Chapter 28 Rust and the Gates of War_1

His chest was still faintly undulating...

He wasn't dead.

But his condition was far from optimistic.

Liu Dun's body was naked, his abdomen was pierced by a rusty long nail, pinning him onto a blood-soaked table, unlike the one in the salt cage who already had a peaceful expression on his face.

Although his limbs were still intact, the muscles under the skin were clumped together...

The monster had severed all the tendons in his body.

Apart from him, Colin was also in the room, witnessing five "heroes" hanging in mid-air like market pork, completely bare.

The hooks pierced through their collarbones, suspending them in the air.

Fortunately, they were still alive, their limbs intact, just unconscious, but Colin thought that unconsciousness was a stroke of luck for them at this moment.

Unfortunately, the muscles all over their bodies were also clumped, obviously processed, and the residual pain on their faces suggested that even unconsciousness was not much of a relief.

Looking at the miserable fate of these people, Colin fell silent for a moment, then tore off the clothes that were splitting on his body and covered Liu Dun on the table with them.

Then he went to take down the other five from the rack and laid them out side by side on the table.

Colin didn't remove the hooks from their collarbones; in his current state, he couldn't perform such delicate operations.

He then cut off some blood-red long hair from his own body and covered them with it.

This didn't serve much practical purpose.

It only allowed them to retain a bit of their last dignity.

"One in the salt cage, one on the table, five on the rack, there's only seven people here... Where's the eighth? Who's missing, the blond one? Hmm."

Before he could finish his thought, Colin spotted a piece of scalp torn off near his feet, its roots bearing blond hairs, with specks of blood congealed among them.

Among the eight people just now, only one had dyed his hair blond.

The scene...

Indeed lacked this person.

Colin silently mourned for him.

He had still hoped to find an opportunity to sort him out, but now it seemed there was no chance of that.

Unless he resurrected him, there would be no opportunity to land a punch on him.

However, those who were dead were already gone, and what to do with the rest was a problem.

"There seems to be a special scent inside these people."

Thinking it over, Colin took out the "Analytical Lens" from his spatial storage, holding it between two blood-stained sharp claws, and glanced at it.

[They have had a set of special organs implanted in them, now in a dormant state, which greatly activated their vitality, ensuring they will not die within thirty days, and no severe infection will occur, but at the same time, this has significantly reduced their lifespan.]

"I knew something was off; they've been modified. But, thirty days is still quite a bit of time. I'll go back to the company to see if there's any special item that can save them. The problem is, I'm not sure if the next entrance will be here or that church."

Colin pondered, if there was a chance he would save them, or if not, he would use "Time Stop" to give them a painless death.

Of course, if he can't make it here next time, he could only pray they don't wake up before dying.

Otherwise, given the current state of the scene, it would be better to stay asleep until death.

"But why did the monster implant such special organs, with these kinds of methods, wouldn't it be better to do some good..."

Colin remembered that the monster itself had various bizarre and strange methods, particularly outlandish when it came to flesh and blood.

The worry-free plug-and-play transplantation, as well as the flesh modification, and these so-called special organs.

If it approached Earth through official channels, perhaps both parties could benefit greatly from each other.

But with the current state of things, it's likely that a war would break out the moment the two sides met.

"What a waste."

Colin shook his head and took another look at the bloodiness in the kitchen. Reflecting on this experience, he felt it could be summed up by saying — I once dreamed of wandering the world sword in hand, but alas, I didn't even make it out of the village and lost eight...

Two have completely cooled off.

Traversing comes with risks; always be wary of new hero scams...

Thinking about it, Colin felt that this incident probably wasn't over yet.

The biggest problem was that, by his guess, this sort of thing was likely not happening for the first time.

But now, there were only eight people present.

He hadn't seen any other secret doors either.

However, before he could ponder further, a ten-second countdown appeared.

The time remaining for the current event was about to elapse.

Ding—Ding—Ding—

Once again, the familiar sound of a bell rang out, signaling the time to return home.

