I created the Anomaly Control Bureau

Chapter 995, 990. Death Countdown

After passing the five grotesque, disfigured statues, the magician led Marne on foot for several kilometers until they finally arrived at a rather ordinary-looking flat area.

Although there was no difference between this place and the surrounding area, he still bent down and tapped the ground, then took out a number of tools and began to work on them with great concentration.

After a deathly silence of ten minutes or so, the magician finally stood up again.

"All done." There was a hint of barely suppressed joy in his voice. "Let's go."

As he stood up, ripples appeared on the ground in front of him, and the magician simply walked into these ripples, quickly disappearing into the water as if he had vanished.

Ma En followed closely behind, and when he stepped into the ripples, he didn't feel like he was passing through some kind of illusion. The thighs that he stepped into it melted like rock candy falling into hot water, and at the same time, this change dragged his body down.

Almost in the blink of an eye, his body completely dissolved, and he even felt as if he had escaped from this reality. But soon he was frozen again by the cold, and his five senses were re-formed. Life was returned to his hands.

The frigid air almost gave him a suffocating feeling, as did the silver metal walls. This familiar texture did not bring Marn any warmth, only extreme indifference and decay.

Although the surrounding walls were still quite normal, for some reason Marn felt that the building he was in was exuding an aura of decay like that of a dying old man, which had nothing to do with the information that his five senses could receive.

This experience is more like a well-worn memory than a feeling.

The magician paid no attention to his surroundings and began to move forward at a brisk pace, much faster than when he was outside, but still within the bounds of an ordinary person. He maintained basic vigilance, though he was generally much more relaxed.

Mar and Eng followed closely behind him:

"Is it safe here?"

The magician suddenly raised his right hand and stopped abruptly. Ma En immediately lowered his body and stood still. Then he saw the magician transform into a black gust of wind and rush towards the corner ahead.

In just a few seconds, he returned to his original position and reappeared, but his originally black hands were now stained with bright red. Although the red quickly seeped into his black skin and disappeared, Ma En could still tell that it was fresh blood.

The magician answered somewhat casually:
"Fortunately, as you know, the situation in this world is not good even in prisons. It is difficult for them to set up sufficient guards in such places, let alone in the occupied zone."

"The reason this place is still able to survive is simply because of their excellent concealment skills and luck."

Marx and Engels nodded:

"Hopefully we won't encounter too many obstacles."

The magician said in a slightly comforting tone:
"Don't be afraid. As long as we don't run into those guys, nothing here can stop me. We just need to avoid triggering any alarms, and they won't pay much attention to this kind of place."

"It seems those guys are planning to fight to the death now, which is foolish, but it has given us an opportunity."

He paused again as he said this, then transformed into a black wind and rushed forward. Although Ma En saw nothing, it was not hard to imagine what had happened.

In this way, they cleared out more than a dozen "outposts" in succession, and during this process, Ma En did not see any of the guards' corpses. Obviously, the magician did not simply kill people and leave.

As they ventured deeper, these cleanup operations became more frequent, and the magician's movements grew increasingly cautious, while the atmosphere grew ever more tense. "Wait a moment." The magician walked to the door, then crouched down to demonstrate. This time, he didn't take long; he stood up again after only a dozen seconds.

Click.

The magician easily pushed open the door, revealing the interior: countless screens floating in mid-air or on the walls, and more than a dozen suspended chairs floating at different heights, all of which were occupied by people.

However, all the figures sitting in the chairs were as stiff as statues, and as soon as Ma En followed the magician into the room, he noticed something like threads on their bodies.

The magician's steps became lighter again as he walked towards a screen that was easier to reach:
"After all, this is occupied territory, and we can't contact the prison itself. Once we take care of the control center here, we'll be safe. The rest will be much simpler. Let me see..."

"As expected of a prison, this encryption would take at least ten minutes to crack to get all the data. Although they are not directly connected to the prison, none of this stuff is missing."

Upon hearing this, Marx and Engels also chimed in:
Are we safe now?

The magician answered while working:

"If we're lucky, although we don't have to worry about attacks from the outside, these branch bases also have fairly comprehensive defenses, and I don't know how long we can hold out."

"I'm not worried about them posing any threat to us; I'm just afraid they'll block our escape route, which would render all our efforts futile."

"When the time comes, do whatever I ask you to do. Even if my requests are strange, don't hesitate at all, okay?"

Marx and Engels nodded:

"Of course, we must trust each other in times like these, but I really didn't expect that after going through so much, we would actually find a way to escape."

The magician wholeheartedly agreed, remarking with some emotion:

"I never imagined I'd be where I am today. While I have to thank them, if it weren't for you, I would never have had the chance to take control of my own destiny. That might sound a bit cheesy now, but..."

"Thank you."

Hearing this, Mar and Eng felt nothing, but could only reply:
"Don't mention it. We need each other to escape now. By the way, what about them..."

Just as Marne was about to ask some in-depth questions, a piercing alarm shattered his eardrums, and all the floating screens instantly turned a blinding red, with countless pop-ups flooding them.

The magician's expression immediately turned extremely tense, his hands began to move rapidly, and his tone was anxious with a hint of anger:
"No, no, not at a time like this! I haven't lifted the blockade yet! Damn it, she's found us!"

After saying this, the magician slammed his hand on the inaccessible screen, then turned to look at Marne:

"let's go."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and aimed it at the wall. Instantly, the wall began to cave in in front of Marne, gradually forming a tunnel like a child's closed-door passage. The magician then transformed into a black gust of wind and rushed inside.