Chapter 215 Escape in the Subway Tunnel
The harsh sound of metal friction stopped abruptly, the cabin sank suddenly, and finally came to a stop.
With a hissing sound of pressure relief, the heavy hatch slowly rose upwards.
A smell mixed with rust, mold and some unknown decayed substance hit my face, making my throat tight.
Su Wanqing was the first to step out of the escape capsule, with the cold concrete floor beneath her feet.
The light here was extremely dim, with only a few emergency lights at the top of the tunnel in the distance casting a faint, almost extinguished yellow light.
Lu Zhao followed closely behind, and just as he stood firm, his body swayed and he leaned against the cabin wall.
"How are you?" Su Wanqing supported him and touched his forehead.
The high fever has subsided, but my hands feel cold and I am covered in cold sweat.
"It can still hold," Lu Zhao's voice was a little hoarse. He looked around, "This is... the abandoned southern section of the subway, the main line of the city."
His breathing was obviously unstable when he spoke. Su Wanqing didn't say much, and took out the small medicine box from the storage compartment of the escape pod, opened it, took out new gauze and disinfectant, and untied the bandage on Lu Zhao's shoulder.
The wound did not get worse, but the surrounding skin appeared a little swollen due to the previous infection.
She cleaned the wound silently and rebandaged it. Lu Zhao's movements and reactions were much slower. It was obvious that the injection only temporarily suppressed the symptoms, and the loss in the body was not so easy to make up for.
After packing up their things, the two had to move forward. The tunnel was dead silent, with only the sound of their own footsteps and the dripping of water drops from the top.
After walking about a hundred meters, an abandoned carriage appeared on the track ahead, with half of its front end crashing into the wall.
Lu Zhao raised his hand and pointed: "Go over there and take a look."
The two men walked closer and, with the faint light from the jade bracelet, were able to see the scene inside the carriage clearly.
Several bodies dressed in standard military combat uniforms were lying in a mess inside. Judging from the condition of their equipment, they had been dead for no more than a week.
The strange thing was the way they died. The bodies looked like they had been splashed with some kind of strong acid, presenting a strange half-melted state, with skin and muscles tangled together, but their tactical vests and weapons and equipment were basically intact.
"This thing wasn't done by any of the mutants we've seen."
Lu Zhao whispered as he checked a rifle next to a corpse and found the magazine was still full.
Su Wanqing said nothing. She found a usable military flashlight and a small satellite communicator next to one of the bodies.
She turned on the flashlight, and a beam of light, not bright but clear enough, illuminated the darkness ahead.
Lu Zhao took the communicator and fiddled with it for a few times. The screen lit up, but the signal bar was only a short, weak segment that kept flashing.
He tried to call out, but the only response was a constant rustling.
"The signal is too weak. It's too deep down here." Lu Zhao handed the communicator to Su Wan-qing. "Keep it. Maybe you can use it in a more open area."
They continued walking forward and passed through an empty platform. The structure of the tunnel began to become unstable, with signs of collapse in many places, and rubble and twisted steel bars blocking some sections of the road.
The track ahead was submerged in turbid water, with unknown garbage floating on the surface, and it was impossible to tell the depth.
With no other choice, the two men waded forward. The cold sewage reached their calves, and they took every step with extreme caution.
At this moment, the communicator in Su Wanqing's pocket suddenly made a few intermittent electric sounds.
Lu Zhao stopped immediately. Su Wanqing quickly took out her communicator, and the signal bars on the screen jumped wildly.
An anxious voice came from it, intermittently, mixed with huge noise.
"Wanqing... the fortress... was breached... most of the personnel were evacuated... Xiaoling and I... stayed in the control room... the military... was looking for you... and there was a group... in black uniforms... calling themselves 'Dawn'..."
It was Xiao Ran's voice. Su Wanqing put the communicator to her ear, trying to hear it more clearly.
"Xiao Ran! We are underground now... How are you guys?"
"…Signal tower…Military target…Dawn organization…No…They also…"
The communication was completely interrupted after a burst of harsh noise, and the signal grid on the screen completely disappeared.
