The End of Ten Days

"Hold on!" Officer Li shouted. "The harpoons are limited in number. If we hold out a little longer, we’ll survive!"
Before anyone could respond, another scream echoed through the room.

Turning their heads, they saw it was Tian Tian.
Unlike Xiao Ran, she wasn’t as lucky. A harpoon had pierced her hand.
Tian Tian lost her strength momentarily, and the sector in front of her was knocked askew by the incoming harpoons.

"Be careful!"
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and reached out to grab the sector in front of Tian Tian.
In that brief moment, a harpoon flew through the gap and pierced Han Yimo’s shoulder.

Han Yimo let out a painful scream, but he still tightly held onto his sector.
"Don’t panic!"
Officer Li reached out to support Han Yimo, then spread his hands to hold up half of the sector for him.

Qiao Jiajin also acted quickly, reaching out to help Tian Tian steady her sector.
Fortunately, these two men were very strong, and the formation began to stabilize again.
As the sound of impacts gradually lessened, everyone realized just how effective this formation was.

If they had followed Officer Li and Dr. Zhao’s plan, arranging the sectors in an alternating pattern, the sectors would have been perpendicular to the harpoons, making them extremely easy to penetrate.
But the "bamboo shoot after the rain" formation meant that the harpoons from all five directions hit the sectors at an angle, greatly reducing their penetrating power.
Especially the harpoons coming from directly above, which were now deflected due to the cone shape.

After a while, the noise outside the sectors completely stopped.
"Is it over?" Han Yimo asked through gritted teeth.
"Wait another minute," Qi Xia replied.

Everyone held their sectors for another minute, confirming that there was indeed no more movement outside.
Qiao Jiajin carefully moved a sector aside and peeked out.
"Damn…" He was instantly stunned by the sight.
Everyone slowly moved their sectors aside and saw that the floor and table were almost completely covered in harpoons.

The two corpses on the floor were even more gruesome, now resembling porcupines, densely covered in spikes.
Each harpoon was connected to a rope, the other end of which led to the holes in the walls. The room was in complete disarray.
Dr. Zhao immediately rolled up his sleeves and went to Han Yimo’s side.

His condition was critical. The harpoon had pierced his shoulder and needed immediate attention.
Han Yimo slowly sat down, forcing a bitter smile. "I was just thinking about how unlucky I might be, and now this happens…"
Tian Tian looked deeply guilty and quickly apologized to Han Yimo.

But everyone knew it wasn’t her fault—she had also been pierced by a harpoon.
"Hey, pretty girl, come here," Qiao Jiajin waved her over. "I can bandage you up."
"Huh?" Tian Tian was surprised. "You know how to bandage wounds?"

"I know a little."
Qiao Jiajin tore a strip of cloth from the dead goat-headed man’s suit and split it into two pieces.
One piece was tightly wrapped around Tian Tian’s arm to stop the bleeding, while the other was carefully wrapped around her wound.

"I used to get hurt a lot on the streets, so I learned some basic first aid," Qiao Jiajin explained.
Tian Tian nodded slightly but didn’t say anything.
For the first time since arriving here, everyone had a moment of quiet, as if they had temporarily escaped the shadow of death.

But there was still no sign of a door. This damned room continued to trap them.
What kind of place was this?
What was outside the room?

In less than a minute, a sigh came from Dr. Zhao’s direction.
Qi Xia turned to look and saw that Dr. Zhao, who was treating Han Yimo’s wound, now had a troubled expression.
"What’s wrong?" Officer Li asked. "Is the injury serious?"

"The injury itself isn’t too bad," Dr. Zhao shook his head. "But I can’t remove the harpoon."
Everyone moved closer and saw that the situation was indeed tricky.
The tip of the harpoon had a barb, making it extremely painful and dangerous to pull out.

And the tail of the harpoon was connected to a rope.
At this moment, Han Yimo was like a fish caught on a hook—no matter where he went, the rope would keep him tethered.
"We’ll have to cut the rope and pull the harpoon out from the front," Dr. Zhao said, looking up. "But I don’t have any sharp tools on hand."

Han Yimo’s lips were pale, and the harpoon piercing his shoulder blade was causing him immense pain.
"Use another harpoon," Officer Li said decisively. "Even though they’re pointed, they’re still sharp enough."
"That’s the only option," Dr. Zhao nodded. "Writer, I need you to lie down in the most relaxed position possible. We’ll cut the rope on your back. Take your time and be careful not to injure yourself further with the harpoon in front."

Han Yimo nodded and began to painfully adjust his position.
Qi Xia watched this scene with a growing sense of unease.
Take your time?

Did they really have time to do this now?
He looked at the ropes scattered across the floor, and a sense of foreboding filled his mind.
If he wasn’t mistaken, they were still racing against the clock.

"We can’t take our time!" Qi Xia suddenly spoke up. "We need to remove the harpoon now!"
He quickly walked over to Dr. Zhao and said to Han Yimo with a serious expression, "Bear with it. I’m going to pull the harpoon out right now!"
Han Yimo was confused but didn’t refuse.

"What are you doing?!" Dr. Zhao pushed Qi Xia angrily. "You’ll make his injury worse!"
"There’s no time! If we delay, he’ll die!" Qi Xia pushed Dr. Zhao back and grabbed the harpoon on Han Yimo’s back.
A scream echoed through the room.

The barbed harpoon was easy to pierce but nearly impossible to remove.
"Hey!" Officer Li ran over and pulled Qi Xia away, shouting angrily, "Are you trying to kill him?"
Qi Xia, having been stopped twice, now looked grim.

"I understand you want to save him, but if we don’t hurry, the harpoon will—"
Before Qi Xia could finish, the sound of chains echoed through the room again, as if some massive mechanism had been activated.
Following that was Han Yimo’s heart-wrenching scream.

Everyone finally realized that all the harpoons were slowly being retracted by the ropes.
Han Yimo, still on the floor, was being dragged by the immense force.
Qi Xia had noticed this earlier—the ropes on the harpoons weren’t just for show. They would eventually retract the harpoons.

Everyone panicked and followed Han Yimo as he was dragged. Officer Li tried to pull the rope, fighting against the immense force from the black holes, but it was futile.
The sectors on the floor, now riddled with harpoons, were gradually torn apart and also began to retract.
The force capable of shredding wooden sectors was far beyond what bare hands could withstand.

Though in excruciating pain, Han Yimo quickly realized another problem.
If he was dragged to the wall and still couldn’t free himself from the harpoon, he would be pinned to the wall and left to die.
Thinking this, he painfully stood up, grabbed Qi Xia, and said word by word, "Help me get the harpoon out! Now!"

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