"Rick! Are you fucking crazy? Bringing back two plague gods from the fortress?" A bald man with a long scar on his face and a body as strong as a bear stood up from an energy cannon that was being repaired. His voice was like a broken gong, filled with suppressed anger, "Don't you think we're not dying fast enough?"
"That's right! Didn't you hear the movement of the executioners outside? Were they the ones who attracted them?" Another tall and thin man with eyes as cold as a poisonous snake leaned on the ammunition box, his fingers stroking the trigger of the energy pistol on his waist intentionally or unintentionally.
"Shut up, Iron Bear, Viper!" Rick's voice was not loud, but it was filled with an unquestionable fierceness, instantly suppressing the noisy discussions around him. He carefully placed Ajie on a pile of relatively clean sacks next to him. Although his movements were still rough, they were accompanied by an imperceptible caution. He stood up, his cold eyes swept over the crowd that gathered around him, and finally fell on the scar-faced Iron Bear and the gloomy Viper. "They are from the 'Ghost'! They carry the information about the 'Web Weaver's' rebellion! And the signal of the 'Key'!"
"The Web Weavers rebelled?" The flesh on Tie Xiong's face trembled violently, his eyes blazing with unbelievable rage. "Fuck them! Those traitorous bastards?!"
"Key signal?" Viper's cold eyes instantly became as sharp as needles, staring at Wen Shifei intently, "Is it on you?"
Wen Shifei felt immense pressure. She forced herself to straighten her back, facing countless scrutinizing gazes. Her voice was hoarse but clear: "The signal source is with Lu Cheneng... We have been separated... He was dragged into the Hive Laboratory by the Executioner. The 'Web Weavers' have rebelled, and the entire resistance network within the fortress may have been exposed. The purge order has been issued!"
"Hive Lab?!" A terrified voice echoed among the crowd, "No one who enters that damn place will come out alive!"
"Damn it! If the 'key' falls into the hands of a chaebol..." Tiexiong punched the cold metal pillar next to him hard, making a dull sound, his face full of anxiety and rage.
Just then, a figure parted the crowd and approached quickly. It was a middle-aged woman wearing a relatively clean, washed-out gray work uniform. Her face bore the marks of fatigue and chronic sleep deprivation, but her eyes were unusually calm and sharp. In her hand, she carried a badly worn metal medical kit.
"Move aside, breathe!" The woman's voice was low, yet it carried an invisible authority. The crowd subconsciously made way for her. She walked directly to Ajie and squatted down, quickly checking his pupils, pulse, and chest injuries. Her brow furrowed tightly as she deftly opened the medical kit and pulled out disinfectant spray, hemostatic gel, and a biological dressing that glowed faintly green.
"Dr. Sarah, how is it?" Rick's voice was slightly tense.
"Penetrating wounds, lung damage, severe internal bleeding, and excessive radiation levels. It's a miracle he's still here." Sarah spoke rapidly, her hands precise and efficient, quickly cleaning the wound, spraying disinfectant, applying gel, and finally applying the biological dressing that slightly stimulates cell regeneration. "Surgery is required to remove broken bones and blood, repair internal organs, and deal with the radiation contamination. I'm not equipped here, so I can only stabilize him temporarily. He needs the 'anvil,' now!"
The "anvil" obviously refers to the medical room or doctor here.
"Follow me!" Without saying a word, Rick picked up Ajie, who had been simply dealt with by Sarah.
"Wait!" The gloomy man named Viper spoke again. He stood in front of Rick and glanced at Wen Shifei sharply, "Rick, the rules cannot be broken. Strangers entering the core area must be searched and disarmed! Especially her!"
The atmosphere instantly became tense again. Countless eyes focused on Wen Shifei once again, filled with distrust.
Wen Shifei's body tensed instantly, the knuckles of his fingers turning white as he gripped the shotgun. Disarm? In this unfamiliar, hostile environment? This was tantamount to handing his life over to someone else!
Rick stopped, carrying Ajie, his icy gaze stabbing at Viper like two knives. "She's Ghost's partner! She's carrying information about the Key! Saving her life is paramount now! Body search? Disarm her? Viper, are you afraid of death, or something else?" His voice was low, yet it carried a chilling murderous aura.
Viper's expression changed slightly, his eyes flickering. "Rules are rules! Who knows if she's the bait put out by the 'Web Weaver'? Does she have a tracker on her?"
"Tracker?" Rick sneered. He quickly handed Ajie, who he was carrying, to a tall soldier nearby for support, then strode over to Wen Shifei. As Wen Shifei stared in astonishment, he suddenly extended his calloused and scarred hand toward her chest—not in an obscene manner, but precisely reaching for a hidden pocket on the inside of her combat uniform!
Wen Shifei subconsciously tried to dodge, but Rick was as fast as lightning. With a swish, his rough fingers tore open the fabric of the secret bag and pinched out something from it.
It was a small, exquisite hairpin crafted from a dark silver alloy. Its shape was simple, resembling a slender crescent moon, its edges polished to an exceptionally smooth finish, radiating a restrained metallic luster in the dim light. At the end of the hairpin was an extremely tiny, almost invisible, dark blue crystal.
The moment he saw the hairpin, Rick's cold eyes suddenly contracted! He felt as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt, his tall body visibly stiffening! The knuckles of his fingers gripping the hairpin turned pale from excessive force!
This reaction... was too intense! Wen Shifei's heart sank. This hairpin belonged to Qingyi! Before she fell to the edge of the garbage dump, Qingyi had given it to her, saying it might prove her identity in a pinch... Why did Rick react so strongly when he saw it?
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