I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 88: A Bloody Battle (Patreon)

Before long, all the Reptilians hidden among the crowd had been eliminated.

Juan began counting heads with a grim expression. Sure enough, besides the five or six bodies of his own people lying on the ground, another ten were missing. An entire team.

“Quick, compare your numbers. Find out which team is missing and when they disappeared.”

The tense atmosphere forced everyone to move quickly, and it didn’t take long to determine exactly which group had vanished.

“Juan, Team Twenty is missing. They went to a building used for research into mental disorders.”

Juan led the others over to the map. After ruling out the building used to treat psychiatric patients, they identified their target.

“All right, everyone. Head back. It’s not safe here anymore.”

“Wait, weren’t you supposed to feed us?”

Juan glared at the man.

“People are dead and you’re still thinking about food? Come by our place later and collect your money.”

Only then did everyone leave, satisfied. As for those who had died, someone would naturally make sure their families were taken care of.

Juan waited until the others were gone before saying solemnly,

“We saved more than a dozen people, but it nearly cost me half my life. I’m starting to wonder whether this power is worth it.”

He pushed the thought aside. Power he possessed now was still more useful than power he might obtain sometime in the future.

He turned to his men.

“The power granted by the gods is extremely precious. Don’t use it unless you absolutely have to.

“There aren’t any of our people left in here now, so you don’t have to worry about friendly fire. From this point on, if you see anyone who looks human, shoot immediately. Don’t hesitate.”

“Understood.”

Everyone agreed.

Then one of the younger men asked,

“Juan, why can this power only conjure those old-fashioned weapons? Handguns are way cooler.”

“Use your head. How would our god know what modern weapons look like? We’re lucky we can conjure these at all.”

Meanwhile, Liam noticed people steadily leaving the hospital, many of them wounded, and immediately understood what had happened.

“Juan and his people found something. There’s probably already been a fight. I’m going in to take a look.”

Frank tried to stop him.

“It’s too dangerous to go in alone. I’ll come with you.”

“If you come with me, who’s going to look after Watson and Janice? Stay here and protect them.”

Liam had no idea why Frank always seemed so eager to risk his life, but that was Frank’s business. Liam wasn’t going to interfere without reason.

Once people stopped coming out of the building, Liam fully geared up. He brought along everything he could carry and hoisted his best camera onto his shoulder.

There was bound to be a major battle this time. If he managed to record it, the footage would be incredible.

“Viewers, I’ve uncovered a bloody secret hidden inside a hospital. My friends have already gone ahead to investigate, so now I’m going to follow in their footsteps and find out exactly what’s going on.”

Liam focused and cautiously entered the hospital’s main building.

Just as before, the place was completely deserted.

Combined with the feeling that someone had been watching him yesterday, it seemed someone had anticipated trouble and given the entire hospital staff the day off.

When Liam reached the center of the lobby, he pointed the camera at the bodies.

“It seems something is hiding inside this hospital and ambushing its victims from the shadows. Take a close look. These people were killed before they had much of a chance to fight back.”

He followed Juan’s group to the research building.

“Viewers, I’m getting close to my friends now. Let’s see what they’ve discovered.”

The moment Liam stepped through the entrance, he heard a dense burst of gunfire.

Juan and the others were already fighting the Reptilians.

Liam didn’t rush toward them.

Those people weren’t exactly his allies. If he suddenly appeared now, there was a good chance they would shoot first and ask questions later.

He silenced his footsteps and crept along the wall toward the sound of the fighting.

Soon, he heard Juan cursing.

“Damn it! Where did all these Reptilians come from? They’re even crawling on the walls!”

Juan relied on the divine power granted by Tonatiuh to block most of the bullets, but the remaining impact still battered him badly.

He glanced at his men.

Fortunately, they hadn’t suffered many casualties. Only one person had died.

That man had been the first one caught in the ambush. He hadn’t had time to summon his divine power or even draw his gun before the Reptilians riddled him with bullets.

The entire situation seemed absurd.

As far as Juan knew, many supernatural creatures rejected modern technology and even human society itself. The Home of Wanderers also possessed very little information about the Reptilian forces, which was why they had been caught off guard.

Juan had always thought that actively adopting modern firearms made his own group remarkably progressive.

Now it seemed the Reptilians had gone completely in the opposite direction.

“It appears my friends here have been attacked by Reptilians. How does it feel?”

Juan stared at Liam.

“I thought you’d hide somewhere and wait until both sides had worn each other down before showing yourself.”

“No. That would take too long. Besides, there’s no way I’d miss something as exciting as confronting a major Reptilian stronghold firsthand.”

Juan still didn’t lower his guard.

The man in front of him certainly talked like Liam, but that didn’t rule out the possibility that he was a Reptilian in disguise.

Juan gave one of his men a look.

The man immediately understood. He conjured a spear and thrust it straight at Liam.

Whether Liam was a Reptilian or not, attacking him directly would settle the matter.

What happened next made Juan’s eyes widen.

Liam never stopped holding the camera steady. He simply extended his free hand and caught the spear firmly.

Then, with a casual swing, he hurled both the man and the spear straight into the wall.

The impact was so violent that the man coughed up blood.

Juan already knew Liam was extremely powerful.

He simply hadn’t expected Liam’s raw physical strength alone to be this overwhelming.

“Diego, that was extremely rude to our guest.”

Diego was so shaken by Liam that he remained sitting on the floor until Juan spoke.

Only then did he snap back to his senses, scramble to his feet, and hurriedly apologize.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Liam. We’re all just a little on edge.”

Liam looked over the group with a faint smile, making several of them uneasy, before finally speaking.

“It seems my friends really are nervous. But after that little incident, I imagine everyone is properly prepared for whatever enemies we encounter next.”

Juan didn’t entirely understand what Liam meant, but he assumed Liam intended to cooperate with them against whatever came next.

So he ordered his men to resume searching for clues related to the Reptilians.

Liam offered a suggestion.

“When I investigated the Reptilians before, I noticed they have a habit of hiding their secrets underground.”

Juan nodded without questioning him and immediately began searching the first floor for an entrance leading below.

It didn’t take long for them to find a tightly sealed door with a fingerprint scanner beside it.

Anyone with common sense could tell that something important was hidden behind it.

“Diego, open the door.”

Diego nodded and stepped forward.

He knew nothing about complicated locks or fingerprint scanners.

What he did know was how to use the divine power within his body to conjure an enormous obsidian saw-blade sword and bring it crashing down on the door.

“CREEEAK!”