American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

Chapter 691 Scaring Yourself!

“You lead the way,” Lynn said.

"You trust me that much?"

"You have to believe it now, whether you want to or not."

Matteo glanced back at him briefly, but with a complex and piercing look, before turning away sharply and continuing on his way.

They burst through the narrow gap, only to find themselves in an open space beside an abandoned railway. A hole in the wire mesh revealed a patch of dark rubble and weeds beyond, and further on, the edge of a drainage ditch, its water dark, slow-flowing, and pungent. To their left, they could see an overpass, with cars roaring beneath it. To their right, the silhouettes of several abandoned warehouses loomed in the distance.

"Damn it." Matteo paused abruptly. "This area is blocked off."

The gap that used to be a way out behind the wire mesh was crudely welded shut with two rusty iron plates at some point, leaving only a tiny opening that even a stray cat might not be able to squeeze through.

The footsteps behind him grew closer. Lynn glanced back and saw figures in black coats flash past the alleyway entrance. At least four.

"Scatter!" he shouted.

As soon as the first pursuer peeked out, Lynn picked up a half-brick from the ground and swung it down almost without pausing. The half-brick hit the man squarely on the side of his face, and he groaned as he slammed into the wall. The second man immediately took his place, raising his gun and firing in that direction. Lynn shoved Carmela into the concrete block beside the railroad tracks, and bullets rattled against the wire mesh, making the wires vibrate and hum.

“They have guns!” Carmela’s voice changed.

"I saw it!" Matteo growled, grabbing a broken steel bar from the ground. The transparent crystal on the back of his hand seemed to be bulging out again. Lynn saw it immediately and snapped, "Don't use that!"

"You think I have something else—"

"If you have an attack, all three of us will die here!"

Matteo was speechless, his chest heaving like a bellows. The third pursuer had already circled around the edge, trying to surround them. Lynn glanced around and suddenly noticed a tilted iron cover by the drainage ditch. Beneath the cover appeared to be a maintenance well, and there were muddy marks around the edges where someone had recently stepped.

"Over there!" He grabbed Carmela and rushed over.

Matteo paused for a moment, then looked over and realized, "That's a rainwater well."

"As long as I can get down there, that's fine."

The three rushed to the canal. The inspection well opening was half-covered by a rectangular iron cover, its surface rusted and incredibly slippery to the touch. Lynn and Matteo pounced simultaneously, each grabbing one edge of the cover and trying to pry it open. The moment Lynn exerted force with his left arm, a sharp pain shot through his wound and ribs, and his vision went black for a moment. Matteo noticed his momentary stiffness, swallowed the sarcastic remark that was about to escape his lips, and thrust his hand forward with a sudden, sharp movement.

"Again!" he roared.

The iron lid was finally half lifted, and a strong, musty, and putrid stench immediately rushed up from below, almost making Carmela nauseous. Below the wellhead was a narrow metal ladder leading deeper down, where the sound of flowing water could be faintly heard.

Someone behind them shouted, "They're by the well!"

"Get down first!" Lynn shoved Carmela to the wellhead. "Quick!"

Carmela stared at the dark well, her face turning pale: "This—"

"Now is not the time to complain about the smell!"

She gritted her teeth, grabbed the cast-iron frying pan, and went down first. Matteo followed second, carrying a bag, moving as fast as a monkey. Lynn was the last to step onto the ladder, and just as she was about to descend, another burst of bullets swept over her head, clanging and clattering against the edge of the iron lid, rust and sparks falling into the well.

Lynn slammed the half-open iron cover back into the well, the cover crashing heavily and obscuring most of it. Only a narrow crack remained, the light and gunfire outside reduced to a blurry line. He quickly descended the ladder, his boots creaking heavily on the wet, slippery metal.

When she reached the bottom, the ground was covered with a shallow layer of sewage, just above her shoes, cold and sticky. From above, she could hear hurried footsteps and the rattling of someone banging on the manhole cover. Carmela, her face pale, struggled to stay upright, her hand still gripping the rusty ladder post.

"Will they come down?" she asked.

"The exam." Lynn looked up and listened for a second, "but the well opening is too narrow, we can't rush down all at once, give us some time."

They were in an old, dilapidated drainage ditch, its low, arched top a mix of brick and cement, the walls covered in dark green moss. It was dark at both ends, with only a sliver of light filtering through the cracks in the ceiling casting the three figures as blurry shadows. Dirty water flowed slowly eastward, carrying garbage and oil, its stench suffocating them.

