Chapter 153 The Experiment Begins

Lunchtime, in the cafeteria.

Ruan Ning and Shen Yan sat in a corner, seemingly eating quietly, but actually keeping an eye on the shift change time of the guards in Zone B at a table not far away.

At exactly twelve o'clock, the guards at that table got up and left. Shen Yan gave Ruan Ning a wink, got up, pretended to go get more rice, and naturally followed behind the group of guards.

Ruan Ning remained seated, her spiritual energy subtly extending as she observed the surrounding activity.

Shen Yan followed the guards to the vicinity of the passage leading to Sector B, where there was a corner. The guards paused briefly there to hand over duties. Shen Yan spotted a young guard lagging behind, and as he passed by, he seemed to trip over accidentally, bumping into him.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry!" Shen Yan quickly apologized, gently wiping the access card on the other person's waist with a small device in his hand.

The young guard frowned and waved his hand: "It's alright, just be careful."

Shen Yan left and returned to his seat.

He gave Ruan Ning a barely perceptible nod—he had succeeded. The device had briefly copied the magnetic stripe information of the access card, but it could only generate one one-time counterfeit card, and there was a time limit.

In the afternoon, Shen Yan quickly made the one-time access card in the room.

“We have the card, but we still need an iris scan,” Shen Yan said. “The scanner in the stairwell on the third basement level requires the iris scan of a specific guard. I’ve observed that every day at noon when the shift changes, the guard in charge of scanning is a guard with a scar on his face, called Old Scar. His shift schedule is fixed.”

"Can you mimic his iris?"

"Using high-resolution photos and special materials, we can make a simple replica that might fool old-fashioned scanners at close range. Success rate... 50%," Shen Yan frankly admitted.

“That’s enough,” Ruan Ning said. “We’ll move tonight. Once we have the evidence, we’ll either leave immediately or hide where we are and wait for Qin Li’s move tomorrow.”

It was late at night.

It was two in the morning, a time when people are most sleepy. Ruan Ning and Shen Yan quietly left the room, avoiding the patrolling surveillance cameras, and arrived at the outskirts of Zone B.

Shen Yan used the copied access card to swipe open the first access control gate. The two slipped inside.

The interior of Zone B was eerily quiet, save for the low hum of the equipment. They moved quickly towards the elevator entrance on the second basement level, following the route they remembered.

Just as I was getting close to the elevator, I heard footsteps ahead!

The two immediately slipped into the gap in the equipment room next door.

They were two patrolling researchers, talking in hushed tones as they walked.

Will Vice Chairman Feng personally oversee tomorrow's experiment?

"They'll probably monitor it remotely. Director Wang's under a lot of pressure; I heard the 'source tracing' team is very dissatisfied with the progress..."

The sound faded into the distance.

Ruan Ning and Shen Yan waited a few seconds to confirm that it was safe before continuing forward.

Arriving at the stairwell leading from the second basement level to the third, the heavy metal door was tightly closed, with an electronic lock and iris scanner next to it.

Sure enough, there was a guard outside the door—Old Scar, the one with the scar on his face.

Shen Yan gestured to Ruan Ning, pointing to himself and then to Old Scar. The meaning was: I'll take care of him; you open the door.

Ruan Ning nodded, and a wisp of icy water vapor condensed in her palm.

Shen Yan approached silently from the shadows, and when he was a few steps away from Old Scar, he deliberately made a slight noise.

Old Scar, alert, immediately turned around: "Who's there?"

The instant he turned his head, a tiny device in Shen Yan's hand was aimed at his eyes, flashing a barely perceptible glimmer—the iris information capture and rapid simulation were completed.

At the same time, Ruan Ning flicked a tiny ice needle from her fingertip, precisely piercing an acupoint on Old Scar's neck. Old Scar's body stiffened, his eyes glazed over, and he slowly slid down against the wall, falling into a brief unconsciousness.

"Quick! He'll be unconscious for at most three minutes!" Shen Yan shouted, immediately attaching the replica iris to the scanner while swiping a one-time access card with his other hand.

The scanner's red light flashed once, then the green light came on!

With a click, the metal door lock opened.

The two pushed the door open and entered, then gently closed it behind them.

Behind the door was a downward staircase, dimly lit. They quickly went down to the third basement level.

This floor is not large, with only a few rooms. The innermost room has a sign that reads "Special Laboratory" hanging on the door, and a faint light shines through the crack in the door.

Shen Yan took out a miniature camera and a data interceptor, preparing to install them.

Just then, the laboratory door suddenly opened from the inside!

A researcher in a white lab coat came out, carrying documents, seemingly about to retrieve something. He immediately spotted Ruan Ning and Shen Yan at the stairwell and froze.

"How...how did you get in?!" the researcher exclaimed in astonishment.

Ruan Ning reacted extremely quickly. Before he could shout, a stream of water shot out like a live snake, blocking his mouth and simultaneously wrapping around his hands and feet. The researcher's eyes widened, and he made a whimpering sound.

Shen Yan quickly stepped forward and knocked him unconscious with a karate chop. He dragged him to a nearby storage room. Just to be safe, Ruan Ning used her mental power to destroy his memory.

"We've been exposed. We need to hurry!" Shen Yan's forehead was covered in sweat as he quickly installed equipment on the surveillance cables at the lab entrance and nearby.

Ruan Ning walked to the laboratory door and looked inside through the crack in the door.

The room was filled with a variety of instruments, with a central device resembling an operating table connected to numerous wires and tubes. Above the table hung a huge, helmet-shaped device covered in electrodes.

Her gaze fell on the computer screen on one side of the room. The screen was lit, displaying the complete operating procedures and risk warnings for the "Deep Consciousness Contact Experiment," as well as her detailed physiological data model.

She quickly used her mental powers to sense the room and confirmed that no one else was there.

"Did you get it?" she asked in a low voice.

"Alright!" Shen Yan finished installing the last device. "These devices will record the entire process and data stream of tomorrow's experiment and automatically send it to Qin Li's receiver. We need to hurry!"

The two quickly retraced their steps. Old Scar was still asleep when they passed the stairwell. They hurried upstairs, left Block B, and returned to their accommodation area.

The whole process took less than twenty minutes.

Back in their room, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"We've got the evidence. We'll see what Qin Li does tomorrow," Shen Yan said.

Looking out at the deep night, Ruan Ning said, "Tomorrow will be the real test."

At 8:30 a.m. the next day, Ruan Ning was taken to a special laboratory on the third basement floor of Block B.

The laboratory was filled with the cold smell of disinfectant and metal. The central "operating table" was already in operation, emitting a faint blue light.

The helmet, covered in electrodes, hung overhead like a spider waiting for its prey. The surrounding area was filled with flickering screens and instruments, and several researchers in protective suits were making final adjustments.

Wang Jinsong was present in person; he was unusually serious today, with a suppressed excitement in his eyes. The large screen on the wall was lit up, displaying the remote connection status—Feng Yuanzhou would be monitoring the entire process via video from another location.

“Ms. Ruan, please lie down. Relax. This is just to explore the deeper mysteries of human superpowers, which is of great significance to you and the future of the base.” Wang Jinsong’s voice was gentle, but firm.