Chapter 83 Lu Zhao's Secret Laboratory
Su Wanqing and Lin Che passed through a rusty ventilation duct and finally came to a tightly sealed laboratory on the ground floor of the factory.
There was an electronic magnetic stripe card reader installed on the door. Lu Zhao swiped the card and the door lock opened with a "click".
The interior of the laboratory is much tidier than other places in the factory, but its simplicity cannot be concealed.
Several workbenches were put together and filled with various instruments and equipment, wires were tangled together in a mess, and the walls were covered with dense charts and data.
The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and metal.
"Is this where you have been busy?" Su Wanqing looked around with a hint of doubt in her tone.
Lu Zhao did not answer immediately. He walked to a large centrifuge and carefully took out a test tube containing blue liquid.
The liquid in the test tube shimmered under the light, as if it contained some mysterious power.
"I'm analyzing this sample and trying to create a suppressor for the 'Lead' project." Lu Zhao's voice was calm, but Su Wanqing could sense the anxiety in his tone.
“Suppressor? Suppress what?” Lin Che walked up to Lu Zhao and asked curiously.
"Suppress the spread of the virus." Lu Zhao replied, "The virus mutates much faster than we expected. If we don't take action quickly, the entire base may fall."
Su Wanqing frowned. She thought of the people infected with the virus that she had seen in the research institute before, and a feeling of uneasiness welled up in her heart.
"What exactly is the 'lead' plan? Why did the top brass at the base hide the truth?" Su Wanqing asked directly. She didn't want to beat around the bush any more.
Lu Zhao's hand paused for a moment, he raised his head and looked into Su Wanqing's eyes.
His eyes were deep and complex, as if hiding many secrets.
"I can't tell you too many details." Lu Zhao said, his tone becoming serious. "The 'Lead' project involves some very sensitive information. I can't risk exposing us."
"You don't trust us?" Su Wanqing's voice was a little cold.
"It's not that we don't trust them, but that we are forced by the situation." Lu Zhao explained, "The top leaders of the base are keeping the 'Lead' plan very confidential. Any leak of the details of the plan will be severely punished."
"Punishment?" Su Wanqing sneered, "I'm afraid their so-called punishment is to use us as experimental subjects, right?"
Lu Zhao did not refute, he just looked at Su Wanqing in silence. His silence made Su Wanqing more convinced that the top leaders of the base must be hiding something.
“Lin Che, how much do you know about this sample?” Su Wanqing turned her head and looked at Lin Che.
Lin Che took the test tube from Lu Zhao and carefully observed the liquid inside.
His brows were furrowed, as if he was trying hard to recall something.
“This virus strain… I seem to have seen it somewhere.” Lin Che muttered to himself, “If we can use the experimental sample to further strengthen the suppressor, perhaps we can improve its effectiveness.”
Lu Zhao shook his head and said, "Resources are limited. I can't provide more experimental samples. Besides, I'm doing some experiments with my own blood. This is the limit of what I can do."
"My own blood?" Su Wanqing exclaimed, "What are you doing?"
Lu Zhao did not answer. He just walked silently to a computer and started typing some commands.
"Don't delve into the specific purpose behind the 'fuse'." Lu Zhao said in a low voice, "The most important thing now is to create a suppressor as soon as possible to prevent the spread of the virus."
At this moment, the laboratory's communication equipment suddenly rang, and a cold voice was heard.
"Lu Zhao, the 'lead' plan must be launched immediately without any delay. At the same time, it is strictly forbidden to disclose the details of the plan to any irrelevant personnel."
Lu Zhao nodded and said, "I understand."
Communication was interrupted.
Su Wanqing walked to Lu Zhao and tried to decode the content of the wireless signal.
She quickly entered some instructions into the computer, and lines of complex code began to appear on the screen.
"Here is an instruction regarding 'vaccine extraction'." Su Wanqing said, her face turning pale.
