Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Hallucinations Unleashed
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The safety stairwell was a maze of twists and turns, with nearly every floor's door locked tight. Charlie was badly injured and couldn't move fast, so it took Gavin supporting him over half an hour of climbing stairs before they found a floor with an open door.
The ceiling on this level was lit only by dim emergency power, and the intersecting corridors on either side were lined with laboratories separated by alloy glass. The base had been abandoned for years, most of the labs stripped bare, and with the light so faint, the two couldn't make out what was inside—they could only see their own reflections staring back from the dark glass walls.
Charlie's wound throbbed with pain, making him grimace, so he distracted himself with nonstop chatter along the way.
“Gavin, look at this floor... it’s got a real horror movie vibe. Did you see that new flick about the cannibal apes striking back?”
“...No.”
“Oh, it’s great—scenes just like this. Wanna go see it together once we’re out?”
“...No thanks.”
“Mm-hmm, it’s about a lab doing gene experiments on apes. This year’s Galactic Beauty Pageant winner stars as a female scientist taken hostage by the apes. Claire’s got her signed photo... ouch, speaking of which, makes me think of that freak bird downstairs again. Where do you think Dean and Claire are by now?”
Gavin’s temple twitched.
“No idea.”
“You don’t think they got into a fight halfway, do you? If they got knocked out, what’s the point of us pushing forward? By the way, you know they both like you, right?”
“No clue—”
Gavin’s voice cut off. He suddenly caught something in the reflection on the glass beside him, and his pupils contracted sharply.
Charlie clutched his stomach, whining.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing,”
Gavin replied evenly.
“What were you saying?”
“Oh, I said they both like you. Who’re you gonna pick? The Omega Protection Association doesn’t know about you, right? Don’t go there—they won’t put a student on the candidate Alpha list. I say just pick someone from our school. Familiar, feelings already there... Claire’d be great...”
Gavin’s eyes fixed on the glass as he asked absently,
“You two get along well?”
“Yeah—well, decently. Don’t think I’m biased. Claire’s mouth is a bit sharp, but she’s a good person...”
Gavin kept one hand supporting Charlie while the other slipped subtly into his pocket, hooking the dagger lightly.
Charlie remained oblivious.
“Once we’re out, I’ll get you two tickets to that cannibal apes movie. Don’t worry—with you there, Claire wouldn’t give that beauty queen a second glance. After all these years as bros, I can tell—she really likes you...”
“You tired?”
Gavin interrupted abruptly.
“Uh—yeah? A bit. Wanna rest?”
“Let’s rest.”
“But you said we need to hurry...”
“Let’s rest.”
Gavin tugged Charlie around a corner, the motion surprisingly firm and unyielding. Luckily, there was a lab with a half-open door nearby. Gavin swept it with his flashlight, confirmed it was safe, then propped Charlie against the wall.
“Sit tight for a bit.”
“Hey, sure,”
Charlie said, immediately pulling out his canteen and offering it with both hands.
“Water?”
Gavin smiled faintly. He’d been skimping on water the whole way to conserve for his injured companion, but now he took the canteen and chugged a solid mouthful.
“I’ll scout ahead.”
He patted Charlie’s shoulder and headed for the door.
“Hey! Be careful out there!”
Charlie called anxiously, but Gavin just waved without looking back and shut the glass door.
Click.
Shadows multiplied on the glass walls around the corridor. Gavin turned and strode the other way, glancing swiftly around. In the dim light, the reflections loomed vaguely—two on the left, four on the right, and what looked like a crowd jammed at one o’clock...
Gavin spun abruptly and bolted diagonally left in a flash!
A piercing shriek echoed through the corridor instantly. Shadowy figures surged from all directions—raving mad contestants!
Like that driver earlier, their eyes burned red, ghostly flames in the dark, utterly chilling. Gavin hadn’t gone far when someone lunged from the side. He grabbed them mid-leap and hurled them slamming into the wall with a agonized yell!
