Chapter 68 Dark Matter

The center of the base, the area most severely affected by the residual blasts, has become a vast expanse of charred ruins, with black smoke billowing everywhere.

One area stood out starkly clean, with only a half-turned passageway behind a heavy, forbidden door, creating a stark contrast of black and white with its surroundings. It was as if a gate of holy light had been erected in what appeared to be hell, leading to heaven.

This is the entrance to the underground secret vault.

A group of people stood in front of the door, waiting for one of their men to crack the lock's combination.

With a crisp click, the sound of chains rapidly moving echoed from inside the door.

The gate opened with a soft hum.

They went inside, and beneath their feet was a conveyor belt that moved automatically downwards.

Ah Liang and two of his men stood at the front, followed by Mi Xi Ke, then Lin Jing Ru, and then a line of fully armed men.

The linear motion-sensor lights on both sides of the corridor turned on in advance, casting a cold, eerie glow throughout the passage. They turned off once the group was out of sight, leaving the darkness following them at a distance.

Lin Jingru suddenly sneezed; she was only wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt today. She rubbed the bumps on her skin. Perhaps it was because the secret vault was built underground, but the temperature dropped the deeper she went.

The passageway was short, ending at a glass door.

The people at the front of the line stepped onto the ground. Ding-dong! The glass door slid open, seemingly welcoming their arrival.

Ah Liang and his team surveyed their surroundings, checking the blueprints several times to ensure there was no danger. The leader then led the group into the core area of ​​the base—the classified vault.

Although it's described as confidential, the interior is actually completely transparent.

Looking around, rows of individual glass rooms of varying sizes are neatly arranged, like components on a computer motherboard each fulfilling its function. Inside each room are giant machines, with colorful indicator lights flashing as if breathing.

Missy raised his chin and looked around at the enclosed space, which was comparable in size to the world's top automobile manufacturing plants.

Then she moved around to observe, looking down and up to compare the blueprints. After a while, she glanced at Lin Jingru out of the corner of her eye, and then stared at a glass room in deep thought.

Since entering, Lin Jingru has been fascinated by the warning signs on the doors of each glass room she passed and the mysterious equipment inside.

What is the purpose of this empty space?

Lin Jingru seemed not to hear, so Mi Xike called out again, finally attracting her attention.

"I'm not entirely sure." Lin Jingru looked at it for a while and shook her head.

The blueprint on the screen is closed.

"After looking at it for so long, have you come to any conclusions?"

Missy crossed his arms, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Lin Jingru raised an eyebrow, and Mi Xike glanced at the room behind her, understanding what she wanted to ask.

"It's just a guess."

"Say it."

“The equipment in these glass rooms works in tandem, like they’re monitoring something.” Lin Jingru paused, then thought for a moment. “They’re probably suppressing something.”

Upon hearing this, Misiko's deep eyes darkened for a few seconds before suddenly brightening.

"Ah Liang," she called out as she turned her head.

Ah Liang looked at her.

"Go to the empty space."

The group followed Ah Liang and ran towards the very center of the secret vault.

Passing through five rows of glass enclosures, a sudden burst of intense light erupted from one of them, causing them to stop abruptly and raise their hands to shield their faces. Inside the glass enclosures, lights from equipment flickered frantically in front, behind, to the left, and to the right.

The heat and light continued, and Missy blindly approached, braving the light.

Could it be dark matter?

She tried to open her eyes through her fingers, and as the snow rushed into her vision, her eyes burned with pain, and tears welled up in her eyes.

After that, she dared not make any further moves and waited for the light to fade.

After about a minute, the light gradually receded inwards in concentric circles, and the flickering lights of the equipment calmed down. Perhaps the exertion from pressing the Rubik's Cube had been too great, because the overhead lights were not turned on again, and the dark ceiling felt strangely oppressive and profound.

The grayish floor lamps lit up, barely dispelling the anxiety brought on by the darkness.

Missy couldn't wait to put her hand down, open her sore eyes, and through a blurry layer of tears, move towards a cluster of shimmering starlight.

When he saw the tiny object in front of him, disbelief appeared on his face.

A small Rubik's Cube made of black iron floated into the air.

It rotates, and its glazed surface reflects light as it turns, shimmering like the brightest star in the night sky.

"Is it dark matter?"

Misi questioned Lin Jingru, who had approached from the side.

Lin Jingru stared blankly at the black iron cube, muttering, "I don't know."

Misik gestured to one of his men.

The henchman took a bag of blood plasma from his backpack and threw it at the Rubik's Cube.

