The girl finished speaking, and another lizard opened its mouth, beginning to narrate its experience: "I'm a truck driver. I remember that day I was transporting a batch of lumber towards Gaogang City. Suddenly, a strange, turbid poisonous fog appeared on the road. My eyelids instantly felt incredibly heavy, and I slowly fell asleep. I thought I would crash and die, but when I woke up, I only felt a slight injury on my forehead. Then, just like that girl, I was lying on a cold iron bed. The events in between were similar to what she described. When I woke up the second time, I had already become like this."
Then, quite a few more lizards spoke of their encounters, but I noticed a problem: their experiences were all largely the same. In any case, they were all knocked unconscious or attacked before being taken to some laboratory and forcibly given plastic surgery.
I crossed my arms and lowered my head, contemplating for a moment before saying, "Do you remember what the staff looked like?"
"They were all wearing white lab coats and holding large syringes. Their faces were covered, and they wore glasses, head covers, and rubber gloves..." the high school girl said.
So, there was indeed some kind of laboratory. This was close to what I had guessed. It seemed I had to take these people out with me first, and then we would see. Even though their fate after leaving would likely not be good, it was still better than staying here forever.
So, I said, "Follow me. I can protect you!"
"Thank you, officer. But how can I trust you are a police officer? Where is your badge?" a lizard with an uncle's voice said to me. Although it was a bit eerie that they could speak human language, now that I knew their true identities, it wasn't that frightening anymore.
The crucial point was that my police badge was not with me at the moment. I could only say, "It's no use if you don't believe me. If you don't want to follow, you can leave at any time!"
I didn't want to waste time arguing with these people. In any case, whether they followed me or not was their own choice. Just then, the high school girl exclaimed, "Wait! I think I've seen this man's face somewhere before. Could it be... I remember now, you must be Mr. He Sheng, the renowned Detective He, right? I saw you on TV before, and I'm a fan! Didn't you recently write a book called 'Forensic Investigator of Strange Cases: Unnatural Deaths'? I remember it was your autobiography, wasn't it? I won't mistake you!"
Good heavens, as soon as the girl mentioned it, the other lizard people immediately reacted. I would call them lizard people for now, otherwise, I wouldn't know how to use "he" and "it."
"That's right! I remember Detective He solved the Lolita murder case. And before that, the Moonlight Baptism and other bizarre cases in Guangming City. He was originally a forensic pathologist but was promoted by Director Zhang to lead the Sin-Punishment team due to his outstanding work! He's hailed in China as the first genius detective in history to surpass Sherlock Holmes. I never thought we'd actually meet this great figure today!" The uncle's ability to read the wind and steer the boat was truly admirable.
"If it's really him, then we're saved. Mr. He Sheng has solved so many dangerous incidents before; I'm sure this time will be no different. Mr. He Sheng!" a voice from an aunt chimed in.
I felt a little embarrassed by the praise from these lizard people. I rubbed the back of my head, looked up, and said, "Please don't say that. Now, if you're going to follow me, be vigilant. Let's try to get out of this mall first!"
Mentioning this, the uncle said, "It's no use. We've already tried. The exits of this mall seem to be sealed off."
"What?" I exclaimed, looking around.
Just then, that eerie voice echoed, "Ahahaha, Detective He, I didn't expect everyone to recognize you. Alright! It seems the second trial will be even more exciting. Hello everyone, I am Jing Zijin, the judge for your second trial!"
"Jing Zijin, you won't succeed! I will find you and arrest you myself!"
"Oh really? Do you know where I am? This is the Valley of Lost Souls, our territory. With your skill, how could you possibly find me? However, if you pass the trial, you'll have to bother my girlfriend Zheng Ni. Ahahaha!"
"Oh, you bad guys, you even have girlfriends? I never expected that. I will not only arrest you, but I'll arrest your so-called girlfriend too. Prepare for punishment. The prison gates will forever be open for you!"
"Heh heh, He Sheng, aren't you a detective? Why are you only good at talking now? Show me some actual action!"
"Do I need to be evasive when talking to someone of your caliber? If you have the guts, just poison us all to death here, instead of playing these ridiculous games!"
"Do you think I don't want to? It's all thanks to the Red Cardinal. Oh well, I shouldn't mention him. Let's begin. This trial is actually for you to escape the mall. The time limit is 1 hour. If you are still trapped here within this hour, then, as you said, Detective He, you will indeed be poisoned to death here. Do you see cameras on the surrounding walls? I've modified them. They are all channels for spraying poison gas. Ah kah kah kah kah kah kah!! Fun, isn't it?"
As soon as Jing Zijin finished speaking, we indeed saw several cameras moving nearby. But the fronts of those cameras were indeed modified, revealing black nozzles.
At that moment, everyone around became extremely nervous. The girl grabbed my clothes and said, "Detective He, what should we do? Are we really going to be poisoned to death here?"
"Don't panic. We still have an hour. We must find a way to get out of here!" I comforted everyone. Although they looked like lizards, they seemed to retain human abilities. So, I had them split up to search. I took the lizard girl upstairs, my mind racing. This mall was definitely not sealed off by accident. The reason it was sealed off was likely due to Jing Zijin's manipulation. I had to figure out how he had sealed off the area.
We quickly reached a back door, with the lizard girl following behind. Although it was a bit strange, this was not the time to worry about it. I tapped on the rolling shutter door in front of me, and suddenly heard an alarm sound from above: "Incorrect password. Please re-enter!"