Bang! Bang! —Shots rang out from the right. Gavin dropped and rolled, the electron rounds whizzing past his head. An entire glass wall shattered with a crash. He skimmed low through lunging contestants, kicked the electron gun flying far away, then smashed the shooter’s head into the wall—thud!
A heavy thud, and the man crumpled unconscious. But before Gavin could rise, two circling contestants pinned him down howling, hands clawing for his throat!
“Snap—out—of—it—”
Gavin roared suddenly, smashing the knife hilt into one’s face, spraying blood from nose and mouth!
Clang—the man crashed down hard. Gavin blocked the other’s hands choking toward his neck—only to see blood dripping from the shadow-draped eyes, hands locked in struggle, before the attacker lunged and bit Gavin’s neck!
Pain seared through him like fire, shock blanking his mind before he could even struggle.
He watched, horrified, as the blood-smeared face lifted, jagged teeth dripping gore, slowly tearing a chunk of flesh from his neck!
“Pah!”
The attacker spat the meat aside and clamped down on Gavin’s throat!
Black spots exploded in Gavin’s vision. He couldn’t tell if the surging shadows in the corridor were human or ghost. Everything blurred in delirium: the contestants’ snarling faces twisted, black fur sprouting wildly across them, bodies hunching, arms elongating, swaying lamplight glinting off razor fangs.
They grinned ferociously, roaring like beasts—apes.
Not people. Cannibal apes!
A bone-deep chill surged from his heart, racing through every limb.
Gavin’s eyes bulged in rage, his dagger-gripping hand shaking violently. A voice screamed in his mind, battering his nerves—kill them!
Kill these monsters!
Kill them—!
Blood poured from the ape’s teeth gaps. Dizziness crashed over Gavin in waves. Trembling, he raised the dagger, its cold tip aimed at the monster’s back.
Kill all these monsters and you’ll be saved...
You’ll be saved...
As if some invisible gate flung open, shattered memory fragments flooded in.
Blazing sun, drifting clouds, camel bells tinkling deep in azure skies. An old man and a youth crossed the vast desert in the windblown sands. The boy’s voice carried through:
“Master, why do all people want to grow stronger?”
“Because the strong are spared bullying.”
“But I was born strong, yet people still bully me?”
“Because you won’t fight back, so you endure.”
The boy’s voice faded, then after a long pause:
“If I never fight back, won’t I swallow my anger forever? What’s the point of being strong then?”
The elder paused before replying this time. Wind whipped the camel bells across the wastes, crisp and lingering.
Finally, he said slowly:
“The strong have a duty to protect the weak, and a responsibility to bear more harm. You’re strong, so their bullying won’t kill you. But if you strike back, as the weak one, they’d die for sure.”
“Life is precious beyond measure. If you don’t want to harm the weak, become even stronger. Strong enough no one dares offend you—then no one will bully you, and you won’t need to hurt others.”
—No need to endure bullying. No need to hurt others.
No need to hurt others...
Gavin’s pupils shrank. The raised dagger veered sharply, plunging through his own palm!
Splurt—blood sprayed. A familiar voice barked beside him:
“—Gavin!!”
The shout jolted him like thunder. Gavin snapped alert, fully awake.
In an instant, he realized there were no apes around, no one biting his neck—he was kneeling in a brightly lit corridor, pinning a dazed student under him, his hand poised to gouge out the guy’s eyes!
Luckily, he’d stabbed his own hand first as it reached the face, blood erupting from his palm to splash the student’s features!
“Gavin!”
Dean rushed up and grabbed him.
“What happened to you?! Why’d you go berserk like that?!”
Gavin looked up in shock. Dean and Claire stood nearby, clearly fresh from a brutal fight, while a dozen students lay sprawled around amid bloodstains, craters, and shattered glass.
Charlie trembled as he told Claire,
“...He said he’d scout ahead, so I waited inside. Then I heard massive fighting noises outside. Came out and the corridor was a storm of bullets—whole walls of glass shattering and collapsing...”