The fortress was breached, and Xiao Ran and Xiao Ling were still trapped in the control room. And who are the organization called "Dawn"?
Su Wanqing gripped the communicator tightly and put it back into her pocket.
"We have to leave here quickly." Lu Zhao urged.
At this moment, a rhythmic sound of metal collision suddenly came from deep in the tunnel behind them. Each hit hit the track and could be heard clearly from far away.
"It's the military search team," Lu Zhao's face changed, "They found the subway entrance."
The two of them immediately sped up and trudged through the accumulated water. The box containing the core in Su Wanqing's arms was a little unusual at this moment. The lavender diamond crystal began to emit a faint light, which penetrated through the alloy shell and formed a flashing rhythm that echoed with the jade bracelet on her wrist.
This resonance became particularly strong as they approached an iron ladder in front of them marked "Emergency Exit C", as if it was silently guiding them.
However, before they got close to the exit, the water surface in front of them suddenly changed.
Several unusual ripples spread out, and something was slowly rising in the turbid water.
The light was too dim to see clearly, but when I shone the flashlight over, I could see several creatures with humanoid outlines emerging from the sewage.
They have smooth but pale translucent skin like that of fish, through which the blood vessels and tissues beneath the skin can be vaguely seen.
Their faces have no noses or lips, and their eye sockets are deep, but a faint light can be seen from the dark holes.
These were mutations they had never seen before, like entirely new species that had evolved to adapt to the dark underground waters.
There were pursuers behind and monsters in front. In the narrow tunnel, the retreat route was cut off.
A mutant twisted its slender neck and slid silently towards Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao raised his gun to shoot, but the monster suddenly accelerated from the side, moving incredibly fast.
Su Wanqing instinctively held the core container in her arms in front of Lu Zhao.
In a flash, the mutant's sharp claws almost touched the container, and the purple light coming from the container suddenly became stronger.
The mutant let out a sharp, painful scream as if it had been burned by a branding iron, then suddenly shrank back, its entire body twitching violently in the water.
This discovery made both of them stunned. But before they could catch their breath, the sound of metal collision behind them was getting closer and closer, and several mutants in the water in front of them were slowly surrounding them.
The mutant's screams mixed with the sound of military boots stepping on water echoed in the tunnel.
Su Wanqing grabbed Lu Zhao's arm and ran back. The accumulated water splashed onto her calves, making her shiver with cold.
Lu Zhao's breathing became heavier and heavier, and every step felt like stepping on cotton. The blood from the wound dyed the bandage dark red.
"Left!" Su Wanqing suddenly pulled him towards the iron ladder beside the track.
At the top of the iron ladder was a rusty iron door. She hit it twice with her jade bracelet, and metal fragments fell down.
Lu Zhao took out a tactical knife and tried to pry open the door, but the tip of the knife broke in half just as it was inserted - there was a steel bar stuck behind the door.
"Go to the control room." Lu Zhao pointed to the sign on the side wall of the tunnel. "There is an abandoned control room fifty meters ahead. People can get through the ventilation hole."
The two of them stumbled over. The door of the control room was ajar, and when Su Wanqing kicked it open, a layer of dust rose up.
Lu Zhao locked the door with his backhand and pushed the iron cabinet in the corner to the front of the door. Through the crack in the door, he could see the military searchlight sweeping over, and the shadow of the mutant was swaying on the water.
"There are only three bullets left." Lu Zhao checked the magazine of his rifle, his voice hoarse.
He leaned against the wall, the sweat on his forehead dripping down his chin to the ground, "How long can the core in your arms last?"
Su Wanqing didn't answer. The core container was hot through her clothes, and the jade bracelet was vibrating painfully on her wrist.
There was a metallic clang outside; the military was loading flash grenades. The mutants' claws scraped against the door panels, and two of them squeezed in from the ventilation duct, their translucent skin rubbing against the duct wall, oozing a sticky liquid.
"It won't last more than five minutes." Lu Zhao took out the last grenade and put the safety ring on his finger. "You take the core and go first. I..."