The blood bag exploded instantly upon impact. A burst of light erupted from the Rubik's Cube, engulfing the splattered blood.

The whole process took only a blink of an eye; the blood was completely absorbed, and plastic bag fragments scattered on the ground.

"It's this one."

As soon as Misik finished speaking, two fully armed subordinates approached the Rubik's Cube and together unfolded a special red cloth—a special cloth obtained in the group's experimental area to appease dark matter—and carefully raised it to cover the Rubik's Cube.

After they watched the Rubik's Cube's light dim down, they released it, and the red cloth fell down to cover it. They then grabbed the corner of the cloth and completely wrapped it up.

After confirming that there were no exposed areas, the two large men moved the cloth along with it.

No response.

No matter how hard they tried, it remained completely still.

"No one can take it away unless it chooses to."

A cold, woman's voice suddenly echoed in the empty, quiet space.

Misike and the rest of the group entered the perimeter, except for Lin Jingru. The moment she heard the familiar, emotionless woman's voice, she knew who it was. She raised her phoenix eyes and looked towards a glass roof.

Missy noticed Lin Jingru's gaze and reminded the others to be wary of what was above.

A beam of light from a handheld camera shone on it.

The dark figure stood tall; it was a young woman with a thin, short body that posed no threat whatsoever. Only her two cold, marble-like black eyes were somewhat strange.

Misi and A-Liang exchanged a glance.

"Five minutes, get out of here."

Upon hearing this, a hint of disdain was revealed by the men below who were holding weapons.

"Li Nai, is that you?" Misi asked calmly.

Lin Jingru, who was standing next to her, quickly glanced at Mi Xike.

The person on the glass roof remained silent, looking down at them with an arrogant gaze, devoid of any emotion in their eyes, their lips barely moving.

"Three minutes." The cool voice echoed in the air.

"Listen to it, get out of here first," Lin Jingru said. Seeing that they didn't move, she emphasized urgently, "We will definitely die."

“If we leave here, we’ll definitely die,” Ah Liang sneered rudely.

Lin Jingru stared at him with puzzled eyes.

The man gestured with his chin towards the Rubik's Cube. "With this thing here, it won't dare come any closer. Dark matter might be able to defeat it." He even managed a laugh at the end.

What a fearless guy.

Indeed, he and his ilk, who survived by fighting, were already accustomed to facing death.

They gathered closer together around the black iron cube.

The people on the roof retreated upon seeing this and disappeared into the darkness.

The crowd murmured amongst themselves.

Several people took out their flashlights and shone them around, searching for any suspicious activity.

It was eerily quiet all around; the young woman seemed to have vanished.

"Don't let your guard down. It's definitely hiding somewhere." Lin Jingru said calmly, but her phoenix eyes kept scanning the corner.

Perhaps influenced by Lin Jingru's words, everyone seemed a little nervous.

In the dim and blurry environment, it was so quiet that you could hear each other's heartbeats.

Sudden--

The glass shattered with a crash!

Something snapped, followed by several heavy metallic scrapes against the floor.

Thump! Thump! ...

The sound of a giant beast's footsteps.

"careful!--"

Someone shone a light on them and witnessed a shocking scene.

A thin, short woman lifted a piece of equipment dozens of times her size with one hand and suddenly threw it at them.

A dark shadow loomed overhead; those who reacted quickly were thrown to the ground, while those who reacted slowly were smashed into a bloody mess on the spot.

Missy pushed aside the scraps of metal that were pressing down on him, slowly got up, his deep eyes wary of his surroundings. The few broken floor lamps flickered a few times before completely breaking down.

"Li Nai" has disappeared again.

Avoiding the flowing pool of blood, she stood up straight, and where her gaze fell, a star-shaped light slowly rose along with her.

The light came from a pile of disassembled equipment, billowing hot smoke. The black iron cube melted away the sheet metal in its path until it was completely empty, then stopped in mid-air and began to spin on its own.

Missy recalled its previous location, unchanged, as if it were automatically locked, and could not be moved even a little by any external force.

His two long, arched eyebrows furrowed tightly together.

How exactly can we get dark matter to leave?

"Did she tell you how to get the dark matter out?" Missy glanced at the disheveled Lin Jingru.

"Didn't she tell you?" Lin Jingru asked back.

It seems they don't know.

"ah--"

Da da da!

A man cried out in pain, and the gunfire flickered a few times in the darkness before going out.

It happened and ended in just a second or two.

"Come back quickly!"

Ah Liang waved to his teammates who had been scattered by the flying equipment.

The group approached the floating Rubik's Cube again.

