Chapter 98.1 Crimson Sunset Expedition
With a mix of shock and amazement, Wen Shi broke free from the choking fog of the smoke bomb and ran mechanically.
“We are getting close,” the mini octopus reminded.
At the mention, Wen Shi looked up and saw the shipping containers right in front of him.
When he had just come down to the first underground level, he had seen these containers as soon as he stepped out of the elevator. Their presence assured him he hadn’t gone the wrong way this time.
Fueled by determination, Wen Shi rushed ahead and repeatedly pressed the elevator buttons.
Meanwhile, he turned his head to glance behind him. He couldn’t see the goat-headed security guard in the dim corridor. Only when the elevator doors opened did Wen Shi resume breathing normally.
With a little over a minute remaining, the game returned to its human form, not triggering another elevator incident at this crucial moment.
The elevator smoothly went up and came to a gentle stop in the lobby on the first floor.
The old elevator doors didn’t immediately open after stopping. The mini octopus extended its tentacle a bit, moving from Wen Shi’s shoulder to the old lady’s, completing a transition.
Wen Shi: “We can explore together after my surgery, it won’t be too late.”
The chameleon’s words were half true and half false. The danger on the second underground floor wasn’t exaggerated.
The mini octopus revealed a harsh truth, “Considering the dangers we’ve faced before, all the setups were aimed at you. We’ll split up, I’ll go ahead to scout, it’s safer.”
Wen Shi fell silent, placing the black hat onto the now larger octopus head.
“……” Well said, just don’t mention it next time.
The hat acted like a sealing godly weapon, making the octopus obediently quiet down.
The elevator doors opened. The teenager stood outside holding a steel pipe, one end stained with fresh blood. He must have encountered some monster.
The steel pipe was aimed directly into the elevator. Wen Shi instinctively took a step back.
The teenager sneered, “Look at your lack of courage.”
“My dear grandson, I made him wait,” the elderly woman softly explained from behind.
Wen Shi quickly understood the other’s intention after a brief thought. He didn’t delay any further, stepping out of the elevator and striding purposefully towards the operating room.
The teenager’s surgery was in the second session. Now, they walked together towards the operating room. As usual, he took the chance to throw in a sarcastic comment at Wen Shi, “I misspoke earlier. You’re quite courageous.”
Wen Shi could easily pick up on his sarcastic tone. He was mocking him for leaving the elderly woman’s protection.
If nothing unexpected happened, most of the shadows would choose the hunting quest. As someone with sealed skills, he was also a good target for hunting. Going solo carried a high risk.
“My safety is temporarily assured,” Wen Shi analyzed calmly. “As of now, I’m the first surgery patient. At least half the people will pay attention to it.”
Brain marrow beautification—just the name of the procedure sounded horrifying.
Those with even a hint of strategy would choose to witness a surgery’s outcome through an example first.
While conversing, the two of them had arrived just outside the operating room, where the scent of disinfectant was most potent. The corridor was illuminated by a rigid, contorted purple light, yet it didn’t induce an exceptionally eerie sensation. This was largely due to the relatively high number of people present in the hallway.
Wen Shi’s expression was hard to describe. He had earlier mentioned that at least half the people would be paying attention, but the reality was quite different.
Wen·Little Guinea Pig successfully arrived at operating room number six right on time, in the final minute. The plump nurse kept urging him on and scolded him for being slow.
Qian Laiye patted his shoulder in farewell. “Brother, take care.”
Crimson Sunset Cosmetic Surgery Clinic had something in common with Frank Hospital—it was full of sturdy, stout nurses, all moving lightly and surprisingly fast. Without careful observation, it was easy to become face-blind.
Wen Shi followed the plump nurse into the operating room.
The surgeon was completely covered, leaving only a pair of slender eyes visible. The surgeon turned to him, silently conveying the message to get onto the operating table.
Even though the surgery notice indicated potential dangers, Wen Shi wore the wristband and lay under the shadowless lamp. However, at that moment, he couldn’t help but flinch.
The surgeon, holding a sharp surgical blade, stood beside him and coldly said, “Administering anesthesia.”
On the adjacent wall, there were red letters spelling ‘Sweet Dreams,’ as if comforting a child to sleep. A cartoon moon wearing a sleeping cap was drawn next to it. The presence of this comforting image clashed with the overall cold atmosphere of the surgery room.
As the plump nurse approached closer, Wen Shi’s unease grew. In the split second of her bowing, he noticed a cartoon brooch pinned to her chest with the same moon motif. On it was a line of poetry: “May I stay drunk and never awake again.”
Just as she was about to administer the injection, Wen Shi abruptly shrunk back and grabbed the plump nurse’s arm. “Wait, is staying conscious during anesthesia considered an accident here?”
Speculating with the utmost suspicion was always the key to survival in the game.
Although the surgery notice stated that VIP patients wouldn’t experience anesthesia accidents, staying conscious under anesthesia might not necessarily be classified as an accident. After all, there could be extremely rare cases due to the patient’s unique constitution.