"Which way?" Carmela covered her mouth and nose.

Lynn crouched down and swept his small flashlight across the water and the wall. The direction of the water flow, the old markings on the wall, the maintenance ladder number, and a fresh mud stain from a rubber shoe in the right corner quickly pieced together a makeshift map. He pointed to the deeper darkness ahead: "Go with the current. The main storm drain eventually merges into the city's main drainage system, where at least we can change direction."

"How did you know?" Matteo asked.

“This isn’t the first time someone in New York has wanted to disappear underground,” Lynn said. “Let’s go.”

They began to walk along the canal wall. The passage was so narrow that it was difficult for two people to walk side by side. Carmela walked in the middle, Lynn brought up the rear, and Matteo led the way. From time to time, they could hear the low rumble of the city ground overhead, as if countless cars were running over them. Their shoes made a sticky splattering sound as they stepped into the sewage, and occasionally they would slip on something hard. Water droplets from the wall would suddenly drip onto their necks, making their whole bodies tense.

A few minutes later, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

The branch canal connected to a wider main channel, and the water was much deeper, rising from the soles of my shoes to mid-calf. The arched ceiling was much higher, and when I shone a flashlight on it, it only revealed layers of grime and hanging, rusty pipes. In the distance, a breeze seemed to blow through, making a hollow, whistling sound, like someone whistling from a great distance.

Carmela finally stopped, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. She had seen too much blood and wounds in the hospital, but this place was a completely different kind of oppression: no windows, no direction, only dampness, darkness, and pursuers who could appear out of nowhere.

“I…I didn’t expect New York to be like this down there,” she said softly.

“Those below are always more honest than those above,” Lynn replied, his gaze still searching the darkness behind him. There was no new light coming from the wellhead, but he didn’t believe those people would give up so easily.

Matteo glanced back at him: "Have you walked past this thing before?"

“I’m more familiar with the main sewer system in the Bronx,” Lynn said. “I’ve only driven through this part of Manhattan twice.”

“You really are…” Matteo seemed to want to say something, but in the end he only managed to squeeze out, “You have quite the occupational hazard.”

"Each each other."

Carmela glanced between the two men, almost wanting to laugh, but unable to. Just as she was about to continue walking, a very faint ripple came from the water ahead.

The three of them stopped at the same time.

It wasn't the sound of water they were making, but rather the sound of wading in water from a distance with a different rhythm.

There's someone ahead.

Matteo's eyes sharpened instantly, and his grip on the bag tightened. Lynn raised his hand to signal them to stay still, took a half-step forward, and quickly turned off his flashlight. Darkness swallowed them all up in an instant, leaving only the faint sound of water growing ever closer in the distance.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Then a huge rat darted out of the broken pipe on the left, splashed into the water, and quickly darted to the other side. Carmela let out a short "Ah!" and nearly swung her frying pan. Matteo cursed under his breath, and the tension in his body suddenly tautened even more.

Lynn turned the flashlight back on, and the beam flashed past, illuminating Carmela's pale face and Matteo's still-damp sweat on his forehead.

"Don't scare yourself," he said.

“That statement is completely useless in the sewers,” Carmela said through gritted teeth.

“Agreed,” Matteo replied immediately.

The three continued forward. After walking for more than ten minutes, they finally heard real movement behind them. It was far away, but clear.

There was the clanging of metal, the sound of someone speaking in the shaft, followed by a flashlight beam somewhere on the arch wall. The pursuers had entered.

“They’re coming down,” Matteo said, his voice strained.

"Hmm." Lynn didn't turn around, but quickened her pace. "So from now on, don't talk nonsense anymore, just do what I say."

"What gives you the right—"

“Because I’m the only one here who remembers the city’s drainage map,” Lynn interrupted him, “and I’m too lazy to argue with you now.”

Matteo looked at the back of his head, his lips moved, but he ultimately didn't push any further.

After turning two more corners, Lynn suddenly stopped in front of a wall. It wasn't a dead end, but a half-open sluice gate, water rushing under it with an even faster rushing sound. Faded numbers remained on the wall beside the gate: Project M B.

“Where do we go from here?” Carmela asked.

“If we go further ahead, we’ll get close to the municipal utility tunnel, and if we turn southeast, we’ll reach the vicinity of Federal Plaza.” Lynn glanced at the gap in the gate, “but the water flow is even faster behind that gate.”

