The basement door lurched precariously amidst the violent thuds. Each impact struck Ling Yichen and the others like a hammer blow, shattering their hopes for survival and the discovery of the secret. Meanwhile, the decoder that held the fate of the new drama lay dormant deep within the heavily guarded enemy's lair.

Ling Yichen's heart pounded wildly in his chest, the sound causing a sharp pain in his eardrums. He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, trying to calm himself with the pain. Li Yang and the girl beside him were equally pale. An atmosphere of fear permeated the small basement, mixed with the nauseating smell of dampness and mildew, making the air feel thick and sticky.

“We can’t let ourselves be captured like this,” Ling Yichen said in a low voice, his voice trembling slightly with tension, but his eyes were resolute. He quickly scanned the basement; the dim, flickering light cast eerie shadows on the walls, illuminating the piles of old, worn-out junk around them, and a stench of decay filled the air. Suddenly, his gaze fell on a rusty shovel in the corner—perhaps it could become their temporary weapon against the enemy.

Li Yang followed Ling Yichen's gaze, understood immediately, and quickly stepped forward to grab a shovel. "I'll guard the entrance; you guys find a chance to break through from the back." He was panting heavily, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and dripping onto the dusty ground.

Just as Ling Yichen was about to object, the basement door was flung open with a bang, and a pungent smell of gunpowder instantly rushed in. A man wearing sunglasses led a group of men in black, their weapons gleaming coldly in the dim light.

"You think you can escape?" The man in sunglasses spoke in a deep, cold voice, like a chilling wind sweeping through the basement. "Hand over the secrets of the new drama, or none of you will leave here alive."

Ling Yichen glared at him: "We have no idea what the secret is, and you can't expect to get anything from us."

The man sneered and waved his hand, and the men in black surrounded them in a fan shape. Ling Yichen and Li Yang stood in front, protecting the girl behind them. At this moment, a suffocating atmosphere of tension filled the basement. Besides the rapid breathing of everyone, there was the heavy footsteps of the men in black, each step kicking up dust.

Li Yang swung his shovel, trying to stop the men in black from getting closer. The shovel sliced ​​through the air with a whooshing sound. Seeing this, the men in black raised their weapons, forming a defensive line. Ling Yichen took the opportunity to observe the surrounding environment and discovered a small ventilation duct in the basement wall, perhaps large enough for one person to pass through.

"I'll distract them for a moment, then you take the girl out through the ventilation duct," Ling Yichen whispered to Li Yang.

Before Li Yang could retort, Ling Yichen had already rushed out, shouting loudly and attracting the attention of the men in black. Helpless, Li Yang could only pull the girl and run towards the ventilation duct.

Ling Yichen engaged in a fierce battle with the men in black. His ears were filled with the sounds of fighting and cursing, and his body was gradually soaked with sweat. The salty smell of sweat mixed with the various odors in the basement made him almost nauseous. He kicked one of the men in black away, but did not notice that another man in black was raising a weapon and smashing it at him from behind.

At that critical moment, Li Yang suddenly turned back and blocked the fatal blow with his shovel. "Quick, let me hold them off!" Li Yang shouted.

Ling Yichen gritted his teeth and pulled the girl to the ventilation duct. The girl, petite in stature, crawled into the duct first. Ling Yichen was about to follow when he discovered that the ventilation duct was filled with dust and cobwebs, and the pungent smell of dust made him cough incessantly. He didn't care about anything else and struggled to crawl through the duct.

The sounds of fighting behind him gradually faded into the distance, but Ling Yichen dared not let his guard down. The pipes were narrow and dark, and he could only grope his way forward by the faint light. After climbing for a while, he heard a girl's scream from ahead.

"What's wrong?" Ling Yichen asked anxiously.

"There seems to be something ahead... ahead," the girl replied, her voice trembling with tears.

Ling Yichen leaned closer and saw a huge rat staring with blood-red eyes at the front of the pipe, squeaking sharply that echoed through the pipe. The rat emitted a putrid stench that was nauseating.

Ling Yichen picked up a stone and threw it at the rat, which scurried away in fright. They continued on their way and finally found the exit of the ventilation duct.

After climbing out of the ventilation duct, they found themselves in an abandoned warehouse. The warehouse was filled with all sorts of junk, and dim light filtered through the cracks in the dilapidated roof, forming beams of light. The air was filled with a musty smell, mixed with a faint odor of machine oil.

“We need to find the decoder quickly,” Ling Yichen said.

They carefully searched for an exit in the warehouse when suddenly the girl pointed to a hidden door in the corner and said, "Look, there's a door over there."

Ling Yichen and the girl walked towards the hidden door. After opening it, they found themselves in a long corridor. Several dim lamps hung on the walls on both sides of the corridor, flickering intermittently. They walked forward along the corridor, their footsteps echoing in the silent passage.

After walking for a while, a huge iron gate appeared at the end of the passage. Ling Yichen stepped forward and pushed it, but the gate did not budge.

“It seems this is the gateway to the enemy's core area,” Ling Yichen said. “We must find a way to open it.”

Just as they were pondering how to open the iron gate, they suddenly heard footsteps behind them. Ling Yichen and the girl turned around in alarm to see a group of men in black chasing after them.

"Oh no, they're catching up!" Ling Yichen shouted. "We have to open this door before they get here."

Ling Yichen and the girl frantically searched for the mechanism to open the door, but after searching for a long time, they found nothing. The man in black was getting closer and closer, and his footsteps were becoming clearer.

In this life-or-death moment, will they be able to find a way to open the door and successfully enter the enemy's core area to obtain the decoder? What kind of fierce conflict will occur after the men in black catch up? Will the secrets of the new drama be successfully revealed amidst numerous crises? Everything is still unknown, and Ling Yichen and the girl stand on the edge of fate, awaiting an unknown destiny...