Chapter 83: Chapter Fifty-One: The Secret Room

The principle of 'New' is simple: it functions like an engine, with human flesh as fuel.

The more flesh provided, the stronger the power 'New' unleashes.

CCG is utterly insane to have invented this—regular use of 'New' isn't just about injury; it could even shorten your lifespan.

In CCG, it's not just Yuna using 'New'; Shinohara Kōki, Kuroiwa Iwa, and others are using it too.

This makes Su Xiao suspect that CCG’s high command doesn’t care at all about the lives of investigators.

From the high command’s various actions, Luo Yin clearly reveals an attitude: as long as they can expel ghouls, the investigators’ lives don’t matter.

Some senior investigators may have sensed this, yet they haven’t abandoned their posts, because they fight for their beliefs.

……

After catching the 'New' Su Xiao threw, it clung to Yuna’s upper body.

“I’ll need to rest for a while again.”

Yuna unhesitatingly pressed the switch at the back of her neck, reactivating 'New'.

Three seconds later, Yuna wielding the scythe had at least quintupled her strength.

“I’ll shred you all, hahaha~.”

Yuna let out a strange laugh, spinning her scythe as she swiftly slaughtered the remaining dozen eyeless ghouls.

In less than thirty seconds, the dozen eyeless ghouls were completely slaughtered.

Yuna killed ghouls quickly, but she fell faster—'New' had already begun devouring her.

“S-save me~.”

The Yuna who had just been slaughtering ghouls wildly now lay on the ground, reaching out to Su Xiao for help.

Su Xiao leaned against the wall, walked to Yuna’s side, and began forcibly peeling off the 'New' from her body.

“Riiip~. Riiip~.”

The sound of fabric tearing came as Su Xiao successfully removed the 'New'—but Yuna was left completely naked, stripped bare like a white lamb.

Blood trickled down her pale skin; she curled into a ball, one arm wrapped around her chest.

“Stop pretending to be a shrimp—get moving. There are at least a thousand of those ghouls out there.”

Though Yuna’s appearance was alluring, this wasn’t the time for such thoughts—life and death hung in the balance, danger could strike at any moment.

“But~… this is so embarrassing.”

Yuna remained curled on the ground, one hand covering her private parts, the other wrapped around her chest.

“Choose between embarrassment and becoming a corpse.”

Saying this, Su Xiao walked forward slowly—he needed to leave Area 24 as quickly as possible; it was more dangerous than he’d imagined.

“W-wait, wait for me.”

Yuna forgot her shame, Mianqiang stood up, retracted her Quinque, and followed behind Su Xiao.

“Please don’t turn around—I’m completely naked. Damn it, how am I supposed to go back to the surface like this?”

Yuna followed Su Xiao with an awkward posture, holding two Quinque cases in front of her body.

“Put this on.”

Su Xiao pulled out a set of clothes from his storage space and tossed them to Yuna, who dressed herself completely in just five seconds.

“Damn.”

Yuna suddenly stopped walking, her face grim.

“What?”

Su Xiao looked at Yuna.

“The battle was too intense—I lost the compass.”

Losing the compass after entering Area 24 meant a high risk of getting lost; once lost, the chance of survival was extremely slim.

“Don’t worry—I’ll mark our path. Based on my hand-drawn map, we’ll get out soon.”

Su Xiao slashed a straight line into the ground with Zhanlong Flash, marking the corridor’s location, then noted it on his hand-drawn map.

“I wonder how Ama has fared. Compared to you two, I’m just useless.”

Yuna lowered her head and followed behind Su Xiao.

“Ama won’t die.”

Yuna looked at Su Xiao, puzzled.

“If he could die so easily, I wouldn’t have held the rear for him.”

Through the original story, Su Xiao knew little about Ama Guijiang; after personal contact, he realized Ama Guijiang was a very clever man with many secrets.

“This way.”

As Su Xiao passed a corner, about to continue forward, he noticed something strange about the flesh wall beside him.

