The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle
Chapter 420 - 270: The Inescapable Swamp_2

Du En was completely different; he was the most outstanding among them.

Su Qi's initial judgment suggested that after absorbing the black substance produced by the potion, Du En's physical condition had improved more than fivefold. All sorts of potential abilities were being awakened, with his combat level skyrocketing during actual combat.

And...

After gradual fights, the others' spirits would be affected to some extent. They would become excited, tense, and negative emotions would increase, sometimes to the point of recklessly disregarding their teammates.

Only Du En remained unaffected; in all kinds of crises, he prioritized others first. His purity of heart could be said to be extremely high.

In other words.

He.

He was the perfect match for this potion.

Of course.

The most important point was that there was a strange force in Du En's body that suppressed all the bizarre mental effects brought by the black liquid.

This strange power had caught Su Qi's attention from the moment it first appeared.

And now.

Su Qi had finally seen the true nature of that strange force in Du En, displayed on the screen as two characters.

[Divinity]

Divinity?

Those two words were not simple.

Typically, divinity was found in gods or demigods, or in the descendants with divine blood, and not just any lineage—it had to be one with blood closely related to the divine or inheritance of divine artifacts.

Considering... in the present world, it seemed that many things were recovering. Su Qi had reason to believe that ancient beings, forces, and worlds previously in slumber were unveiling their ancient seals.

In short.

Compared to the recovery of gods, their subordinates, divine sons, and the like, would first emerge in the present world.

"Talking about gods is annoying," Su Qi touched his chin,

"Can't they come up with something new? Which god is behind this guy? The Superpower God?"

The benchmark of this world was some special superpowers; they even downplayed the enhancement of physical condition, but the development of abilities had been brought to the extreme.

"It looks like the secrets of this world might be showing their signs."

"And..."

Su Qi looked down the passage, "There's also an invasion of something like Chaotic... Though heavily modified, I can faintly feel the involvement of the Abyss Church's strength."

Although he was still digging, he felt a premonition.

That it would surface soon.

"Let's go, we've rested enough," the Captain said quietly.

The group stood up and followed without saying much.

"Does everyone seem a bit down?" Du En asked, puzzled.

"In due time, the power of the potion grows stronger, and the despair of death lingers in our hearts, negative emotions surge like waves," Su Qi spoke softly.

"Then Brother Su, it seems I'm not affected either," Du En also keenly noticed this.

"It's normal, you have big brother looking after you."

"What?" Du En was stunned for a moment, not understanding.

This scene also caught Su Qi's attention; it seemed Du En really wasn't aware of the power within him, nor did he know his own identity.

And...

In this Superpower World, no traces of any god's kin were seen anywhere, no shrines, nothing related to gods, just an ordinary superpowered world.

In such a place.

There must be hidden depths, even extraordinary value.

Otherwise.

The Abyss Church wouldn't have set their sights on this place, and... Su Qi picked up a shattered potion bottle from the ground, still supplying substances like Chaotic.

The group walked towards the front.

The layout of the final level was simple; a passage led to a research space and by crossing this area, one could reach the control room.

But when the group stepped into that research space.

Everyone looked shocked at the sight.

"What the hell did they do!" Du En was especially furious, roaring with anger!

The entire research space had tens of thousands of transparent glass tanks! All of them contained people!

In some, the liquid had turned dark red, and the bodies inside were unclear; in others, the individuals had already lost their life force!

Some tanks had even shattered!

"These are... ordinary people..." A team member approached, his expression grave and heartbroken as he looked at the people inside the tanks.

He could tell the strength of these people by the degree of muscle atrophy in their bodies.

"Is this why so many people have disappeared over the years?"

"All quietly brought to a place like this... to become subjects of human experiments."

A wave of intense heartache surged uncontrollably in the hearts of the Captain and the others, even dispersing the negative emotions they had just been affected by!

Du En clenched his fists even tighter!

It was as if these people were not strangers to him but his own family.

Only Su Qi looked on, unmoved, this mass grave was indeed cruel, but there were even crueller things.

"Now that you all feel such sorrow, let me share news with you that will help you quickly get past this grief."

Su Qi spoke softly, "Based on my judgment, the lifespans of these bodies in the glass containers do not exceed three months."

"In other words, every three months, they switch to a new batch of test subjects."

"...."

Everyone fell silent, their sorrow indeed gone, replaced entirely by anger and murderous intent!

They considered every person as a part of what they were sworn to protect!

This was their principle!

And now, they had discovered such a thing!

"We... must get out!"

"We must report this to the Superpower Association!"

"The Superpower Seven will surely expose all this darkness!"

Su Qi watched the people with clenched fists, then turned his gaze to the silent Captain.

"What do you think, Captain... is their plan viable?"

Everyone was startled and looked to the Captain.

"Why say that... Why is there no way out?"

The Captain leaned against the wall of the corridor, slowly speaking, "Haven't you realized? The massive number of disappearances, the horrific experiments, this entire industrial complex, and the substantial financing... test subjects."

"It's impossible for all this to happen without the Superpower Association's knowledge."

"Which means..."

The Captain's voice trembled, he took a deep breath to steady himself, his hoarse voice reaching everyone's ears.

"The ones supporting and even overseeing all of this are... the upper echelon of the Superpower Association! And that includes the Superpower Seven!"

Everyone shuddered as if struck by lightning!

Shock and disbelief filled their eyes!

Du En in particular reacted vehemently, wanting to open his mouth! Wanting to counter!

Wanting to deny the Captain's words!

But he couldn't say anything!

The newcomers beside him felt the same, trembling, teeth clenched:

"No..."

"There must be some mistake..."

"It shouldn't be like this..."

Emotions filled with chaos overwhelmed them; the Superpower Association had always been seen as a guardian of everything, they were the fervent heroes they had worshiped since childhood, and yet now they were faced with such news.

Nobody could remain calm.

Fortunately.

Su Qi mercilessly interrupted everyone's turmoil.

"Alright, let's skip the drama of shock at betrayal, everyone."

"Pay attention now."

"The control room is just ahead, there were no monsters as we made our way to the headquarters, and there is no difficulty or danger in entering and opening the gates."

The others showed a slight change in expression upon hearing this.

Su Qi continued, "But."

"On the left side of the corridor... there is a peculiar silence as some pipes are being shut, and on the right, there are heavy breathing sounds behind the sealed gate."

He looked up, "There's something moving in the ceiling too."

"It seems rather impatient."

"I understand." The Captain, eyes closed, took over, "Now we are the so-called test subjects."

"This is a process they've arranged for us."

"When we push the control room switch."

"All gates will open, but it will also be the swamp we cannot leave after finding out everything."