The loud noise startled everyone, who quickly turned to look back.
Three figures appeared in their line of sight.
Seizing the opportunity, Liu Nanfeng didn't delay. The massive scroll swept up all the test subjects in the cages to his left, including the little girl making gurgling sounds.
Then, with a thought, the scroll vanished without a trace.
Zhan Dundun, sensing something, turned to look beside him. Seeing the test subject in the cage next to him had suddenly disappeared, he was also surprised. Then, remembering something, he looked back at Liu Nanfeng behind him, as the demon he had just fought had also vanished into thin air.
"Miss Su..."
Just then, of the three who had descended from the elevator shaft, the foremost, an elder, called out to Su Jinxiu with a smile.
"Old Dragon King, long time no see," Su Jinxiu greeted, retracting her long sword.
It turned out these three were the Dragon King Ao Xingyun and his two sons, Ao Haichao and Ao Haiping.
As soon as Ao Haiping arrived, he fixed his gaze on Liu Nanfeng, looking indignant.
"Oh, I shouldn't call you Miss Su, I should call you Madam Liu. Is this your husband?" Ao Xingyun asked Liu Nanfeng with a face full of smiles.
Su Jinxiu knew he was feigning ignorance. He couldn't possibly not know Liu Nanfeng, especially since his son had just fought Liu Nanfeng.
However, she said nothing and explained with a smile, "Yes, this is my husband, Liu Nanfeng."
"Husband, this is the East Sea Dragon King, Ao Xingyun."
Su Jinxiu introduced the two to each other.
"Dragon King, hello."
Liu Nanfeng greeted him with a smile. Although he was curious, being the legendary Old Dragon King, he refrained from staring, as it would be impolite.
"Hello, hello," the Dragon King said with a smile.
He then turned his gaze to Su Huamei and Zhan Dundun beside them.
Before he could speak, he frowned and said to Ao Haiping beside him, "Haiping, go clean this place up."
Ao Haiping didn't reply. His body transformed into a faint glow and instantly disappeared.
The location they were currently in was merely where the test subjects were held. Upon entering, Ao Xingyun ignored the cruel test subjects to his left.
However, the young man behind him took a careful look around.
Just then, a huge roar and screams came from behind them. It seemed Ao Haiping was making quite a commotion inside.
"Let's go take a look, don't let them escape," Ao Xingyun said.
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Ao Xingyun explained, "There are a total of four exits from this place. One leads to the bottom of the Yangtze River. If they escape through the river, it will be difficult to find them again."
Ao Xingyun led the way inside. After a few quick steps, he noticed Su Jinxiu and the others hadn't followed. He turned back and saw them looking at the test subjects on the right.
He then said with a smile, "Don't worry about these. Our Sea King Group will take care of them."
After speaking, he looked at Ao Haichao behind him.
Ao Haichao nodded slightly, indicating he understood.
Seeing his assurance, the others didn't say anything more and finally followed.
They passed through this large room, and a long corridor appeared before them.
However, the entire passage was littered with corpses, mostly non-human ones.
They weren't monsters, but rather creatures that were half-human and half-beast.
"Alas, the Tide Society hasn't given up on these studies all these years," Ao Xingyun sighed upon seeing them.
"Does Old Dragon King know something?" Su Jinxiu inquired.
"It's not a secret. Many years ago, the Tide Society began researching how to turn humans into demons. They believed that if demons could transform into humans, why couldn't humans transform into demons? Furthermore, they believed that humans were the alien species, and demons were the original inhabitants of this world."
"Uh..."
Liu Nanfeng and Zhan Dundun exchanged glances. What strange logic was this?
As if sensing their thoughts, Ao Haichao, who had been silent behind Ao Xingyun, spoke for the first time, "This theory isn't entirely baseless."
"Scientists abroad believe that Earth is actually a giant cage, and humans are prisoners confined to Earth. They've even proposed four reasons for this."
"First, difficult childbirth. Childbirth is exceptionally difficult for humans, while it's relatively easier for animals. Moreover, many animals can run from birth, but human infants are born extremely fragile. This is actually detrimental to species reproduction."
"Second, back pain. Relative to Earth's gravity, from an ecological perspective, medium to large animals are not suited for bipedal locomotion. Therefore, besides humans, no other relatively large animals walk upright."
"Third, fragile skin. Human skin is particularly unsuitable for survival on Earth. It's very sensitive to sunlight. Normal animals can survive outdoors for any length of time without issue, but human skin might develop an allergy after ten minutes of sun exposure, and after a few hours, you could get sunburned."
"Fourth, illness. Humans are prone to various chronic diseases and have very poor resistance, a situation rarely seen in animals."
...
After hearing him explain, it actually seemed to hold some truth.
As they spoke, they passed through the corridor and arrived in a vast laboratory, the central hub of the facility.
The entire laboratory was circular, with four intersecting corridors leading to four branches. The area they had just come from was merely one of these branches, specifically used for holding test subjects.
The laboratory was in disarray, with various instruments destroyed. Most of the display screens on the walls were smashed, indicating that the researchers had abandoned their posts and fled.
However, Ao Haichao seemed very familiar with the place and turned directly towards one of the corridors.
Ao Xingyun followed close behind without a word.
Liu Nanfeng glanced at Su Jinxiu and the others.
"Let's follow them and see," Su Huamei said with some curiosity.
She was curious as to why the Dragon King would come to this place, and how the Dragon Prince was so familiar with it.
Another long tunnel followed. The incandescent lights overhead illuminated the passage as bright as day.
After proceeding along the tunnel for a stretch, the space before them opened up again. This room appeared particularly empty, with nothing stored in it, except for a pile of body bags in the corner.
Ao Haiping stood in the center of the room, staring silently at the body bags.
"What's wrong?" Ao Xingyun asked.
"He's dead," Ao Haiping replied.
As he spoke, he made a gentle gesture with his hand, and the mountain of body bags tipped over. One of them floated towards the group.
Ao Haiping lightly drew a line in the air, and the body bag split in two, revealing the corpse within.
It was Bai Xinghe.
He had been dead for some time, and the body had already begun to decompose.
Ao Haiping activated his magic, and a pattern of a coiled snake guarding its eggs appeared on the back of his hand. Simultaneously, the same pattern materialized on the back of the corpse's hand.