Chapter 213 – Waiting Fifteen Minutes for You
The creatures inside the glass enclosures were trying to escape. The snake-like alien, with a diameter of one meter, had risen on its upper half, attempting to lift the glass enclosure. The bottom edge of the glass was beginning to show signs of loosening.
A frog-like alien, as tall as an adult man, lay flat on the ground. Its green skin was bubbling with thick, dark green fluid, as though it was boiling.
The glass enclosure trapping it was gradually melting and warping. Its body emitted an intense radiation of heat, and the green liquid in a nearby glass tank began to steam, quickly evaporating.
Inside the green liquid were a few Herog monsters, creatures familiar to Tu Ran. They were aquatic animals, kept in a solution that sustained their basic life functions, which also contained anesthetics to keep them sedated.
However, the heat from the frog-like mutant had made the liquid nearly boiling, almost cooking the creatures inside, causing them to wake up. Their tentacles stretched with all their strength, frantically clinging to the smooth glass as they tried to crawl out.
Every living alien species was using its own method to escape the glass enclosures.
Tu Ran didn’t need to think hard to imagine what would happen if all these creatures broke free.
She had “Mountain Collapse and Earth Crack”, so the base’s doors couldn’t hold her back.
If she broke out, the aliens would follow through the crack she created.
It wasn’t that she was worried about these aliens going out and eating people—the guards and students outside could die for all she cared.
What she was concerned about was that using her ability would expose her as someone with superpowers, and by leading the aliens outside to harm civilians, the Federation would have a legitimate reason to hunt her down.
Xi Chunzhi was still lying in the hospital, and her inner core hadn’t been found yet. Tu Ran didn’t want to be on the Federation’s most-wanted list so soon.
Other than herself, who would care most if something happened to her?
Tu Ran thought of Xie Xu.
Her being wanted by the Federation would make Xie Xu’s previous efforts to ally with her be in vain.
Tu Ran quickly found Xie Xu’s contact information and sent him a message.
“Songwu Research Base. Find a way to get me out, or I’ll use my powers to break out. If the Federation issues a warrant for me, our collaboration will be over.”
There was a long silence from Xie Xu’s side. Just when Tu Ran thought he hadn’t seen the message, a reply came.
“Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll figure something out.”
Satisfied, Tu Ran put away her communicator.
She would wait for fifteen minutes.
“We should find a place to hide first,” Tu Ran said.
At that moment, the aliens hadn’t yet broken through the barrier and hadn’t noticed the three humans.
Tu Ran found a large mechanical arm control platform, which was usually operated remotely to transport the aliens to the underground laboratory.
She pulled Shen Yunhe and Min Tao into the narrow gap, less than a meter wide, between two mechanical arm platforms, which was just enough to fit the three of them.
Now, they had to wait for Xie Xu’s message.
Hidden in the gap, they couldn’t see what was happening outside, but the sound of glass shattering from all directions told them that the aliens had broken free.
At the same time, the embedded guns in the base’s walls emerged, rotating to aim at the genetic monsters, and began firing.
The base’s corner-mounted sprayers also activated, releasing a mixed spray of anesthetic and poison gas, quickly filling the entire facility.
The combat helmets worn by the three, produced by the Pioneer Team’s logistics department, had some protective features against toxic gases, designed to help pioneers adapt to certain hazardous environments in the Threshold. So, Tu Ran and the others didn’t have to worry about being poisoned.
“How long do we have to hide here? Until all the aliens are dead?” Shen Yunhe, sitting in the middle, asked anxiously.
He had just come out of the Training Base and was immediately thrown into such a dangerous situation. It was natural for him to feel worried and anxious.
Outside, there was a hail of bullets and the intense cries of the aliens. The base’s self-destruct system wasn’t a joke. If they kept hiding here, they might not die from the poison, but they could be blown up by the bombs.
There were no aliens near them for now, so the cannons wouldn’t aim in their direction. But if any aliens made their way here… the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Fifteen minutes.” Tu Ran kept her eyes fixed on her communicator. Two minutes had already passed.
In another thirteen minutes, if Xie Xu still hadn’t sent word, she’d have no choice but to break open a way out of the base. If that happened, all the aliens would escape at once, and one could only imagine the immense damage that would cause the Federation.
Shen Yunhe didn’t understand why it had to be fifteen minutes, but Tu Ran showed no intention of explaining, and he didn’t dare press her. He had no choice but to try to calm himself down.
In contrast, Min Tao, sitting on his other side, remained as steady as a rock.
He didn’t feel entirely secure either, but having fought alongside Tu Ran several times, he had complete confidence in her decisions and methods.
“Three more minutes,” Tu Ran counted down.
The roars outside were deafening, impossible to tell which species they belonged to. The gunfire and explosions never ceased.
It was almost like blasting fireworks to scare away the Nian beast during the New Year, with the creature scrambling to escape in all directions.
“One minute,” Tu Ran said softly.
There was still no movement from the communicator.
In that final minute, Tu Ran let her body relax, leaning her head slightly back against the machine. She could feel the coldness seeping from the machine into her back, but her mind remained completely clear.
Ten, nine, eight… five, four, three, two, one!
Xie Xu still hadn’t sent any message.
No more waiting.
Tu Ran stood up decisively, with Min Tao and Shen Yunhe following her lead, confused but trusting.
She cautiously poked her head out to survey the situation outside. It was just as she had expected—chaotic, with blood and flesh everywhere, bullet casings and fragments scattered across the ground, and a thick, foggy cloud of toxic gas hanging in the air.
Hunching down to minimize her presence, she ran toward a wall about ten meters away. The path was lined with various mechanical arm control platforms, but there were no glass enclosures housing aliens, so there was no threat of them here, nor would the base’s guns aim in this direction.
The three of them easily made it to the corner of the wall.
The wall was made of some kind of dark metal, its surface so cold it felt like touching an ice wall, sending a chill straight into their bones.
Tu Ran shivered and pressed her palm against it.
She was ready to make her escape.
“Mountain collapse and…”
Beep beep—
The familiar sound of her communicator’s notification interrupted her power activation. There was something about the urgency of the sound that caught her attention.
She paused and checked the message. Sure enough, it was from Xie Xu, nearly a minute late.
But it was still in time.
Tu Ran opened the message.
[In the direction opposite the entrance, there is a flat mirror. Behind it is a passage that leads to the underground research lab.]
She looked toward the direction Xie Xu had indicated. The distance was considerable, and the toxic fog made it hard to see clearly, but she could vaguely make out the reflective surface of a wall.
“Let’s go. There’s an exit over there,” Tu Ran said.
An exit? Shen Yunhe’s eyes lit up.
