Chapter 232: Leaving the Laboratory

Ahhh! Help, monster!

A scream echoed from the end of the corridor, and a man in a white lab coat ran past the corner, crying out.

In the next instant, a black shadow flashed by, lunging the man toward the corridor exit, a splattering sound accompanying it, and crimson blood streamed along the corner onto the floor.

Naimi Xisi's complexion changed; his five senses, unlike those of ordinary people, clearly saw that the black shadow was a monster of towering height, with slender limbs and a head replaced by a blood‑filled gaping mouth resembling a fully bloomed sunflower.

He gritted his teeth and ran toward the opposite end of the corridor; his Mana was precious and could not be used in a head‑on clash, so the sudden monster might not be a bad thing—he could use the chaos to flee!

The laboratory interior was extremely labyrinthine; Naimi Xisi, guided by vague memories, ran through several corridors and found corpses everywhere on the ground, all gnawed by the monster.

As he walked, a sudden noise rang from a distant corridor, and Naimi Xisi hurried into a nearby room.

He half‑closed the door and looked out, spotting a squad of armed guards with pistols.

The guards were walking when, suddenly, a chilling monster leapt out from the corner.

The creature's body was contorted, bearing the signature sunflower‑like head—it was the same monster as before.

"Fire! Fire!"

Stunned, the guards quickly recovered, raising their guns and firing. Bullets rained toward the monster, piercing its flesh, yet they had no effect and only made it roar even more berserk.

The monster was unfazed by the gunfire; it lunged at the guards at breakneck speed. In an instant, a guard was seized by its massive blood‑filled gaping mouth; with a chilling chewing sound, the guard's scream abruptly ceased as the monster swallowed him whole.

The remaining guards, terrified, tried to scatter, but the monster's speed was extreme, biting and devouring them one after another. The corridor filled with a scent of blood and dread, as if it had become a living hell.

Naimi Xisi watched everything outside the door calmly, staying motionless and daring not to make the slightest sound.

He didn't know how many such monsters remained, nor whether his remaining five points of Mana could kill it; he had to proceed cautiously.

After the monster killed everyone, it let out a howl as if protesting, then slammed a corpse hard against the wall.

After venting, it left without any lingering attachment.

Seeing it leave, Naimi Xisi let out a sigh of relief and hurried out of the room to continue fleeing.

Mid‑escape, he happened to pass Subject 11's room; recalling that his purpose was to rescue the little girl from the laboratory, he entered intending to take her, only to find the room already empty.

"Did she run away?" Naimi Xisi frowned.

He didn't want a single visit to be his only chance to come here; he could only hope the little girl could protect herself with her powers.

The escape continued; the nearer he got to the exit, the more anxious Naimi Xisi became. The monster was brutally savage—corpses littered the corridor, no living soul remained, everyone in the laboratory had been slaughtered.

"Tsk, I originally wanted to personally avenge the humiliation, but never mind then."

Naimi Xisi shook his head, preparing to keep fleeing.

At that moment, a strong gust slammed into the back of his head!

His gaze darkened; without turning, the final five points of Mana in his body suddenly burst forth.

Five‑Ring Mana—【Mind Crush】!

He formed his right hand into a claw; the monster that surged from behind was stunned as if struck on the head by a massive bell, its body freezing mid‑air before collapsing powerless to the ground.

"Roar!!" He turned back, coldly lowering his gaze at the monster on the ground screaming in pain, and clenched his right hand tightly.

Bang!

The monster's sunflower‑like head seemed to be crushed from afar, exploding like a shattered watermelon, its body collapsing lifelessly onto the ground.

"You know nothing of life and death," Naimi Xisi said coldly, staring at the corpse. Fury boiled inside him; he had intended to keep those five points of Mana as a safeguard, but the damned beast had wasted them.

"Hmph!"

He let out a displeased snort, turned back to the monster's originating room, which turned out to be a storage‑like room.

He stepped inside and unexpectedly discovered his own clothes from when he first arrived through the portal were stored there.

He hurriedly rummaged the room, hoping to find his spatial bag, which contained many Magic Items bestowed by his original self!

Earlier the Magic Net had fallen silent, rendering Magic Items unusable, but now it was different.

Though still faint, he could feel the Magic Net gradually recovering.

If Magic Items could be used, it would be a considerable aid for him, now lacking casting resources.

Unfortunately, after searching everywhere, he found no spatial bag; everything stored in the clothes had vanished.

The only oddity was that the clothes occupied a central compartment of the room, and the adjacent compartment next to the clothes was completely empty.

!

Naimi Xisi brushed his hand over it; the compartment was covered in dust except for a blank spot in the middle untouched by dust.

This indicated that something had once been placed there and had been taken away only recently.

"Is it the spatial bag?" Naimi Xisi lowered his gaze, pondering for a moment, then decided to abandon the search; in any case, he needed to find a safe place to restore his Mana first.

Once he regained his strength, he would have the means to look for the missing spatial bag.

Thus, he left the room and continued his escape; the laboratory's main gate was soon reached, and aside from the corpse‑strewn floor, it was completely safe, as if the swift monsters had already fled.

Naimi Xisi pushed open the gate; it was night outside, and under the bright moonlight the plaza outside the laboratory building was full of corpses, not a single living person.

Naimi Xisi frowned, walking cautiously in the shadows, but after a while realized there was no need to be careful.

The entire security department outside the laboratory building had been wiped out!

To prevent any mishap, he hurried toward the perimeter gate of the laboratory area.

Only when he stepped out of the gate did he finally exhale a slight sigh of relief.

He looked back at the characters etched on the gate, a cold hue flashing in his eyes.

"Hawkins National Laboratory, huh? I'll be waiting!"

The grudging Juan Ce Long gritted his teeth; the month‑long humiliation etched in his memory would haunt him forever. Since his birth up to now, no one had ever kicked him, called him a fool, or teased him for amusement.

Outside the laboratory zone, Naimi Xisi walked along the asphalt road and soon noticed that both sides of the road were covered by forest.

"The main road could be dangerous; aside from those monsters, if the laboratory encounters an accident and sends other soldiers, they'd probably take this road as well."

Naimi Xisi glanced at the adjacent forest and decided to go through it; as an artificial being he still needed to replenish his energy through food and drink, and the wild animals in the forest suited that purpose.

(End of Chapter)