Chapter 42: Escaped
When they noticed the unusual commotion, the squad leader had already reported their current situation and the names of his squad members to Huo Neil. They knew that Huo Neil would not be able to save them even if he wanted to. At the same time, there were multiple other squads at other areas who were facing a similar situation. It was just that Sird’s team was the earliest squad to have run into the surfacing black mice.
Huo Neil listened with incredibly heavy feelings to the increasingly loud breathing of the squad operatives through the communicator. They were still alive at this moment and their breaths could still be heard. But what about the next? All of the operatives around Huo Neil wore bloodshot eyes, but they could neither do anything to help them nor rush there in time.
Meanwhile in the underground, the squad members could already see the black mice at the end of the tunnel through their night vision goggles.
“Ready… Aim… Fi -”
The squad leader didn’t manage to finish the word ‘Fire’ before a voice suddenly rang up from the communicator.
“All squads who ran into a large group of black mice returning to the surface, do not open fire if you want to live! Quickly get to the sides and press yourselves against the wall! I repeat, do not open fire!”
Cillin! It’s Cillin!
The black mice rushed closer and closer, but the squad leader hesitated.
“Listen to him! Do not open fire and keep to the walls!” On the surface, Knight, who was standing beside Huo Neil, snatched the communicator in Huo Neil’s hands and roared.
The squad leader gritted his teeth, “Do as he says!”
When the squad members had pressed themselves against the wall and stood in position, the black mice had already arrived just three meters away from them. It wasn’t like they hadn’t gotten this close to the black mice before, but at the time, they were not nearly as defenseless as they were now.
When the first black mouse passed before their eyes, the squad members’ hearts had nearly leaped to the top of their throats. The sharp front teeth and claws that passed right in front of them, the bloody red eyes and terrible stench caused them all to feel a tingle on their scalps. Some of them had even readied themselves to die.
However, as if it hadn’t seen them, the black mouse passed right by them with a whoosh as quickly as it came.
Then there was another, and another, and another…
While feeling a sense of horror towards the black mice’s tough black hair passing by again and again, Sird could not even begin to describe how shocked he was. This was a black mouse, a real big black mouse, a mutated black mouse that might not necessarily be killed even with two shots! He could still sense the violence and brutality emanating from their bodies, but… holy shit, they had passed by them just like that. They seriously passed by them without doing anything! They never even glanced at them once.
This was definitely the strangest and most terrifying thing they had experienced in their lives up until now!
Cillin was the only one who knew that the meaning behind the black mice’s leader’s howl. It was calling for all black mice to put down whatever they were doing, to ignore everything in sight and to do everything they can to block Cillin. As long as they had the white ball, they would have the chance to make a comeback.
On the other side of the communicator above the surface, Huo Neil and the surrounding operatives held their breaths and listened to the sounds of black mice rushing past the squad members. The video capture was on, but the image on the other side was dark and blurry. However, those blood red eyes were still just as clear. They could feel both fear and adrenaline rising just watching the image on the communicator. It wasn’t hard to imagine how those people experiencing the black mice passing by them for real felt.
When the black mice had all ran past them, the rumbling noise too faded away.
Knight let out a sigh of relief. As expected, Cillin really was something special. However, when he realized that he failed to connect Cillin when he tried to contact him once more.
With this squad setting the example, the other squads that ran into the same situation also followed suit. But it wasn’t until they did it for real did they realize exactly how much courage was needed to pull off this act. Those who were timid had fainted a long time ago.
Inside the tunnel, everyone’s backs were almost drenched completely. They still maintained their standing posture and felt stiffness all over their bodies. They still did not dare to draw even a huge breath.
When they finally came to, the squad members experienced the mixed feelings of both joy and oddness after surviving this near death experience. The impassioned atmosphere of heroism and martyrdom they had cultivated earlier was completely destroyed by this turn of events. It was as hilarious as getting ready to shit for a long time but managing only a tiny fart in the end. Man, do they feel conflicted.
Thank god that kid had reminded them on time, or else… the mere thought caused the squad members to shudder.
That being said, if they knew that the culprit who attracted all the black mice over was Cillin, they would definitely be mad enough to break Cillin’s neck.
While running, Cillin did some calculations in his head and thought that it was almost time. Then, he put the white ball into Genya’s ring. Another subspace item might’ve experienced some instability, but after Cillin gave it a test earlier, he discovered that it was pretty stable after all. it definitely deserved its title as an item from the high tree Fuji and a possession of the Gen family
Once the white ball was placed into the ring, Cillin sprayed some medicine he prepared beforehand on his body, and got rid of the odor ointment that he had deliberately applied on his body. As a Hunter, Cillin had misled quite a lot of preys using the sense of smell.
Cillin had put quite a bit of distance between him and the big black mouse. If the big black mouse could speak, it would definitely say, “What the fuck, how can he possibly run so quickly? Just who is the real mouse here?! This fucka ain’t human, this fucka seriously ain’t human!”
When the black mice’s leader had chased over to Cillin’s location through his smell, what it saw was the fluorescent spray painting of a cat face smirking most disgustingly on the wall. There was even a huge ‘Meow~’ beside it…
Then Cillin’s smell disappeared entirely further forward.
Cillin did not know if the big black mouse could recognize that ‘Meow’ word, but it did not change the fact that it was going to feel pissed as fuck. It was a success as long as it could add fuel to its anger. How would the black mice’s leader act if it could not find the white ball thief Cillin and incited further by this cat face?
The matter about taking revenge against the station’s researchers had been kicked to the other side of the universe by the big black mouse a long time ago. Now all it wanted was to find that despicable human, snatch back the white ball, then tear that human into shreds before stomping it into dirt!
All the operatives underground had already evacuated to the surface. What would be the black mice’s leader’s most possible action if it was pissed but could not find a target to vent its anger? It would charge up to the surface.
And what’s above the surface? The concentrated firepower of the operation forces and air support from the weaponized aircrafts. Obeying to the rules of capturing a snake by first capturing its head, the big black mouse was obviously the common target the moment it showed its face. Now that it had lost the support of the white ball, the big black mouse’s physical abilities were gradually decreasing. Its physical defenses had already decreased by a lot, so even if it still had powerful offensive capabilities, the big black mouse was far less threatening than it was before. Cillin believed that Huo Neil could deal with it without any problem.
Cillin headed towards the ground surface through a different route. Along the way, he avoided the black mice horde summoned by the black mice’s leader. When he had almost reached the surface, Cillin felt a group of people nearby and swiftly overtook them through a different route. With the mouse claws he had gathered, he slashed his combat suit and drew lines of wounds across his body. He controlled the color and viscosity of the blood trace and the degree of mending of his wounds. They would appear as if he had been hurt for quite some time.
Both antiserums were injected into his body. Cillin forced his face to appear slightly pale, just like a wounded person who was exhausted and lost too much blood. His communicator was destroyed after the call from earlier to prevent other people from detecting his location through the signal of the communicator.
After preparing everything and inspecting his handiwork once, Cillin then laid peacefully on the ground and waited for the operation squad that was about to pass by this place. The development of events later on was more or less the same as Cillin had predicted. The members of the squad had seen Cillin as a wounded personnel, and they had even carried him all the way back to the surface.
Huo Neil also relaxed after seeing that Cillin’s life was not in danger despite some wounds here and there. Otherwise, how was he going to explain things to old Mo?
Cillin then informed Huo Neil about his ‘guess’. Once he was finished, Huo Neil immediately ordered his men to get ready and await the black mice’s arrival. At the same time, Huo Neil thought, this boy’s old Mo’s prized pupil alright. His predictions are spot on.
