Death Progress Bar

Death Progress Bar

Chapter 65 - Breaking the Mold

It was said that Shi Jin had found a clue about the toxin's source, so Number Two and Number Three hurried back to take a look at what Shi Jin had in his hand.

"Is this Long Shi's handwriting?" Shi Jin asked, pointing to the blurry character for 'Jun'.

Number Two and Number Three carefully examined it and both nodded in agreement. Number Two said, "It's Long Shi's handwriting. When he wrote the name 'Young Master Jun', he liked to elongate the strokes, making it easy to recognize."

Shi Jin was overjoyed and quickly handed the material to Number Two, saying, "Quick, fax this to Uncle Long. There must be new clues about the toxin's origin in here. Combined with the part I extracted last time, we should be able to deduce the entire origin."

Number Two couldn't help but rub his head vigorously before grabbing the documents and rushing out.

Due to the time difference between L Country and China, Uncle Long had just finished a day of research and had fallen asleep not long ago when Number Two's phone call disturbed him. He was a bit grumpy at first, but as soon as he heard what Number Two had to say, he immediately lost his temper and got out of bed, telling the person on the other end of the phone to wait a moment while he hurriedly walked to his study.

As the fax machine continued to beep, one document after another was spit out.

Uncle Long looked through the documents one by one, his expression becoming more and more excited. "This information is very useful! The first few pages record the extraction ratios and reaction results of various toxic substances. The later pages should be applicable samples. Several types of poisons perfectly match the original substances extracted last time. You guys did a great job!"

He hung up the phone and headed straight to the laboratory with the documents in hand.

Beep beep beep.

Number Two listened to the busy tone on the phone and looked over at Shi Jin, who was anxiously waiting. His serious expression suddenly changed, revealing a smile. He reached out and hooked his arm around Shi Jin's shoulder, saying, "Let's go! I'll treat you to a big meal. You're our hero."

When Shi Jin heard the news, his heart stabilised. He knew that Uncle Long probably gave a positive result. He happily grabbed Number Two's shoulder and couldn't help but pat him a few times to express his joy.

Number Two was patted so hard that he felt like he had internal injuries and quickly pushed Shi Jin away, pretending to retaliate.

Although the search of the laboratory was not yet over, Shi Jin and his team had basically completed their mission this time.

They gathered together and had a happy meal, then called Lian Jun to report the situation. Afterwards, they returned to Lishui Hospital and found an empty four-person ward to spend the night.

After finishing their nightly routines, the three of them picked a sickbed each and lay down. Number Two leaned against his blanket and said, "We're done with this side, now it's time to go help Number One. His side is the real challenge, and he and Number Five can't handle it alone."

Number Three ignored him and closed his eyes, looking like he wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible.

"Tsk, you're no fun," Number Two looked at him disdainfully and asked Shi Jin on the opposite bed, "Jin Jin, are you still going to work with us for the next task?"

"I am," Shi Jin replied, also closing his eyes. "Don't talk, I want to sleep early. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

Who was he trying to fool with that line?

Number Two was speechless. After scanning the two uncooperative "roommates" beside him, he rolled his eyes, shook out his blanket, and lay down.

The Liushui Hospital was quite noisy that night. After the Hydra remnants were cleared out, officials from L country came to transfer the patients to other hospitals in batches.

Shi Jin was having trouble sleeping and kept getting woken up by the commotion of patients being transferred. He managed to sleep until around three in the morning when he heard the sound of Number Three getting up from his bed. He sat up as well.

"You're not sleeping?" he asked Number Three, who was folding his blanket, lowering his voice.

"I can't sleep. I slept too early yesterday. I'm going to the laboratory to see if they've found anything. They searched all night, so they should have some results by now," Number Three replied, speaking softly. "Did I wake you up? You can go back to sleep. I'll come and wake you up when it's time to leave."

Shi Jin rubbed his face and got out of bed, saying, "No, I'm also well-rested. Let's go to the lab together."

