Chapter 314: Torn Past

A buzzing sound of electricity rang out, and several emergency lights splashed by water exploded with sparks and went out.

In the chaos, Lin Yu's figure wove like a ghost. He didn't just dodge, but cold glints flashed from his sleeves, and several silver needles as thin as cow hair popped out silently, precisely sinking into the neck, wrist, or knee joint gaps of several special agents. Those hit felt a burst of intense soreness and numbness, their bodies uncontrollably softening, weapons slipping from their hands, temporarily losing the ability to act.

All this happened in the blink of an eye.

Before Zhou Minghui could react, Lin Yu had already rushed to the side of Zhao Kang, who was lying limp on the ground, grabbed him by the neck, and used his semi-conscious body as a shield in front of him.

"Don't move!" Lin Yu's voice pierced through the sound of water and smoke, "Otherwise, I can't guarantee whether his brain can still hold those 'precious' data."

The special agents' movements paused in unison, their gun muzzles lowering hesitantly.

Zhou Minghui's face became even uglier. Zhao Kang, this guy who failed more than he succeeded, indeed held some key information he needed to report to "Ouroboros," and even to shirk responsibility if necessary.

"Lin Yu, put him down, you can't escape." Zhou Minghui tried to stabilize the situation.

"I need a car, filled with gas. Also, within ten minutes, send all the original experimental records regarding YA-001 in the special monitoring area upstairs to the garage entrance." Lin Yu held Zhao Kang hostage, retreating slowly, while at the same time, his fingers gripping Zhao Kang's neck secretly pressed several times on a tiny communication module inside the collar of his combat suit, emitting an extremely faint pulse signal that could only be received by a specific frequency.

Zhou Minghui fell into a brief hesitation, calculating the gains and losses. The special agents were also waiting for new instructions, readjusting their formation, trying to find a shooting angle.

This was the gap!

Lin Yu violently pushed Zhao Kang toward the few special agents directly in front!

In the moment they subconsciously went to catch or avoid Zhao Kang, Lin Yu's body suddenly lowered and turned, pouncing like a hunting leopard toward a square iron door on the side wall that was inconspicuous and covered in rust—that was the entrance to the hospital's complex underground pipeline maintenance passage.

With a loud bang, he slammed into the rusted door lock with his shoulder.

Amidst the mist and smoke, his figure disappeared into that deeper darkness.

Clang!

The heavy iron door closed behind Lin Yu, the rusted hinges making a teeth-aching creaking sound, soon swallowed by a deeper silence.

The gunfire, water sounds, and curses in the garage were completely isolated, as if they were things from another world, with only boundless darkness in front of him.

On the wall, there was an emergency light every long distance, barely illuminating the shadows of pipes, valves, and spider webs crisscrossing, the air filled with a strange smell of rust, mold, and disinfectant, both cold and damp.

Down here was the Haicheng First Central Hospital's vast underground pipeline maintenance system, the blood vessels and nerves of this building.

Twenty years ago, he didn't know how many times he had crawled here, familiar with every fork in the road, every valve, and even which part of the wall was the least sturdy; this was his territory.

Footsteps came from outside the iron door, accompanied by the low "buzzing" sound of metal detectors. Zhou Minghui's people were catching up.

Lin Yu didn't stop, his body pressed very low, sliding into a horizontal ventilation duct beside him that was only wide enough for one person to crawl through, the inner wall of the duct covered in cold condensed water, both slippery and cold.

He held his breath, pressing his whole body against the cold metal pipe wall, avoiding the infrared scanning that might exist in the main passage.

The voices of the special agents came from above, amplified and distorted in the pipe, sounding exceptionally eerie.

"Thermal imaging has no response... the temperature below is too low, interference is severe."

"Life detector signal interrupted here! Fluctuations are chaotic, unable to lock on."

"Multiple interferences... this damn place is like a rat's nest!"

"Search separately! Team A advances along the main duct, Team B checks the branch lines on both sides, Team C blocks the power distribution room exit leading to the upper floor, he must be trying to break out upward!"

The footsteps split into several groups, getting further and further away; Lin Yu waited quietly for a few seconds, and after confirming there was no one for the time being, he didn't go up, but continued to crawl deeper along the horizontal duct, the direction completely opposite to the ground exit; the most dangerous place was sometimes the one no one paid attention to.

He needed time, and even more, he needed to figure out the situation; where was Xuanyuan Qing? Where exactly was that "special monitoring area"? How many people were guarding it?

Zhao Kang, that fool, spoke unclearly; the duct crawled to the end, which was a slightly spacious shaft intersection, where a few old-fashioned booster pumps were making a low, monotonous "woo-woo" sound.

Lin Yu poked his head out, looked around, no one.

This place looked like a small relay pump room, with a few old machines humming.

He didn't take the main maintenance ladder, but grabbed a dusty spare climbing ladder beside it and began to climb up.

Climbed three floors.

Sweat soaked the clothes on his back, and the wound on his left arm hurt agonizingly with every exertion.

He gritted his teeth, his movements not deforming at all.

At a platform with a "3F-Ventilation System-East" sign, he stopped.

This connected to the ventilation duct of the East District on the third floor of the inpatient department.

He was just about to continue upward when he caught sight of a back in blue maintenance overalls crouching on the ground around the corner ahead, seemingly tinkering with a large ventilation machine box.

Lin Yu's whole body muscles tightened instantly, his right hand quietly reaching toward his waist.

That person seemed to feel something, his movements paused for a moment, and he slowly stood up and turned around.

A face worn by life, with fine lines at the corners of his eyes.

It was Old Wang, Wang Jianguo.

Twenty years ago, when Lin Yu was still in the hospital, Wang Gong had just arrived and was still an apprentice. Once, an operational error almost burned down the power distribution room, and it was Lin Yu who secretly helped him clean up the mess, so he wasn't fired.

Wang Gong saw Lin Yu, his turbid eyes first showing astonishment, but soon turning into an indescribable look.

He didn't shout, nor did he report it, just looked at Lin Yu silently, his lips moving, but finally saying nothing.

Lin Yu was also silent.

Time seemed to have stopped.

Wang Gong lowered his head and continued to tinker with his machine box, his movements looking a bit clumsy.

He took a screwdriver from his pocket, wanting to tighten a loose screw.

Don't know if his hand slipped or what happened, the screwdriver "clattered" and fell to the ground, rolling right to Lin Yu's feet.

Under the metal handle of the screwdriver, there was a small note, stained with oil and folded up.

Wang Gong didn't even look at the tool that fell, turning to tinker with the control panel on the other side.

Lin Yu bent down, quickly picked up the screwdriver and the note, gripped the note in his palm, and placed the screwdriver gently on the toolbox beside him.

He didn't delay, turning to grab the maintenance ladder leading to higher floors. ===== CHAPTER 315 =====