In a gloomy corridor far from the main hall area, flickering fluorescent lights emitted faint, weak BEEP... BEEP... sounds. The air here was thick with the harsh reek of formaldehyde, burning ozone, and the pungent, coppery smell of fresh blood hitting their nostrils directly.
Group B—consisting of Stolas, Lang Mac, and Kwon Tae-Joon—had successfully set foot inside the central area of the Federation's biological laboratory.
CLICK…
The metal isolation door slowly slid open. What greeted their eyes was a gruesome scene straight out of a living hell. Beneath dim, hazy blue light emanating from countless glass containment tanks, dozens of corpses wearing lab coats and engineering uniforms lay scattered across the cold steel floor. Some had their chests ripped wide open, others had half their faces corroded away, black blood pouring across the walkway.
Lang Mac stepped up to a corpse, crouched down to examine it, and shook his head thoughtfully.
Tae-Joon knitted his brows and lowered his voice:
— When did they die?
Stolas swept his sharp eyes across the streaks of blood that had begun to congeal on the floor:
— Judging by the look of this, they probably lost their lives not too long ago.
Just then, the group noticed a massive reinforced glass containment tank in the corner of the room that had been smashed open from the inside. Preservation fluid overflowed across the floor. Beside the shattered glass fragments was a sign labeled Z-03 along with a document stamped with a grave red seal: "Danger Level: Extremely High – Gene-Mutated Specimen".
Stolas pointed toward the shattered tank and sighed:
— My guess is whatever was inside this tank escaped and slaughtered the entire place.
Putting the matter of Z-03 aside, Tae-Joon walked toward another row of containment tanks. Inside the murky green liquid, a web of intricate microcircuit cables plugged deep into a floating biological brain. Electrical pulses continuously flickered across the cerebral cortex.
Tae-Joon shivered:
— What kind of twisted freaky mess is this?
Stolas stepped closer, staring intently at the nearby vital signs monitor:
— This brain... it's still alive?
While Stolas and Tae-Joon examined the brain, Lang Mac quietly separated from the team to scout the surrounding area for clues. He stopped in front of a heavy steel door locked with a keypad code.
THUD!
Wasting no time on decryptions, Lang Mac funneled power into his leg and delivered a devastating kick that shattered the door off its hinges. However, the inside was merely an empty supply room. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he continued inspecting the adjacent rooms.
On the other side, Tae-Joon and Stolas paused in front of a test-tube-style vessel. Inside was a mutated plant with sharp, twisting thorn structures, throbbing rhythmically like a biological heart.
Stolas let out a faint chuckle:
— Looks like every container in this place is equally hideous, huh?
Then Stolas pointed to a small glass jar placed next to it:
— Look at that one, Tae-Joon.
Tae-Joon turned around and saw a mass of preservative fluid soaking the severed head of a multi-eyed mutated creature. Right then, his eyes landed on a specimen resting right beside an automated microscope.
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— Hey Stolas... this black fluid, it's moving on its own, isn't it? — Tae-Joon swallowed nervously.
Stolas smirked playfully:
— Yeah, I think it's getting ready to leap straight onto your face!
Tae-Joon waved his hand, forcing a laugh:
— Come on, don't joke around with creepy stuff like that!
BANG!
Suddenly, heavy, rapid footsteps echoed alongside the sound of the main door being thrown open! Tae-Joon and Stolas immediately assumed defensive stances. But the person who stepped through was Kamishiro Seijuro.
The young swordsman leaned against the doorframe, gasping heavily for air, his katana coat stained with wet, crimson blood that had yet to dry.
Tae-Joon stepped forward in shock:
— Seijuro?! How on earth did you make it all the way here?
Seijuro raised a hand, gesturing for him to wait a moment. Taking a deep breath, he fought to suppress his wildly racing pulse and wiped a bloodstain from his cheek:
— I made it here by... slashing through every guard blocking the corridor outside, then forcing a still-breathing officer to spill the location of this lab.
Seijuro's expression instantly shifted into sheer anxiety, his eyes scanning the entire room:
— Has everyone... found Kiriko yet?!
Tae-Joon shook his head somberly:
— No sign of her so far.
Seijuro clenched his teeth tightly, his eyes blazing with fierce determination:
— Then tear this entire place apart! We HAVE to find Kiriko!
The group immediately scattered into every nook and cranny.
Lang Mac ventured deep into the restricted sector at the end of the corridor. Standing before him now was a massive bio-mechanical engine emitting a spine-chilling HUM... HUM... sound. But what chilled Lang Mac's spine to the core was the realization that this colossal computer system was run entirely by dozens of human brains submerged in fluid jars.
Lang Mac froze, his eyes darkening:
"A machine... powered by human biological brains?"
He leaned down to check the metallic label beneath one of the brain jars. Clear text was inscribed upon it: "Specimen #042: Alex - Age 10".
