Chapter 135: Probing the Defense Device

Su Wanqing walked up to Lu Zhao and watched him staring at the screen with a frown on his face, his fingers tapping on the keyboard rapidly.

"Lu Zhao, what's going on? Have you found anything?"

Lu Zhao didn't look up, his voice was a little tired. "The situation is more complicated than I thought. The underlying code of this defense device is very sophisticated, and... it has a strong anti-intrusion mechanism. As soon as I tried to crack a part of the logic, it automatically activated the defense program. Although the level is not high, it is enough to make me alert."

"Anti-intrusion mechanism? What exactly is it like?" Su Wanqing asked, with a hint of worry in her tone.

"It is similar to a disguised firewall. Once it detects someone trying to modify or read data, it will automatically generate interference information and even reversely track the location of the intruder."

Lu Zhao finally raised his head, his eyes full of solemnity. "I have to be careful and infiltrate slowly, for fear that our position will be exposed if we are not careful."

Lin Che walked over to Lu Zhao and looked at the data stream jumping on the screen.

"This level of defense exceeds that of ordinary military facilities. What exactly did Li Guoqiang hide? Why did he protect this device so closely?"

"I suspect that this device is not just for defense against zombies."

Su Wanqing said slowly. "It may have other uses, a use that Li Guoqiang is not willing to let others know."

She walked over to the device's console and looked closely at the buttons and display screen.

"The layout of these buttons is a bit strange. It doesn't look like a standard control panel. It looks more like a...smudge."

Ye's voice suddenly rang in Lin Che's mind: "Su Wanqing's intuition is right. Those seemingly ordinary buttons are likely to be some trap signal devices. Once pressed, they will trigger a higher level of defense system and even expose our location to Li Guoqiang."

"Trap signal device?" Lin Che frowned. "Ye, how did you know?"

"Observe. Careful observation." Ye's voice was calm and indifferent.

“The material and texture of those buttons are obviously different from other parts, and their location is too abrupt. Such obvious omissions would not be made in engineering design.”

Su Wanqing listened to the conversation between Lin Che and Ye, and something moved her. "Lu Zhao, can you trace the signal source of these buttons? See where they are connected to?"

"Trying." Lu Zhao started the operation immediately, and said after a few minutes.

"The signal source for these buttons is connected to a separate control module located on the bottom of the unit. I cannot access it directly and need to take a closer look."

Lin Che walked around the device, stretched out his hand, used his supernatural power to control the water flow, and carefully scanned the external structure of the device.

"Something's wrong. Some places here... don't look like they're made of metal."

"What do you mean?" Su Wanqing asked.

“Some of the parts have subtle textures on their surfaces that resemble biological tissue.”

Lin Che's voice was filled with doubt. "Moreover, the temperature of these parts is also higher than the surrounding metal parts."

"Semi-biological characteristics?" Su Wanqing's heart was shocked. "Could it be that Li Guoqiang used viruses to... transform these devices?"

Xiao Ran stood aside and watched silently. He looked at the complicated devices with a look of disgust on his face.

"This technology... is too cruel. Combining viruses and machines together is simply a monster!"

He couldn't help but walk to the device, raised a dagger in his hand, and stabbed a metal shell hard.

"I'm going to destroy it completely!"

"No!" Su Wanqing stopped him loudly.

Xiao Ran's dagger stabbed into the metal shell, but it made a harsh metal friction sound.

The dagger did not pierce the metal casing, but bounced back.

"What?" Xiao Ran was a little surprised. "Why is this metal shell so hard?"

Just as he was about to attack again, the metal shell suddenly began to deform, automatically repairing the damage caused by the dagger.

"Intelligent repair mechanism!" Lu Zhao exclaimed. "This device has the ability to repair itself! Xiao Ran, if you continue like this, you will only waste your energy."

Su Wanqing walked up to Xiao Ran and patted his shoulder gently.

"Xiao Ran, calm down. I know you are angry about this technology, but now is not the time to be impulsive. We need a more scientific method, not brute force destruction."

Xiao Ran took a deep breath and slowly put down the dagger in his hand.

"I know, Su Wanqing. I just...can't stand this kind of cruel technique."

"I understand." Su Wanqing said. "But we must remain calm now in order to find a breakthrough. Lu Zhao, continue to track the source of the signal. Lin Che, continue to scan the external structure of the device to see if you can find more clues."

“Understood.” Lu Zhao and Lin Che responded at the same time.

"Ye, have you made any new discoveries?" Su Wanqing asked.

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"That control module hides some secrets." Ye's voice sounded in her mind.

"It is closely connected to the surveillance system in the area where Li Guoqiang lives. Perhaps we can find more clues there."

"Monitoring system?" Su Wanqing frowned slightly. "It seems that the next place we have to go is Li Guoqiang's office."

"Be careful, the security in that office must be very tight."

Ye's voice carried a hint of warning. "Li Guoqiang will never let us get close so easily."

Su Wanqing nodded. "I know. But we have to go. In order to uncover Li Guoqiang's conspiracy, we must pay any price."

She looked at the complicated devices in front of her, her heart filled with vigilance.

She knew that they were getting closer to the truth step by step, but they were also facing great danger.

Lu Zhao's fingers flew on the keyboard, and the data on the screen kept scrolling.

"I found some strange parameters in the signal source. These parameters seem to be...related to human brain waves."

"Is it related to brain waves?" Su Wanqing asked doubtfully. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure yet. Further analysis is needed." Lu Zhao said.

"But if my guess is correct, then this device may have some effect on human consciousness."

Lin Che suddenly shouted, "I found it! There is a hidden interface at the bottom of the device. That interface is connected to a tiny pipe with a light blue liquid flowing in it."

"Light blue liquid?" Su Wanqing's heart tightened. "Could it be the liquid from a mutated virus?"

"I used my supernatural powers to analyze it. The liquid contained a large number of gene fragments, and... some of these gene fragments were very similar to those of the zombie virus."

Lin Che's voice trembled a little. "It seems that Li Guoqiang really used the virus to transform these devices."

"It seems that our guess is correct." Su Wanqing said.

"Li Guoqiang not only wants to control the zombie virus, he also wants to use the virus to enhance the defense capabilities of the device and even... control human consciousness."