Chapter 538: Bizarre Research Institute (2)

Chapter 538 -364: Bizarre Research Institute (2)

In the temporary safe house Old K had provided, Wu Liangchen ate a simple meal before falling into a deep slumber. The past few days of constant travel and fierce battles had taken a heavy toll on him, so he slept exceptionally soundly.

The early morning in Zhongjing still carried an oppressive air.

Patrols from the Dome Group were more frequent than usual. Their cold figures and patrol cars, with lights flashing red and blue, could be seen on every street and in every alley.

Clearly, the annihilation of Schiller and his elite squad had caused the Dome Group to heighten its security.

Wu Liangchen moved like a phantom, weaving through the city’s shadows.

He used his Body Technique to evade one surveillance camera after another and stay out of the patrols’ line of sight. On the rare occasion he encountered a checkpoint that was impossible to avoid, he would activate his Magic.

A faint layer of energy, imperceptible to the naked eye, rippled across his body. It allowed him to temporarily blend into his surroundings like a chameleon, masking him from the sensors of most electronic devices.

The journey was tense, but without mishap.

A few hours later, Wu Liangchen reached the perimeter of the old energy core quarantine zone in Zhongjing’s western district.

This place had once been the city’s main energy supply hub, but after a catastrophic accident, it was completely abandoned and designated a forbidden zone.

A faint, acrid smell hung in the air, making one feel inexplicably agitated.

The perimeter of the quarantine zone was completely sealed off by towering alloy walls and dense electric fences. An automated turret, flashing a dangerous red light, stood sentinel every hundred meters.

Furthermore, it was heavily guarded. Soldiers in heavy exoskeletal armor were posted at extremely close intervals, their eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

The level of security here was more formidable than in any other part of the city; it could only be described as an iron fortress.

Wu Liangchen hid in the shadows of an abandoned building, observing the line of defense ahead.

After observing for a few moments, his gaze locked onto the base of a section of the wall. There appeared to be the outlet of a drainage culvert. Though sealed shut with an iron grate, it seemed like a relatively easier point to breach than anywhere else.

He activated his Magic again, his form creeping through the shadows as he silently approached the culvert.

After confirming no patrols were nearby, he put strength into his fingers, gripping the thick iron grate like a steel vise.

CREEEAK…

With a grating screech of twisting metal, he wrenched an opening in the iron grate.

Wu Liangchen ducked down and slipped through the gap.

The culvert was pitch-black and damp, reeking of thick mildew and the foul stench of unknown chemicals.

He didn’t linger, quickly moving through the culvert and into the quarantine zone proper.

The scene inside was completely different from the outside world. Ruined walls, abandoned pipes, and discarded machinery were scattered everywhere. Malformed plants grew from the ground.

The volatile energy in the air was more pronounced here, making Wu Liangchen’s skin tingle faintly.

‘Radiation?’ he wondered, circulating his Qi and Blood to resist the invisible corrosion.

According to the simple map from Old K, Research Institute 734 was located deep underground within this quarantine zone.

Wu Liangchen got his bearings and began to move stealthily toward the target area.

The deeper he went, the more mutated creatures he encountered.

Enormous mutated cockroaches, mutated rats with an eerie glow in their eyes, and even giant maggots were everywhere. ℴℴ𝘮

These monsters seemed extremely sensitive to the scent of the living. The moment Wu Liangchen drew near, they would shriek and lunge at him.

But Wu Liangchen had no desire to waste time here, so he would vanish with a few quick dashes.

After making his way forward in this manner, Wu Liangchen finally found the underground entrance to Research Institute 734 that was marked on the map.

It was an entrance disguised as an abandoned ventilation shaft. Without the map, it would have been extremely difficult to find.

Without hesitation, he leaped inside.

Below was a deep metal passageway, riddled with rust and covered in cobwebs.

The passage sloped downward. After about ten minutes of walking, the way ahead suddenly opened up.

Wu Liangchen stopped, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

What appeared before him was not the dilapidated scene of an abandoned research institute he had imagined.

Instead, it was a huge, brightly lit, and spotlessly clean underground hall.

In the hall, dozens of people in white lab coats hurried about, each busy at their own workstation and operating various precision instruments.

There was no trace of the musty smell of decay that would be expected of an abandoned place. Instead, the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and a faint chemical odor.

Everything was orderly, giving the impression of a fully operational research facility.

‘What’s going on?’ Wu Liangchen’s brow furrowed.

This was completely different from what he had expected. ‘Could Old K’s intelligence be wrong?’

Just then, Wu Liangchen’s vision suddenly blurred, and he found himself standing in the middle of the hall.

It was followed by a strange sense of displacement.

He looked down at himself. His clothes were the same, but the surrounding researchers looked at him with a sense of normalcy, or even indifference.

It was as if he was supposed to be there all along.

“Hey! New guy, what are you daydreaming about! Get over to Sector D-7 and check the nutrient ratios in the petri dishes! If you screw this up, you’ll have hell to pay!”

A harsh voice rang out from nearby.

Wu Liangchen looked toward the voice and saw a fat, greasy-faced middle-aged man in a senior researcher’s uniform, pointing at him and shouting impatiently.

The other researchers merely shot him a cold glance before lowering their heads and returning to their work, as if such scenes were a common occurrence.

A thought occurred to Wu Liangchen, but he remained silent.

He could sense that his identity—or rather, his identity in the eyes of these people—had undergone some sort of bizarre transformation.

‘He was no longer an intruder, but had become… a researcher here?’

When the portly supervisor saw that Wu Liangchen wasn’t reacting, his anger flared. He strode up to Wu Liangchen, pointed at his nose, and cursed:

“Are you deaf? Or is this your first day, and you don’t know the rules? Let me tell you something. Around here, my word is law! You do whatever I tell you to do!”

Flecks of spittle nearly sprayed Wu Liangchen’s face.

Wu Liangchen remained silent, watching the fat supervisor with a calm gaze.

“What are you looking at! Get going!” the supervisor roared, even angrier now. He reached out to shove Wu Liangchen.

Just as his greasy palm was about to touch Wu Liangchen…

Wu Liangchen moved.

Without the slightest warning, his right fist shot out like a cannonball, moving with incredible speed as it slammed directly into the supervisor’s fleshy face.

THUD!

A dull crack echoed.

The angry expression on the fat supervisor’s face instantly froze.

His head looked as if it had been hit by a speeding truck, caving inward and deforming grotesquely. A spray of red and white matter, mixed with shattered teeth, erupted from his mangled mouth and nose.

His corpulent body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, twitching twice before falling still.

Blood stained the pristine floor red.

The entire hall instantly fell deathly silent.

The researchers, who had been absorbed in their work, all froze in unison, as if someone had pressed a pause button.

Then, slowly, one by one, they turned their heads.

It was an exceptionally eerie sight, as some of them, who had clearly had their backs to Wu Liangchen, turned their heads at the exact same moment.

All of their gazes were hollow, fixed directly on Wu Liangchen.

Immediately after, the faces of these researchers began to change at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Their once-normal skin rapidly lost its moisture, becoming withered and sallow, like that of a desiccated corpse.

Their eye sockets sank, revealing hollow, dark pupils.

Their bodies also began to decay. Beneath the white lab coats, muscles atrophied, and in some places, even bone was exposed.

In just a few breaths, all the “normal” researchers in the hall had transformed into living corpses reeking of rot!

“ROAR—!”

Hoarse, savage growls rumbled from deep within the living corpses’ throats.

They turned their bodies stiffly, limbs twitching and moving in contorted ways. Then, like sharks that had smelled blood, they lunged frantically toward Wu Liangchen!