Lu Zhao grabbed Su Wanqing's hand and stopped her from continuing decoding.
"Don't worry about it!" Lu Zhao said, his tone was very serious, "If we pursue it rashly, it will expose our position. We must leave here as soon as possible."
"Vaccine extraction? Are they trying to use the virus to make a vaccine?" Su Wanqing asked, her heart filled with shock.
"I don't know." Lu Zhao replied, "I only know that the top leaders of the base are conducting some experiments that we cannot understand. We must find the truth as soon as possible and stop them from continuing to do evil."
Lin Che stood aside in silence, his eyes empty and confused.
He seemed confused and disturbed by everything going on around him.
"Night" seemed to be waking up. Lin Che's fingers trembled slightly, and beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead.
Su Wanqing noticed that Lin Che was acting strangely, so she quickly walked over to him and held his hand.
"Lin Che, are you okay?" Su Wanqing asked, her voice very gentle.
Lin Che shook her head and said, “I…I feel a little uncomfortable.”
"Let's leave here first." Su Wanqing said. She knew that now was not the time to pursue the truth. The most important thing was to protect Lin Che's safety.
Lu Zhao nodded, quickly packed up the experimental equipment and prepared to leave the laboratory.
"Where are we going?" Su Wanqing asked.
"Go to the factory's control center," Lu Zhao replied. "There's more information there that might help us find the truth."
Su Wanqing and Lin Che followed Lu Zhao out of the laboratory and walked towards the factory's control center.
Su Wanqing and Lin Che followed Lu Zhao's steps and walked through a narrow metal corridor.
At the end of the corridor is a heavy steel door covered with warning signs.
Lu Zhao entered the password skillfully, and the steel door slowly opened, revealing a huge space.
"This is the source area of the factory and also the core of the infected area." Lu Zhao's voice echoed in the empty space.
Su Wanqing looked around and was greeted by a disgusting stench.
The entire space was shrouded in a layer of gray fog, and visibility was extremely low.
Various discarded experimental equipment and broken glass bottles were scattered on the ground, and the air was filled with an uneasy silence.
"I'll try to scan the source data here." Su Wanqing said, raising her left wrist, the light of the ancestral jade bracelet flickered, trying to connect to the factory's central system.
However, the bracelet's response was unusually slow. A red warning message appeared on the screen: "Serious interference in the area, data scanning is blocked."
“What’s going on?” Lin Che asked. He felt the atmosphere around him becoming increasingly oppressive.
"The interference increased and I could only locate signs of spread in a small area of infection."
Su Wanqing frowned and said, "Moreover, the speed of this spread... is far beyond our imagination. This is definitely not an ordinary virus mutation, but a large-scale impact caused by an advanced infection."
At this moment, the ground suddenly began to shake violently. Lin Che subconsciously grabbed Su Wanqing's arm to steady himself.
"Earthquake?" Su Wanqing asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“It’s not an earthquake.” Lin Che shook his head. He stared at the supporting structure above his head. “The supporting structures in the factory… are corroded! The infected bodies are eroding the building structure, and some areas have already collapsed on a large scale!”
Sure enough, as soon as the words fell, a huge roar was heard not far away.
Su Wanqing and Lin Che looked in the direction of the sound and saw a huge steel pillar collapse with a loud bang, smashing the concrete on the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
Soon after, more pillars began to shake, making terrifying creaking sounds.
“The number of zombies has also increased!” Lin Che exclaimed. He saw more and more zombies emerging from the mist, and their roars were deafening.
These zombies have different shapes, some move slowly, some are extremely fast, some have disgusting protrusions all over their bodies, and some emit disgusting poisonous gas.
"The situation is not good, we must leave here as soon as possible!" Su Wanqing said, she quickly started the system and tried to find an escape route.
However, just as she was about to act, she suddenly discovered that a group of special creatures appeared on the outskirts of the infected area.
