8: Chapter 8 The Poisonous Fog Dissipated on Its Own

Chen Ye raised his eyebrows, a roguish smile hanging on the corners of his mouth, his gaze landing directly on Qin Ruoxue as he waited for her answer.

Qin Ruoxue sighed helplessly, her cool, elegant features filled with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

She looked up at the red countdown flickering on the pod door, her tone tinged with a hint of urgency.

"There is less than an hour left now, and outside there is Toxic Mist so thick it cannot be dissolved, along with predatory monsters eyeing us hungrily."

"Instead of thinking about how to survive, you keep dwelling on nonsensical things."

"You had better first think about how we are going to survive after the countdown ends."

"Going out means facing the Toxic Mist and monsters; do you want to throw your life away for nothing?"

Chen Ye shrugged indifferently, leaned half a step closer, and lowered his voice to tease her.

"Before throwing our lives away, wouldn't it be more worthwhile to seize the time to do something fun?"

"It's better than bottling everything up and dying with regrets."

A faint flush instantly stained Qin Ruoxue's cheeks, and she glared at him, both angry and annoyed.

"Why is your head filled with these kinds of things? Can't you be serious for once?"

Chen Ye looked back at her, righteous and composed, his tone candid.

"Having thoughts when facing a beautiful woman is the most normal thing in the world."

"Besides, I didn't say I was going to do anything. Look how worked up you are." Chen Ye's mouth curled into a devilish smile.

Qin Ruoxue fell silent, a strange emotion quietly welling up in the depths of her heart.

She was no fool; at this moment, the two of them were trapped in this small, enclosed space.

If Chen Ye really wanted to do something to her, she wouldn't have the strength to resist at all.

Yet, from the moment they met until now, he had at most made a few glib remarks and had a direct gaze, but he had never made any truly inappropriate moves.

Not only that, but he had also saved her life time and time again.

Being calm and level-headed, he was far more reliable than those who only knew how to panic and run for their lives.

Thinking of this, the resistance in her heart faded quite a bit, and she finally relented.

"Then what reward do you want? As long as it's something I can do, and as long as it isn't anything excessive."

Chen Ye was clearly taken aback; he obviously hadn't expected her to suddenly relent, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

He had originally just been teasing her casually and hadn't expected to actually get a response.

He quickly returned to his devil-may-care demeanor and spoke with a wicked smile.

"After we get out alive, the next time we meet, just wear black stockings for me to see."

Qin Ruoxue's face instantly flushed bright red, and she raised her hand to smack his arm in shamed annoyance.

"You really have no sense of propriety; you only know how to say such scoundrelly things."

Chen Ye laughed heartily, finding her shamed annoyance particularly amusing.

After laughing, he suddenly clutched his arm, furrowed his brows, and wore a look of weakness on his face.

"Wait, I think I was poisoned just now and scratched by a monster. I still have no strength, and the wound hurts badly."

He deliberately feigned that his injuries hadn't healed, his eyes carrying a hint of deliberate weakness.

Seeing this, Qin Ruoxue immediately put away her annoyance, her face revealing a look of concern.

Forgetting the earlier teasing, she walked quickly to his side and reached out to support his arm.

"How are you? Is the toxin not cleared yet?"

"I will heal you immediately."

A faint warm current welled up in her palm, and her primary Healing Ability slowly flowed into Chen Ye's body.

The warm touch pressed against his skin, gentle and soothing.

Chen Ye narrowed his eyes comfortably, the faint fragrance of Qin Ruoxue lingering at the tip of his nose.

The two were extremely close, their arms pressed tightly together, and the occasional physical contact sent a tingle through his heart.

He enjoyed the goddess's healing with peace of mind, feigning pain on the surface while being overjoyed inside.

This trick of faking illness was simply foolproof.

[Ding! Qin Ruoxue is interacting with the host]

[Symbiosis Value +20! Current: 180!]

[Host Basic Strength +20! Current: 200!]

"Has the Symbiosis Value gone up again!" Chen Ye put away his languor, his eyes darkening.

