216: The Battle of Burning Hearts

Chapter 216: Battle of the Burning Heart. *Crack!*

As the blade fell, the frozen-hard tumor, along with the corpse's sternum, was split into pieces.

The corpse swayed and scattered across the ground like toppled building blocks.

Chen Mo shook the ice shards off his blade and turned toward the observation room.

There, separated by a five-centimeter-thick layer of bulletproof glass.

Old Zhang stood behind the glass, his face showing no fear, only regret.

"A pity," he sighed. "I originally wanted to leave a whole corpse. Now it seems I can only recycle the parts."

He pressed a red button on the console.

Woo—woo—woo—

A piercing alarm echoed throughout the basement.

"This is a biochemical leak alarm."

Old Zhang smiled into the microphone. "In two minutes, the air here will be sucked dry, and then high-temperature flames will be injected for disinfection. Chen Mo, you can turn back into ashes right here."

With that, he turned and walked toward a secret door at the back of the observation room.

"Wait."

Chen Mo suddenly spoke.

Old Zhang stopped and looked back.

"Aren't you curious why I came to find you at a time like this?" Chen Mo pointed to his chest. "Instead of finding a place to hide and wait for death?"

"Because you're stupid." Old Zhang shrugged. "Or perhaps a bout of so-called heroism?"

"No."

Chen Mo pulled a small, slightly damp black box from his pocket.

It was the "remote control" Ninth Master had pressed into his hand earlier.

"Because I'm going to lock you in here."

Old Zhang's pupils constricted.

"That's..."

"The backup power lockout device."

Chen Mo pressed the button. "Su Qingxue just cut the main line. Now this building's security system is running entirely on backup power. And this..."

*Beep.*

The secret door in the observation room suddenly made a muffled thud; the red indicator light went out, turning a dead gray.

Electronically locked.

Old Zhang rushed over and frantically slapped the access control switch, but the door didn't budge.

"Are you crazy?!" Old Zhang lunged at the glass, his refined face finally twisting. "If you lock me in here, you won't be able to get out either! The disinfection procedure has already started!"

"Who said I was going out?"

Chen Mo walked up to the bulletproof glass, pressing his face against it opposite Old Zhang's.

Only five centimeters separated them.

"I'm a dead man, remember?" Chen Mo grinned, revealing a mouth full of bloody teeth. "Dead men aren't afraid of fire."

The vents overhead began to reverse, making a loud suction sound.

The air was rapidly depleting.

A sense of suffocation instantly enveloped the entire dissection room.

"Open the door!" Old Zhang roared hysterically. "We can talk! I know where the 'Zero Archive' is! I know the truth about your parents! Chen Mo! I have the answers you want!"

Chen Mo didn't move.

He just silently watched this mastermind, who had controlled S City's underworld for over a decade, panic like a rat trapped in a cage.

"Too late."

Chen Mo raised his blade, the tip resting against the glass. "Besides, I don't want to hear your answers. Your heartbeat is too filthy."

"You..."

Old Zhang was about to say more, but the sprinklers on the ceiling of the observation room suddenly sprayed a pale yellow liquid.

It was an accelerant.

Immediately afterward, the sprinklers in the dissection room also began to work.

"Goodbye, Director."

Chen Mo took a step back, watching Old Zhang scratch frantically behind the glass, his eyes full of despair.

Just then, a crackling sound suddenly came from Chen Mo's earpiece.

"Old Chen! Can you hear me? It's Ninth Master!"

"Speak," Chen Mo said, watching the fire shutters about to drop.

"Evacuate! Get out now! I hacked into the fire system and opened a path for you! It's in that waste chute to your left!"

"I'm not leaving."

Chen Mo looked at Old Zhang behind the glass. "I want to watch him die."

"Watch your ass!" Ninth Master roared over the channel. "The Su girl rushed in! She's going to get you! If you don't leave, she'll end up a roasted pig along with you!"

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

He snapped his head around to look at the door of the dissection room.

The stainless steel door he had locked from the inside was being violently slammed.

*Bang! Bang!*

"Chen Mo! Open the door!"

Su Qingxue's voice sounded tearful yet incredibly fierce.

Damn it.

This crazy woman.

Chen Mo glanced at Old Zhang, who was already soaked in accelerant, then looked at the door.

