Chapter 1: I Can Still Be Saved

‘Drip! Drip!’

The stench of blood filled the air as foul-smelling liquid dripped from the tip of a sharp knife to the ground, each drop landing with a dripping sound.

Lu Xiao, his eyes lifeless like those of a dead fish, stared at the unidentifiable creature before him, sinking into deep thought.

After a long while, he raised his hand, the sharp knife still dripping blood and gestured at the pile of rotting flesh on the ground.

“Cut off the head and the tail! Mmph!”

He grinned.

The crimson moonlight spilled over his face, making his smile appear eerie and terrifying.

Just as Lu Xiao was about to start eating, the sound of hurried footsteps reached his ears.

“Containment target detected!”

“Repeat! Containment target detected!”

“All team members, prepare for combat!”

At the same time, a squad of well-equipped soldiers surrounded Lu Xiao, who was crouching on the ground.

Lu Xiao froze, his dead fish eyes scanning the area.

‘Are you humans?’

A hoarse voice emerged from his mouth.

The squad consisted of seven soldiers, all wearing masks, their faces hidden from view.

In an instant, seven pitch-black gun barrels were aimed at Lu Xiao.

Drip!

Another drop of black-red blood fell from the sharp knife in Lu Xiao’s hand.

He forced what he thought was a charming smile.

“Hello! My name is…”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out in quick succession.

Blood stained Lu Xiao’s body, spreading outwards like flowers blooming.

“What the hell?”

That was the last thing Lu Xiao uttered before collapsing.

‘Phew! That was terrifying!’

A soldier spoke, his voice muffled and trembling through the mask.

‘Why the hell did you shoot?’

Someone shouted angrily.

The soldier who fired the gun felt wronged.

“Captain! He was just too terrifying!”

He pointed the gun barrel at Lu Xiao, who was lying in a pool of blood.

Lu Xiao’s face still bore a cruel smile.

His mouth was covered with dried blood, his face smeared with filth.

Especially those dead fish eyes, just a single glance was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

A female team member knelt down to examine him, then spoke in a heavy tone.

“Captain! He might be human!”

Upon hearing this, the captain paused for a moment, then took out his walkie-talkie and said in a low voice.

“This is Dart. The target, suspected to be human, has been neutralised! Please advise me!”

There was a minute of silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, followed by a roar.

‘Human? You killed him? Shit!’

‘If he's human, he might be the only human in the Dark Prison! Do you know how valuable he is for research?’

“You just killed him like that?”  

“Damn it, why aren’t you the ones dead there?”  

Dart was the codename of that captain.  

Hearing the voice from the walkie-talkie, the place fell into silence.  

The team members looked at each other in shock.

Dart remained silent for a long time before speaking in a deep voice.

‘The target exhibited strong aggression!’

‘Damn it! Damn it!’

On the other end of the walkie-talkie, the shouting continued.

‘Bullshit! He's just a life form without any unusual characteristics. How much aggression could he possibly have?’

‘If he is a human, your entire squad isn't worth a single one of his fingers!!’

Just then, one of the female soldiers suddenly gasped.

‘Captain! Captain! The target is still breathing!’

Hearing this, Dart's expression froze.

Even the roaring on the walkie-talkie abruptly stopped.

“Quick! Quick! Bring him back!”

“If he dies, you bastards aren’t coming back either!”

“Beep beep beep!”

The walkie-talkie was hung up.

Dart reacted swiftly and shouted immediately.

‘Quickly! Little Rain, perform emergency battlefield treatment on the target and ensure his vital signs are stable!’  

‘The rest of you disperse and maintain vigilance!’  

As soon as he finished speaking, the squad members immediately spread out and took up their positions.  

The female soldier named Little Rain removed the backpack from her back.  

She took out the emergency treatment tools from the bag.  

She glanced at Lu Xiao's face lying on the ground and was so startled that the cotton in her hand fell to the ground.

The cotton was quickly soaked in black blood and was clearly unusable.

She took out another ball of snow-white medical cotton from the backpack.

Gritting her teeth, she used the backpack to cover Lu Xiao's face.

Under the backpack, Lu Xiao, whose face was covered, twitched his lips and muttered to himself.

‘Do I look that scary?’

Little Rain held a haemostat in one hand and reached into the gunshot wound, which was still bleeding profusely.

She managed to extract a bullet fragment quickly using the haemostat.

Pfft!

A jet of blood erupted from the wound, like a small fountain, splattering onto Little Rain's face mask and staining the transparent glass mask a deep red.

Little Rain didn't bother to wipe it off; she hurriedly stuffed the cotton she was holding in her hand into the gunshot wound, which was still gushing out blood.  

The cotton was instantly soaked in blood.  

She clenched her teeth and kept stuffing the cotton inside until the blood stopped flowing out. Then she moved on to the next gunshot wound. (PS: The method is used for emergency haemostasis on the battlefield. Those interested can look it up on Baidu.)

Lu Xiao's body convulsed violently. The pain was so intense that he could barely hold on.

‘Captain! I detected a surge in Dark Prison values! Something is approaching!’

The person in charge of detection shouted immediately.

Dart glanced at Little Rain, who was still treating the second gunshot wound.

There were still seven more gunshot wounds bleeding profusely.

If these gunshot wounds were not treated, this person might bleed out before they could return to base.

At that moment, a voice echoed in Dart's mind.

‘The value of your entire squad doesn't even match a single finger of his!’

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Dart's eyes.

‘Little Rain! I will give you three more minutes! After three minutes, we must evacuate no matter what!’  

Little Rain, kneeling on the ground, did not respond but remained fully focused on helping Lu Xiao stop the bleeding and treated his wounds.  

Her face, covered by a mask, was now covered in tiny beads of sweat.  

She was incredibly tense, as evident from her trembling hands as she stuffed cotton into the wound.  

Her hands couldn't stop shaking.

This was their squad's first mission.

It was supposed to be a low-risk task with a danger level of 5, but they had managed to botch it.

‘Captain! The Dark Prison value has spiked again! The danger level has risen to 2!’

At that moment, Lu Xiao removed the backpack covering his face.

‘Young woman! Don't be nervous!’

‘Let me give you a demonstration!’

Saying this, Lu Xiao extended his hand in a claw-like shape and thrust it into the gun wound.

Pfft!

Another jet of blood spurted out.

Little Rain was so startled that her hand trembled, causing the pliers to tear open a wound.

Blood gushed out violently.  

If it had been a small fountain before, it was now like a large fountain.  

The smell of blood filled the air around them.  

Lu Xiao really wanted to sit up and say,  

‘I will do it myself!’  

Just then, a series of piercing laughter echoed through the darkness.

Dart glanced back and witnessed the scene.

He sighed helplessly.

‘It's over!’

‘Captain! The Dark Prison value is still rising! Something terrifying is approaching! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!’

Dart made a decisive decision.

‘The target has lost too much blood; he is probably beyond saving. Abandon the target and evacuate everyone!’

Given the way the target was bleeding just now, Dart felt that the person was beyond saving.  

If they took a bleeding person with them, the bloodlust would attract all the strange creatures in the area.  

In that case, their squad would have almost no chance of survival.  

However, the radio on the other end insisted that the target was important, leaving Dart in a dilemma.

Moments later, his expression hardened.

‘Even if it's a corpse, we have to bring it back!’

Little Rain picked up her backpack and muttered under her breath.

‘I am sorry! I am sorry!’

Lu Xiao's face broke into a gentlemanly smile.

‘I think... I can still be saved!’

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