Chapter 14: The Strange Vine

As previously mentioned, the technology of the Earth Federation was not very advanced, especially in terms of camera technology, which was far behind the current Earth.

The cost of camera equipment was exorbitant. Aside from a few special places, other areas rarely had surveillance cameras, and photo studios were still popular here.

In many ways, the Earth Federation was less convenient than the modern Earth, but for superpower users, maybe that was just right.

At least, when stealing things, there was no need to worry about ubiquitous cameras.

Wen Wen easily climbed to the second floor but found the windows here barred with wooden slats, clearly not intended to be opened again.

But that was no trouble for Wen Wen. He located the nails, took out a small knife, gently pried at them, and the wooden slats were silently removed. After removing a few, the window was open.

Yes, he really was a detective...

"There's no smell of disinfectant in this room, it seems it hasn't been used for a long time."

Stepping into the hospital, Wen Wen took a deep breath, sorting out the scents in the air; for him, using his sense of smell to find the blood bank was more convenient than looking at the hospital map.

This was a huge room, where foliage had sprawled out from the planters, and it was easy to trip over the vines on the floor, which was covered with a thick layer of dust, indicating it had been a long time since anyone had been here.

Even though it was pitch dark, he could see everything clearly.

He kicked a vine aside and commented, "This place is overgrown with grass. It might as well be turned into a botanical garden soon."

"The equipment looks normal, it could still be reused. Why would the hospital give up such a large space…"

After looking around, Wen Wen found that all access points to the normal side of the annex, like the windows outside, were sealed with wooden slats, but this half of the annex had stairs connecting the floors.

"There must be something fishy here, but I don't plan to deal with it. I just want to steal some blood."

After looking around, Wen Wen did not find any normal exits. If he didn't want to forcefully break a door and attract attention, his only choice was to leave the way he had come.

Moreover, Wen Wen himself was inclined to leave this room soon. He hadn't found anything dangerous, but he always felt a bit uneasy.

Suddenly, his ears picked up a sound. He saw a sealed iron door from which the sound of unlocking came.

"Is someone coming in? Maybe I can slip out while he's not paying attention."

He hid behind a piece of equipment, watching as the iron door opened and warm light poured in.

A small cart with a long rod attached to the back came into Wen Wen's view. He took a light breath. There was a faint smell of blood on that cart, and on top of the cart were blood bags!

Then, the long rod lifted the cart, and things rolled off, a bundle of blood bags tied together, approximately dozens of bags.

The rod then retracted, the cart departed, and the iron door was sealed once again.

"This is quite interesting."

Wen Wen scanned the room once more; aside from some wildly grown houseplants, there was nothing else.

So he walked forward and looked at the blood bags with a smile. This was like someone bringing a pillow to him while he was ready to sleep, all he had to do was pick up the bundle of plasma bags.

"But why would they stack blood here? Never mind, this place is eerie, better not to fuss about it too much, just leave some money and make a quick exit."

Wen Wen took out a woven bag, loaded all the plasma into it, and was about to head back the way he had come, when he felt a heat at his chest.

He looked down and saw that the emblem of the Catastrophe Containment Officer was heating up!

A hot stream flowed from the emblem into his body, and it felt as if something inside Wen Wen had been unlocked. The scene in his eyes rapidly changed, and cold sweat immediately began to stream down his face.

To his surprise, he was already surrounded by blood-red vines! These vines had sealed off all the paths around him, and Wen Wen had been completely unaware of them until the emblem heated up!

"Damn, I was just here to steal some stuff, the cost of doing bad things is too high."

These vines exuded an eerie aura from deep within; taking no chances, Wen Wen pulled two daggers from beneath his coat and tensely stared at the red tendrils that were continuously contracting.

"Why didn't I notice anything before, these vines are so obvious..."

Wen Wen squinted his eyes. He could vaguely make out some faint red mist in the room now, and after seeing this mist, he realized that it must have created an illusion, preventing him from noticing anything unusual here.

The first thing he did when he entered was to take a big breath of the problematic air!

It was only after the emblem heated up that he noticed something was off. It seemed that the Catastrophe Containment Facility's emblem wasn't just decorative and symbolic as he had previously thought, but it also had other functions!

So, why did it only warn him now?

Wen Wen looked at the woven bag in his hand and suddenly understood—the vines must feed on blood. By touching their food, he had caused a great hostility toward himself!

Behind Wen Wen, a vine silently struck, but it was as if he had eyes behind his back; he swiftly turned around and slashed the vine with his knife.

In such a strange situation, how could he not be cautious of his surroundings?

The steel blade met the vine, creating a crisp sound. The vine was swung back but the slash did not cut through it!

Wen Wen's expression darkened; he knew that things were getting dicey.

The vines weren't just a few but had blocked all his exits and continued to constrict.

Just like when he had captured Ghostly Qin Shuang before, he now felt like a bird in a cage, trapped here and unable to escape!

"If only I hadn't starved that woman before, I might have been able to cut through these vines."

Wen Wen spat, realizing that talking now was useless, and he should think of a way to escape.

After a standstill, the vines sped up, striking like a group of venomous snakes, all converging on Wen Wen at once.

Wen Wen ceaselessly swung his knives to block, which only delayed the inevitable—he definitely couldn't escape from here on his own.

The speed of the vines didn't seem fast to Wen Wen, but with no place to dodge, it was only a matter of time before he made a mistake.

So, Wen Wen gritted his teeth, grabbed the plasma bags off the ground, and his figure abruptly vanished, causing all the vines to lose their target.

The vines explored all around the space but found nothing. The prey was right there; why had it suddenly disappeared?

Wen Wen crouched in the corridor, gasping for air. Just resisting for that brief moment had nearly exhausted him.

It turned out that at that crucial moment, he had entered the Catastrophe Containment Facility!