The Slaughterhouse

“Little Yu, are you done here?”

Shen Yiyue kicked the door open with a loud bang, startling the frightened individuals inside the room once again.

She then noticed that Ning Yu had already helped a woman to her feet and seated her in a corner of the room.

“It’s done. How’s the situation outside?”

Ning Yu walked toward the survivors in the corner, who were still unsure how to react. However, their fear had lessened somewhat.

They had seen that Ning Yu didn’t kill their companion but instead freed her from the ropes and removed the device that sealed her awakening ability from her neck.

Shen Yiyue approached the woman with the bloodied scalp and reached out to touch her.

The woman slightly recoiled but allowed Shen Yiyue’s hand to make contact. Immediately, she felt a comforting warmth.

The wound on her head began to heal at an astonishing rate, and the searing pain started to fade.

“You’re… also an Awakener?”

The woman, now healed, tentatively asked.

Shen Yiyue nodded and reassured her,

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

On the other side of the room, Ning Yu destroyed the ropes and the collar-like devices around the necks of the other Awakeners.

“Th-thank you…”

They expressed their gratitude while stretching their stiff bodies from being bound.

However, their eyes still held a trace of awe. They hadn’t been able to see how Ning Yu had killed the soldiers earlier.

The silver-haired girl had moved like the Grim Reaper, effortlessly slaughtering the entire room of soldiers in just a few moments.

As Ning Yu untied them one by one, she also checked their awakening abilities.

Most of them had now turned friendly due to being rescued.

[Detected target’s Origin: Devour]

[Detected replicable Origin ability: Feast]

[Would you like to replicate it?]

[Detected target’s Origin: Light]

[Detected replicable Origin ability: Light Generation]

[Would you like to replicate it?]

Ning Yu couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated as she read through the abilities.

What kind of ability is being able to eat anything and convert it into nutrients?

And what’s the point of generating a beam of intense light?

It seemed that the abilities of Awakeners varied greatly. These abilities didn’t seem particularly useful in combat but might have some advantages in daily life.

Still, having them was better than nothing, so Ning Yu replicated all of their abilities.

Looking at the list of strange new skills in her ability panel, she felt that the trip hadn’t been a waste.

Ning Yu thought that if she could save more Awakeners, she might eventually encounter some truly useful abilities.

None of them had undergone cybernetic enhancements, meaning they were natural Awakeners.

Judging from the creation of Soul Gems, perhaps artificially awakened individuals through cybernetics couldn’t be used as materials.

However, artificial awakening through cybernetics wasn’t entirely without merit. From what Ning Yu had observed, those individuals mostly gained combat-related abilities.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t replicate these artificially awakened abilities.

Otherwise, she could have copied Ning Xuan’s Spatial Leap.

“How did all of you end up being captured here?”

After gathering them together again, Ning Yu asked.

“I was from the C City Survivor Base…”

“I came from…”

Most of them were from different regions, but they all shared one common trait.

They had joined a survivor base.

The way these bases operated was similar to the “Ark,” though some were more ruthless, with harsher oppression and exploitation.

In comparison, the Ark seemed like a much better place, and Zhuang Wugou appeared to be a relatively benevolent leader.

These Awakeners had mostly been working in their respective bases before being captured in various ways.

Some were kidnapped in their sleep, while others were ambushed and knocked out during missions.

Ning Yu suddenly thought of the Awakeners from the Ark who had gone out on missions and never returned.

It seemed that the practice of sacrificing Awakeners to feed zombies had become increasingly blatant, to the point of directly abducting people from bases.

It was likely because this method was more efficient, so they no longer bothered to hide it.

All of this was for…

“They… they’re using us to create something…”

One of them raised his hand and spoke to Ning Yu.

“I once saw them throw zombies that had absorbed our energy and had crystals on their bodies into a machine.”

“Then, a liquid energy that looked like light flowed out of the machine.”

His eyes were filled with fear, as if he couldn’t believe such a cruel practice existed.

Suddenly, he muttered loudly,

“We have to go back. Everyone in the base has been deceived.”

Several other Awakeners who had just regained their composure chimed in:

“They’re treating us like livestock!”

“They must pay for this!”

Their once fearful faces were now filled with anger.

Ning Yu finally understood that the so-called survivor bases were merely facilities to cultivate or select Awakeners from the general population.

Once they had grown strong enough, they were fed to zombies, and their energy was extracted using this sinister technology to create Soul Gems.

These bases were essentially large-scale slaughterhouses, waiting for the “piglets” to grow before slaughtering them.

Such a sinister method, along with the terrifying T-virus, was completely different from what she had heard in the recording from the serum, spoken by a man named William.

There must be more to this story that she didn’t know.

[Ding! Normal Quest: Rescue as many surviving Awakeners as possible, completed.]

[Rewards distributed: Stamina +1, Mental Power +1, Charm +1]

This time, the attribute points were evenly distributed.

Ning Yu walked over and opened the door, and at the same time, the system’s quest completion notification echoed in her mind.

She let all the surviving Awakeners escape from the room. On their way to the surface, countless challenges likely awaited them.

However, Ning Yu could no longer help them. She had more important matters to attend to.

Meanwhile, Shen Yiyue stripped a uniform from a soldier and used her ability to restore the clothes to their pristine, blood-free state.

She quickly put it on, intending to use it as a simple disguise.

She grabbed another uniform and was about to hand it to Ning Yu when she noticed the awkward look on Ning Yu’s face.

It then dawned on her: Ning Yu wasn’t tall enough. There were no soldiers here who were only 1.5 meters tall.

If Ning Yu tried to disguise herself, it would only make her stand out more.