Watching the people in the corridor posing like statues, Gan Shuang felt they looked familiar.
After a moment of scrutiny, he recognized them. They seemed to be vagrants who frequently operated in the Chaos Zone.
Where did these vagrants come from? Did they stumble into the Qingshan Sanatorium by mistake? Or... were they drawn in by some unknown power?
Recalling the previous battle between the Director and the Clown, perhaps the Director was in a bad state and needed more people to be "hospitalized" to recover or even enhance his strength?
Just as Gan Shuang's mind was racing, the people at the end of the corridor moved. With twisted postures, they lunged frantically at Lyu Huan!
As they rushed out of the shadows, the camera finally captured their faces. Every face was frozen in an expression of extreme ferocity, and faint electric sparks flickered and jumped across their bodies.
Gan Shuang watched with bated breath, not believing they could pose a threat to a Rank 4 transcendent.
At that moment, Zhao Huaisha also walked over. She had already finished checking all the corpses and confirmed that no one had survived.
The smell of alcohol inside the vehicle had also completely dissipated, as if the madness from moments ago had been nothing but an illusion.
She caught a glimpse of the screen and couldn't help but feel her scalp tingle.
Just as those vagrants rushed to within five meters of Lyu Huan, he merely raised his hand slightly.
There was no earth-shattering sound, no dazzling explosion of energy. The frantically lunging vagrants were like actors hitting a pause button; they suddenly stiffened in place, then slumped to the ground. Intense arcs of electricity crackled across their bodies before they fell completely silent.
Could it be a supernatural phenomenon caused by electroconvulsive therapy? Gan Shuang's thoughts wandered.
At the same time, he noticed that throughout the entire process, the footage transmitted by the camera on Lyu Huan remained very stable, without the slightest tremor. It was clear that Lyu Huan himself hadn't moved an inch, easily dealing with those electrified vagrants.
"As expected of the Captain..." A slight, relaxed smile appeared on Gan Shuang's face.
However, just as Lyu Huan finished off these vagrants and turned to look toward the other side of the corridor, the camera captured a figure in a hospital gown. It had appeared silently at the end of that hallway at some unknown point, looking exceptionally eerie.
The moment Lyu Huan turned and saw him, the figure bolted into a nearby ward, and the door slammed shut with a heavy boom.
The massive sound of the impact blared through the computer speakers, jolting everyone's ears.
In the footage, Lyu Huan immediately quickened his pace and walked over to the tightly closed door.
He pushed the door open, but the room was empty.
Next, Gan Shuang saw Lyu Huan walk back, opening every room on both sides of the corridor one by one.
Every room was empty.
Lyu Huan prepared to head to the higher floors.
If Yue Shi were here, he would have noticed that Captain Lyu's steps were almost identical to his own when he first arrived at the Qingshan Sanatorium.
A few supernatural entities had already been taken out by Yue Shi, but even if they were still alive, they would have been no match for Lyu Huan.
At that moment, Gan Shuang noticed that the other transcendents in the team had also squeezed into the containment vehicle, staring tensely and curiously at the computer screen.
At Zhao Huaisha's signal, another person took the place of the operator who had just died. Sitting in front of the computer, they began to rapidly operate the system, retrieving data transmitted by the various detection devices on Lyu Huan.
Although so many people had died, the work had to continue.
Now that all the transcendents were gathered here, looking out for one another, another accidental incident of mutual slaughter shouldn't occur.
Gan Shuang kept his eyes glued to the screen. In the footage, Lyu Huan's pace was steady as he climbed the stairs. Everything seemed to be within controllable limits.
After reaching the next floor, the camera panned across the left and right corridors; they were deserted.
Lyu Huan began to repeat his previous steps, checking the rooms on both sides one by one.
Just as everyone held their breath, thinking they could complete this mission through the Captain's perspective—
The image on the computer screen flickered once and then turned pitch black!
"Huh? What happened?!"
"Is the signal cut off?"
"Captain Lyu..." someone started to say, but the second half of the sentence, "could something have happened to him?" was swallowed back down.
Gan Shuang's heart skipped a beat, and a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.
He turned and walked out of the containment vehicle.
The moment he stepped out, he realized the weather had changed at some point. The clear day had turned overcast, with thick, dark clouds completely obscuring the sky.
Gan Shuang felt a tightness in his chest, making it almost hard to breathe.
He looked toward the Qingshan Sanatorium over a hundred meters away. In the dim light, the sanatorium was reduced to a blurred, oppressive silhouette, like a crouching giant beast exuding a terrifying aura.
Zhao Huaisha and the others followed him out, immediately noticing the environmental change and that invisible sense of pressure.
Just looking at the distant sanatorium made one feel uneasy.
"Something's not right. How about we have the non-combat personnel fall back and stay away from here?" Gan Shuang suggested.
Zhao Huaisha and the other teammates immediately agreed; it was all for the sake of the non-combatants' safety.
"Everyone, get in the vehicles!" Zhao Huaisha ordered loudly. At the same time, she shouted into her communicator, "Helicopter, increase altitude immediately and stay away from the sanatorium's airspace!"
The roar of the helicopter came from overhead as all non-combat personnel returned to the vehicles. However, the drivers of the several vehicles soon discovered a problem—
No matter how they tried, none of the vehicles would start!
The engines gave no response whatsoever!
"The vehicle seems to be broken."
"Mine too."
A sense of unease began to spread.
Before Zhao Huaisha could give the next command, Gan Shuang said in a low voice, "Forget the vehicles! Get out and run on foot! Retreat! Move!"
After saying that, he was the first to turn around, walking quickly in the direction opposite the sanatorium.
Zhao Huaisha was stunned, feeling somewhat dissatisfied with his decisive retreat. "Gan Shuang, only the non-combatants need to retreat. We have to stay to support Captain Lyu."
Gan Shuang didn't stop, his tone remaining as honest as ever. "Captain Lyu doesn't need our support. If even Captain Lyu encounters a problem he can't solve, do you think we can actually help? Or will we just be a burden?"
Zhao Huaisha was left speechless. Though unwilling, she couldn't argue. Gritting her teeth, she waved her hand. "Everyone, out of the vehicles immediately! Retreat on foot! Make sure no one gets separated!"
Looking at the group of pale-faced non-combatants, a strong sense of confusion and unease suddenly surged in Zhao Huaisha's heart. Why did Captain Lyu bring everyone from headquarters, including these non-combatants, to such a dangerous front line for this operation? Not a single backup staff member was left in Amber City.
She hadn't noticed it before, but thinking about it now, something felt wrong no matter how she looked at it.
Was this still her serious, earnest, and responsible Captain?
However, after running for only a dozen seconds, everyone came to a halt one after another.
A bone-chilling cold crept up everyone's spine.
They discovered to their horror that instead of moving away from the sanatorium, they were rapidly approaching it.
The crowd looked back in terror—
The direction they were supposed to be escaping toward was now behind them!
Rate on N.U.