These creatures are covered in a thick layer of parasites and look like a mobile fortress.
“What are those?” Lin Che asked, his voice full of confusion.
"Advanced infected bodies." Su Wanqing replied, "Moreover, they show a high degree of aggressiveness and group cooperation. The threat level of these creatures is far greater than that of ordinary zombies."
Those advanced infected bodies seemed to have sensed the presence of Su Wanqing and Lin Che, and they began to move towards them at an increasingly faster speed.
"We must act immediately!" Su Wanqing said. She forced the system resources to deploy a small-scale barrier to try to cover their evacuation.
A barrier was formed, enveloping Su Wanqing and Lin Che. However, the energy consumption of the barrier was very huge, and Su Wanqing could feel that her physical strength was rapidly decreasing.
"Lu Zhao! We are here! Come and support us!" Su Wanqing shouted loudly into the communicator.
There was a burst of noise in the communicator, followed by Lu Zhao's anxious voice: "I'm on my way! You retreat to a safe area first!"
Su Wanqing and Lin Che retreated backwards with difficulty under the protection of the barrier.
However, those advanced infected bodies were not blocked by the barrier. They kept hitting the barrier, trying to break through the defense line.
"The barrier can't hold on any longer!" Su Wanqing said, her face turning pale.
“We have to find a safer place!” Lin Che said. He looked around, trying to find a place to hide.
Just then, he suddenly noticed an abandoned ventilation duct not far away.
“Over there!” Lin Che pointed at the ventilation duct and said, “Let’s go there!”
Su Wanqing nodded, and she controlled the barrier and moved towards the ventilation duct.
However, just as they were about to reach the ventilation duct, the ground shook violently again.
This time the vibration was stronger than before, and the entire factory began to shake.
“Oh no! The factory is going to collapse!” Lin Che exclaimed.
Su Wanqing looked up and saw that cracks were beginning to appear on the roof of the factory, and a large amount of rubble and steel bars were falling from the sky.
“Run!” Su Wanqing shouted. She pushed Lin Che with all her strength and pushed him towards the ventilation duct.
Lin Che went into the ventilation duct and reached out to pull Su Wanqing.
Su Wanqing grabbed Lin Che's hand, pulled hard, and finally got into the ventilation duct.
The moment they entered the ventilation duct, the roof of the factory collapsed, shrouding the entire area in darkness.
“Phew…that was close.” Lin Che panted, his body still shaking.
"Are we safe now?" Su Wanqing asked, her voice a little weak.
“It’s safe for now.” Lin Che replied, “But we must leave here as soon as possible, otherwise we will be trapped here.”
Su Wanqing nodded. She knew that what Lin Che said was right.
"Lu Zhao, we have entered the ventilation duct. Please come and pick us up as soon as possible." Su Wanqing said into the communicator.
Lu Zhao's voice came from the communicator: "Understood, I'm on my way."
Su Wanqing and Lin Che were waiting for Lu Zhao to arrive in the ventilation duct.
"Do you feel that... the actions of the infected group are a bit strange?" Su Wanqing suddenly asked.
“Strange? What’s strange about it?” Lin Che asked.
"I've observed that there are planned actions among the infected, similar to those controlled by a high-level command body."
Su Wanqing said, "This change has increased the danger in the infected area."
Lin Che was silent for a moment, and then said, "I suspect... the 'first generation evolution' may be guiding the development of these infected people. Moreover, its ability may have expanded to areas outside the factory."
Su Wanqing felt uneasy. If Lin Che's guess was correct, then the fate of the entire world would be facing a huge threat.
"We must find out the truth as soon as possible and stop the conspiracy of the 'first generation evolution'." Su Wanqing said, her eyes full of determination.
Lin Che nodded, held Su Wanqing's hand tightly, and said, "Let's go together."
The ventilation duct was completely silent, with only the breathing sounds of Su Wanqing and Lin Che echoing.
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