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Chapter 293: Hostile Ability Users

"...Should we go in?" Wang Baihu hesitated facing the pitch-black entrance. No one knew when the flames would spread, and if this place were also to be engulfed in fire and smoke, their situation would become very dangerous. Even if they weren’t roasted alive, they would most likely die from smoke inhalation and suffocation.

However, as he asked this question, Honglian had already stepped into the underground. "Ten minutes. No matter what we find, we’ll withdraw in ten minutes."

"Alright... don’t forget the time you set yourself," he helplessly followed since the team leader said so.

Lin Qing patted the top of Gua Gua’s head, motioning for it to wait outside the factory, then also squeezed into the entrance.

The stairs were steep, descending about five meters before the ground became level.

This was evidently not normal.

If it were a pre-designed basement, it should only be separated from the ground floor by a slab, making it easy to construct and use. Five meters was taller than a floor; digging this deep was unlikely for storage purposes.

This part seemed more like a space temporarily converted later on.

Knowing beforehand that someone was imprisoned underground, the three carried lighting tools, making it easy to see the place’s condition—it was far wider than expected and had numerous side passages branching from one main path, like a maze. The floor and walls had been hardened with cement, unlike the cage Zhang Zhiqui remembered. The air had a strong smell of smoke, indicating the air inside was circulating with the outside.

"I’d bet these underground rooms have nothing to do with production," Wang Baihu muttered. "But it doesn’t seem like a place to hold people either."

"Why?"

"Because it’s so quiet. Think about it... suddenly, smoke starts seeping in, getting thicker and thicker. They’d definitely panic, right? Once they panic, they’d inevitably shout and call for release, but now we can’t hear anything..."

Clatter.

Honglian suddenly stopped in her tracks.

It seemed she stepped into a puddle.

She pointed her flashlight downward, then frowned. It was clearly a stream of flowing blood, coming from a side path on the left. Judging by its freshness, it had probably just left a body not long ago.

"Shh." She made a silencing gesture and walked into that side path.

The scene changed again in front of them—this path was connected to an underground hall about 3.5 meters in height, just enough to accommodate the containers placed on either side. The moment Lin Qing saw those containers, she realized this was indeed where Zhang Zhiqui and Lu Lixin were held.

Chen Xuan was right after all.

The metal cages in his memory were really assembled from these containers!

Honglian approached one of the cages and shone her flashlight inside, "There’s someone in here, dead."

Lin Qing followed and saw a man lying in a pool of blood, his body twisted like a pretzel.

"There are bodies over here too, not just one." Wang Baihu said softly, "My God... if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe things like this could happen in Jiang City. Jiang Wenbin... he’s done for."

Illegal detention, murder... carrying out such heinous crimes on such a large scale and using a factory as a front. If this gets exposed, it would definitely cause a public uproar.

"Arson and murder to destroy evidence..." Honglian gritted her teeth, "Had we arrived a bit earlier, we might have been able to save these victims..."

"Victims? I doubt it," Lin Qing disagreed, "I interrogated Zhang Zhiqui in the consciousness space and found discrepancies with his statements. Deep down, he came here voluntarily."

"What?"

"Voluntarily?" Both were stunned.

"Yes, and I suspect Lu Lixin’s situation is the same. They already knew the drug could awaken their abilities; no one ever forced them or injected drugs into them. On the contrary, they craved the drug, fearing they might miss this chance to change their fate." Lin Qing revealed the truth to them.

Wang Baihu was taken aback, "If that’s the case... doesn’t that mean..."

Lin Qing nodded slightly, "The people who came here were likely carefully selected. They’re full of resentment towards the world, and what they’d do after gaining abilities is predictable. They’re like a pawn to be manipulated. This isn’t a prison but a ’sacred place’ for their awakening. The so-called detention is more of an isolation to prevent accidents during the drug injections."

Clap, clap, clap...

A rhythmic clapping sound came from the darkness.

"Very imaginative, and pretty much correct..."

"Who’s there!?" Honglian and Wang Baihu raised their flashlights simultaneously, discovering a towering figure at the other end of the passage.

"Too bad you got one thing wrong. Zhang Zhiqui and Lu Lixin are just inferior products, incomparable to a true awakened."

The figure moved into the light—a robust woman over 2.5 meters tall, her bronze skin glistening like oil, muscles on her arms sharply defined like stones. If there were a race of giants in the world, she’d undoubtedly look like this.

Honglian noticed the giant hands hanging by her sides were exceptionally large, with fingers as thick as ordinary small bowls. Moreover, her hands appeared to be soaked in blood, as blood droplets were dripping from her fingertips. Recalling the bodies twisted into pretzels in the cages, she coldly asked, "Were all those people killed by you?"

"Mm, they missed the chance for awakening, even more worthless than inferior goods," the woman acknowledged with a pleased nod.

"We are Dimensional Limit Mechanism enforcers, and you’re under arrest for ability-related crimes!" Wang Baihu drew a special mechanism-issued pistol, demanding, "Surrender now, or else—"

"Or else you’ll kill me?" The woman crossed her arms and rotated her wrists like warming up before exercise, "Sounds like something a Mechanical Man would say. Fine, the strongest will survive. All major principles are nonsense in front of ability users! Watch, I alone will crush you all to pieces!"

"Stop spouting nonsense," Lin Qing suddenly interrupted in a clear voice, "Your performance is quite good, but you’re not alone. There are two of you."

Just after she said this, a shadow swooped down from the top of the passage, cold glint aiming straight for her head.

Lin Qing ducked low, dodgetting the glint while delivering a high kick to the attacker, sending them flying backward.

The enemy somersaulted upon landing to absorb the impact, then vanished into the darkness as if the sneak attack never happened.

"He ran into another passage. I’ll track him; you handle this one," Lin Qing said and pursued.

"Miss Lin!" Honglian called out.

Lin Qing paused slightly and turned back.

"Unless necessary... don’t kill him. He should face justice... from either side."

She gave no reply but sped down the passage.

Though the encounter happened in a flash, the entire process was obvious—the burly woman shouted in front to attract attention while another ability user took the opportunity to sneak attack them. If the three had been less vigilant, they might have already been beheaded.

"Tch, and I thought the monkey was useful..." the woman sneered, "Could it be that person’s ability is some kind of detection?"

"I don’t know, but you don’t expect us to fall for that trick, do you?" Honglian said expressionlessly. "His ability seems like mimicry, his body almost blending with the environment. Unfortunately, the noise during the attack was too loud, and his clothes didn’t completely silence it. With enough care, one could notice."

"Trusting your last resort with him shows you don’t have much skill yourself," Wang Baihu tagged along, "This is the final warning. Resistance is meaningless; surrender now and spare yourself some pain!"

"Hahahaha..." The woman burst out in laughter, "I must make something clear, I’ve never considered the monkey a trump card. He just likes hiding in the dark and sneaking around, so I always let him act first. But... that doesn’t mean what I said before was to fool you..."

She leaned forward slightly, "My name is Yang Tieshan; remember it, for it’s the name of the person who will tear you apart with her own hands!"