Chapter 99.1 Crimson Sunset Expedition
As soon as Li Nan entered the operating room, he was met with one enthusiastic face after another, every pair of eyes looking directly at him.
He caught a glimpse of the surgeon’s scalpel, and suddenly felt that the terrifying blade wasn’t much different from the gazes of these people.
Li Nan focused his curious look mainly on Yu Xingzhou and slightly expressed confusion with a nod.
Yu Xingzhou gestured with his hand and casually said, “It’s nothing.”
No one could tell the expression hidden behind the chilly mask.
People fell silent, and the sounds of surgeon and nurses working and stitching wounds filled the operating room.
Those who came in would get task prompts. Li Nan looked at the cabinet behind the surgeon and was the first to speak, breaking the silence. “What’s your plan?”
They all looked at him without words.
The plan was right in front of them.
Li Nan: “……”
Had they gone crazy?
Drip, drip—
A series of urgent beeps sounded.
After the stitches were done, the numbers on the instrument immediately began to fluctuate. Soon, they dropped rapidly. The head surgeon had grown accustomed to this sight, but still felt somewhat disappointed.
A plump nurse closest to him looked at Wen Shi and the others with malicious little eyes. “There are many specimens to experiment with today. Maybe a breakthrough can be achieved.”
As expected, the head surgeon’s excitement surged once again. He removed his blood-soaked gloves and put on a fresh pair. Unlike normal people who would be exhausted after a major surgery, the surgeon, of an unknown species, showed no signs of weariness. He immediately urged the nurses to clear away the failed experimental subject from the operating table.
While removing the tubes from the deceased man, the plump nurse said, “Aren’t you too impatient? In the past, when we only swapped the cerebellum, the patient’s survival rate was slightly higher.”
Although the results weren’t great, only one out of ten remained unconscious. Then they were all sent to the transplant patient compartment for observation.
The surgeon who was questioned glared at her unhappily. The plump nurse stopped talking. As she untied the restraints, she transferred the frustration she received from the surgeon to the new little guinea pigs.
“Have you decided?” the plump nurse asked maliciously, “Who’s going first?”
“Him.”
Except for the teenager, everyone stepped back, all pointing at Li Nan.
Li Nan wasn’t indignant about being pushed forward. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “What kind of arrangement is this?”
The newcomers stay, push one of them out–a law of sacrifice for the stronger?
The teenager picked up a steel pipe, as if afraid someone would run away, “I’ll take you over.”
Behind the scenes, Wen Shi silently observed. The teenager gave up devouring. After the team battle quest, he wouldn’t be able to use his skills anymore. Everything he enjoyed now would eventually be wiped out, including points. While he still could, he naturally wanted to make the most of it.
Unfortunately, the【Feigned Corpse】skill had a limited number of uses per instance. Otherwise, Wen Shi could have made the game much more interesting.
The plump nurse’s smile grew wider as she saw the teenager threatening people with the steel pipe. Watching people engage in mutual destruction was much more entertaining than assisting in surgery.
Li Nan cooperatively took a step forward. His hand, tucked in his pocket, had yet to be revealed. The teenager guessed he might be holding a highly destructive tool. With an apparently casual movement, he pushed the steel pipe slightly forward, poking the Li Nan’s flank.
Intelligent people know how to coordinate. Li Nan understood that the shadow was preparing to attack.
The moment the man’s body was dragged away, the teenager nonchalantly approached. In the next second, the blood-stained body suddenly stood up in place, its movements exaggerated. Some bits of brain matter that hadn’t been cleaned from his forehead splattered out, and droplets of viscous liquid scattered in different directions. Some landed on the nurse’s body, and others on Li Nan’s neck.
“Cover me while I grab something,” the teenager whispered, fiercely jabbing the steel pipe toward the plump nurse.
The monsters were startled, let alone Li Nan. His calm expression almost cracked open. He had considered countless strategies, but resurrecting a corpse was definitely not one of them.
A sharp pain shot through the shoulder as the plump nurse got stabbed by the steel pipe. Just as she was about to erupt in anger, Wen Shi by the door suddenly exclaimed, “Heavens! The brain transplant is successful.”
Once cut open, it revealed black sesame paste filling. Yu Xingzhou coolly added, “Quickly kill this specimen. It’s a real monster.”
Blood stains on his head and clumps of semi-long hair stuck to his face obscured his scattered pupils. The deceased man grabbed a nearby scalpel and wildly waved it around, his throat emitting gurgling sounds.