Seeing this, Number Three stopped trying to persuade him. The two of them left Number Two behind and quickly washed up before greeting the people waiting outside and heading straight to the lab.

As they approached the elevator that led to the morgue, a small, skinny figure suddenly ran out from the dark corner and was about to collide with Shi Jin.

The voice of Xiao Si instantly rose, "Jin Jin! Your progress bar is increasing, quickly dodge!"

Instinctively, Shi Jin dodged to the side. The small figure was caught off guard and fell to the ground with a muffled groan. After giving Shi Jin a glance, the figure got up and tried to run away.

Number Three took a step forward and grabbed the boy's hand, lifting him up from the ground. He walked over to a well-lit area and upon closer inspection, he realized that the reckless person charging towards them was actually a child of around eleven or twelve years old, still wearing a hospital gown. He furrowed his brow and asked, "Which floor did you escape from? Where are your parents?"

Although Number Three's second question was asked in English, the child clearly didn't understand and only nervously clutched his hand, keeping his head down and struggling to run away while avoiding eye contact.

Shi Jin glanced at his progress bar, which had suddenly dropped to 500, and also furrowed his brow. He walked up to the child, observing him up and down before suddenly bending down and grabbing his hand.

He pried open the child's tightly clenched fist and revealed a small needle, which looked very similar to the one Long Shi had used before.

As soon as Number Three saw it, his expression changed from a grip to a grab. He sternly questioned the child, but the child still couldn't understand. The fear on the child's face grew stronger as he was scared by Number Three's tone and expression, struggling even harder.

Number Three gave up on questioning and turned to Shi Jin, saying, "He doesn't understand. Judging by his appearance, he's likely a child of the Hydra remnants."

However, Shi Jin was a bit skeptical and said, "He came straight at me with a clear target. If he was a member of the Hydra remnants, he would have attacked indiscriminately. And he didn't choose a long-range weapon, but instead chose to inject me with this. It's a bit strange."

"Maybe he thought you were an easy target because you look young and inexperienced. As for the weapon..." Number Three furrowed his brow and decided to call one of his subordinates who spoke the local language. He handed the child over and instructed, "Interrogate him and find out his identity."

The subordinate nodded and took the child away.

As they watched the child leave, Shi Jin glanced at the syringe in his hand and asked, "What should we do with this?"

"Send it to Uncle Long," Number Three replied.

Shi Jin nodded and wrapped the syringe in several layers of cloth before stuffing it into his pocket. They continued walking towards the morgue.

The elevator near the morgue at Lishui Hospital was guarded by both officials and Annihilation's people. Number Three, Shi Jin, and the guards exchanged greetings before entering the elevator and descending to the basement level.

The basement level was brightly lit, with a person standing guard at regular intervals. The storage room at the end had been emptied, and the bodies in the morgue had been moved overnight. It had been transformed into a makeshift rest area. When Shi Jin and Number Three entered with Number Three, the doctors who had been searching the laboratory all night were coming out one by one, each carrying a sealed box.

"How's the situation?" Number Three asked.

The lead doctor saw them and quickly rubbed his face, trying to look more alert.

He stepped forward and said, "I was just about to report to you. We found some very strange things. The new drug that this laboratory was researching doesn't seem to have anything to do with Hydra's business on the surface, but it does have some connection to Gunfire."

Number Three furrowed his brow and asked, "What kind of connection?"

"Take this for example," the doctor explained, "there's a new drug called 'Happy Pills' that's become popular in M country. As far as we know, it was just released by Gunfire at the beginning of the year. It's highly addictive, expensive, and has a low production rate. Currently, no one has figured out the formula, but there are many unfinished products and research materials for 'Happy Pills' in this laboratory. It seems that 'Happy Pills' were developed here and have been in production all along."

He then took out a small box of pills from a sealed container.

Number Three took the pills and looked at them, exchanging a glance with Shi Jin. Both of them had the same look of shock and suspicion in their eyes.

