Chapter 94 This defense, not even a mosquito can get in? System: Who are you insulting!
"Exciting?" Cheng Gan looked in the direction Cheng Gan was pointing, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly.
The ventilation duct, hidden in a structural gap in the illuminated ceiling, was less than forty centimeters wide and completely black, forming a stark contrast to the bright white surroundings.
For ordinary people, that's not even a path, but for them, it's the only glimmer of hope in this death zone.
"What's there to be afraid of?" Cheng Gan chuckled.
Zhou Jue took out two talismans from the secret box and handed one to Cheng Gan: "'Concealing Breath Talisman,' the advanced version. After applying it, it can conceal one's own heat, aura, and even heartbeat to the greatest extent. As long as you don't make any loud noise, those infrared and biological detectors will be blind."
This was a tool she had prepared long ago to deal with the technological defenses; sometimes, metaphysics is more effective than science.
Cheng Gan took the talisman and patted it on her chest without hesitation. The talisman turned into a glimmer of light and instantly merged into her body. She could clearly feel that the heat emanating from her body was as if locked by an invisible membrane, and even her breathing became barely perceptible.
Zhou Jue also affixed the talisman, and then made a gesture to Cheng Gan.
"I'll go first, Sister Cheng Gan, follow me, there are a lot of traps here."
Cheng Gan nodded. At times like these, absolute trust is essential.
Zhou Jue took a deep breath, lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his whole body floated up silently like a weightless feather.
Her movements were so gentle that they didn't trigger the ground's gravity sensors at all. Her fingers lightly gripped the edge of the ventilation duct without making a sound. With a push of her arms, she deftly flipped her entire body up, like a gecko, and stuck firmly to the ceiling.
Immediately afterward, she reached down and grasped Cheng Gan's hand. With the help of her, Cheng Gan was also silently pulled up. The two exchanged a glance and, without uttering a word, crawled into the narrow ventilation duct.
Inside the pipe, it was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and the air was filled with the smell of a mixture of engine oil and dust.
[Host, I have constructed a simplified map of the ventilation system by analyzing the airflow and vibrations within the ducts.] The system's voice sounded at the opportune moment.
[Climb forward along the main pipe for about fifty meters, and you'll reach the third branch exit on the right. Below is the A-3 supply depot. That's a blind spot for surveillance; we can use it to access the next floor.]
"good!"
Without exchanging words, the two relied solely on the simplest combat hand signals and tacit understanding to quietly crawl forward through the maze-like pipes.
The pipe walls were very thin, and they could clearly hear the uniform footsteps of the patrolling soldiers in the corridor outside, as well as the buzzing sound of the energy weapons charging.
Every time a sound approached, Zhou Jue's heart skipped a beat; it was far more thrilling than dealing with vampires in the castle.
It took them a full ten minutes to climb the fifty-meter distance.
Finally, the target location indicated by the system has been reached.
Zhou Jue led the way, carefully pushing open the ventilation grille and peering down. Below, as expected, was a warehouse piled high with various metal boxes, a few emergency lights casting a dim glow.
"Safety."
She whispered something and jumped down first. When she landed, her knees were slightly bent, and the sound was even lighter than a cat walking.
Cheng Gan followed closely behind.
The moment their feet touched the ground, the two immediately dodged behind a row of tall shelves.
"Phew..." Zhou Jue leaned against the cold shelves and finally breathed a sigh of relief: "This place is even more perverted than I imagined."
“This is only the outer perimeter.” Cheng Gan cautiously observed his surroundings while responding in a low voice, “The defenses in the real core area will only be stronger.”
Without lingering, they followed the system's guidance through the supply room and arrived at a heavy electronic door.
Behind the door is an elevator shaft leading to the second basement level. This elevator requires both a high-access card and iris scanning for verification.
[Attempting to crack... The access control system is isolated both online and physically... Online bypass successful... Physical bypass failed.]
Physical isolation again!
Why do these guys in the US have turned all the key departments into this kind of unyielding, unapproachable system?
