Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Damn it!" Jin Sen shouted, "It's right beneath us!"

He wasn't wrong. In the next moment, An Zhe felt the ground beneath his feet tremble with a dull thud. The sensation was close and vivid, like the pounding of a massive hammer on the other side of the floor.

Just then, another deafening crash echoed from the end of the corridor, accompanied by the panicked cries of the inmates as the metal doors clanged loudly.

"The same thing's happening over there," the poet spoke hastily, "Are these subterranean creatures rodents? They live in colonies, just like in the—"

He quickly corrected himself, "No, rodents aren't that strong. Whatever's underground—"

The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted him as a team of soldiers clad in black descended from the stairwell. Their flashlights illuminated the area, and the amplified voice reverberated through the corridor, nearly deafening, "Stay calm, the city defense base has a sturdy foundation, reinforced with concrete and special steel plates. We're investigating the cause, so please remain calm."

If they hadn't been opening the cell doors simultaneously while shouting those words, their reassurance might have sounded more convincing.

At the same time, a piercing wail pierced the air outside, alarm sirens rising and falling like waves.

"The evacuation signal is going off!" Jin Sen pounded on the cell door, "Brother! Open up quick!"

The soldiers hastily unlocked three distant cell doors before hastening over. Xiao Boss was on the outer side. After the soldier found the corresponding key, he swiftly inserted it into the lock, turning it with a click. The iron door swung open, and Xiao Boss practically leaped out. The soldier quickly instructed, "Turn right and head upstairs to find an exit!"

Xiao Boss staggered a few steps before bolting to the right. Dust rained down from the ceiling. The soldier wiped his face and stood in front of the poet's cell.

At this moment, Jin Sen shouted, "He's a criminal with severe charges! He's a dangerous element! Unlock mine first!"

The soldier seemed to hesitate for a moment. The ground quaked more violently, and he turned to unlock Jin Sen's cell.

With both hands gripping the iron bars, Jin Sen's voice trembled violently. "Brother, hurry up, Brother."

An Zhe noticed that the soldier's hand was also trembling. It took several attempts before the key finally slotted into the lock.

Jin Sen: "You're my real brother—"

His voice abruptly cut off.

With a creak, the floor lifted him up. A massive black object shot upwards, pushing through the shattered floor and soil!

A muffled "thud" echoed as Jin Sen's body was sandwiched between the monster and the ceiling. His eyeballs bulged outwards. Something sharp pierced his abdomen, causing blood and organs to trickle down. A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. An Zhe's pupils dilated as he slowly turned his head. The soldier who had opened the door had his thigh and right chest punctured by the deformed iron door. He writhed on the ground, clutching his leg while coughing violently. Blood frothed at the corners of his mouth, suggesting that his lungs might have been punctured.

With a loud thud, the black object fell back down, creating a hole in the ground. Below was hollow, and Jin Sen's corpse disappeared from sight.

From the depths of the corridor came the cries of other soldiers, "Withdraw! ——"

But in the next second, a tremendous crash echoed from that direction as the metal door clattered to the floor. The ceiling cracked and crumbled, sending two terrified screams into silence.

—An Zhe heard the sound of chewing.

It began with the sound of water, followed by muffled friction, the squishing of limbs, and finally the creaking and cracking of bones.

The noise originated from the end of the corridor and also seeped out from the underground cavity across from An Zhe.

As the soldier writhed in agony, his flashlight rolled away, its pale beam illuminating the dark fissure. A tendril extended from the gap in the metal door, followed by more tendrils that gathered together to hook onto the scattered pile of keys on the ground. Slowly, they dragged the keys back into the door, scraping against the floor with a hiss. An Zhe saw the remaining glimmer of fear in the soldier's eyes turn towards him, but he couldn't afford to worry about it. He knew the soldier was in no state to either, for he was on the brink of death.

He asked the neighbor, "Which door am I at?"

The poet's voice trembled, "17, are you alright?"

"Fortunately," An Zhe said. He estimated that his iron door was level with the poet's; with the poet's limited field of vision, he wouldn't have seen An Zhe plucking the key.

The mycelium retracted, and he swiftly grabbed the keys, finding number 17 and detaching it.

The chewing sounds quickened.

The mycelium, carrying Key 17, extended from the iron door once more. Some of the mycelium adhered to the door, searching for the lock's position, while the rest inserted the key into the hole. The mycelium was fragile and lacked strength; with more and more gathering, the key finally turned, making a clicking sound as the lock mechanism sprang open.

An Zhe held onto the remaining keys tightly, pushed the door open, and approached the neighboring one. His hands trembled slightly as he fumbled for Key 18 in the torchlight, then forced it into the lock, turning it hard to the left. The chewing noises ceased entirely at this moment.

"My God..." A young man burst through the door, stumbling out. Before An Zhe could even get a clear look at his face, he yanked the man past the soldier and they both sprinted down the only safe corridor to the right, the ground still trembling beneath their feet – there were more than two creatures beneath them.

Just then, the emergency lights flickered a few times before going out completely, plunging everything ahead into pitch darkness.

Beside him, the poet gasped for breath, "Don't look back."

But An Zhe couldn't resist turning his head anyway.

A bug.