The system’s prompt sounded at the right time:
“You’ve noticed the potential special situation during the surgery.”
The plump nurse fell silent for a moment, not replying. After a brief pause, a muffled instruction came from the surgeon behind the mask: “Fetch some more painkillers, just in case.”
The plump nurse obeyed the order.
The changes in Wen Shi’s transformed body were gradually fading, but those cat-like pupils remained, bearing three parts of incredulity and seven parts of an urge to kill. He couldn’t imagine the consequences of not asking in time. Would he end up being operated on while awake, punctured… for brain marrow beautification?
Wicked hospital, you’ll get what’s coming to you.
When the plump nurse returned a second time, Wen Shi once again tried to strike up a conversation. However, this time, she remained silent and mechanically inserted the needle into his vein.
His eyelids grew heavy, and Wen Shi gradually fell asleep.
Before he could fully doze off, a sharp pain shot through his brain cortex. Wen Shi nearly leaped off the operating table, but in reality, he felt utterly weak, unable to muster the strength to lift a hand. In a daze, he seemed to hear the surgeon instructing the nurse to administer more painkillers.
“……” What happened to having a professional anesthetist for VIP patients?
Wen Shi couldn’t help but ponder. If he didn’t have the wristband, who would administer the drugs? Unfortunately, before he could delve further into this question, he drifted back to sleep once again.
After an unknown period of time, what woke Wen Shi was the game’s notification sound.
“Congratulations, you’ve successfully undergone brain marrow beautification surgery.”
“Congratulations, your memory has been permanently increased by five percent.”
“Note: You cannot engage in killing shadows until ten minutes before one.”
Wen Shi made an effort to move his fingers, attempting to break free from the dark state. When he struggled to lift his eyelids, he realized he was in a communal ward. The surroundings were too quiet. Under the flickering lights, all the patients on the beds had undergone head surgery, wrapped up quite tightly.
The gauze couldn’t mask the smell of blood, thick and accumulated, similar to the scent of rust.
“Mmm…” His head was still throbbing. Layers of bandages wound around his forehead. As Wen Shi’s fingertips touched the edge of the bandage, he felt like he had turned into a mummy.
“Where is this…” There were at least a dozen beds around him. The incessant humming sound might come from the broken ceiling light or the aftermath of the surgeries. Wen Shi saw the patients wearing wristbands on their hands. “VIP ward?”
The elderly woman had provided him with the wristband. Because he hadn’t personally done any tasks involving stealing wristbands, this area was unfamiliar to him.
Wen Shi got out of bed and walked to the window. The cold wind cut through the gauze like scraping against bones, causing him to wince. He looked down and quickly identified his current location—the hospital’s top floor: the fourth floor.
He speculated that all the VIP patients who had undergone surgery would be sent here afterward.
Some patients had their wristbands taken away. Without thoroughly checking, Wen Shi heard the sound of a stretcher and hurriedly lay back on the bed.
After a while, a new patient was brought in. The plump nurse helped move the person from the stretcher onto a bed, and then left with the empty stretcher.
Once the footsteps faded, Wen Shi got out of bed and looked, feeling happy. Wasn’t this his own shadow?
The teenager had an impressive resolve. He had managed to secure the steel pipe to his arm during the surgery.
“Hey.” Wen Shi nudged him.
The teenager didn’t react.
Mimicking the voice of the girl, Wen Shi deliberately pinched his throat and said, “My dear grandson, woo woo woo~”
A tender, almost cat-like whimper resonated in the ward. When the teenager heard the crying, his body instinctively responded. His extremely pale face twisted slightly, and he subconsciously called out, “Grandma.”
Slowly waking up, he turned his head and locked eyes with a smirking face. After a brief silence, the teenager gritted his teeth and said, “Wen Shi, are you crazy?”
Wen Shi put a finger to his lips, signaling him to stay quiet.
Despite feeling dizzy, the teenager observed Wen Shi, who was still moving around the patients. Irritated, he said, “There’s not much to explore in this ward. The only danger is that patients wake up at regular intervals to use the restroom. They’re aware of their fellow patients, so if they spot you, you have to strike first. Otherwise, the night shift security guard will be alerted.”
Now wasn’t the time for banter. The two slipped out of the ward. The teenager had done the wristband task, so he knew the layout of this floor. “Ahead, there are three rooms in total. One is a cold storage chamber for storing fresh corpses. The two bodies from earlier players are in there. Further ahead is the transplant patient compartment. What exactly is being transplanted is unclear. The innermost room requires a swipe card to enter.”
Originally, he wanted to explore the cold storage chamber more, but the flashlight’s beam caught a patient’s attention, leading to a fierce confrontation between them.
After listening, Wen Shi understood the source of the teenager’s steel pipe’s purple-red bloodstains.
The patients here had human appearances but were essentially monsters. They had simply been surgically altered to resemble humans.
He thought for a moment. “Let’s find a hiding spot and wait for Yu Xingzhou.”
