Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu were about to open the basement door when they heard a voice from above.
Luo Xiaole took out her thumbtack.
After a moment of thought, she put it back.
After all, with so many things hidden in the basement, even if they came down, they could easily hide and they wouldn't be found.
The voice from above continued.
“The area below is Cheng Ge and the boss’s private territory. You want to search it? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Besides, you know how sturdy that door is. Even cannons can’t blast it open. Besides them, who else can open it!” one soldier said with great confidence, fully assured of the door's strength.
“You’re right.” The worried soldier also breathed a sigh of relief.
“It seems we were overthinking it. Perhaps the wall just cracked due to age and disrepair. We’ve searched the entire building, and there’s no one else.”
Relieved that it wasn’t an invasion by mutated zombies, the two soldiers returned to guard the entrance.
Luo Xiaole blinked her eyes, realizing that their accidental trip to the basement had been the right move.
If they had gone upstairs first instead of to the basement, they might have run into the searching soldiers.
Such unnecessary conflict was possible, but not needed.
Luo Xiaole signaled for Luo Shu to follow.
The two looked around the empty corridor and made their way up to the third floor via the nearby stairs.
Luo Xiaole remembered seeing Zuo Ran at the window on the third floor of this building just now.
That healer ability user might also be somewhere nearby.
“Humph, humph, humph, humph~” Luo Xiaole was walking along the wall when she suddenly heard someone humming from one of the rooms.
Immediately after, there was movement at the lock of that room’s door.
Someone was coming out?
Luo Xiaole raised her hand, and the small knife, reinforced by the World's Edge, instantly pried open the lock of a nearby room.
The two of them darted inside and hid in that room.
Indeed, a soldier walked out of the room where the humming had come from.
The soldier looked as if he had been wounded by a sharp object, with a clean bloodstain showing through his clothes.
The shirt underneath was already half stained with blood, indicating a serious injury.
However, after emerging from the room, this soldier casually shook his arm as if nothing had happened.
Whistling, he walked downstairs.
Luo Xiaole saw everything through the peephole in the door.
Well, well, this healer ability user was indeed on the third floor.
Meanwhile, in that room, a young man with a rebellious demeanor, his hair dyed in a messy array of colors, stretched lazily.
Using his healing ability had left his mental energy a bit depleted.
The next second, a sharp little knife was suddenly pressed against his throat.
He didn't doubt the knife’s sharpness, as it carried the scent of blood.
An unsharpened knife wouldn’t have such a strong aroma…
“Mercy, oh great warrior, I’ll do anything you ask,” the ability user blurted out without hesitation.
Luo Xiaole, who held the knife to his neck, was taken aback.
Was this person so cooperative? Judging by his familiar tone, had he been kidnapped many times before?
“Zuo Ran was treated by you, right?” Luo Xiaole asked.
Hearing the crisp voice, the person was startled. It was a girl!
This was definitely not someone he knew. Could anyone just break into this building now?
Cheng Ge’s subordinates were incompetent!
“Yes, yes, I healed him.” He replied quickly.
“Why is your ability still usable?” Luo Xiaole asked again.
Luo Shu also showed a look of surprise beside her.
The person seemed to have been asked a difficult question, looking as if he had swallowed a fly, stammering and reluctant to answer.
It seemed like a stronger approach was needed.
“If you don’t tell us, we’ll have to find out for ourselves,” Luo Xiaole said, feigning fierceness.
Then she lowered the small dagger and lightly touched the person’s arm with extremely subtle force.
A rather horrifying wound instantly appeared on his forearm.
“Ah! Blood! I’m bleeding!” the person cried out in panic.
The next second, he raised his other arm, his fingers hovering above the wound, and a green light gradually emanated from his fingertips…
His arm healed rapidly, at a visible speed.
Luo Xiaole’s pupils contracted. Green!
No wonder his ability was still usable.
It was likely part of the same power system as the energy of this protective shield.
She strode in front of the person and stared at his glabella.
Indeed, there was a green vortex there…
Luo Xiaole began to understand. Their abilities seemed to be of a different nature from the awakened abilities of others in this world.
“Why are you so violent, girl? You came at me with a knife. If we’re brothers… then cut me?” The person looked aggrieved, seeming to be quite talkative.
Luo Shu let out a chuckle, “Brother, you do have a bit of humor in you.”
Luo Xiaole continued to feign seriousness. “How did you get your ability?” she asked, her gaze falling on the person’s finger.
He was wearing a dark green ring.
“Is it this ring?” Luo Xiaole asked sharply.
The person’s eyes instantly changed.
He thought, how could she possibly know! No one had ever connected his ability to this ring.
They all thought he was just vain.
Seeing his reaction, Luo Xiaole knew she had guessed correctly.
Although a storm was raging in Luo Xiaole’s heart, her expression remained calm.
Another ring…
So his ring granted him an unrestricted healing ability…
Then why did her ring give her a system instead of an ability?
She touched her own ring in her pocket, feeling that these rings might be related, perhaps more than just heirlooms left by her parents…
“Can we ask you to come with us and help a friend?” Luo Xiaole’s tone softened slightly.
The person scratched his head, looking embarrassed. “Cheng Ge won’t let me go out, nor will he allow me to heal anyone outside the base without permission…”
Cheng Ge again. Cheng Ge had close ties with the Azure Dragon Gang, but was he one of the owners of this base?
Were the hidden treasures underground also his?
Luo Xiaole’s eyes darted, and she swiftly snatched the ring from his finger.
“I’m sorry, but if you don’t come with us today, the ring will be mine.” Luo Xiaole played her trump card, taking the ring and holding the knife horizontally in front of her chest.
She heard sounds of people walking on the stairs nearby. This was no place to linger; their actions needed to be expedited!
The person dared not take another step forward. He had experienced the sharpness of the knife through pain just now.
“Let’s talk, let’s talk!” The person panicked immediately.
“I’ll go with you!” he gritted his teeth.
He would rather face Cheng Ge’s scolding for leaving without permission than have anything happen to his ring.
“Brother, didn’t you say no to everything just now? Are you tricking us?” Luo Shu, seeing how readily he agreed, realized he had been fooled.
“I can’t help it, I’m just trying to make a living under someone else, I can’t survive if I’m not flexible,” the person said with an apologetic look.
“You can call me Pi Jiajia!” the person said, revealing a few large white teeth obsequiously, introducing himself.
“Pfft…” Luo Xiaole couldn’t help but laugh. This person was indeed quite ‘pi’ (naughty/cheeky), living up to his name.
“But there’s a problem…” Pi Jiajia scratched his head again.
“It’s not a big problem for me to go out alone, but how will you two get out?” he asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. “No, there are four people guarding the entrance. How did you two get in?”
Luo Xiaole and Luo Shu did not answer, exchanging a glance.
Yes… how would they get out…