Chapter 102: The Purge Operation

A sinister eyeball veined like a tangled spider web, seemingly still possessing some form of vitality—you observed it closely...
...and you realized it was constantly smiling...
“What kind of weird clue is this...”
Colin’s expression twisted oddly; he wasn’t sure if the eerie nature of the eyeball was causing the hint to be so vague,
or if this thing was just a useless item...
Or perhaps it contained valuable information that he simply couldn’t comprehend.
The crucial point was...
“Constantly smiling?”
Who the hell could make sense of that?
Colin pulled the eyeball out—it was limp and soft, like a squeezed orange...
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine as his gaze locked with the pupil.
For a moment, he was dazed, but he quickly recovered and looked away.
He felt that this thing was filled with nothing but ominous dread.
Yet, discarding it seemed like too much of a waste.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Colin stuffed the eyeball back into his backpack without further inspection.
“There’s another eyeball from the other mission—it looks like a pair. I’ll see if anything changes when they’re together.”
He didn’t dwell on it much, gathered his thoughts, and led everyone back to the opera hall.
By now, the place had fallen completely silent, the floor soaked with a layer of blood, the air thick with the choking stench of smoke and gore.
With every step, Colin and his group felt the sticky, slippery flesh and bone crushed beneath their feet.
Blood bubbles burst out around the edges of their shoes with each pressure applied...
“First, we rescue the survivors, then we’ll clear out the remaining monsters.”
Colin scanned the dozen or so stone archways, quickly pinpointing one—
that was where the dungeon was located.
Just then, a survivor whispered, “Can we... can we go over there for a moment?”
“For what?”
Colin turned, surprised, to see the four survivors—a trio of men and one woman—staring sorrowfully at a corner of the hall...
Underneath a mound of pale, rotting flesh, a similarly pale but unwarped hand was protruding, still pointing in some direction...
Perhaps by some stroke of luck...
it had survived the bombardment.

“Go ahead.”
Without waiting for a response, Colin nodded, and the four survivors hurried over.
They heaved the massive slab of decaying meat aside and then saw...
only an arm remained.
The suppressed grief finally erupted.
Soon, only muffled sobs of sorrow remained.
“Sorry...”
“No, don’t say that. Brother Wang’s last wish was to take these monsters down with him...”
One of the survivors spoke with mixed emotions. “His wish has been fulfilled; we owe everything to you...”
Colin said nothing, quietly stepping back a short distance. After a few minutes, once their emotions had settled and no more limbs were found, they resumed their mission.
There were six more people locked inside the dungeon.
Yet as Colin approached this eerily silent area, a sudden cacophony erupted—screams, banging, the clatter of chains...
Sounds came from multiple rooms.
“Don’t come closer, please don’t...”
“Please, don’t touch me anymore...”
“Why can’t I die? Ah, someone, please kill me...”
When Colin and his group arrived, the dungeon’s rooms were filled with maddened cries...
Their footsteps seemed to have agitated those inside.
Some cells echoed with dull thuds of people banging on walls, others with the wails of chained prisoners, and some were deathly silent, leaving their fates unknown...
[You realize they have all fallen into irreversible permanent madness...]
As the warning appeared, a few survivors with reddened eyes awkwardly performed the “Praise the Sun” gesture while saying:
“This is why we didn’t bring them when we escaped—the torment was unbearable, they all went mad...
We’re lucky the torture didn’t come to us, otherwise, we wouldn’t be any better off...”
They whispered.
Colin said nothing, moving from cell to cell with a blank expression.
His gaze finally settled on a large chamber filled with spiked torture devices, blood staining every surface...
In the flickering glow of a lantern, amidst the stench of blood and debauchery, several mutilated, naked female figures hung suspended, swaying slightly...
Among them were survivors, their servants, and even older, desiccated female corpses, some of animals as well...
“Let’s get these people out first.”

Colin withdrew his gaze and looked at the remaining living prisoners, their clothes soaked in blood, their spirits shattered...
Some were repeatedly banging their heads against the walls, trying to end their misery...
At his words, Shana immediately sprang into action, forcibly tearing down all the dungeon doors barehanded.
Each survivor was then injected with at least three vials of “augmenting serum”...
Finally, they quieted.
All of them collapsed onto the floor, faces filled with devout and fanatic reverence, kneeling and murmuring prayers...
In their eyes, Colin appeared shrouded in a sacred aura, a bringer of peace and fulfillment.
But to Colin, these six bedraggled, battered survivors whispering praises at his feet stirred a complicated mix of emotions.
Not long ago, they had been ordinary people just like him...
Had fate been kinder, some might have become enemies, others friends.
No one could say how the future would have unfolded...
But at the start, they had joked and talked on the regional channel...
Now, not even two days later, this was the tragic outcome.
Though their faces now bore a fanatical serenity thanks to the drugs,
to Colin, it was merely trading one form of madness for another slightly more bearable one.
In essence... there was little difference.
“If there’s ever a chance in the future... I’ll help you regain the humanity you lost.”
He said quietly before standing and helping them to their feet.
Irreversible didn’t mean impossible—if they could survive the terrifying countdown...
there was still hope.
Then, scanning the room without a trace of emotion, he declared:
“All these threats must be utterly destroyed.”
After removing the shredded female corpses hanging like tattered sacks, the cleansing operation began.
The degenerate noble spawn hiding in corners were dragged out, their legs broken, and dumped on the opera hall stage...
Then, under Colin’s command, they were executed by firing squad.