Chapter 301: You Want Me to Hide? I Don't Know the Meaning of Hiding!

After the initial shock, Hector Grant quickly calmed down. When he looked at Dr. Hayes again, his eyes no longer held their previous trust and admiration. All that remained was disappointment and icy detachment.

“I won’t let you get away with this! When we get back, I will report everything you’ve done to the higher-ups—”

“Report?” Dr. Hayes threw his head back and burst into laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. His laughter sounded completely deranged.

“What are you laughing at?”

Dr. Hayes’s laughter ceased, and he looked toward Hector. “What am I laughing at? You tell me. Do you really think those ‘higher-ups’ of yours don’t know what I’m doing? What kind of place do you think this is? This is an experimental base built before the apocalypse. Do you even know what kind of experiments are conducted here?”

Nathan Thorne had been listening quietly, but his eyes suddenly widened. “So, what I saw earlier wasn’t a hallucination? It was all real! You guys are really experimenting on living humans! And you started this even before the apocalypse?”

“Exactly!” Dr. Hayes admitted bluntly. “This experiment began years ago! The authorities prepared contingency plans a long time ago.”

“What?” Hector’s pupils shrank sharply. “What do you mean by that? What do you mean they prepared contingency plans? Contingency for what?”

“You tell me,” Dr. Hayes countered. “You’ve clearly already guessed it, so why are you afraid to say it out loud? Why won’t you admit it? Since you’re too scared to say it, I’ll say it for you. At least I’ll let you die knowing the truth.

“Yes, the authorities knew long ago that a massive change was coming. They didn’t know exactly what form that change would take, but they tried their hardest and made every possible preparation.

“Are you wondering why you never received any news about this? Of course you didn’t! This was top-secret information known only to a select few.

“However, even with all those preparations, the sudden arrival of the apocalypse still caused catastrophic losses. In the end, they underestimated the disaster…

“But it doesn’t matter! Now that I’ve returned to the laboratory, I’ve already achieved substantial results! I believe it won’t be long before all those Aberrant Beasts and zombies are wiped out! I will be the one to end the apocalypse! I will become everyone’s hope! I will be worshipped by all!

“Rest assured, when that time comes, even if no one else remembers you, I certainly will!”

Every word from Dr. Hayes was Earth-shattering. While the words themselves were perfectly understandable, stringing them together made them incomprehensible. No—it wasn’t that they couldn’t understand, but rather that they couldn’t believe it.

Hector shook his head. “Impossible! The higher-ups wouldn’t just abandon the people. They would never allow you to do these things. You’re lying to me! Everything you’re saying is a lie!”

Dr. Hayes looked at Hector with pity. “Hector, you are indeed a capable man, but you are also far too righteous. In your eyes, right and wrong are always clearly defined. You always think the world is black and white. But is that really the truth? Is what I’m doing truly evil? To end the apocalypse and save the majority, isn’t it necessary to sacrifice the few?”

“Nonsense!” Hector immediately retorted. “Everyone is equal. Every life deserves to be cherished. Who are you to decide who gets sacrificed? You don’t have that right!”

“Everyone is equal?” Dr. Hayes’s lips curled into a mocking sneer. “In Subterra, Superpower Users stand high and mighty above everyone else. Why didn’t you talk about equality then? Look at the Hughes and Vance families, and all the other families just like them. They rake in massive profits while ordinary survivors can’t even get a full meal. Why didn’t you talk about equality then?”

Dr. Hayes’s words left Hector speechless. He desperately wanted to retort, but he couldn’t utter a single syllable. It was impossible to know what he was thinking, but his expression grew increasingly grim.

Seeing Hector in this state, Sierra Sullivan sighed silently. Hector was good in every way, except that sometimes his mind was just too inflexible. Perhaps because he himself lived in the sunlight, he assumed no one had to live in the shadows!

“Enough!” Jayce took a step forward, his face full of impatience. “Are we going to fight or not? How long have you guys been babbling on? Even if you aren’t tired of talking, I’m certainly tired of listening. What’s the point of spouting nonsense here? Let’s just get to it! The winner makes the rules! This isn’t a debate competition, so what good is being a smooth talker?”

Dr. Hayes looked at Jayce with immense interest. “You certainly can’t wait to throw your life away. Well, I’ll be more than happy to oblige!”

With those words, Dr. Hayes pulled out a remote control. As he pressed a button, the heavy doors of the laboratory slowly slid open.

“Now, before you stand my optimized, hyper-powered Superpower Users. Behind you are hordes of Aberrant Beasts and zombies. I really want to see how the likes of you intend to win—and how you intend to survive!”

Just as Dr. Hayes finished speaking, a young researcher walked over. “Dr. Hayes, we should head back inside and take cover. It’s too dangerous out here!”

Although these optimized Superpower Users followed Dr. Hayes’s orders, there was no guarantee they would remain just as obedient once the fighting truly began and bloodlust took over. As for the zombies and Aberrant Beasts, there was even less need to mention them. They were a horde of mindless monsters; how could anyone expect them to obey?

“Take cover?” Dr. Hayes glared viciously at the researcher. “You’re telling me to hide? I don’t know the meaning of the word! Today, I’m going to stand right here and watch closely!”

The young researcher tried repeatedly to persuade him, but Dr. Hayes was hell-bent on having his way and refused to listen to reason.

“Enough!” Dr. Hayes scolded in a low voice. “Stop talking. The rest of you go inside! I will stay here and watch!”

The young researcher desperately wanted to go inside, but he didn’t dare leave Dr. Hayes out here alone. No one else dared to either. If anything happened to Dr. Hayes, none of them would survive. No matter how reluctant they felt, they could only stand there obediently, watching everything unfold in front of them with taut nerves, praying that no accidents would occur.

Seeing that they had all stopped their incessant nagging, Dr. Hayes finally felt satisfied. He returned his attention to the battlefield just a short distance away.

In just that brief moment, the fighting had already erupted. Under the pincer attack from the front and back, Sierra and the others were no longer visible.

The corners of Dr. Hayes’s mouth curled up. Sierra and her group were probably on their last legs by now, right? It was a bit of a pity to kill them, but they could still be used as experimental subjects even if they were dead!

Since they refused to be obedient, he had no choice but to use these extreme methods to make them “listen.”