Abbadon?

Liu Xiaodan was aware of the name's origin, but he had no clue why this entity would present itself as a fallen angel. Then again, if he could freely dub a scary entity as a doctor without it passing exams for a license, an entity might as well borrow something else's name as its own.

He then watched more corpses plagued the exit of the room. "Okay, Abbadon, am I the only one you wanted? I mean, would you let them leave?"

"Ohhh, how interesting of you.

"They're nothing but food to us… even sent inside this paradise known as Hell to the humans. How come you're not willing to eat them? You depend on someone else's power." The corpses began to seep into the room like tendrils from a giant hand. "You should appease him by offering humans.

"No matter how powerful a spirit is, it would always be inferior to the taste of a live soul. Now, now, wouldn't you like to make your benefactor happy?"

"I have enough supply of humans to feed my benefactor. What I don't have are sources of energy like you." Liu Xiaodan frowned at the entity outside. It felt like something very powerful, but its power wasn't enough to compare to Guangru. It's just that… that was Guangru…

Liu Xiaodan only had Old Doctor with him right now.

Acting as if he had no great disadvantage, Liu Xiaodan continued to taunt the entity as if making it angry at him to give the others a chance to escape. He was the target of the king anyway.

However, Abbadon was very aware of his situation. That was why it was confident in its advancements to pressure Liu Xiaodan.

As long as the servant gave up, it would be able to consume the four humans, add five bodies to its collection, and even have an advantage over the demon that barged inside their palace.

The corpses almost filled half the floor, and the five males could only keep on retreating. The dead woman was long covered in the king's filth and had been added to the collection. Liu Xiaodan then saw a black thing covering the door. An eye showed up and curved as if mocking Liu Xiaodan in a laugh.

"The inscriptions are useless against things of this caliber," Captain whispered as if he was reaching for another item to test against such a thing. He took out a vial from his small bag and readied to throw it. "One, plow through Area 7."

One nodded and readied a small handle with a button on top. He eyed Captain before the latter threw out the vial towards the king. One of the corpses caught it instead, but it exploded upon impact. It seemed to be some kind of liquid that made even Abbadon scream in pain upon contact.

At the same time, One pressed the button, causing a series of detonations through the walls behind them.

Liu Xiaodan cupped his ears in an attempt to lessen the sound. His hypers.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e ears instantly bled as the ground shook. However, he was grabbed and carried by Eight, swinging him over the shoulder. They quickly escaped as the king hissed at the blast of the blessed water with enchanted pellets.

"Holy shit! What happened?!" Liu Xiaodan screamed as he was taken away so quickly. They were supposed to be stuck in a nightmare; how did they manage to escape it through force?

"Classified!" Eight laughed out as they continued to follow the path set by the exploding bombs in the walls.

At the end of the line, they got out of the Treatment Hall and ran through the side lobby connecting the Treatment Hall to the Sick Hall and Food and Leisure Hall. The screeching king was left behind and was unable to chase them.

Yun He, Fan Meiling, and other people under Project Red Justice waited for them in the center of the lobby. Eight then let Liu Xiaodan down for Seven and Six to subdue and restrain. Captain then stared at the hole they created, not feeling confident of the aftermath of the escape.

The big black holes were like the maw of a giant monster, waiting to swallow everyone whole.

Until now, the four guards were still shaking. They had been recently made aware of the changes in the program. However, Captain didn't think they would be facing such a creature on the first night they had to do damage control. At first, it was easy… he didn't think it would be truly hard.

Captain then turned to Fan Meiling. "Dr. Fan, we can't leave the holes like this. Someone would have to do something. How are you planning to make sure that… that monster would stay inside?"

"I'm aware of your sentiments, Captain. Don't worry, our benefactors are finding a way to keep them from entering other halls." Fan Meiling was unhappy that Captain readily resorted to that method. However. It was a ghost king after all. "For now, rest. I'll deal with Xiaodan."

Moreover, the doctor didn't think much of the captain's issue. The Qiao family had given them orientations and enough things to keep those at bay. Both of them didn't have to worry that much. What was more worrying was this ghost hybrid stuck under the knees of two elite guards.

She only smiled at Liu Xiaodan who only sighed as he was cuffed and even chained. "Xiaodan, would you like to explain how you got inside the Treatment Hall?"

