"Is that a lab?" Oliver asked in a low voice. The boy looked around, all the way down the corridor and into the main room; there didn't seem to be any Ork patrolling.

"It's better to go inside than stay in the corridor—someone might pass by and see us," he thought, calling the others into the room.

The four quickly entered the room and closed the door before anyone could see them. Upon entering, they finally saw the grandeur of the laboratory. Their gazes were amazed at how the same room could simultaneously be so crude and technological, with details in stone and steel. There was a large circular window near the ceiling through which one could see the entire exterior of the towers.

The group gradually spread out, exploring every part of the laboratory. Large machines with pistons and tubes connected the various other rooms; their gears and bolts were already rusted, and occasionally, they released gases and whistled.

Throughout the room, there were various workbenches, each with plans, notes, and scattered papers. Oliver stopped, trying to decipher some of the documents; however, the Ork language didn't make any sense to him.

‘I'll take something. It might be important,’ he thought, crumpling some papers and putting them into his supply bag.

Alan tried to understand the instruments hanging near the machines, but he couldn't grasp what they were measuring or supposed to be. The boy felt like he had entered the secret laboratory of some alchemist—something that didn't resemble science, simply chaos.

The girls tried to pretend they weren't bothered by the smell of the place, mainly the odor of blood and rotten meat that was taking over the area.

"Please! I see you. Help me."

Unlike before, the voice wasn't shouting; it spoke more softly as if it was really seeing the group and knew their position. Oliver tried to follow the voice but only reached the end of the room, where there were three doors to what seemed to be a storage room.

"I'm here!"

Again, he heard the voice; it seemed to come from the first door.

"Could it be a trap?" the boy wondered. He decided at least to have his pistol in hand before entering.

Oliver conjured the weapon and held it firmly, pointing forward.

"Hey!" He called Isabela, who was nearby. "Open the door carefully," he asked.

The girl held what seemed like a doorknob and, without standing in the doorway, quickly opened it.

Oliver watched through the crack of the door the whole time, preparing for some opponent. However, his expectations were frustrated. It was just a tiny room, about four square meters.

Inside the room, lined with steel sheets, there was a pipe that went from the ceiling to the floor. But in the center of the structure, there was glass that allowed them to see what was floating inside the pipe.

"My God." Oliver was never religious, but some sights can only be reacted to that way.

Inside what seemed to be a huge test tube was a human head immersed in some strange liquid; however, there was no body. Its neck had been severed; instead, there were hundreds of tubes connected to the head from all sides. Its eyes seemed to have been sewn shut. However, he knew that whoever it was wasn't dead, as the head was moving its mouth.

"Finally, finally, someone found me," the head said in a sad and defeated voice. Oliver felt that the person would be crying if they could.

Isabela covered her mouth with both hands, surprised at what they had found. Alan and Katherine were still exploring the laboratory, but noticing the other two's reaction, they decided to approach. All four looked with pity and sadness at the situation of whoever was there.

"Please. I don't know who you are. I don't even know if you're human. Please. Kill me," the head begged. "I feel pain. I feel cold. I feel hunger. But I am unable to die. I can't take it anymore."

Oliver raised the pistol; however, Isabela held his hand before. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"The moment you shoot, Our position will most likely be discovered," the girl commented.

"We can't leave someone in this state," the boy felt terrible.

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"I understand. But we also need to think about our safety," she reaffirmed.

Alan and Katherine wanted to disagree with her, but the girl's attitude was quite mature and realistic.

"I'm sorry." Oliver touched the glass before turning away.

"I—I understand," the head spoke and fell silent.

Oliver leaned against the wall for a moment, feeling a deep urge to vomit. However, while Oliver was recovering, Alan decided to look at what was behind the other doors.

He and Isabela opened each one to see what was inside. Similar to the first, they were tight cubicles, each with what seemed to be surgical tables. One had a dissected Goblin, and the other had a dissected gray-skinned Ork.

"What were they trying to do here?" Katherine asked.

"It's impossible to understand," Isabela commented.

