Chapter 328: Chapter 328: Lighthouse
As mentioned before, Mr. Aha was a man with only a few white hairs left on his head, his body thin and plank-like. Various white-boned protrusions stuck out from him.
Also, unlike other Strange Creatures or stronger beings,
Mr. Aha had no aura emanating from his body. His hunched-over figure gave the impression of being terribly frail… even weaker than the average person, looking as though a single punch could reduce him to mere bones.
Yet, when Mr. Aha walked down the street, leaning on a dark silver staff, all Strange Creatures avoided him.
Just like the Centipede Skull which previously pursued Han Dong and his party, ordinary Strange Tales seemed filled with fear of death upon seeing Mr. Aha, evading him from a distance of a hundred meters.
So, saving a lot of time and avoiding energy expenditure, the team arrived at the base of the Lighthouse.
Viewing the lighthouse up close produced an even more pronounced sense of awe.
It was several times, possibly even a dozen times larger than a traditional lighthouse…
So tall, it towered above the cloud cover.
The ground area it occupied was about the size of a football field.
Constructed entirely of a matte, black stone, an invisible magnetic field hovered around it, blocking all signals.
The devices Han Dong and the others were wearing also became affected; they lost communication capabilities within the vicinity of the lighthouse.
Under their current world circumstances, the ultimate goal of the Death Row plan is to investigate, infiltrate, and take control of this lighthouse.
Doing so would allow full control over the thriving land, and eliminate the threat Strange Creatures pose to humanity.
However,
Only a very few death convicts managed to reach the inner area, let alone infiltrate the lighthouse.
“Follow me, we probably shouldn’t just casually walk through the front entrance…”
Mr. Aha walked around to the side of the lighthouse.
He pulled out a telescopic ladder from his pocket that could extend up to a hundred meters, gently propping it against the wall of the lighthouse…Vaguely visible at the top of the ladder was a secret door on the side of the lighthouse.
“I got the key for this side door a long time ago… I hope they haven’t changed the locks yet.
The rest is up to you.
Once you’ve rescued my ‘friend’, come back the exact same way. I’ll be here to pick you up.”
“Okay.”
Han Dong took hold of the side door key and set foot on the ladder.
Click…
The door lock turned.
The team successfully infiltrated the lighthouse through the side door.
Once inside, both Han Dong’s Little Demon Eye and Abe’s Beast Perception were suppressed.
Their surveillance capabilities were reduced to less than 30%.
Furthermore, this sense of suppression might even get stronger the further they went into the lighthouse.
The hidden side door happened to open into a disused space within the tower. By locking from inside, the team could take a brief rest here and plan their further infiltration and possible routes.
Given everyone in the team had Night Vision Ability.
Han Dong took out an ancient book about the lighthouse. The book laid out in detail the division of the floors in the lighthouse along with its structure and critical nodes.
The Lower Zone: Floors 1-68, a containment area for Strange Creatures.
The area is patrolled regularly by the head physician, a nurse team, and the lighthouse’s security staff.
The Middle Zone: Floors 69-79, a psychological observation area.
Some Strange Creatures who behave well in the lighthouse, or have been modified through experiments, are sent here for psychological assessment. Those who pass the assessment get to leave the lighthouse and live a normal life in designated parts of Paradise.
However, every now and again, psychologists reassess the creatures that have left the lighthouse. If the assessment results are not up to standard, they are sent back to the lighthouse.
The Upper Zone: 80-87th floors, are experimental areas.
Some defiant and rebellious Strange Creatures with a strong desire to create havoc are sent here. They undergo specialized cranial or psychological experimentation that changes their ‘nature’, forcibly turning them into Strange Creatures that pose no threat to Paradise.
The Top Zone: Floors 87-100, the Lighthouse’s supervisory area.
This is also where the managers of Paradise are located.
However, the area that Han Dong and others needed to reach was not any of the above mentioned floors…but a secretive and special place.
In the ancient book, it also mentioned the ‘origin of the lighthouse’ and its special areas.
Before the lighthouse was built,
This place used to be a large underground Containment Facility, tasked with holding and detaining threatening and destructive Strange Creatures… The lighthouse was then built on this foundation to enhance the overall supervision of Paradise.
Following the construction of the lighthouse,
The Containment Facility continued to be used.
Some dangerous ‘hardcore’ inmates who could not be modified through experimental means were permanently incarcerated in the subterranean Containment Facility beneath the lighthouse.
The target that Han Dong and the others needed to rescue was located down there.
“According to the book, the keys to the underground Containment Facility are kept in a safe located in the nurse’s station on the first floor of the lighthouse.
We need to get hold of those keys without arousing the attention of the lighthouse’s administrators.
The burglary mission isn’t suitable for many people, me and Mia will go to the nursing station to steal the keys…Abe, you and Winry should look for the entrance to the underground Containment Facility. If need be, you should make some noise to distract the staff at the nurse station.”
“Alright.” Abe nodded, already entering a state of concealment.
“Deputy leader…do you want the Crow relic back?” Because of her lousy concealment skills, Winry could only use Duo Zeya to hide her aura.
“Not for now, just keep it.”
Winry seemed a little embarrassed, “Okay…once I get back this time, I’ll definitely ask my mentor about methods to conceal my aura.”
“Don’t dawdle inside the lighthouse. Let’s get moving.”
He opened the door to the disused compartment, which opened out onto a circular corridor within the lighthouse.
Similar to the methods of a mental hospital.
The Strange Creatures were kept in totally sealed rooms, with a securely locked iron door for each cell every two meters apart.
All manner of strange cries, scratching noises, and the slamming against the iron doors echoed within the lighthouse.
Han Dong and the others who had infiltrated via a side door, were located on the sixth floor of the lighthouse.
By chance, a ‘doctor’ was making his rounds on this floor.
The doctor, accompanied by a nurse and two security personnel, observed, recorded, and medicated the Strange Creatures in each room. They made notations about those in good condition, planning to have them sent to the psychological observation area for a detailed assessment the next time.
Of course, health care workers here naturally looked different from those on the outside world.
The attending doctor was a man with an open lab coat, a giant eye in the center of his chest … he used this eye to visually assess the basic physical conditions of the Strange Creatures, allowing for rapid assessment.
The nurse, dressed in standard uniforms and white stockings, had a great slender figure, obediently trailing behind the doctor there was no observable anomaly for now.
As for the two security personnel, they resembled bio-creatures
Their backs were fitted with transparent bio-fluid infusers, connected to various parts of their bodies through a multitude of tubes… providing them with robust bodies and strength, allowing them to suppress the Strange Creatures in the rooms.