"How about you explain to me what experiments happen inside that place first?" Liu Xiaodan eyed Yun He, a little disappointed to see him in this cl.u.s.ter of villains. "It's not as simple as curing people struck by the paranormal or actually throwing people inside to be eaten by ghosts, right?"

Yun He could only look away. He was well aware that Liu Xiaodan was finding out more and more of the secrets of the facility. Sooner or later, this would happen. He wasn't surprised that Liu Xiaodan would see him with Dr. Fan and the rest of the scientists.

"Oh… okay, since you're part of it, I'll let you know." Fan Meiling chuckled and took Liu Xiaodan's attention again. She also took out a syringe and struck at Liu Xiaodan's arm. The contents made him unable to stay awake, losing consciousness instantly. She then gently took it out.

"Ready Stage Three. Let the real experiments begin." She glanced at Liu Xiaodan. "The perfect subject is aching to test it out."

…

A sigh escaped from Chu Youlan's lips as she was erasing her makeup in front of the sink. The exquisite product was being wiped away by cleansing milk, her face reddening from her rubbing. In a few more minutes, she returned to the ordinary-looking clerk in the Records department of Wangguan prison.

"I'm seeing too much of Boss's affairs outside our job. I have a feeling that even if I resigned from Wangguan, he's still going to come after me." She then pressed on her face with a damp towel. "Even if no one knew that he had spy-like capabilities of disguising as me, at least he still knows I'm not ignorant."

Her forehead ached. "It's probably all worth it if he just married me in the end, but even that looked so impossible. Why would someone from the prestigious Song family marry a commoner? Besides, even if he claimed to be not related to the Song family, he's still heavily sought by the Qiao family…

"Erm, that Young Mistress Qiao… she should be his intended, right?

"I can't believe I'm ripping out my own fantasies while talking out loud in front of the mirror." Chu Youlan sighed. "I only have two more years before hitting thirty. I should probably find a husband before getting wasted away in a high-paying job..."

Bang!

Chu Youlan screamed as she heard a loud crash in the bedroom connected to the ensuite. She hurriedly peeked out and saw Song Qixi angrily gnashing his teeth, with a very scary expression on his face. His eyes were burning in fury, staring at the smashed phone on the ground.

She stared at the broken phone and then at the man who started calming himself down. It was because her scream reminded him that he wasn't alone in his apartment. The woman then bit her lip and asked as if she couldn't read the atmosphere, "Boss, are you okay? Did he escape?"

"Someone else did." Song Qixi laughed out before sighing as he sat down on the bed. He raked his hand through his slicked-back hair, destroying the firm hold of the hair gel. "They had all the permissions and authority to carry out their mission properly, but they still let their spinelessness ruin it.

"Youlan, come closer," Song Qixi called her with both his hand and his voice, but his tone was still furious so Chu Youlan only stuck to the bathroom door. Even if she was dazzled by his messy hair and toplessness, she knew better than to approach Song Qixi without care.

Song Qixi caught on her apprehension, and he chuckled, flashing his white teeth at the woman and trying to look harmless and trustworthy. "I'm not going to eat you like a cannibal. You don't have to be scared."

The woman only glanced at the phone and at the seemingly relaxing posture of the man. She then walked towards him and sat down next to him on the bed. "Boss, I know you said we need to get back to the prison tonight, but you're clearly tired. You should rest instead."

"Oh, if I stay home, are you going to stay here, too?"

"Hehe, Boss, that's flattering, but there's nothing about me that is attractive to someone like you. I know that very well. If you continue saying weird things, I will get ideas." Chu Youlan only laughed out. She then snuck some pat on Song Qixi's arm. "Get dressed, Boss. We have a workday tomorrow."

Song Qixi only stared at her before sighing again. When Chu Youlan got to her feet to collect her stuff, Song Qixi grabbed her hand and pulled her to his l.a.p. She yelped a little and tried her best not to flail around like a fish out of water.

The man only made out a shush before holding onto her waist so she wouldn't fall or leave. "Spoil me a little even if you don't find it flattering. Because when we get to the prison…"

His eyes glistened as he chuckled with a malevolent grin.

"There will be far more dangerous things to see…"