Chapter 22: Bone Spike

 

The ambulance drove directly into the depths of the psychiatric hospital, then vanished without a trace.

When the City Fire Squad reappeared, they had already returned to the C03 Asylum.

"Doctor! The mission failed!"

The Doctor adjusted his monocle but said nothing. 

He had already seen all the details clearly through the cameras attached to the squad members.

"You've worked hard. Go rest for now," he said.

After speaking, the Doctor paid no further attention to Dart, who had come to report, and instead returned to studying Lu Xiao's hematopoietic stem cells.

Dart silently exited the Doctor's office and returned to the squad's training room.

When Little Rain saw Dart return, she hurried over to him. "Captain! Did the Doctor say anything?"

Dart shook his head. 

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. 

They all felt some fear toward the Doctor, but clearly, he hadn't intended for their mission to fail.

Meanwhile, Lu Xiao fiddled with the bone spike. 

The spike felt heavy in his hand and seemed to pulse slightly, giving him the sensation that it was alive. 

This made him curious.

"Ivan didn't tell me how to use this thing!" 

Ivan had only called it a work of art, but it obviously couldn't be that simple.

After a moment of thought, Lu Xiao recalled something from the cultivation novels he had read: blood recognition for immortal artifacts. 

He grinned.

Thud. Subject Lu Xiao plunged the entire bone spike into his thigh.

At that moment, the bone spike began to vibrate intensely.

Lu Xiao quickly pulled it out and examined it closely. 

The intricate patterns on the spike were now stained with blood, emitting a faint jade-green glow. The azure-blue gem at the end released a halo of light.

Hum!!! At the same time, a wave of intense dizziness assaulted Lu Xiao's mind. He shook his head to clear the sensation. 

The dizziness came and went quickly.

By the time Lu Xiao's vision refocused, the bone spike had returned to its original state, unchanged. 

Lu Xiao curled his lip. "This doesn't seem like much."

At that moment, countless staff members at the C03 Asylum were lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth. 

The staff had been busy with their work when suddenly their eyes rolled back, and they fell unconscious. 

Only a few managed to stay upright. 

The Doctor was one of them.

Upon discovering the anomaly, the Doctor immediately rushed to the monitoring station and activated the emergency protocol. 

In an instant, all passages were sealed with steel doors weighing thousands of pounds. Alarms blared throughout the asylum.

In the area where the expendables lived, some noticed something was wrong. 

Since their living quarters were far from the containment rooms, they hadn't felt the anomaly, but the alarm bells were ringing throughout the entire facility.

One expendable's gaze deepened. "Three alarms in just one week! Something must have happened," he muttered to himself.

There were over a hundred expendables like him here. 

They wore identical yellow vests and lived in prison-like cells. 

The only difference from a real prison was that they had single cells. These people were called expendables, meaning they weren't treated as humans here.

They shared two common traits: 

First, they were all vicious death row inmates. 

Second, a man in a black suit had said the same thing to each of them: "Do you want to live? Come with me. If you can last thirty days, you will regain your freedom."

These death row inmates were all facing imminent execution. 

Every extra day alive was a bonus. 

Hearing they could live another thirty days, they all agreed without hesitation. 

Whether they could truly regain freedom didn't matter to them. But after arriving here, their minds began to change subtly. 

After all, who wouldn't want to live a little longer?

Soon, however, some realized it was a complete scam. They were brought here to provide research data for the scientists. 

They were forced to interact with terrifying contained anomalies to test the anomalies' properties. 

The slightest mistake could mean instant death. As for whether anyone could actually last thirty days and regain freedom, who knew? 

So far, no one had survived past the thirtieth day.

Several expendables exchanged glances through the bars. 

Their eyes then fell on the special forces soldiers guarding the entrance. "Officer, what's happening now?" one expendable whistled and shouted.

The special forces soldier's earpiece transmitted the Doctor's voice: "Stand by!" 

Upon receiving the Doctor's order, they relaxed slightly. 

One soldier then walked over to the whistling expendable. 

He raised his gun and slammed the butt against the bars. "Shut up!" He didn't say more, these people were just expendables.

Seeing the soldier's attitude, the expendables exchanged meaningful looks.

Meanwhile, the Doctor finally found the cause. 

Watching the playback of Lu Xiao's surveillance footage, his mouth twitched. 

In the footage, after Lu Xiao plunged the bone spike into his thigh, the staff began collapsing one after another. 

It was as if their souls had been sucked out in an instant. 

On the monitor, Lu Xiao seemed ready to try it again.

The Doctor quickly grabbed the microphone. "S292, stop!"

In the containment room, Lu Xiao was startled by the sudden voice. 

"Mr. Doctor?" he said, confused.

Soon, the Doctor arrived at Subject Lu Xiao's containment room.

After watching the surveillance video, Lu Xiao sheepishly tried to hide the bone spike behind his back.

The Doctor adjusted his monocle. 

"S292, this object is too dangerous. It needs to be contained."

Hearing this, Lu Xiao refused outright.

"Mr. Doctor, this is my personal property!"

The Doctor had no intention of forcing the issue. 

He had his own principles for dealing with anomalies. 

He would never provoke them unnecessarily. 

The Doctor believed that angering an anomaly could lead to many uncontrollable consequences.

"Then you must keep it safe. Don't let it come into contact with blood!" 

The Doctor was certain the bone spike had been activated by Lu Xiao's blood. 

Whether it would have the same effect with someone else's blood didn't concern him. 

He just didn't want Lu Xiao to try it again.

Lu Xiao grinned and put the bone spike away. 

"By the way, Mr. Doctor, are there any missions lately? When can I go to the human world?"

The Doctor was about to shake his head when he suddenly remembered the failed mission of the City Fire Squad. 

"Oh! What a coincidence, there is one!"

Hearing this, Lu Xiao grew excited. 

"Then what are we waiting for? I can't wait any longer!"

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