HAGLTP Chapter 18

Two nights later.

Xiao Lu and his two companions boarded a modified vehicle, with a total of fifteen people on board, each group clearly defined.

In front of them, five individuals draped in gray cloaks, adorned with the emblem of the Divine Punishment Society, formed a circle and prayed softly, showing no intention of looking up when the three boarded.

Not far away, five others led by Xiao Keyang, besides the familiar Chai Yige, included three imposing figures who cast unfriendly glances at them, clearly not the kind of people one could easily get along with.

Lastly, a man and a woman nodded at Xiao Lu, both in their thirties, neatly dressed, their demeanor polite yet distant, concealing a hint of wariness and scrutiny.

These were members of the White Dove, the man named Jiang Gao and the woman named Song Mo. It was evident they were not particularly pleased with the three parachuted teammates, but out of social decorum, they had to maintain basic politeness.

The three major factions, each with their distinct characteristics.

As for the fourth faction, the Void? No one wanted to involve these lunatics when doing serious business; what if they stabbed you in the back?

Once everyone had gathered, the vehicle departed from Yun City, heading towards a remote area.

“This time, the target is a mental hospital located twelve kilometers outside Yun City, situated halfway up a mountain. The surrounding environment is quite good; it used to be a private hospital before the arrival of the mutation,” Jiang Gao from White Dove introduced to the three.

“It is said that one needs an invitation or a referral to get treated here, so the outside world knows very little about what goes on inside. Strangely, even Mr. Mo’s connections couldn’t reach anyone who had been here before,” Song Mo added.

Xiao Lu’s gaze turned to the outside of the vehicle, where lush trees obscured his view; apart from the narrow road ahead, he couldn’t see where the so-called mental hospital was located.

Huang Sansheng couldn’t help but complain, “Rich people build hospitals in such peculiar places, don’t they mind the difficult roads?”

“A rich person’s hospital might still have supplies,” said Kang He from the Night faction.

“Those are ours,” his teammate revealed a greedy smile.

Xiao Keyang merely raised an eyebrow at his teammate’s words, not bothering to stop him.

The two from White Dove frowned slightly at this, but said nothing. This was the style of the Night faction, quite domineering, but their mission this time was reconnaissance, so it wasn’t appropriate to clash with the other side.

The members of the Divine Punishment Society remained engrossed in their prayers, indifferent to the discussions of others.

The vehicle continued through the forest, the trees growing denser.

The mysterious mental hospital gradually came into view.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here,” Huang Sansheng remarked.

Jiang Gao explained, “On the surface, it seems no one lives here anymore, but according to Night’s intel, someone once heard screams coming from this area, and the last known location of that squad was nearby.”

The vehicle stopped at a distance from the mental hospital, not getting too close.

Everyone disembarked cautiously and approached.

Surprisingly, the journey was exceptionally calm, with no ambushes, no hidden ghouls, and none of those mutants that occupied human bodies. Coupled with the clear moonlight tonight, illuminating the mountains and forests, even the wind felt gentle, giving a sense of a night stroll with friends.

“Are we really in the right place?” Huang Sansheng couldn’t help but whisper.

“Heh, is this the level of White Dove?” A member from Night named A Liang scoffed.

The others looked at Huang Sansheng, only Xiao Keyang glanced at Xiao Lu, his eyes seemingly amused.

Faced with the gazes of others, Huang Sansheng shrank his neck, unsure where he had gone wrong.

Xiao Lu ignored Xiao Keyang’s low-level provocation and said to Huang Sansheng, “Do you hear any sounds from insects or animals?”

Huang Sansheng instinctively shook his head, but after a moment, he realized, “Right, it’s too quiet here. Even on a school playground, you can hear the chirping of insects; how could it be this quiet in the mountains!”

Xiao Lu withdrew his gaze, looking at the few members of Night not far away, “You guys are skilled; instead of wasting time, how about you take the lead later?”

Xiao Keyang lowered his mouth and stopped A Liang, who was trying to step forward, “Sure.”

“Let’s wait and see,” Xiao Lu said calmly, showing no sign of fear.

Xiao Keyang no longer looked at him and led the members of Night ahead to clear the path.

The man and woman from White Dove scrutinized Xiao Lu, while the Divine Punishment Society continued to ignore everything, with some even taking the time to recite a passage from their scriptures.

·

The process of entering the mental hospital was unexpectedly smooth; it seemed that it had truly been abandoned, with the main door wide open, allowing them to come and go freely.

After checking one empty room after another, they found no one and no suspicious traces, causing even the others to start doubting whether they had made a mistake.

