Chapter 152 - 149 Night Exploration (Part 3)

Words : 1247 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 152: Chapter 149 Night Exploration (Part 3) The ventilation duct was extremely cramped; Ling Chen crawled on the ground, unable to extend his arms fully and could only inch forward by alternating his elbows. He had already determined the general direction to the warehouse and, after traveling about forty meters along the ventilation duct, a wire mesh appeared in his line of sight. Gazing through the wire mesh, he saw a sealed room filled with numerous boxes on the outside. Seeing that there was no one in the room, Ling Chen dug his fingers into the wire mesh, preparing to push it aside. But at that moment, he caught a glimpse of a red light out of the corner of his eye and was suddenly startled, hastily halting his hand. After confirmation, he felt a surge of relief; it was fortunate he had noticed it in time, otherwise, he would have surely alerted the base’s security. An infrared surveillance device had been installed outside the ventilation duct. If he had pushed the wire mesh open, it would definitely be detected and trigger an alarm. Immediately, he took out a small pair of needle-nose pliers and cut a slit in the wire mesh. Then, he extended his arm out, touching the infrared surveillance device, found its wiring, and gently snipped it. After the device had been disabled, he let out a breath, pushed the wire mesh aside, and leaped into the warehouse. After successfully entering the warehouse, he looked around and headed straight for a steel box about half a person’s height. However, the steel box was controlled by a six-digit code lock. Without knowing the combination, it was very difficult to force open, and there was no time for such attempts. He felt the surface of the steel box, which was ice-cold to the touch. Clearly, the steel box was equipped with a built-in refrigeration system. Such boxes were generally used to store medicine or other biological materials. Moving elsewhere, Ling Chen opened several ordinary boxes, each filled with various medical equipment. Based on these things alone, there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. He believed that what was inside that steel box was likely to be the crucial evidence, but unfortunately, he couldn’t open it. After searching the warehouse for ten minutes, Ling Chen found another door adjacent to the warehouse. The door was not locked, and Ling Chen pushed it open and entered. Instantly, a chill hit him. Looking around, the room—no larger than a hundred square meters—housed dozens of iron beds, all covered with white cloths. "Is this... a morgue?" His expression changed slightly as he quickly approached an iron bed nearby, lifted the white cloth, and a pale male corpse was immediately revealed. Looking at the male corpse, Ling Chen’s brow furrowed tightly. The corpse had been dissected, leaving a long incision in the abdomen that had not been sewn up, vaguely revealing the body’s internal organs. Looking at the corpse’s face, it was terrifying, with an agape mouth and wide-open eyes, indicating the immense pain endured before death. Additionally, with a keen eye, he also noticed four or five tiny needle holes on each of the corpse’s arms. For a hospital to have a morgue wasn’t strange, but this was a psychiatric hospital, primarily focused on convalescence, and moreover, this morgue was located in a secret facility, which definitely wasn’t ordinary. With this thought, he took out the miniature camera he carried and photographed the corpse, not overlooking any detail. Then, he checked over ten more bodies, with each case being broadly the same. However, what he found odd was that almost all the bodies placed here were male, with no females. After collecting evidence, he turned around to leave the morgue, ready to meet up with Tang Yuan. Tang Yuan had infiltrated the laboratory; he presumably had gathered more direct and effective evidence. Walking past the warehouse, Ling Chen was about to return the way he had come. But at that moment, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, then immediately cast his gaze around. "There’s a noise!" He was certain he hadn’t misheard; indeed, he had just heard a faint sound while walking over. After a moment of hesitation, he went back the way he came, and after a dozen meters, the sound came again. But the warehouse was empty—where was the sound coming from? In his puzzlement, a thought struck him, and he looked down at his feet. The floor of the warehouse was laid with square steel plates, but on the steel plate beneath his feet, there was also a pull ring. He grabbed the pull ring and slowly lifted it. As the steel plate opened, numerous eyes focused on Ling Chen. "This..." Upon seeing this scene, Ling Chen was immediately stunned. Below the steel plate, dozens of people were imprisoned, mostly men, including a few women and two or three teenage boys. These people looked at Ling Chen with faces full of fear and apprehension, drawing back in fright, with terror reaching an extreme in their eyes. "Let me out, please let us out!" a man pleaded. As soon as he spoke, others began to plead, asking Ling Chen to spare them. "Shh!" Fearing to attract the attention of the guards outside, Ling Chen quickly made a silencing gesture, "I’m not a bad guy, don’t be afraid." After speaking, he continued to ask, "How were you captured?" A woman sobbed and said, "I was at the hospital for a check-up, and then I suddenly passed out unwittingly. When I woke up, I was already lying inside a container with other people." A container? Ling Chen’s mind stirred; it turned out that the container he had seen before was filled with these people. "Everyone, calm down for now, I’ll find a way to rescue you all." Standing up, he walked aside and pressed the intercom, "Old Tang, respond if you hear this." "I hear you. I’ve almost finished gathering evidence on my end. Any findings on your side?" Ling Chen glanced at the imprisoned people and let out a wry smile, "I’ve got a big haul on my side. I discovered over thirty detained citizens in the warehouse; they must have been brought in through the container we just saw." "What should we do?" Anxiety tinged Tang Yuan’s voice. "No matter what, we must save these people." Tang Yuan suggested, "Why don’t we pull out for now, submit the evidence, and come back with people tomorrow?" "That won’t do. They’ve captured so many people, they definitely plan to use them for experiments. If we delay even a day, there’s no guarantee some won’t die. Immediately contact Mr. Han and have him dispatch people to surround this psychiatric hospital. Anyway, since we’ve collected the evidence, it should be enough to convict them." "Okay. Prepare yourself, because gathering a team on short notice might take at least an hour even if they hurry." "No matter, if it comes to it, we’ll take direct action. Lives are at stake; we have to get these people out first." "I’ll cover you from outside, you be careful." After the conversation, Ling Chen turned off the intercom, looked at the people imprisoned below, and said, "Stay inside for now, don’t make any noise, backup is on the way. I promise, when it arrives, I will definitely rescue you all." "Thank you." Ling Chen gave a slight smile, "You can thank me after you’ve escaped."

Chapter 152 - 149 Night Exploration (Part 3)

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