All other flesh walls were seamless, but before him, this one had a forty-centimeter-wide gap.

The gap was pitch-black; Su Xiao pulled out a powerful flashlight and shone it inside.

The gap in the flesh wall was narrow on the outside and wider inside; from his position, he could vaguely make out dusty objects within.

Yuna leaned her head over.

“Is this~… a secret room?”

“Probably.”

Su Xiao sheathed Zhanlong Flash and sidestepped into the gap in the flesh wall.

“What’s inside? I have claustrophobia—can we not go in?”

The Yuna who had slaughtered ghouls without mercy moments ago now showed clear fear.

“Those eyeless ghouls could appear at any moment. If you still want to fight them, you can stay outside—but in your current state, you’ll likely become their snack.”

As Su Xiao spoke, he had already squeezed deep into the gap; the space around him widened.

With the flashlight’s beam, Su Xiao surveyed the secret room.

A musty odor filled the room; various unknown objects were placed inside.

Some resembled wooden tables, others boxes—all buried under thick layers of dust, their shapes indistinguishable.

This resembled an ancient laboratory—no electronic devices at all. A dusty balance scale in the corner alone revealed its age.

“I hate tight spaces.”

Yuna squeezed into the room sideways, shaking dust from her head.

Su Xiao entered the secret room out of necessity—he was in poor condition and needed temporary rest.

He felt no danger here; otherwise, he would never have entered.

He instructed Yuna to place the Quinque cases at the edge of the flesh wall gap, to prevent it from suddenly closing.

Even if the Quinque cases couldn’t stop the gap from sealing, they might buy time to escape—their material was extremely hard, especially 'New's cases, forged from special alloy.

“This is~? A laboratory?”

“Yes, and it’s been here a long time.”

Su Xiao walked to a wooden table and wiped away the dust.

“Cough, cough, cough~.”

Dust swirled; Su Xiao coughed violently.

“Pam~.”

A glass vessel fell to the ground, shattering into fragments.

Su Xiao instinctively stepped back, observing the broken vessel on the floor.

The glass was shattered; from the shards, he recognized it as a beaker—its inner walls stained dark yellow, with suspicious black spots.

“There’s a place like this in Area 24? I’ve never seen it before.”

Yuna curiously scanned the surroundings.

After confirming the secret room posed no danger, Su Xiao leaned against the wall and pulled out a roll of bandages to wrap his wounds.

Yuna’s injuries were minor—all superficial; she was now experiencing post-'New' exhaustion and would recover after rest.

Su Xiao, however, was severely wounded—continuous battles had drained him, he’d been bitten by primitive ghouls, and 'New' had torn at him badly.

“Rest for a few hours, then we continue.”

Su Xiao took out food and fresh water, ate a little to regain strength, and gestured for Yuna to eat too.

He pulled out a [Salt Rice Ball], swallowed it in two bites—it restored 10% of his HP and accelerated his wound healing.

He didn’t use the higher-grade [Golden Fried Rice].

He still had one [Golden Fried Rice] left—his best remaining recovery food, now incredibly precious.

Yuna sat facing Su Xiao, replenishing food and water—her entire supply had been lost.

After eating the [Salt Rice Ball], Su Xiao felt his wounds had improved slightly.

He activated his imprint mentally and checked his current CCG contribution points—the primitive ghouls he’d killed had granted him a large amount.

He’d just killed over a hundred eyeless ghouls—would he gain contribution points from them too?

【Senior Investigator, Current Contribution Points: 7723/10000.】

Su Xiao’s eyes narrowed—he’d gained over five thousand CCG contribution points in a short time within Area 24.

This place held immense secrets, closely tied to CCG.

If he could uncover its secrets, then…

Su Xiao weighed his options: exploring Area 24’s secrets might make him break with CCG, but the rewards would be enormous.

Now wasn’t the time—even if he broke with them, it would be after exchanging for that blue-quality potion.