Chapter 124: Station 24: Sandwiched

Chapter 124: Station 24: Sandwiched

The information Mobis conveyed was so overwhelming that everyone essentially froze in place.

Just as he was about to step forward, Ibesa abruptly intercepted him:

"What do you think you're doing, Mobis? We can't jump to conclusions about the rule yet! This is just your speculation—aren't you going to slaughter these children right before our eyes? Mobis, such actions make you the real monster!"

Mobis sneered.

"Did I say I was going to do anything? I just want to ask them a few questions, that's all."

Steve also stepped in to block his path:

"How can we trust that you'll only be asking questions, Mobis? Unless you put down that weapon. But I know you won't, so either way, I won't let you get near these kids."

"Not at all? Do you have any idea what this rule implies?"

Undeterred, Mobis faced the pressure from the couple and continued:

"Two people have died before, hence we've heard of two rules regarding the killer."

"Now that Yan has sacrificed himself, that's why a third rule has emerged."

"Otherwise, how do you explain why Yan hasn't returned? He should've been on that overhead bridge above us. But I didn't see him just now; there's only one explanation – he's no longer here."

Patland suggested, "Perhaps Yan has resolved the issue and come back to find us, thus leaving the overhead bridge."

Mobis sneered, "You have no idea what's happening, you fools. You haven't realized what kind of world this is, yet you've managed to survive until now – it's nothing short of a miracle!"

"You're trying to stop me now, but you'll soon regret your choice!"

He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Isabelle. "Step aside."

Steve pushed past Isabelle, stepping in front of the gun himself.

"Mobis, don't waste your bullets on your own people."

Mobis stared at him and suddenly chambered a round with a loud click!

Steve let out a pained cry, and Isabelle screamed as well. Mobis growled impatiently,

"Both of you shut up! I don't care about wasting bullets. All you need to know is that I won't hesitate to pull the trigger. Whoever stands in my way, be prepared to die! After all, whether you live or die makes no difference to me."

Isabelle screamed, calling him a madman. The man, with his gray eyes, aimed the gun at her forehead coldly and said,

"Shut up, bitch. Or I'll make your head bloom."

Isabelle trembled but also realized that reasoning with this person was futile. She could only hold her injured boyfriend tightly, tears streaming down her face, glaring at him but not uttering another word.

Cephus had felt from the beginning that Mobis had truly lost his mind.

Taking advantage of the commotion between Isabelle, Steve, and Mobis, he quietly retrieved a defensive axe from the fire extinguisher cabinet in the corner.

This might come in handy for Mobis when the time calls for it.

Mobis strode past the couple who could no longer hinder him, heading directly for Hu Gaoming.

He reached out to seize Hu Gaoming's hair, but the youth nimbly evaded his grasp.

The youth seemed utterly unsurprised by the man's conduct, his voice laced with indifference as he replied in a blend of Chinese-inflected English:

"If you kill me, no one will be able to guide you. This iron-clad room is filled with traps. The door back is already closed. Without me, it's impossible for you to leave unscathed."

Mobis gazed at him and said,

"You picked the sugar."

"Most people would choose the option that provides the most energy."

Hu Gaoming's composure exceeded what his apparent age suggested, which only fueled Mobis's suspicion.

However, Hu Gaoming's next words slightly alleviated Mobis's doubts:

"And I'm already eighteen, just with a youthful appearance."

Yi Lan's voice echoed softly in the crowd:

"Easterners tend to have a younger-looking appearance. Eighteen is no longer considered adolescence; he's misleading us, isn't he..."

Mobis's gaze instantly shifted to the other frightened youths.

His eyes swept past the bewildered and fearful Patland, temporarily dismissing him, before settling on Vasina and Pandela.

Pandela scratched his face, swallowing nervously as he gazed at the barrel of the gun, saying,

"I picked candy because of Tiger, but also due to the calories... It wasn't me who claimed to have a sweet tooth."

His implication was clear: it was Vasina who had chosen the candy purely out of enjoyment.

Vasina hadn't anticipated the situation to escalate so swiftly.

He rarely encountered such circumstances in his life, and for a moment, he was at a loss for how to defend himself, resorting to a futile explanation:

"I simply enjoy sweets, but that doesn't make me a murderer! Believe me, I'm innocent. If I were the one with the sugar, why would I take it myself? Wouldn't you eventually find out according to the rules?!"

His reasoning held some weight. Mobis's rationality returned, and he turned to the silent Patland, "Your turn, kid. Did you choose the cookie on purpose?"

Patland fiddled with his fingers, looking timidly afraid as if any louder sound would scare him.

He shook his head and said, "I just picked the cookie because I touched it... I'm sorry, sir, I'm not a murderer, and I really... don't have much of a liking for sweets. I can do without it."

Mobis glanced at them all before grabbing Vasina by the collar and positioning him at the front of the line, "You, lead the way."

Then, he placed Hu Gaoming behind Vasina and instructed, "You, guide him on the map!"

