Chapter 94 - Alley Freak
“Retreat, hurry!”
After a loud yell, Lin Yao took the lead and rushed in the direction they had come from. In fact, in order to quickly retreat, he also turned on the switch of the Electric Current Stimulation Combat Suit. He used the electric current to stimulate his body and switch on the combat mode.
With his Body of Light and his speed, which was twice as fast, Lin Yao was able to retreat quickly. While the other team members were still hesitating, policewoman Wen Chang quickly retreated by following Lin Yao’s order and shouted at the rest, “Follow Lin Yao and retreat at full speed!”
After shouting this order, she quickly stepped forward, grabbed Lin Yao, who was running, and ran outside at the fastest speed possible.
She was not being cowardly, nor was she afraid of dying. It was just that she could not allow Lin Yao to die here.
The policewoman was a warlord and the leader of the team and was highly respected by her teammates. Everyone ran madly in the direction they had come from upon seeing her dashing for her life.
The policewoman, who was right ahead, pulled Lin Yao along while she retreated. At the same time, she tried to sense any oddities coming from the back.
However, what puzzled her was that there was nothing behind them.
“What’s going on? Could the freak in the alley have become invisible?”
She addressed Lin Yao, as she felt puzzled. In her opinion, even if there was a freak at the back, they had more than 20 people with them, so they should be able to subdue it. Lin Yao, who had encountered freaks in the past, should not be this frightened.
Lin Yao answered her question right away. A shiver ran down her spine once she realized what exactly Lin Yao had sensed in the alley.
“The freak is not something in the alley, but the last section of the alley itself. I can sense that the alley is exuding malice. The reason Team 157 lost contact is because they entered the freak’s body.”
“What?! We are in a freak’s body!”
“Not yet, but soon. The malice that is emanating from the alley is spreading…”
“Old Wang!”
Lin Yao, who was explaining, suddenly heard a loud roar from behind him and turned around. He realized that a heavy-duty soldier who was slower than the others had suddenly disappeared.
He was not the only one who had disappeared. Although most of them were advanced martial artists, they ran at different speeds due to the different techniques they practiced.
In particular, the heavy-duty soldiers who practiced defensive techniques had no way of keeping up with others when they encountered sudden attacks. This was why they were devoured one by one by the alley freak.
“Scoundrel!”
The policewoman felt resentment as she watched her team members disappear one after another. She even had the urge to turn and dash into the alley.
However, after taking a look at Lin Yao, she did not turn back despite being anxious. Instead, she rushed forward at a faster speed.
‘I have to get Lin Yao out of here.’
Actually, Lin Yao and the others had not ventured deep into the alley. More importantly, he’d perceived the malice coming from the freak when they had been 200 to 300 meters apart. Therefore, except for the slowest heavy-duty fighters, the rest of them managed to escape from the alley.
Phew…
Lin Yao sat paralyzed by the intersection, watching as the terrifying malice continuously spread its teeth and claws like sewage. However, it did not appear in the end. Lin Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“We are safe. The alley freak seems to only exist in the alley. It can’t get out.”
Everyone listened to Lin Yao while they looked for their disappearing companions. They’d had a close shave with death. They turned to look at Lin Yao with eyes full of gratitude.
“Thank you, buddy. If it weren’t for you this time, we would all have died here.”
“The freak turned out to be the alley itself. Who the hell would have thought of this possibility?”
“I have been paying attention to the things inside the alley ever since learning that someone went missing here. I even shone a light on a trash bin. However, I never expected that the alley itself…”
Everyone sighed, and the policewoman looked at the alley intently, feeling indignant. Fearing that she would rush in, Lin Yao quickly said, “Don’t worry, those soldiers might not necessarily be dead. Their sudden disappearance might be due to another mysterious land.”
“Mysterious land! Isn’t that even more dangerous?!”
A formed mysterious land was a parasitic place between reality and illusion. Once it appeared, it would become the enemy of a city, and it would be very difficult to eliminate it. A group of armed personnel would rather face horrible freaks than a mysterious land.
Seeing that Lin Yao was trying to stop her, the policewoman said, “Don’t worry, I am not so impulsive. I was staring at the alley to observe how the alley itself is different from the way it was just now.”
Wen Chang was a very outstanding armed police officer. While the others were complaining about the situation, she was already looking for clues.
Lin Yao thought of something else.
‘The abilities of the freaks are somewhat limited due to the suppression of the world, and they have flaws as well. However, to find those flaws, one must have keen insight and judgment. Veteran detectives who are good at distinguishing the truth from subtleties are the best candidates for this. It is no wonder there are armed police officers in most of the teams.’
While Lin Yao was sighing, the policewoman shared what she had observed with the rest and told the recorder next to them to note down her observations.
“This freak will be temporarily named an alley. It seems like an ordinary alley, but it can use the alley as a medium to expand and move about. People who stray into the alley will disappear, and it is impossible to determine whether they are dead or alive. In addition, the two walls of the alley are assimilated into the alley freak. There is gray and black graffiti on both walls.”
“Graffiti?”
The policewoman gave a summary of what had just happened in the alley. However, Lin Yao was surprised upon hearing the last part about the graffiti.
Lin Yao looked into the alley. He realized that there was indeed something on the walls on both sides of the alley. However, there were traces of various children’s graffiti on either side of the remote alley, as well as various advertisements. Lin Yao was a little unsure of whether the graffiti had already been there before or was part of the alley freak.
As he was looking around, the policewoman continued. “The information on the alley freak is seriously lacking. The only information we have is that the graffiti is different from the original graffiti. Submit an application to the headquarters so they will dispatch a cleaning truck to clean all the graffiti on the wall.”
“A cleaning truck?”
Lin Yao’s understanding of this world was still lacking. When he encountered freaks, his first thought was to barge his way through. However, it was indeed hard to say when one was in a mysterious land. In the present world, the abilities that humans could use had exceeded his imagination. In most cases, humans had ways of dealing with things.
Soon, the cleaning truck arrived along with an awakened individual.
“Police officer, I am Lin Chen, a talented person. I was told to come here.”
“An advanced martial artist. Why did they send you?”
“It’s because of my ability. My awakened talent makes me a Pathfinder. I have a special perception when it comes to roads. I can get out of a maze without error. The brainstorming team analyzed the freak alley and they believe that it involves space and roads. You might need me around to find the right direction.”
“I see. Sorry to trouble you. Please take a break. We will only enter the alley as a last resort. If we enter it, your safety will be our priority.”
The awakened individual, who was a Pathfinder, was not an armed fighter but a state-sponsored awakened individual. He had been called to provide his service. Right now, he looked at the alley with panic evident on his face.
Lin Yao found it a little odd and suddenly thought of something. If he had not entered the mysterious land for no reason, his life would have been similar to that of this awakened individual. He would have accepted subsidies from the state and the city and led a safe life until he graduated from university. After graduation, the country would explain to him about the existence of the mysterious lands and the freaks. If his abilities were related to these freaks, he would be called to serve.
‘The subsidies from the state and the city are not given away for nothing.’
However, that said, if he was given another chance, Lin Yao would still do the same.