Ian fell.
He fell for quite a while.
Everywhere was darkness.
At first, Ian felt panicked because of the unexpected turn of events, but he soon calmed himself down, regaining his composure.
He was currently in a state of free-fall where his back is facing up and his front is facing downwards—like a flat pancake.
The air around him did not feel stifled, so the surrounding space should not be cramped.
His biggest worry right now is what's waiting for him at the end of the fall.
Would it be a safety mattress? Wide net? Or a fall to his death?
Ian's heart pounded as he urgently reasoned through his situation despite the countless unknown variables.
He should have been more careful. He should have thought twice and not rush into this unknown entrance when he knew nothing about what's behind it.
He was too eager for success. He spurned himself coldly.
If he had waited for the hidden door to close, waited for the strange man to go deeper before opening the hidden door himself, he might not have fallen into this danger-riddled situation. He remembered the pattern and the rhythm of the key. It would have been no problem to open the door himself.
However, it was too late for regrets.
He can only prepare himself for what he might face next.
His powers were useless in the face of non-living things. He couldn't command the walls to stop his fall or command the ground to soften.
For the first time, Ian realized how helpless he could still be even with his powerful ability that could control human hearts and minds.
Ian pressed down those useless thoughts in his mind. He had more important things to think about at the moment.
Just then, Ian suddenly felt a slight change in the air.
The originally dark and stuffy space began to become brighter and cooler.
Besides the darkness around and behind him, Ian could only see a field of white.
There was no safety mattress at the bottom.
Ian was getting closer and closer to the ground.
Falling from the height that he fell from, it would take a miracle to not be smashed into meat pie.
Bang!
Ian's breath was knocked out of him.
And before he could catch his breath, he had to hold it.
Or else he would've drowned.
Who would've ever guessed that the field of white he saw while plunging down was actually a pool of water dyed white.
Ian closed his eyes instinctively, not allowing whatever was in the waters to get into his eyes.
He waved his arms and quickly swam to the surface.
Splash!
Ian gasped as he took in a deep breath of fresh air.
He wiped his face of the white water and looked around at his new surroundings.
He instantly spotted a speedboat, on which drove the man who came down before Ian.
Immediately, Ian swam forward, chasing the departing speedboat.
The speedboat was a jet-type speedboat. Its fast and constant speed, although fast, was loud and the man didn't hear the sound of Ian falling into the waters after him.
Not entertaining the thought that someone would follow him, especially when he had taken so many precautions already, the man did not even look back. The man looked to be in a hurry.
Which just happened to work in Ian's favor.
Above was a square-shaped gaping hole.
All around was a seemingly endless pool of white waters.
Ian had nothing to hold onto for support. He could only rely on his own strength to persist and closely follow the speedboat heading in a certain direction.
Ian has great strength, plus with the assistance of his power, Ian wasn't afraid that he would lose the speedboat or drown due to a lack of stamina.
One swim lasted an hour.
Finally, the speedboat reached the shore.
The man got off the speedboat and hurried to his destination. When suddenly, as if finally noticing something amiss, the man turned back.
Ian silently and quickly held his breath and ducked into the water.
Before he completely immersed himself in the water, his eyes caught a glimpse of something familiar.
Ian's eyes flashed with a sharp light before he shut them.
Because the water was not transparent but white, the man didn't spot anyone. Relieved, the man left.
Ian popped out of the water and swam ashore.
Shaking off the white water clinging to his body and clothes, Ian did his best to wipe off and twist out the excessive water so as to not leave a trail when he walks.
Then he followed the trail of white water that had been dripped by the man who left. He did not hesitate to walk right on the trail, not deviating from the line.
The water drops that gathered and dripped from Ian's body blended into the white water trail that already existed, so even if a third party arrives and sees it, they would think only one person had been here.
—Ian was erasing his existence.
Venturing deeper into the cave-like area, Ian was like a ghost. No one could see him even if he was right in front of them.
The staff passing by him ignored his existence completely, while Ian observed and took in everything he saw.
Under Hospital A was a laboratory not accessible or known to the public. Not even most of the hospital staff knew about this place.
This was where the items of the illegal transactions were created and researched.
Rooms upon rooms were implanted, carrying out their respective research and development. Different chemical smells came to Ian from all directions. Some sweet, some spicy, some bitter, some acidic, and some were unknown.
From outside of the transparent glass doors, Ian watched the different operations. Pills of white, blue, purple color of unknown use were compacted and formed by machines. Glass test tubes containing different colored liquids were held in place by test tube racks while a scientist dripped a few drops of liquid from the test tube they held into another test tube. The two different colors mixed, swirling within the thin and fragile glass before becoming a brand new color. Some researchers looked through microscopes, studying unknown things in glass plates. Some researchers watched their experiments and took down detailed notes.
All in all, the laboratory was buzzing with activity. Activity full of wicked intents and
Ian didn't plan on doing anything to this place for now. Nor did he plan on bombing up this place.
Even if he destroys this laboratory, who can guarantee that they don't have backup data? With backup data, even if the laboratory is obliterated and everyone here is killed, they can still continue their research and money-making businesses with a new team of people.
So Ian had other plans.
Ian scouted out the place while following the hasty man he followed here.
The man continued to walk deeper into the laboratory. The flow of people gradually decreased.
Ian's eyes deepened. The constant dark purple glow in his eyes since he entered the laboratory territory became more intense. He followed closely, right behind the man, after all, no one can notice him right now. He made sure of it.
