Chapter 385. 010
Currently, Charles had no choice but to trust the words of his future self. According to him, they just had to keep heading downward to escape this bizarre place.
"Continue the descent! Toss away everything unnecessary! Run at your fastest speed!" Charles commanded.
Everyone responded immediately and tossed the various food supplies and freshwater canisters over the stairwell railing. Even the explosives and the like were part of the "unnecessary" items.
As they quickened their descent, their footsteps grew faster, and their breathing became more erratic with the increased pace.
Charles had no idea how long they had been running down the circular staircase. He roughly estimated that they had already circled it hundreds of times, but the end was still nowhere in sight.
Just then, an unexpected figure appeared before them.
Clad in a white hazmat suit, a human was leisurely climbing the stairs. In his hands was a tablet resembling the type left by the Foundation, and he was casually swiping across the screen.
"Hmm?" The person in the hazmat suit seemed to have sensed that something was amiss. He shifted his attention away from the tablet screen and glanced upward to see a dozen individuals in unusual attire staring down at him from the stairs, their eyes filled with caution.
"Who… Who are you? How did you get in here? Why aren't you wearing hazmat suits?" he demanded as he subtly continued to tap on his screen.
Having used a smartphone before, Charles immediately understood the man's actions—he was attempting to alert others.
Clang!
In an instant, a cold glint flashed across the stairwell; the tablet in the person's hand had been sliced into two halves. Charles quickly closed the distance and stripped the man of his hazmat suit in one swift motion.
Before the blonde-haired man could react or flee in shock, Charles seized him by the neck and forcefully pinned him against the wall, which radiated intense heat.
"Who are you? Why are you here? How many are with you? Talk!" Charles threatened, his voice laced with menace as he held the Dark Blade to the man's chest.
Despite being visibly shaken by Charles' intimidating presence, the man tried to probe for more information.
"My name's William, and I work here. Friend, please calm down. We're directly below the Foundation's V4 Containment Site, and a large special task force team is stationed above us. You won't be able to escape even if you take me hostage. How about you let me go first, and I'll plead on your behalf for them to release you?" William proposed.
Charles rapidly assimilated the details conveyed by William, piecing them together to reach an alarming realization: they had crossed into a timeline where the Foundation still existed!
Why? How could we have traveled so far? This shouldn't be possible! I thought this was just a minor temporal chaos?
Charles' mind was in disarray, but he knew that he didn't have the luxury of time. He immediately placed William down on the ground and demanded, "Where's 010? Take us to it!"
Charles still decided to believe the words of his future self, and he believed that they would be able to go back as long as they found 010.
"Sir, how do you know about 010? Are you—"
Before William could complete his sentence, two steel needles, as thick as chopsticks, whizzed past Charles's cheek toward William's face. They pierced through the inner corners of William's eyes and impaled themselves into his brain.
The steel needles had come from the Pope. He smiled apologetically and bowed slightly toward Charles. "My apologies for the rashness, Overall Commander-in-charge, but we really don't have the time to listen to his nonsense. Let's go."
The Pope then took a step toward William and lifted his hand.
"Lead the way," he said indifferently.
William remained silent, and his expression was blank as he turned and descended the stairs.
Mind control? Could it be that the Pope can control all the Divine Light Order followers with the long needles in their heads? Doesn't that mean he can control the millions of followers out there?
Many different thoughts raced through Charles' mind in the proverbial blink of an eye, and a shiver went down his spine as he stared at the Pope's back.
Swoosh!
Several heavy backpacks tumbled down from over the railings. Those were the items that they had discarded earlier.
The fact that they were running out of time was becoming increasingly burdensome to everyone, and Charles knew that there was no time to dwell on such matters, so he hurried after the Pope.
After walking for about four minutes, Willian suddenly came to a halt. He raised his right hand and opened his palm before tapping it on the wall next to him. A beam of light burst out in all directions, and the wall cracked open to reveal a large door.
It became clear just then that they weren't on an ordinary staircase; many rooms were hiding behind the walls, and it explained why they hadn't discovered anything earlier.
"William, why are you standing at the door? Wait a minute, where's your hazmat suit? This is against protocol!" someone shouted from inside the room.
Before the speaker could step out of the room, Charles and his group barged in. They broke through the security glass door with brute strength and made their way into a pristine, sterile room.
Along with the person who had just spoken, there were five Foundation staff in the room.
Upon noticing Charles and his group in their distinctive attire, a staff member quickly reached for a drawer and drew a handgun.
But before the man could even disengage the safety, Charles swung his chainsaw and sent a spray of blood into the air; the man's severed fingers and the handgun fell to the floor.
Crimson droplets of blood speckled the stark white floor, and the man's agonized scream echoed continuously throughout the room.
The sailors swiftly moved in to apprehend the remaining staff. Within moments, they had successfully secured the entire laboratory.
"Where is 010?" the Pope questioned one of the staff members.
The man returned the Pope's question with a glare of defiance. "You think I'd just tell you? Stop dreaming! We, Foundation staff members, have gone through professional training, and our lips are sealed!"
Unfazed, the Pope let out a light chuckle as he lightly patted the man's head.
"Thank you for the cooperation; I've gotten the answer."
Confused, the man uttered, "Wh-what?"
The Pope then headed straight toward a section of the wall and expertly manipulated a concealed mechanism with his fingers.
Swish!
The pristine white floor parted, and a radiant light emanated from beneath.
Charles looked downward and saw a giant, translucent orb shifting through colors as it expanded and contracted rhythmically. It appeared not as a single entity but as a cluster of interconnected bubbles.
Is this 010? This is the thing that can distort time and space? Charles thought as he marveled at the sight.
Being held at gunpoint by Linda, the Foundation staff member lifted his head in shock and looked at Charles. "W-w-what's going on? You can see 010? Just who are you?"
However, Charles ignored the question. He was deep in thought about what to do next when another Foundation worker dressed in the same hazmat suit approached and offered him a tablet.
The staff pushed the tablet toward Charles, silently urging him to take a look.
Charles raised an eyebrow in suspicion before extending his hand to accept the tablet.
Project ID: 010
Project Name: Time Regulator
Containment: 010 is currently isolated at the lowest level of the V4 Containment Site.
Description: 010 lacks a physical form and can neither be perceived nor detected.
It was discovered that entirely by accident at 1:34 PM on ▇▇▇▇. Another entity, with the designated ID of 177, suddenly appeared in the Foundation's main island rose garden in an incomprehensible manner.
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