Chapter 44: The inside of a nuclear power plant full of traps
After passing the water, everyone continued to move forward. Lu Zhao was walking in the front and suddenly stopped.
"Wait," Lu Zhao said, "there's something on the ground."
He squatted down and took out a small flashlight from his pocket. Under the light, several hair-thin metal wires appeared on the ground.
"What is this?" Xiao Ran asked.
"Trigger wire," Lu Zhao said, "I've seen similar designs when I was working at the research institute. Once it's touched, it will trigger the mechanism."
Su Wanqing walked closer and observed: "Where do these wires connect to?"
"The walls and ceiling," Lu Zhao shone the flashlight, "We have to be careful, there may be other traps here."
Lin Che looked around: "Everyone, don't move yet. Let me try to see if I can sense other mechanisms."
He closed his eyes and pressed his palms against the wall. After a moment, Lin Che said, "There is a metal device operating in the wall."
"What's the exact location?" Lu Zhao asked.
"The left wall, about one meter above the ground," Lin Che said, "and the right ceiling near the vent."
Lu Zhao nodded: "We have to find a safe path. Xiao Ran, you take Xiao Yu in the middle. Su Wanqing and Lin Che will support on both sides."
At this moment, a mechanical sound suddenly came from the left wall, and a row of sharp blades popped out from the wall.
"Be careful!" Su Wanqing shouted. She quickly activated her space ability and created a barrier.
The blade hit the barrier with a metallic clang, and at the same time, the ceiling began to peel off and pieces of rubble fell down.
"Go forward!" Lu Zhao said, "I'll lead the way."
He shone his flashlight on the ground, finding a path without any wires.
Everyone followed carefully behind.
"These people are really crazy," Xiao Ran said through gritted teeth, "They set so many traps just because they don't want anyone to get out alive."
"Focus," Su Wanqing said, "The most important thing now is to get through here safely."
Several tiles of different colors appeared on the ground ahead. Lu Zhao motioned for everyone to stop.
“These tiles,” he said, “may well be the trigger.”
“How do we determine which piece is safe?” Lin Che asked.
Lu Zhao took out a metal ball from his pocket and threw it gently on a dark floor tile. The floor tile immediately sank and several crossbow arrows shot out from the wall.
"Sure enough, there is a mechanism," Lu Zhao said, "It seems that we can only try it piece by piece."
It took them nearly half an hour to finally find a safe path.
Xiao Ran held Xiao Yu and walked in the middle, while the others remained alert.
"These traps," Xiao Ran said, "are not something that ordinary people can design."
"Yes," Lu Zhao said, "the technical level is very high. And the layout is very regular, it doesn't look like a temporary setting."
"You mean, these traps were already here?" Su Wanqing asked.
Lu Zhao nodded: "It is probably the standard configuration of the institute. It is used to prevent the leakage of confidential information."
"These bastards," Xiao Ran said, "are playing with human life. If an ordinary person accidentally walks in here, he won't survive at all."
"Calm down," Su Wanqing said, "The most important thing for us now is to find the truth. There must be a bigger secret behind these traps."
They continued to move forward, carefully testing each step. Lu Zhao's flashlight kept scanning the ground and walls, looking for possible traps.
"There is a surveillance camera at the corner ahead," Lin Che said, "but it's broken."
"It's better to be careful," Lu Zhao said, "Maybe it can still be used."
They moved slowly along the wall, trying to avoid the probe's field of view.
Suddenly, the ground shook slightly.
"Not good," Lu Zhao said, "maybe some mechanism has been triggered."
Before he finished speaking, a huge rock fell from the ceiling. Su Wanqing immediately opened the space barrier to block the rock.
"Go!" she said. "I can't hold out much longer."
Everyone quickened their pace and finally walked out of this passage full of traps.
We came to a relatively open space with control panels on all four walls.
"It should be safer here," Lu Zhao said, "We can take a break."
Xiao Ran gently placed Xiao Yu on the ground and stretched his sore arms.
“These traps,” he said, “have killed countless people.”
“When this is over,” Lin Che said, “I will make them pay the price.”
Su Wanqing looked around: "We have to find a way to destroy these traps. We can't let more people get hurt."
"Let's focus on the task at hand first," Lu Zhao said, "Once we find the key information, we will know the truth behind all this."
As soon as Lu Zhao finished speaking, Su Wanqing noticed a half-open door on the left.
