Chapter 11: Unexpected Turn

“Doctor! Doctor!”

In the dim underground cavern, blood gushed wildly from Katherine’s throat. She collapsed softly to the ground, twitching slightly.

All the guards stood frozen in shock.

Johnson’s eyes turned bloodshot as he charged forward in a frenzy. Before him, Katherine’s throat poured blood like a spring. She clutched her neck tightly. All the light in her eyes had frozen. Her gaze was filled with terror, venomous hatred, and disbelief. She seemed unable to believe she had died at the hands of the toy she took pleasure in torturing.

“Damn beast! Scum! Ah! Ah!”

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Johnson roared and howled. The gun in his hand fired wildly at the rushing underground river. The extreme fury in his heart wiped away all reason, turning him completely into a savage beast.

The bullets and magazines were things Johnson, Chen Chong, and the others had secretly ordered the guards to retrieve from the armory as they advanced toward the underground river. They had hoped to find an opportunity to catch Chen Chong off guard. But before he could find such a chance, Katherine’s throat was slit right in front of him. And the culprit, along with all the prisoners from the base, had calmly escaped to freedom!

Johnson truly could not imagine how he would explain this when Diris returned!

“Unforgivable, unforgivable!”

At that moment, Johnson suddenly stood up straight. His eyes were blood-red. A strange, ferocious aura emanated from his body. As veins bulged and writhed across his body like little snakes, as his muscles violently squirmed, Johnson’s entire body unknowingly swelled in size. He transformed into an extremely fearsome, iron-tower-like giant over two meters tall!

As the head guard of the base, Johnson was naturally an Awakener as well. The Berserk Physique he now displayed, unable to control his rage, belonged to the Super Body line specializing in physique and strength. The swollen muscles granted him inhuman strength and defense. Unless small-caliber firearms hit his eyes or head, the bullets would be blocked by his bulging muscles, basically unable to cause any major damage.

However, although Berserk Physique gave Johnson strength comparable to an elephant and extraordinary resistance to attacks, agility and reaction were his weaknesses. This was also the reason Johnson did not use force to rescue Katherine when Chen Chong held her hostage.

“Chen Chong! The other prisoners might have a chance to escape, but you absolutely cannot! To the ends of the earth, I will capture you! And torture you to death!”

“You must die!”

After issuing this soul-stirring death declaration toward the rushing underground river, Johnson abruptly turned his head and roared at the trembling guards behind him.

“Two men stay! Take the doctor back to the lab for emergency treatment immediately! The rest of the guards, form groups of four and follow me along the river! Before Lord Diris returns, the others can be let go, but 416 must be captured!”

“Yes!”

The guards now also realized the severity of the situation. They knew that if Director Diris returned under these circumstances, there would be no good outcome for them. They immediately acted according to Johnson’s orders. Aside from the two taking Katherine back to the lab, the other guards quickly divided into groups. Then, with urgent expressions, they pursued madly along the riverbank.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After giving the order, Johnson’s body, like a small giant, took strides. Every step covered several meters. His entire form leaped along the riverbank like a cannonball, rapidly widening the distance from his subordinate guards. His aura was utterly insane.

“Chen Chong! You probably never imagined it. The river exit is blocked by an extremely dangerous Mist Zone area. After seeing the map markings, you definitely won’t dare to pass through there!”

The wind howled against his face. Johnson’s face, as he ran wildly like a beast, was filled with brutality.

“You cannot escape!”

Before the entire underground base was put into use, Johnson had followed Diris to roughly clear the wilderness for several kilometers around the base. However, many dangerous places in the wilderness still remained that even Diris was unwilling to set foot in.

The river valley at the underground river’s exit was one such place.

The two sides of the valley where the underground river flowed out were very steep. A strange Mist area shrouded the river exit and lingered year-round.

No one knew what was inside the Mist. What felt even stranger was that although the cavern had a clean water source flowing through it, almost no living radiation Alien Species came here to roam. It was as if the Mist Zone was a terrifying barrier that devoured all life.

Precisely because of the blockade formed by this strange Mist Zone, the underground cavern where the base was located remained free from the harassment of radiation Alien Species. During their clearing and map-drawing operation, Diris had also vaguely sensed the danger. He ultimately gave up the attempt to clear the Mist Zone, only marking it with the words “Extremely Dangerous” on the map.

