After breaking through the main gate, due to the inability of the mechs to enter because of their size, Reno emerged from his mech and casually took a laser gun from one of the dead soldiers before stepping inside.
A three-dimensional receptionist, unaffected by the ongoing battle, popped up and issued a pleasant reminder, "Welcome to the Edward Gene Hospital. Founded by Dr. Edward in the year 7158, this hospital primarily focuses on genetic research and medical care, providing services such as genetic enhancement, aging delay, disease resistance, and also genetic beauty and inheritance services for some beauty enthusiasts..."
The sound of military boots echoed on the shattered glass as Reno walked through the hospital corridor.
The hospital was eerily quiet.
Normally, after such intense fighting outside, there should have been some commotion inside, but there was nothing.
Reno pondered for a moment and then pulled out a small item from his bag.
It looked like an earring. Reno pinched it and it seemed to come alive, suddenly moving and unfolding into a coiled metal dragonfly, buzzing its wings.
Releasing it, Reno watched the metal dragonfly take flight.
It moved at incredible speed, flying around the floors, continuously relaying real-time information.
The information was directly transmitted to Reno's personal terminal.
Flying from downstairs to upstairs, the dragonfly found no one.
The entire building was empty, with only some beds and seemingly ordinary medical equipment.
Reno noticed a used cup on one of the beds.
"Check the cup," Reno ordered.
The dragonfly flew over and lightly touched it with a metal probe, then replied, "Water temperature inside the cup is thirty-two degrees, saliva residue detected, confirming recent usage."
"So, there's someone here? That's good." Reno commanded the dragonfly to make another round but found no one.
He muttered, "If there's no way up, there must be a way down. Scan the building, search for internal passages."
The metal dragonfly began emitting invisible waves in circles.
"Building scan complete. Secret elevator found at B12 passage, leading to underground space."
Reno walked toward the B12 passage, and the metal dragonfly followed. After circling around a wall, it settled on an inconspicuous lion head sculpture.
Approaching it, Reno manipulated the lion head, and with a rumble, the wall opened, revealing an elevator.
"Mysterious design. Did Dr. Edward plan something clandestine when establishing this hospital?" Reno mused to himself before stepping in.
The elevator had no levels. Upon activation, it descended directly downward. For safety, Reno didn't stand at the door but held onto the top, suspending himself above.
After descending about a hundred meters, the elevator finally stopped.
As the door opened, darkness greeted him.
Seeing no immediate threat, Reno jumped down and activated his communicator, "Nora, can you hear me?"
"Nora received, your signal is weak. I can't sense your location. Where are you?" Nora replied.
"I'm about a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty meters underground, in an underground structure. I'll send you synchronous observations."
Saying so, Reno activated his signal transmitter.
Soon, Nora's voice came through, "Signal received. There's a large rock formation around you. Signal strength is affected, and signal protection has decreased by one level. Encryption might be necessary."
"No need. This is a brute force entry, not espionage. I'm letting you see because we had no intel on the underground of this building. Gather data, let's see what's going on here. This doesn't look like a temporary construction."
"Nora understands."
Ending the call, Reno proceeded forward.
For some reason, he felt the building was peculiar.
If people from the building had taken refuge underground, they should have shown up by now. This silence, stillness, and darkness were unnerving.
He didn't use a flashlight, as it would expose him in the dark. If there were any threats lurking, he would be the first target.
As he cautiously moved forward, Reno suddenly felt he kicked something.
Bending down, he felt a person's face.
Stepping back, Reno's expression turned strange.
He reached out again, confirming it was indeed a person, but already dead.
Why were there dead bodies here?
Reno couldn't understand.
He found a corner conducive to defense, then said, "Turn on the lights."
No response.
"Request intelligent reception." Reno tried again.
This time, there was a response.
A three-dimensional image flashed on the wall behind Reno.
The sudden appearance of the image exposed Reno to light, startling him. Instinctively, he quickly changed position, reentering the darkness.
Then he saw the three-dimensional image of a young boy on the wall.
"Hello, Mr. Herbert greets you. Sir, do you need any services?" The image flickered as it spoke, displaying significant instability.
Reno stared at the boy's image and asked, "Are you the AI here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Tell me what happened here."
The boy tilted his head in thought for a moment. "There was an attack at the hospital. I was ordered to transfer to the underground secret laboratory."
"Is this the underground secret laboratory? What kind of experiments?"
"Insufficient permissions, refusal to answer."
"If it's a transfer, why is it pitch black here with no one in sight?"
"An accident occurred during the transfer, with an experimental subject escaping."
"What experimental subject?" Reno asked urgently.
"Insufficient permissions, refusal to answer."
"Damn it!" Reno kicked the wall.
After a moment of thought, he said, "Turn on the lights here."
"The energy system is damaged, remaining power is insufficient to support current operations. Shall I activate the backup energy system?"
"Yes, activate it."
As Reno spoke, there was a bang, and light returned to the world.
Reno found himself standing in a spacious hall, with a long corridor leading deeper into darkness, beyond the reach of the lights.
And around the hall, corpses were strewn everywhere.
Corpses wearing white coats!
Covering the entire hall.
"Oh my God!" Nora's exclamation came through, indicating she also witnessed the scene.
"What on earth happened here?" she asked.
Reno walked over, flipped over one of the bodies, and then several others, saying, "They're all dead, not long ago. The cause of death... torn apart. They look like they've just been chewed up by a swarm of Yark bugs."
Yark bugs were encountered by humans during the first interstellar voyage era, and were one of the most dangerous wars humanity experienced. These highly reproductive insects, with large bodies and fierce nature, almost exterminated a human-inhabited planet, posing one of the strongest opponents humans faced before the appearance of the Divine race.
Fortunately, humans eventually defeated them. After that, for a long time, they had not encountered the insect race until recently...
In the minds of humans, although the Yark bugs were powerful and fierce, they were still considered low-intelligence creatures, ultimately just a kind of barbaric life form. It wasn't until the appearance of the Divine race that humans recognized a civilization with higher life form and technological level than themselves.
"Did the AI say it was an experimental subject that escaped? I hope it wasn't one of ours," Nora replied.
"You mean someone on the Abrodi ship awakened the superpower
of turning into a bug person?" Reno joked.
Nora laughed, "I don't know how you still have a sense of humor in this situation."
"The problem is, even if someone gains the ability of the bugs, did they also gain the appetite of the bugs?" Reno pointed to one of the bodies.
It was a body torn open, its organs missing, showing signs of being eaten.
Nora fell silent.
After a while, she said, "I hope Claire is okay."
Regardless of the reason, the current situation wasn't good.
The situation had escalated beyond their plans, leaving them both a bit overwhelmed, but in the distance, the roaring sound of reinforcements from the Okvi infantry camp arrived.
Stark had already put on his mech and gone to meet them, while Nora began preparing to assist.
She had to juggle between keeping an eye on Stark and helping Reno gather information.
And Reno, standing in the empty hall, looked around, finally taking steps towards the long corridor.
Moving from brightness back into darkness made him somewhat uncomfortable.
He stopped, rubbed his eyes.
Just as he rubbed his eyes, a shadow suddenly rushed out from the darkness and lunged at Reno.