Chapter 185 The Doctor's Secret Chamber 1

The statement that Chenlong's death would cause the stronghold to tremble and even blur the space itself sounds as if Chenlong were the pillar of this independent reality. With the pillar collapsing, the stronghold would naturally be on the verge of destruction.

However, if Chenlong is indeed the pillar, then it's difficult to explain why he was able to temporarily leave this stronghold and kidnap Chang'an. No, perhaps the problem lies in the wording I used. The term "pillar" is misleading. Perhaps even if he is the foundation for the existence of this independent reality, it wouldn't prevent him from traveling to the real world.

Of course, there is a second possibility: perhaps Chenlong was just an ordinary "dreamer," and the number of people killed by the demon hunters in the past was just enough to shake the dream.

That's why the young girl Lu Chan said the method was to "kill everyone," rather than just "kill Chenlong."

"...But there must be another hurdle that we can't get around this method." I quickly realized.

“That’s right…” Lu Chan sighed. “If the earthquake and blurring of this base had continued for a certain period of time, I believe this place would have collapsed. It’s just a pity that Dr. Silver Mask used the power of reboot to restore everything to its original state.”

The advantage of this method is that it destroys the stronghold without killing Dr. Silver Mask, but the disadvantage is that Dr. Silver Mask will definitely not stand idly by while the stronghold is about to be destroyed. Ultimately, it is still necessary to kill Dr. Silver Mask, who is unkillable by anyone, first.

Moreover, there is now a second hurdle: the Dragon itself.

The reason Chenlong was so easy to kill back then was because he was only at the completion level. But now, he has not only reached the great completion level, but also mastered the "teleportation armor," becoming the second "invincible person" after Dr. Silver Mask.

These two mountains are the Wailing Walls that the experimental subjects trapped inside this base are destined to never get around.

"There's another question... Zhuang Cheng, can you really kill all the researchers here?" the girl Lu Chan asked. "Can you bring yourself to do that?"

This was a question I hadn't thought about deeply before, but after considering it, I still said without hesitation, "Yes."

“That’s good. They are all enemies, and they deserve to die. No matter how many compelling reasons they had, they are now in a position where they shouldn’t complain even if they were killed a hundred times over, so don’t show them any mercy,” she said. “However, their wisdom is still useful for the future of ordinary people. So, if you can destroy this stronghold without killing them, I hope you will spare their lives… is that alright?”

It's not because "they were forced into it," but because "they are useful."

This is something Lu Youxun would never say; he would definitely say he wanted to kill all the researchers here.

While the young girl Lu Chan symbolizes "the dream of becoming a hero," she doesn't seem to shy away from annihilating her enemies... or is this a necessary quality for becoming a hero?

I said again, "Okay."

"Thank you," she said.

We finally crept up to the door of the supervisor's office.

From the outside, the supervisor's office looked no different from any other ordinary cell; the entrance was simply an iron door on the side of a corridor. Moreover, due to my distorted perception, I couldn't see the office's sign; I was only pinpointing the location based on my memory of the route to the old Humanitarian Division outpost. Fortunately, the young girl Lu Chan was beside me, and with her normal perspective, she recognized this as our destination.

Even after arriving at the destination, neither Lu Chan nor I made any rash moves.

The supervisor's office is also shrouded in counter-surveillance measures; it is impossible for perception to enter naturally, and forcibly penetrating it would likely cause a disturbance.

We don't know if Dr. Silver Mask is inside the director's office right now. If we open the door and bump into him, we'll only be defeated.

Those of us who can't kill Dr. Silver Mask will be killed by Chenlong, who arrives later. My destruction is irrelevant; I'll be resurrected at the Luoshan office outside. If Lu Chan dies, then we'll just have to wait for the next restart. Without Lu Chan, Lu Youxun outside can no longer use divination to teleport me here.

Furthermore, I cannot leave "fireflies" here first and then teleport myself here. This is because the "fireflies" I have here are summoned using the Outer Path Impermanence Sword as a relay device. If I am destroyed here, the Outer Path Impermanence Sword will not automatically follow me back; and once I lose contact with the Outer Path Impermanence Sword, the "fireflies" here will automatically disappear.