Naturally, the surgeon was most concerned about the specimen. Misguided by Wen Shi, he immediately warned, “Don’t let them get close to the specimen!”
Seeing the plump nurses ready to attack the specimen indiscriminately, the surgeon got even angrier. “Even if you die, he can’t die!”
The contents of the surgical cart were overturned by the man. The drugs injected before his death lost their effect. After his resurrection, he briefly regained the immense strength of a beastkin.
“Thirteen seconds,” Wen Shi began the countdown.
The surgeon rushed toward the specimen, while the teenager took advantage of the chaos to head toward the cabinet. Midway, the surgeon subconsciously tried to stop him, but Li Nan intervened. He held a cross pendant in his hand, and a white light flashed before the surgeon’s eyes. He felt as if his soul had been sucked away for a second. When he came to his senses, the teenager had already opened the cabinet door.
“You’ve obtained 2 tranquilizers.”
“Eight seconds, hurry,” Wen Shi reminded.
Without time to read the usage instructions, the teenager quickly pressed the red button hidden behind the cabinet.
The door to the operating room opened.
The surgeon was furious. His original strength was formidable. In his anger, part of his body transformed into his beastkin form. His sharp claws pierced through sterile gloves as he lunged toward the teenager.
The teenager stood his ground, the steel pipe attacking the corpse. It was as if he was determined to eliminate the specimen.
Even with his anger reaching its peak, the surgeon reflexively withdrew his claws to protect his creation.
“Hold him down, I’ll administer the anesthesia!”
The surgeon ordered the plump nurses to restrain the flailing body while he prepared the anesthetic. Just as he picked up the needle, the frenzied man’s body went limp, falling heavily backwards.
A loud bang left the surgeon stunned in place.
“Let’s go!”
Without needing Li Nan’s reminder, the teenager had already desperately sprinted toward the door.
How much time they had depended on luck. The surgeon examining the body would also take some time.
As the teenager neared the door, the surgeon behind finally realized they might have been tricked. He didn’t know why the body exhibited anomalies, but his suspicion fell on the new batch of little guinea pigs: “Security!”
The surgeon’s furious roar seemed to echo through the entire hallway, “Catch them for me!”
He was still persistently hoping to catch a glimpse of any signs of revival in the deceased man.
Upon successfully fleeing the operating room, Song Yan found no immediate relief. Instead, he felt somewhat anxious. The lights in the operating room had been smashed by the corpse’s recklessly thrown cart, leaving only a fraction of them still functional. The lighting now intermittently flickered, casting the space in an uncertain and fluctuating illumination.
The hallway was even darker.
He hesitated to rush forward, constantly feeling as if the security guard was approaching.
Wen Shi’s actions confirmed to Song Yan that it wasn’t just his imagination. Bravely, he turned on his phone flashlight, the beam of light shining ahead. The goat-headed security guard emerged within the stark white light.
This time, Wen Shi, who had been running non-stop, didn’t attempt to escape or use sweet talk to evade the situation. He merely stepped forward, positioning himself in front of everyone, and stood still, watching the goat-headed security guard approaching.
Though he had slender shoulders, Song Yan, standing behind him, felt an inexplicable sense of security washed over him.
Li Nan: “There should be only one security guard on this floor.”
Wen Shi nodded in agreement. If there were other security guards, the surgeon’s loud shout would have brought them all here together.
Song Yan: “Should we confront him head-on?”
“I can’t take him on,” Wen Shi sneered. Not to mention him, even if Li Nan and Yu Xingzhou teamed up, they might not be a match for this goat-headed security guard. The fact that the opponent could guard an entire floor indicated extraordinary strength.
Yu Xingzhou’s confidence came from having a scapegoat item in hand, and the same went for Li Nan. This was why they didn’t quite understand Wen Shi’s composure.
Just as Wen Shi thought, they didn’t have a good plan against this terrifying goat-headed security guard for the moment.
The surgeon in the operating room still hadn’t rushed out. He was studying the temporarily resurrected body. The surgeon had a similar trust in the security guard’s strength and didn’t believe that a few damn little guinea pigs could escape.
“Let’s bet,” Wen Shi suddenly spoke up, “We can only gamble that the guard will go easy on us.”
This statement sounded like a fantasy.
However, Wen Shi said something seemingly unrelated, “Only ten minutes left.”
The time limit given by the game was about to expire. The shadows and their original selves would soon start their mutual slaughter.
