The Fumen Breeding Farm occupied a vast area, with buildings dedicated to insect breeding densely scattered throughout. Without familiarity with the local conditions, it was very easy to get dizzyingly lost.
Before setting off on the mission, Marco had already rehearsed the route and marked it on the map, allowing for navigation with positioning devices and prepared several backup plans in case certain paths were impassable.
At the moment, Marco was taking a shortcut, passing through an area where poisonous snakes were bred in nests.
Here there were not only venomous snakes raised in glass cages on the ground but also the Ten Thousand Snake Pit, which was cultivated by digging holes.
"This place is really strange; they’re actually raising so many Poison Insects and venomous snakes."
As one Mercenary passed by a Ten Thousand Snake Pit, they marveled at the underground area completely filled with various brightly colored venomous snakes.
Another Mercenary laughed and said, "What’s so surprising about that? The hobbies of the rich are unusual and eccentric. Maybe they just like these kinds of things."
"I have a pet snake at home, and I’m quite fond of it."
Yet another Mercenary leaned on the railing, looking down at the Ten Thousand Snake Pit and shrugged.
But perhaps it was just his bad luck; as he peered into the pit, a cobra suddenly reared up its upper body, its neck flattening, and spit out two streams of venom from its fangs, hitting the Mercenary right in the eyes.
With the venom entering his eyes, the Mercenary suddenly became blind.
To make matters worse, the very section of the railing that he was leaning on detached due to his violent collision, and he fell into the Ten Thousand Snake Pit.
The scene was horrifying, as the swarming thousands of venomous snakes quickly engulfed the Mercenary.
All one could hear were piercing screams before even the sight of a human figure vanished.
Marco was stunned, and the Mercenaries around him stood with their mouths agape, shivering at the sight of their comrade covered in venomous snakes.
The situation only worsened; the venom from the myriad of snakes biting the Mercenary didn’t kill him outright.
In the chaos, he pulled the trigger of his rifle, unleashing a barrage of bullets.
Whizzing past the heads of the Mercenaries, the bullets didn’t injure anyone, thanks to the silencer on the muzzle which muffled most of the sound, preventing alerting distant patrolling forces. But the bullets struck other glass cages breeding various venomous snakes.
Accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, snakes slithered out from the broken cages in droves.
Seeing the sheer number of escaping snakes made all the Mercenaries’ skin crawl and goosebumps rise.
Seeming to have been confined too long, the snakes had a strong predatory drive, and swarms of them immediately made their way towards the Mercenaries.
Several Mercenaries, finding no escape and surrounded, were quickly crawled over by the serpents, which bit into their exposed skin on necks and faces, injecting deadly venom as continuous screams and cries of terror rang out.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!"
Marco, unable to think of rescue and knowing any delay would cost him his life, hurriedly led the survivors away from the area.
Not until they had run several hundred meters to a secure location did Marco finally stop, glaring furiously at his remaining men, and roared.
"If any of you dare to be so curious again, touching and looking around carelessly, I’ll kill you myself first."
The group of Mercenaries fell silent as if chilled to the bone. They hadn’t even reached their destination nor seen an enemy, but their team had already suffered several unintended casualties, a situation they had never encountered before.
"Evil Wolf, have we alarmed those warlord forces?"
He asked over the headset to the observation snipers stationed on the perimeter.
"Boss, the stationed troops haven’t moved yet. But you need to be careful, I don’t want to see all of you end up inside," came the reply.
Hearing the consolation through the earpiece, Marco rubbed his aching temples and looked at his disappointing subordinates, saying, "Keep moving, I don’t want any more accidents."
The team set off again, and fortunately, this time their progress was smooth. They encountered no patrol units and suffered no further mishaps.
"Boss, this is the place."
Suddenly, a silver-white building appeared in their view.
This was the building they were searching for, which, it was said, only Su Jie could enter—the hair growth original fluid was most likely produced secretly inside.
Seeing the highly secure door of the lab with its pupil and fingerprint locks, one could tell there was definitely nothing ordinary about what lay behind.
"Can you crack it? If not, just blow it up with a bomb."
Marco called over the lock expert from the team, who nodded upon examining the keypad locks.
"I can try, but if these locks are connected to an alarm, it might alert the enemy."
As he spoke, the lock expert took out his toolbox filled with all sorts of tools and began to work intensely.
More than an hour later, the lock expert used hydraulic tools and a gas torch to open the final purely mechanical door.
"Phew, luckily there wasn’t an alarm connected."
The lock expert packed away his tools and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
"They probably thought no one would get in, so they were careless, which has made it easier for us."
With a grand wave of his hand, Marco sent a stream of mercenaries through the door and into the most mysterious lab. Explore more at NovelHub.Côm
The lab was equipped with various sophisticated devices, but to their surprise, there were no documents to be found.
"How come there’s nothing here?"
Marco frowned deeply, knowing it wouldn’t be good to return to Rafael without finding anything.
"These devices don’t look like they’ve been used at all. It doesn’t feel like a lab!"
Lu Yixin ran his finger over a device and found dust on it. He even noticed some devices still had their protective film on, seeming as though they had never been used since being brought in.
"Boss, we’ve found a hidden elevator."
A mercenary had a new discovery, stumbling upon a concealed elevator by chance.
"Let’s go, we’re heading down."
Marco’s eyes lit up as he immediately understood what was going on.
The lab on the ground was surely a decoy; the real lab must be underground, where the hair growth original fluid they sought was likely to be found.
Looking at the elevator, not knowing how deep underground it would take him, Lu Yixin had a bad feeling and wanted to refuse.
Marco turned around, handed him a flashlight, and consoled, "Lu, we are professionals. You have to trust our judgment, with our protection you’ll be fine."
The more Marco said, the more Lu Yixin remembered the previous incidents—the inexplicable loss of several team members—and yet Marco had the gall to claim professionalism.
Unfortunately, no man can withstand a compulsion greater than his strength; Lu Yixin was ultimately forced to get on the elevator, and together, they descended to the lab below.