Hearing the words "biochemical leak," Zhou Tianming was shocked.
These Blue Cosmos fanatics have truly gone mad—don't they value their own lives?
Zhou Hanxiang urgently pulled Zhou Tianming by the hand to rush out of the room.
The sudden tug on his arm aggravated the wound on his chest, and the sharp pain snapped Zhou Tianming back to his senses.
He quickly grabbed Hanxiang's arm. "Wait! We can't just go like this. Grab the guns!"
Hanxiang halted mid-step, about to speak when—
[Warning! Biochemical leak detected in Zone B! Per protocol, the area has been sealed. Adjacent Zones A and C will be locked down in 5 minutes. The institute's main entrance will be sealed in 10 minutes. All personnel must evacuate the affected zones immediately!]
[Warning!...]
A cold, robotic female voice echoed through the facility.
Hanxiang's face twisted with urgency. "We only have 10 minutes left. I have to get you out."
"We can't panic! Everyone still alive will be rushing toward the main gate when they hear the alarm. If we run into Blue Cosmos without weapons, we'll be sitting ducks!"
At his words, Hanxiang immediately dashed back to the lab to retrieve the firearms, with Tianming close behind.
While Hanxiang grabbed the guns, Tianming scanned the room for anything else that might aid their escape.
His gaze landed on the glass bottles on the lab bench, reminding him of their earlier encounter. "Mom, where's that glass bottle you threw earlier?"
"Over there," Hanxiang pointed to a corner. "But that's concentrated sulfuric acid inside—extremely dangerous."
"Perfect. Let's take it just in case."
Tianming hurried over and found five remaining test tubes in the rack. Rather than handling them individually, he grabbed the entire rack.
Once outside, they sprinted down the hallway, soon hearing chaotic footsteps approaching from adjacent corridors, punctuated by gunfire and screams.
Hanxiang stopped abruptly, shielding Tianming as she raised her gun defensively.
Tianming's mind raced.
This won't work—the closer we get to the main gate, the higher the chance of running into enemies. Fighting our way through could take over 20 minutes.
"Mom, you know this place better from your part-time work. Isn't there any shortcut to the main gate?"
Hanxiang paused, about to say no when she suddenly remembered an unconventional route—one that wasn't technically a path at all.
She immediately turned and ran back the way they came. "Tianming, follow me!"
Tianming rushed after her.
Moving away from the main gate, they encountered no resistance. After several turns, Hanxiang stopped before a door, pulling an ID card from her lab coat's breast pocket. A beep sounded as the door automatically cracked open.
Hanxiang yanked it wide and charged inside, with Tianming right on her heels.
Zhou Hanxiang rushed toward another door in the corner the moment they entered, pushing it open with a swift motion.
"This way. I've heard from other janitors that some rooms lead directly to other areas. They use these shortcuts when emergency broadcasts call them urgently."
Under Hanxiang's guidance, the two passed through several laboratories. Whenever footsteps and combat sounds echoed outside a door, they quietly hid inside until the commotion passed before continuing.
In one lab, Hanxiang paused and rummaged through a cabinet in the corner, pulling out a stiff brown leather waist pouch.
"Give me the test tubes. They're too dangerous to carry like that—put them in here."
"It's fine. I'll hold onto them. They might come in handy later."
Zhou Tianming removed the test tubes from their rack and stuffed them into the pouch, then filled the gaps with crumpled A4 paper to prevent rattling. Securing it around his waist, they pressed forward.
About five minutes later, they emerged back into a corridor, deserted except for distant clamor behind them.
"Straight ahead is the main entrance!"
They quickened their pace.
Suddenly, a unified chant erupted ahead: "For a blue and pure cosmos!"
The voices froze them mid-step, their expressions darkening as they slowed their approach.
The main entrance opened into a vast rectangular hall. The corridor led to a U-shaped second-floor balcony.
To the left was a dead end leading toward the doors, while stairs descended on the right. Below, a crowd of fanatical figures stood in the hall.