The surroundings became blurry.

Rapidly transforming into an area shrouded in fog.

Just as Colin thought that after the "Descent Protocol-2" appeared, he would return to reality in the blink of an eye, as usual.

Something unexpected seemed to occur.

Even though the ancient bell sounds had stopped, he remained in the space where gray mist swirled, without seeing what came next.

At that moment, Colin had a feeling and looked up, seeing light spots drifting in the gray fog, outlining the pattern of a door as if painted by a brush.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed from a sketchy drawing into reality, becoming an ancient and heavy door.

The door was covered with spotty, unbearable red rust and many marks of destruction and defects that appeared to be left by war.

In Colin's astonished gaze.

The heavy door slowly opened, and from the ever-widening gap, thick gray and white fog poured out continuously.

The scene gradually revealed behind the door was shrouded in a layer of writhing fog, akin to a curtain, impossible to discern...

The two hinged doors seemed like a pair of arms open wide as if to embrace.

Inviting the invitees to enter.

It was at this very moment.

In the real world, aside from Colin, all employees suddenly heard a long, alarm-like "whistle" sound in their heads.

Immediately, everyone realized that this disturbance originated from "Bonfire Company"!

What happened?

The crowd was startled, those who could took out their parchments on the spot, and those who couldn't quickly found an excuse to retreat to the washroom or similar places, sitting on the toilet and pulling out their parchment.

"What happened? Why did a whistling sound suddenly ring in my head? I even thought a nuke was coming over from old Uncle Sam..."

"Not sure, any knowledgeable bros wanna explain?"

"Could it be that the end of the world is imminent, and spiritual energy is finally going to revive?"

....

The Bonfire Employees weren't shy about stirring up trouble with their messages.

The "whistle" sound that others couldn't hear persisted in their minds for a solid thirty seconds before stopping, and at this moment, the parchment revealed a line of striking red text.

[Detection confirmed: a "Descender" has infiltrated the company. Employees of all levels, please be prepared for protection and do not be deceived.]

[The task "Unyielding Guardians" has been issued to all employees.]

[Completion or assistance in completing this task, with significant merit, will be additionally rewarded with a million points, and you may directly qualify for a B Level Authority without trial or choose an A Level ultra-rare item as a reward.]

"Confused Cutie ①Sob Sob⑦": Damn, I checked the details of the task, and even if you just provide some clues or something upon completion, the minimum reward is ten thousand points!

"Anonymous 1994": B Level Authority, ultra-rare items, are you serious?

"Son of Doom": Hilarious, newbies are still pondering which reward to choose, but only the old employees know better to just look at them and choose to lie flat.

"White Cute Cuddle": Holy crap, just came in and saw the company got invaded again, Senior Brothers, Masters, should we run now? @Silly Junior Brother @Lifecoach Kawaii-many @...

"Unnamed 114514": @White Cute Cuddle, I think running is an option, take me with you, suggest we all meet up privately first and talk it out in detail...

"Confused Cutie ①Sob Sob⑦": What's the situation, why are you saying it can't be completed, aren't you tempted by such high rewards? And why do you say "again" invaded?

"Son of Doom": Where do you think that task about "Interaction Hall" called "Expel the Invaders" came from? Have you seen anyone complete it yet?

"Lifecoach Kawaii-many": Don't panic, we'll keep on coasting as long as the company stands, the tall ones will keep the sky up; we still have the ABCs above us. Compared to this, I feel the biggest problem is that incidents seem to be getting more frequent recently.

"Wandering Speedy Lad": Indeed, it used to be a stable task each week, but in the past year, there could be two or even three tasks a week. Although the rewards have increased, the difficulty has also increased... Has this human world finally been contaminated?

"Coin Trader": Who cares if it's the end of the world or not, 1 to 300 US dollars, routinely buying points...

"The Unyielding": Who's gonna save me, I've been trapped for two months now, I'm down on my knees for you big guys, as long as you save me, everything I possess aside from my personal safety is yours...

...