NOVEL NEXT Chapter 133: The Interior
With Leonard's silhouette vanishing into the deeper section, the women finally heaved a sigh of relief.
But it was only for a brief moment before they started to ponder their upcoming fate.
While they held such thoughts, Shirley approached one of the rusty iron cages and reverse-engineered the magic chains.
In less than a few seconds, she unlocked it successfully.
Shirley thought the women would be grateful and rush out of the cage immediately. But to her dismay, the women remained motionless, with some even trying to move far away from the entrance.
"What's wrong?" Shirley raised an eyebrow.
"We're not part of the Slave Coop. I'm also someone who was captured here a long time ago. You're free now." She cleverly revealed her similar past and explained that they were freed.
"You must be lying…" One of the women inside the cage uttered.
"They said previously that we would be freed too. But after they were brought deeper into the section, we only heard a painful scream and then no more."
The woman's eyes then darted to the path that Leonard had taken.
Without a doubt, they had mistaken Leonard for another one of the guards who were preparing something inside, whereas Shirley was used to deceiving them about being freed.
'These scums really did such atrocities!!!' Shirley was quick on the uptake.
She realized another woman, presumably level 2 or 3, must have been used by the guards to create an illusion of freedom to them.
But in reality, the woman must have been forced to comply to avoid being the experimental subject.
Shirley didn't blame the woman for trying their best to survive, even if it meant sacrificing another.
When one lived in such hell, compassion and morality were depraved to the extreme.
She was merely lucky to have befriended Sirena and Sophie, as well as receiving the grace of Wesley to escape from this hellhole.
"You can continue to hold such thoughts, but I don't plan on forcing you to do anything." Shirley calmly spoke.
She then stood up and glanced at the other women. "The guards and those in charge of the Slave Coop have been killed already. The outside situation is in turmoil, and now's your chance to escape. If you don't believe me, then you're free to leave the Dark Chamber and look around the surroundings."
Instantly, the women started to mutter among themselves, seemingly unable to believe their deepest desire had come true.
None of them held any goodwill toward the guards and those in charge of the Slave Coop.
Each and every single day, they prayed for their extreme downfall and misfortune!
In the end, the woman who had spoken with Shirley decided to take the lead and come out of her rusty iron cage. "I'm sick of living anyway. If you are deceiving me, then so be it. I have had enough!"
They hissed coldly and rushed to the exit, albeit at a very slow pace. The repeated malnutrition and psychological trauma made it difficult for her to run fast.
They even expected to be stopped midway, but Shirley wasn't lying.
She held no intention of stopping the woman from fleeing. Instead, she changed her attention to another cage and began reverse engineering the chains to release them.
"IT'S ACTUALLY TRUE!"
While Shirley was unlocking the cages, the collective women inside the Dark Chamber overheard the loud exclamation.
They might not believe Shirley, but they surely believe someone who was sharing a similar fate to them.
As curiosity rose from their heart and the glimpse of hope that their dream had come true, more women began to walk out of their cages and head toward the exit.
Just like before, Shirley didn't stop any of them, making the women realize it might actually be real.
However, some still held doubts and skepticism. They refused to believe rescues were truly coming to them when even the authorities enjoyed them and turned a blind eye to their plight.
Yet their thought process was repeatedly shaken when more women began screaming in joy.
"This bastard actually died! He deserved it for forcing his way with me while in the cold!"
"Haha, retribution has finally arrived!"
"None of these people had an easy death!"
Upon hearing the numerous exclamations, followed by the confirmation that some of their despised guards had met an extremely horrifying fate, they were exhilarated.
In less than a few minutes, those who were skeptical also rushed toward the exit to check it out.
They no longer cared about whether it was a trap or not!
All they wanted was to see that glimmer of hope existing where their hatred could be realized.
While this was happening, deep inside the interior, Leonard's eyes narrowed at the passage.
He had given the isolation device to Shirley to protect the fragile woman, so he was able to smell the extreme foul stench. It was even worse than the surface.
However, what alarmed him was that the foul stench only appeared after he had walked a certain distance toward the interior.
'Seems like they really are having an experiment here.' The deeper Leonard walked, the heavier the air grew.
The foul stench was thickened with rot, blood, and the faint sting of chemicals.
The passage was dark, with only a dim red glow from crystal lamps that lit the walls, casting twisted shadows across the floor.
As he approached a room, Leonard spotted that the center had laid rows of crude stone tables that were stained black, possibly from countless trials.
The sight of shackled bodies, with some trembling, and others motionless, strapped down, caught his attention. It appeared as if these people were awaiting dissection.
"Truly courageous…" Leonard murmured with a cold gaze. He stared at the empty vials that were rolled across the floor. And the familiar smell of Wrathbane Extract clinging to the air essentially confirmed his suspicion.
His eyes soon shifted to the cages that lined the walls.
Unlike the exterior, where they were holding women as captives for torture, these cages were for holding what was left of them as test subjects.