Chapter 033 Chu Mufan

　　The moment the hatch opened, the skeletal man tilted forward, about to crash to the ground. Qin Yong lunged to catch him. But the man’s body was covered in a slimy, slippery mucus, like a loach. Qin Yong missed his grip, so he braced himself with his body, then lifted the man with both hands. The man weighed almost nothing at all.

　　The breathing mask was tugged loose and fell away, revealing a feeding tube nearly half a meter long that snapped back into the capsule with it. The man’s face pressed against Qin Yong’s chest, and he could feel his faint, weak breathing...

　　Seeing he was still alive; Qin Yong wasted no time. He laid the man on the gurney and sprinted toward the exit. On the way, the lights began to flicker dimly—a clear sign the power was dying. Qin Yong fastened his steps and pushed harder, running for his life…

　　But the more rushed he was, the more mistakes he made. Under the high-speed jolting, one of the gurney’s wheels suddenly snapped off. At this speed, the result was inevitable.

　　The broken side scraped sparks against the floor. The gurney tilted, flipped over, and hurled both the man and Qin Yong across the ground from the sheer inertia...

　　Qin Yong flew through the air and slammed hard into the floor, seeing stars. The skeletal man was sent tumbling several times. Nearly knocked unconscious, Qin Yong forced himself through the pain and stood up, walking toward the man.

　　Time was critical. He couldn’t afford to delay.

　　He knew full well that lab doors and walls were built to strict explosion-proof standards. Trying to blast a way out with high explosives would likely kill him first, or suffocate him in the sealed lab from fumes.

　　His earlier talk about blowing an exit was just a lie to calm his teammates so that they would leave safely.

　　The gurney was useless now. He had to carry the unconscious man on his back. Fortunately, the man barely weighed anything. Qin Yong slapped his face to stay alert, ran over, and hoisted the man onto his back. He’d only taken a few steps when the entire lab went pitch black.

　　Damn!

　　Power was gone! He heard the heavy doors grinding shut. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward—though slower than with the gurney.

　　He ran blindly through the dark, a flicker of despair rising in his chest. The exit was still far away. He was injured, carrying a man, and trapped.

　　If he abandoned the stranger, he might still have a chance to escape. But his conscience, his respect for Team Star, and his pride as a special force soldier quickly killed that thought. If he ran alone, what difference would there be between him and the cold-blooded scum of the apocalyptic era?

　　The reason their First Search Team could pull off missions no one else could wasn’t just skill—it was that they still had conscience and fire in their hearts. At critical moments, they protected each other. In this team, everyone entrusted their backs to their brothers. To outsiders, they were an invincible unit with no weaknesses. And they had an extraordinary captain—Star.

　　Even Qin Yong, a hardened special forces soldier who had seen countless elites, was utterly convinced by Star’s strength and willingly served as his deputy. Star never meddled in his men’s affairs, yet whenever they were in trouble, he always helped. In this dog-eat-dog apocalypse, that was priceless. If anyone asked the First Team who they would die for, their answer would always be Star. As Qin Yong ran with the skeletal man on his back, his mind flashed with all of this...

　　Just as he was sprinting forward, lost in thought, a blinding light with a long tail streaked toward him through the pitch-black corridor. Along with the distinctive roar of a Harley engine…

　　This sound was burned into the First Team’s memory. Whenever they faced death, this engine always arrived at the last second.

　　“Captain Star!!!” Qin Yong’s eyes stung as he shouted almost hysterically.

　　“Get on!” Star’s magnetic voice cut through the dark.

　　He leaned the bike, stamped his left foot hard on the ground, and spun the speeding motorcycle 180 degrees in one smooth, effortless motion!

　　Qin Yong burst into a final dash. He shifted his grip from the man’s back to his thin limbs, flipped him forward into a cradled hold, took a few more steps, then leaped onto the bike behind Star! Once seated, he clamped the unconscious skeletal man between himself and Star, then locked his arms around Star’s slim but powerful waist. The motorcycle shot forward like an arrow...

　　Outside the lab’s main entrance...

　　The entire First Search Team waited anxiously in the mine,

　　worrying about Vice-Captain Qin Yong and Captain Star, who had gone in to rescue them.

　　The backup power had died moments ago. They dear not stay any longer and made a quick move to pull outside, their faces heavy with dread.

　　Then Zhang Ruicai shouted: “Everyone over here! Push this boulder against the door to hold it open—buy them time!”

　　The men looked. Not far away lay a flat, low iron ore boulder, half a meter wide—perfect to jam the doors shut. They quickly tied ropes around it. Half the team pulled, while the rest pushed and pried with crowbars, slowly dragging the stone toward the entrance...

　　Working together, they jammed it between the two doors. The second it settled; the entire lab went dark. They knew their worst fear had come true.

　　The backup power was completely dead! All the lab’s doors began sliding shut at the same time…

　　Every second stretched on endlessly!

　　The team was frantic. A few restless young members tried to rush inside, but Zhang Ruicai held them back, warning them not to act recklessly.

　　The outermost gate, jammed by the boulder, let out sharp creaks and cracking sounds. No one knew how much longer the stone could hold. But even one more second meant one more chance.

　　“Boom” a deafening blast.

　　The boulder couldn’t resist the door’s immense force any longer—it shattered. The heavy gate resumed closing, slowly but inevitably...