As for leaving behind a "firefly" with my own power... Based on my feeling, as long as it involves the step of "I using my own superpowers", even if it is just leaving behind a "firefly" or a small amount of heat, I will be forcibly logged out along with the power left behind after a maximum of tens of seconds.

I wonder if if I cut off my hand and left it here, it could serve as a marker to teleport me back later. After all, my body parts are also flames... No, cutting off my hand might be a bit extreme. Leaving some hair or bodily fluids should have the same effect... I pressed my ear against the iron gate as I pondered this question.

The young girl, Lu Chan, asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"

"Listen and see if anyone's in the supervisor's office," I said.

"You can actually hear that? Even Chenlong can't hear the sounds from most of the rooms in this base..." she said in surprise.

"How do you know Chenlong can't hear?" I asked, puzzled.

“This was the foundation of my past prison break plan. Now, with his ‘full enhancement’ focused on amplifying his hearing, he could probably hear conversations anywhere in a city, let alone those within this hideout. He could even have overheard our previous conversations,” she said. “It’s just that the walls of this hideout are riddled with anti-detection mechanisms, which even impairs his hearing, so he didn’t immediately come to catch us. And your distorted perception was able to bypass this obstacle—it’s practically cheating.”

"Thank you for the compliment."

As I spoke, I briefly enhanced my hearing with the Unpredictable Sword of the Heretic Path.

I immediately grasped the movements inside the supervisor's office, and I didn't miss any human heartbeats that might be inside.

The Silver Mask Doctor's heart is a fragment of a divine seal, so it probably doesn't have a heartbeat. However, as long as he breathes, or even has blood flowing, he won't escape my hearing at this moment. To put it extremely, even if he doesn't have any of these physiological changes, as long as he's still a living being, he'll always produce some sounds of activity.

At that moment, I did not hear any such sounds; the supervisor's office was empty.

"Safety."

I took out the iron key. The key to the invigilator's office was probably different from the key to the regular cell, but that was none of my business; I just opened it.

However, when it came to the end, I thought about it and decided to take this opportunity to try something else.

I used the Unpredictable Sword of the Outer Path as a "staff" to summon flames, shaping it into the same form as the iron key, then inserted it into the keyhole and gently turned it.

The door lock opened smoothly.

It seems that this method works.

"Can a key formed from flames also be used to open doors...?"

Upon seeing this scene, the young girl Lu Chan pondered for a moment, seemingly having some other thoughts.

We entered the director's office. Unlike the cells filled with torture instruments, this looked like a dilapidated, filthy office, with dozens of old television sets hanging on one wall. Each television was playing black and white images, showing events taking place in various parts of the base. Some showed guards patrolling the corridors, others showed researchers torturing test subjects in the cells, and still others simply displayed open spaces.

The young girl, Lu Chan, stared at the images on part of the television screen, clenching her fists tightly, but said nothing.

Considering that all the witchers here are essentially dead, the scenes looked like a reenactment of death from a supernatural event. Even if they rushed in and rescued them, it would be futile; only destroying this stronghold as soon as possible would truly liberate them.

I tried briefly to see if I could project my power into the images on the television, like how Lu Youxun used his divination to transport himself to this base, but the result was "no."

I think I understand the reasoning. It's not that my superpowers prevent me from doing this under certain conditions; it's actually a problem with myself.

Logically, there's no fundamental difference between "transmitting power through monitor images" and "transmitting power through hallucinations." However, while the former aligns with logic and reason, it doesn't conform to my human experience and intuition. The advent of electronic monitors is still too recent in human evolution; humanity hasn't yet evolved the corresponding conscious instincts. Although I am a "fire elemental being," I remain human at the level of conscious instinct.

The hallucination information transmitted by Lu Youxun is direct perceptual information that transcends language, and it aligns with my experience and intuition, so it can serve as the basis for my transmission.

I searched carefully for Chang'an's image on those television sets, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Is Chang'an not here? Or is it hidden in a more secluded place? I looked around the rest of the supervisor's office, trying to find other clues.

Then, my gaze settled on one particular spot.

"That is..."

Upon hearing my voice, the young girl Lu Chan let out a breath, followed my gaze, and then said, "That's the computer that Dr. Silver Mask uses to store secret research data. It requires an extremely complex password to access it. I've thought about checking it before, but the password has always stopped me."

computer?

But in my eyes, it was clearly a bookshelf filled with folders.

(End of this chapter)