Chapter 315: Echoes in the Dead Angle

"Dr. Lin," came Wang Gong's low, hoarse voice from behind, carrying the smell of smoke and machine oil, "Be careful. The hospital now... eats people."

Lin Yu's climbing movement paused, just for an instant.

He didn't look back, his arms exerted force again, continuing upward, disappearing into the deeper darkness.

At the same time, Chengzhai, "Lin Family Bone-Setting Hall."

Xu Xiaochuan "stood up" suddenly, like a trapped beast, pacing back and forth in the small room, kicking the medicine basket on the ground without noticing.

The ticking sound from the old monitor at Xuanyuan Qing's bedside became rapid and erratic, the waveform representing her heartbeat on the screen weak, almost pulling into a straight line, which was heart-stopping to watch.

The last bit of vitality on her face had completely faded, leaving only a deathly sallow color, her lips dry and cracked, the weak rise and fall of her chest almost invisible.

The silver needles Lin Yu had inserted before her bedside were trembling uncontrollably, chaotic and messy, like candles about to be extinguished in the wind.

"Lin Shu..." Xu Xiaochuan's throat was dry, his palms full of sticky cold sweat.

The mysterious mark on his back was burning madly at this moment, a scorching sensation rushing up his spine, straight to his forehead, pointing dead-set in a direction in the underworld—the city center, that huge white building, Haicheng First Central Hospital!

His heart sank suddenly, an ominous premonition surging over him: Lin Shu was in trouble! Definitely in big trouble!

Lin Yu had instructed before leaving that if there was no news in an hour, or if this place was exposed, he must take Xuanyuan Qing and evacuate.

Now... how long the hell had it been?

He suddenly raised his head, looking at the broken wall clock covered in dust, the position the hour hand pointed to making his heart tighten instantly.

Time had long passed!

Evacuate?

He looked at Xuanyuan Qing, who was unconscious and dying on the bed.

In this state, how to evacuate?

The medicine package left by Lin Shu had a map, leading to the abandoned subway line. That thin surgical scalpel was for cutting open the ventilation duct grille...

He subconsciously looked at the most inconspicuous vent in the corner of the inner room, then looked at Xuanyuan Qing.

He reached into his pocket and gripped the cold surgical scalpel, the coolness of the metal calming his chaotic thoughts just a little bit.

And that old phone... Lin Shu said it could be used at a critical moment.

Now, does it count as a critical moment?

He walked to the bedside and tried Xuanyuan Qing's forehead.

It was shockingly hot! Like a branding iron!

Toxins... have they completely broken through the suppression?

Deep in the underground pipe network, maintenance passage.

Lin Yu unfolded the oily note by the dim light of the emergency lamp.

Wang Gong's handwriting was crooked and stained with oil, but the meaning was clear: "Top floor East Wing, biological lock, Zhao Kang left a backdoor program, beware of backlash."

Top floor East Wing...

Publicly claimed to be a precision instrument maintenance center, but in reality, it was a highly isolated experimental area that Zhou Minghui had been running behind the scenes for years; he had heard of it back then.

Biological lock, expected.

Zhao Kang left a backdoor program? That dog thing, really cunning, wanting both the credit and a way out for himself.

But, "beware of backlash"... these four words made his heart sink.

Does backlash refer to the program itself being unstable? Or... something else?

Lin Yu quickly went through the structure map of the top floor East Wing in his mind.

Two paths. Internal dedicated elevator, definitely full of surveillance and guards. The other one, the one he was walking now, was an abandoned spare maintenance passage that could lead directly to the equipment platform on the roof, bypassing most conventional defenses.

Time was running out.

Xuanyuan Qing couldn't wait any longer.

Zhou Minghui must have already contacted "Ouroboros," and stronger pursuers could appear at any time.

Can't hesitate any longer.

He grabbed the vertical maintenance ladder and climbed upward rapidly.

The wound on his left arm hurt agonizingly with every exertion. Sweat streamed into his eyes, stinging uncomfortably.

The old iron ladder groaned under his feet, the creaking sound exceptionally harsh in the dead-silent passage.

The higher he went, the drier the air, and the smell of disinfectant became more intense and pungent.

Top floor, special monitoring area.

Close.

A few meters from the top floor exit, Lin Yu stopped and listened.

The sound of rhythmic footsteps came from above; it was a patrol team.

And the unique "click" sound when the electronic door lock closed.

The defense was very tight.

He pulled two thin, long silver needles from the inside of his sleeves, the needle tips flashing with cold light in the dim light, and held them between his fingers.

Adjusted his breathing, calculating the gap between the patrol team passing by.

Just as he was about to rush upward—

In his pocket, the micro-communication module he had swiped from Zhao Kang suddenly vibrated extremely slightly.

The screen lit up faintly, and a forced-reception encrypted message popped up.

The sender was marked: "Snake Eye."

The content of the message was extremely short, but every word was shocking: "Target value increased. Protocol changed: Capture priority, if necessary... clear. Zhou Minghui authority insufficient, waiting for takeover."

Lin Yu's body stiffened for a moment.

He reacted extremely quickly, his fingers operating rapidly on the module, deleting the message, and then without hesitation, he exerted force with his fingertips, accompanied by a fine cracking sound, crushing the micro-module into pieces.

"Ouroboros" people... have already intervened directly! Moving so fast?

Zhou Minghui was bypassed?

Damn it, the situation was completely out of control.

He raised his head, looking at the heavy iron plate cover at the end of the passage, which was the only exit to leave this damn pipe.

Damn it, must be faster!

Clang!

The rusted iron door behind him closed heavily, locking the chaos of the garage completely into another dimension. The darkness deep within the pipes was as thick as a physical substance, with only the faint halos of a few emergency lights in the distance outlining the contours of the menacing, intertwined metal pipes. The air was filled with a mixed scent of rust, mold, and lingering disinfectant; it was cold and damp, drilling into his nasal cavity with a sense of ancient decay.

This was the nerve ending of the Haicheng First Central Hospital's vast underground pipe network, leading to the most core and secret area. Lin Yu knew every inch of this cold metal by heart. Twenty years ago, this was the maze where he escaped reality and thought alone, and also the starting point for him to understand all the secret passages of this building.

Faint footsteps came from outside the door, accompanied by the low "buzzing" sound of metal detectors. Zhou Minghui's people were faster than expected. Lin Yu didn't stop for a moment, his body pressed very low, like a shadow merging into the darkness, sliding sideways into a horizontal ventilation duct beside him that was only wide enough for one person to crawl through. The pipe wall was covered in cold condensed water, 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. Above his head, the voices of the special agents were amplified and distorted in the pipe, sounding exceptionally eerie.

"Thermal imaging has no effective reading... the temperature below is abnormal, 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 gradually moved away; Lin Yu lay in wait for ten seconds before continuing to crawl deeper along the horizontal duct, following a path completely opposite to the ground exit.

At the end of the duct was a relatively spacious shaft intersection, where a few old booster pumps made a low, monotonous "woo-woo" sound.

Lin Yu poked his head out to scan quickly, and after confirming no one was there, he climbed onto a dusty spare climbing ladder beside it, every step of the climb causing the wound on his left arm to send a tearing pain. ===== CHAPTER 316 =====