Unexpected Incident

"Doctor! Doctor!"

In the dim underground cave, Catherine's throat sprayed blood and she collapsed to the ground, twitching slightly.

The guards were all stunned.

Johnson's eyes turned bloodshot as he rushed forward, seeming to have gone mad. But in front of him, Catherine's throat was bleeding like a fountain, and she tightly clutched her neck. Her eyes displayed fear, resentment, and disbelief. It seemed that she couldn't believe she had died in the hands of her torturer.

"Damn beast! Scum! Ah! Ah!"

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Johnson roared and shot wildly at the rushing dark river with his gun. His extreme anger completely overwhelmed his rationality, turning him into a ferocious beast.

As Johnson and others advanced towards the dark river, they secretly obtained extra magazines from the arsenal. They intended to catch Chen Chong off guard and surprise him. But before he could find such an opportunity, Catherine was killed right in front of him. The instigator, along with all the prisoners in the base, calmly escaped!

Johnson couldn't imagine how he would explain when Derith returned!

"No mercy, no forgiveness!"

At this moment, Johnson suddenly stood up. His eyes were bloodshot, and a strange and fierce aura emanated from him. As tiny snakes wriggled within the veins on his body, his muscles violently twitched. Unbeknownst to him, Johnson expanded by more than two meters and turned into an extremely menacing iron tower!

As the chief guard of the base, Johnson was naturally an awakened individual. The "Berserk Transformation" that he displayed under uncontrollable rage belonged to the specialized "Super Body" category, which focused on physical fitness and strength. The swelling muscles gave him inhuman strength and defense. Unless the guns hit his eyes or critical points in his head, they would be blocked by his engorged muscles and have little effect.

However, although the "Berserk Transformation" gave Johnson elephant-like strength and extraordinary resistance against attacks, his agility and reaction speed were his weaknesses. That is why Johnson did not use force to rescue Catherine when Chen Chong held her hostage.

"Chen Chong! Other prisoners may have a chance to escape, but you definitely won't! No matter where you go, I will capture you, even if it's at the ends of the earth! Until death!"

"You will definitely die!"

After making a thrilling declaration towards the rushing dark river, Johnson suddenly turned his head and roared at the trembling guards behind him:

"Leave two people here to immediately send the doctor back to the lab for rescue! The remaining four guards, form groups and follow me along the river! We must catch 416 before Master Derith returns!"

"Yes!"

The guards also realized the seriousness of the situation. They knew that if their superior, Derith, returned under these circumstances, they would face severe consequences. They immediately followed Johnson's orders. Apart from the two guards who took Catherine back to the lab, the rest quickly formed groups and urgently pursued along the river.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After giving the orders, Johnson, like a small giant, took long strides. Each step covered several meters as he leaped like a cannonball on the riverbank, quickly distancing himself from his subordinates. His momentum was incredibly fierce.

"Chen Chong! You probably didn't expect that there is an extremely dangerous mist-covered area blocking the exit of the river channel. According to the marked map, you absolutely dare not pass through there!"

The strong wind blew, and the beast-like Johnson's face was filled with savagery.

"You can't escape!"

Before the underground base was put into use, Johnson had followed Derith to roughly clear the wilderness several kilometers around the base. However, there were still dangerous places in the wilderness that Derith was unwilling to venture into.

The valley at the exit of the dark river was such a place.

The sides of the valley from which the dark river flowed were steep, and a strange mist-covered area encompassed the river exit all year round, shrouding it in mystery.

 No one knows what is inside the mist, and what makes it even more eerie is that although there is a clean water source flowing through the cave, there are almost no signs of any living creatures in this area, as if the mist is a terrifying barrier that devours all life. 

It is because of this strange mist that the underground cave where the base is located is protected from the radiation mutants. During their operation to clean and map the area, Deris sensed the danger and ultimately gave up trying to clear the mist, only marking the words "extremely dangerous" on the map. 