"Gunfire is selling drugs that were made by Hydra? Could it be that Hydra is actually a secret organization set up by Gunfire in L country?" Shi Jin voiced his speculation, feeling like their trip to the Southeast region had suddenly become a magical adventure.

Number Three furrowed his brow and said, "If that's the case, then Long Shi has been working for Gunfire all along? And after he was squeezed dry of his value, Gunfire sold him to Nine Eagles?"

Shi Jin felt a little sorry for Long Shi. If that was really the case, then Long Shi had been used as cannon fodder too much. He even began to suspect that the cooperation between Nine Eagles and Gunfire was indirectly facilitated by Long Shi's status as a pawn.

This development was unexpected by everyone. Without delay, they immediately returned to the hospital room and woke up Number Two who was still sleeping.

After hearing their speculation, Number Two immediately became alert and got out of bed to start tallying and summarizing the information collected by each team last night. The results were shocking and left them all speechless.

There were many strange things about Hydra, starting with the pharmacy. The goods in the pharmacy at Lishui Hospital were completely different from those in the warehouse. The pharmacy stored the raw materials needed to make Happy Pills, while the warehouse only had ordinary medicines, which were the main products sold by Hydra.

Secondly, there were the records in the laboratory. The records showed that in addition to the Happy Pills, the laboratory had also developed some assassination drugs, such as the needle and syringe used by Long Shi and the little boy. These drugs belonged to the category of poisons and would not immediately kill people, but rather slowly cause death.

However, Hydra had never used these drugs openly, and all the developed assassination drugs had disappeared without a trace.

Finally, there were issues with Hydra's financial flow. The search team found a safe in Lishui Hospital, which contained a large sum of money, but the source of the funds was unclear. In the safe, they found a secret ledger. The ledger revealed that the profits from the pharmacy were separate from the overall profits of Hydra and had no connection.

"Wow, this Hydra is really well-hidden. I thought it was just an ordinary small organization," said Number Two as he closed the file. "I think we need to go back and re-examine Long Shi. He's been researching some bad things over the years, so he definitely knows a lot."

Number Three shook his head and said, "I actually think he doesn't know anything. He sold out Gunfire without any mercy. If he knew something, there's no reason he wouldn't have turned on Gunfire by now. His personality isn't that patient, but we should definitely go back and re-examine him."

Shi Jin eagerly approached them and asked, "So are we leaving now?"

Number Two and Number Three looked at him together, and Number Two couldn't help but laugh. He gave him a nudge and stood up, saying, "I know you miss Young Master Jun, let's go. Pack up and go home!"

......

As he left the hospital, Shi Jin couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. He couldn't resist turning back to look at the now mostly empty Lishui Hospital, but saw nothing.

Xiao Si reminded him, "Shi Jin, your progress bar suddenly jumped to 600. There's danger nearby."

"It seems like someone really is watching me. It's not just my imagination," Shi Jin replied. He scanned the Lishui Hospital before suddenly remembering the child who had attacked him. He asked Number Three, "How did the child your men took away fare in the interrogation?"

Number Three replied, "It's been confirmed that he's a member of the Hydras, but not a core member. He had only recently joined and was previously an orphan. He's been handed over to the L country officials."

Shi Jin continued to ask, "Did he come to attack me on his own? Where did he get the medicine from?"

Number Three flipped through the information sent by his subordinates and replied, "He found the medicine in a corner of the pharmacy. He wanted to attack you because you injured the superior who brought him into the Hydra, the one who was in the group you first fought in the pharmacy."

It all seemed to make sense now.

Shi Jin glanced at his progress bar, pushed aside his thoughts, and got into the van.

......

After leaving the second-tier city where Lishui Hospital was located, Shi Jin noticed that his progress bar that had risen to 600, had dropped back down to 500.

As time passed, Shi Jin became more certain that someone was watching him. He mentioned his feelings to Number Two, who was driving, and he took it seriously and slowed down the car, no longer swerving and playing around, but instead paying attention to whether there were any vehicles following them from behind.

