Chapter 37

"Good gods, this is a drag. Playing detective was kinda fun, but this just straight up sucks," Rila said, her opinion immediately affirmed by several White Sword disciples.

The eleven disciples from the White Sword and Blossoming Rose sects were holed up in a small apartment overlooking the doctor's clinic. The place was magnanimously provided by the boss, but it was just as much of a shit hole as the rest of the slums. It certainly didn't compare to the luxury Rila and the others received back home in Rose City.

They had already spent three days in the apartment without taking a single step outside. So far, the doctor had done nothing suspicious. Hopefully, the tip they'd received from the boss was actually accurate. If so, hopefully, it meant the doctor was guilty. If not, this would be a lot of wasted time.

"Look, he's going out. What would he need to do at this hour?" Hender said, around the time the clock showed one past midnight.

"Hopefully, he's going to kidnap someone. Let's wait and see," Laurey said as he peeked out the window. Half an hour passed before the group saw what they'd been waiting for. The doctor dropped down from the roof, landing by the back door. Most importantly, though, he was carrying a seemingly unconscious body.

The doctor promptly carried the young woman inside before closing the door behind him.

"I'd say that's all the proof we need. I find it unlikely that he'd randomly rescue some patient at this hour, and he certainly wouldn't be so sneaky about it. Let's wait fifteen minutes before going inside. We'll catch him red-handed," Koren said with a big smile on his face.

To quote Rila, the past three days really had been a drag. The minutes passed quickly, and a group of eleven fighters soon stood outside the clinic.

"Let's do this!" Laurey said, eager to get this done and over with. Everyone nodded, and they entered. Inside, they saw no one. The door entered directly into the clinic, which seemed like the most obvious place for the doctor to conduct his experiments or whatever it was he was doing. The disciple swiftly and stealthily spread out through the building, looking into every room.

Being a clinic and the home of a doctor, this was one of the more significant buildings in the slum. Despite that, nothing was found anywhere.

"Seems like he must have a secret lab or something. My guess is that it's underground," Hender said.

"Sounds plausible," Koren responded.

"Let's look around some more. I bet there's a hidden hatch under some of this furniture. Or that conveniently placed rug right there," Laurey said. Standing right next to the rug, Aurora grabbed it and pulled it away! What they saw next was a stunning sight. A finely polished wood floor, truly uncharacteristic for the neighborhood!

"Okay, maybe not there," Hender said. The young men and women continued searching, and soon a bed was pushed to the side, revealing a hatch.

"Alright, seems like we have our hatch. Let's confront this maniac," Laurey said. He took several steps towards the hatch, but Koren stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Wait. This guy went through the trouble of secretly making an underground chamber under his house. I'd say it's possible he also took the time to prepare some traps," he warned. Laurey stopped, looked at Koren, then the hatch, and nodded soundly.

"You're right. What do you suggest?"

"First, we need to get the hatch open. If there are traps, one is probably placed on the hatch. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer not to get blown to pieces. Once we're down there, I'll go in the front. Aurora will stand behind me. I don't know your guys' strength, but I know Aurora, so that's how it will be. The rest of you will follow. Now, any suggestions for opening the hatch?" Koren said.

"I have a little drone we can use. Should be able to get the hatch open," Hender suggested.

"Great. Let's go outside and do it."

Outside, Hender took out a small flying drone and got to work. Watching on the screen, the group could see as the drone grabbed the hatch's latch. It took a few attempts, but eventually, they got a hold of it. Then, the drone flew up, and the hatch opened. There was a slight poof sound, and the whole room got covered in some sort of smoke or gas!

"Looks like poison gas. Good thing we did this the smart way," Rose said.

"That's troublesome. We can get through the gas now, but if there's more down there, it could get dangerous," Koren said.

"I doubt there will be more down there. A gas like this might get the doctor, too, in such a small environment," Rose said.

"If you say so. I don't suppose anyone brought gas masks?" Koren said. A silence followed.

"Thought so. Let's get going. Don't breathe in the gas. The door is open, so it's already dispersing, but it's still dangerous.

"You don't have to tell us that."

The disciples made their way back inside and down the hatch. There was a ladder down, but no one used it, instead opting to just jump down, as it was only a two or three-meter drop.

