128 The Mad Dean!

The next second, Xue Feng emerged from the shadows.

"You certainly have a high tolerance for pain. Why didn't you tell the truth?" Xue Feng asked as he untied Qin Fengshan.

"These people are lunatics. No matter what you say, they’ll torture you anyway. Besides, I had a few stories prepared, but I wasn’t about to reveal any information about your base," Qin Fengshan replied with a bitter smile.

Qin Fengshan had seen these people kill or maim other survivors. Even those who recited their entire family trees couldn't escape the fate of being tortured. Qin Fengshan had simply decided to stay silent. After all, they wouldn't have been able to tell if he was lying or not.

"You’re quite honest. From now on, you’re part of the base," Xue Feng said with a smile. He felt the reasoning was sound. Regardless of the torture, Qin Fengshan hadn't betrayed him, which made him worthy of trust. Qin Fengshan’s eyes immediately lit up with joy.

"Alright, tell me what you’ve encountered over the past few days," Xue Feng prompted.

Qin Fengshan immediately recounted his experience. Ever since Xue Feng had sent him to scout the North Hospital, he hadn't dared to delay and had set off immediately. Upon reaching the hospital entrance, he too had been stopped by a nurse who asked if he was an ability user. When Qin Fengshan said no, he was thrown inside. What followed was interrogation and torture. However, because a few unlucky people were brought in every day, it hadn't been his turn for the worst of the punishments yet. Instead, he had been locked in with zombies. Even though the zombies were in straitjackets, they had still made it impossible for him to sleep for days.

Of course, Qin Fengshan knew this wasn't the point. Xue Feng wanted intelligence on the facility.

"Everyone locked up here is being used by the Director for experiments! I don’t know what the experiments are, but I’ve never seen anyone who was taken away return alive," Qin Fengshan said. This was also why the mentally ill were kept alive; Qin Fengshan had heard the staff say the Director believed they also had research value.

"Are these people all employees of the mental hospital?" Xue Feng asked, gesturing to the corpses on the ground.

"Some are staff, some are patients! Others are survivors who were recruited into their ranks. I think there was a helicopter pilot who landed here and was actually released," Qin Fengshan explained. He didn't know much more than that.

These were all things Qin Fengshan had heard from other survivors.

"Why would normal people be willing to stay in a place like this?" Xue Feng muttered to himself. The blood-stained male doctor outside and those nurses all appeared to be normal people. Why would they willingly become pawns here, spending every day capturing people for experiments? Any normal survivor would know that in the apocalypse, the most important thing is to gather supplies and build a safe, strong base.

"The reason is simple. Their willingness to stay here has to do with Old Feng’s research! They all dream of becoming ability users!"

Suddenly, an old man in the cell spoke up. Xue Feng turned his gaze toward him; it was an elderly man who looked incredibly haggard, as if he were on the verge of breathing his last.

"You must be the original director of this mental hospital," Xue Feng said. According to his intelligence system, the former director was also being held in the basement. Among so many survivors, he was the only one who fit the profile.

The old director was slightly stunned, clearly not expecting Xue Feng to recognize him. He squinted, seemingly lost in memory. "I am the former director, though who could have imagined it would end up like this! That man, Old Feng, took over as director and started doing these insane things."

"Is this 'Old Feng' the new director you're talking about? Who is he?" Xue Feng asked.

"Correct. Old Feng was once a well-known biologist. His research projects hit a bottleneck, which triggered clear paranoid traits in him. He could no longer work, so his family sent him to North Hospital," the old director said with a bitter laugh before continuing. Because of his previous status, Old Feng had enjoyed high-level treatment at the hospital. His personal freedom wasn't restricted, and they even prepared a laboratory for him—though the conditions were crude, it was just to indulge his needs and make it look like he was busy, which was part of his treatment.

Who could have predicted the apocalypse would break out? Everything fell into chaos. Old Feng somehow became an ability user and instantly seized control of the entire hospital. He claimed to have discovered a new genetic code for humanity, preaching that whoever followed him could become an ability user. He called it a gift from God intended to help humanity evolve, and anyone who didn't follow his commands would simply be a stepping stone in the path of human progress.

Most people surrendered to Old Feng; no one wanted to die. The few who resisted, like the old director, were locked away.

"Old Feng really is using us for experiments!" the old director sighed heavily.

"A lunatic!" Xue Feng shook his head. One moment talking about scientific experiments, the next about divine instructions—if that wasn't a lunatic, what was? Xue Feng knew many scientists whose research eventually led them astray, gradually shifting from science to theology, simply because current technology couldn't explain this overly complex world, whereas theology claimed everything was created by God.

"No! That's not all... Old Feng’s experiments actually succeeded in part!" the old director suddenly whispered, his eyes narrowing.

"What!" Xue Feng’s eyes widened. Old Feng’s research was meant to make ordinary people evolve into ability users. If the old director was saying he had partially succeeded, what did that mean?

"A few days ago, I was taken to his lab, and I saw the results of his research... He succeeded! He changed human genes," the old director said, gasping for air. He seemed highly agitated.

"How did he succeed?" Xue Feng pressed.

But the old director’s head suddenly slumped to the side, and he went still. Xue Feng frowned, grabbed the metal bars, and bent them open. When he stepped in to check, he found the old director was already dead. He had likely been hanging on by a thread, and the sudden emotional outburst had finished him off.

"That old gentleman! He didn't even finish his sentence!" Qin Fengshan couldn't help but complain.

"It doesn't matter. As long as he gave me enough to figure out the truth, it's fine. But before we do anything else, you need to eat. All of you need to eat," Xue Feng said, pulling some food from his spatial backpack.