“What should we do? Continue or leave to report?” someone asked.

“I think it’s better to investigate first; after all, this place is so large, and there could be hidden areas,” Jiang Gao suggested.

“Why do this kind of physical work ourselves? It’s easier to call someone else,” Kang He from Night said disdainfully.

“Move!” Xiao Lu suddenly spoke.

Kang He looked at him, “What? Are you scared?”

Xiao Lu quickly scanned the surroundings, “When did the windows close?”

“What?!”

Everyone was startled and began to look around. When they entered, the windows in the room were both open and closed, but they had no idea when they had all been shut.

Xiao Lu was already heading towards the door, “Someone is here, maybe—”

Before he could finish, a metallic wall suddenly dropped from the ceiling, sealing the door shut.

But everyone present were ability users, with physical capabilities beyond ordinary people, and many were quick to react, immediately adjusting their positions to rush towards the seemingly weaker windows.

At that moment, a strange purple mist suddenly surged up, instantly obscuring their vision.

Having braced himself against the window frame, Xiao Lu suddenly felt his body weaken, the light he had gathered at his fingertips dissipating, his muscles losing strength, and his consciousness fading rapidly.

The last image in his sight was Ye Qi reaching out to him.

……

……

When consciousness returned, Xiao Lu felt he was lying in a cold place, his body so stiff that even moving his fingers was difficult.

Struggling to open his eyelids, he saw a pure white ceiling and… lights.

There was actually electricity?

Where is this? Inside the mental hospital?

With great effort, Xiao Lu raised his hand to his eyes; he was still wearing his previous clothes, but a syringe was inserted into the back of his hand, slowly delivering a colorless, transparent liquid into his body.

He yanked the syringe out, struggling to sit up; such a simple action left him utterly exhausted, as if he had just woken up from a long soak in a bathtub.

The metallic table beneath him made a soft sound; this was not a hospital bed but rather more like an autopsy table.

“Ha…” Xiao Lu gasped, his face pale to the point of transparency.

His familiar abilities had suddenly vanished, and this feeling was very unpleasant.

It was like having worked hard for decades, finally becoming a wealthy tycoon, only for the alarm clock to ring suddenly, telling you: Sorry, sir, you were just dreaming all night.

Xiao Lu’s gaze swept to the IV drip beside him; it must be related to this injection.

“Ivan.” Xiao Lu softly called in his mind.

“Ivan, at your service.” The semi-transparent, glutinous figure appeared brightly.

“What is this?”

“Beep—Scanning…”

【Injection Liquid X7384, causes ability users to lose their abilities for 2 hours; continuous injection can long-term suppress the activities of ability users.】

“According to the owner’s condition, the time until the drug effect wears off is 115 minutes.”

In other words, for the next two hours or so, he would have to operate in this dangerous place as a weak, ordinary person.

Xiao Lu moved his stiff body off the autopsy table and began to explore the room.

There were dozens of autopsy tables around, along with several tool tables. But the entire room was empty except for him, with no textual clues.

The heavy metal door was tightly locked, using an electronic lock; without a password or access card, it was impossible to open.

“Rustle—”

“Thud—”

Suddenly, strange sounds came from the ventilation duct above, as if something was inside.

Just as he turned his gaze over, the cover of the ventilation duct fell, and immediately, a shadowy figure pounced out from the duct.

Xiao Lu focused his gaze; a ghoul crawled on the ground like a beast, baring its half-rotten teeth at him.

But compared to other ghouls, this one was somewhat strange. Its body was covered in fragmented star patterns, and its limbs had obvious stitching marks; one arm was dark and strong, while the other was fat and swollen, clearly not belonging to the same person.

A stitched monster?

Before he could think further, the bizarre ghoul lunged at Xiao Lu.

Unable to use his abilities and with his body moving slowly, Xiao Lu was almost powerless to resist such an attack.

The ghoul opened its mouth wide, the half-rotten flesh inside emitting a foul stench.

Just as it was about to bite him, Xiao Lu instinctively rolled to the side, hiding behind the metallic autopsy table.

“Bang—” A solid impact sound echoed as the ghoul collided with the hard autopsy table.

That blocked it; it seemed this creature’s intelligence was lower than that of an ordinary ghoul, perhaps only at the level of a beast.

Just as relief washed over him, a drop of dark red liquid dripped down, quickly corroding a small dent into the ground.

Looking up, he saw the metal before him starting to show signs of corrosion.

Unconventional, it was a magical attack!