"Uh, I think I can comprehend," Alan explained. "I saw some of these symbols in a class on Ork Culture."

The two raised their eyebrows upon seeing that the boy had taken the time to study something so uncommon.

Alan picked up some pieces of paper near the surgical tables, trying to read what was written on each one.

"I can't understand every symbol, but it's possible to decipher some that humanity has already figured out," Alan commented.

"On the Goblin's, there's something like: Reaction Absorb Human. Hmm, on the Ork, it's the same thing," the boy explained.

The three were silent for a while, trying to understand what it meant.

"It doesn't make any sense. Would it be something like biological engineering? They're applying something human to these two?" Isabela asked.

"If they are, it's not working," Katherine replied.

"For now," Alan commented.

Oliver stood up again and joined the rest of the group; however, he was silent throughout the discussion.

Thump

While they were examining the rooms, the door was quickly opened.

UARRRRRK

The group was startled to see a gray-skinned Ork screaming at the doorway. However, it wasn't a common Ork; he seemed older. His skin, although grayish, had no shine; he was hunched over a staff to be able to walk, and he had a long beard.

"Katherine, eliminate him," Oliver commanded.

The girl advanced rapidly with her sword in hand; however, with the Ork's scream, they could already hear the alarms sounding inside the tower.

As Katherine swung the sword at the Ork, he easily held the blade's tip and prevented the girl from slashing him, however, where he had sprouted several blood spikes, piercing the Ork's hand, who roared again, this time in pain.

The other three ran following Katherine; Isabela came right after with her gloves already on her hands. She slid across the floor, landing a punch on the Ork's knee, causing him to lose balance. Oliver finished with a shot to his face.

"Everyone, go to the stairs. Run to the exit; don't worry about the noise," Oliver ordered. While the three left the room, he took the opportunity to fire several shots. One of them was aimed at the room with the floating head, exploding the glass and what was inside. He also fired several other shots at the shelves, ensuring there was a fire in the laboratory.

‘Goodbye. I hope that's enough,’ the boy thought.

As soon as he returned to the stairs, he could already see a few Orks climbing them. Alan, Isabela, and Katherine were already focused on ascending the steps. The group could hear the screams and roars of the Orks following them as they climbed.

They were close to the last floor when a pair of Orks appeared before them. With a glance, they could see that it was a prison floor. They could hear several prisoners screaming and banging on the doors and bars.

"Don't stop, attack with everything," Oliver shouted.

"Right," Isabela advanced against one of them; however, the moment she went to land a punch, the monster had already swung a massive axe at her. Luckily, Alan had time to pull the girl back.

Katherine advanced against the second Ork, landing a flurry of attacks, not caring where she would hit, leaving the Ork dazed by the number of cuts she was dealing with.

Alan, for his part, as soon as he pulled Isabela back, had already charged two energy shots, hitting the stomach of the axe-wielding Ork and knocking him down.

"Don't stop; keep moving forward," Alan shouted.

Instead of focusing on killing them, it was enough to hinder and keep running.

Katherine understood this, landing a few more cuts on the Ork's leg and fleeing from him to continue ascending the stairs.

The group was finally a few steps from the last floor; the door was open, but four more Orks were ahead.

"Keep running; I’ll take care of them," Oliver urged.

[Observation]

Tzzz

He couldn't activate the ability.

‘Damn! One of them must be stronger than Pawn,’ the boy thought.

However, he didn't despair; keeping focused, he pulled out the pistol and fired several shots, especially near the Ork’s eyes.

This allowed the group to pass between them without fighting.

"Finally!" Oliver celebrated upon passing through the gate. However, they couldn't stop yet; they still heard the Orks shouting and roaring.

The group could see that they had returned to somewhere near the geysers.

"To the north!" Katherine pointed to where the city should be.

The group started running again toward the city.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The four could hear several explosions occurring in the distance, but Oliver was the first to notice what was hovering in the sky. He recognized the shape of the ships that appeared in front of them. He remembered the last time he had seen them when Seoul was reduced to ashes.