Chapter 48: Alarm
"Are you ready?" Lu Zhao asked in a low voice, his fingers tapping quickly on the keyboard, trying to find more escape routes.
"I found out there is an emergency passage to the west of the control room, but it requires passing through a monitoring center."
Su Wanqing was counting the items in her space power, quickly packing key documents and some medical supplies into a small backpack.
"Monitoring center? Isn't that just walking into the muzzle of a gun?"
"The situation does not allow us to have too many choices." Lu Zhao said in a steady tone, "This passage is the only route that can be confirmed to be safe at the moment. The ventilation duct is too small, and we don't know where the other end leads to. The risk is too great."
Lin Che walked to the window and carefully observed the surrounding environment. "Indeed, the ventilation duct might be a trap. There are patrol robots in the distance, and there are quite a few of them, moving towards this side."
Xiao Ran stood at the door with an assault rifle on his back, his eyes sharp, ready to fight at any time.
"When the alarm wasn't sounding, the robots were patrolling, which means the defense here is very tight. When the alarm sounds throughout the nuclear power plant, the robots will definitely swarm in."
"We have to speed up." Lu Zhao quickly clicked the mouse a few times, and a simple map appeared on the screen with a red arrow pointing to the emergency passage.
"The channel requires a manual activation device, which is in the control console at the monitoring center."
Before they could take action, a sharp and piercing alarm suddenly broke the silence of the control room and instantly filled the entire space.
"It's ringing! The alarm has sounded!" Su Wanqing's face changed slightly and her heartbeat accelerated involuntarily.
Lu Zhao immediately stopped typing on the keyboard and looked at the computer screen with a frown.
"Damn it! There's an unknown signal being transmitted, like some kind of activation command."
"Did we trigger an alarm when we were checking the data just now?"
Su Wanqing asked, looking around quickly.
"It's very likely." Lu Zhao quickly analyzed the data stream. "I just tried to bypass the firewall and get deeper data, maybe it was detected by the system."
From the corridor outside the control room came the heavy sound of machinery running, and the sound of metal friction became clearer and clearer, as if some huge device was being started.
Lin Che walked to the window and used a telescope to observe the movement in the distance.
"Oh no! Those patrol robots have sped up and their numbers have increased. There are at least twenty of them!"
Xiao Ran clenched the gun in his hand and whispered, "Retreat now! It will be too late if we don't leave now! There must be an automatic defense system here. Once it is activated, we will all die here!"
"Wait, I need to confirm that the passage is still clear."
Lu Zhao quickly tapped the keyboard, trying to connect to the monitoring system.
"We don't have time to wait!" Xiao Ran urged, "Lu Zhao, give up control and charge!"
"No, we need to know the situation of the passage. Moving forward blindly will only put us in greater danger."
Lu Zhao argued, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Su Wanqing also advised: "Xiao Ran, Lu Zhao is right, we must always know the escape route and can't just rush out blindly."
Lu Zhao took a deep breath and recalled the feeling when he was operating the computer just now.
"The system is a bit slow to respond. I feel like I'm being monitored, or that the other party is deliberately stalling for time."
Su Wanqing also recalled the several hidden cameras she saw in the corridor before entering the control room. Their locations seemed somewhat suspicious.
"I felt something was wrong at the time. The locations of the cameras were not reasonable, as if they were deliberately arranged."
"Alas, I should have been more careful and checked it out carefully."
Lin Che said in annoyance, "We were really careless."
"It's no use regretting now, we have to make a decision as soon as possible."
Xiao Ran said firmly, "I suggest you evacuate immediately and find another escape route, or just force your way through."
"I have another idea." Lu Zhao suddenly said, "If we can cut off the alarm system, maybe we can delay the time temporarily and buy us some time to prepare."
"Disconnect the alarm system?" Xiao Ran raised his eyebrows. "That's easier said than done! This place is full of sensors and defense systems. If you want to disconnect the alarm, I'm afraid you'll need professional equipment and technology."
"Let me try." Lu Zhao quickly operated the computer and tried to hack into the alarm system.
“I’ve studied some network security technology before, maybe I can find a loophole.”
"Be careful, Lu Zhao." Su Wanqing looked at Lu Zhao worriedly. She knew that Lu Zhao's network skills were very strong, but he might not succeed when facing such a complex system.
Lin Che and Xiao Ran stood silently at the door, observing their surroundings vigilantly, ready to deal with any situation that might arise at any time.
A few minutes passed, Lu Zhao's forehead was covered with sweat, and his fingers kept tapping on the keyboard.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Eureka! I found a backdoor program that may be able to bypass the firewall!"
"Hurry!" Xiao Ran urged, "Time is running out!"
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Lu Zhao took a deep breath and activated the backdoor program, trying to hack into the alarm system.
However, just when he was about to succeed, the computer screen suddenly flickered a few times and then went black.
"What's going on?" Su Wanqing asked nervously.
"We've been counterattacked!" Lu Zhao's face turned pale. "The opponent's power is stronger than I thought. My invasion has failed!"
"We have to go!" Xiao Ran said without hesitation, "If we don't leave now it will be too late!"
“Wait!” Lin Che suddenly pointed at an icon on the map.
"Here, I noticed that there is a pipe leading to the B3 floor below the control room. It may be used as an alternative escape route."
"Floor B3?" Lu Zhao quickly checked the map. "That's the ventilation system of the nuclear power plant. It's full of radiation, and there may be other dangers."
"It's better than being trapped here." Xiao Ran said, "We must leave as soon as possible."
"Okay." Lu Zhao nodded. "We'll take the pipeline. Lin Che, you'll be responsible for clearing the way."
“No problem.” Lin Che nodded, walked to the wall, and began to look for the entrance to the pipe.
Su Wanqing quickly packed her backpack, making sure all important information and supplies were inside.
"Let's go, be careful."
The four men moved cautiously along the pipeline, the alarm sounding in their ears, as if warning them that danger was approaching.
"Be careful!" Xiao Ran suddenly shouted and pushed Su Wanqing hard.
A mechanical arm stretched out from the side of the pipe and smashed towards Su Wanqing. If Xiao Ran hadn't pushed her away in time, she would have been hit.
"Damn it!" Xiao Ran raised the rifle in his hand and shot at the mechanical arm.
“Those patrol robots are already chasing us!” Lin Che said, his voice a little hurried.
"Hurry up!" Lu Zhao urged. "We have to leave here as soon as possible!"
The four of them quickened their pace and moved forward along the dark pipe. The alarms became louder and louder, and the attacks of the mechanical arms became more frequent.
(End of this chapter)
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