In the temporary division of Area 24, Su Xiao walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower. He tested his body's changes; what used to leave him exhausted after training now only made him slightly tired. His physical strength had increased from 6 to 10, and his endurance had improved several times over.
As he dried his hair and stepped out of the bathroom, a hurried knock came at the door. When he opened it, a worried staff member stood there.
"Special Agent Bai Ye, it's bad! Special Agent Yuna just requested backup, saying there's an abnormal situation underground in Area 24."
"Abnormal situation? What happened?" Su Xiao's expression turned serious. He had some apprehension about Area 24, as his last experience there had left a deep impression.
"There are a lot of ghouls in the underground passage, and they are attacking the security gate. Special Agent Bai Ye, you should go take a look yourself."
Su Xiao grabbed his shirt and rushed towards the underground entrance of Area 24.
Ten minutes later, he arrived at the entrance, and the scene before him made him frown. The area was in chaos, with temporary tents scattered everywhere and bloodstains occasionally visible on the ground. He touched a drop of blood with his finger; it was warm, indicating that the attack had just happened.
"Bai Ye, over here."
Yuna's weak voice came from inside a collapsed tent, and Su Xiao quickly walked over.
"That door was breached?"
It was clear that ghouls had forced their way out of the underground of Area 24, and Yuna had fought desperately. Judging by the stab wound in her chest, it was evident that she had failed.
"I think I'm done for."
Yuna's face was pale, and the significant blood loss meant she could pass out at any moment.
"You’re not dying yet; I brought medical staff."
He carried Yuna out of the half-collapsed tent, and medical personnel immediately took over to treat her wounds.
"Bai Ye, those new recruits might..."
"Yeah, I know."
Those new recruits were likely all dead. The medical staff who came with Su Xiao quickly treated Yuna's wounds and took her back to the temporary division; her lung was punctured and needed surgery.
Su Xiao stood at the entrance, noticing bloody footprints nearby. This was the center of the battle. Yuna could have escaped earlier but chose not to. This young girl understood that being a search officer wasn’t just a job; it was a responsibility.
He stepped into the underground entrance. The metal door lay twisted and deformed on the ground, with footprints on it, showing it had endured a strong attack.
He heard faint footsteps approaching and became alert, drawing his weapon, the Dragon Slayer. A sneaky figure entered the underground entrance, and Su Xiao quickly moved forward.
The person was startled by Su Xiao and yelled, raising a handgun and firing a few random shots.
"Bang, bang..."
The gunshots echoed through the underground passage. Su Xiao held the Dragon Slayer against the intruder's neck.
"Human?"
He glanced at the gun in the person's hand; it was a weapon unique to the CCG.
"Are you Special Agent Bai Ye?"
The person holding the gun was a slightly chubby young man, with a round face, covered in dirt and blood, but it was clear he wore a CCG uniform.
"Tell me what happened here."
Su Xiao didn’t need to guess the person’s identity; he was a surviving new recruit. On the way here, the staff at the temporary division had already briefed him on the situation.
Yuna had taken the new recruits to the outskirts of Area 24 for training and then encountered a large number of ghouls. She managed to escape from the underground and called for help from the temporary division.
"Wah..."
The chubby young man collapsed to the ground, dropping his handgun, and covered his face with his hands, crying loudly.
"We... we were attacked. Special Agent Yuna told us to leave first, wah..."
His emotions were unstable, clearly shaken by the experience.
Through his broken words, Su Xiao pieced together the whole story. After Yuna retreated to the surface, she gathered the new recruits. She knew the metal door at the entrance, while strong, couldn’t withstand the continuous attacks from the ghouls, so she ordered the new recruits to withdraw while she stayed behind to face the enemy. At that moment, Yuna was already prepared to sacrifice herself.
A large number of ghouls broke through to the surface, and the ones suffering were the humans in the nearby areas of 24.
From a search officer's perspective, Yuna's decision was correct. Unfortunately, a hot-blooded new recruit insisted on staying with her, the same handsome young man who had wanted to help Yuna with her wounds.
This young man's actions stirred up the emotions of the other new recruits, who stubbornly believed that they could fend off the ghouls if they worked together.
These new recruits were all top students at the CCG Academy, confident in their abilities to drive away ghouls.
Yuna was furious at their actions. It was already a miracle they didn’t make things worse; she was certain that if a real fight broke out, the new recruits would immediately scatter.
Just as Yuna was about to teach those new recruits a lesson and force them to leave, the metal door at the entrance was breached by the ghouls.
What followed was simple; with many incompetent allies around, Yuna nearly lost her life. Before the real fight even began, the new recruits panicked and fled upon seeing the ghouls attacking.
The hot-blooded handsome young man was the first to run away when he saw the ghouls coming. His escape triggered the fear and cowardice in the others.
Look, I wasn’t the first to run! With that mindset, those new recruits fled without even fighting.
The handsome young man ran a bit slower and ended up being eaten by the ghouls, leaving only bones behind. A particularly twisted ghoul even took away his skull, likely to turn it into a "craft."
Yuna was defeated while covering her incompetent allies, fighting the ghouls, and facing overwhelming numbers.
"Ito that bastard insisted everyone stay; we dragged down Special Agent Yuna."
After saying this, the chubby young man cried even louder.
"So, are there any survivors among your batch of new recruits? How many are left?"
Su Xiao's question went unanswered as the young man continued to sob.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Su Xiao gripped the handle of the Dragon Slayer tightly, feeling an impulse to strike down the chubby young man.
Everyone has been weak at some point, but those who cry endlessly after misfortune are the most useless.
"Special Agent Bai Ye, what should I do now?"
The chubby young man looked up at Su Xiao, only to find him on the phone.
The call connected quickly, but the voice on the other end was very noisy.
"Arima, do you know about the situation in Area 24?"
"Zhi~ yes, zhi~."
The signal on Arima's end was poor, but after a while, it improved slightly, though it was still choppy.
"Right now... hold the entrance, and you can... I’ll handle it soon..."
Su Xiao understood that Arima wanted him to hold the entrance of Area 24 and prevent the ghouls from breaking through to the surface.
"You’re not... underground, are you?"
Area 24 wasn’t large, and there weren’t many places with poor signals. As the top search officer guarding Area 24, Arima couldn’t have left.
Thinking about it, Arima could only be in one place.
"Yes, I’m underground... the source... I..."
The call was still cutting in and out, which left Su Xiao speechless.
If he wasn’t mistaken, Arima was likely deep within Area 24.
"Got it, I need to pass on some information to you. Yuna was also underground and is severely injured, but she was discovered in time and has been sent for emergency treatment."
Arima fell silent.
"That’s it."
After saying that, Su Xiao hung up the phone.
The chubby young man looked at Su Xiao with tear-streaked cheeks, filled with admiration.
"I..."
The chubby young man was about to speak when Su Xiao raised a hand to signal him to be quiet. He pressed his finger to the ground.
A slight vibration traveled through his fingertips; a large group of unknown enemies was running in the underground passage, quickly approaching.
"I have a task for you. Go back to the surface and contact CCG headquarters. Tell them to send more personnel to Area 24."
(End of Chapter)