"Where did they go?" Leng Yue recognized the voice; it was the former squad leader speaking.

"Reporting, Captain, there's no one here," someone reported to the squad leader.

"Search quickly! If the professor finds out, we'll be ready to commit seppuku!" the squad leader said angrily.

"Yes, Captain, we'll go find it right away." Then came a series of hurried footsteps.

"Damn it, don't you know how to turn on the lights?" the squad leader yelled angrily, sounding like he'd been bumped into.

As soon as the squad leader finished speaking, after a rustling sound, they turned on the power, and the entire corridor lit up. Then, they flipped a switch, and all the rooms lit up.

Leng Yue then realized what kind of place she was in; it was full of glass jars, and inside were all organs.

"Is this their laboratory?" Leng Yue didn't know how to react. She felt nauseous, but she also had a bad feeling.

Leng Yue watched as everyone walked deeper into the building, then gently pushed open a door and followed them, looking through each room one by one. Sure enough, this was the place of live experiments; each room held people, none of whom were healthy anymore. They were being used as lab rats, subjected to all sorts of experiments.

"Is this the bacterial experiment unit from back then?" Leng Yue felt a pang of sorrow. Some of those people were groaning in pain, while others couldn't even groan, just staring numbly at the remains of their bodies placed in the glass containers beside them.

This place is full of horrific things. Even in her previous life in the Major Crimes Unit, Leng Yue had never seen so many or such cruel things.

"Is there any hope for them?" Leng Yue felt a chill in her heart, not knowing why she wanted to end their lives and let them escape their suffering as soon as possible.

Ling knew Leng Yue's thoughts. "It's hopeless, but can you really bear to do this?"

"Can they even be considered alive?" Leng Yue didn't know if she was asking Ling or herself.

Is this what it means to be alive? Do they want to live like this? Without freedom, without choice, and without even control over their own bodies, is this what it means to be alive?

Leng Yue stood beside a man whose body was covered in tubes, and whose internal organs had been mostly removed, yet whose eyes remained open. Leng Yue looked at him quietly, and he looked at Leng Yue in return.

Leng Yue was invisible, but for some reason, the other person's previously empty eyes suddenly came to life. Looking at Leng Yue, their eyes were filled with pleading, pleading for release.

Unsure if he could see her, Leng Yue waved her hand in front of him and found that his eyes were indeed following her hand. Leng Yue asked softly, "Are you...ready?"

The man blinked, a smile spreading across his face. Looking at Leng Yue, his eyes were filled with the relief of impending liberation. Leng Yue didn't ask any more questions; with a slight twitch of her fingers, the man fell silent.

The moment the man stopped breathing, alarms blared throughout the base. The alarms were rapid, intense, and piercing.

Leng Yue closed the man's eyes, wishing him a peaceful and prosperous next life. Just as she finished, the group of people from before rushed into the room.

"Captain, he's dead! This man is dead!" the first runner shouted anxiously.

The squad leader rushed to the man's side and slapped him hard across the face. "Damn it, shut up! Go find the killer! Now!"

After the squad leader yelled, the rest of the men staggered away. The squad leader stood there, staring at the man's corpse, and shouted, "Damn it, who was it? Show yourself!"

Then she covered her head and cried, "We're doomed! We're definitely not going to survive this time! The professor won't let us off the hook!"

"Why is he so scared?" Leng Yue stood to the side, watching the squad leader. "Why would they care so much about these people?"

"Yueyue, everyone else has stopped breathing," Ling whispered to Leng Yue.

Leng Yue glanced at the dead man in disbelief, then turned and walked out. She carefully avoided the other group and checked dozens of laboratories. Just as Zero had said, all the people there were lifeless.

"Is it really related to this man?" Leng Yue leaned against the wall. "Why?"

"Yueyue, there's no time to think about this. I sense something's wrong, let's go." Zero suddenly sensed a powerful aura.

Leng Yue knew she didn't have time to waste, so she glanced back and then ran toward the exit.

As Leng Yue ran, she glanced again at the man's room and inadvertently caught a glimpse of a red light inside. The squad leader was screaming in agony inside, while the team members outside were kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear.

Leng Yue slowly walked outside. Although she was very curious about what the other person was, Qian Chen outside was more important. Judging by the time, Leng Yue knew that Qian Chen should be arriving soon.

"Friend, you've ruined my life's work, and you're just leaving like this?" A broken Chinese voice rang out, and at the same time, a huge monster appeared in front of Leng Yue.

This monster resembled a human, standing three or four meters tall, with horns on its head, a blood-red body, eyes as large as copper bells, and protruding fangs. When it opened its blood-red maw towards the cold moon, a blood-red mist rose from it.

Seeing this, Leng Yue retreated, trying to avoid the monster and escape. The monster reached out to grab Leng Yue, but was blocked by the barrier around her.

Seeing an opportunity, Leng Yue continued running, with the monster relentlessly pursuing her. When Leng Yue reached the exit, she found the door locked again.

While dodging the monster's attacks, Leng Yue took out the master key to open the door. However, this time, she couldn't open it no matter what she did.

“Friend, it’s only polite to reciprocate. You damaged my things, so you must compensate me. Otherwise, you won’t be leaving today.” It was that guy who spoke broken Chinese again.

Leng Yue was annoyed by the monster chasing her, but someone kept buzzing in her ear! Leng Yue couldn't take it anymore, so she took out a talisman and threw it at the monster.

The monster was jolted back a step, but it wasn't injured. Leng Yue looked at it, then took out her talisman again, but the effect was the same as the talisman. Leng Yue was forced to retreat step by step, but behind her was the door.

"You may not know how powerful Lord Shuten-dōji is; ordinary talismans can't harm him." The annoying voice came again.

Without a second thought, Leng Yue threw talismans at the monster with one hand and used her Q skill on the person with the other, but neither of them was hurt.

Leng Yue finally looked at her opponent seriously. She had always been confident in her Q skill. Having undergone so much training in her past life, she could hit her target even with her eyes closed. But now, she had missed. This didn't make sense!

Leng Yue continued to tossing talismans around without paying, glancing at the other person occasionally. It turned out to be a young man in a white coat, calmly watching Leng Yue. The man had no one protecting him, so it seemed that no one else had helped him just now.

"No need to look anymore, it's just a single bullet, I can handle it." The man said, opening his palm to show Leng Yue that he had stopped the bullet.

"Who exactly are you?" Leng Yue asked the man while dealing with the monster and searching for an exit.

The man didn't seem to care. "Hello friend, my name is Kamikawa Rin, and I'm a professor at this research institute. Also, my Kamikawa family has been Onmyoji for generations!"

Leng Yue: "I don't care what kind of master you are." As she spoke, she scattered more talismans and formed a hand seal to borrow the mist.

Then, with a loud bang, the mist dissipated, Leng Yue vanished from her spot, and the previously sealed gate was broken open...