"It's alright." Zhou Jue smiled confidently: "Brother Tongzi, bring up the structural diagram of the elevator shaft."
The next second, a detailed 3D drawing unfolded before her eyes.
“Sister Cheng Gan, look here.” Zhou Jue pointed to a maintenance cover above the elevator door according to the blueprint: “We’ll go in directly from here and go down the cable.”
“Good idea.” Cheng Gan stepped forward, took a small suction cup from his waist bag, and firmly attached it to the maintenance cover.
With a gentle pull, the cover was silently removed, revealing the dark elevator shaft behind it. A downward gust of air blew out from the shaft.
Without hesitation, the two crawled inside one after the other, covered the maintenance panel, and then slid down the thick steel cable like nimble spiders.
The second basement level houses the living quarters and regular laboratories.
The three underground floors are the weapons research and testing area.
Their target is the deepest underground level, the fifth floor.
The entire descent went surprisingly smoothly. With the system's real-time monitoring and planning, they perfectly avoided all operating elevators and patrol points, and soon they reached the bottom of the fourth basement level.
“From here on, this is the area where the ‘core technology’ is located.” Zhou Jue’s voice became extremely serious.
The two climbed out of the elevator shaft and arrived at a corridor with a completely different style from the one before.
The walls here are no longer cold metal, but a warm, jade-like white material. The smell of disinfectant is gone from the air; instead, there is a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Everything seemed so peaceful and serene. However, the alarm bells in Zhou Jue and Cheng Gan's hearts were ringing at their highest at this moment.
Something unusual must be going on!
[WARNING! WARNING! High-dimensional space trap detected in the area ahead!]
For the first time, the system's voice carried a sense of urgency!
[The space here is folded! The corridor you see is not the actual distance! Every step forward could teleport you to an unknown and dangerous area!]
"Space folding?" Zhou Jue was dumbfounded.
This was beyond her comprehension. Shouldn't this be a technique only powerful beings in cultivation novels possess? Or a technology found only in higher-dimensional worlds? Has the US's technology developed to this extent?
[No, this isn't American technology.] The system immediately denied it.
This is the built-in defense system of the 'core technology of the previous civilization'! The energy it emitted has altered the spatial structure of this area!
As soon as he finished speaking, the corridor in front of him suddenly began to ripple like water.
The originally straight passage twisted, stretched, and deformed before their eyes, eventually turning into a deep vortex that emitted a silver-blue light!
A powerful suction force emanated from the vortex!
"not good!"
Cheng Gan reacted extremely quickly, grabbing Zhou Jue with one hand and pulling a dagger from his boot with the other, plunging it fiercely into the ground!
"Sizzle—"
A blinding streak of sparks flew from the hard ground!
Zhou Jue quickly reacted, grabbed Cheng Gan with his backhand, and used the spiritual power in his body to firmly stabilize their bodies, so that they were not dragged in by that strange suction force.
"Xiao Jue! Think of a way!" Cheng Gan gritted his teeth, the muscles in his arms bulging from the effort.
Zhou Jue's brain was racing. Spatial trap... To break through the space, he could only use even stronger spatial power!
"Starlight Secret Box!"
With a thought, she immediately connected with the secret box in her sea of consciousness!
"Brother Tong! Use the power of the Secret Box to stabilize this distorted space for me! Or... just tear a path through it!"
[Command received! Invoking the spatial source power of the 'Starry Mirror Box'!]
[WARNING: This operation will consume a large amount of energy and has a very high chance of alerting the autonomous consciousness of the 'Technology Core'!]
"I can't worry about anything else now!" A resolute glint flashed in Zhou Jue's eyes: "Let's do it!"
Just then, from the other end of the corridor came the sound of hurried footsteps and shouts.
"What happened? Find out the cause immediately!"
"Sir! The spatial stability of the regional gamma is fluctuating! An unknown energy source is causing the disturbance."
A team of fully armed special forces soldiers, carrying uniquely designed energy rifles, are rushing towards this area!
They were alerted!
Zhou Jue's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.
A spatial vortex lies ahead, and pursuers are behind.
They're in big trouble!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com