With a stern expression and a gun in hand, he intimidated others into anger yet silence.

Vasina stumbled forward, his heart filled with a helpless desperation that left him utterly bewildered.

He moved slowly through the dim, peeling-white corridors, his gait resembling more of a march to an execution ground than a casual stroll.

Just then, he felt something under his foot.

Hu Gaoming was the first to sense something amiss and spoke up,

"Vasina, don't move!"

Vasina froze entirely, not daring to stir even the slightest bit.

The iron wall slid open entirely, revealing the menacing thorns on both sides, rusted with crimson hues—

Should Vasina release his grip, those iron thorns would swiftly crush him into a pulp!

The sight before him sent Vasina trembling in terror, but he couldn't afford to tremble. Any movement could trigger the mechanism instantaneously.

All he could do was desperately hope that Hu Gaoming would swiftly devise a solution to save him.

But he overlooked Mobis, who was standing behind him.

In the midst of Hu Gaoming's intricate study of the gear mechanism, Mobis, without any prior word, suddenly kicked Vasina from behind.

The youth, unable to steady himself, was suddenly caught within the clutches of the sandwich press like an unsuspecting filling in a sandwich, taking everyone by complete surprise!

The description was comical, yet the scene depicted was exceedingly gruesome and horrifying.

Yi Lan immediately retched.

She felt her stomach knotting tightly at the sight before her, the knot burrowing deep within, constricting her so much that she yearned to expel everything she had just consumed.

She could not fathom how the youth who, only half a day ago, had clung to life alongside her with shared tenacity, was now being treated like livestock—kicked into a lethally inescapable snare—all on account of those elusive "rules," their veracity uncertain!

Dolly hurriedly patted her back and repeatedly prayed to God, hoping that He would swiftly rid them of the devil named Mobis.

Despite this, Mobis emerged as the sole sovereign in the current scene.

Though he was a tyrant, his brutality had clearly and effectively suppressed the pent-up resentment and fear in everyone's hearts.

In this scene, only two individuals remained untouched by the upheaval.

Patland, unaware of what had transpired, couldn't see, and thus naturally lacked the awareness of impending danger.

On the other hand, Hu Gaoming had long sensed Mobis's intent to kill, though the extent of the latter's ruthlessness had caught him off guard.

Vasina's only hope of escaping death was to bet that Mobis hadn't truly intended to kill.

But now, it was all too late.

With no new prey on the metal plate, the thorn-covered trap slowly retreated from both sides.

The pierced corpse, like a shredded piece of paper, along with its blood, shattered bones, and minced flesh, gradually slipped down the spikes, forming a sticky, crimson mass.

The iron plate closed once more, resuming its harmless appearance.

The wall.

Hu Gaoming had already discovered that the gears hidden behind the iron thorns were the crucial elements to decipher the mechanism.

His gaze shifted toward Cepheus. "Someone needs to trigger the mechanism now, only then do we have a chance to jam the trap. But I can't go, because Mobis might send us to our deaths."

He spoke too bluntly, causing Mobis to point his gun at him.

The youth turned to face Mobis, his countenance as unyielding as the iron walls that surrounded them.

"Your gun holds no power over me, Mobis. Since death is inevitable, I'd rather attempt to meet it with you in a suicidal struggle, seizing your weapon instead of falling to its mechanisms."

Mobis discerned that the youth before him appeared to have already steeled himself for the acceptance of death.

Since death is inevitable either way, whether by gunshot or as a "sandwiched death," it seems of little consequence. The youth evidently leans towards embracing his preferred manner of demise.

As the saying goes, a barefoot man has nothing to lose, and though Mobis might not be familiar with this proverb, the other party's demeanor indeed conveyed an unforeseen sense of menace to him.

Though he still had his gun trained on the youth, when the young man nonchalantly disregarded the barrel pointed at him and proceeded to direct Eddie in lifting the great sword, he did not genuinely align the firearm to take a shot at the boy's back.

Cobius didn't trigger the trap himself. Instead, he placed his axe on the spot where Vasina had just stepped... Now, that spot was nothing but a mess of mangled flesh.

The Iron Thorns opened once more, but in doing so, they also revealed the gears that lay beyond.

Eddie and Hu Gaoming acted swiftly, inserting the knife into the mechanism, jamming the gears from functioning.

Next, Hu Gaoming ventured into the trap-infested area laced with Iron Thorns. With a series of crisp sounds, he successfully traversed the blood-soaked path.

The youth's countenance bore no trace of delight; instead, he faced the corridor bereft of any chambers, his thoughts retracing the hazy blueprint he had once perused. With considerable effort, he sought out the location of the empty metal containers and proceeded to dismantle them.

Behind the thin metal facade, there stood an old yet relatively tidy elevator.

In the realm of the uncanny, elevators are generally not frequented by ordinary individuals.

They all chose to ascend the stairs on foot, and eventually, they discovered the concealed warehouse at the corner on the third floor.

Indeed, it's a warehouse.

This place is not a dormitory area at all.

They've been misled by the map!