Everyone held their breath, only to see Ning Yu not try to dodge, but instead face the blade and suddenly press his hand onto the scorching metal plate!

"Sizzle—"

The pungent smell of burning flesh filled the air. Ning Yu groaned, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, but he seemed not to feel any pain. Instead, he pressed his palms even harder against the metal plate.

"What is he doing?!" someone exclaimed, not understanding why Ning Yu would choose to harm himself.

Mu Xue bit her lip tightly, her eyes filled with worry and confusion. She believed that Ning Yu wouldn't do anything meaningless, but his current behavior left her utterly bewildered.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment, and everyone waited, waiting for what would happen next.

"Click—"

A soft sound rang out clearly in the silent passageway.

Then, something shocking happened!

The flames from the jet nozzles, which had been spewing forth raging infernos, began to gradually diminish and eventually went out completely. The blades that had been hovering overhead, poised to fall at any moment, also stopped spinning and slowly rose back up.

Silence returned to the passage, with only Ning Yu's heavy breathing echoing through it.

He slowly withdrew his hand, looking at the charred flesh on his palm, a faint smile curving his lips.

It was a success!

It turns out that the way to break this mechanism is not to avoid it, but to use flesh and blood as a catalyst to forcibly trigger its internal protection mechanism.

Ning Yu, enduring the excruciating pain, turned to face the crowd and said in a deep voice, "The passage is open, let's go!"

Everyone then seemed to wake from a dream and followed Ning Yu's footsteps, heading deeper into the passage.

After passing through a long corridor, the group finally arrived at the entrance of the control center.

However, before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, an even more thorny problem was presented to them.

On the door to the control center, there was a complex combination lock, flashing red light and exuding a dangerous aura.

"Damn it, how come there's a combination lock here?!" one of the team members couldn't help but mutter a curse.

Ning Yu frowned, carefully examining the combination lock, his expression gradually becoming serious.

“This is not an ordinary combination lock,” Ning Yu said in a deep voice. “If the wrong password is entered, it may trigger the self-destruct device.”

"What?!" Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions immediately turned even more grim.

Mu Xue looked around, trying to find some clues about the password, but to no avail.

"Is this all I can do is try my luck..." Ning Yu muttered to himself, his gaze falling on the combination lock, his mind flashing back to some numbers he had seen at the Overlord's base.

"Don't rush, let me think..." Ning Yu frowned, his fingers lightly tapping the edge of the combination lock, trying to find some pattern. However, the design of this combination lock was extremely ingenious, leaving no clues for deduction except for the cold metallic feel.

"Did you find anything?" Mu Xue asked anxiously. She had searched the area around the control center thoroughly, checking the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling, but found nothing.

“No,” Ning Yu shook his head, his expression grave. “This combination lock seems to be an independent system; there are no clues around.” He closed his eyes, trying hard to recall everything he had seen at the Overlord's base. The numbers, the symbols, the fleeting images surged through his mind like fragments.

"There must be something I've overlooked..." Ning Yu muttered to himself, forcing himself to calm down and re-examine all the clues. Time ticked by, and everyone's hearts grew heavier with each passing second.

"Is there really no other way?" a team member couldn't help but ask in a low voice, his tone filled with despair.

Ning Yu didn't speak. His eyes were fixed on the combination lock, and a sudden inspiration flashed through his mind.

"Wait, I remember now!" Ning Yu suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them. "I remember seeing a similar set of numbers in the laboratory at the Overlord's base!"

He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, repeatedly checked the numbers in his mind, and then reached out and pressed his hand on the combination lock.

“3…7…9…2…1…” With each number Ning Yu pressed, his heart beat faster.

However, the moment he pressed the last number, a piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire control center!

"Warning! Incorrect password! Self-destruct program activated!" A cold, mechanical voice echoed in the control center, while red alarm lights flashed wildly, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"What?!" Everyone was shocked; no one had expected such an outcome.

"Damn it, how could this happen?!" one of the team members couldn't help but curse, his face full of despair.

"How much longer until the explosion?!" Mu Xue grabbed Ning Yu's arm and asked anxiously.

"30 seconds!" Ning Yu's expression was more serious than ever before. He never expected that he would make such a basic mistake!

"Think of something quickly!" The team members were in chaos, and fear spread through the crowd.

Ning Yu's headache was flaring up, and he tried to calm himself down, reconsidering the possibilities of the code. ...What exactly did these numbers represent?

20…19…18…

Time ticked by, and the shadow of death loomed over everyone's hearts...

"Wait," Ning Yu suddenly seemed to remember something, abruptly raising his head and staring intently at the combination lock, "Perhaps..."

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