Chapter 176: Sneaking Through
SWOOOSH!
He picked up his pace until he reached a close enough distance, then used a powerful kick to the ground to launch himself, effortlessly vaulting over the wall.
Timing his jump with precision, he executed a flawless leap, his movements synchronized with the security patrol patterns he had memorized.
As he soared through the air, he made a subtle adjustment, reforming his feet to a sharp pincer point, ensuring a silent landing.
So instead of a heavy thud, his pointed feet pierced the gravel beneath him, muffling any sound of impact.
But despite the flawless execution of the first stage of his plan, he remained focused and alert.
He knew that celebrating prematurely could jeopardize his mission. It wasn't in his nature to count the chicks before they hatched.
Quickly, he ducked beneath a nearby truck, concealing himself from view.
Wasting no time, he meticulously memorized the security patrol patterns again and the locations of the CCTV's while quickly moving from one blind spot to another as he searched for potential access points.
His careful movements and Night Crawl Ability made him blend into the dark corners until he reached a large building, resembling more of a massive garage, housing an array of vehicles and equipment.
There were even tanks inside.
'Yeah, this place is certainly not just a medical research facility' Reign chuckled to himself.
These people had their own private army here.
With a quick assessment of the area, he spotted a ventilation duct near the roof of the building
It seemed like a promising entry point.
He scaled the wall with ease, using his claws to reach the duct opening.
Next, he silently twisted the screws, and slipped inside, disappearing into the network of vents within the facility.
The vents were really small, only large enough for an 1-4 year-old child to fit through, which was perfect since Reign was only 3.5 feet tall at the moment.
The metallic confines of the ductwork enveloped him, the faint hum of the facility's ventilation units echoing.
Navigating the narrow passages, he moved fast while maintaining a quite paced.
With each twist and turn, he drew closer to his target—the research lab where the viruses were stored.
Drawing on his memory of the facility's layout from his previous scouting, he recalled a particular building that stood apart from the rest: a windowless structure .
Instinctively, he guessed it as the likely repository for the stored virus, shielded from prying eyes and potential breaches.
So his goal was to reach it through the ventilation system, as a windowless building like that was bound to have a large network to maintain the air inside.
That was the plan, but as he scanned the vent's strips, something caught his attention below .
'Wait, are those prisoners?' he thought to himself as he observed twelve individuals in chains being escorted by armed personnel.
Unlike the usual orange T-shirts worn by prisoners, these individuals were clad in clean white attire, reminiscent of those typically seen in mental hospitals.
However, their rugged and intimidating appearances hinted that they were not the most good natured characters.
'Odd, why does this feel familiar?' Reign mused inwardly.
Then, it clicked – these individuals were human lab rats.
He didn't care much about them. It amused him how he ended up visiting a place that also experimented on humans, which he found ironic.
'They're also being taken in the same direction as that building,' he observed silently to himself, connecting the dots between the prisoners' escort and the windowless structure.
With this knowledge , he made a decision.
Crawling silently above the ceiling, he matched the pace of the escorted prisoners, keeping a careful eye out for any alarms or surveillance devices that might be triggered by his presence
Fortunately, the narrow confines made it impractical for adult access, so the facility hadn't allocated much security to this area.
Only the most basic measures were in place, but Reign was well-prepared.
With equipment acquired from the Black Market, he could easily bypass and disable any obstacles that stood in his way, until he found a vent leading outside.
When he emerged from the vent, he used his claws to grip the wall, hanging securely as he observed the scene below.
The prisoners were now being escorted through a small sky bridge, and he could see them through the clear windows.
Reign landed silently on top of the sky bridge and quickly made his way to another venting system in the next building.
He moved without wasting any time, repeating this maneuver multiple times, seamlessly transitioning from one building to the next until he reached his destination.
'Finally,' he sighed, he was more comfortable with killing and destroying things with a loud "BANG" than playing the role of a silent ninja.
Just as he predicted, the place was filled with ventilation, and the network of passages was confusing.
He decided to follow the lab rats; wherever these guys were headed must be an important spot for experimenting.
There, he would check out the type of experiment they were conducting, gather some information, and plan further.
He cautiously trailed them .
As he crept closer to their destination, he could hear the faint hum of machinery and the occasional murmur of voices.
"Is this the next batch?" A man in a lab coat spoke, his demeanor as mean-looking as his sharp eyebrows and glasses suggested.
"Yes, Doc," the guards replied obediently.
"Good, take them inside," the doctor ordered, his voice haughty and arrogant.
The guards nodded, but before they could move, one of the lab rats spoke up in an intimidating manner.
"Hey ! Are you telling us the truth? That we can escape the death penalty by helping you with your research?" one of the lab rats asked in a husky and determined voice.
The mean-looking doctor paused for a moment, his annoyance evident, but he forced a smile in the end.
"Of course, you're helping humanity, so the least we can do is give you all a second chance at life," he responded.
All the lab rats were elated after hearing this confirmation.
They were set to die anyway, so getting a chance like this, despite the oddness of the whole situation, clouded their judgment.
"Idiots," Reign sighed.
It was clear as day that they were being fooled.
Back in his world, he also saw other lab rats like him, and they were mostly prisoners too, who were on death row, bought through under-the-table dealings.
He guessed that this was the same case.
As the lab rats entered another room, the doctor leaned in close to the guard, his voice barely a whisper.
"Use that piece of garbage first," the doctor ordered, disgust evident on his face.
Reign observed the scene, and he recalled the memories from his past life.
He remembered all too well how he, too, had been treated like an object.
With a cold gaze fixed on the doctor's face, he made a mental note to gave him a special treatment when they crossed paths again.
But for now he would back down because he did not want to messed up his plan just because of an impulsive emotion.
'I'll get you next time,' Reign spoke his voice cold and dangerous