"Shut up." Su Wanqing pulled off his grenade and put it back into his pocket, then picked up the iron rod from the corner.
The mutant's claws had already dug into the crack of the door, and its nails made the metal squeak.
The military countdown began: "Three, two, one--"
"boom!"
The white light from the flash bomb pierced through the crack in the door, and Su Wanqing narrowed her eyes.
The next second, there was a sound of metal breaking above his head, the iron net of the vent was kicked away, and a black shadow slid down along the rope.
Before she could react, the man had already thrown out three smoke bombs. At the moment the gray fog rose, he threw out a silver disc, which made a buzzing sound and shocked the mutant so much that he retreated with his head in his hands.
"Codenamed 'Thorn', a member of the Dawn Organization, or more precisely, an undercover agent."
The mask covered half of his face, and his voice was low, "I have been following you for a long time. Now is not the time to explain. This place will become hell in five minutes."
She swung out two tactical knives and accurately pierced the mutant's joints.
The monsters huddled together in pain, and the military's thermal imaging became a snow screen in the smoke.
Su Wanqing pulled Lu Zhao to follow. Jing Zhi had already pried open the maintenance panel on the back wall of the control room, revealing a pipe that was only wide enough for one person.
"Climb in." Jingzhi pushed Lu Zhao and left behind him.
The musty smell in the pipe was choking, and Su Wanqing could hear the military shouting getting farther and farther away behind her.
After climbing about three hundred meters, they found themselves at the outlet of the pipe, which was a water-filled inspection well. Thorn cut the lock with a dagger, and the rusty well cover was pushed open a crack.
"On the surface, the two parties are enemies, but in reality they are fighting for control of the 'Time Loom'."
Jingzhi took off his mask, revealing a pale face with an old scar on his left eyebrow. "I am an undercover agent sent by the military to Dawn. I intercepted a secret message half a year ago. They planned to use seven cores to implement the 'Purification Protocol'. It was not to save the survivors, but to screen them."
Lu Zhao leaned against the wall of the well to catch his breath, and the blood from his wound dyed the water light red.
Su Wanqing took out a medical kit to treat him, but Jingzhi handed him a small silver bottle: "Use this. NR-7, specially designed for acute infection of enhanced individuals. I got it from the Dawn Laboratory."
Lu Zhao didn't hesitate and inserted the medicine into his arm. The pain was like the receding tide, and he let out a long breath. When he looked up, he suddenly saw a transparent net in front of him - the jade bracelet on Su Wanqing's wrist was glowing, connecting to the core in her arms into a thin golden line.
What's even more strange is that there is a ball of light purple light flickering at Su Wanqing's temple, with the same frequency as the core.
"We're here." Thorn's voice brought him back to reality. They were standing in the ruins of a subway transfer station, with only half of the line map on the wall torn off.
Jingzhi unfolded a crumpled map and drew a red circle with a tactical pen: "Abandoned hospital, Xiao Ran and Xiao Ling are there. I'm not sure what 'Ye' is up to at the signal tower rendezvous point."
She handed the map to Su Wanqing and turned to leave. Lu Zhao suddenly grabbed her wrist and asked, "Does NR-7 have any side effects?"
"Vision is enhanced, and I can see energy fluctuations." Thorn pulled his hand back, "Don't take it too seriously, the effect will wear off."
She paused and said, "Remember, don't believe those organizations that say they are doing good for the majority of people. What they want is never the lives of the majority of people."
Su Wanqing touched Lu Zhao's forehead. His temperature was back to normal, but his eyes looked a little dull.
Lu Zhao stared at the jade bracelet on her wrist, opened his mouth and closed it again. In the distance, the mutant's scream came, and the figure of Thorn had disappeared into the darkness.
The accumulated water at the subway transfer station flooded over Lu Zhao's shoes. He held onto the rusted billboard stand, and the blood from his wounds mixed with the water, spreading a dark red color around his feet.
Su Wanqing spread the map on her knees. The three words "Abandoned Hospital" in the red circle were wrinkled by the creases.