"Count yourself lucky."

Chen Mo flipped the middle finger at the terrified Old Zhang behind the glass, turned, rushed to the door, and pulled back the bolt.

The door opened.

Su Qingxue was soaked, holding a fire extinguisher that nearly smashed into Chen Mo's face.

Seeing that Chen Mo was still alive, the fire extinguisher fell to the ground with a clang, her eyes red.

"Go!"

Chen Mo grabbed her, giving her no chance to speak, and shoved her directly into the waste chute nearby.

It was a slide used for transporting medical waste, leading directly to the underground sewage well.

"Ninth Master, catch her!"

Chen Mo shouted, then jumped in himself.

The instant his feet left the ground.

*BOOM—!!!*

A massive explosion sounded behind him.

High-temperature flames instantly swallowed the dissection and observation rooms.

Even through the thick walls, Chen Mo could feel the scorching airwave.

And... Old Zhang's final, shrill scream... inside the sewer.

Three figures huddled together again, looking like drowned rats.

Except this time, they weren't just covered in dirty water, but also a heavy smell of smoke.

"*Cough, cough, cough...*"

Ninth Master coughed while distressedly checking his equipment. "My tablet... it's water-damaged... this was a limited edition..."

Su Qingxue didn't speak.

She just stared intently at Chen Mo, checking him from head to toe. Only after confirming he wasn't missing any parts did she let out a long breath and plop down on the ground.

"You're a bastard," she said.

"I know," Chen Mo leaned against the wall, wiping the black soot from his face.

"Did you really want to die with him just now?"

"It was the best opportunity."

Chen Mo pulled out the meat cleaver from his pocket.

The blade was curled and ruined.

He casually tossed the knife into the gutter.

"The trail is cold."

Su Qingxue looked up; the faint sound of fire truck sirens could be heard. "Old Zhang is dead, and the lead on the 'Zero Archive' is gone too."

"It's not gone."

Chen Mo pointed to his head.

"In that moment just now, I heard it."

"Heard what?"

"When he was in extreme terror, his heart rate frequency changed."

Chen Mo closed his eyes, recalling the sound from that moment. "That frequency wasn't human. Inside his heart, there's also a 'seed'."

Su Qingxue and Ninth Master exchanged a look, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

Old Zhang was also a cyborg?

"Furthermore, before he died, that 'seed' sent out a signal."

Chen Mo opened his eyes, his gaze deep.

"The content of the signal was very simple—just three numbers."

"What are they?" Ninth Master quickly pulled out a pen.

"404."

"404?" Ninth Master was stunned. "Page not found? What kind of signal is that?"

"No, it's a coordinate."

Chen Mo stood up and stretched his aching neck.

"There's only one road in S City called National Highway 404. It's an abandoned military road leading to the northern mountains."

That's a forbidden zone in S City.

Legend has it there's a long-abandoned sanatorium there, sealed off decades ago due to a plague. To this day, no one dares to go near it.

"Zero Archive." Chen Mo looked into the darkness to the north. "It's right there."

"So, are we going now?" Ninth Master asked tentatively.

"No."

Chen Mo shook his head.

He looked at Su Qingxue. "We're fugitives now—no car, no guns, no supplies. Going there would just be suicide."

"Then where to?"

Chen Mo suddenly smiled.

That smile carried a hint of cunning and a touch of madness.

"Since I'm a martyr, I should go and enjoy the benefits of being one."

"You mean..."

"Back to my apartment," Chen Mo said. "I have two million in cash hidden under my bed, along with all the dirt I've collected on the high-ranking police officials over the years."

Ninth Master's eyes instantly turned into dollar signs. "Two million?! You, with your honest face, actually have secret savings?!"

"That's pension money."

Chen Mo led the way toward the sewer exit. "Since they've already issued the announcement, if I don't take this money, wouldn't I be letting Old Zhang's efforts go to waste?"

"But there's still a problem." Su Qingxue frowned. "The apartment is definitely sealed off, crawling with police lying in wait."

"Then let them wait."

Chen Mo's figure vanished into the darkness, leaving behind only a faint remark.

"After all, the one they want to catch is Chen Mo."

"But the one who crawled out of that fire is a vengeful spirit from hell."

"Vengeful spirits have no names."

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