Yu Xingzhou’s shadow had a mindset similar to the real Yu Xingzhou. It understood the purpose of the original’s presence in this instance. At the end of the corridor was the locked room, not a secret to anyone who came for the wristband task. Those with some curiosity, like Li Nan, would explore it.
If Wen Shi were the shadow and wanted to hunt down the original, the best approach would be to lie in wait at a certain location nearby, waiting for the target to explore from a dangerous spot. Then, when they were least vigilant, strike.
He took a few steps forward, deliberately and unexpectedly changing the direction of the flashlight, aiming it straight at the cold storage chamber.
He couldn’t enter the transplant patient compartment, the VIP ward might have patients getting up at any time, so the cold storage chamber was the only ideal hiding spot.
Almost in the instant the flashlight swept past, a dark figure abruptly crouched down.
For the goat with rectangular pupils, a fleeting image didn’t escape its field of vision.
Song Yan swallowed, silently admiring Wen Shi’s accurate guess. Nervously, he whispered, “Will the guard let us go and prioritize capturing him?”
This night shift security guard was reticent and seemed to exude an image of an unyielding enforcer.
Wen Shi fell silent. “Maybe.”
Just like Yu Xingzhou, the shadow chose the hunting quest without knowing the purpose of the wristband. By hiding it, the security guard wouldn’t be able to see the shadow’s wristband. Confronted with an unwelcome visitor breaking into the cold storage chamber, the goat-headed guard would prefer to capture the shadow. Letting them go wouldn’t count as a violation.
As for why the guard might let them go?
Wen Shi just had a feeling that this goat-headed guard treated him somewhat differently after hearing his answer about Frank’s director.
After all, the security guard could have disregarded the nonsense about sacrificing for medical research and just used his lethal infernal chain. However, ultimately choosing to send them to the operating room was a form of preferential treatment.
Under everyone’s gaze, the goat-headed security guard unhooked the lethal infernal chain from his waist. The iron chain, with its autonomous attack instinct, headed towards the cold storage chamber.
The goat-headed guard then entered the cold storage chamber.
Without wasting a moment, Wen Shi dashed forward with all his might. The stairwell was a bit closer than the elevator. Everyone turned and entered it, racing down to the next floor.
The journey wasn’t very long, but having experienced life and death, their clothes were drenched in sweat as they gasped for air like fish out of water.
Instead of going directly to the third floor, Wen Shi leaned against the wall, using the coolness from behind to regain his composure.
One of the main reasons Li Nan brought Wen Shi along was for easier hospital exploration, and now it seemed like a very wise move. Leaving aside everything else, they had at least saved one scapegoat item. After temporarily escaping danger, he didn’t overlook the excitement among the group when he first entered the operating room. “So you were all waiting for me to play dead?”
Everyone averted their gazes, thinking about how foolish it would be to reveal the truth.
Wen Shi quickly changed the subject, “What’s the purpose of the tranquilizers?”
Wanting to skip over the Feigned Corpse chapter as well, the teenager cooperatively continued, “Let me check.”
He checked the instructions:
【Tranquilizer: A single dose can quieten the brain monster on the second underground floor for about ten minutes.】
After the teenager explained the usage, Wen Shi pondered and said, “I encountered a chameleon earlier that hinted at a lurking monster on the second underground level.”
Initially, he thought the monsters might be guarding the Divine Evolution Potion, but the previous prompt clearly mentioned the connection between the task and the key. So, it was self-evident what those monsters were guarding.
Regardless, they had to head to the second floor. The higher-tier Evolution Potion was there.
Just as Wen Shi was about to suggest going downstairs, Yu Xingzhou suddenly said, “Do you mind waiting for me for ten minutes?”
After a brief thought, Wen Shi nodded.
Yu Xingzhou headed back to the fourth floor once more. Only now did Song Yan regain his senses from the previous fright. He looked at Yu Xingzhou’s fading figure and asked, “Is he planning to hunt down his shadow in reverse?”
Wen Shi replied, “Yes, now is the best opportunity.”
First, if the shadow were touched by the security guard’s iron chain, his skill would be locked for thirty minutes, whereas Yu Xingzhou’s skill lock time had already passed. Additionally, since the wristband had a single use, it was not feasible for the shadow to remain on the fourth floor any longer. Seizing the opportunity while he hastily escaped was the best moment to strike.
As they waited, Li Nan appeared to smile ambiguously, “Why not just leave directly?”
There were no barriers in the information sharing between him and Yu Xingzhou. When it was time to betray, he didn’t hold back either.