About fifteen minutes later, Shi Jin noticed that his progress bar had gone up again, and at the same time, Number Two keenly spotted a suspicious black private car seemingly tracking them from the rearview mirror.

"Well, well, well, looks like we have company. Shi Jin, your intuition is really sharp. So, who do you think this person following us could be?" Number Two casually asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.

Number Three said, "The Hydra has already been eradicated. Besides the Nine Eagles, who else could be following us from the Lishui Hospital? Only they know that we will definitely go there to investigate. But it could also be Gunfire, assuming that Hydra is really a secret organization of Gunfire, and Gunfire, like the Nine Eagles, has guessed that we will go to the small organization where Long Shi was hiding. Anyway, be careful not to let them cause trouble on the way."

"I know," said Number Two as he stepped on the gas pedal and left the suspicious car behind. "But I'm more inclined to believe that the people following us are from Nine Eagles. If Gunfire really wanted to stop us, they would have done it at the Lishui Hospital. Judging from how smoothly we were able to investigate there, Gunfire should be preoccupied and not have the energy to come to L Country to bother us."

"Anyway, it's better to be cautious. This is the only chance for Nine Eagles or Gunfire to track our movements and launch a surprise attack. Be careful. I'll call for backup just in case they do attack us suddenly," Number Three said as he pulled out his phone.

He was playful, but once he realized someone was tailing them, Number Two's attitude immediately became serious. After all, if a fight were to break out on the road, it wasn't certain who would come out on top. He threw away his cigarette and began to speed up, saying, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

After being shaken off three times, the car following them finally realized that Number Two had discovered them. They stopped hiding and began to accelerate, blatantly sticking to Number Two's car.

Number Two snorted coldly when he noticed and once again increased their speed.

The two cars were chasing each other on the road, and Shi Jin was watching his progress bar rise and fall as he tracked the other vehicle's movements. His initial nervousness slowly turned into numbness, and he even found himself daydreaming.

He said to Xiao Si in his mind: "The people in the car behind me are clearly after me. I suspect they want to use me to threaten Lian Jun. Should I pretend to give them an opening and turn the tables on them?"

Xiao Si sternly refused, "No, Jin Jin. Your precious Lian Jun is waiting for you to come back safely."

"Okay," Shi Jin reluctantly gave up on his slightly risky idea when he thought of Lian Jun.

And so, the chase continued for almost three hours, until Number Two noticed that there were more cars following them. It went from one car to four.

Number Two furrowed his brow. "These guys are really determined to fight us?"

"Don't worry, our people are already in position. Just go ahead," Number Three replied with a confident and even arrogant attitude.

Number Two had been waiting for this response and stepped on the gas pedal once again.

After driving for another half hour, they arrived at a secluded section of the road. The cars following them had increased from four to six, with two of them accelerating and attempting to ram into Number Two's van. It seemed they couldn't wait to attack.

Suddenly, Number Three spoke up. "This is the place."

Without hesitation, Number Two turned the steering wheel and headed towards an abandoned construction site on the side of the road.

The cars behind them quickly followed and someone even leaned out of the window, firing a gun in their direction.

Pshh!

The sound of the tire exploding caused the van to suddenly tilt. Number Two tightly gripped the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes.

Several cars quickly surrounded them, and one car even directly rammed into the van.

With a loud bang, the van was pushed forward by the impact, causing the three people inside to lean forward due to inertia. Number Two slapped the dashboard and cursed, "A bunch of lunatics, do they want to kill us?"

"Attack!" Number Three ordered towards his phone.

The next second, countless figures suddenly emerged from various hiding places in the construction site. They used the debris as cover and fired at the several cars surrounding the van, turning them into a hornet's nest in no time.

The people inside the cars were shocked and quickly fought back. On the abandoned construction site, gunshots rang out and Shi Jin was pressed against the car with his head down. He could hear someone approaching the van amidst the chaos, so he quickly pulled out his gun.

"Don't move, they'll take care of them outside," Number Three said, pressing Shi Jin's hand back down.

