Chapter 60 Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland 23

Her figure moved swiftly among the broken walls and ruins without making a sound.

Titan Industries' factory grounds are surrounded by high walls, topped with barbed wire. Before the apocalypse, this was an effective barrier to prevent outsiders from breaking in, but now it's more like a boundary marker declaring the interior a death trap.

Zhou Jue did not choose to climb.

She walked around the wall for a while and quickly found a security camera bracket. She nimbly jumped onto a nearby abandoned trash can, swung her body, and reached out to grab the bracket.

She took out the universal interface key from the Starry Sky Box and skillfully connected it to the data interface below the camera.

[Cracking the security system...]

[Successfully cracked.]

[Root privileges have been granted.]

On Zhou Jue's personal terminal, a security layout map of the entire factory area immediately appeared. She casually turned off all the alarms and monitoring equipment that were still functioning to prevent them from making noise and waking up the mutated plants.

Then her gaze settled on an inconspicuous side door not far away. It was an employee entrance with electronic access control. Zhou Jue landed lightly and arrived at the door. She gently tapped the key to the door.

"drop--"

With a barely audible click, the door lock opened.

She didn't go in immediately, but listened for a moment to make sure there was no movement behind the door before pushing it open a crack and slipping inside.

The moment I entered the factory area, an invisible pressure hit me.

A strange, cloying stench, a mixture of rotting plants and blood, filled the air, making one want to vomit. The entire factory area was eerily quiet, broken only by the howling wind blowing through the empty buildings; honestly, it felt like something out of a horror movie.

Zhou Jue rubbed his non-existent goosebumps, then immediately looked at the hillside behind the factory area.

Although they were some distance apart, she could clearly sense that the terrifyingly powerful source of energy was coming from there.

That mutated plant, perhaps "full," is dormant, digesting its wasteland, its domain encompassing the entire Titan Industries. Any slight disturbance could awaken it.

Zhou Jue concealed all his aura, minimizing his presence.

Her goal is the research and development building.

According to the map scouted by the Hummingbird drone and the unlocked security layout map, the R&D building is located in the center of the entire factory area, about 800 meters away from her current location.

This road, which normally takes a few minutes or ten minutes to walk, now feels like a death road leading to hell.

On the ground, you can see some dark red vines that look like blood vessels. They extend from the direction of the back mountain, clinging tightly to the ground, and some even burrow into the cracks in the cement ground, taking deep root.

These vines are the "nerve endings" of that mutated plant.

Zhou Jue carefully avoided the vines, her footsteps as light as feathers. She dared not be careless in the slightest, taking each step with extreme caution.

Inside the factory area, all the doors and windows of the office buildings, production workshops, and warehouses were open, and there was no one inside.

Zhou Jue moved quickly in the shadows of the building, his nerves taut, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.

Just as she was about to cross an open area and approach the research and development building, a sudden change occurred!

A dark red vine that had been lying quietly on the ground suddenly sprang up without warning! Like a venomous snake poised to strike, its tip became incredibly sharp, and with a whooshing sound, it pierced towards Zhou Jue's back like lightning!

Fast! Too fast!

This attack was silent and stealthy, yet ruthless and deadly!

Zhou Jue's nerves were already stretched to the limit. The moment the vines started to move, she sensed it and, without even turning around, quickly shifted her body to the left.

"Sizzle!"

The sharp tips of the vines almost grazed the hem of her clothes before piercing deeply into a metal lamppost beside her.

The sturdy metal rod was so easily rubbed to create a small hole!

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Zhou Jue's forehead.

This is just one inconspicuous "tentacle" of that mutated plant, yet it possesses such power. How terrifying would it be if its main body were to awaken?

Before the vine could be pulled from the lamppost, Zhou Jue had already moved. She gripped the boundary-breaking shovel in her backhand, turned around, and lunged forward. A faint spiritual light flashed across the shovel's blade.

"puff!"

With a muffled thud, the vine, thicker than an adult's arm, was cleanly and decisively cleaved in two.

At the break, what gushed out was not green plant sap, but a viscous liquid like black blood, which also emitted a strong fishy stench.

The severed vines fell to the ground and were instantly collected by the system. The parts connecting to the roots, however, were twisting and twitching wildly, as if... feeling pain.

Zhou Jue didn't linger. She knew that the attack had probably alerted something. She had to get into the research and development building before the "big guys" could fully react.

She exerted force with her feet, instantly activating the overload mode of her "Obsidian" combat suit. Her spiritual energy surged wildly, pushing her speed to its limit. She transformed into a blur and rushed towards the research and development building a hundred meters away.

Behind him, the vines that had been still on the ground began to stir. Like a swarm of snakes awakened, they all raised their "heads" and "looked" in Zhou Jue's direction.

Zhou Jue could even sense a massive consciousness, filled with anger and confusion, awakening from the direction of the back mountain and locking onto her, the uninvited guest.

Now! Zhou Jue stopped at the entrance of the R&D building. It was a heavy tempered glass door that also required both electronic password and fingerprint verification. Without hesitation, she pressed the universal key onto the access control system.

[Cracking...WARNING! High-level firewall detected...]

[Activating backup computing power...]

[Successfully cracked!]

"drop!"

The door lock is open.

Almost simultaneously, a series of whooshing sounds came from behind! Dozens of vines intertwined to form a giant net, covering her from all directions!

Zhou Jue pushed open the door abruptly, rolled inside, and rushed into the research and development building at the last moment before the giant vine net closed in. She quickly got up, closed the door behind her, and locked it from the inside.

"Bang!"

The vines slammed hard against the tempered glass door, making a loud noise.

Zhou Jue leaned against the cold door, listening to the sound of vines whipping wildly against it outside, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

She looked up and saw that the interior of the building was pitch black and deathly silent, like a giant beast that had opened its bloody maw, waiting to devour.

Without further hesitation, Zhou Jue quickly got up to find the blueprints.

She doesn't have much time left.