Johnson knew that once Chen Chong and the others saw the map, their only option would be to change their route and climb up the steep rock wall at the mouth of the cave to leave the valley. And he had to catch Chen Chong before that happened.

Splash, splash, splash... In the turbulent flow, Chen Chong tightly held the leather map in his arms, drifting along with the current. At this moment, Chen Chong felt that he had drifted for at least two or three kilometers. Due to protecting the map and his injured arm, it was difficult for him to control his body in the water. He often slammed into the dark reefs in the center of the river, causing dizziness and adding numerous wounds to his body. 

However, Chen Chong persevered with a breath in his heart. In the turbulent flow, a faint beam of light gradually expanded. With a loud rumbling sound, the force that enveloped his body suddenly decreased. The narrow underground river became brightly lit, and it was obvious that they had exited the cave. They were back to the surface! 

"It's... Chen Chong!" 

"Quick! Pull him over!" 

As soon as Chen Chong surfaced, he heard several joyful shouts coming from the side of the river. He turned his head and saw a group of prisoners standing up on the shore, excitedly looking towards his location. Among them, Lin Kun and another prisoner quickly swam towards him. Chen Chong grinned and allowed the two to quickly bring him ashore. 

Finally, he touched solid ground and lay by the shore, looking at the sky, gasping for breath and recovering his strength. His eyes were filled with undisguised joy. This was Chen Chong's first time leaving the underground darkness and seeing the sky of the outside world. He succeeded! 

The sky was gloomy, as if tainted by lead grey, filled with a sense of oppression. Chen Chong saw steep cliffs on both sides of his field of vision. It seemed to be the bottom of a river valley, with faint white mist swirling in the air. Not far away, about tens of meters, a thick fog completely shrouded the river bank, blocking their view. 

"Whew..." The prisoners on the shore quickly gathered around, and Chen Chong let out a sigh of relief. Ignoring the joy of regaining his freedom, he sat up and took out the map from his pocket, surveying the surroundings while asking Lin Kun, "Are all the people here?"

The confrontation in the base had exhausted him mentally in less than half an hour. Coupled with two broken ribs and a partially useless arm, it was not easy for him to hold on until now. Lin Kun shook his head and sighed, his voice low, "There were twenty-two people in total, but six are missing. I'm afraid..."

Lin Kun had already counted the number of people, and six of the prisoners were missing. The raging underground river might have unfortunate collisions with hidden reefs, and it was very likely that they had sunk to the bottom of the water. In the current critical situation, they had not completely escaped the threat, so they naturally had no strength to search for them. 

"Well, it's just their ill fate." 

At this moment, the emotions of the prisoners surrounding Chen Chong dropped for a moment, but then they all spoke up one after another, "Chen Chong, we owe our escape this time to you. I believe if they had another chance, they would do the same." 

"Where should we go next? What should we do? We'll follow your lead!"

These prisoners had just experienced the exhilaration of narrowly escaping death. Each of them had an indescribable excitement and hope on their faces. Clearly, they saw Chen Chong as their backbone. In fact, they hadn't done anything during this life-or-death escape; it was all Chen Chong who accomplished this miracle-like feat. They had every reason to believe that Chen Chong had the ability to lead them out of the pursuit of the guards! 

Surrounded by the crowd, Chen Chong remained silent, surveying his surroundings while studying the map. Before commanding the prisoners to jump into the river, he had told them that life and death were in their own hands, and he couldn't control the risks involved. Indeed, as the other prisoners said, it could only be said that the six missing people had bad luck.

"Chen Chong, I estimate that we have been swept away for about two kilometers. We haven't completely escaped danger yet," Lin Kun looked at Chen Chong with a grave expression. "This is a river valley, with steep cliffs on both sides. There is a fog blocking our way ahead. If we want to leave, we must do so quickly, otherwise the base guards will catch up soon."

As Lin Kun finished speaking, all the prisoners clearly saw Chen Chong's face suddenly darken as he stared at the map.