The ghoul shook its head; it had little capacity for thought, and even if its brain was hammered, it wouldn’t affect it much. Seeing that Xiao Lu was no longer in sight, it roared and lifted the metal table that obstructed its view.

Behind the autopsy table was empty; its prey was gone.

“Hiss…” The ghoul let out a low growl, crawling on the ground, searching the room.

Xiao Lu held his breath, hiding beneath a nearby autopsy table; the numerous autopsy tables in this room provided him with a temporary hiding place.

“Bang—”

“Bang—”

“Boom boom boom—” After several fruitless searches, the ghoul grew increasingly agitated, smashing the nearby autopsy tables with its fists.

Clearly, these fragile barriers wouldn’t protect Xiao Lu for long; the room was that small, and the ghoul was continuously destroying things. It wouldn’t be long before they faced each other directly.

The sounds of destruction echoed, heightening the sense of urgency while also indicating the ghoul’s location.

While keeping an eye on the ghoul’s movements, Xiao Lu quietly changed his position whenever the creature made noise, continuously contemplating a countermeasure.

This creature had low intelligence, poor sense of smell and hearing, but it was surprisingly strong, and its blood was corrosive. Engaging it head-on without abilities was tantamount to seeking death; he had to find its weakness.

Xiao Lu searched for potential weak points.

His gaze swept over the stitched arms, the facial features with stitching marks, and the back that seemed to have been opened repeatedly…

Suddenly, it stopped at a certain spot.

There was something on the ghoul’s spine, a transparent crystal-like object, with a flowing liquid inside.

It was a star pattern crystal!

In the later stages of the plot, the boss Duan Kai used this to control or create ability users; he implanted star pattern crystals into those who originally had no abilities, turning them into loyal subordinates who completely obeyed him.

Unexpectedly, something similar appeared now, albeit more crude, resembling a test subject.

Xiao Lu focused on the star pattern crystal on the ghoul’s back; as long as he dug it out, the connection between the star pattern and the body would be severed, like a toy with its battery removed.

·

After destroying another obstructive autopsy table, the ghoul’s gaze fell on a corner.

It heard a sound, faint, like the rustling of clothing.

That elusive prey was right there.

Its murky eyes locked onto the direction, and it no longer hesitated, charging towards the corner, leaping onto a tool table piled with junk, and smashing down a fist towards the hiding spot behind—

Only to unexpectedly hit a metal canister, the unknown liquid inside spraying out from the damaged area, splattering onto its arm and instantly producing a cloud of black smoke.

“Ah—” The ghoul let out a hoarse scream.

At that moment, the cabinet door beneath the tool table suddenly swung open.

Xiao Lu nimbly slipped out, his fingertips glinting with cold light, a scalpel quietly gripped in his palm, heading towards the ghoul’s back.

Before the ghoul’s scream had faded, the scalpel had already pierced through the dead gray flesh on its back, the sharp blade slicing cleanly, precisely digging out the embedded star pattern crystal.

The moment the crystal was removed, Xiao Lu distinctly felt the creature’s tense muscles relax, its grotesque body collapsing down, becoming a lifeless heap of flesh.

The stripped star pattern gradually dimmed, eventually turning gray.

Only then did Xiao Lu have the leisure to observe this bizarre ghoul and unexpectedly catch a hint of familiarity on its face; he had seen this person before, one of the three who had tried to capture him outside the supermarket when the mutation had just begun.

It was someone from the Public Security Bureau.

Why would someone from the Public Security Bureau be here? Was it an accident, or did they have a connection to this place?

Unfortunately, the corpse wouldn’t answer him.

After searching the body and finding no clues, Xiao Lu managed to crawl into the duct where the ghoul had appeared, leaving the room.

The duct was relatively spacious, not tight enough to trap a person.

Xiao Lu couldn’t help but worry about Huang Sansheng; if Ah Huang came in, would he get stuck and unable to move? He also wondered how the others were doing.

After advancing for a while, a stark envelope appeared ahead, incongruous with the surrounding environment, boldly labeled—

To Mutant 001.

【Author’s Note】

Thank you to the little angels who cast their votes or watered the nutrient solution for me between 2021-12-01 19:16:22 and 2021-12-02 18:29:05~

Thanks to the little angel who threw a landmine: Qiu Qiu is so cute (●°u°● 1 piece;

Thanks to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Jin Li 40 bottles; Some girl will never give up 20 bottles; Ning 11 bottles; Yu Qingwei’s ATM 10 bottles; Dawn Flame 1 bottle;

Thank you all for your support; I will continue to work hard!