Bam!

Almost at the moment the ground shook, Gu Ji stretched out a front leg, kicking Hui hard in the groin and desperately sprinted toward the operating room. Seizing the moment when the doctor and the henchmen were in a daze, he slid underneath the operating table, locking his legs around the table's legs, curling his body into a ball!

"Ah! Fuck your mother..."

Hui screamed in agony, dropping the steel pipe from his hand with a clatter, clutching his crotch and falling to his knees.

The henchmen nearby just wanted to run over to help.

Suddenly, the ground shook more and more violently; the building swayed left to right and then back again, the tungsten light bulb overhead flickering, bursting out frightening sparks. The tremors grew stronger, and all the henchmen and doctors involuntarily fell to the ground.

Crack, suddenly, the ceiling fractured, large cement bricks crashing to the floor.

Amidst the chaos of the people beside him, Gu Ji even heard the desperate cries from upstairs, the ear-piercing sound of metal friction, and a buzzing alarm!

An earthquake?

Or a fault movement?

In fact, he'd long suspected that the checkpoint named "Underground World" would be related to geological disasters: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fault movements, ground subsidence, mine explosions, etc.

So the moment he sensed something was wrong, Gu Ji hid beneath the operating table.

Ordinary people think that during an earthquake, standing by a wall or doorway is safe, but these seemingly solid and stable objects are actually the most dangerous. During the 1987 Japan-Miyagi Prefecture earthquake, many died due to collapsing prefab concrete walls and doorposts.

Most high-rise buildings today are of framed structure; walls mainly serve to shield from the wind and rain and do not bear weight. During an earthquake, the frame might remain while the walls fall away, and hiding beside them may easily lead to being hit by falling bricks or even getting buried alive!

The best course of action in such a situation is to do as Gu Ji did, hide under furniture or sturdy objects. Even if the building collapses, a triangular space can form, leaving room for survival.

It's also known as the "survival triangle"!

However, what Gu Ji didn't expect was that the earthquake's energy was far more terrifying than he imagined. Large sections of the wall peeled off, objects kept falling from above, the screeching sound of metal friction drew nearer, and finally came a heavy thud as if a massive hammer struck overhead.

The ground became a chaotic mess, filled with debris and fresh blood. In an instant, a figure plummeted down from above, splattering blood like torrential rain all around.

His skin hadn't even registered the warmth of the blood on his face.

The next second.

The ground began to descend rapidly, akin to being inside a high-speed descending elevator, dropping straight from the thirtieth floor to the first, or like an out-of-control large passenger plane, diving headlong down.

Gu Ji, along with the operating table, floated weightlessly in the air for a second or two.

Finally.

The flickering bulb exploded instantly.

Gu Ji's body crashed heavily back onto the ground.

His brain went unconscious.

He was utterly engulfed in darkness!

...

"Ugh... cough cough cough..."

Unaware of how much time had passed, groggy, Gu Ji tried to open his eyes. As he took a deep breath, a cloud of dust filled his lungs, causing him to cough dryly, his throat tasted sweet, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Am I still alive?

Or have I already restarted after dying...

A piercing pain came from the back of his head, leaving him temporarily unable to discern whether he'd restarted or been buried by the quake. Struggling to open his eyes in the thick dust, he saw a glimmer of orange candlelight from somewhere, the only source of light in the darkness of the building.

Or rather, it could no longer be called a building.

The floor was littered with rubble, the walls split open with half-person-wide gaps, the ceiling had a large hole smashed into it, rendering the entire room shaky, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

The acrid smell of burning rubber in the air led Gu Ji to finally find the source of the light.

It was the wires from the ceiling.

Maybe the earthquake caused a short circuit and fire, igniting the outer rubber coating.

Gu Ji tried to turn his neck, and a ghastly pale face appeared right in front of him, its head dented with a big hollow and disfigured by falling debris, startling him.

It must have been Sun, who had fallen from the operating table.

Thanks to his secure grip under the operating table, Gu Ji's body was still able to move. As he tried to get up, there was a creaking sound!

A noise came from inside the room, causing Gu Ji to halt his movements instantly.

In the dust, a shadowy figure staggered to its feet, resembling a zombie, slowly walking towards the edge of the room.

By the flicker of firelight, he saw orange-red dreadlocks; could it be the woman who was previously curled up in the corner?

She's been alive this whole time?

As Gu Ji was analyzing, the orange-haired woman picked up a steel pipe from the ground, walked over to the henchmen who had been hit by debris in the leg, and without a word, swung it down hard, bam! Splat! Bam! Bam...

Going at it this viciously?

He raised an eyebrow, guessing that she had been insulted and assaulted by these henchmen and wanted revenge to vent her anger...

Gu Ji didn't continue watching the commotion but seized the chance to survey the surroundings.

There was indeed treasure near the operating table.

Among the scattered debris nearby, he spotted the glint of silver, a bloody surgical knife. Adjusting his posture, he used his bound hands behind his back to grab it, quickly slicing through the nylon rope.

By the wall, the henchmen woke up with a scream from the pain of being hit.

But the relentless pounding soon knocked him out again. The orange-haired woman never ceased, hitting with all her might, hitting harder and harder, blood flowing all over the floor, splattering onto her bare legs, yet she continued, until the person was utterly destroyed.

"You bitch! How dare you fight back..."

Suddenly, a burly man crawled up from the rubble, precisely Hui from before; he pounced on the orange-haired woman, reaching out to strangle her neck.

"Cough cough... ugh..."

The orange-haired woman kept coughing and struggling, kicking her legs wildly.

Just as she was about to suffocate, a hot splash of blood sprayed onto her face. Hui's eyes lost their glimmer, and a silver surgical knife was conspicuously stabbed into his neck.

It was Gu Ji!

Acting now to kill Hui was the best choice, given their direct conflict. Otherwise, once he killed the orange-haired woman and came to his senses, he would come after him.

After delivering the lethal blow, he immediately retreated to maintain a safe distance.

The orange-haired woman pushed Hui's corpse away, wiped the blood with her hand, smoothed back her hair to reveal her heavily smoky makeup, then looked up at Gu Ji and suddenly smiled, revealing a mouthful of black teeth.

Her neck and arms were covered in colorful tattoo patterns, with needle bruises and cigarette burns on her wrists and calves. She was a typical drugged-up girl from Northern Myanmar.

Gu Ji didn't speak to her, remaining wary as he walked to the center of the room, looking up. Somehow, the sound of howling wind could be faintly heard, but his vision revealed only darkness. All he could see were the outlines of the upper floor's rooms, resembling a basement of sorts.

He couldn't help but think of the mission goal again.

Real men climb ten floors?

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