Lang Mac's face immediately hardened. A fleeting memory flashed in his mind, causing his fist to clench so tightly that veins bulged across his hand. He marched directly up to the central control console.
— Now then... who knows which button stops this monstrosity! — he muttered under his breath.
The status display monitor flickered with surging brainwave readouts. These were the consciousness metrics of children—they were not entirely dead; rather, their minds were trapped inside the machine, subjected to eternal torture and energy exploitation!
Lang Mac attempted to flip a series of switches on the control panel.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The system immediately blared an ear-splitting red alarm! The screen flashed with the text:
"SYSTEM ERROR - LUC QUAN LAM ENCRYPTION AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED".
Lang Mac grit his teeth, his eyes sparking with bloodlust:
— Hmph... If I can't press it, I'll smash it to pieces!
Without another word, Lang Mac twisted his body, raised his leg high, and slammed a devastating stomp right onto the center of the control console!
BOOM! CRACK!
The horrifying force smashed the protective microcircuits to bits. High-voltage electricity crackled SPARK SPARK, and thick black smoke billowed upward. The giant machine ground to a halt, cutting off the life-support power to the brains completely.
On the monitoring screen, heart rates and brainwave indicators plummeted one by one into flatlines: 00... 00... 00…
Just as Lang Mac was turning around to leave, the main monitor flickered one final time. Right beneath little Alex's name, a small line of white text slowly emerged: "Thank you..."
Lang Mac stopped dead in his tracks. Looking at those words, the corner of his lips curled into a bitter yet relieved smile:
— Rest in peace... good kids.
Lang Mac returned to the laboratory's main hall, where Tae-Joon and Stolas were waiting.
Tae-Joon hastily asked:
— There you are, Lang Mac! Did you find where Kiriko is held?
Lang Mac shook his head.
Right then, at the far end of the hallway, Seijuro abruptly stopped in front of a heavy steel door reinforced with multiple layers of chained locks. Activating his swordsman senses, he picked up an extremely faint breath inside.
— Over there! — Seijuro roared.
He charged forward, swinging his katana and slicing the heavy steel door into pulverized fragments!
CLANG-CRASH!!!!!
The reality inside the isolated torture chamber unveiled itself, leaving every member of Group B utterly stunned and speechless.
It was a dark, foul-smelling dungeon filled with the Federation's most brutal torture devices: electric whips, energy blades, Sophion bone-crushing shackles, and countless neural syringes still caked in dark blood.
In a freezing corner of the room, Kiriko lay curled up with her head lowered to the floor. Her body was ravaged by gruesome wounds—her once smooth skin was now crisscrossed with blistering lacerations from electric whips, both wrists crushed black and charred from energy locks, and fresh blood dripped continuously from open wounds, soaking her tattered clothes. Her eyes were vacant, filled with absolute panic and sheer terror, the mark of someone whose spirit had been thoroughly broken.
Outside the doorway, Lang Mac quietly picked up Kiriko's familiar katana, which lay discarded carelessly on the floor.
Seijuro trembled. He approached slowly and gently, lowering his posture so as not to frighten her:
— Kiriko…
Hearing that familiar voice, Kiriko flinched violently, clutching her head and cowering reflexively to evade a blow. But as she slowly raised her tear-drenched eyes, what met her gaze was the sweat-drenched face and heart-wrenching expression of Kamishiro Seijuro.
— Se... Seijuro...? — her voice rasped out, fragile and shattered.
In that single instant, every wall of fear crumbled. Kiriko burst into uncontrollable sobs, throwing herself into Seijuro's arms and burying her face in his chest, choked with tears:
— Sob... sob... Seijuro! I... I thought everyone abandoned me...... sob…
Seijuro tightened his hold, enveloping Kiriko's trembling, pain-racked body. He gently stroked her hair, his voice deep and warm yet ringing with powerful conviction:
— Never! Zero Horizon is a family... And family members NEVER abandon one another!
Seijuro carefully slid his arms beneath Kiriko's wound-covered body, scooping her up into a bridal carry. He turned to Lang Mac, Tae-Joon, and Stolas:
— We've found Kiriko! I need to get her out of here for immediate first aid... Everyone, go support Team C and Roxy!
With that, Seijuro took Kiriko's sword from Lang Mac, held the young girl tightly against him, and bolted with all his strength out of this hellish dungeon.
Watching Seijuro's back as he carried Kiriko away, Tae-Joon crossed his arms and smirked out of the corner of his mouth:
— I bet Seijuro's got a thing for Kiriko!
Stolas chuckled softly, adjusting his coat:
— Leave that for later. It's time we go support the others!
Lang Mac and Kwon Tae-Joon rotated their wrists, popping their knuckles with sharp CRACKLE-CRACKLE sounds, unleashing surges of combat-ready energy.
Tae-Joon smiled with absolute confidence:
— Team B... mission flawlessly accomplished!
(To be continued)