Chapter 53 Professor Chen's Trail

Chu Han followed behind several people through a complex mountain path and discovered that they had entered a hidden cave.

However, he did not follow them inside.

Because there were two members of the Black Crow Organization standing guard at the cave entrance.

Both of these individuals were at the Early Stage of the Third-Tier Martial Artist level, yet they were only responsible for guarding the entrance, which was enough to demonstrate the organization's strength.

Chu Han did not force his way into the cave; his current mission was only to investigate and search for Professor Chen's whereabouts.

Forcibly killing the two guards would eventually be discovered by their accomplices inside.

This would put the Black Crow Organization on high alert or even allow them to prepare in advance.

At that point, trying to rescue anyone would be difficult.

Therefore, he planned to sneak in and investigate first before making a move.

Using the mountain mist as cover, Chu Han circled around to the top of the mountain structure where the cave was located.

The mountain was riddled with caves of various sizes, and the Black Crow Organization's cave was just one of the most inconspicuous among them.

Some caves were only wide enough for one person to pass through, while others were bottomless; perhaps one of them shared an internal connection with the Black Crow Organization's cave.

Furthermore, the entrance to the Black Crow Organization's cave was very small, meaning there must be other ventilation shafts inside the mountain.

Thinking of this, he immediately expanded his Mental Energy, carefully sensing the airflow within each cave.

If an entrance was connected to other caves, there would inevitably be an outflow of air.

Moreover, if there were humans or mutated beasts inside a cave, the airflow would certainly carry some specific odors.

Sure enough, Chu Han quickly discovered a relatively obvious change in airflow at a narrow, half-person-high cave entrance.

Going over to inspect it closely, he also smelled the faint scent of rotting corpses in the airflow here.

"The smell of decay? It seems this cave is very likely connected to the Black Crow Organization's cave."

If it were a cave inhabited by mutated beasts, they would generally eat the prey's meat clean, leaving no corpses or even bones behind.

Thus, the probability of human activity was much higher.

Chu Han felt a surge of joy and crawled into the cave entrance without hesitation.

The interior was pitch black, but under the perception of his Mental Energy, he could see the conditions inside.

Inside was only a narrow passage, surrounded by uneven natural cave walls covered in sharp stone ridges that clearly hadn't been smoothed out.

If not for Chu Han's strong physical defense, these stone ridges would have already left many bloody scratches on his body.

Continuing deeper into the cave, the space inside gradually widened.

Chu Han discovered that the interior of the cave was a complex, interconnected layout; almost the entire mountain had been hollowed out, with holes everywhere.

No wonder the Black Crow Organization hid their base here.

Following the stench of decay, Chu Han turned left and right within the mountain, passing through various caves.

The smell of decay became more and more obvious.

After walking for over ten minutes, Chu Han felt as if he had entered a sewer.

The thick stench of rot made him frown slightly.

Suddenly, his foot met empty air.

The ground beneath him suddenly collapsed, and he instantly lost his balance, falling down.

He fell for less than ten meters before feeling himself crash into a pile of soft things.

At the same time, a pungent stench of rot and blood flooded his nostrils from all directions, making his nose sting and nearly causing him to gag.

"Where is this?"

Chu Han quickly released his Mental Energy to investigate and immediately found himself at the bottom of a deep pit, over ten meters in diameter and dozens of meters deep.

The pit was piled high with the corpses of humans and mutated beasts; some were rotting, while others had already become bleached bones.

The stench of decay was emanating from here.

Chu Han took a lighting device out of his space and turned it on to inspect the area.

He found that some of the dead were wearing white coats and protective suits, looking like researchers.

Other corpses were wearing the black clothes and white masks of the Black Crow Organization's Martial Artists; they were clearly members of the organization.

Evidently, this was a Burial Pit used by the Black Crow Organization for disposing of corpses.

Enduring the nausea, Chu Han took the black clothes and white mask off a relatively intact corpse.

He planned to use this outfit to infiltrate the Black Crow Organization.

So, he quickly changed his clothes and climbed up the wall of the pit.

Upon reaching the top of the deep pit, Chu Han found that this place was entirely different from where he had fallen earlier.

After climbing out, he was in a long passage, but the cave walls around the passage had clearly been modified by humans.

Chu Han immediately followed the passage outward.

