Chapter 199 - 194: Breakout
The first cage exploded open.
John barely had time to move.
A four-legged creature burst through the broken door and slammed into a guard. The man flew across the room and crashed into a metal railing.
Another cage opened.
Then another.
The alarms became louder.
Red magical lights flashed across the chamber.
"Get them under control!"
"We can’t!"
"Close the gates!"
"The system isn’t responding!"
The facility had completely lost control.
John stood in the middle of it, watching everything unfold.
He had expected a fight.
What he hadn’t expected was this.
The monsters weren’t attacking him.
They were trying to escape.
Most of them ran toward the corridors, smashing through anything in their way.
Others simply stood there, confused after years of confinement.
One small creature remained inside its cage, trembling.
John looked at it.
Its body was covered with scars.
A guard raised his crossbow.
"Kill it before it gets out!"
John moved.
The bolt flew.
John caught it.
The guard froze.
John threw the bolt aside.
"Don’t."
The man stared at him.
John walked toward him.
"You’ve done enough."
The guard reached for another bolt.
John grabbed his wrist.
"Don’t make me repeat myself."
The man swallowed.
Then John pushed him away.
He didn’t kill him.
There was no need.
---
"John!"
He turned.
Lythriel stood on the upper walkway.
Darius, Sylvara, and Aerion were behind her.
"You didn’t leave?"
"We couldn’t find the exit!"
John looked around.
"Where’s the older man?"
Darius shook his head.
"He disappeared."
John wasn’t surprised.
"Of course he did."
A tremendous crash interrupted them.
Everyone looked toward the far side of the chamber.
The largest cage was shaking.
Something inside was hitting the bars.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
**BOOM!**
The metal bent.
John’s expression became serious.
"Everyone back."
Lythriel looked at the cage.
"What is that?"
"I don’t know."
The cage shook again.
A crack appeared in the reinforced door.
Darius’s face paled.
"That cage wasn’t designed for an ordinary creature."
"I noticed."
John moved toward it.
"Get behind me."
Lythriel immediately objected.
"John—"
"Please."
She stopped.
Something in his voice made her listen.
The cage door bent outward.
Then it broke.
A massive hand emerged.
Black fur.
Long claws.
The creature pulled itself through the opening.
John’s eyes widened slightly.
It was enormous.
Even larger than the horned beast from the cave.
It had the body of a bear, but its shoulders were covered in thick black plates.
Two curved horns rose from its head.
Its eyes glowed a faint blue.
And around its neck was a thick metal collar.
The creature roared.
The sound shook the chamber.
Several monsters immediately fled.
John stared at it.
The creature looked at him.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then it charged.
John planted his feet.
The creature’s paw came down.
John blocked it.
**BOOM!**
The floor cracked beneath his feet.
The force pushed him backward.
John smiled.
"You’re strong."
The creature roared again.
John pushed back.
The monster stumbled.
Then John punched it.
He didn’t use everything.
But the blow was strong enough to send the creature crashing through a metal wall.
The entire chamber went silent.
Lythriel stared.
Darius adjusted his glasses.
"That was..."
John looked at his fist.
"I might’ve hit it a little harder than I intended."
Aerion laughed.
"A little?"
John ignored him.
The creature slowly rose from the wreckage.
Blood ran from its mouth.
But it wasn’t unconscious.
It stared at John.
Then something strange happened.
It stopped attacking.
John lowered his fist.
"You’re not angry."
The creature growled softly.
John looked at the collar around its neck.
A magical device was attached to it.
"That’s controlling you."
The creature suddenly convulsed.
Its eyes flashed.
It charged again.
John realized what was happening.
"The collar!"
Darius shouted.
"It must be forcing it to attack!"
John moved.
He grabbed the creature’s collar.
Magic surged through his hand.
Pain shot through his arm.
John gritted his teeth.
The collar was using a powerful restraint spell.
He pulled.
Nothing.
"John!"
"I’m fine."
The collar discharged again.
John’s arm went numb.
He tightened his grip.
"You’re coming off."
He pulled harder.
The metal began to crack.
The creature struggled violently.
John held on.
The collar cracked.
Then shattered.
The creature collapsed.
John stepped back.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the creature slowly lifted its head.
Its eyes were no longer glowing.
They were normal.
It looked at John.
John slowly extended his hand.
The creature sniffed it.
Then lowered its head.
John smiled.
"You’re free."
The creature stood.
It didn’t attack.
Instead, it turned toward the nearest exit.
John stepped aside.
"Go."
The monster ran.
Several others followed.
---
Lythriel came down the stairs.
"You could have been killed."
John looked at his arm.
The numbness was already fading.
"I’m okay."
She frowned.
"You always say that."
"Because I’m usually okay."
"Usually isn’t good enough."
John smiled.
"Fair."
Darius approached.
"We need to leave."
John nodded.
"Agreed."
