I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 54: Feigning Death to Escape

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Feigning Death to Escape

Check, rest, evacuate.

The whole process was quickly completed, and the subsequent wrap-up work would have to wait.

Many in the scientific research team were injured, and the doctors responsible for logistics were now in a bind, having already called for emergency services. However, their relic site was in a rather remote location, naturally requiring some time for help to arrive.

As for on-site repairs, that was out of the question. Li Zhongye didn’t trust that option, especially after an unknown radiation had appeared before the explosion. If he dared to suggest continuing work, the research team would isolate him. When it came to their own lives, nothing else mattered.

Moreover, Li Zhongye valued his own life.

So now, they were all arranged to undergo examinations at the hospital, and the higher-ups were taking it seriously, having opened up a green channel especially for them.

With the large number of people involved, this was quite normal. If anything had gone wrong, the accountability would be severe.

’I should leave; any delay could cause problems.’ Gu Shanhai knew it was time to vacate the area. Those in the research team who had directly faced the radiation from the supernatural core were now awakening to their abilities, and their blood tests would reveal the anomaly at the very first opportunity.

Mutations would appear by tomorrow morning at the latest.

But he couldn’t just simply leave; doing so without reason would arouse the Holy Federation’s suspicions. The best option was to fake his own death.

Of course, he didn’t actually plan to die.

In his portable lab, he still had several frozen corpses, specifically those from the Xuanwei Sect’s central server office. He could choose one with a similar body shape to serve as his replacement.

Certainly, the body couldn’t just directly take his place; it needed to be modified.

For instance, making the face unrecognizable and carbonizing the body so it couldn’t be identified would be essential for his escape.

’What a pity to lose this identity. If I ’die,’ I’ll need to change my face again, or it will be too easy to detect.’

After the players arrived, it was no longer possible to obtain a legitimate identity in the previous manner, now that the Holy Federation had become aware of the players.

Mainly because the Federation was secretly capturing and experimenting on players, albeit without success.

"Mr. Li, I’m going to the restroom."

Gu Shanhai finally spoke to Li Zhongye after they had arrived at the hospital.

"Go ahead, but come back quickly, you still need to be examined," Li Zhongye responded without overthinking. He, too, was quite desperate after the day’s events.

After finding out the location of the restroom, Gu Shanhai casually made his way there.

Once inside a cubicle, he took out a body and put his own clothes on it, while he changed into a different set of clothes.

’Corrosion, poison, flame, Holy Light,—these four will act from the inside out, leaving behind enough signs to deceive them.’

Even with the Holy Federation’s intervention in the autopsy, they would only conclude that the death was due to a one-time awakening of four conflicting abilities.

It’s not that there were no cases of individuals with multiple abilities; only a small portion survived, with most dying due to ability conflicts or genetic collapse.

Thus, the ability awakening drugs were not only meant to trigger ability awakenings earlier but also to ensure the safety of those awakenings.

The risks of awakening to powers autonomously were considerable, with most resulting in genetic collapse and a minority due to conflicting abilities.

Otherwise, the Holy Federation wouldn’t have popularized the awakening drugs to enable everyone to awaken their abilities. Consider this: at the beginning, out of ten people, five might die from awakening. If you don’t want the Holy Federation to collapse, this is the only course of action.

As the radiation from the core of abilities broke free and entered the planet’s circulation system, it continued to grow, denoting a shift. Ability users would no longer be individuals, but everyone would gradually be induced to become an ability user.

This was a trend bound to occur.

’Set it to detonate after a delay, three minutes ought to do it.’ Gu Shanhai quickly dealt with the body and then escaped via the ventilation shafts in the restroom.

He certainly couldn’t go through the main entrance. There were surveillance cameras in the hallway outside the restroom, and he would leave flaws in his plan if he just walked out.

So the ventilation shafts were his only choice, and it was unlikely to be a dead end—there was usually an exit.

With his current awareness, he could distinctly sense the movement of the air.

Moving along, he soon crawled out of the shaft. Luckily, he had the Magic Domain to keep his surroundings tidy, or his clothes would have ended up filthy.

Using his senses, he quickly scaled the walls and left the hospital through a blind spot in their surveillance.

That Chapter was closed.

’Next, I should go to the library to read. Studying the core of abilities requires a wealth of knowledge.’ Gu Shanhai wore a baseball cap backward, covering most of his face, revealing a completely different face than before.

Otherwise, hiding in plain sight would only give off the impression of a guilty conscience.

...

"How come Xiao Gu has been gone for so long and hasn’t come back yet? It’s been nearly an hour. Could something have happened?" one researcher wondered with concern.

Li Zhongye, who had just finished his examination, also frowned and muttered, "That couldn’t be. Maybe I should go check."

As the person in charge, he felt it was his responsibility to find out. To be honest, he knew he wasn’t any high-ranking leader and that most of the responsibility for the day’s event lay on him, so it was crucial to get everyone back safely.

He went to inquire about the situation and then heard that something had happened in the restroom.

When he heard this news, a chill ran down his spine, and he rushed over.

"I’ve always heard that spontaneous human combustion was an urban legend, but I never expected to witness it today."

"Yeah, the way he died was so tragic, completely burned beyond recognition—just horrific."

"Could it have been methane gas leakage, and then maybe the guy was smoking, so..."

"Are you dumb? If it was methane gas, it wouldn’t just be burning one person—the whole restroom would have exploded."

Hearing these conversations, Li Zhongye felt increasingly uneasy.

After searching to no avail, he had no choice but to ask the hospital dean to review the surveillance footage.

His examination results indicated no serious issues; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been allowed to walk around. But if Gu Shanhai had self-combusted, considering their day’s events, trouble would certainly ensue.

He didn’t, however, raise the alarm himself. With so many people around, such a supernatural incident could easily cause panic.

Once it was confirmed that Gu Shanhai’s combustion was due to the radiation from the relic, he would have no choice but to report to his superiors.

As for the body, it was temporarily stored in the hospital’s morgue, as it was improper to leave it in the restroom, which was now closed for disinfection after a recent death, especially in such a peculiar manner.

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