The teenager understood his concern. He was worried about encountering Yu Xingzhou’s shadow later on. Once he used his time freeze, everyone would be in trouble.
“The points, usage, and cooldown of this skill are definitely strictly limited.” Wen Shi’s voice was hoarse and low after waking up from surgery. “But no one knows where the limits lie.”
Tonight, they could only be safe if they stuck together with Yu Xingzhou the entire time.
During the wait, players and shadows were continuously brought to the VIP ward. The teenager felt an itch to wipe them all out, but there were restrictions in place due to Wen Shi’s presence. To prevent anyone from exploiting the time difference during surgery for killing, the game strictly forbade mutual slaughter before the designated time.
Staking out Yu Xingzhou went smoothly. He was brought up with the newbie.
Wen Shi had specifically noted the surgery time for Shadow Yu Xingzhou. At this moment, the shadow should be on the operating table. He eagerly shook the two awake.
Yu Xingzhou’s waking process was calm. In contrast, when Song Yan saw the unfamiliar surroundings, he nearly let out a startled cry.
This unlucky kid sometimes had some luck, like being able to have surgery at the same time as Yu Xingzhou. Furthermore, after being separated from Wen Shi earlier and forced apart, the elderly woman had gone down to find Wen Shi and conveniently tossed Song Yan into a trash bin. She used magic to conceal his living presence.
“Bo… boss,” Song Yan’s tongue wasn’t cooperating well.
Wen Shi: “Let’s go check out the cold storage chamber.”
Since they were on the fourth floor, naturally they had to explore around a bit. Since he had arrived on the fourth floor, it was only fitting to take a complete tour. The Divine Evolution Potion was a part of it, along with Wen Shi’s main objectives for this visit: exploring the cosmetic surgery clinic and uncovering the presence of the key.
Yu Xingzhou shared the same goal, so they quickly reached an agreement.
Wen Shi: “What about Guild Leader Li?”
Yu Xingzhou: “He’s in another operating room. The player before Li Nan went crazy. After coming out, he destroyed equipment and attacked people. The night shift security guard took him away in the end.”
Consequently, the surgeries that followed were delayed due to this little incident.
Wen Shi slowly spoke two words, “Anesthesia awakening.”
Yu Xingzhou nodded. They had noticed the possible risks during surgery and were fortunate to come out unscathed.
“Let’s go.” Yu Xingzhou didn’t wait for Li Nan. He was here for the key, and aside from occasional information sharing, he wouldn’t compromise on this matter with Li Nan.
The cold storage chamber was less than twenty meters away from the communal ward. As they walked there, Song Yan muttered under his breath, “So close, it’s like waiting for the people in the ward to die quickly, making it convenient to transport them to the mortuary.”
In his eyes, the cold storage chamber was no different from a mortuary.
When they actually stepped inside, he realized there was quite a difference. The room was filled with things resembling biopods, clearly representing high technology. The surfaces of the pods were covered with transparent lids, and there was a constant flow of cold air inside.
“Whoa…” He covered his mouth just in time, preventing himself from exclaiming aloud.
Wen Shi stood not far behind Song Yan. Upon seeing the interior of the chamber, his eyebrows furrowed.
The cold storage chamber had its own circulation system. The cold air would dissipate and then reset at regular intervals, maintaining a constant temperature range throughout. When the mist cleared, they could clearly see a headless body inside, with the head cut off cleanly from the neck. The frozen wound glistened with ice. Judging from the attire, it was the shadow of the tour guide.
The teenager: “When I came here before, the head was still there.”
Wen Shi’s gaze shifted. “Go to the compartment for transplant patients.”
The teenager thought of a certain possibility. “Head transplantation?”
Wen Shi shook his head. “It probably isn’t that simple.”
The ward doors were locked, but the communal ward had a distinctive feature—each room had a very large glass window, allowing for easy observation of the patients’ conditions.
Inside, there were no lights on. As they got closer to the room at the end of the corridor, the hallway lights grew dimmer. The group had to rely on their phone flashlights to illuminate the area.
Beds were separated by glass panels. The teenager had been discovered by a VIP patient who got up in the night. After silencing him, the teenager hastily escaped. Now, for the first time, he carefully observed the situation inside. All the patients had their heads wrapped in thick layers of gauze, particularly at the location of their skulls.
Wen Shi had been looking for a while, about to say something, when he heard the sound of something breaking through the air. He quickly dodged.
The flashlight’s beam flickered wildly with his movement. For an instant, it illuminated one end of an iron chain. Wen Shi’s heart skipped a beat—the night shift security guard had arrived!
He had personally experienced the power of that iron chain—it could even attack people autonomously. As Wen Shi scrambled to evade, he looked at Yu Xingzhou. The latter shook his head. “Time freeze doesn’t work on them.”
Behind them was a dead-end with only one room, which required a key card to access. Charging towards it would be futile.
Wen Shi instinctively raised his hands, assuming a surrendering posture.
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