"But we can’t leave the others."
John looked around.
There were still dozens of cages.
Some had opened.
Others hadn’t.
Many monsters were still trapped.
John’s expression hardened.
"Then we open them."
Darius stared at him.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"That could be dangerous."
"Leaving them here is worse."
Lythriel nodded.
"He’s right."
Aerion moved toward the nearest cage.
"How do we open them?"
John examined the lock.
"Magic."
Darius looked at the control panel.
"I can disable the system."
"Do it."
---
The next several minutes were chaotic.
Darius worked on the control system.
Sylvara treated injured creatures that were too weak to escape.
Aerion and Lythriel opened cages manually.
John broke the heavier restraints.
Some creatures ran immediately.
Others were too frightened to move.
John didn’t force them.
He simply opened the cages and gave them space.
One small creature approached him.
It looked like a fox.
Except it had six legs and tiny horns.
John crouched.
"Go."
It stared at him.
Then slowly walked away.
Another creature followed.
Then another.
Soon the chamber was nearly empty.
Only a few remained.
One was unconscious.
Another was injured.
The last was the juvenile horned beast John had seen earlier.
It was still chained.
John walked over.
The creature immediately backed away.
"It’s okay."
He crouched.
"I’m not going to hurt you."
It didn’t understand his words.
But it seemed to understand his tone.
John touched the chain.
He broke it with his hand.
The creature froze.
Then it slowly moved toward the exit.
John smiled.
"Go find your mother."
The young beast disappeared into the corridor.
---
Suddenly, Darius shouted.
"John!"
John turned.
The control panel was flashing.
"What?"
"I found the emergency records."
"Anything useful?"
"Yes."
Darius held up a document.
"The facility isn’t the only one."
John’s expression changed.
"What?"
"There are at least three other sites."
"Where?"
Darius pointed toward the map.
"One is south of here."
"Another is near the mountains."
"And the last..."
He paused.
"The last one is under Ravencross."
Silence.
John stared at him.
"Under the city?"
Darius nodded.
"According to this."
Lythriel looked alarmed.
"How deep?"
"We don’t know."
John looked around the ruined facility.
This explained the man’s confidence.
This place wasn’t their headquarters.
It was only one branch.
And if Darius was right, the people running it were much closer than they realized.
John took the document.
"We need to get out."
"Agreed."
---
They hurried through the facility.
The monsters had mostly escaped.
The remaining guards were either unconscious or had fled.
But the structure was becoming unstable.
Cracks spread across the ceiling.
Dust fell around them.
"Move!"
They ran toward the entrance.
A massive explosion behind them shook the entire complex.
John looked back.
Part of the underground chamber collapsed.
They kept moving.
The stairs were damaged.
John helped Sylvara over a fallen beam.
Lythriel followed closely behind.
Darius protected the documents.
Aerion carried one of the injured creatures.
Finally, they reached the surface.
They emerged into the forest.
Fresh air hit them.
Everyone stopped.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
They had made it.
Then a deep roar echoed through the trees.
The escaped monsters were scattering throughout the Silverwood.
John looked toward the forest.
Somewhere out there, the creatures were finally free.
But the people responsible were still out there too.
---
The group returned to the ranger station before sunset.
John immediately began sorting everything they’d recovered.
Documents.
Maps.
Records.
Names.
Locations.
Darius helped organize them.
Lythriel sat nearby, watching John.
"You know what this means."
John nodded.
"Yeah."
"This expedition isn’t going to be simple anymore."
"No."
Darius looked at the documents.
"We need to report this to the guild."
John agreed.
"But carefully."
"Why?"
"Because we don’t know who in the guild can be trusted."
Everyone became silent.
That was the biggest problem.
The organization they had discovered was large enough to operate multiple facilities.
They had resources.
Money.
People.
Information.
Possibly even connections inside official institutions.
John looked at the document again.
One line caught his attention.
A name.
**Project Evolve.**
He stared at it.
"What?"
Darius looked over.
"Nothing."
John folded the paper.
"We’ll deal with it tomorrow."
Lythriel frowned.
"You’re not going after them tonight."
John looked at her.
"No."
"Promise?"
John smiled.
"Promise."
She nodded.
"Good."
John looked out through the window.
The Silverwood was dark now.
Somewhere beyond the trees, freed monsters were running through the forest.
The facility beneath them was damaged.
But the organization behind it remained.
And beneath Ravencross...
There was another facility.
John had come to the Silverwood expecting a simple expedition.
Instead, he had uncovered something much bigger.
He didn’t know who was behind Project Evolve.
He didn’t know how many facilities existed.
And he didn’t know what they were preparing for.
But one thing was certain.
Tomorrow, they were going back to Ravencross.
Not as ordinary travelers.
Not as adventurers looking for another quest.
They were going back carrying information that could change everything.
And somewhere beneath the city...
Someone was still waiting.
---
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