Time passed minute by minute, and the countdown on the pod door dropped to under ten minutes.

Qin Ruoxue stopped her healing, looked up at Chen Ye, her tone filled with anxiety.

"There are only ten minutes left; what on earth should we do?"

"I really can't think of any way to safely leave the Basement."

He didn't have a foolproof plan either and could only make the riskiest of preparations.

After getting out later, they would immediately put on their gas masks and dash outside with all their might.

After an hour of drifting, the concentration of the Toxic Mist on the ground should have dropped significantly; as long as they ran fast enough, they might not be severely eroded.

Just as he finished speaking, the surveillance screen at the head of the bed suddenly showed some activity.

Both of them turned to look at the same time and saw that the thick, impenetrable green Toxic Mist in the image was rapidly dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just a few minutes, the visibility in the Basement had largely recovered.

Chen Ye was dumbfounded and couldn't help but exclaim, "What is going on? Why did the Toxic Mist disperse on its own?"

"Could there really be some kind of superman?"

Before he could figure it out, the roar of vehicle engines came through the surveillance screen.

Three vehicles drove straight into the Basement garage: one ambulance and two military off-road vehicles, their bodies marked with organized insignia.

The doors opened, and over a dozen fully armed soldiers stepped out one by one.

They wore sealed protective suits, gas masks, and held assault rifles, their postures upright. The medical staff from the ambulance were also wearing full protective gear and followed closely behind.

Chen Ye watched, dumbstruck, his heart full of confusion.

This display was too exaggerated; it was just a hospital Basement, so how could it attract the military?

His first thought was whether his symbiosis pod had been discovered.

But on second thought, when Qin Ruoxue made the call, she hadn't said anything, so it was impossible for the information to have leaked.

What surprised him even more was that after these soldiers got out of the cars, their gazes were all locked onto the storage room door, and they approached with uniform steps.

They seemed completely unable to see the symbiosis pod that was right in front of them.

Chen Ye suddenly realized and muttered in a low voice, "So this symbiosis pod is invisible from the outside; ordinary people can't detect it at all."

Just then, the leading officer made a gesture, and two soldiers stepped forward and pulled open the storage room door directly.

The three Tier 1 Aberrants trapped inside roared and rushed out violently.

The soldiers reacted extremely quickly and pulled the triggers without hesitation.

Dense gunfire exploded in the Basement, and bullets poured out like a rainstorm.

The three Aberrants were instantly suppressed, and without even a chance to resist, they fell into a pool of blood.

Chen Ye and Qin Ruoxue, inside the symbiosis pod, could barely hear any of the outside gunfire through the monitor.

The entire pod was ridiculously quiet; the soundproofing was terrifyingly effective.

Chen Ye couldn't help but exclaim that this symbiosis pod was too magical; even the soundproofing was done so well.

He watched the countdown steadily decreasing and a thought popped into his mind.

Instead of waiting for the time to run out and leaving automatically, it would be better to leave voluntarily now.

He silently thought to himself, "Can I leave the symbiosis pod early?"

[Ding! Host request to exit early detected. Confirm immediate release of symbiosis pod status?]

Chen Ye was overjoyed; this system was truly intelligent.

"Confirm!"

The next second, a blinding silver-blue light suddenly lit up inside the pod.

The light flashed and disappeared; the previously stable symbiosis pod instantly turned into points of flowing light and completely dissipated into the air.

Chen Ye and Qin Ruoxue appeared directly on the floor of the Basement, completely unprepared.

The two reacted extremely quickly, immediately picking up the gas masks by their feet and firmly putting them on their faces.

Just then, several soldiers noticed the commotion and turned their heads sharply to look.

Before Chen Ye could open his mouth to explain, several of them quickly stepped forward, their movements crisp and efficient.

He had expected to receive heartwarming rescue and reassurance.

But instead, cold handcuffs were directly locked onto Chen Ye's wrists with great force, digging into his wrists and causing him pain.

A black hood was instantly pulled over his head, and everything before his eyes turned pitch black.