I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 85: Exploring the Hospital (Patreon)

James looked at the confident Liam, not quite sure what he had to be so confident about, but he still breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as the guy didn’t actually lose his mind, James still trusted him to handle things properly.

Then James remembered something else.

“Quite a few letters from those kids have come in over the past couple of days. Don’t forget to pick them up.”

“No problem.”

Liam agreed casually. The string of major incidents over the past few days had drained a great deal of his energy, but he had no intention of neglecting his core audience. As long as children wrote to him, he would write back.

Then he called Taylor.

“Everything’s going smoothly here. I found everything I needed. Hm? Brooks? Just tell him it’s all been taken care of and no one’s after him anymore. To thank him for helping us, we’ll make him a real Air Master through the show, but he’ll need to stick around for a few more days of filming.”

Liam hung up.

Of course, he had no intention of actually promoting someone like Brooks. Still, Brooks wasn’t exactly the mastermind behind everything either. Putting him through hell and leaving him half-dead would be punishment enough.

Finally, Liam returned to the RV carrying a large bag of letters.

He was exhausted. He needed some sleep.

...

At the Home of Wanderers’ temporary base, Juan watched the news on television.

“Our chance has finally come. If those Reptilians are desperate enough to make up a lie like this, they must be running out of options.”

El Sombrerón, sitting beside him, didn’t agree.

“Kid, be careful. We still don’t know who the Reptilians were fighting.”

Juan agreed with him, but this opportunity was simply too good to ignore.

Until now, their conflict with the Reptilians had been like fighting blind. They had traded blows back and forth, yet they had never once seen the Reptilians’ true forces.

That was a dangerous sign.

It meant the Reptilians in Boston had been dealing with them without much difficulty.

If they wanted to secure a place for themselves here and protect their compatriots’ right to live, they had to strike first.

With that thought, Juan slapped the table.

“Step up the sacrifices. We need to prepare every bit of strength we have in advance. If Reptilians armed with laser guns could be beaten this badly, then whoever attacked them from the shadows must be even more dangerous.”

Then he remembered something else.

“Send more people to watch Liam. Find out what he does from day to day. That man must have a powerful intelligence network. None of our little moves escaped his notice, and there’s no way the Reptilians did either.”

El Sombrerón readily agreed.

Although they would inevitably have to fight Liam sooner or later, he was still a normal human being and could at least be reasoned with.

“Let’s do that. I’ll go talk to him myself. It’ll give me something to do.”

...

By the afternoon, Liam opened his eyes.

He still wanted to rest, but he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

What else was hidden inside that hospital?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, every trace of drowsiness vanished.

Under everyone’s astonished gaze, Liam sprang upright, quickly got dressed, and prepared to leave.

This time, he brought Watson with him. If a fight broke out, Watson could immediately heal his injuries, preventing a repeat of the mess he had been in that morning.

Since Watson was coming, Frank and Janice had to come as well. They needed at least one capable fighter beside the group at all times in case another faction launched a surprise attack.

Finding a permanent place to live might have been a good idea, but Liam didn’t trust any property developers or the finished houses they sold.

He had even considered buying one of those commercial fallout shelters before, but after inspecting them, he had realized they were little more than toys. They were about as useful as an ocean-view apartment with no ocean.

The group arrived near Boston Hospital.

Looking at the hospital’s impressive buildings, Frank couldn’t help commenting,

“This is practically one of the best hospitals in our state, maybe even in the whole country. I never thought this would be the place with a problem.”

“A place like this wasn’t built just to heal the sick and save lives. If there’s money involved, they’ll do anything.”

“Yeah. Back then, a lot of my comrades hoped they could get treated somewhere like this. Most of them never got the chance.”

“Then you should be glad. If they really had come somewhere like this, things might have turned out even worse.”

Frank didn’t want to believe that a hospital could harbor something so sinister, but deep down, he had already started believing Liam.

Liam got out of the car and noticed a hot dog truck nearby. He walked straight over and ordered ten hot dogs.

The owner clearly knew his way around a grill. The biggest difference was that he cooked the sausages on a hot griddle, while plenty of local hot dog stands simply boiled theirs in water.

The owner gave Liam a surprised look. Most customers were office workers grabbing a single hot dog for a quick meal. Almost no one ordered this many.

Still, judging by Liam’s build, he didn’t look like someone planning to eat without paying.

So the owner got to work.

Liam told him to hand over each hot dog as soon as it was ready so he could keep eating without interruption.

While eating, Liam casually asked,

“Have you ever been to this hospital?”

The owner rolled his eyes without slowing his hands.

“I don’t have health insurance. How am I supposed to afford a place like that? If I feel sick, I just take painkillers.”

Liam nodded, stuffed the last hot dog into his mouth, and headed toward the hospital.

The owner stared after him in shock. He hadn’t expected Liam to actually finish all ten, much less do it so easily.

He completely failed to notice the distinctive Mexican hat that had appeared on the shelf behind him.

Meanwhile, Liam walked into the main lobby of the hospital.

The place was spotless and lavishly decorated.

He headed straight to the information desk, where a receptionist greeted him.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m just here to wander around.”

“Sir, please don’t joke around.”

“I’m serious. I have some friends in this hospital, but they like playing hide-and-seek with me and didn’t tell me exactly where they’re staying. Could you tell me where I can find a map?”

The receptionist had no idea what to make of his strange explanation.

Another staff member walked over and whispered,

“He’s probably here for psychiatry. Just show him where it is.”

The receptionist immediately understood and led Liam over to an enormous directory board.

“This is the map of our hospital. The place you’re looking for is probably in another building.”

Liam stared at the directory and felt his scalp go numb.

The hospital was enormous, with more than twenty buildings. Nearly every major medical specialty had an entire building of its own, along with numerous administrative and research facilities. Many of the buildings were connected by enclosed walkways.

If Liam had to search the whole place by himself, there was no telling how long it would take.

The staff member seemed to notice his hesitation and offered help.

“If you’re not sure where to go, I can arrange for a volunteer to guide you.”

“That would be great.”

A short while later, two burly male volunteers led Liam toward another building.