Gavin panted, staggering up but nearly collapsing again—Dean caught him.
“You okay?”
“...You guys... how’d you get here?”
“Claire and I climbed the stairs straight up. Only this door was open. What the hell happened to you?”
Gavin panted, shaking his head after a beat—he knew he’d been controlled too.
These were hallucinations luring him to attack others. Only the desert memory was real—and it had snapped him free at the last second, stabbing his own hand to stop the harm.
But who was that old man? Why call him Master?
When was that? Why couldn’t he remember anything now?
Dean pulled out a med scanner for Gavin’s hand, briefly recapping events.
Turns out he’d found Claire right after entering the base. Old grudges aside, same school meant teaming up. With their two pilot teams’ prelim scores close, they figured Gavin and Charlie entered around the same time and spot, probably linked up—so they searched for their mech tech together.
Compared to the tech team’s rough ride, the pilots had it easy—Dean and Claire bulldozed foes, nearly wiping out all rivals. Shame they hadn’t run into Lasgard yet; finals might’ve been decided early.
Different entry paths, but twists led them into the same safety stairwell Gavin’s group had used—missing that corner-hiding driver, though. All floors locked except this open door. They’d barely stepped in when distant clashes and screams erupted, topped by Charlie’s yells:
“Gavin! Stop, Gavin!!”
Dean and Claire panicked, charging in to find over a dozen contestants berserk, mobbing Gavin!
At first, Dean thought mass rut—Alphas in rut just slaughter each other till one breeding victor claims rights. Why gang up on an Omega?
Then he saw their blank faces, red eyes, ignoring broken limbs like puppets. Gavin faced a dozen Alpha pilots without faltering—in fact, he grew fiercer, ignoring calls, strikes all lethal!
Dean realized the danger, dove in with Claire to help. Their combined skills outmatched the rest, Gavin holding his own against multiples, so after a savage brawl, they downed everyone.
“What the hell’s with these guys—nightmare-trapped? And you ignored us calling... we thought...”
Gavin waved him off weakly, signaling silence.
“Someone hypnotized these students,”
he said, drained.
“Race committee has a mole. They’re after me.”
The three froze.
“Details later—get out now. Delay too long, and it’ll be dangerous...”
Gavin rose using the wall, then stiffened.
Cold sweat beaded from his hairline, trickled down his cheek to his jaw, gathered at the chin, and dripped—plop—to the floor.
The air turned to ice. After a heavy silence, Charlie asked puzzled,
“What’s wrong?”
Dean and Claire exchanged glances, mirroring confusion.
“...Nothing,”
Gavin said softly, hand still braced on the wall.
“I just remembered something. You guys head to the stairs—I’ll catch up...”
Dean hesitated.
“What is it?”
“I’ll explain soon—go!”
Claire surged forward impulsively.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong with you? Don’t think you’re invincible just ‘cause—”
“Go!”
Gavin snapped, voice shrill and breaking.
“No chatter! Go!”
The three jolted. Claire froze. Charlie backpedaled two steps, but seeing the pilots unmoving, hesitated and held.
The corridor fell deathly silent, a pin drop audible. Gavin stared desperately, opening his mouth—then eerie laughter echoed behind him:
“How pathetic, Celia. Can’t even scare off a few brats now?”
The wall he braced rippled like water. Black fissures tore open, space ripping wide.
A pale, bony hand emerged from the dark, flipping to grip Gavin’s wall-braced hand. A tall warrior in full black armor stepped from the rift, hood-shadowed lips curling in a spine-chilling grin.
Three identically clad warriors followed, boots hitting floor as the black fissure snapped shut behind them.
“Some advice—you run when Celia tells you to.”
The leader leaned to Gavin’s ear, smiling, but snake eyes fixed on Dean’s group, voice laced with naked killing cold:
“Otherwise... you’re already too late.”