Then, two Japanese soldiers roughly escorted Xie Yuting down the corridor.

A wave of relief washed over me, and I immediately started planning how to get Liang Qian out next.

Xie Yuting walked a few steps, then, for some unknown reason, turned to look back at me.

I saw that the hatred in his eyes was gone, replaced instead by a hint of confusion.

It was then that I could no longer maintain my composure; I subtly squeezed my eyes at him.

The old man with white hair already had eyes like slits, and I wasn't sure if he had noticed.

Once their group disappeared down the hall, I finally let out a sigh of relief.

After they were well out of earshot, I secretly clenched my fist and said to the subordinate guarding Liang Qian behind me, "Come here." Seeing my serious expression, the subordinate looked slightly tense and pointed to his own chest, asking, "Me?" I nodded once, saying nothing more.

The subordinate hesitated for a second, walking over while asking, "Boss, what is it?" I remained silent, simply staring at him.

When he was about a meter away from me, I suddenly balled my hand into a fist, stepped forward, and landed a punch squarely on his nose bridge.

This time, I used my right hand, the one brimming with monstrous strength, and since I was acting out of desperation, the blow was heavy.

I actually sent the man flying backward with that single punch.

Another subordinate stood behind him, confused by my sudden attack, and asked, "Boss?" I didn't wait for him to react; I charged forward in two quick steps and raised my hand to strike.

Unexpectedly, these guys were genuinely skilled.

Seeing my incoming punch, the man twisted his body aside and actually dodged it.

And as he sidestepped, he managed to catch my elbow joint with one hand, applying a quick pressure that left my arm numb.

Fortunately, he wasn't entirely sure what was happening with me, so he didn't grip my hand and twist.

If he had, I would have either suffered a fracture or a dislocation.

It must be said, Liang Qian reacted quickly.

Despite being handcuffed, seeing me suddenly make a move, as the man dodged to the side and was momentarily off-balance, she delivered a kick straight to his groin.

That move was devastatingly effective; the man couldn't evade in time and was kicked senseless immediately.

We neutralized both men in an instant, but there were still many monsters around, and two or three more men belonging to the white-haired old man were watching everything from a distance.

They had guns, but being unsure of the situation, they held their fire for the moment.

I quickly pulled Liang Qian's hand and urged her, "I am *—follow me!" Liang Qian was quite shocked, but knowing the urgency, she didn't ask many questions.

I pulled Liang Qian and ran down the corridor, eventually finding the mechanism we had fallen through earlier.

I stomped down on it with my foot.

Liang Qian knew what I intended, as she had been present when it happened before.

So, she wasn't surprised; when the mechanism opened, she calmly let her body drop.

I followed Liang Qian and jumped down after her.

In the fleeting moment before plunging into darkness, I heard two gunshots echo from above.

A profound sense of luck washed over me as Liang Qian and I slid down the pit, one after the other.

This time, we avoided falling into another passage; Liang Qian and I dropped into the room filled with Barbie dolls, one behind the other.

Struggling up from the pile of dolls, we exchanged a look brimming with the elation of escaping death.

Liang Qian suddenly paused and asked, "Your appearance?" I touched my face and chuckled, "Oh, this?

I paid a high price to save you all." Liang Qian nodded and asked, "But how do we get out now?" I frowned slightly because I knew getting out of here was truly difficult.

There was no exit to begin with, and with the real white-haired old man also around, we were still in grave danger.

But I also knew this was our only sliver of hope.

Only by utilizing the somewhat complex terrain here to first find Da Xiong and the others, and then figure out an escape plan, was there any way out for us.

I thought that our only chance of survival was to jump into the sea, preferably finding a life raft.

If there were no raft, enduring it at sea for a while until a passing ship rescued us was also an option.

No matter what, our current situation was dire, but a thread of life still remained.

With that thought, I sighed and told Liang Qian, "Stick close to me; I'm more familiar with this terrain." Liang Qian didn't speak, just followed me silently.

I had already opened the door when I fell earlier, and it hadn't closed yet, allowing a view into the pitch darkness of the corridor.

I cautiously poked my head out first to check if anyone was in the hallway.

Only then did I beckon Liang Qian to follow me out.

We moved down the corridor one behind the other, surveyed our surroundings, and then chose a direction to move forward.

As we walked, I told her, "There's an opening in the ceiling down the middle of the corridor; we can get to the level above from there." Liang Qian, who had been silent, interjected suddenly, "No, I have to save Nie Chuan first." Hearing this, I wasn't sure whether to be happy or exasperated.

After a couple of seconds, I managed to say, "Nie Chuan might not be on this level.

Although he fell through the same passage as us, I didn't see him after I landed." Liang Qian bit her lower lip and insisted, "How will we know if we don't look?" With that, she stubbornly walked forward and pushed open a door, entering.

Fearing she might alert the men in the black tank tops, I rushed to follow her.

Liang Qian checked several rooms near the doors but found no trace of Nie Chuan.

Seeing her expression grow increasingly anxious, I longed to tell her, "I'm here." However, I ultimately held back, silently chanting in my mind, "I am Hu Erwan...

I am Hu Erwan..." When Liang Qian entered another room, she suddenly uttered an "Eh?" and froze at the doorway.

I didn't know what she saw, so I quickly leaned in to look as well.

The sight stunned me into silence.

Because I had been in this room before—it was the one styled with Western black magic.

It contained a table, behind which sat a figure draped in a wizard's robe.

Back then, the room’s deep crimson primary color had left a strong impression on me, but looking at it now, the dark red was gone.

All the tables and cabinets had turned the color of charcoal black.

The wizard seated behind the table had been reduced to a pile of ash along with the chair.

The smell of burning wood saturated the entire room, and smoke was still wafting from some spots.

"Did this place catch fire?" I looked at the scene with surprise.

But Liang Qian immediately shook her head and pointed to the wooden door we had pushed open upon entering, saying, "Impossible.

If it had been a fire, this door would have been burned away." I looked closely and saw she was right.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that although everything inside the room was charred, it retained its original shape, except for the chair, which was now just ashes.

Clearly, this wasn't caused by fire, but seemed as if it had been struck by lightning, instantly turning everything to charcoal.

First off, lightning striking inside a ship's cabin was impossible, so there had to be another reason.

I thought of the lightning corpses that could discharge electricity.

While the current they released was certainly lethal, it wasn't enough to instantly turn everything around into charcoal.

The strangest thing was the door; everything inside the room was scorched, yet the door remained perfectly intact.

I considered this and suddenly arrived at a possible explanation.

So I said to Liang Qian, "Someone opened this door, saw the person sitting behind the table, and without hesitation, discharged electricity into the room, charring everything.

Since the center of that powerful current was this chair, the chair was burned intensely, and the other furniture was merely scorched by proximity." Liang Qian agreed with my assessment but was clearly also full of questions.

Who could unleash such powerful electrical current?

And who could control electricity with such precision?

Could it be that Thor from the American superhero movies had visited this place?

Thinking this, the image of the white-haired old man suddenly flashed into my mind—his hair standing on end, his beard wild and untamed, looking exactly as if he had been struck by lightning.

Besides him, I truly couldn't imagine anyone who could instantly release such immense electrical power.

If it truly was that old man, then he had shown absolutely no mercy to Nie Chuan.

Before even confirming the identity of the person in the room, he had electrocuted them without a second thought.

This meant that if Nie Chuan and the others had encountered him, there would certainly be no survivors.