"There's a room over there," she said. "Let's go and see it."
They carefully pushed the door open and found it was an abandoned office.
Lu Zhao turned on the flashlight and the beam swept across the desk and filing cabinet.
"Here," Lu Zhao said suddenly, "there are a bunch of research notes."
He walked quickly to the desk and picked up the scattered notebooks. The paper had turned yellow, but the handwriting was still clearly visible.
"Let me put it away." Su Wanqing said, activating her spatial ability.
A faint light appeared between her palms.
Lin Che stopped in front of the cabinet at the other end of the room: "Here are the reagent bottles."
He carefully took out several glass bottles with labels on them, filled with liquids of different colors.
"What are these?" Xiao Ran asked.
"Special reagents for experiments," Lin Che said, "The number and formula are written on the label."
"Put them all away," Su Wanqing said, "They might be useful."
She used her space power to collect the reagent bottles one by one. Xiao Ran found something while searching in the corner.
“There’s a laptop here,” he said, “and it’s still powered on.”
Lu Zhao walked over and took a look: "This model is at least ten years old."
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"As long as it can be used," Xiao Ran said, "maybe there is important information in it."
Su Wanqing continued to use her spatial ability to collect items. She silently memorized the location of each item in her mind: "The reagent bottle is placed on the innermost layer, and the notebook is placed on the second layer on the left."
"Everyone remember the location," she reminded, "so it will be convenient when you need it."
Lu Zhao picked up a notebook and flipped through it casually, his expression becoming solemn.
"What's wrong?" Su Wanqing asked.
"These notes," Lu Zhao said, "are all records of human experiment data."
He pointed to one of the pages and said, "Look here, 'After the experimental subject was injected with reagent S-0, the cell activity increased by 300%, but a severe rejection reaction occurred'"
"These bastards," Xiao Ran gritted his teeth, "are treating people as experimental subjects."
Lin Che took the note and looked at it: "The date is three years ago, which is when the virus began to spread."
"Put it away first," Su Wanqing said, "and study it carefully when it's safe."
She continued searching the room and found more information deep in the filing cabinet, including experimental records, personnel lists, project reports, etc.
"These are important documents," Lu Zhao said, "so you have to keep them carefully."
Su Wanqing nodded and sorted the files. Xiao Ran found a few more USB flash drives on the bookshelf.
"Take these with you," he said, "maybe we can figure out something."
Lin Che suddenly said, "I heard some noise outside."
Everyone immediately became alert. Su Wanqing quickened her pace and put the remaining items into the space.
"Check what else we need to take," she said. "We have to leave quickly."
Lu Zhao took one last look around to make sure no important items were left out.
They tiptoed out of the office and back into the corridor.
"Which way are we going?" Xiao Ran asked.
"On the right," Lu Zhao said, "there's an emergency exit over there."
At this moment, footsteps were heard from the left. Everyone held their breath and moved slowly along the wall.
"The things I just collected," Su Wanqing whispered, "I sorted them by area. The first area is for experimental records, and the second area is for reagents."
"I'll remember that," Lu Zhao said. "I'll study the information once it's safe."
Lin Che suddenly grabbed Su Wanqing and said, "Wait, there is a safe on the wall over there."
Xiao Ran went forward to check: "It's not locked."
He opened the door of the safe and found a metal box inside. Lu Zhao took it out and opened it, and found a stack of photos and a notebook.
"This is." He turned to the first page of the notebook. "Elizabeth's handwriting."
"Your wife?" Su Wanqing asked.
Lu Zhao nodded: "This should be her personal notes."
“Put it away quickly,” Lin Che said, “The footsteps are getting closer.”
Su Wanqing immediately put the box into her space power. Everyone quickened their pace and finally found the emergency exit.
"Wait," Lu Zhao said, "let me take a look at my notes."
He opened the notebook and quickly glanced through a few pages, his brows furrowed more and more.
"What's written in it?" Xiao Ran asked.
"A lot of experimental details," Lu Zhao said, "and some records about the 'Biological Reset Project'."
"Now is not the time to look," Su Wanqing said, "We have to leave here first."
She confirmed that all items were safely stored in the space power and followed everyone to the emergency exit.
"Remember what I said about the location classification," she reminded, "it will be useful when researching the data."
Everyone nodded. They pushed open the emergency exit door and disappeared into the darkness.
(End of this chapter)
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