Chapter 095: The Room Became a Gigantic Stomach

Staring at the two men’s strange expressions, Lu Zuzhi’s hand froze in midair as he was about to close the door.

In fact, even if Lu Zuzhi had still wanted to force it shut, he could no longer move it. Ma Baoguo was bracing one side of the door with all his strength, while Li Tianque held down the other side.

Their expressions were astonishingly similar.

Both men had their eyes wide open, staring in utter horror at the scene inside the laboratory.

Li Tianque had witnessed far too many bizarre incidents and had believed that nothing in this scenario could surprise him anymore.

But now he had to admit that he had never imagined he would see anything so unbelievable.

Lu Zuzhi was clearly startled by the change in the two men as well.

They had seemed perfectly normal just moments ago. How had they suddenly begun looking as though they had seen a ghost in broad daylight?

“You…”

Ma Baoguo ignored him and immediately drew his gun, aiming it into the room.

Li Tianque was considering whether to activate his ability when his body began to radiate an intense aura of its own accord.

Sensing that something was wrong, Lu Zuzhi stopped trying to drive them out and turned around as well.

The instant he looked, he seemed to turn into a stone statue.

The laboratory had undergone a terrifying transformation.

The entire room had suddenly turned a vivid crimson, and waves of foul stench assaulted their noses.

The walls were covered in a thick, fleshy inner lining that writhed incessantly. Dark green liquid slowly spread from every corner of the room.

Clusters of fine hairs and strings of minced-flesh-like fragments hung from the fleshy lining. The entire laboratory seemed to have become a digestive organ inside a human body.

It was as though they had entered a gigantic stomach.

“My God! What the hell is going on?” Ma Baoguo rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Li Tianque regained his composure quickly, immediately turning his attention to the Swimming Velvet Tiger Beetle that had just been submerged in the solution.

Sure enough, the beetle that should have drowned had not died. It, too, had undergone a bizarre transformation.

The tentacles spreading from its body had wrapped themselves around all the corpses of the other Swimming Velvet Tiger Beetles in the glass tank and were dragging them into the surviving beetle’s body.

Professor Lu soon noticed what was happening to the beetle as well. He muttered a curse under his breath, then strode angrily toward the glass tank.

At that moment, Ma Baoguo and Li Tianque reacted simultaneously. Both reached out to pull Professor Lu back.

The inner walls of the laboratory were writhing and contracting at a speed visible to the naked eye, while the dark green corrosive liquid was drawing closer and closer.

It was obvious that if they did not leave, something dangerous would happen very soon.

Yet Professor Lu’s strength was far greater than either of them had expected. After breaking free of their grasp, he said in a deep voice, “You two get out first. I’ll deal with this!”

“Have you gone mad? Get out of there! It’s dangerous!” Ma Baoguo reached for him again.

This time, however, Professor Lu decisively shoved the door closed and locked it.

“Is this guy insane?” Ma Baoguo immediately panicked.

“Nyima, come here! Help me smash the door open!”

As he shouted, Ma Baoguo had already thrown his shoulder against the laboratory door.

At the same time, Tuden Nyima heard the commotion. His thunderous snoring abruptly stopped.

Swaying his sturdy body, he soon came over.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Tuden Nyima spoke in the Kang dialect. He had grown somewhat drowsy while waiting nearby and had only just woken up, so his voice sounded muffled and thick.

“Don’t ask questions. Help me break down the door!” Ma Baoguo shouted anxiously.

Tuden Nyima muttered another complaint in Kang, then, like Ma Baoguo, slammed his body against the laboratory door.

The laboratory had been hastily converted from the hotel’s original meeting hall. The hall had fallen into disrepair and had long been almost entirely abandoned.

Under ordinary circumstances, the door should have opened easily beneath the impact of two strong, powerfully built men.

But after struggling for quite some time, they still made no progress.

The door seemed to have been welded firmly into the wall, remaining utterly motionless.

Li Tianque did not join them in ramming it. Instead, he gently placed his hand against the edge of the door and continuously injected cancer cells through the crack.

He had intended to use them to investigate what was happening inside, or perhaps move the cells to the doorknob and open the door from within.

Strangely, however, the gap seemed to have been filled with a thick layer of gelatinous material. His cancer cells could not penetrate it at all.

Li Tianque frowned slightly.

Had the room truly become the digestive system of some bizarre creature?

That was simply too absurd.

As he pondered this, Ma Baoguo and Tuden Nyima had already exhausted themselves. They leaned against the door, panting heavily.

Li Tianque withdrew his cancer cells and was astonished to discover that although they had clearly failed to enter the room, withdrawing them had drawn out nearly a meter of black tissue.

What was going on?

“This is bad. Hurry up! Go find something we can use to break through the door! An axe, a hammer, anything!” Ma Baoguo shouted at Tuden Nyima.

Before the research team had come to Ulkolo Township, Ma Baoguo’s superiors had specifically summoned him and repeatedly warned him to ensure the team’s safety and prevent any accidents.

Now, not only had one person died, but Professor Lu, the leader of the research team, was also in mortal danger. Ma Baoguo was on the verge of collapse.

“Don’t panic. There’s no unusual sound coming from inside. Professor Lu may be all right,” Li Tianque said.

“All right? You make it sound so easy.” Ma Baoguo suddenly roared.

Li Tianque frowned slightly, feeling uncomfortable as well.

“Panicking like this will only make things worse.”

“Damn it, of course you’re not panicking! Even if you killed someone, there’d be people backing you up. What about me? Do you have any idea how severe the punishment I’ll face could be? Do you? I’ve been stuck in this place for five years!

“Five whole years in this godforsaken place! Five years!

“Do you know what it feels like to spend five years in a poor, remote backwater like this?

“In this sweltering heat, the water supply gets cut off every three or four days. The water stored in the tank might get fouled by desert rats at any moment!

“There are endless disputes with these barbarians who can’t understand a word we say. The moment we disagree, they start throwing punches. Even when we want to use force, we have to hold back!

“Parasites. Yes, there are parasites in the water too…

“The old chieftain’s wife died of parasite cancer, and so did he. Do you know how many people in the village have parasite cancer?

“You can play games, go bar-hopping, and chase women in the big cities. What about me?

“Here, if I want a decent drink, I have to travel all the way to the county seat. This cursed sun turns your whole face red. Look at my skin! Just look at what the sun has done to it!

“If the miserable living conditions were all there was, I could endure it. You think there’s no danger in a tiny place like this? Do you know that the uninhabited regions around here are paradises for fugitives and desperadoes? Every year, we receive enough wanted-person alerts to bury my entire desk!

“I’ve spent every day living in fear, and I finally managed to hold on until today. Damn it, and then this had to happen at the worst possible moment…”

Ma Baoguo suddenly began ranting frenziedly, as though he were trying to vent all the pain and suffering he had endured over the years.

Li Tianque noticed that something was wrong with his expression. His emotions had inexplicably spiraled out of control, as though he had been affected by some unseen force.

Lu Zuzhi had only said that the insect’s sound could cause auditory hallucinations. He had never mentioned that it could also produce visual hallucinations, had he?

What exactly was happening?

Yet Ma Baoguo’s tirade had revealed an unexpected and peculiar piece of information. Li Tianque immediately pressed him for details.

“What happened? You said the old chieftain and his wife had parasite cancer. What exactly does that mean?”

Ma Baoguo ignored Li Tianque’s question. He still showed no sign of regaining his senses and continued mumbling about his experiences over the years.

“I nearly lost my life trying to catch a fugitive. I…”