The Origin Warden

chapter 22 : stay alert

“Shhh...”

Sylvie placed a finger in front of her lips, signaling him to stay quiet, and said in a low voice,

“Don’t make any noise. Something... or someone... is nearby.”

Even though Jack was confused by Sylvie’s statement, he pushed his confusion aside, placed the bag on the ground, then gripped the pistol with both hands.

“I’ll check it out.”

Sylvie nodded without objection.

Then, in a swift motion, she snatched the pistol from her daughter’s hand.

Jina was about to complain, but immediately shut her mouth when she noticed the serious look in her mother’s eyes.

Carefully, Jack slightly peeked his head out of the doorway and stared down the corridor.

But there was nothing.

No monster or zombie, contrary to what he expected.

He could only turn around and look at Sylvie behind him with a frown.

“There’s nothing here, o...”

He wanted to say more, but suddenly froze in place.

Under the shocked eyes of Sylvie, Jina, and Lucas, a pink tongue whipped around Jack’s neck like a lash.

Before any of them could react, the tongue lifted Jack into the air in a terrifying display of strength and hurled him backward until he slammed into the wall behind him.

The gun slipped from his hand and clattered against the ground from the impact.

“Aaagh, damn it!”

he cursed violently as pain exploded through his body, making his brain shut down for a second before awareness returned.

It seemed the sedative Sylvie had given him had completely worn off, allowing the pain of his old wounds to overwhelm him again.

Grinding his teeth against the pain, he glared in both fear and fury at the long tongue protruding from empty space on the ceiling.

“Damn it.”

he cursed again when he realized he no longer had the pistol in his hand.

His eyes landed on the gun lying far away on the floor.

Without thinking much about it, he grabbed another pistol from his belt and aimed at the tongue swaying wildly through the air.

Without hesitation, he disengaged the safety and pulled the trigger.

The sound of gunfire thundered through the police station, followed by an inhuman scream.

Jack grabbed his nose, which had started bleeding slightly from the recoil.

It was his first time firing a gun, and foolishly, when he had fired moments ago, he had held the pistol too close to his face.

He stared at the thrashing tongue as blood poured from it before his eyes finally settled on the creature it belonged to.

Little by little, the shape of a giant chameleon began emerging from thin air.

It clung to the ceiling with six suction like legs, glaring at him with protruding eyes filled with overlapping green circles, radiating hatred and rage.

Jack rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the tongue that lashed toward him like a whip.

He raised the pistol and fired again.

This time, he pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession.

Only one bullet hit the target, piercing the lizard’s back.

The creature crashed heavily onto the ground, writhing in agony while releasing an irritating screech, its long tongue thrashing violently in every direction.

Fortunately, Jack was far enough away, and his hearing was already muffled from the gunfire.

Coldly, he pulled the trigger again.

“Die, you bastard.”

Once again, gunfire echoed through the police station for the fifth time.

Jack lowered the trembling hands holding the pistol and stared in shock at the hole between the chameleon’s eyes as life slowly faded from it.

‘Wow... awesome. I really do have talent for shooting.’

He let out a hollow laugh that abruptly stopped because of the pain surging from his thigh.

Lowering his head slightly, he noticed even the fabric beneath the armor around his leg had turned reddish from the leaking blood.

“Damn it... I’m losing too much blood,”

he muttered darkly.

Supporting himself against the wall, he slowly stood up.

At the same moment, the familiar voice of the system echoed in his mind, announcing the monster’s death.

[ You have killed a Level 9 Rooted Creature: Nature Specimen ]

[ You have obtained 430 Origin Energy Fragments ]

[ Your level has increased ]

[ You have obtained 3 points ]

Despite his happiness at receiving rewards for killing the monster, now was not the time to inspect them.

He limped toward the small family and stared intensely at Sylvie, who did not dare meet his gaze.

She regretted not helping him.

Jack sighed when he saw her expression, as well as the trembling of both Lucas and Jina.

He could not blame any of them for failing to help him during that moment.

Opening his mouth, he said in a hoarse voice,

“Ma’am... we should leave now.”

He pointed toward the black bag, then toward his thigh.

“I’m not really in a condition to carry any weight.”

Sylvie nodded when she noticed the red stain on his thigh.

She handed Lucas over to Jina, who struggled slightly since the little boy clearly did not want to let go of his mother.

“My little one, I’m not going anywhere. Let your sister carry you, alright?”

After convincing the poor child, Sylvie grabbed the bag and hoisted it onto her shoulder with difficulty, tightening her other hand around the pistol before nodding toward the pale and exhausted man.

Jack began walking toward the exit, passing by the chameleon’s corpse.

This time, no item had dropped from it.

Suddenly, he stopped with a conflicted expression before pointing toward Jina and Lucas.

“Close your eyes for a moment.”

With difficulty, he knelt on one knee beside the giant chameleon’s head, which was soaked in blood leaking from the hole between its eyes.

Under Sylvie’s stunned and disturbed gaze, Jack pulled out his old companion, the sharp bone, and repeatedly smashed the monster’s skull in a bloody mess before plunging his hand into the cavity he had created.

A glowing milky white crystal sphere the size of a tennis ball emerged from within.

He shook the blood off his glove and slipped the sphere into his pocket.

Then he wiped the blood stained bone against the monster’s skin before fastening it back onto his belt and painfully standing up again.

“What is that thing?” Sylvie could not help asking curiously.

“Oh, it’s an Origin Core,” Jack replied calmly before adding while looking at Jina and Lucas, who still had their eyes shut,

“You can open your eyes now.”

He turned toward Sylvie, who was staring at him with a frown, and said,

“Stay alert. Ma’am, I don’t know how you sensed the hidden chameleon, but please keep doing it and warn me if there’s danger nearby.”

Without waiting for her response, he began walking toward the exit, gripping the pistol carefully and staying on full alert.

The moment he reached the door, he found around seven zombies limping toward them, most likely attracted by the gunshots from earlier.

He aimed at the nearest one and placed his finger a hair’s breadth away from pulling the trigger.

But he stopped because of Sylvie’s words.