“It’s better than the people behind us rushing,” Matteo said.

Lynn glanced at him, didn't argue, and reached out to squeeze through the gate first. The edge of the iron gate scraped against his coat, making a screeching sound. Carmela went first, but Lynn caught her on the other side. When Matteo came last, the plastic bag in his hand got caught on the corner of the gate, and his black cloth bag almost fell into the water, but he quickly grabbed it.

"You still won't throw that thing away?" Lynn asked in a low voice.

Matteo's expression was stiff: "Why do you think they're chasing so closely? It's because of this."

So what is it actually worth?

Matteo glanced at Carmela, then at Lynn, seemingly still unwilling to fully reveal his secrets. But the approaching light and footsteps behind him left him little room for silence.

“That purified tablet isn’t a regular stabilizer sample,” he finally said. “It can be used as a ‘key seed’.”

"what?"

“That’s what they call it internally,” Matteo said in a low voice. “A higher concentration of core sample. It’s not for ordinary errand runners, it’s for… for those who are to be adapted. Whoever survives will be taken to a deeper location and become a carrier that can truly control and replicate the crystallization mutation.”

Carmela's face turned pale: "You've been involved in this kind of thing before?"

“I only saw it once,” Matteo said through gritted teeth. “After that, I wanted to leave.”

Lynn's eyes darkened completely: "Where does the access card correspond?"

"A transit point. It could be a warehouse, or it could be an underground laboratory, I'm not sure. All I know is that the location isn't in Harlem, and the shipping document uses a fake address."

Where is the shipping document?

"I burned it."

"why?"

“Because I’m not stupid!” Matteo growled back in a low voice. “Are we leaving this place for someone else to find it?”

Just as Lynn was about to ask another question, two beams of powerful flashlights suddenly shone from the archway behind them, shining through the mist and the bend in the road. The pursuers were already close.

“Run,” Lynn said.

This section of the passage was more complex than before. Maintenance side channels and trails branched off from the main road, and there were occasional protruding pipe supports on the ground, posing a tripping hazard. The water flowed faster and faster, carrying that dull, pulling sensation from the depths of the earth. Carmela nearly veered off course several times, but Lynn pulled her back each time. Matteo ran fast, but every now and then he would unconsciously press his wrist, the lingering pain from the crystallization still present.

“Turn left ahead,” Lynn suddenly said.

"You can see clearly?" Carmela asked, panting.

“The mark is on the wall.”

"I didn't see anything."

"You don't need to see it."

They turned onto a narrower maintenance lane on the left. There was almost no water here, only slippery stone pavement and a row of thick pipes running along the wall. The smell in the air was slightly less strong, but there was a stronger metallic and oily odor. The occasional hum of electrical vibrations overhead indicated they were approaching the municipal facilities area.

The pursuers were clearly still there. Flashlight beams were still waving in the main road, interspersed with hurried conversations.

"Split them into two groups! They can't go too far!"

"The higher-ups have already gone to seal off Dongkou!"

"Don't let that kid bring anything into the Federal District!"

The last sentence, though echoed through the air, was still clearly audible.

Lynn didn't stop walking, but her eyes turned cold.

"They know which way we're going?" Carmela heard this too, and her heart jumped.

“They’re gambling,” Lynn said. “Betting that Matteo has no other safe haven and will instinctively gravitate towards official territory.”

Matteo's face darkened: "Then why are you still leading it to the Federal District?"

“Because even if they bet right, they might not be able to stop it,” Lynn said.

At the end of the maintenance corridor was a half-open gate, beyond which stretched a drier maintenance corridor, where official maintenance numbers and yellowed safety markings were beginning to appear on the walls. Lynn stopped by the gate and suddenly turned to Matteo: "Give me the bag."

Matteo immediately took a step back: "No."

"Now is not the time for you to throw a tantrum."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum!" Matteo's voice was low but on the verge of breaking down. "If this thing isn't in my hands, I really won't have any bargaining chips left!"

Lynn stared at him: "Who do you want to negotiate with? Those guys who just broke into your house with sniper rifles?"

Matteo choked on his words, his breath caught in his throat, but he still forced a smile.

Carmela finally snapped: "Matto, give him the thing!"

"You have no idea—"

"I don't know, but I know you'll die if this continues!" Carmela glared at him, her eyes red. "What kind of bargaining chip do you think you're protecting? You're clinging to a rock that could drag you to your grave at any moment!" (End of Chapter)