I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 82: The Reptilian Laboratory (Patreon)

I’ve been spotted!

Liam realized it instantly, but he showed no sign of panic. Instead, he pointed the camera at the young man.

“Sir, are you in charge here? Would you mind giving me a tour?”

The young man smiled.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m here for. Make sure you record everything that happens next.”

At that moment, Liam recognized him. He was one of the people in the group photo in the lobby.

It seemed he knew exactly what had happened here.

The young man struggled to open his eyes, as though trying to get a good look at Liam.

“Mr. Liam, you can call me Victor. As you can see, this is where Reptilian synthetic lifeforms are cultivated.”

“Just as I thought! I knew the Reptilians had already started experimenting on humans!”

Liam immediately grew excited. This place was practically everything he had ever dreamed of finding.

Victor sighed when he heard that.

“You’re right. I wish I’d watched your show sooner.”

He pointed toward a nearby table, where a lead box sat.

“The undercover agent you sent was impressive, but she had one major flaw. She’s a genuine living being, while the Dover Demon is a biological tool we created.”

At that moment, a cloud of black mist appeared on Liam’s shoulder. Lily materialized and rubbed her head against his.

“Sorry, Little One. I failed.”

“It’s all right. As long as we keep trying, we’ll succeed eventually.”

Victor’s eyes shifted slightly as he continued.

“We noticed what you were doing a long time ago. As soon as we realized you were coming, everyone evacuated and all the data was removed. You won’t find a single clue here.”

As Victor spoke, his eyes kept making tiny movements. Liam was just about to ask whether he had dry eyes when he suddenly realized Victor was trying to guide him.

Surveillance cameras in this era didn’t have enough resolution to pick up such subtle eye movements.

Liam immediately pretended to film the culture tanks around him while following the direction of Victor’s gaze in search of a clue.

Sure enough, he spotted a card hidden in a dark corner.

While moving the camera, Liam stroked Lily’s head, then discreetly pointed toward the shadow.

Lily immediately understood. She dissolved into a cloud of black mist and vanished.

Seeing this, Victor finally stopped waiting.

“As much as I’d like to keep talking with you, I don’t think they’re going to allow it.”

He clapped his hands, and several of the surrounding culture tanks immediately lowered. Nutrient solution splashed everywhere as the Reptilians inside suddenly opened their eyes.

Liam was still a little puzzled. These people should have known how strong he was. Why would they think a handful of Reptilians could deal with him?

Reality quickly answered that question.

The Reptilians charged out and pulled submachine guns from crates beside them.

So that was it. In the end, they still had to rely on modern weapons.

Liam’s eye twitched. He immediately drew a handgun, and without enough time to infuse it with much spiritual energy, fired at the nearest Reptilian.

“BIU! BIU!”

Several laser beams instantly tore the Reptilian apart. Liam immediately turned and ran.

By then, the remaining Reptilians had already trained their submachine guns on him.

“RAT-A-TAT-TAT!”

As Liam dashed out, he saw the steel door behind him erupt with bullet holes. At the same time, a burning pain flared across his lower back.

He reached behind himself and felt the wound. His hand came away covered in blood. A piece of shrapnel must have grazed his lower back.

Liam never stopped moving. Gunfire echoed continuously behind him while chunks of shattered concrete sprayed down around him.

He used Lily’s stealth ability to blur his figure, making it impossible for the Reptilians to aim accurately. All they could do was keep spraying bullets in his direction.

Down in the basement, Victor sighed in admiration.

“No wonder he’s the host of Exploring the Truth. He certainly knows how to run. Unfortunately, no matter how fast he is, it won’t help against specialized Reptilian synthetic beasts.”

With that, Victor headed deeper into the facility. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the card was gone and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

By then, Liam had already made it back aboveground. He glanced toward the front entrance.

No. There were still figures there.

He fired several shots at the walls on either side of the entrance.

A moment later, he heard bodies hitting the floor.

Good thing he hadn’t parked his car right outside. Otherwise, they definitely would have wrecked it, and he would have had to walk back.

Hearing the constant noise coming from underground, Liam knew he couldn’t escape at street level.

There was no telling how many Reptilians were hiding around the area. If they surrounded him at some corner, he would be riddled with bullets before he could do anything.

After only a moment’s thought, he decided to keep heading upward and make for the rooftop.

Liam took off again, racing up the stairs.

Once he reached the roof, he looked around. Just as he had hoped, the area offered a wide field of view. Each rooftop also had water towers or rooftop structures, giving him enough cover to avoid becoming a sitting duck.

Liam activated [Light Body] and leaped with all his strength toward the neighboring rooftop.

His body traced an arc through the air. Watching the buildings rush past on either side, he almost felt as though he were flying.

He landed on the neighboring roof and rolled to absorb the impact. When he looked back, Reptilians were already appearing one after another behind him.

Liam immediately dropped flat and raised his handgun to return fire.

The lead Reptilian was hit. The others reacted at once, raising their guns and firing back.

Liam rolled repeatedly until he reached the safety barrier at the edge of the roof and took cover behind it. The Reptilians were all using submachine guns, and at this distance, their rounds couldn’t penetrate the concrete wall.

The gunfire lasted only a short while.

Before Liam could relax, he felt a faint vibration through the wall, followed by the sound of something scraping against it.

He didn’t even need to look.

The Reptilians had jumped onto the wall and were climbing over.

Liam sighed. Now he understood what made these Reptilians so troublesome. The ones he had encountered at Frank’s house had clearly been specialized for ambushes. These, on the other hand, were built for urban combat.

He couldn’t stay here. He needed to get back to his car and grab some heavy weapons.

Liam immediately jumped to his feet and ran. The Reptilians that hadn’t crossed over yet opened fire at once.

None of the bullets hit him directly, but there were so many rounds flying around that fragments had already cut him in several places.

Liam had no time to worry about that. He began leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

As he went, he kept spotting Reptilians climbing up the sides of buildings. Running across the rooftops had definitely been the right choice.

If he had tried to make it back through the streets, he probably would have been completely surrounded by now.

He began weaving between rooftop structures and water tanks, finally putting enough obstacles between himself and the gunfire that the flying fragments stopped hitting him.

As he drew closer and closer to his pickup truck, a question began nagging at him.

When had these Reptilians become so brazen? Why weren’t they even trying to hide anymore?

But those questions would have to wait until after he dealt with all of them.