224: Returns service

Chapter 224: Return Service. "Forty-nine."

The Masked Man lay on the ground, blood foam bubbling from his mouth along with the countdown, like a broken clock striking the hour.

"Forty-eight."

That black heart beat frantically in Chen Mo's hand, its frequency as fast as a sparrow being squeezed.

The red light of the countdown reflected on Chen Mo's face, flickering in and out.

"Throw it! Throw it away, quick!"

Ninth Master scrambled out from the pile of corpses, his face covered in dust and plasma. "Throw it far away! Throw it down the shaft!"

"It's no use."

Su Qingxue's voice was trembling as she stared fixedly at the red numbers.

"The blast radius of a small tactical nuclear bomb is at least one kilometer. This place is a sealed structure; the shockwave won't be able to dissipate. We'll be crushed into meat paste like sardines in a can."

"Then what do we do? Just wait to die?"

Ninth Master paced in circles anxiously, his shotgun pointing aimlessly. "I haven't lived long enough yet! I just finished paying off my gambling debts!"

Chen Mo said nothing.

He only did one thing.

He grabbed the Masked Man by the collar and yanked his mangled face up from the ground.

"Where was this thing originally supposed to be sent?"

Chen Mo's voice was steady—unnaturally steady.

"Cough, cough... To the... to the Altar..."

The Masked Man laughed so hard his whole body convulsed. "What? You want to go on a pilgrimage? It's too late... No one can get this thing out in time... Unless you can fly."

"I can't fly."

Chen Mo looked up, his gaze locking onto a thick, transparent pipe above the operating table.

The pipe was as thick as a man's embrace, filled with spiral propulsion grooves that led into the dark depths of the dome.

The organs that had been harvested earlier were sent away through pipes like this.

"Is that a logistics channel?" Chen Mo asked.

"That's the 'Offering' channel..." The Masked Man's eyes were dazed. "It leads directly to the Wang Family Manor on the surface... to the Teacher's dining table..."

"Very good."

Chen Mo let go, and the Masked Man slumped down like a pile of mud.

"Ninth Master, give me a hand."

Carrying the heart that could explode at any moment, Chen Mo strode toward a metal console on the side of the operating table. "Pry this cover open."

It was a massive intake port with the words [Non-biological samples strictly prohibited] written on it.

"What are you doing?"

Although Ninth Master was confused, his body reacted quickly. He swung the butt of his shotgun and smashed it against the latch.

Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew everywhere.

"I'm returning the goods."

Chen Mo looked at the countdown.

00:35.

"Since Wang Daoming wants this heart so badly, I'll send it to him."

With a snap, the cover of the intake port was smashed open.

A foul-smelling gust of air rushed out.

Inside was powerful pneumatic suction, making a whistling wind sound.

Chen Mo stuffed the heart inside.

The heart was too big and got stuck at the opening.

The countdown was still ticking.

00:28.

"It's not sucking it in!" Ninth Master was sweating profusely in panic. "This thing is too heavy! Not enough air pressure!"

"Because there's no authorization."

Su Qingxue rushed to the console, her fingers flying across the keyboard. "This is a dedicated channel; it needs biological verification to activate high-pressure transmission mode. Otherwise, it's just a regular trash chute."

"Verify what?"

"The donor's identity." Su Qingxue looked at the red text on the screen. "It needs to confirm that this is a 'qualified product'."

Chen Mo glanced at the heart stuck in the opening.

Then he glanced at the Masked Man on the floor.

"Will he work?" Ninth Master pointed at the Masked Man.

"No, he's a doctor, not a donor." Su Qingxue shook her head.

00:18.

Time was running out.

Chen Mo suddenly reached out and tore open his blood-soaked shirt.

Revealing the hideous "001" brand on his left chest.

"I am the donor."

Chen Mo leaned directly over the scanner, aligning the brand on his chest with the red laser beam.

Beep—

A piercing buzz.

The red text on the screen instantly turned green.

【Identity Confirmed: Experimental Subject 001】

【Sample Grade: Special Grade】

【Activating Expedited Channel】

Boom!

A loud roar suddenly came from deep within the intake port; it was the sound of a giant fan starting up.

A terrifying suction force was instantly generated, nearly causing Ninth Master, who was standing nearby, to stumble and fall in.

The stuck black heart vanished with a whoosh.

Only the thumping sounds of impact could be heard from the pipe as it shot toward the surface at extreme speed.

"Goodbye."

Chen Mo brushed the dust off his hands and turned around.

The Masked Man stared blankly at the vibrating pipe, his expression uglier than someone crying.

"You... you sent it to the Teacher..."

"Yeah."

Chen Mo walked over, fished a flattened cigarette out of Ninth Master's pocket, and put it in his mouth. "SF Express expedited, cash on delivery."

00:05.

00:04.

The ground began to vibrate.

It wasn't the vibration of an explosion, but a dull thud that could even be felt deep underground.

"Get down!"

Su Qingxue shouted, pulling Chen Mo and Ninth Master under the reinforced metal console.

00:00.

There was no world-shaking roar.

Or rather, the sound was so extreme that it became inaudible.

Chen Mo only felt the entire world jolt violently.

It felt as if he were in a box that had been slammed hard against the ground.

The concrete dome overhead cracked instantly, with countless fragments and metal dust falling like rain.

The thick transport pipe burst open, thick black smoke and flames spewing from the broken opening.

Next came a shockwave pressing down from above.

Although separated by hundreds of meters of rock, the force was still terrifying.

All the glassware in the operating room shattered.

The hundreds of mummified corpses that had been lying on the floor were instantly vibrated into powder, turning into a sky full of bone ash.

The console made a tooth-grinding screeching sound as it was forced down by ten centimeters.

The vibration lasted for a full half-minute.

When everything finally calmed down, only a sharp ringing remained in their ears.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Ninth Master poked half his head out from under the table, his face covered in dust like a freshly unearthed terracotta warrior. "I want to know... what's the scene like up there now?"

"I don't know."

Chen Mo spat out the cigarette, which had been snapped by the vibration. "But the Wang Family's big manor probably needs some redecorating."

He pushed aside the steel plate pressing down on him and stood up.

The operating room was completely destroyed.

Ruins were everywhere, the unpleasant smell of medicine replaced by the scent of gunpowder.

The Masked Man was gone.

He was probably buried under some pile of rocks or had escaped in the chaos.

"We have to leave."

Su Qingxue looked at the tactical terminal on her wrist. "The structure above has been compromised, and groundwater is flooding in. This place will soon be submerged."

"The elevator definitely won't work anymore."

Ninth Master looked at the twisted and deformed elevator shaft. "How are we going to get up? Climb?"

"We're not going up."

Chen Mo looked at the mess on the ground, his gaze falling on the wall behind the operating table.

Half the wall had collapsed.

Revealing what was behind it.

It wasn't rock, nor was it concrete.

It was a door.

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