Chapter 274 Exploring the Underground

Doctor Zhang glanced at the monitor and said, "It's effective, but we need a complete solution. If we can find an antidote using your blood."

"I'll give you as much blood as you want." Xiao Ling touched the scales on the back of Lin Che's hand, "I want to help him."

In the early morning hours of the next day, all the lights in the command center were on. Su Wanqing stood in front of the holographic map, her shadow cast on the "Old Industrial Zone" sign.

"Two threats," she said hoarsely. "One is the 170,000 infected, and the other is that underground device."

She glanced at the crowd, "We don't have enough time, we have to split up."

"Lu Zhao and Xiao Ling will stay in the fortress." She pointed in the direction of the laboratory. "Develop an antidote and take care of Lin Che. Doctor Zhang will set up a medical station to receive survivors."

Xiao Ran leaned against the door frame, tactical knife twirling between his fingers: "I'll go underground with you."

Lu Zhao pinched the tablet, his knuckles turning white. "The situation underground is unclear. Let's wait until Lin Che gets better."

"There's no time to wait." Su Wanqing interrupted him, "If it's a time gate, it will open in 36 hours, and no one can stop it."

She looked down at the jade bracelet, the lines on it were slightly shiny, "If we can't come back..."

"We will be back." Xiao Ran put the knife back into the sheath, "bring back information."

Xiao Ling suddenly spoke up, "Lin Che was talking in his sleep last night." She touched the silver liquid on her wrist. "He said, 'The checkpoint is at 13 Yongming Road, and the shift changes at 4 a.m.' I checked, and there really is such a checkpoint."

Lu Zhao pulled up the surveillance footage. "I've never seen his brainwave pattern before. Doctor Zhang said it seems like he can 'see' the Weaver's movements."

"And there's more." Xiao Ling rolled up her sleeves, the silver liquid flowing beneath her skin. "When I get close to him, the silver liquid and his scales will flash together. It's like a scene in a dream—I can see things that didn't happen, but it's not fake."

Su Wanqing stared at Xiaoling's wrist, the jade bracelet suddenly burning hot. She pressed the control panel: "The energy signal from the medical area is temporarily blocked."

She looked at Lu Zhao, "Don't let the Weaver spy on our plans through Lin Che."

"I understand." Lu Zhao responded and turned to walk towards the laboratory.

Xiao Ran patted Su Wanqing on the shoulder: "The explosives in the equipment room have been checked and are usable."

Su Wanqing nodded, her eyes sweeping towards the medical area. Lin Che's monitor was still beeping regularly, like a heartbeat.

At 3:30 in the morning, outside a subway station on the edge of an abandoned industrial area, Su Wanqing's tactical boots crushed a piece of broken glass.

She looked up at the rusty electronic screen. The date showed "December 18, 2035", which was seven years different from the real time. This place had long been eliminated by urban development and became the territory of rats and homeless people.

Xiao Ran walked out from the shadows, with his two guns slung across his back, and the metal buckles of his blasting equipment made a slight sound.

He tapped his knuckles on his protective mask. "I've confirmed that the maintenance passage at Exit B of the subway station has not been sealed by the military."

Su Wanqing bent down and took out two sets of protective suits from the space bag and handed one over: "Temperature regulation, oxygen circulation, electromagnetic shielding, lightweight armor."

She patted the jade bracelet on her waist, and a line of words flashed on the system interface on the mask - energy reserve 92%.

Xiao Ran took the protective suit and raised an eyebrow: "I can't count on support this time. Are you sure you only want me with you?"

"I have enough stuff here to arm an entire platoon." Su Wanqing zipped up her protective suit. "Besides, you can take on a squad by yourself."

The two activated their biometric masks, and a faint blue light swept across their pupils.

The iron door of the maintenance passage was stuck with half a steel bar. Xiao Ran pulled it open with one hand, and rust fell down.

The walls of the descending stairs were seeping with water, and the temperature got higher the further down one went. Su Wanqing glanced at the thermometer on the mask - it was still 15℃ when she was fifty meters underground, but now it was 23℃.

"Stop." Xiao Ran suddenly raised his hand. He used his tactical knife to pick away the moss in the corner of the wall. Blue light crawled up along the blade, like a living thing.

The cement wall next to it was engraved with crooked symbols, some of which looked like Greek letters, and some of which were completely unfamiliar.

Xiao Ran put some moss in a sample bag and said, "It's not naturally grown. It looks like a mark."

He scanned the symbol with a detector. "It's 78% similar to the pattern on the water plant wall."

Another two hundred meters down, the tunnel suddenly narrowed. Xiao Ran pressed his detector against the wall, and the red light flashed twice: "The back is empty, covered by metal partitions."

He pulled out his saber and pried at the edge. "It's a tunnel at least fifty years old, but there are signs of new welding."

There was a muffled sound as the partition was lifted. The tunnel inside was lit with cold white light, and the surveillance cameras on the wall were all closed.

Xiao Ran touched the paint on the wall: "The paint is new, no more than three months old."

"It's too quiet." Xiao Ran walked in front, tapping the ground with his boot heels. "It's like someone deliberately cleared the area."

