Looking inside from the wall, Lu Yuan didn't find any cameras, so he felt relieved and jumped down.

Because no one had taken care of it for a long time, the weeds that had grown in the chemical plant had withered and died due to the high temperature, leaving the ground muddy. Fortunately, Lu Yuan was wearing rain boots, so he wasn't worried about mud getting into his shoes.

He quietly took out the dimensional crystal, and the frequency of its flashing white light increased. Lu Yuan looked around the chemical plant. This should be considered his first time entering. He hadn't entered when the fight broke out before; he had just stood far outside the factory area and called the police.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and there were occasional rumbles of thunder. The metal-roofed factory buildings throughout the area echoed with the thunder, creating a somewhat eerie sound.

Lu Yuan wrapped his clothes tighter around himself, feeling a bit cold. Although the ground had been exposed to the sun for months and was already parched, with cracks even appearing in some places, this downpour came very suddenly and lasted for an exceptionally long time, with rainfall exceeding anything Lu Yuan had ever seen before.

Soon, Lu Yuan hadn't gone very far when he felt the water on the ground reaching his calves. The shimmering light on the crystal was still ahead, but he needed to pass through the gap between two factory buildings. To be honest, Lu Yuan was already a little scared.

He now regretted rewatching the classic childhood nightmare film, The Haunted Village, when he was bored yesterday, as scenes from it kept replaying in his mind.

Especially the puddle in front of him—no, it couldn't be called puddle anymore, it was more like a small river, more like the river in the movie. What he found even more unacceptable was that the area behind him, which had been exposed to the high temperature for too long, suddenly became shrouded in mist due to the sudden downpour.

"Damn it! I'll risk it!" Lu Yuan gritted his teeth, gripped the crystal tightly in his hand, and waded into the deep water.

The water was deeper than Lu Yuan had imagined. He hadn't walked more than a few meters when he felt water seeping into his shoes, and his feet were instantly chilled.

Never mind! I'm going to get the upgrade crystals today no matter what! With this thought in mind, Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and walked into the mezzanine between the two factory buildings.

However, the further in he went, the deeper the water became, and the narrow path between the two factories was only wide enough for one person. Lu Yuan hadn't gone far before the water reached his knees.

To overcome his fear, Lu Yuan deliberately coughed twice. However, his coughing only made things worse, as an echo came from behind him, which made his hair stand on end.

"Damn it! I can never come to a place like this again! It's like a ghost... Ugh! I'm an atheist! How could I possibly believe in this stuff!" Lu Yuan muttered as he walked.

Water kept dripping from the corrugated iron roofs of the factory buildings on both sides. Because the area in the middle was relatively low-lying, Lu Yuan finally managed to walk out between the two factory buildings, his steps uneven and difficult.

"Phew! Finally out!" Lu Yuan felt his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

Without wasting any time, he took out the crystal and glanced at it. The flashing frequency increased, and following the instructions on the crystal, Lu Yuan quickly arrived in front of a cooling tower.

"Uh... could this really be the place?! Why didn't I come in through this door just now?" Lu Yuan wanted to slap himself twice.

He had taken a huge detour to avoid the cameras, and then went through such a terrifying alley to finally get here, only to find that this was the very place he was supposed to come from. What a rip-off!

He picked up the crystal and glanced at it. The crystal's shimmering light pointed directly at the cooling tower. The closer he got to the cooling tower, the higher the shimmering frequency became. When he placed the crystal at the bottom of the cooling tower, the white light finally shone on the entire crystal.

Could it be that the upgrade crystal is hidden inside this cooling tower? But that's ridiculous! This cooling tower is at least seven or eight meters tall. How is he supposed to open it?!

After circling the cooling tower twice, Lu Yuan finally gave up on the idea of ​​opening it from the bottom. He guessed that the contents inside were probably liquid nitrogen or something similar, used to cool chemical reagents. However, the chemical plant had been shut down for several months, and the cooling tower had been left unmaintained, so the liquid nitrogen inside was almost all used up.

He had seen liquid nitrogen cooling towers before. Those places were covered in frost all year round, and the temperature around them was only a few degrees. They were also surrounded by iron railings to prevent people from touching them, because even though the thing was inside the cooling tower, it was still very cold through the ten-centimeter-thick layer.

Once a person's hand touches it, the extremely low temperature will instantly stick the skin of that finger to the ground. If it is not removed in time, it may even cause muscle necrosis.

However, the cooling tower was no longer covered in frost, and Lu Yuan felt no chill at all when he placed his hand on it.

Looking at the pile of rusty screws, Lu Yuan knew that it was absolutely impossible to unscrew the screws one by one and gently open the cooling tower. Only violent dismantling of the cooling tower was the most suitable option for him.

So Lu Yuan quietly slipped into the dimensional space and found a chainsaw. That's right, he planned to saw off one of the legs of the cooling tower's base and then push it over the cooling tower.

However, just as Lu Yuan was feeling proud of his intelligence, a real problem once again stunned him.

No power!

When this factory was abandoned, some of its power outlets were shut down. Even if there were no power outage, there are no usable outlets nearby. And even if you did find one, with all this rain and water everywhere, what if you got an electric shock? Wouldn't that be game over?

There was no other way but to use a more primitive method. Since the chainsaw wouldn't work, a hand saw would do. So Lu Yuan took out the hand saw again and started sawing the legs... uh... the legs of the cooling tower.

As the saying goes, "Heaven helps those who help themselves." After Lu Yuan sawed through more than a dozen saw blades, the entire cooling tower suddenly emitted a creaking sound.

Then, with a slight tilt, a large puddle of water poured down from the top of the cooling tower.

Luckily, Lu Yuan dodged in time, otherwise the downpour would have soaked him to the bone.

However, the stability of this cooling tower exceeded Lu Yuan's expectations. In order to make the cooling tower fall down quickly, he stood aside and kicked it a few times, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

Just as he was frowning in worry, a rumble of thunder sounded in the sky. Lu Yuan felt his hair stand on end, and then he heard a thunderbolt strike the cooling tower directly overhead.