"Let's go to the hospital first." Lu Zhao's voice was hoarse, "Xiao Ran and Xiao Ling are there, we need more people and more information.
You are carrying the core—" He pointed to the bulging area in Su Wanqing's arms, "You are now a living target for all forces. The military and Dawn are watching the signal tower. Rushing in rashly is no different from committing suicide."
Su Wanqing folded the map and stuffed it into her pocket, her fingertips rubbing against the rough edges. "Not enough time. Jingzhi said the time window for the purification protocol is narrowing, and Lin Che's brain wave data jumped abnormally three times yesterday."
She looked up at Lu Zhao, "Do you remember the last reincarnation? Lin Che made it to the seventh day..."
"I remember." Lu Zhao interrupted her, his Adam's apple moving, "But how much of what Ye said is true?
He said he was Wayne's consciousness, but Wayne died in the Orion base ten years ago. Also," he put his hand on his temple, "NR-7's side effect is that I can now see energy fluctuations."
Su Wanqing paused. Lu Zhao stared at the jade bracelet on her wrist, then glanced at the core hidden in her arms, his pupils slightly contracted: "There is a gold thread connecting the jade bracelet and the core, and there is a ball of purple light at your temple that is the same frequency as the core. Wanqing, this is not a coincidence." He took a half step forward, "You may be the anchor point of the time loom, and they want you.
Going to the signal tower now would just fall into a trap."
Su Wanqing touched her temple, and her fingertips felt the faint throbbing under her skin.
She remembered the words "Human Anchor Point" flashing on the screen when the door of the spare body was opened in the laboratory.
“That’s why we have to go.” Her voice was soft but steady. “If I were the anchor, only I could figure out what they want. Lin Che’s situation can’t wait, and Xiao Ling’s abnormal brain waves can’t wait either.”
She pointed to the digital clock on the wall, the numbers flashing, "It's 2:17 AM, and Briar said the purification protocol will be activated before sunrise."
Lu Zhao's breathing became heavier. He pulled off the tactical bandage wrapped around his arm and re-tied the wound: "Twelve hours."
He suddenly said, "If I can't contact you within twelve hours, I will take Xiao Ran and the others to attack the signal tower."
Su Wanqing looked up at him. Lu Zhao took out half a box of hemostatic medicine from his tactical backpack, as well as a folding knife with a shiny handle. "This knife was given to me by my father. Take it with you."
He stuffed something into her hand and said, "Don't leave your core. Have you tried the barrier function of the jade bracelet before?"
Su Wanqing nodded. Just now in the control room, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the jade bracelet on her wrist.
The core began to heat up, and the two energies entangled with each other like two snakes. The surrounding thermal imaging spots suddenly blurred for a moment - it was a military drone scanning.
"There's something even stranger." She fished out a piece of gravel she had picked up from the pipe and let it fall.
The stone hit the accumulated water, and the splashing water droplets hung in the air, so slow that one could count the patterns of each water droplet.
Three seconds later, it fell back to the surface of the water with a "pop". "The energy of the core may be related to time."
Lu Zhao stared at the puddle of water for a while, then suddenly smiled, a little bitterly: "So you have to come back alive. There are some secrets." He lowered his head to organize his backpack, "We have to solve them together."
The mutant's roar came from afar, closer than before. Su Wanqing put the folding knife behind her waist and stuffed the hemostatic medicine into her underwear pocket.
Lu Zhao put on his backpack and checked the communicator: "The hospital is in the northeast direction. There is an underground passage through two blocks."
He pointed to her arms, "Hide the core tightly, and use the barrier when you encounter danger."
Su Wanqing nodded. The two of them stood in the puddles, neither of them moving.
Lu Zhao suddenly reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears: "Twelve hours."
He repeated, "I'm counting the seconds."
Su Wanqing turned and walked southwest, breaking a piece of glass under her boot. She didn't look back, but she could hear Lu Zhao's footsteps going in the opposite direction, becoming lighter and lighter until they were drowned out by the mutant's scream.
The jade bracelet on her wrist was vibrating, resonating with her core like a heartbeat, hitting her bones again and again.
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