Su Wanqing used her gloves to wipe away the dust on the wall, revealing several diamond-shaped symbols. "This is the identification code for the military's 'Dark Falcon Project'. I've seen it in old archives. The format hasn't been updated in twenty years."

The tunnel forked into three ahead. Su Wanqing pulled up the system map. A red dot of energy fluctuations flickered in the deepest part, but the route map was all garbled.

Xiao Ran pointed to the ventilation shaft above his head: "Go this way, it will save time."

The ventilation duct was narrower than expected. Xiao Ran's shoulder rubbed against the wall of the duct, and the metal groaned.

After climbing twenty meters, the pipe suddenly vibrated and a gust of wind rushed in from the depths, carrying blue light particles.

Su Wanqing quickly fastened her mask, but Xiao Ran's protective gloves were not worn tightly, and a few grains of sand were stuck on the back of her hands.

"Are you okay?" Su Wanqing leaned in to take a closer look.

Xiao Ran moved his wrist. "It's a little numb, but not painful." He clenched his fist, his knuckles crackling. "In fact, it feels a little stronger."

At the end of the ventilation shaft was a piece of broken iron sheet. Xiao Ran kicked it open and the two fell into a huge cavity.

Above my head was a projection screen simulating the sky, a dazzling blue; the surrounding walls glowed with a cold metallic luster, with dozens of buildings stacked underneath like building blocks, and in the center was a spherical building with blue light leaking out from the gaps.

"Underground city." Su Wanqing's voice was muffled by the mask.

Xiao Ran raised his binoculars. "The drones are patrolling, every half an hour, and there aren't many of them."

He put down the binoculars. "It's so clean, it looks like a model apartment."

"Maybe the main force has been deployed to the ground." Su Wanqing said, "Go to the peripheral buildings."

The glass of the edge building was not broken, and the slogans on the wall were half in Chinese and half in crooked symbols.

Xiao Ran pushed open a door and saw a DNA analyzer inside with the screen still on.

He touched the control button, and an interface popped up: "Sample source. Non-Earth creature?"

Su Wanqing hacked into the terminal next to her, and the file list scrolled rapidly. "The earliest file is the 'Antarctic Relics Expedition Log' on March 12, 2020."

She flipped through the pages quickly. "They started contacting the Weavers fifteen years ago."

As they walked toward the center, Xiao Ran suddenly pulled her into a side passage. The footsteps of the six-legged mechanical dog approached from afar, and the red light of the sensor swept across the place where they were hiding.

Su Wanqing held her breath and listened to the engine sound of the mechanical dog going away. Just as she was about to move, she heard footsteps again.

"We have to use the black security system." Xiao Ran pointed to the control panel on the wall.

Su Wanqing connected the data cable, and as soon as the interface popped up, the alarm sounded.

Three mechanical dogs rushed over from three directions, and their fang-like mechanical arms brushed past Xiao Ran's protective mask.

He threw out an electromagnetic pulse grenade, paralyzing two dog robots on the spot. When the third one pounced on Su Wanqing, the jade bracelet on her wrist suddenly became hot, and her eyes blurred - the robot disappeared out of thin air three meters away.

"Retreat!" Xiao Ran pulled her to run, and the barking of more mechanical dogs came from all directions.

Su Wanqing glanced at the vent on the wall, pulled Xiao Ran in, and closed the lid with her backhand.

The mechanical dog's claws grabbed the vent, and the sound of metal deforming pierced the eardrums.

Xiao Ran leaned against the pipe wall, gasping for breath. Su Wanqing stared at the blue light at the end of the pipe and said, "Keep going."

The deeper you go, the brighter the blue light becomes. At the end of the pipe is a vertical shaft with a metal door at the bottom. The relief carving on the door is exactly the same as the pattern on the jade bracelet.

The identification system next to it flashed green light, and Su Wanqing's jade bracelet suddenly lit up automatically, and began to flash synchronously with the patterns on the door.

"This door. I recognize my system." Su Wanqing touched the door, and the metal was bone-chillingly cold.

Xiao Ran scanned the door with a detector: "Thickness 30 centimeters, composite material."

He glanced at Su Wanqing's jade bracelet and said, "I need you."

Just as Su Wanqing was about to raise her hand, she heard the low growl of a mechanical dog outside the ventilation duct.

Her visor suddenly lit up with a warning—the robot dog was removing the vent cover.

"Let's deal with the pursuers first." Xiao Ran pulled out his two guns, and the sound of bullets being loaded echoed in the well.

Su Wanqing looked at the metal door, then at the approaching mechanical dog, and tightened the jade bracelet around her waist.

The sound of metal deforming outside the ventilation duct was getting closer and closer, and Su Wanqing's hand holding the jade bracelet was sweating.

Xiao Ran retreated to the edge of the shaft, holding his two guns to the left and right. The click of bullets being loaded mixed with the low growl of the mechanical dog was particularly clear in the enclosed space.

"Try the jade bracelet." Xiao Ran turned his head and shouted, "The disappearance of the robot just now might be related to this door."

