Who exactly is it?
It seems that even Lao Zhang himself doesn't know the answer to this question.
It seems that after Fatty died, Old Zhang gradually became a different person, and the closer he got to the fortress, the greater the change became. He became more and more wise, calm and intelligent.
This is completely different from the Old Zhang that Wang Lan remembered.
"I..." Old Zhang began, but the words that were on the tip of his tongue seemed to come out of his mouth as if he didn't know how to say them.
Wang Lan frowned and asked again, "Who exactly are you? The Zhang I know wouldn't know so much."
"I am... Old Zhang..."
Old Zhang answered him somewhat blankly, "But actually, I don't even know my own name. As far back as I can remember, I seem to have always been called Old Zhang. As for why I know these things, it seems... it's from that red mist. It seems that being immersed in the red mist reminded me of... something."
Wang Lan was half-convinced by these words.
Although he knew that the red mist was called the "Mist of Evolution," and that it could indeed enable people to evolve to a certain extent—for example, the skill enhancements he received from the "C System" were also a form of evolution.
But can that fog still lead to the evolution of human intelligence?
Old Zhang sighed and said, "Anyway, believe me, whether I am Old Zhang or not, I have absolutely no ill intentions towards you."
Wang Lan remained silent, staring intently at Old Zhang.
At this moment, Sun Muchen suddenly said, "Brother, there seems to be something down there."
Upon hearing this, Wang Lan was taken aback and looked down at her feet.
The suction from the reactor cleaned up the ground beneath their feet considerably, blowing away the dust and revealing a thick layer of glass. However, the glass surface was covered with scratches and wear due to its age and long use.
Wang Lan squatted down to examine it closely, but there were too many scratches and the wear was too severe, so she couldn't see what was underneath at all. She could only vaguely see that something white was slowly flowing.
What could it be?
Wang Lan glanced at Sun Muchen and Lao Zhang, then stood up, picked up the Vajra Umbrella, and said, "It's just a layer of glass. We'll know once we break it."
Sun Muchen nodded.
But Old Zhang frowned, looking puzzled.
Wang Lan gripped the umbrella with both hands, raised it high, and then smashed it down onto the glass.
"Bang!"
A crisp sound.
The glass remained completely still.
Wang Lan's arms jerked violently, and the Vajra Umbrella slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. Grimace, his arms trembling, Wang Lan said in a shaky voice, "Damn, what kind of glass is this! It's so hard!"
"This is tempered glass," Old Zhang explained. "And it's obviously thicker. This kind of glass can even be called an impenetrable fortress. No matter how strong you are, you can't break it."
Wang Lan swung her arms, feeling the numbness and pain in them subside somewhat, before saying, "Then we have no other way to get down?"
Old Zhang said, "How can there be no way? We should keep going forward. There should be a passage to the lower level nearby. After all, the reactor is here. If something goes wrong, the fortress staff will need to react quickly. They can't just walk over from where we landed. Otherwise, the fortress would have been destroyed long ago."
"Look around," Wang Lan said, "but try not to go too far."
The three hit it off immediately.
Just as they were setting off, a long "whoosh" sound suddenly rang in their ears. Wang Lan reacted the fastest of the three. Having learned from the previous experience of reactor problems, he immediately looked towards the reactor. After confirming that it was not the reactor, he looked in the direction from which the sound came.
Not far from them, a cube suddenly rose from the ground, and then the cube continued to extend upwards, turning into a metal box in just a few seconds, standing in front of everyone.
"Ding-dong!"
A clear, ringing sound rang out.
The metal box opened a door.
Wang Lan looked cautiously at the metal box and said, "Be careful."
"What are you being careful about?" Old Zhang said, feeling both annoyed and amused. "Don't make such a fuss, this is an elevator."
"An elevator?" Wang Lan asked, puzzled. "Why does it look like a coffin to me?"
Old Zhang: "..."
Sun Muchen laughed and said, "Brother, you were scared by that reactor, weren't you? It's just a very ordinary lifting device. Let's go, it might take us down there."
Wang Lan scratched his head and said, "But this thing looks exactly like a coffin. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Sun Muchen was amused by Wang Lan and laughed so hard he almost fell over. He said, "Of course you're not mistaken. Let's go in quickly."
Wang Lan was still skeptical. He walked over, took the Vajra Umbrella, and tapped and patted the inside of the elevator. He found that although the elevator was encased in sheet metal, it was very thin. Wang Lan turned to him with concern and said, "This thing is like a piece of paper. Is it safe for the three of us to go in?"
Old Zhang shook his head and smiled, "Of course it's safe, you..."
Ding-dong!
Another clear bell rang.
Before Lao Zhang could finish speaking, the elevator doors closed.
Then it fell down.
Old Zhang: "..."
Sun Muchen: "..."
Wang Lan: "???"
Looking utterly bewildered, he asked, "What...what's going on?"
Old Zhang slapped his forehead. "What happened? It's all your fault! You made us wait so long. The elevator doesn't wait for anyone, it went down again!"
Wang Lan retorted defiantly, "What does this have to do with me? I was just checking if it's safe. Why are you shouting?"
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