SSS Ranked Beast Tamer: My EP increases with girls-Chapter 51: CH 0: Lockdown! (MR 5)

"Chris?" Dave asked, his voice filled with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Chris gave a small, knowing smile. "You were right," he replied, recalling one of their earlier conversations. "The mall is definitely the easiest place. So I figured, why not take a little stroll? And here I am."

Dave shook his head in disbelief and laughed, unable to believe Chris was joking around in the middle of all this. It almost felt surreal.

But Chris wasn’t alone. Behind him, the three teenage boys, the ones assigned to his group had followed him into the room. They shut the door behind them, their presence heavy in the air.

Without hesitation, they began working to release the binds that held Dave and the others to their chairs. As the ropes were cut, Eric’s eyes briefly flickered to Gab, a look of confusion crossing his face. He could have sworn he saw Gab smirking at him, as if he found some sort of satisfaction in the situation.

In Gab’s mind, he was thinking, ’Is this the guy you followed? I always knew he was faking his strength. Now look at him, strapped down like a helpless idiot. What a loser.’

Felix, who was busy releasing Ella’s bindings, couldn’t help but smile shyly at her. Ella, however, didn’t return the smile. It wasn’t that she couldn’t; it was just that her mind was elsewhere, focused on the sound of Chris’s voice as he explained the situation outside. The lab was under attack by beasts, and everyone had rushed out to fight them.

"We need to move quickly before they come back," Chris said, his tone urgent as he finished untying Dave. "Everyone’s distracted by the attack outside, so now is the best time for us to escape."

"Alright, let’s get going then," Dave responded, his voice steady, despite the chaos unfolding around them.

Without wasting any time, they all began to make their way out of the room. As they exited, they cautiously checked the hall to ensure no one was around. The last thing they needed was to run into another group of enemies.

"So, where are we going?" Ella asked, her curiosity now getting the better of her.

"There’s an exit through the back door," Chris explained. "That’s where we’ll escape."

Ella narrowed her eyes in thought. "How do you know about all this?"

Chris glanced at her, his expression serious. "My dad used to visit here with me, we’re quite aquainted with the owner of this lab. But things got bad between my dad and him, so we stopped visiting after that."

"You mean White?" Ella asked, piecing it together.

"Yeah, his name is White," Chris confirmed, his voice tight with a hint of bitterness.

"But seriously, how did you guys find us?" Dave asked again, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Chris hesitated for a moment before answering. "Well, I saw Tasha and White meeting up somewhere along the lane leading to Willow’s Street. I was about to leave for the mall when I saw you guys getting captured. And knowing White like I do, I figured he was up to something shady. I put two and two together and realized he must have taken you to his main lab. So, I snuck in here with these three guys here," he gestured to the other teens, "and we managed to track you down."

He paused, a faint smirk on his lips. "Luckily, there was a guard at your door, so I was able to figure out you were in here. Otherwise, I would have been searching every room trying to find you."

Before Dave could ask anything further, they heard the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps coming their way. Without hesitation, they all rushed into the nearest room to hide. It was a morgue, but none of them cared at this point.

As they huddled inside, the familiar beeping sound of an alert went off, followed by a robotic female voice:

"Total lockdown has been initiated. Defensive measures activated. Please stay down while we resolve all issues."

"Now what?" Ella muttered, frustration creeping into her voice.

Chris sighed, glancing at the door as the footsteps grew louder. "Now, we’re trapped here until the lockdown is lifted."

Everyone let out a weary sigh as the weight of the situation began to settle in. But Chris, unable to shake off a nagging thought that had been bothering him for a while, decided to ask the question that had been on his mind. He gestured for Dave to come closer, and they began to discuss quietly.

"Is it because of the fight with Ajax? Tasha seems to be holding onto that grudge pretty seriously," Chris said, his voice laced with concern.

Dave shrugged, a hint of frustration in his eyes. "Yeah, I guess she’s still mad about the fact that I defeated her nephew."

Chris let out a sharp breath, clearly irritated. "That’s just ridiculous. Why would she go this far just to get back at you over a match her nephew lost?"

Dave didn’t respond immediately, but the words had clearly struck a chord with Chris. The absurdity of it all seemed to be sinking in.

"And to think Tasha knew White. How could she be associated with someone as twisted as him?" Chris sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Maybe they’re made for each othe, both of them clearly have something wrong with their heads."

Dave nodded, his expression hardening. "She didn’t just know him, though. It seems like they have some kind of relationship. Maybe she’s his... wife or something?"

Chris raised an eyebrow and shot him a look. "Nope. White’s wife is in the hospital, sick. And yet, he still has the audacity to be involved with another woman. He’s just... beyond messed up."

Dave frowned, the weight of the situation settling in deeper. "Yeah, he’s definitely sick. I don’t know how anyone could live with themselves after that."

Before either of them could say anything further, a voice broke through the tense silence, trembling with fear. "Are you guys seeing this? This... this..."