stabbed directly into No. 23’s chest.

“-297”

Smack!

Even though she had calculated it well, No. 23’s sudden tail-whip still left Anran no time to fully defend, and she was sent flying.

“-76”

“You have been attacked and entered the states [Light Injury] and [Minor Dizziness].”

Puh!

Her breathing hitched, but Aila, who had been standing in front of the control switch, suddenly moved.

The iron rod in her hand thrust out in an instant, hitting the knife wound on No. 23’s chest with incredible precision. It pierced through the opening and sank in.

“Roar roar roar…”

No. 23 struggled and howled. It swung its claws and tail, trying to attack Aila, but Aila had already nimbly dodged away.

“Second attack on wound successful. 150% critical damage dealt!”

“-377”

“Nicely done, Aila.”

No. 23 had already entered the negative states [Bleeding] and [Severe Injury]. Anran gave it no chance to catch its breath. Activating the second-stage burst of her mechanical boots, she turned into a blur and appeared in front of No. 23 in the blink of an eye.

Slash!

Crimson Blade plunged straight into No. 23’s left eye.

“Weak point attack successful!”

“-421”

Rеаԁ οո ΚαtReaԁingСαfе

Blood gushed out.

Anran leaped back to avoid a sweeping strike, and No. 23 slammed headfirst into the wall. Taking advantage of that, Anran picked up the rifle from the ground and fired while sliding forward, emptying all the remaining bullets into the wound in No. 23’s chest. The final shot carried the effect of a killing blow, and the double-damage critical hit sent the crazed No. 23 crashing to the floor.

Shhk!

Anran pulled out Crimson Blade and stabbed it into No. 23’s right eye again.

“-408”

“You killed Test Subject No. 23 and obtained 12,600 Free EXP.”

“Whew…”

Anran let out a sigh of relief.

“Every last one of you keeps trying to play dead in front of me. Who would’ve thought even a monster like you would do the same?”

“Anran, Anran, you’re hurt.” Aila touched Anran’s chest. Slightly lower down, there was a streak of blood.

“It’s fine. Hurry up. Let’s lure over the next monster,” Anran said.

Her fight with No. 23 had cost her 100 Health and 100 Stamina, but it didn’t matter much. Besides, the other monsters weren’t as strong as No. 23. They had to hurry.

Anran had now truly experienced the strength of the monsters Rainer had created. Even with the suppression from Red Silk Reagent, they were still this strong.

Next, under Aila’s control, the other monsters were released one by one.

Since Anran was already on guard, and with the help of Red Silk Reagent, she didn’t spend much effort killing them.

The weakest one collapsed not long after being splashed with the reagent, and Anran quite easily cut off its dog-like head.

“There are only two monsters left pounding at the lab door. Three minutes left.”

Anran had Aila open the doors in sequence. Holding the last few bombs in her hand, she walked forward step by step.

…

Bang bang bang bang bang…

“Damn it.”

Rainer wiped the sweat from his forehead and glared hatefully at the lab door. The call from Supervisor Dante had been ringing for quite a while too, but this was the final critical moment, and he had no attention to spare.

“Pour it in!”

Rainer directed several researchers.

It’s done. It’s about to be done.

A strange light shone in Rainer’s eyes.

The researchers poured the reagent into the synthesis machine. As time passed, a tube of orange serum appeared in the syringe below.

“Haha, it’s done!”

Rainer excitedly picked up the syringe.

He had only taken one step when, with a thunderous boom, the lab door immediately began to shake violently.