“One less person means one less competitor for the key.”
Song Yan didn’t understand the purpose of the key. Despite hearing them mention it repeatedly, he looked at Wen Shi with a puzzled expression.
Leaning against the wall, Wen Shi remained still, merely smiling. However, he showed no intention of leaving either.
With Yu Xingzhou and Li Nan balancing each other out, even if he couldn’t get the key, one side or the other would offer significant benefits to him in order to deter the other side. If he were to choose just one of them to go with, those benefits would likely diminish considerably.
Earlier, Wen Shi had agreed to go with Yu Xingzhou to prevent persecution from each other’s shadows. Now that Yu Xingzhou was going to shadow hunt, it was highly likely he would use his time freeze skill. As such, the only benefit of this arrangement would be seen in his counterbalance against Li Nan.
There was a faint sound from above.
As fellow shadows, the teenager felt a subtle sympathy for the shadow being hunted upstairs.
Some of the third-floor corridor’s light filtered into the stairwell. Wen Shi was half-shrouded in darkness. After a while, he seemed to grow a bit impatient. He took out his phone to check the time and tapped the wall behind him impatiently with his fingertips.
“So slow,” he complained.
For a shadow he had had once shared many interactions, Wen Shi completely disregarded the death of the other person.
At that moment, the teenager realized what his original self had said that night wasn’t a lie. His limited kindness had all been directed toward himself.
Thirty seconds past the ten-minute mark, Yu Xingzhou finally came downstairs again, with a wound on his neck that wasn’t fatal.
Wen Shi straightened up. “Resolved?”
Yu Xingzhou nodded.
No one spoke, and the group continued walking downstairs.
Upon reaching the ground floor, they could only take the elevator to go further down.
As they entered the elevator, Wen Shi suddenly asked the teenager, “Where’s your little grandma?”
The teenager’s expression twisted slightly. “She’s diligently making voodoo dolls out of thread.”
Wen Shi didn’t quite understand.
“She’s worried that I’ll die, so she wants to seal my soul inside a doll first, and then find a way to resurrect me later.”
Before coming to the hospital, the teenager had spent a few hours reasoning with the girl. He told her that strength alone wouldn’t suffice and that the hospital was surely filled with all sorts of rules, touching any of which would lead to death. Knowing she couldn’t help him in this regard due to her intelligence, he opted for a more indirect solution.
Before Wen Shi could tease him about it, the teenager showed some unease.
Wen Shi’s gaze became distant. When he pressed the button for the second underground floor, something seemed to cross his mind, and the smile at the corner of his mouth disappeared. “Wanting to reverse life and death without understanding the concept of life and death itself is a tragedy in its own right.”
The teenager thought Wen Shi was referring to the incident where the little zombie had also wanted to form a zombie father-son duo with him, so he didn’t ask further.
They arrived at the second underground floor arrived quickly.
The surroundings were pitch black, and after the elevator doors closed, there was no light to be seen. The ground had a sandy texture, as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.
Wen Shi’s phone was running out of battery, so Li Nan switched on his flashlight.
They moved towards the source of light, and Wen Shi took out the blueprint of the control room, which showed only a partial map.
“This path leads to obtaining the Divine Evolution Potion. We need to go to a location not marked on the map.”
The game wouldn’t place the key and the Evolution Potion on the same route, making it easy to acquire both in one go.
The teenager: “Aren’t we doing the burglar quest first?”
Wen Shi: “Little Octopus and Grandma are handling that for me. If they come across any surplus Evolution Potion while passing through, they’ll bring it out as well.”
Wen Shi’s task was to find a ultra-rare bottle of Divine Evolution Potion, which would definitely be hidden the deepest and most discreetly. The remaining ordinary Divine Evolution Potion would be easier to find. Coupled with the mini octopus’ sensitivity to contaminants, if things went smoothly, they could possibly complete both the teenager’s and Song Yan’s tasks simultaneously.
The teenager furrowed his brows. “Why aren’t you doing it yourself?”
Wen Shi shook his head. Indeed, relying on the help of others made him an easy target for the rules. But when he was on the first underground floor earlier, he was already almost targeted thoroughly. A little more wouldn’t make much difference.
“Also, relying on a brainless…”
Before the teenager could mock him, Wen Shi interrupted, “Almost forgot to mention, it’s got a brain now, and it also has hypermnesia.”
If it weren’t for the situation not being right, the look of astonishment on the teenager’s face would be worth capturing in a photograph.
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