Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins

“Hey! Su Mo! What did you promise me?!”

Seeing Su Mo losing control of his emotions, I raised my voice a few notches without even realizing it.

I hoped my voice could calm him down, but it was clear it was useless. There was no way to stop the man standing across from us from running his mouth.

“The cases I prepared-your precious senior solved them, you took the credit, and then you got rewarded! If the cases weren’t solved, you’d get punished by higher-ups! You should be grateful that you have such a useful tool.”

“Shut up!” Su Mo shouted.

I honestly didn’t understand why Su Mo was so agitated. However, anyone would feel terrible knowing their promotion was orchestrated by a villain pulling strings in the background.

“Director Su, what exactly are you afraid of? Are you scared of me telling the truth? Or that once this gets out, you’ll lose your position?

Could it be you’re jealous of your precious senior? Or are you simply afraid of me?”

BANG!

A gunshot rang in my ears. Instinctively, I covered them and stared in disbelief at the gun in Su Mo’s hand.

I knew Su Mo was armed, but I never imagined he’d fire it so suddenly and recklessly.

“You… Are you out of your mind?!”

I instinctively glanced over at the bandaged man. At this moment, I could only hope Su Mo hadn’t panicked and that his aim would be true-one bullet, one kill.

But when I looked, the scene before me filled me with profound disappointment.

The bandaged man stood there upright, completely unfazed. From within the gaps of the bandages, I caught the unmistakable hatred blazing in his deer-like eyes!

At that moment, my heart sank. Quickly grabbing Su Mo by the arm, I urged, “Let’s go. Now!”

But it was too late. I watched in shock as the bandaged man gestured with a wave of his hand. In an instant, a group of men dressed in black emerged from the shadows, surrounding us in a tight circle. My mind went blank-how could I not have anticipated this?

I should’ve come here alone. Now I was regretting bringing Su Mo along. I didn’t expect him to lose his composure and actually fire his weapon.

Su Mo’s breath became visibly more labored as the black-clad figures closed in.

“Leave, now!” I urged Su Mo, desperate.

I could stay behind. I was fairly certain the bandaged man wouldn’t kill me immediately.

But Su Mo was different. He was the director. Accompanying me on this field operation was already a stretch. If anything were to happen to him here, the entire police station would be implicated.

“Senior, what are you saying?! In this situation, our only option is to fight our way out! Besides, I would never let anything happen to you. Don’t even think about asking me to run away alone.”

Su Mo, this guy-he’s usually so obedient, almost to the point where he seems like he’s singing along to my tune. But the moment it truly matters, he becomes impossibly stubborn!

“Can you stop getting in the way? If even one of us can make it out, it’s worth it. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous!”

I was thinking about the bigger picture, but Su Mo was only fixated on me. This difference in priorities immediately created a rift between us.

Before Su Mo could say a word, he suddenly collapsed to the ground, as if he’d completely lost consciousness.

“Su Mo!”

I rushed over and shook him hard, but the guy was totally unresponsive!

“Su Mo! Are you okay?” I reached out and slapped his face repeatedly, yet there was still no reaction.

At this moment, the bandaged man standing across from the filtration pool suddenly spoke up. “Don’t bother. Neither of you is leaving here today!”

As soon as he finished, the bandaged man burst into unrestrained laughter. I glanced at the henchmen surrounding me, and just as I was bracing myself to make a move, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. Almost immediately, a wave of dizziness hit me like a freight train.

In that fleeting moment before I lost consciousness, I turned to look behind me. There, I saw a man holding an anesthetic gun.

The bandaged man sure was thorough! With so many henchmen at his disposal, he still went ahead and used anesthetics. What a joke!

When I finally opened my eyes again, I discovered Su Mo and I were locked inside a cell with literal impenetrable walls. I’m not exaggerating-they were actual walls of metal. Above us was a small air vent, barely big enough for a small dog to squeeze through.

At that moment, my head still felt foggy, the effects of the anesthetic not yet completely worn off. Likely due to the enhancement agent in my system, my body could tolerate a higher dose of anesthetic than an average person’s.

Su Mo still hadn’t woken up. As I dragged my weary body over to try and wake him, I suddenly caught a familiar smell in the air.

I took a couple of light breaths, trying to recall where I might have encountered this scent before.

The moment it hit me, my expression changed instantly. This was the exact same smell from the secret room that Jiang Wu had prepared for Bigo and me-the room where incense had been burned.

If my memory served me correctly, this particular scent could cause temporary unconsciousness!

Realizing this, I knew things had taken a turn for the worse. I quickly reached into my pocket and retrieved the antidote I’d prepared in advance.

Let me explain-after Jiang Wu’s case was wrapped up, I made a point to create a batch of this antidote and keep it on me at all times, just in case something like that ever happened again.

I never expected it to come in handy so soon.

I took one dose myself first. Then, I administered another to Su Mo.

After swallowing the antidote, I could feel my mind gradually regaining clarity.

Su Mo regained consciousness half an hour after I did.

“How are you feeling? Do you feel any discomfort?”

Incorrect usage of anesthetics can be fatal; there are plenty of such cases in medical literature. Just because I was fine didn’t mean Su Mo was. After all, I had the enhancement agent in my system, while Su Mo was just an ordinary man.

Su Mo shook his head, looking like he was in pain. “I’m… I’m fine.”

But seeing his pale face, I couldn’t help but worry. “Fine? You don’t look fine at all. Tell me-where are you feeling unwell?”

“Really, no issues.” Su Mo waved his hand with a weak smile. “I’m just a little dizzy, that’s all.”

“Alright. It’s probably the residual effects of the anesthetic. Still, we need to get out of here and head to the hospital for a proper checkup.”

“Get out of here?”

Su Mo glanced around at our surroundings, then let out a bitter laugh. “Senior, you really know how to crack a joke. What, are we supposed to climb out through the air vent?”

“Quit joking around,” I said with a sigh of exasperation. “Even if we managed to get up there, there’s no way we’d actually fit through that tiny vent.”