Just as he left the passage, footsteps and voices came from not far away: "Hurry up, there are more corpses this time, dispose of them quickly."

Chu Han hid in a shadow to peek.

He saw a group of people carrying a pile of corpses toward the passage.

These corpses included both humans and mutated beasts, all mangled beyond recognition, seemingly having suffered severe injuries before death.

Once these people entered the passage, Chu Han quickly moved in the direction they had come from.

He arrived at a much wider cave.

This was clearly a secret base created by hollowing out and modifying the cave.

Both sides of the cave were lined with various crude rooms.

Most of those locked in these rooms were human Martial Artists or mutated beasts; they were all bound by metal chains, their auras listless, and their bodies emitted traces of weak dark energy.

Chu Han guessed that these Martial Artists and mutated beasts were likely captured by the Black Crow Organization for live experiments.

The failed subjects who died would then be thrown down that deep pit.

"The Black Crow Organization is indeed conducting some kind of evil experiment."

Chu Han was slightly shocked, wondering what kind of conspiracy the other party was brewing.

Continuing deeper into the Black Crow Organization's cave, Chu Han encountered many members of the organization.

The members of the Black Crow Organization were far more numerous than just those who had attacked the research team; there were also many Tier-3, Tier-2, and Tier-1 Martial Artists, all wearing black clothes and white masks.

Adding all the members together, there were no fewer than seventy or eighty people.

The strength of this organization was definitely not to be underestimated.

Chu Han avoided some of the stronger members and finally arrived before a massive iron door.

The iron door was a full 5 meters high and 3 meters wide, firmly sealed shut.

There was also a large combination lock on the iron door; without the code, it was impossible to enter.

Directly opposite the iron door was another passage, which Chu Han guessed led to the cave exit.

However, he was more interested in the situation inside the iron door, so he released his Mental Energy to look through the door and check the interior.

The room inside was also modified from a large cave, but the walls, floor, and ceiling had all been cast in metal.

This room was filled with various research equipment and instruments, forming a massive experimental bench.

In the center of the room stood a cylindrical transparent container filled with a pale red liquid, with several cables connecting the container to nearby instruments.

Beside the container, several researchers were tied to chairs, their faces pale.

Before the mission began, Chu Han and the others had all seen photos of the research team members.

He immediately recognized the white-haired old man with glasses in the middle as the rescue target, Professor Chen.

The others were very young, and Chu Han also recognized them as several of Professor Chen's students.

They hadn't been killed but had been captured and brought here together.

In addition to Professor Chen and the others, there was one person in black in the room.

This person's aura was incredibly profound and powerful; his aura was much stronger than Li Yunjian's.

"He should be the Black Crow Leader; his strength might have already reached the Peak of the 5th Tier or even the 6th Tier," Chu Han guessed.

The Black Crow Leader stood before Professor Chen and said in a raspy voice, "Professor Chen, my goal is simple. Help me complete the dark blood potion, and I will release you and your students."

"Don't even dream about it. I will never cooperate with people who use human Martial Artists for experiments. A perfect dark blood potion is fundamentally impossible to complete. Everything you are doing is harmful to humanity. I will not help you!" Professor Chen spoke vehemently, his attitude extremely resolute.

"Hahaha, well said. However, the current situation doesn't leave you the option to disagree."

As the Black Crow Leader spoke, he suddenly waved his hand toward one of the students.

With a "crack," the chair beneath that student instantly shattered, and their legs were reduced to a bloody mess.

"Ah!"

The student let out a miserable scream and immediately fainted from the pain.

"Xiao Zhou!"

Professor Chen let out a shrill cry, struggling desperately in his chair, trying to break free.

"Don't hurt them!" Professor Chen roared.

"As expected, your students are your weakness. Keeping them alive was the right choice."

"I will only give you one night. If the dark blood potion isn't successfully developed by tomorrow morning, I will kill one of your students. For every additional hour of delay, I will kill another person."

The Black Crow Leader said with a smile.

"You monster!" Professor Chen seemed to have all his strength drained as he slumped back into the chair.

The Black Crow Leader waved his hand again, undoing the restraints on Professor Chen and his students. "Work hard for me, and you might leave here ali— Hmm? Who is it?!"

The Black Crow Leader immediately turned around and dashed toward the door.