Chapter 72: 70. The Lucky Snake Team

70. The Lucky Snake Team

"So this is where they come from?" After finishing that bizarre and grotesque story, Xin Junmao could not help but let out a long sigh.

At this point, the truth carried by this story could no longer shock him; he knew he was almost at death's door, and his only safeguard was the comb he carried with him, though he did not know just how powerful the strength that comb could unleash might be.

Xin Junmao glanced at the pool of blood and minced meat inside the carriage, noticed the duffel bag and diamond necklace buried under the flesh and blood, and as if realizing something, he swallowed hard and let out a laugh devoid of any joy, "You really deserve it, you bunch of lunatics."

Saying this, Xin Junmao stared at Zhang Xiaoxiao's corpse for a long time without speaking, secretly clenching his fists as if he had made some major decision; he put the items from Zhang Xiaoxiao's backpack and the diamond necklace from the ground into that duffel bag, tossed the backpack casually somewhere in the carriage, and then carried Zhang Xiaoxiao's corpse outside the train, placing it in a corner of the platform.

While tidying up Zhang Xiaoxiao's disheveled appearance, Xin Junmao said to the corpse, "If the legend you talked about is true, then if I do something like this, will you blame me?"

After wiping away the bloodstains, Zhang Xiaoxiao's remains became softer, and when Xin Junmao closed her eyes for her, the other person's appearance looked as if she were just asleep, quiet and peaceful.

Xin Junmao seemed to read consent in the corpse's expression; he grinned, his eyes carrying a trace of unclear madness, and said, "Good, as long as you agree."

He glanced at the train, then at the exit of the platform, revealing an expression that seemed both excited and angry, and muttered, "Daughter of Gluttony, aren't you going to come find me? No need, I'll come see you myself."

Climbing the steps, Xin Junmao walked toward the world above from which a blood-colored mist was emanating.

……

In the darkness, the light from flashlights scattered chaotically; between the flickering, intense flashes of light, the Mysterious Investigators holding firearms and the strange, strong blood-men constantly shifted their positions.

Gunshots rang out incessantly, the roars of monsters and the sharp shouts of humans overlapping, sometimes bursting, sometimes whistling, sometimes low... It took a long time to subside, leaving only whimpering, mournful cries and heavy, ragged breathing.

"Captain, we... we should keep moving forward." Li Yingqi's voice lacked any confidence, and she had no desire to push on; terror and exhaustion were suppressing her urge to act.

"Mm." He Jia'an answered with a sound from his nose, then turned back and said, "None of you are dead, right?"

"Still alive." The other three members of the Tiger Team responded in unison. In the intense battle just now, they had consumed quite a bit of stamina, but fortunately, they had brought emergency Stamina Potions; one injection later, they were immediately full of life and energy again.

However, what they had to be careful of was that after the sixteen hours the injection took effect, all of them would suffer double the fatigue. Many Mysterious Investigators within the Xuanmi Group had withstood the dangers of missions because of this, but failed to withstand the sudden, overwhelming exhaustion afterward, dying instantly from sudden cardiac arrest.

After experiencing the skirmish just now, the members of the Tiger Team also slowly began to understand why everyone who had entered the hidden Tunnel before had never returned.

Encountering that many blood-man monsters—if one were not battle-hardened and had not had experience maneuvering and fighting against various Alien God kin and Abnormal creatures, I fear only a very few could have fought them in the dark environment just now, as they excelled at fighting in the dark; defeat would have been only a matter of time.

Beneath their feet were the tracks; He Jia'an and his team were walking very carefully along the edges, constantly watching the gaps in the tracks while remaining vigilant of the surroundings.

After advancing about a kilometer, the group finally saw the first glimmer of light in the darkness.

"Is this... a subway?" Yu Lianyun looked at the rough outline of the object in the Night Vision Device and identified, "And a platform?"

"Looks like we've arrived." He Jia'an guessed.

Afterward, He Jia'an and his team squeezed through the gap between the subway and the platform, finally managing to climb onto the platform with some effort.

As soon as they climbed up, they saw a female corpse with a hole in her chest, and everyone could not help but be stunned.

Yu Lianyun utilized her forensic instinct; she stepped forward to examine the corpse and said, "Dead for less than two hours. The fatal wound is in the chest; I judge the murder weapon to be a large, cone-shaped object. The body has been moved, the clothes are dirty, but the face has been wiped clean."

"Who is the deceased?" He Jia'an asked.

Bu Gaojun replied from the side, "Zhang Xiaoxiao, a survivor of the female assassin's last train massacre. It seems she inadvertently broke the Sacrificial Ritual of Evolution Heaven and was targeted by those lunatics."

"Captain He... you'd better come take a look at this." Li Yingqi said in a dry voice. She was standing in front of the carriage window where blood was flowing from the door gap, looking at the miserable scene inside, and frowned deeply.

The group gathered around; Bu Gaojun felt dizzy after just one look and immediately withdrew his gaze, not daring to stare anymore. He Jia'an and Yu Lianyun also frowned as they watched, forcing themselves to endure the nausea while finishing their inspection of the scene.

"It seems this is the scene of Zhang Xiaoxiao's death. She encountered blood-men and members of the Evolution Heaven organization in the carriage and engaged in a battle with them..." Yu Lianyun said, stating her deduction, but as she spoke, she could not help but fall silent.

Because judging by the corpses and fragments at the scene, the number of enemies Zhang Xiaoxiao encountered before she died was not small, and there were even the heads of two blood-man monsters at the scene... If one were to really say that Zhang Xiaoxiao had engaged in a fierce battle with these guys before she died, then calling Zhang Xiaoxiao a female war god would not seem excessive.

Creak...

Just at this moment, He Jia'an and his team heard the sound of the iron door at the other end of the platform being opened; they immediately raised their guns to aim, preparing to fire.

But when they saw the appearance of the people walking out from behind the door, He Jia'an and his team were stunned. The people on the opposite side also stopped in astonishment after discovering He Jia'an and his team.

The Tiger Team and the Snake Team completed their rendezvous. He Jia'an bit down hard on his cigarette filter, looked at the unscathed members of the Snake Team, and said with a grin through gritted teeth, "You guys are really lucky, a safe journey?"

"Uh... we did encounter a mouse during the trip, and someone was accidentally tripped." She Zi'an seemed to hear He Jia'an's envy and jealousy; he was happy inside but feigned modesty on the surface as he spoke.

"Hahaha, does your squad have some kind of lucky star? Can you lend one to us for missions in the future?" He Jia'an laughed in frustration.

She Zi'an smiled shyly, "The members of our Snake Team have always been quite lucky; everyone is a little lucky star."

"Fine, then I'll borrow someone from you next time."

"Easy, easy..."

Li Yingqi listened to the conversation between the two captains and secretly curled her lip, then immediately asked She Zi'an and the others, "Did you guys run into anyone else over there?"

"Others? No." The members of the Snake Team looked at each other. Zhao Jing answered on behalf of everyone, shaking her head.

Li Yingqi pointed to a pair of footprints still present at the scene, which extended from the door the Snake Team had walked out of, all the way to here, and then toward the path leading out of the platform, saying, "There is a pair of fresh footprints here, likely a male."

"Could it be that someone got in before us? Hiss, or rather... did we just happen to miss him?" She Zi'an scratched his head. Seeing the questioning gazes cast by the group, he explained with a dry laugh, "We actually should have arrived here earlier, but we took a wrong turn halfway and circled around for a long time before coming back."