Su Wanqing took a deep breath and pressed the jade bracelet into the groove of the metal door.

A cool feeling ran up my skin into my arms, and the patterns on the door suddenly began to flash synchronously. Vibrations came from my palms, like a heartbeat.

Three seconds later, a thin blue light appeared from the crack in the door and slowly slid open to both sides.

The two men crouched down and entered, stopping just as their feet touched the ground. A circular platform hung in mid-air, beneath it a circular space nearly a kilometer in diameter. Blue and white equipment, like gears, orbited around a central glowing column.

The beam of light stretched from the ground to the dome, and every line was glowing with flowing light.

"It's ten times bigger than the water plant." Xiao Ran lowered his voice, "Is that pillar absorbing energy?"

Su Wanqing called up the analysis interface of the mask: "The temperature gradient is concentrated towards the center, and the magnetic field is chaotic but regular."

She pointed to the control console at the edge of the platform. "That's the terminal."

The console interface was full of unfamiliar symbols, and Su Wanqing tentatively connected the data cable.

The screen suddenly lit up, and characters began scrolling through the translation. She leaned in to see: "Can the time flow parameter quantum entanglement node manipulate the time dimension?"

Xiao Ran came over: "Are they studying time?"

"Look at the log." Su Wanqing called up the surveillance footage, showing dozens of people in white coats and tall blue-skinned humanoid creatures walking among the equipment.

She zoomed in on one of the men’s badges – the logo of the International Center for Virus Research. “Voluntary cooperation, no signs of being controlled.”

Xiao Ran frowned: "What's the plan?"

Su Wanqing flipped through the documents quickly and suddenly stopped: "Antarctic Relics Expedition Log, March 2020."

Her voice tightened. "The Weavers said they once built a civilization on Earth, but left due to a disaster. Now they've returned to rebuild."

"What about the deal?" Xiao Ran asked.

Su Wanqing opened the encrypted file. "Help the human elite evolve and survive the disaster. In return, help them rebuild the time gate." She looked up at Xiao Ran. "Lin Che's mutation might be part of this evolution."

The two of them descended the emergency ladder to the main floor. Inside the glass chambers of the experimental area, the creatures ranged in form from humanoid to completely alienated.

Xiao Ran stopped in front of a blue-scaled humanoid cabin. "The symptoms are the same as Lin Che's, but more severe."

Su Wanqing checked the terminal records: "Human-Weaver hybrid adaptability test, the sample is a volunteer."

She flipped to the test report. "The most successful ones were able to maintain consciousness, while also possessing biological manipulation and time perception abilities."

She suddenly paused, "Lin Che isn't a failure; she's their most successful experiment."

"Then why did he resist?" Xiao Ran asked.

Footsteps came from the corridor. The two of them slipped into the gap between the equipment and saw Professor Grey and the blue creature approaching through the metal mesh.

Gray had gray hair and was wearing a well-ironed suit, looking nothing like the dead man rumored to be.

"Phase one is 87% complete." Gray's voice trembled. "Water source contamination has been stopped, but the airborne transmission system is ready."

The blue creature's voice was low, like metal rubbing against each other: "Time Observer warning, interference factors have appeared. The Jade Holder is approaching."

Gray wiped the sweat off his face and said, "The time gate needs more energy. We need to speed up the second stage."

"Release the secondary beacon in advance," said the blue creature, "to attract more hosts."

After the two walked away, Su Wanqing dragged Xiao Ran towards the main control area. The holographic projection in the main control room was lit, clearly showing the underground structure and energy nodes.

Xiao Ran pointed to the central oval area: "That's the time gate location, and the surrounding blue dots are nodes."

Su Wanqing looked at the data: "36 hours to the critical point." She quickly took a photo and saved the data in the space bag.

Suddenly, an alarm blared and a red light began flashing. The system's warning tone was so sharp it hurt my eardrums: "Unauthorized access, security level increased."

"Retreat!" Xiao Ran pulled her back. The footsteps of mechanical guards came from all directions, and security personnel rushed over with stun guns raised.

The two men went around into the experimental area and hid under the transport equipment.

"The East District pipeline is connected to the old subway line." Su Wanqing's communicator suddenly vibrated, and an encrypted message popped up, "There is an ambush along the original route. Activate the secondary beacon within six hours."

Xiao Ran lifted the car curtain and took a look: "Go to the East District."

Passing the storage room, Su Wanqing was dazzled by the reflection. On the shelf stood seven or eight devices resembling jade bracelets. She pulled one out—its internal structure was nearly identical to hers, but the modules were simpler.

The caption next to it reads: "Prototype of a time observation device, used to monitor the flow of time."

"My system might be an improved version of theirs." Su Wanqing clutched the device, her throat tightening. "Has it been under surveillance since the beginning?"

Xiao Ran patted the back of her hand: "Tools are inert. How to use them depends on the person holding them."

As the two of them came out of the storage room, the red light of the mechanical guard swept over them.

Su Wanqing dragged Xiao Ran towards the East District Pipeline. The jade bracelet on her wrist was hot, as if urging her to do something.