Ning Yu's temples throbbed, and the scenery before his eyes began to blur and spin. He shook his head violently, trying to stay awake. The intense headache made his vision blur, but only one thought occupied his mind: he had to decipher the code before the explosion!

"Ning Yu, how is it? How much longer?" Mu Xue's voice trembled slightly, her fists clenched tightly, her palms covered in cold sweat.

Ning Yu didn't answer; his entire focus was on that damned string of numbers. ...What did these numbers represent? Time flew by like sand in an hourglass, the countdown relentlessly ticking: 10...9...8...

"Are we all going to die here?" One of the team members slumped to the ground in despair, his eyes vacant and lifeless.

"No, no, Ning Yu will definitely find a way!" another team member said firmly, though his voice trembled.

7…6…5…The shadow of death drew ever closer, and despair spread through the crowd.

Just then, a flash of inspiration struck Ning Yu! "The date! It's the date!" He opened his eyes abruptly, his gaze filled with hope. If it were considered as year, month, and day, it would be July 3rd, 2193!

"Quick! Type it in!" Ning Yu's voice became a little hoarse with excitement.

Without any hesitation, Mu Xue quickly entered the string of numbers into the combination lock. Time seemed to stand still at that moment; everyone held their breath, staring intently at the combination lock.

The countdown has finally stopped!

The piercing alarm stopped abruptly, the red lights ceased flashing, and the control center returned to calm.

"We succeeded?!" a team member shouted excitedly, his face full of joy at surviving the ordeal.

However, Ning Yu's brows remained furrowed, because he discovered that although the combination lock had stopped the countdown, the control center door remained tightly shut.

Just then, a blinding white light suddenly shone on the control panel in the center of the control center, and a cold, mechanical voice rang out: "Identity verification passed. Please proceed with biometric identification."

Ning Yu's heart skipped a beat. He quickly walked to the control panel and placed his hand on the reader...

"Beep—Recognition failed." The cold, mechanical voice sounded again.

At the same time, a deep rumble came from deep within the warehouse, the red alarm lights flashed wildly again, and the piercing alarm sounded once more in the control center:

"Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuations detected! Highest level defense system activated!"

"What's going on? Why can't it be recognized?" Mu Xue asked anxiously. She didn't understand why, even though the password had been cracked, a new problem was still appearing.

"Damn it! This defense system is more complex than we thought," one of the team members cursed, his voice filled with despair.

The atmosphere in the control center became tense again. The red alarm lights flashed faster and faster, and the alarm sounded more and more shrill, as if urging them to escape as soon as possible.

Ning Yu ignored the discussions around him, his eyes fixed on the identifier on the control panel, his mind racing as he searched for a solution.

"Could it be that I don't have enough permissions?" Ning Yu wondered to himself. He remembered seeing in the system before that some advanced defense systems would set up multiple permissions, and only the person with the highest permissions could have complete control.

"Beep—Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuations detected! Highest level defense system activated!" The cold, mechanical voice sounded again, and a series of low rumbling sounds came from the depths of the warehouse, as if something terrible was about to awaken.

"Oh no! This place is going to collapse! We have to get out of here!" a team member shouted in terror, turning around to run away.

"Run? Where to run? Can you outrun an explosion?" another team member asked desperately, his voice filled with bitterness.

Mu Xue grabbed Ning Yu's arm and asked anxiously, "Ning Yu, what do we do now? What should we do?"

Ning Yu took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. He looked into Mu Xue's eyes and said in a deep voice, "Trust me, I will definitely get you out of here!"

He placed his hand on the identifier again, this time concentrating all his mental energy in an attempt to establish a connection. He refused to believe that with his special abilities, he couldn't handle a broken machine! However, the identifier still did not respond, and the cold mechanical voice sounded like the pronouncement of death: "Beep—Identification failed."

Ning Yu frowned. Had something gone wrong? He looked down at his hands and suddenly realized that the wound on his right wrist, where he had been cut by gravel, was now bleeding profusely… He looked up sharply at Mu Xue and slowly began to speak: “I…”