The First Order

Chapter 159: Hypnosis

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

“Do y’all feel like something’s wrong?” Ren Xiaosu asked during dinner.

“It really does feel like something’s wrong,” Wang Fugui said as he wiped his mouth.

Yan Liuyuan said, “We’re missing the noise that Luo Lan brings when he tries to get into Dong Funan’s good books.”

This was an unusual night. Luo Lan, who had come to the shop nearly three times a day for the past few days, did not even appear once today.

Ren Xiaosu realized Luo Lan and his men were planning their heist on the No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital. Surely it wasn’t going to happen tonight, was it?

He asked, “Do y’all know where No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital is?”

“What’s the matter?” Xiaoyu asked in surprise. “Liuyuan asked me to buy a map of Stronghold 109 just the day before. I’ll go and get it. We should be able to locate No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital with it.”

Ren Xiaosu looked at Yan Liuyuan as he did not expect him to be so prepared.

“I just felt that we were unfamiliar with this place. It’s definitely right if we look at the map first when arriving at a new place,” Yan Liuyuan said.

Yan Liuyuan probably developed this habit after getting influenced by Ren Xiaosu. It was the same with Ren Xiaosu when he went out into the wilderness. He would have to observe the environment and understand it first before there was any chance of survival.

The six of them leaned over the map of the stronghold that covered the entire table and searched for the psychiatric hospital. Wang Fugui suddenly said, “I found it, it’s about ten kilometers from here.”

Ren Xiaosu thought the stronghold was way too big. Just the distance between two places was greater than ten kilometers, and that was already considered close.

He ordered Chen Wudi and Yan Liuyuan, “Watch over Dong Funan closely. Be careful not to let her cause any trouble.” As he trailed off, he thought of something and pulled Yan Liuyuan aside. He whispered, “Don’t make any wishes if there’s no danger.”

“OK.” Yan Liuyuan nodded obediently. But in reality, both of them understood he would still make a wish if he had to.

After Ren Xiaosu spoke, he left the shop.

…

When it turned dark, the stronghold would usually be bustling as residents headed to teahouses in groups. During those times, the sound of people playing mahjong could be heard as it filled the entire streets.

The more affluent residents could even enjoy hot pot, with the hot pots filled with delicious-looking red broth, fresh vegetables, and meat that were extremely appealing to the palate.

In the current day, eating in a restaurant was a very prestigious affair. If a person often dined out at restaurants, it would mean they were very respected in the stronghold.

The aunties were still performing their plaza dance in the park as though they were not afraid of the cold winter. Meanwhile, some nightclubs were already filled with lonely and single men and women.

When the night sky turned pitch-black, the crowd started to disperse and leave.

A manhole cover outside No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital was suddenly pushed aside from below. Following, 30 combat troops with loaded guns climbed out of it. Luo Lan was there with them as well.

These men had attached silencers to their guns and even camouflaged their faces. All of them appeared to be exceptionally prepared.

No one knew when Qing Zhen started making his arrangements in Stronghold 109, but he already had a proper understanding of the entire underground system of Stronghold 109. Not even the Li Consortium might have known how many people were hidden underground or what other things might be down there.

Tang Zhou spoke into a simple communication device, “Split into three squads and get ready to infiltrate the building according to the briefing.”

The full platoon quickly divided themselves up into three squads, headed towards No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital, and surrounded it.

There were more than a 100 security guards guarding No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital, but the 30 members of the platoon were unafraid. In their opinion, there was no need to fear the security personnel here as they were only private troops..

Luo Lan followed them with a swagger as he saw the three squads swarm into No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital like three sharp, black daggers.

The moment the Qing Consortium’s combat troops encountered the security personnel in the psychiatric hospital, the guards were eliminated.

The three squads continued advancing until they finally reassembled as a full platoon outside the psychiatric hospital’s main building. Tang Zhou whispered, “Don’t keep lusting for a fight. Once Test Subject No. 2 is located, retreat immediately. Kill all targets on sight other than Test Subject No. 2.”

According to their intel, Test Subject No. 2 would be getting dissected later tonight, which was why they chose to attack since they could not wait any longer.

Only two supernatural beings were held in No. 4 Psychiatric Hospital. But according to their intel, Test Subject No. 1 was far too dangerous. Therefore, Luo Lan decided to give up on the idea to abduct that person.

As the platoon broke through towards the top of the building, all of the psychiatric hospital’s staff were surprised to see the hospital getting stormed. Importantly, it was still peacetime within the stronghold. Although there was that incident caused by the Pyro Company, their members had already been expelled from the stronghold.

Luo Lan was laughing at the back of the platoon as he said, “Don’t show them any mercy. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with killing those who treat their own species as lab rats.” Right now, Luo Lan’s face was filled with bellicosity and excitement.

Many people had the mindset that he was just a good-for-nothing, illegitimate child and would at most address him as “Qing Zhen’s older brother.” However, the people in Stronghold 113, as well as Qing Zhen and his men, all knew very well that Luo Lan was never a coward.

Just his participation in the smaller battles alone was countless. Some people felt that Luo Lan had the same maniacal blood flowing through his veins as his younger brother.

When they passed by the reference library, Luo Lan went inside and found the information related to Test Subject No. 1. This included three bulky and old fashioned videotapes.

He slowly inserted a videotape into the VCR in the reference library and turned on the television.

There were three recordings on this videotape. He saw a handsome young man with fair skin sitting in the interrogation room and a doctor in a white coat sitting across from him.

The young man suddenly asked, “Did you see where ‘I’ went?

“I’m asking you, did you see where ‘I’ went?

“What? Don’t just open your mouth and say nothing.

“Hey, you there, did you see where ‘I’ went?”

The doctor said nothing for a long time.

The young man slowly lowered his head. “Oh… I’m sorry, ‘I’ can’t be found anymore.”

The young man sat there by himself with his head down. He had even lost himself.

Luo Lan stood before the television and quietly watched the footage. For some reason, he felt that the young man seemed to be sitting in a corner of the world as he slowly became forgotten by others and himself until he had nothing left.

This was what true loneliness felt like.

…

In the second clip of the treatment records, the hospital’s hypnotist was trying to hypnotize the young man. In this clip, the young man seemed much more normal than before.

The hypnotist said to the young man, “Close your eyes…. Relax… try to imagine you’re walking along a tunnel as the world gradually fades into darkness….

“It’s a tunnel you’re familiar with. You’re running towards the tunnel on the right, and there’s a light at the end of it. When you get to where the light is… you will arrive at where you want to be. On the count of 3…

“…2…

“…1…”

But at this moment, the young man opened his eyes. The hypnotist asked in surprise, “Why have you opened your eyes?”

The young man smiled and said, “I ran in the wrong direction.”

…

The third clip of the treatment records still showed the hypnosis process.

This time, the hypnotist said to the young man, “Close your eyes…. Relax… imagine being enveloped by warm seawater. While you’re floating on the surface, breathe freely as you like. Once you submerge to the bottom of the sea, you’ll arrive at where you want to be. On the count of 3…

“…2…

“…1…”

However, a surprising turn of events happened. This time, it was the hypnotist who had fell asleep!

Meanwhile, the clip was showing the profile of the young man as he revealed a smile.