Chapter 10: I’ll Wait for Him to Come!

Tap, tap, tap…

As several electronic locks were opened one after another, the prisoners, with Chen Chong at their core, looked invigorated. They moved swiftly through the bright corridor, leaving behind only drops of Katherine’s blood on the floor.

Poor Dr. Katherine was already in a semi-conscious state.

Johnson and the other guards followed closely behind the prisoners in tense silence, only a few meters away.

Yet this short distance of a few meters felt as vast as an impassable chasm.

As the end of this corridor approached, and the faint sound of rushing water could be heard, a trusted aide next to Johnson looked anxious and whispered,

“Captain, should we really just…”

“Do you have a better idea?”

Johnson’s face was as hard as cold rock, and he growled,

“You think I don’t want to rescue the doctor? If anything irreparable happens to her, not just you guys, I’ll be finished too! But that bastard has thought of every single step. We can only take things as they come now!”

Johnson himself was like a beast about to go mad, his eyes filled with uncontrollable rage. Though he desperately wanted to rush forward and break Chen Chong’s neck with his own hands, he had to swallow his anger and let these prisoners swagger ahead of him.

Chen Chong’s plan was linked step by step, his mind meticulous to the extreme. Besides being decisive, cold, and ruthless, all his reactions left no openings, giving them not a single chance! In the same situation, if Diris, the strong one, were here, things would never have gotten this bad.

But Chen Chong not only knew there was an underground river behind the base, he had also perfectly timed it for when Diris was out receiving supplies. This level of planning and patience was truly chilling.

At that moment, the human wall formed by the prisoners had reached the end of the corridor. Before them was the final electronic lock.

Listening to the clearly audible sound of rushing water, all the prisoners, including Chen Chong, felt their chests heave with surging emotions!

Chen Chong knew the path to escape was right before his eyes!

Beep.

Lin Kun excitedly took Katherine’s ID card from Chen Chong’s hand and quickly opened the last lock.

Whoosh… splash…

As the sound of water roared, a moisture-laden breeze blew across all the prisoners’ faces. The space behind the lock revealed itself to everyone!

What appeared before Chen Chong was a massive, dim underground cavern. The ground was rugged everywhere, filled with jagged, strange rocks. By the faint light available, he could see, about thirty meters ahead, a neat, square-shaped small Hydropower Station. An underground river, several meters wide, surged right beneath it!

The rushing sound of water, the churning white waves—this sight before their eyes made almost all the prisoners’ lips tremble, nearly speechless.

A dreamlike escape route had truly, vividly appeared before them.

But Chen Chong understood his plan was just one step away from success. After that instant of excitement, he dared not relax or be careless at all. Holding Katherine’s body, he said coldly,

“Everyone, it’s not time to celebrate yet! We’re only at the final step. Stay alert! There are guards at the Hydropower Station, too, with guns and bullets. If anyone breaks from the group and runs over there only to get shot dead, don’t blame me!”

Many restless prisoners were startled and calmed down.

Chen Chong sneered inwardly and continued to command, “Let’s move!”

Chen Chong deeply understood that human nature couldn’t withstand tests. With the escape route right in front of them, the desire to survive meant no one knew courtesy or humility. If he didn’t speak up to suppress the restless prisoners, the situation he had carefully maintained could easily fall into chaos and accidents.

But putting these people aside, the smart enough cellmates would still stick around him, because he now carried the map of the area around the base. Otherwise, even if they escaped via the underground river, with no knowledge of the Wilderness terrain or environment, they would likely still die.

For instance, Lin Kun and the other three prisoners had been guarding closely around Chen Chong the entire time, not relaxing for a moment.

Then, ignoring the silent guards behind him, Chen Chong led the prisoners out of the corridor and onto the rugged cavern floor, walking towards the underground river thirty meters away.

No one noticed that within the guard team closely following them, a sweating guard arrived and quietly handed something out to the other guards.

One minute later, with waves rolling endlessly before them, Chen Chong and the prisoners had safely reached the riverbank of the underground river.

The underground river was nearly five meters wide, its current swift. The spot Chen Chong had chosen was dozens of meters away from the Hydropower Station, outside the range of handguns. There was also a waist-high rock by the riverbank as cover. Combined with the dim light, the chance of being hit by a sniper shot was drastically reduced.

“416!”

In the dim light, several meters away, Johnson stood with over thirty guards ten meters back, staring intensely at Chen Chong and the others by the river, and growled,

“Now, you can release Dr. Katherine!”

“Just one last step.”

