Chapter 181 Aftermath Of The Hound Invasion

Number 3 hovered over the golden hound and shook his head. The men dispatched with him to save Lee Seng and his friends were running around him and locking the scene down. Alex leaned down and pressed his fingers against the Inmate's neck, checking for a pulse.

'No pulse. He's dead.' Alex thought. He began to stand when he noticed the puncture marks all over the Inmate.

"One of you, come here." Alex motioned. One of the soldiers peeled away from securing their section and stood ready besides Alex. Alex stood up and looked at the soldier and pointed at the golden hound. "Secure the body for an autopsy. I need to know what killed him."

"Yes, sir." The soldier saluted. Alex nodded and moved over to the open hole and sighed. The large lights above ground were just as blinding as the ones they had put down here. He felt the ground rumble around him. He squatted and jumped, the earth pushing him away.

Alex flew to the top and landed on the concrete. The earth users had stabilized the earth around them from crumbling due to his or someone's recklessness. Alex strolled past workers who saluted and acknowledged him.

"How's the situation?" Scarlet's voice spoke in his ear. Alex had forgotten he was in comms with his wife. He continued forward, peeling away from the group and turned around to access the situation once he got far enough.

"All of the students sustained some type of burn or electrical burn markings. The man who called for help, Yamada, was distressed about the situation. He was comforting one of his friends who was furthest away from the rest of the group when we appeared." Alex explained to Scarlet. He could hear his wife sigh. He could see her putting a finger up to her lip as she soaked in all of the information.

"It's not so great over here, either." Scarlet told him. "The Third Year students were hit the hardest. Whoever sent these guys must've had a lot more intel than we expected them to have."

"Mmm, and what about the other years? They didn't get hit as hard?"

"Minimal damage to the Fourth Years. They managed to secure some golden hound helmet guys. First Year and Second Years sustained injuries across the board but managed to get to the mansion with the help of Fourth Years."

"Mmm," Alex sighed. He watched as two teleporters appeared with a stretcher of the Inmate and turned around. "Scar…"

"Hmm?" Scarlet's default response to her husband. When he didn't respond for a while, Scarlet cleared her throat. "What is it, Evans?"

"One of those golden hounds was an Inmate."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. I was the one who responded to his case when he went on a rampage. He was the guy who had these particularly interesting metal balls and could command them to do simple things. He nearly blew up a skyscraper with them…"

"And what's his status?"

p "He's dead. How could a dangerous man like him be dead from those kids?"

"They're Third Years, Alex. They're on the cusp of being actual combatants. The guy could've gotten cocky."

"But what I saw didn't seem like he was cocky." Alex sighed.

"What makes you say that? You aren't a doctor and you aren't great at examining crime scenes."

"There were puncture marks all over him… That's why I sent him to autopsy. I have a bad feeling about this, Scar."

"Sir!" A female's voice shouted. Alex recognized this woman as the Third Year Fighter aide, Vanessa Cather. Vanessa saluted and Alex waved at her.

"Anything to report, Cather?" Alex asked. He tapped at his earpiece and silenced himself. Vanessa held her hands behind her back and leaned backwards, slightly.

"The students went through the tunnels like some of the other Third Years. Some workers have found the students and guided them safely to their base points. I got some men scouring the sewers as we speak, but I'm worried about the infection zones the workers have been talking about."

"The infection zones have been getting worse. Did any of the students inhale any of the colored smoke or explode something?"

"That's the thing, sir. The group you just extracted was in the crossfire of some workers clearing out a recently red infection zone. One of the workers ignited the air and an explosion was set off, harming their team and pacifying the infection. The colored smoke that didn't get ignited was pushed out and we're to believe that they breathed some of that toxic air in."

"Alright, have you alerted the hospital that took them in?" Alex asked.

"Yes, sir. I have one of my men making the call right now."

"Good, good. Cather, do you need more men down in the sewers?"

"We're currently scouring this quadrant, sir. If you wish to aid me, I wouldn't be opposed to it, sir." Vanessa looked backwards and pointed at the scene. "But I see you got your hands tied with clearing off the scene. I don't wanna pull your own crew from this if you need them here."

"I'll ask HQ for more men down in the sewers in all quadrants. If other students got the same idea, they'd probably go into the sewers. Who knows if <strong>any</strong> of the students got any information on the state of the tunnels."

"I would appreciate that, sir." Vanessa saluted.

"Don't worry. I have necessary measures prepared and will join once I'm done here." Alex waved.

- 1 ? Weeks Later -

"The hound invasion on the Numbers Academy alerting Capitol City and the rest of the world to terrorism acts."

"The Academy Invasion brings worry to parents."

"Number 1 stands in front of the press to address the Academy Invasion."

"Lee Seng Chang Rumored to be center of attacks!"

"Rumors are being denied by the Academy! Are they hiding the truth?"

Lee Seng tossed his phone and sighed. The news about the hound invasion alerted the whole world of terrorism within the strongest city in the world. He found himself not in the Academic district and in one of the Academies quarantine sectors when he woke up. No one told him much about why he was there, other than bringing up the "toxic air" he and his friends had breathed in.

In the last week and a half, Lee Seng saw the articles roll in. The "state" of the Academy was talked about along with the safety of the students and upset from the parents. Somehow, among all of these things, rumors about Lee Seng started to float around. Lee Seng pushed himself off the bed and looked around the room. It was bare of furniture. Black Dark Matter walls, white floors, a glassed off area used as a bathroom. He noticed small cameras in the room and, thankfully, his concern about the glassed off bathroom wasn't his top concern.

He moved over to the bathroom door and pulled it open. He stepped inside and turned the lock. The glass frosted over and Lee Seng let out a loud sigh.

'It's been almost two weeks and they haven't let us go. They won't let us go because they need "more testing" on the state of the toxins in my body… I figure it's like that for the rest of the group too…' Lee Seng moved over to the sink and turned it on. He let the water run for a while before he splashed himself with water.

"In that time, classes were cancelled for the rest of the week and then started back up like nothing… I got classes and homework to do but I can't seem to focus knowing I'm trapped here…" He slapped the faucet off and shook his head. "It's so boring to get recorded lessons sent to you through the tablet…"

Lee Seng dried his face and hands with the towel and unlocked the door. The frosted glass turned back to normal and there stood a doctor in a hazmat suit.

"It's time for your check up." The doctor told him. Lee Seng sighed and moved over. He wandered over to the doctor and stood a couple of feet in front of him. Lee Seng lifted his arms and spread his legs and watched as the doctor started scanning his body. The doctor had a couple of screens showing up in his helmet and tapped at the air like he was typing.

"Alright, time for your shot." The doctor spoke. Lee Seng moved his legs and feet back together and lifted his right arm. The doctor pulled out a syringe needle and took the needle cap off. "This'll hurt for a second." All things he was used to hearing. The needle pricked his skin and the doctor injected a cloudy liquid into his system. He shivered, his tail shaking behind him as the cloudy liquid entered his body. The doctor pulled the syringe and capped it and put it back in its place.

"Alright, that's all." The doctor announced. Lee Seng watched as the doctor turned around and left the room.

"You aren't gonna give me a bandaid?" Lee Seng sarcastically asked. The doctor ignored him and knocked on the black wall. A small door opened and the doctor stepped out. Lee Seng gave a cheeky smile and turned around.

"No answers like always." Lee Seng shook his head.