Delta: Who are you saying has suffered a loss of strength?

"Hurry, don't fall behind!"

Shimada's voice was broken and he was breathing heavily.

He ran in the lead, but his strides were not as long as before, and his legs felt heavy.

Sato followed behind him, his face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead, making "ho, ho" sounds with every step he took.

Takahashi was at the back, and his steps were already erratic, swaying left and right.

"The location we've been teleported to is too far from the warden's office!" Sato shouted, his voice hoarse, as if something had blocked his throat.

He pulled a combat stimulant from his ammunition pouch, uncapped it, and plunged it into his chest, pushing it all the way in.

After the needle went in, he gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and quickened his pace.

Takahashi ran for a while, supporting himself against the wall, leaving a bloody mark as he dragged his hand across it.

He looked down at his hands; the skin on his palms was raw and chafed. "Hang in there... just hang in there..." he stammered, his breath coming in gasps between each two words.

"Hopefully, those three from the Hibiscus Club have fallen for the trap..." Takahashi also injected himself with a stimulant, then shook his hand, his fingertips feeling numb.

Shimada ran ahead without looking back. "Those three will definitely fall for the trap."

He spoke with absolute certainty, emphasizing each word. "And they're wearing the heaviest level 5 protective suits. As long as we don't teleport to the location closest to the warden's office, we have a chance."

He paused, took a breath, and said with a hint of disdain, "They're simply greedy and cowardly."

The three continued running, turned a corner, and found themselves in a straight corridor.

Shimada recognized it; they weren't far from the administrative district. He gritted his teeth and ran even faster.

There was a large iron gate in front of us, which was closed. On the other side of the gate was the outer edge of the administrative district.

The three of them ran a few steps when Shimada suddenly raised his hand and clenched his fist. Sato and Takahashi immediately stopped, and the three of them stood in the middle of the corridor, panting heavily, their chests heaving.

"Listen," Shimada said in a low voice.

The three of them tried their best to suppress their panting and hold their breath.

The corridor fell silent, with only the sound of their own heartbeats, thump-thump-thump, echoing in their ears.

Shimada tilted his head to the side, one ear pointing forward, his eyes squinted, and his lips slightly parted.

Then he heard footsteps. Lots of people!

There was also a whistling sound, intermittent and through the wall. He couldn't make out the tune, but he recognized the timbre.

Shimada's pupils contracted slightly.

"Raven?" Sato heard it too, his voice a little tense.

"The prisoners have escaped again," Shimada said in a low voice.

Sato swallowed hard. "What do we do? Should we take a different route?"

Shimada didn't even glance at the direction at the end of the corridor.

If he goes around in circles, he'll have to travel a long way. He's not familiar with this area, and if he goes around in circles, he doesn't know where he'll end up. If he gets lost, it will be even more troublesome.

If we don't go around, we'll have to rush right under the raven's nose.

"No. It's too late." Shimada shook his head, his voice becoming decisive. "I wonder how those three bastards, Hibiscus, are doing. We need to hurry."

He turned around and looked at Sato and Takahashi. Both of their faces were pale, not only from exhaustion but also from tension.

Takahashi's thighs were shaking; his muscles had reached their limit and could cramp at any moment.

Shimada looked at them, his eyes sharpening, as if giving an order, or perhaps encouraging himself. "Use all the available medicine now. Don't worry about the cost, save as many as you can, and rush straight into the warden's office. As long as we get the mission done, we've succeeded."

Sato and Takahashi exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

The three of them started flipping through the binge-like items. They pulled out stimulants, painkillers, adrenaline, one by one.

Sato inserted a blue needle into his thigh, and after pushing it in, he inserted a red needle.

Takahashi first took two painkillers, threw away the remaining empty bottle, and then injected adrenaline. After the injection, he shuddered, his eyes widened, and his breathing became faster.

With everything ready, after using up all the remaining medicine in his ammunition pouch, Shimada looked at Sato and Takahashi.

"Are you ready?" Shimada asked.

They both nodded at the same time.

Shimada took a deep breath and walked to the front door. He put his hand on the handle and glanced back at the two people behind him.

The two crouched down a little, their posture resembling that of a runner waiting for the starting gun at the starting line.

Shimada gave a sharp push, and both doors flew open simultaneously, slamming against the wall with a loud bang.

Inside the door was a large hall, where a raven stood in the middle, its head tilted back, whistling.

Behind him stood three hammer-wielding soldiers, heads bowed, hammers strapped to their backs. Seven or eight prisoners stood around them as well.

The sound of the door suddenly popping open interrupted the whistling. The raven turned its head and looked at the doorway.

Shimada pulled a smoke bomb from his waist. This was the only item they had brought for the sake of lightness, and it was the only tool they had for entering the Tide Prison.

He threw the thing into the hall. It drew an arc in the air, bounced once, rolled twice, and landed on the ground in front of the main entrance.

With a whoosh, a cloud of grayish-white smoke exploded, obscuring the area in front of the lobby entrance within seconds.

"Charge!" Shimada shouted, and was the first to rush in.

Sato Takahashi followed closely behind him, and the three of them ran into the hall and into the smoke.

The smoke stung their noses and made it hard to open their eyes, but they didn't need to watch where they were going!

The target was just ahead. I ran through the hall and up the stairs; the warden's office was on the second floor.

"Welcome to the amusement park!" the raven shouted as it realized what was happening.

Then all the prison guards fired into the smoke in unison, the bullets shattering the bricks on the ground and sending sparks flying.

Bullets flew past the three samurai, whizzing past their bodies.

Sato felt something scrape his arm, but only felt a burning sensation and numbness. He couldn't feel any pain and continued running desperately.

Shimada ran in the lead. He didn't feel any pain; his adrenaline was pumping, and he couldn't feel anything.

The three of them rushed out of the smoke and found themselves in the other half of the hall. A dozen meters ahead was the staircase, and the second floor was just up the staircase!

The three of them rushed out of the smoke and ran as fast as they could, not even glancing at the raven, their only thought being to get out.

"Raven's roll call time!" Raven's shrill voice even drowned out the noisy gunfire.

boom!boom!

Both shots were fired simultaneously, hitting Takahashi's legs, leaving two bullet holes from top to bottom. Blood gushed from his trousers and splattered on the ground.

Takahashi grunted, his teeth grinding together, but he didn't stop at all. He continued to run, limping, leaving a bloody footprint on the ground with each step.

boom!boom!

Two more shots!

As soon as Sato heard the gunshot, he felt something push hard on his shoulder, causing him to sway to the left and almost fall.

He steadied himself, feeling a burning sensation in his right shoulder as if it were on fire, with blood flowing down his arm.

The three of them braved the hail of bullets and ran to the second floor opposite the lobby.

Even the ravens and the prisoners were astonished that someone could just walk right past them right under their noses!

Raven put down his revolver and looked at the blood-soaked floor at the bottom of the stairs with some surprise, stretching from the middle of the hall all the way up the stairs.

"Damn, he's even crazier than me..."