A vast, black worm, as wide as half the corridor, slithered out from the enormous crevice in the ground. Its body resembled a snake, yet it was segmented, clearly distinguishable. It raised what could be perceived as its head—though it lacked eyes or any typical cranial structure. Instead, its anterior end sported a circular maw brimming with densely packed teeth. Following closely behind was another identical worm. The two mouths, filled with interlocking fangs, turned towards them in unison. A rustling sound echoed as they approached, their speed anything but sluggish. They were mere meters away, and An Zhe could already smell the stench emanating from them. The poet gritted his teeth and yelled, "Run!" However, the ground shook violently again, throwing An Zhe against the wall. His left arm throbbed in agony, likely having collided with a deformed metal door. He pushed himself up using his arm, and the poet lent him a hand. In the pitch-black darkness, they sprinted once more towards the direction they remembered the passage to be. Anything could happen in the darkness. Perhaps a third worm would burst forth before them in the next second, or they might blindly crash into a wall due to their inability to see.

- Indeed, he crashed into a wall.

His head abruptly struck against something metallic, causing another wave of pain. He collided with an object entirely. In the next moment, something wrapped around his waist, attempting to lift him up and straighten him out.

This wall had hands.

"Is there anyone alive behind you?" asked Lu Fen, his voice barely a whisper but quicker than usual, very close by.

An Zhe's heart nearly skipped a beat. He replied, "No one."

"Uranium bomb primed, maximum yield," Lu Fen declared. As his words echoed, a blinding white light illuminated the corridor, rushing towards its depths with astonishing speed.

Before An Zhe could react, he was forcefully pushed down by Lu Fen, rolling on the ground and ending up beneath him.

In the next instant, a dull explosion thundered, followed by a fleeting flash of lightning-like white light that left a glaring afterimage on An Zhe's retinas. He closed his eyes, gripping tightly onto the cuff of Lu Fen's sleeve as he caught his breath— they had run too hastily.

The ground continued to shake violently. Only three seconds later, Lu Fen pulled him back up from the floor. Others were present, and lights flickered on, illuminating the area. "Let's go," Lu Fen instructed.

An Zhe followed them up the stairs, nearly exhausted. Remarkably, there seemed to be a special technique in the way Lu Fen supported him; whenever he fell behind, he would receive a gentle pull forward.

Without knowing how long they blindly followed, the cold air from outside finally filled his lungs. He leaned heavily on Lu Fen, still gasping for breath.

Lu Fen spoke calmly, "It's over now."

"Apprentice! Apprentice!" A figure approached, grabbing his arm and taking him from Lu Fen's grasp. It was Boss Xiao.

An Zhe gradually regained his strength and clarity of vision. "Poet...," he managed to say.

"I'm here," a voice sounded from behind him. An Zhe turned around to see a young, handsome man leaning against the wall, also catching his breath. Once he had composed himself, the man murmured, "You're quite skilled at running into people."

However, before An Zhe could say anything, Lu Fen's voice rang out.

"Director Howard," Lu Fen said, "you're late."

An Zhe looked ahead to see a row of soldiers standing there. At the forefront was a tall man in a City Defense uniform with iron-gray hair and a formidable hooked nose. The badge on his shoulder matched Lu Fen's – indicating the rank of colonel – suggesting that he was indeed the director of the City Defense.

Howard's voice was as steady and cold as his demeanor: "We were about to launch an indiscriminate bombardment. Colonel Lu's unauthorized entry has put me in a difficult position."

"After all, my prisoner is still inside," Lu Fen's tone was icy. "Do you dare to bomb indiscriminately where the ultrasonic dispersal device is located?"

"The City Defense's equipment doesn't concern the Court of Judgment," Howard replied. "You should be more concerned with whether or not those emerging from underground are infected."

Lu Fen countered, "The Court of Judgment's affairs are none of your concern."

Howard's gaze, however, fell heavily upon An Zhe. Their eyes met briefly, and An Zhe realized that Howard was looking at his left arm – the one that had been injured and bleeding in the underground tunnel.

Lu Fen's right hand gripped his shoulder. "I'll take custody of the surveillance during the grace period."

Howard acknowledged, "Thank you."

Then, he turned to the city defense soldiers. "Prepare for bombardment."

In the midst of Shopkeeper Xiao's pleading gaze, An Zhe was taken away by Lu Fen.

Lu Fen's office in the city defense compound was located in an annex of the main building – an unadorned room. The moment An Zhe entered, Lu Fen locked the door.

An Zhe thought that this might be a precautionary measure. If he were indeed infected and transformed into a monster, he wouldn't be able to escape from this room.

Lu Fen walked over to a gray desk, opened a drawer, and threw something white at him. An Zhe instinctively caught it – a roll of bandage. The Judicator probably intended for him to dress his wound. He sat down at another table and chair near the window and started fumbling with the bandage, thinking that even though the Judicator was arbitrary in meting out punishment, perhaps he wasn't a bad person deep down.

The wound was on his left arm, a minor injury caused by a scrape from a metal plate. It didn't hurt much, but blood seeped through. An Zhe tore off about half a meter of the bandage and began wrapping it around his left arm with his right hand – only to find that he couldn't manage it.

After struggling to wrap it loosely with one hand, he realized he couldn't tie a knot. Human fingers were inherently less agile than fungal tendrils, let alone when he had only one usable hand, and he wasn't very familiar with human anatomy. However, An Zhe felt that as someone pretending to be human, it would be embarrassing if he couldn't even bandage himself. So, he furrowed his brow and continued trying to tie the knot.

He sensed a gaze upon him. Lu Fen was watching him.

—He kept tying the knot. But with the knowledge that the Judicator was observing his every move, his knot-tying skills worsened. After three minutes of effort, not only did he fail to secure the knot, his hand trembled, unraveling the already wrapped bandage on his arm. In that instant, An Zhe was so frustrated that his fungal tendrils almost extended.

A soft laugh came from across from him.

It wasn't really a laugh, but a brief exhale of air - yet An Zhe discerned its true nature - it was mockery, a derisive chuckle.

An Zhe: "..."

The Arbiter was mocking him.