Chapter 273: Stand Still

Dr. Yi's bloodshot eyes were fixed on Han Meng, and the air fell into a deathly silence.

Han Meng's hand, holding the gun, trembled slightly. Only at this moment did he truly understand the truth Tan Xin wanted him to discover by entering the Aurora Base...

It was the incompetence of the Aurora Base, the insignificance of humanity's scientific achievements to date, and humanity's despair when confronting a truly unknown disaster.

As the heart of the Aurora Domain, the Aurora Base had conducted research underground for over three hundred years without any progress. All the resources and manpower invested over these years had turned to dust. Han Meng didn't understand science, nor had he experienced what scientists felt when facing this disaster, but he could roughly guess... the Aurora Domain was finished.

From the very beginning, there had been no way out for the Aurora Domain. Beneath the superficial prosperity and peace of Aurora City lay a tragedy destined for extinction.

And Zhao Yi was merely an insignificant speck of dust sacrificed in Aurora City's futile attempts at self-preservation... Like over five thousand other test subjects, his death was predetermined from the moment he entered the base.

Han Meng's hand, clutching Zhao Yi's file, unconsciously tightened, crushing the paper into a hard wad. He took a deep breath and slowly moved the muzzle away from Dr. Yi's head.

He silently turned and walked out of the room.

Dr. Yi stumbled and fell to the ground. He glared at the retreating Han Meng and drunkenly cursed:

"Don't go... don't you dare go?!"

"Kill me!! If you have the guts, kill me with your bullet!!"

"Aren't you going to avenge that child? Come on!"

"If you don't shoot today, you're a coward!! A piece of trash!! Come kill me!! Coward!!"

Han Meng walked straight out the door as if he hadn't heard him. The many white-coated onlookers outside immediately made way...

Just then, a thunderous roar echoed from the other end of the corridor!

BOOM—!!!

Blinding flames instantly engulfed the dark corridor. Several laboratories simultaneously turned to ash, and at the same time, the locks on all the test subject rooms were blasted open. A figure flashed rapidly through the inferno!

Everyone was aghast!

"Someone blew up the labs??"

"Damn it, the doors to the test subject containment rooms are all open..."

"What?? What about the innermost test subject rooms??"

"They seem to be open too... Dammit! Those things aren't going to get out, are they?"

"Didn't the intruder already escape? Who set these explosives??"

Amidst the astonished cries of the white coats, Han Meng's expression hardened. He led several law enforcement officers and rushed into the blaze!

Simultaneously, a series of bizarre figures emerged from the deepest rooms. Some clung to the ceiling, scuttling like spiders; others writhed slowly in the flames like viscous liquid; still others, with faces covered in age spots, squatted like giants before their doors, staring intently at the numerous white coats on the other side of the corridor...

Various eerie roars echoed through the third floor, sounding like anger, despair, and wails of sorrow.

This scene sent shivers down the spines of the many white coats. As the creators of these beings, they knew their current state well... Those confined to the deepest parts of the corridor were monsters who had completely lost their minds but still maintained a delicate balance with the calamity fused within them!

They had sealed these monsters in the innermost rooms, using vast quantities of tranquilizers to keep them in a dormant state. This was the only way to periodically record their condition or conduct deeper experiments. However, the sudden explosion had directly breached their cages and even jolted them awake from their slumber!

And now... who would these completely deranged, mad monsters want to kill the most?

The white coats continuously retreated down the corridor, their eyes filled with terror. Han Meng sensed the murderous intent of these rampaging test subjects, and his expression grew even darker.

"Kill them all, protect the researchers!"

"No... don't kill them! These are valuable experimental materials!" a white coat immediately interjected.

"Let them kill."

A naked figure slowly put on a white coat and staggered out from behind a shattered doorway.

Dr. Yi glanced at the laboratories burning in the inferno and the distorted figures. A relaxed expression, surprisingly, appeared on his face. "Do you think these things still have any experimental value? Kill them! Burn them!! You might as well smash all those damned concoctions and experimental equipment too!!

Human fusion experiments simply cannot help us understand Aurora-kun any better. Aurora-kun's fusion has already transcended the scope of science! Everyone knows this, but no one dares to speak up...

After all, this is the only thing we can do."

Han Meng glanced at Dr. Yi, then calmly repeated, "Kill."

Over a dozen law enforcement officers charged out one after another, their respective domains simultaneously unfolding as they clashed with the swarming monsters in the flames!

Explosions, roars, and the monstrous howls intertwined in a cacophony. The third floor of the Aurora Base had plunged into complete chaos. Han Meng, however, did not join the battle but instead walked directly toward the upper levels.

Faint smoke drifted from the pipes, and in the dark corridor, a figure walked calmly with hands in pockets.

A large number of high-tier combatants had gone to pursue Jian Changsheng, and with the third floor now in turmoil, the entire security of the Aurora Base was essentially paralyzed. This figure, draped in a one-stripe law enforcement officer's trench coat, walked down to the first floor without encountering any resistance.

As the instigator of all this, Chen Ling showed no emotional fluctuations, as if he were just taking a leisurely stroll in a park.

He cared nothing for right or wrong. Since Zhao Yi had been transformed into a monster on the third floor and died in that state, Chen Ling simply decided to blow up the entire third floor, releasing all the test subjects who were struggling in pain just like Zhao Yi, allowing them to act on their instincts.

To be honest, Chen Ling didn't believe these test subjects could truly do much to the Aurora Base. The current chaos was only temporary; in five minutes at most, everything would return to calm... Furthermore, the base's construction materials were incredibly durable, so perhaps not even a trace of the explosion would remain.

Therefore, after blowing up the labs, he had to leave, otherwise, if he delayed any longer, he truly wouldn't be able to escape.

He pulled out the key, which had long been acquired through the "Crimson Trick," from his pocket, opened the checkpoint gate on the second floor, returned to the first floor, and headed straight for the elevator.

Just then, a faint voice came from behind him.

"Stop."