The man at last reached his destination. By this time, there were no other people around besides the man and Ian. Though to the man, there was no one else besides himself.
The man stopped at a steel door and keyed in the passcode on the number pad embedded in the wall.
The steel door opened and the door entered. Ian followed suit.
Once Ian stepped foot into this place, a red alarm suddenly sounded.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Intruder alert! Intruder alert!
Red light flashed through the lab.
An urgent sound pressed harshly onto the souls of those who heard it, the noise reverberating like a hammer relentlessly hitting a nail, bringing about a sense of pressure and danger.
The man was startled and then frightened into a cold sweat. He immediately turned around, but didn't see anyone. This left him confused. No one was there, why did the detector alarm go off?
Thinking that the system might have made a mistake, the man ran to the back end of the system and shut off the alarm, stopping the pressing sounds and light.
The man heaved a sigh of relief, no longer feeling oppressed by the atmosphere caused by the alarm.
"What happened? What happened?" Someone ran up to the man to ask.
The man shook his head, his face showing his inner puzzlement. "I don't know. I came in and the alarm just went off. Did the system malfunction lately?" He looked at the person who came up to him sternly and suspiciously.
The other person wearing square-shaped glasses gulped nervously, averting his eyes.
"...There was a malfunction two days ago…but we fixed it already! I don't know why it happened again." The square-shaped glasses guy said guiltily but obediently, not daring to hide information from the man before him.
Obviously the man Ian followed had a high status in the laboratory.
"Humph, what do I need you useless people for when you can't even make a system that works! The system needs to be able to accurately detect and alert us of any intruders and unauthorized access, not go off at random times. And certainly not to go off at me! Useless! A bunch of useless wastes!" The man yelled and berated the square-shaped glasses man. The latter lowered his head into his chest, ashamed.
The other people in the lab who were conducting their respective experiment tasks knew that the man was also berating them. They held their breath, afraid to breathe loudly and attract the direct fire.
The man was still fuming, triggered by the scare he had because of the assumed system malfunction. He felt suffocated by anger just thinking about all the resources wasted to create this secret and secure laboratory only for their defense system to malfunction frequently. What even is the use of keeping it?!
The square-shaped glasses man saw that his leader's chest was still heaving from anger and racked his brain to think of something to distract the leader's incoming wrath.
"L-leader!"
The man looked at his subordinate. "...What?"
"Did you find out the source of the explosion?"
The man paused in his anger. That's right. He had gone up to the surface to check out what happened. To find out why their ceiling shook and what caused the explosion.
The man shook his head in annoyance. He said, "No. Whoever did it either planned it out meticulously or is really skilled in hiding and erasing their tracks. I didn't find any clues as to who did it."
"Oh." The square-shaped glasses man nodded in understanding.
The man waved his hand, letting go of the unreliable system issue for now. "How is the project going? Is there any progress?"
The square-shaped glasses man immediately straightened up his back, becoming nervous again.
In a mosquito-like voice, he answered, "...Still stuck in the testing stage."
Meaning, no progress at all.
The man became visibly aggravated. He slammed his hand on the lab table next to him, scaring his subordinates who paled at his anger.
The man roared, "No progress. Still no progress! The higher-ups have been urging us more and more urgently. They want this thing to be done! They want to see results! What results do we have?! Nothing but failures. Failures after failures. We're not getting anywhere with our experiments!"
The man's saliva flew everywhere with his unrestrained venting of anger on his subordinates. Everyone in the lab already knew everything the man had said, but that didn't stop the man from saying it over and over again. He was under huge pressure comparable to being crushed by a mountain. His superiors want to see results, but he has nothing to show for his efforts.
Every experiment conducted for the goal of the project has ended in failure. As long as the goal is not achieved, no matter how hard they worked, their higher-ups would not spare them because of their efforts in the process. The people above only want to see results, not the hardships. They won't empathize with their struggles.
That was why the man as the head of this secret, confidential research project was under immense pressure. If he succeeds, he will soar into the sky in his organization. If he fails… just wait to die. Actually, death might even be a relief.
"T-then, what should we do, leader?" The square-shaped glasses man tentatively asked.
"Continue the experiments. What else can you lab rats do? I'll report to the higher-ups about our situation and plead with them to give us more time. Anyways, even squeezing us won't give them any results." The man began walking away.
The square-shaped glasses man nodded and then went away to go back to his experiments.
Ian, who watched the whole scene play out, felt his sixth sense tingling. The project mentioned from their mouths intrigued him. What could be so important that that organization is harassing their subordinates to complete as soon as possible like whipping slaves?
Ian had an ominous feeling, but it was slight unlike the near-death ones he had in his past life, so Ian deemed it negligible and non-threatening. Ian ignored it.
Ian walked around this confidential lab that not even other scientists who can come down to this secret laboratory but are not part of the project can enter. He explored the place and found some weird liquids and pills of unknown effect. Nothing important was found.
Well, the square-shaped glasses man did say that they were still experimenting with no success so far.
Ian decided to leave this area and explore the other places he hadn't gone to yet.
At the right moment, one of the scientists in the confidential lab left this laboratory. Ian followed them and left as well. This time, the system did not detect him. The system only detects intruders and doesn't care for those who exit.
Ian then smoothly checked out the other labs within this huge secret laboratory.
He took something with him every time he leaves a lab, collecting evidence and material for his subordinates to identify.
After he finished visiting all there was to visit, Ian was in a dilemma.
How can he leave this place?