Scarface led a five-person Gene Warrior squad into the battle, instantly plunging Lin Ze and Xiao Monü into an even deeper predicament.
Facing increasingly powerful enemies, prolonged fighting was undoubtedly a death wish; only by finding an opportunity to escape could they have a sliver of hope.
Lin Ze's peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a grenade on an armed guard's waist, and hope ignited in his heart.
He made a decisive move, pulled Xiao Monü, and quickly weaved through the enemy ranks, no longer clashing head-on with the foes.
Psionic power erupted from his body, like an invisible large hand, automatically disengaging the safety pins of all grenades he detected within ten meters.
Although Xiao Monü was severely injured, she was exceptionally intelligent and quickly understood Lin Ze's intention, enduring her pain to employ the same method.
“Boom... Boom...”
Their small stature gave them a considerable advantage in the chaotic crowd.
The bodies of two armed personnel, being close to the explosion centers, shielded them from most of the grenade shrapnel.
However, the impact of such close-range, successive explosions was far from ordinary.
Lin Ze felt his ears ringing, his hearing already lost, and his body felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, his internal organs seemingly displaced.
Xiao Monü, already severely wounded in the head and covered in blood, had now completely fainted, her face ashen like paper, blood seeping from multiple wounds, staining her clothes red.
But Lin Ze knew he couldn't stay there long; he gritted his teeth, disregarded his own pain, carried Xiao Monü on his back, and, guided by the smoke and dust stirred up by the explosion, determined the direction and ran with all his might towards a possible exit.
Barefoot, every step Lin Ze took felt like treading on knife edges, pain radiating from his soles throughout his body, yet his gaze remained firm, with only one belief in his heart: to take Xiao Monü away from this place of death.
Behind him, Scarface and others were about to give chase but were obstructed by the chaos caused by the explosions.
By the time they reacted, Lin Ze had already disappeared with Xiao Monü on his back at the end of the corridor.
The base was in ruins, flames shot into the sky, shouts and alarms intertwined, like a mournful elegy for this dark world.
Lin Ze, dragging his heavily injured body and carrying the unconscious Xiao Monü, searched for a glimmer of survival in this endless darkness; every step was a struggle against fate, every breath filled with a tenacious will to live.
Lin Ze, carrying the unconscious Xiao Monü, rushed out of the not-so-large surface building, which resembled a detached villa in the mountains, exuding a strange silence amidst the panic.
Having spent years underground, suddenly seeing the light of day again, Lin Ze was for a moment very unaccustomed to the intense sunlight.
“So it wasn't night after all!”
Thinking about it, of course, high-ranking officials would come to inspect during the day.
Long-term stay underground had made him lose his sense of time, of day and night.
There were no more obstacles around; the researchers, like startled birds, fled in a hurry, and when their gaze fell upon the scarred and aggressive Lin Ze, not a single one dared to approach him.
Lin Ze's gaze swept quickly through the crowd, and Keiko Kitagawa's familiar figure entered his sight; her eyes were full of shock and worry, but in this moment of panic, she could only watch helplessly as Lin Ze carried Xiao Monü away, perhaps, this farewell truly was a permanent one.
Lin Ze, like a light-chaser pursued by fate, plunged into the dense forest with Xiao Monü on his back.
Branches scratched bloody lines across his face, but he was completely oblivious, simply running wildly by instinct, without discerning direction.
The fallen leaves rustled underfoot, each step kicking up a small cloud of dust, as if narrating this story interwoven with tension and despair.
His breathing was rapid and heavy, his lungs felt as if they were being scorched by fire, each inhale bringing a tearing pain.
His back was long soaked with sweat, a sticky sensation clinging tightly to his skin, yet he dared not stop for a moment.
Xiao Monü's body swayed gently with the rhythm of his running, her blood dripping down, leaving shocking crimson stains in the forest.
Lin Ze's mind was blank, only the instinct for survival kept his legs mechanically moving forward.
He didn't know what awaited him ahead, whether it was an endless wilderness or another life-or-death crisis, but at this moment, he had only one thought: to get away from this place filled with memories of death, to take Xiao Monü, and to live.
After an unknown period, Lin Ze realized that if they continued like this, both would die from excessive blood loss.
He stopped his frantic pace, alertly pricking up his ears to listen; only The Message and the rustling of leaves could be heard around, with no sounds of a large pursuit force.
Perhaps the base had suffered heavy damage this time and was now unable to organize a chase.
He quickly tore his old patient gown into strips of cloth; though his movements were a bit clumsy, his technique was exceptionally resolute.
First, he tightly bandaged the wound on his own shoulder, each wrap accompanied by the sharp pain of pulling the wound, yet he didn't even frown.
Then, he gently lowered Xiao Monü from his back, his eyes full of tenderness and determination.
He didn't know when Lin Ze stopped treating this poor little loli as an NPC.
They should be flesh-and-blood people too.
When checking Xiao Monü's injuries, he found that in addition to the horrifying severe head trauma, her right arm had also been mercilessly cut by shrapnel, and blood had soaked her sleeve, appearing a dark, dull red.
Lin Ze took a deep breath, trying to steady his trembling hands, and in the same way, he simply treated her wound; although his movements were gentle, Xiao Monü still frowned slightly, as if she was enduring pain even in her coma.
After finishing the treatment, Lin Ze slowly stood up and bent down to carry Xiao Monü on his back again.
Her body was soft and boneless, resting on his back, as if weightless.
But Lin Ze knew that this weight was the heavy burden of life.
He looked up into the depths of the forest; the setting sun cast dappled light through the branches and leaves, but it could not dispel the gloom in his heart.
Gritting his teeth, he took firm steps and continued on their escape route.
Every step brought them closer to death, closer to that unknown but hopeful distant future.
In this barren world, they relied on each other; only by surviving could they uncover the layers of fog, find the truth, and seek salvation.
Meanwhile, the frantic Dr. Bai returned to the base after the battle, looking at the riddled base and wanting to cry.
She didn't know that without Lin Ze, this base would also have been shut down.
It was unclear whether it was luck or misfortune that this escape of test subjects didn't take advantage of the base's large-scale evacuation.
Because of the inspection, today's security was the strictest it had ever been.
It was also Lin Ze's bad luck, otherwise, it wouldn't have been so difficult.
“I'll leave this to you! I'm going to pursue them!”
Scarface's eyes were now blazing with fury; his gene squad had lost two members today, old teammates who had performed countless missions with him.
“How do you plan to deal with them?” Dr. Bai asked.
“Of course, clean them up!” Scarface's face was ferocious, his eyes full of murderous intent.
“Hehehe, hahahaha, idiot! You couldn't even get rid of them here!
Forget it! Without the control agents researched by headquarters, they won't live for more than a few years anyway.” Dr. Bai sounded somewhat mocking and disdainful.
Just moments ago, someone had given her the news that the experiment was likely to be terminated.
She felt somewhat complex emotions at this time; she hated the two 'guinea pigs' who caused the base to be shut down, yet she also hoped they could survive, for they were her painstaking effort, her most perfect creations.
She wanted to see what stage the two children's abilities could ultimately grow to.
