Chapter 3: Serial Number 069, Prison Doctor

Dart let out a roar.

"Slippery! Take the containment target and run! Everyone else, give your lives to buy him time!"

Having said this, he was the first to charge toward the Blood-Saw Man, attempting to use his own flesh and blood to buy time for his teammates.

The others had no time for grief; they ran forward without looking back. Slippery, who had originally been surrounded in the middle, was now pushed to the very front.

Just then, Lu Xiao let out a soft hum.

"Uncle Chainsaw!"

Everyone present heard the call, but Slippery, carrying Lu Xiao on his back, could not afford to pay attention to anything else, sprinting toward the glowing white gate ahead.

Lu Xiao gently tapped Slippery on the shoulder.

"Put me down! He’s an old acquaintance of mine!"

Slippery was on the verge of tears. "Big brother! Please, don't stir up trouble right now!"

Seeing he was only dozens of meters from the glowing gate—only a few seconds away from stepping through—Dart’s voice, sounding like that of a survivor, rang out.

"Slippery! Drop him!"

Hearing this, Slippery turned back in a panic. The chainsaw in the Blood-Saw Man’s hand was less than ten centimeters from the top of Dart’s head. The buzzing of the saw was ear-splitting, and the wind generated by the spinning blades, thick with a pungent scent of blood, shattered the glass visor on Dart’s face.

At this moment, Lu Xiao tapped Slippery’s shoulder again.

"Put me down."

Slippery blankly set Lu Xiao on the ground.

"Uncle Chainsaw... I think I'll go with them!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Blood-Saw Man retracted his chainsaw, and his figure vanished into the darkness. The squad members stood there, utterly dumbfounded.

Slippery said, trembling, "Big brother! You really know that big boss?"

Lu Xiao didn't answer. He pointed toward the glowing white gateway just inches away. "Take me through."

In truth, Lu Xiao had his own plans. While clinging to Slippery’s back, he had heard them mention "the gate" and something called "069," which piqued his curiosity. Furthermore, as fellow humans, he felt a certain sense of kinship with this squad. This was the first time he had seen living humans in the three-plus years since he had fallen into the Dark Prison. Of course, "Dark Prison" was a term he had heard for the first time as well.

Lu Xiao had many questions, but he wasn't particularly curious about the truth right now. He simply wanted to follow this group of humans.

Slippery looked at Lu Xiao’s face; those dead-fish eyes were devoid of any life.

"Big brother! Are you really human?"

Lu Xiao turned to look at him, revealing a smile that was... well... hideous.

Slippery jumped, quickly taking two steps back. It wasn't that Lu Xiao was inherently terrifying, but his current appearance was rather ghastly. His face was caked in grime and bits of flesh and blood. When he smiled, his stark white teeth were exposed, with a black bone fragment wedged between them. Coupled with those emotionless, dead-fish eyes, he was truly a sight to behold. If he were cast in a horror movie, the entire film would likely be banned.

Dart walked over, took one look at Lu Xiao, and felt a surge of horror in his heart. He now somewhat understood why the team member had opened fire earlier.

*Is this really a human?* he wondered to himself.

"Enough! Stop the chatter! Let’s get back to base!" Dart ordered, suppressing the urge to fire his weapon.

Slippery’s voice still trembled. "B-big brother! Do you still want me to carry you?"

Lu Xiao shook his head and pointed to his legs, signaling that he could walk.

And so, surrounded by the group, they crossed through the white-glowing gate. Lu Xiao felt a sensation of weightlessness, much like riding an elevator. A moment later, a bright light filled his vision.

The white light stung his eyes. He hadn't felt the stimulus of light for over three years. After adjusting for a moment, he looked around. They were in a large, empty, level space, where the surrounding steel walls reflected a cold, metallic luster.

In the room stood another squad of soldiers, also seven in number. They were surrounding a humanoid creature nearly three meters tall, draped in a black robe and wearing a bird-beak mask.

Lu Xiao realized instantly that this creature was definitely not human, for he felt a familiar aura radiating from it.

As expected, the bird-beak creature let out a cackling laugh.

"You have a familiar scent!" It looked at Lu Xiao, its beak splitting open. "You seem to have spent time in the depths?"

Its voice was incredibly raspy—the word "harsh" didn't even begin to describe it. It sounded as if it didn't originate from vocal cords at all.

Before Lu Xiao could respond, the bird-beak creature leaned in, sniffing him carefully.

"I smell the scent of lesions on you! I am a doctor! Do you need me to cure you?"

Just as Lu Xiao was about to answer, Slippery hurriedly whispered a warning. "Don't you dare agree to it!"

Lu Xiao stared at Slippery with his dead-fish eyes. Slippery shrank back, nearly crying under the intensity of the gaze. He shook his head frantically.

"If you're sick, someone else will treat you! But you must never let *him* do it!"

Although Lu Xiao didn't quite understand why Slippery said that—the bird-beak doctor clearly looked so kind, a model of medical ethics—he decided to cooperate with these humans he felt more kinship with.

He turned to the bird-beak doctor and offered a relatively friendly smile. "Thank you, my friend. If I have the chance, I will definitely come to see you!"

The doctor let out a strange cackle and turned to the extraction team. "Very well! The trade is complete! Does anyone here need my treatment?"

The extraction team immediately looked at Dart. After all, it was because Dart had claimed there was a Level 1 anomalous lifeform that they had brought this one out of the containment room. The cost, naturally, had to be borne by Dart’s squad.

Dart removed his helmet and rubbed his temples. He turned to the team member who had severed his hand. The man, Liuguang, was very self-aware; he took his hand from the team member named Xiaoyu and stepped forward.

"Doctor, I require your treatment!"

The bird-beak doctor, known as the Prison Doctor, glanced down and fell silent. Everyone held their breath, except for Lu Xiao, who watched the doctor with curiosity.

After a long while, the doctor’s voice emerged.

"I suspect you have other ailments as well! Allow me to give you a comprehensive physical examination!"