Down underground, they found themselves in a narrow tunnel, slanting downwards. The tunnel was supported by structural beams and went into some sort of chamber for a dozen meters. But more troubling, there were several machine guns along the tunnel! The moment Koren dropped down, the first machine gun aimed toward him. Aurora followed immediately after, and then Laurey. Seeing the guns, Laurey threw a shield at Koren, who caught it and placed it in his front.

The guns started blasting, denting into the conveniently thrown shield.

"Good thing I brought that thing, huh!" Laurey said as he crouched behind Aurora and Koren.

"Incursions 101! Always bring counters for guns, especially in narrow spaces. If you hadn't brought one, I would," Koren said.

"I guess you studied a bit, huh?" Laurey said.

"He's from a military family. He's all about tactics and shit," Aurora said.

"Let's push on!" Koren said. The disciples slowly made their way forwards until they stood right in front of the turret, with another one further down blasting on them. These things had a lot of ammo, and at this rate, the shield would break!

Koren generated a floating sword above his palm, much to the amazement of the White Sword disciples, and shot it at the turret. One well-placed attack was all it took for the turret to be destroyed. With one obstacle out of the way, three more remained. Koren nudged forward, getting ever closer to the second turret and the middle of the tunnel. As he walked, he suddenly heard a click from behind him. Looking, he saw Aurora's foot placed on a well-hidden pressure plate.

"Shit!" Aurora exclaimed. With her incredible reflexed put to work, Aurora jumped back as a blade shot out of the wall! Despite her speed, the blade still sliced across her cheek, cutting a hole in it. In the chaos, Koren slipped slightly with his shield, allowing three bullets to slip by. One hit Aurora in the shoulder, while the two others grazed Laurey's arm. Aurora was left with two painful injuries, while Laurey only received minor flesh wounds.

"Shit, sorry! But be careful of traps! You could have died, Aurora!" Koren shouted over the loud explosions from the turrets.

They continued slowly this time, making it to the next turret in almost a minute, avoiding several traps on the way. Another energy sword destroyed the second turret and then the third and fourth. No other injuries were received, as the few traps were all avoided.

In such a narrow corridor, there was a limit to how many traps you could have, and they certainly couldn't be explosive, as then the passage would collapse, trapping the doctor.

After getting rid of the fourth turret, the disciples stepped out of the corridor into what appeared to be a chamber. There, they saw the doctor tattooing a naked woman with crimson ink. In a nearby cage was another frightened woman. She was already covered in the tattoos, but at least she was well dressed.

The doctor raised his head from his work and spoke,

"So you made it after all. I hoped you would give up after seeing the turrets. Or at least after stepping on the trap." His voice was strangely calm.

"We can't give up. You have to face justice for what you have done. Come with us now, and at least no harm will befall you here," Koren said.

"Justice? What justice?! Can't you see what I'm doing here is important? Necessary, even! If I can get this to work properly, the world will be revolutionized! Hell, I'm almost there already!" The doctor said.

"Revolution? What are you talking about? All you're doing here is harming innocent people for some pointless purpose! Why even take their cultivation base? To what end?" Koren said.

"What, you haven't figured it out yet? Use your eyes! I'm taking the cultivation base of those who don't need it so that the less unfortunate can have it! Right now, it's only me taking it, but when I'm finished, so much will change! The powerful will pay a cultivation tax, allowing the weak to grow in strength and longevity!" The doctor said, his expression growing manic. His eyes were filled with the light of vision. A vision for a better future.

"Nonsense! You can't take someone else's cultivation for your own! It just can't be done! At most, you can use it to fuel some evil weapons! Just admit it!" Rose said.

"Nonsense! Use your eyes, girl! Just look at me!" The doctor said. He started blaring his aura, showing the undoubtable strength of the Condensing stage.

"Before I started my research, I wasn't even at the Energy Storage stage! Now I'm at the peak of the Condensing stage!" The doctor said.

"It's true what he's saying! I saw it myself. I could feel it. My own cultivation left me and went into him. I could even feel him growing stronger," the woman in the cage said.

"Leave now, and you will have been part of the revolution. Just say that you found nothing," the doctor said.

"We can't do that. Besides, this research is better left in the hands of our elders. Come with us now, and maybe you will still get a chance to continue your research," Koren said. Laurey glanced at Koren at the mention of the Blossoming Rose elders but said nothing.

"I can tell you right now that I'm not leaving this place. And if you don't either, we fight. Do you really believe you can win against a cultivator at the tenth level of Condensation?" The doctor asked. The disciples unsheathed their weapons.

"I suppose we'll find out."