Men and women, young and old, all raised black rifles in unison, shouting: "For a blue and pure cosmos!"
"We can't let those monsters escape!"
"For Earth! For the future of Naturals! Kill every last one of them!"
"We won't waste the intel our brothers died for—destroy this monster factory!"
...
Ignoring the raving Blue Cosmos members below, Tianming surveyed their surroundings.
The layout was perfect. Flanking from both sides could wipe out the entire group in the hall.
Glancing at the dead end, he estimated the drop to the first floor and his own weight, confident Hanxiang could catch him if he jumped.
But before he could speak, Hanxiang crouched low and crept left, whispering, "Tianming, take the stairs. I'll draw their attention—run when you get the chance!"
"Mom! Wait!" Tianming barely dared to raise his voice, his words drowned by the chanting below.
As Hanxiang moved further away, he had no choice but to proceed right, keeping watch for her signal to attack.
Below, the Blue Cosmos members finished their chant and fanned out, rifles trained on the first- and second-floor corridors.
Luckily, by the time they looked up, the two had already slipped into their peripheral vision—easy to miss unless scrutinized.
Then, footsteps echoed from the second-floor corridor, accompanied by more Blue Cosmos slogans.
Hearing their comrades, the hall's occupants visibly relaxed.
However, Zhou Tianming's heart tightened. If they came from the second-floor corridor, their position and Zhou Hanxiang's would be completely exposed.
If they dealt with the corridor first, they'd be attacked from the hall. If they attacked the hall, they'd be ambushed from the corridor.
The enemies arrived too quickly. Had they been just a minute slower, Zhou Tianming was confident he and Hanxiang could have taken down the people in the hall together.
While Zhou Tianming was still strategizing how to eliminate them all at once, Hanxiang took action first.
She suddenly stood up and opened fire on the hall below, instantly dropping several people as bullets struck them.
The gunfire snapped Zhou Tianming out of his thoughts. Seeing Hanxiang engage, he wasted no time rushing toward the entrance to flank the enemies.
The Blue Cosmos members in the hall scattered under the sudden assault, but once they realized there was only one attacker, they began returning fire.
Some, despite bleeding from their wounds, ignored the pain and raised their guns to shoot.
Hanxiang's barrage lasted only a few seconds before she was forced to duck for cover, the wall behind her riddled with bullet holes, white plaster dust covering her.
Though Zhou Tianming hadn't yet reached the entrance, he was already behind the enemies. Seeing the urgency, he started firing prematurely.
Gunshots rang out as bullets whizzed through the air, striking Blue Cosmos members in the back, blood blossoming as they collapsed.
Having witnessed their reckless counterattack against Hanxiang, Zhou Tianming prioritized taking down those who dared to expose themselves under gunfire.
As suppressing fire weakened, Hanxiang risked standing up again to resume shooting.
The hall was now a scene of carnage, with only a few survivors hiding in blind spots, barely clinging to life.
Just then, Blue Cosmos reinforcements arrived from the second-floor corridor. The moment they stepped out, they spotted Hanxiang firing into the hall and immediately raised their weapons.
Zhou Tianming quickly adjusted his aim, spraying bullets toward the corridor while moving to the entrance to secure a better angle.
Hanxiang, however, ignored the corridor threat, focusing solely on suppressing the remaining enemies in the hall.
"Tianming! Get out now!"
The ten-minute countdown had ended. With a mechanical hum, the steel barrier at the main entrance began descending slowly.
Zhou Tianming glanced back—the gap was still wide enough for him to escape, but Hanxiang was in greater danger.
"Jump down now!"
Click—click—click—!
Hanxiang's rifle clicked empty.
She tossed it aside, glanced at the hall below, then swiftly vaulted over the glass railing.
Her feet hit the ground as she rolled forward, but she lost balance, skidding sideways for a meter before stopping. Gritting through the pain, she limped toward Zhou Tianming.