Johnson knew that once Chen Chong and the others saw the map, their only remaining choice was to change their route. They would have to climb the steep rock walls at the cavern exit to leave the river valley! And he intended to catch Chen Chong like a turtle in a jar before that happened!

…

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…

In the rapids, Chen Chong used his uninjured arm to press the leather map tightly against his chest, drifting with the current.

At this moment, Chen Chong felt he had already drifted at least two or three kilometers. Because he needed to protect the map in his arms, and because his other arm was half-crippled, he could barely control his body in the water. Many times, he crashed hard into the hidden reefs in the middle of the river. He was battered and dizzy, nearly fainting several times, and his body gained many more wounds.

Yet a single breath of determination within his heart kept Chen Chong going. Amid the surging rapids, a faint glimmer of light gradually grew larger.

Amidst the roaring sound, the force carrying his body suddenly lessened. The narrow underground river channel suddenly became bright and wide open. He was clearly out of the cavern.

He saw the sky again!

“It’s… Chen Chong!”

“Quick! Pull him over!”

Just as Chen Chong surfaced, he heard several joyful shouts from one side of the riverbank. He turned his head and saw a group of prisoners on the shore all standing up, looking excitedly at his position. Among them, Lin Kun and another prisoner were even quickly jumping into the water and swimming toward him.

Chen Chong grinned, letting the two quickly swim over and drag him ashore.

Finally touching solid ground, he lay on the shore just like that, looking at the sky and panting heavily to recover his strength. His eyes were filled with unconcealable joy.

This was the first time Chen Chong left the lightless underground and saw the sky of this world. He had succeeded!

The sky was gray and overcast, as if stained by leaden ash, filled with an oppressive feeling. On both sides of Chen Chong’s view were very steep rock walls. This seemed to be the bottom of a river valley. Wisps of faint white mist lingered in the air. Not far away, about several dozen meters, a large expanse of thick fog completely shrouded the valley floor and riverbank, blocking the view.

“Huff…”

The prisoners on the shore quickly gathered around. Chen Chong let out a breath. He did not have time to carefully savor the joy of regaining freedom. He forced himself to sit up, took out the map from his chest, and while looking around, asked Lin Kun.

“Is everyone here?”

The standoff in the base, lasting no more than half an hour, had drained a great deal of his mental energy. In addition, he now had two broken ribs, and one of his arms was half-crippled. Holding on until now was already extremely difficult for him.

Lin Kun shook his head and sighed. His voice was low. “Twenty-two people in total. Six are unaccounted for. I’m afraid…”

Lin Kun had already counted heads. Six prisoners were missing. The underground river rapids were fierce and turbulent. These missing prisoners might have unfortunately crashed into hidden reefs on the way and been severely injured. Nine out of ten had probably sunk to the bottom. And now the situation was critical. They hadn’t completely escaped the threat yet, so naturally they had no way to search for them.

“Ah, this was just their bad luck.”

At this moment, the prisoners surrounding Chen Chong felt their mood dip for a moment. Then they spoke up one after another.

“Chen Chong, we owe our escape this time entirely to you. I think if you gave them another choice, they would still do it.”

“Where should we go next? What should we do? We’ll all follow your arrangements!”

These prisoners had just experienced the ecstasy of escaping death. Every face was filled with indescribable excitement and hope. Clearly, they had completely taken Chen Chong as their pillar of support. In truth, they had done nothing at all in this desperate escape. It was all Chen Chong’s doing, a miraculous feat accomplished alone. They had ample reason to believe that Chen Chong would also have the ability to lead them away from the guards’ pursuit!

Surrounded by everyone, Chen Chong remained noncommittal. He looked around while unfolding the map to study it.

Before ordering the prisoners to jump into the river, he had said that life and death would be up to fate. He could not control the risks involved. It was indeed as the other prisoners said; it could only be said that these six people had bad luck.

“Chen Chong, I estimate the distance we were swept away is about two kilometers. We haven’t completely escaped the danger yet.”

Lin Kun looked at Chen Chong with a serious expression.

“This is a river valley. Both sides are very steep. There’s fog blocking the way ahead. If we want to leave, we must do it quickly. Otherwise, it won’t be long before the base guards catch up.”

However, as Lin Kun’s words fell, all the prisoners clearly saw Chen Chong’s face, fixed on the map, suddenly darken!