Shi Jin obediently quieted down and had Xiao Si enhance his hearing to listen for any movement outside. The footsteps that had been approaching the van quickly came to an end with a muffled groan, followed by more gunshots that gradually died down. Number Three's phone rang, signaling the end of the skirmish.

Number Two got out of the car first to check the situation and only allowed Number Three and Shi Jin to exit once he confirmed it was safe.

The enemies outside were lying motionless, their fate unknown. A man carrying a gun walked over and said to Number Three, "They're from the Nine Eagles."

"Get them all into the cars to cover up and notify the L country officials to come and handle it," Number Three ordered. Then he gestured towards a new van that had just arrived and said, "Get on that car. They'll take care of things here. We'll go back first."

Shi Jin nodded and walked towards the van.

Number Two had already taken the driver's seat of the new van and was holding his phone to report the situation to Lian Jun.

Number Three walked behind Shi Jin, still instructing things to the man with the gun.

"Jin Jin, your progress bar hasn't gone down, but instead has increased to 850!" Xiao Si anxiously reminded him.

"I know, Nine Eagles' attack this time is definitely aimed at me," calmly replied Shi Jin. His walking posture seemed casual, but his nerves were tense as he kept an eye on his surroundings. After opening the car door, he deliberately lingered for a moment. Only when Number Three, who was carrying a gun, approached did he make a move to get in the car.

Suddenly, Xiao Si's voice cracked, "Jin Jin! It's up to 990!"

Whoosh-

A gust of wind came from an unnoticed corner.

Shi Jin's expression changed, and he pushed Number Three into the car with one hand. Then, he slightly turned his body and suddenly stiffened, pretending to be shot and falling to the ground.

"Shi Jin!" Number Three's expression changed drastically. He quickly got out of the car and stood in front of him, firing back in the direction of the attack.

The man carrying a gun also heard the commotion. When he turned around and saw Jin fall to the ground, he panicked and quickly called everyone to rush towards the corner, ordering others to surround and protect the van.

The attacker was quickly subdued. When he saw Shi Jin fall, there was not a hint of fear on his face. Instead, he was excited and shouted, "He's been poisoned with a special poison! The same kind of poison as Lian Jun that couldn't be identified! Only my boss knows the antidote and the ingredients. If you want to save his life, go beg my boss, hahaha!"

Number Two's face was as calm as water. He opened the car door and held a phone that was still on a call. He shouted towards the commotion, "Shut him up!"

The subordinates with guns quickly obeyed and even gave a punch to the shouting Nine Eagles' subordinate.

With rage boiling inside him, Number Two stormed towards Shi Jin and Number Three, who were both lying down and squatting respectively. He saw that Number Three was just staring foolishly at Shi Jin, not seeming to be doing anything. Getting anxious, Number Two asked, "What are you doing? Where did Shi Jin get hurt? I-"

He walked up to them and then stopped talking when he saw Shi Jin lying on the ground with a healthy complexion and wide-open eyes.

Feeling embarrassed, Shi Jin smiled at him and lifted a long, hollow needle wrapped in his sleeve, saying, "I was looking for this. Don't worry, I'm not hurt. But I think you guys can continue acting and make the Nine Eagles think I'm really injured. This is a great opportunity to turn the tables."

Number Two's expression changed constantly, and he gritted his teeth, "You son of a-".

"Ah, it hurts! Something has pierced into my body, it's so uncomfortable!" Suddenly, Shi Jin let out a painful cry and grabbed Number Three's sleeve, urging him to quickly move him onto the car to avoid ruining the scene.

Number Three's face twitched, and he saw that the subordinate of Nine Eagles who was taken away became even more excited after hearing Shi Jin's cry of pain. He sighed tiredly, wiped his face, and resignedly bent down to hold down the 'suffering' Shi Jin and moved him onto the car.


Ribbit
Ribbit

A little frog who likes reading. Hope you liked this chapter, and thank you for your support! Coffee fuels my midnight translation binges.

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