Chen Chong leaned half his body against the rock, his good arm still tightly gripping Katherine’s neck. He smiled at the prisoners beside him, “Everyone, what are you waiting for? Live or die, it’s up to fate now!”

“416, thank you!”

“Thanks to you, a great favor needs no words!”

“We’re going first!”

In an instant, the prisoners who could no longer hold back shouted and jumped into the underground river like dumplings into a pot. They were swept away by the rapid current, quickly disappearing downstream!

In less than ten seconds, the twenty-odd prisoners around Chen Chong had vanished without a trace, leaving only Lin Kun and three other unnamed prisoners.

Lin Kun stared intently at the guards watching them closely nearby and asked in a low voice,

“What about you? How will we regroup?”

The outside Wilderness was extremely dangerous. Without weapons or food, an individual’s strength was negligible. Only by banding together could a group possibly make it out of the Wilderness, not to mention Chen Chong had something as crucial as the map of the base’s surroundings.

Moreover, in Lin Kun’s view, Chen Chong was meticulous and decisive. Teaming up with him was undoubtedly far better than with the other rabble.

“You go first. Find a safe place to get ashore. Keep an eye along the riverbank. I’ll catch up soon.”

Chen Chong’s eyes were calm, and he answered without turning his head, “Go!”

“Okay!” Lin Kun was no indecisive person and knew clearly that someone with Chen Chong’s disposition wouldn’t put himself in danger. He immediately called out to the other three prisoners, and the four of them leaped, plunging into the rapid current and vanishing in an instant.

By the dim, empty riverbank, only Chen Chong remained.

“Chen Chong… that’s your name, isn’t it?”

Johnson’s gaze was icy cold in the dim space. He took a deep breath and said slowly,

“Congratulations, you’ve succeeded. You successfully freed your fellow inmates. But trust me, you won’t feel proud of this. When Lord Diris returns, you and your fellow inmates will regret making such a foolish move.”

“Oh?”

Chen Chong’s eyes flickered in the shadows, his mind seemingly calculating something.

“I’ve also broken through the awakening threshold now. Am I supposed to be afraid of him?”

“Hahahaha…”

Johnson suddenly burst into wild laughter, as if he had heard the most unbelievable joke.

“Chen Chong! You’re just a brat who got lucky. Never mind the Gene Lock, you haven’t even reached an energy level sequence in Life Field Intensity. How dare you compare yourself to Lord Diris? Lord Diris is a powerful Transcendent who has entered an energy level sequence and unlocked a Gene Lock! Let me tell you plainly, a newly awakened Awakener like you, Lord Diris could instantly kill you ten times over with just one hand, even with his eyes closed!”

Life Field Intensity, energy level sequence, Gene Lock, Transcendent!

Chen Chong instantly caught these unfamiliar terms from Johnson’s mouth, and countless thoughts raced through his mind:

Were these the standards used to measure the strength and rank of Awakeners in this world? How could he improve these indicators and gain transcendent power?

The thought flashed by in an instant. Opposite Chen Chong, Johnson seemed to want to vent all the frustration and rage he had been holding back, his expression twisted into a vicious grin.

“Do you know that Dr. Katherine is Lord Diris’s love interest?”

“Chen Chong, you can’t escape, because you simply don’t understand how powerful Lord Diris truly is. You lowly trash have no idea what real power is!”

“So what?”

Faced with Johnson’s resentful words, Chen Chong let out a roaring laugh.

“At this moment, I am the winner!”

The next instant, right in front of Johnson and the over thirty base guards, Chen Chong lifted the unconscious Katherine up with one hand! His eyes became fierce and cruel.

“I’ll wait for him to come find me!”

Splat!

In Chen Chong’s other hand, the gleaming scalpel blade swept across Katherine’s throat! Blood gushed from Katherine’s fair neck! She, who had been unconscious, trembled violently as if experiencing a moment of clarity before death!!

Chen Chong had actually, right in front of all the guards, under their very noses, slit the throat of Katherine, whom he had held hostage for so long!

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

In the underground cavern, Chen Chong’s presence was fierce and wild as he held up the throat-slit Katherine. This cruel scene seemed like a frozen frame. Including Johnson, all the guards’ expressions were frozen in that moment. In that 0.1 second, their brains seemed utterly unable to process the images their optic nerves were sending.

Thud!

At the moment everyone’s pupils dilated in disbelief, Chen Chong tossed Katherine’s body aside like a rag doll. With a wild laugh, he suddenly leaped and plunged headfirst into the churning, fierce current!

“Ah—! Ah—!”

The next moment, Johnson’s heart-wrenching, beast-like dying roar echoed throughout the entire underground cavern, even drowning out the thunderous sound of the water.