Chapter 326
Looking back, I saw that the ceiling around the entrance to the ventilation duct I had passed through had collapsed miserably.
“You rat of a girl…!”
The Espers were attacking the ceiling in every direction.
Those crazy bastards…
I clicked my tongue and hurriedly moved my hands and feet.
Fortunately, the ventilation duct was covered by the outer wall of the ceiling, so the Espers were just breaking random concrete here and there without accurately pinpointing my location.
Thanks to that, I managed to escape the room and make my way to the corridor.
The Espers were so ferocious that I almost wished I’d rather die than be caught halfway. Even when I had done nothing, they had tortured me to the brink of death. I dreaded to imagine how much worse it would be if they decided to make me pay for my ‘crimes’.
I had no clear plan on where to go, but I crawled quickly, thinking only of getting as far away as possible.
***
Meanwhile, the Espers were fuming after destroying the ceiling structure without finding any trace of me.
Their misdirected anger eventually turned toward the other weak targets, the Guides.
“Everyone, get up now!”
They forcibly dragged the Guides, who had been hiding under the beds during the ceiling collapse, to their feet.
“You rats are all in this together… We’ll move you to a basement with no air.”
Since a Guide had escaped through the ventilation duct, and with the ceiling now in ruins, the Espers couldn’t keep the Guides in this room any longer. They lined up the trembling Guides and led them out.
There were nearly a hundred Guides in the room, but they were at the mercy of just two Espers. Over the long years, the Guides had learned well that even combined, they couldn’t match the strength of those two Espers.
But something unprecedented happened while they were confined in the building for so long.
“…What is all this commotion?”
Despite the soundproof walls and thick steel doors, the chaos of the ceiling being destroyed had leaked out. Visitors passing by had come to check on the noise.
The visitors were none other than the agency evaluation team. They were auditors from a government department dispatched to major administrative agencies and research institutes to investigate operations and provide feedback.
“And… who are all these people?”
One of the committee members asked with a puzzled look, noticing the group of people being led away with their arms bound like prisoners.
This wasn’t a sight one would expect to see at a pharmaceutical institution, unless it was a prison.
Unlike the Espers who imprisoned and used the Guides as tools, the visitors from outside, who considered respect for the weak as common sense, found this scene unfamiliar.
The Esper was flustered but forced a smile and tried to brush it off.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t seem like nothing. Why are you herding these people like animals?”
“They are patients who have just undergone clinical trials for a newly developed d**g. They’re still weak from the anesthesia, so we’re just supporting them. Herding them like animals? That’s absurd.”
Despite the sudden situation, the Esper’s explanation flowed smoothly.
However, despite being the best he could offer, the explanation lacked credibility.
“Shouldn’t patients still under the effects of anesthesia be transported safely on beds?”
“…”
Caught off guard, the Esper was momentarily at a loss for words.
After a brief silence, he took a step back.
“…It seems we overlooked that aspect. We’ll make sure to correct it in the future.”
He tried to sound casual, but sweat was trickling down the Esper’s back.
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