Ah Liang pointed out that one of the men had lost his gun, along with his spare long magazine.

I shone the flashlight on it to look for it, but I couldn't see it.

Including the gun belonging to the team member who was killed in the sneak attack, a total of two guns have disappeared.

In close combat, with the Rubik's Cube, "Li Nai" would naturally not dare to get close, but with a gun in hand, the situation is different.

“A flare,” Missy said calmly. “Anything, as long as it can reveal its location.”

A rustling sound of groping for ammunition came from nearby.

"She's there!"

Someone shone a light on a person as they passed by.

"shot!"

Ah Liang had just given the order.

A continuous burst of light shone brightly. The source, however, was the opposite side.

Without hesitation, Ah Liang lowered Misiko and barely managed to hide behind the shattered equipment. Wails of agony filled the air.

Lin Jingru, who happened to be standing behind the equipment, crouched down and narrowly avoided the bullets. Stray bullets occasionally clattered against her back.

He turned around and lay down, his phoenix eyes peeking at the person opposite him who was wielding a long spear and firing in both hands.

The firelight illuminated "Li Nai's" robot-like, ruthless face.

Even the hottest gunfire couldn't warm those two cold, dark eyes.

The gun barrel suddenly moved towards her, and she quickly retreated into the thicker area of ​​the equipment.

The gunshots behind me grew closer and louder.

"Ahhh!"

Screams of survivors came from the left.

The air was thick with the stench of blood.

A quick glance at the high place.

"Li Nai" stood on the glass roof where they had stood before, in the closest spot to them.

哢哒.

哢哒.

Two guns, one in front of the other, emptied their magazines.

A gun was dropped.

Pull out the spare long magazine and replace it.

Its dark eyes fixed on the location where the remaining personnel were hiding. To it, the dismantled giant equipment was as transparent as if it were invisible.

The gun barrel veered off course, pointing towards Missy's hiding place.

"Hide behind me." Ah Liang coughed up blood, his face contorted in pain as he protected Misike.

"Ah Liang." Mi Xi Ke glanced at the wound she was covering with her hands, the remaining bullet having pierced the man's waist and abdomen.

Seeing that Missy wouldn't move no matter what, Ah Liang urged, "Hurry up."

"Hold him down. Don't move." Missy took the man's pistol, shielding him in a safe position and blocking the gun barrel from above.

"elder sister."

The man behind her called out softly.

Missy didn't turn around, staring at the glass roof.

It took some time to change the magazine, and given how ruthless it was, why didn't it fire?

Adjusting her position and squinting, she noticed that the gun barrel above was shaking.

Li Nai turned her head, seemingly realizing her intention.

Without hesitation, she fired three shots.

at the same time--

"Run!" came the familiar shout.

Li Nai!

His deep eyes widened in surprise.

The bullets pierced the flesh with a thud.

A figure swayed on the glass roof, spraying blood into the air before falling along with the blood droplets.

*Smack!* The floor lamp beneath him was slammed to the ground, extinguishing it.

Missy, regaining his senses, cautiously took a few steps forward before stopping. Seeing no movement for a while, he finally approached. Behind him, Lin Jingru followed hesitantly.

Afraid of a trap, Ah Liang struggled to his feet but collapsed onto the equipment. His bright eyes, framed by disheveled bangs, lifted and caught sight of the Rubik's Cube falling to the ground, absorbing the fresh, flowing blood inch by inch.

He looked at the source of the blood, which came from beneath Li Nai.

Why suck the blood of Li Nai when there are so many other people to suck?

Her starry eyes gleamed with an unusual light.

He held the equipment, about to remind Missy.

The lights in the sky shone brightly one after another.

"Yes, everyone's here."

A human voice echoed in the air. Ah Liang looked around, his starry eyes wide with shock. Dozens of robots stood in the passageway between the glass rooms.

They are tall and heavy, with smooth, glazed black skin, and their faceless masks are dark and oppressive, exuding cold-blooded violence.

When?! How did they get in?!

When his gaze fell on the black-skinned robot's feet, he suddenly realized that there was a mechanism in the floor, and there must be a passage underneath.

He glanced back at Missyco, and the two locked eyes. Missyco also noticed the passage beneath the floor.

They communicated subtly with their eyes.

"Don't even think about running away from here."

Tap tap, the heel of the shoe pounded on the floor.

Looking in the direction of the sound, Ji Fenglan stepped out from behind one of the robots.

"This isn't a place for humans. Trust me."

Ji Fenglan smiled gently, her amber eyes bright and clear.

The next moment.

"Arrest him."