After resting for about half an hour, the three of them regained some strength. Su Xiao took off his shirt and pulled out a large bucket of clean water from his storage space, pouring it over himself. The light red stains spread out beneath his feet.
Arima and Yuna did the same, washing off the smell of blood to reduce the chances of being discovered by the ghouls.
"Is it always this dangerous to explore Area 24?" Su Xiao asked the two of them, knowing that exploring Area 24 was bound to be risky.
"Not always. This is the first time I've encountered such a ghoul. Where do these guys even come from? They’re strong even without using their abilities," Yuna replied, surprising Su Xiao. She had been exploring Area 24 for half a year; had she really never faced this kind of situation before?
"Arima, you seem quite familiar with these ghouls," Su Xiao said, looking meaningfully at Arima.
Arima took off his glasses and poked at the broken lenses. "This is a special type of ghoul, unique to Area 24. I’m not sure about the specifics." His expression was calm, perhaps because he had fought alongside Su Xiao before.
"Really? Go on," Su Xiao said, pulling out two bags of jerky and tossing them to Arima and Yuna.
Yuna caught hers easily, but when the jerky landed in front of Arima, he instinctively stepped back.
"Thud." The bag of jerky fell to the ground, and one of Arima's hands hovered in the air. It was almost impossible for him to miss catching the jerky given his close combat skills.
Putting his glasses back on, Arima picked up the jerky from the ground. Yuna was happily munching on her jerky, not noticing what had just happened.
But Su Xiao noticed. He felt like something was off with Arima’s eyes; he seemed to rely on those glasses to see.
Su Xiao had always wondered why Arima wore glasses. It seemed inconvenient during a fight.
"This is good food; it can quickly replenish energy," Arima said while eating the jerky, glancing at Su Xiao.
"I suggest you try wearing contact lenses," Su Xiao replied. He would be fighting alongside Arima soon, just like they had against the primitive ghouls earlier. If Arima were to fall, he wouldn’t be far behind.
"I’ve tried before, but I’m not used to them."
The two stopped talking, leaving Yuna confused as she looked at them.
After they finished resting, the three of them set off to leave Area 24.
"The meat wall in this direction hasn’t changed; we can go back the way we came," Yuna said, leading the way with a tablet in her hand that recorded their route.
They were now deep within Area 24, and the pathways were complicated, resembling a maze.
"Oh no, the route has changed."
Yuna looked at her tablet, noticing a blood-red meat wall blocking their path. According to the tablet, there was supposed to be a fork in the road here, but now it was a dead end.
"What should we do now? Break through this meat wall?" Su Xiao asked, stepping forward with his knife.
"We can try and see how much the terrain has changed," Yuna replied.
Su Xiao gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, plunging it into the meat wall. He yanked it back, creating a gap about thirty centimeters long.
Yuna quickly ran up to check what was beyond the gap.
What she saw was another meat wall.
"Ugh, I guess we have to use the most basic method," Yuna said, putting away her tablet and pulling out a compass from her backpack.
As Su Xiao sheathed his sword, the meat wall began to heal itself, closing up in less than a minute.
"Is the compass really effective?" Su Xiao asked. In this maze-like Area 24, he felt the compass wouldn’t help much.
"It is effective. I’ve tried many times. No matter how complex the routes are, as long as there’s a designated direction, we can find a way out of Area 24."
Even though they were trapped in Area 24, Yuna and Arima didn’t seem anxious; it looked like getting out wouldn’t be too hard.
"Left, right, left, right…"
Yuna moved her slender fingers back and forth, randomly choosing a path.
Arima didn’t say anything, seeming used to this, just silently waiting for Yuna to decide.
"The right side; the airflow is faster there, so it’s less likely to be a dead end."
Su Xiao suddenly spoke up, causing Yuna’s hand to freeze in mid-air.
"Faster airflow? I didn’t notice that," Yuna said, looking at Su Xiao with some skepticism.
Su Xiao took the compass from Yuna.
"I’ll lead the way; is that okay?"
"Sure," Arima replied simply.
"Alright, fine," Yuna said, and the two followed Su Xiao as they moved quickly.
Five minutes later, they faced another blood-red meat wall, which was a dead end.
"Uh, I guess I made a mistake," Su Xiao said, staring at the meat wall in confusion. He had indeed felt the airflow was faster here.
"White Night, are you reliable? I feel like we’re going deeper underground," Yuna said, scratching her head and looking at Su Xiao in doubt.
She wasn’t blaming Su Xiao; even if she had been leading, she would have been making random choices too.
"Probably not a problem."
The three continued on, and ten minutes later, another meat wall appeared in front of them.
Unlike before, this time there were several ghouls in the dead end.
"We’ve been avoiding you; why are you still chasing us? We don’t want to fight," one of the ghouls said, tears on his face as he looked fearfully at Arima.
"Ghouls, just die."
Yuna’s Quinque changed, revealing ‘M. Red Moon.’
"Bang, bang, bang…"
After a round of shooting, the passage was filled with blood.
"Keep going."
Su Xiao didn’t believe he couldn’t find the right path.
Twenty minutes later, they faced another meat wall, dead end!
Half an hour later, still a dead end.
An hour later, another dead end.
Su Xiao’s mouth twitched; it seemed he was lost.
"Um, how about I give it a try?"
Yuna looked at Su Xiao with some frustration. Su Xiao didn’t say anything, just silently handed over the compass.
Yuna and Su Xiao had different ways of choosing paths. Whenever they reached a fork, Yuna would mumble to herself for a bit before making her choice.
But even with Yuna leading, nothing changed.
An hour later, the three stood in another dead end.
"Damn it, this is so unlucky."
Yuna stomped her foot in frustration, gripping the compass tightly, which snapped with a crack.
Two cold eyes stared at Yuna, causing her to shiver and quickly check the compass.
Fortunately, the compass was only superficially damaged and was still functional.
"I’ll take over."
Arima took the compass this time, ready to lead.
It had to be said, Arima, being the favored child of the original author, had pretty good luck.
In the next twenty minutes, they didn’t encounter a single dead end.
"At this pace, we’ll be out soon. I’m covered in sticky blood; it’s so uncomfortable."
Yuna tugged at the collar of her shirt, looking enviously at Su Xiao and Arima.
The two were guys and didn’t mind being shirtless, but Yuna couldn’t do that.
As they turned a corner, Arima suddenly stopped.
"What’s…?"
Yuna was about to speak when Su Xiao quickly covered her mouth with his arm.
When Yuna finally saw what was in front of them, her big eyes widened to their limit, her pupils constricting.
(End of Chapter)