"Click...click..."
The sound was like the countdown to death, striking everyone's nerves again and again.
Lu Zhaoming narrowed his eyes, unleashing the full power of his "Eye of Judgment," and the scene inside the passage became completely different in his eyes.
The seemingly ordinary ground is now covered with fine red lines, as thin as hair, which are the energy flow traces of the trigger mechanism.
On the wall, some reliefs that look like decorations actually hide countless tiny holes, which are the firing ports of crossbow bolts or poison needles.
"Ha, welcome to the Paradise of Death."
That eerie voice rang out again, carrying a smug, cat-and-mouse-like air.
Lu Zhaoming grinned, revealing a roguish smile: "Death Paradise? I'm a VIP player!"
He took a deep breath and activated the "time slowdown" function.
The whole world seemed to be slowed down, and everything around us became sluggish.
The blacksmith wielded his hammer, his movements as slow as a sloth; Qinglian's worried expression seemed frozen on her face.
A glint flashed in Lu Zhaoming's eyes, and his figure moved through the passage like a ghost.
He lightly touched the ground with his toes, avoiding the deadly red lines; he slightly shifted his body to the side, dodging the holes hidden behind the reliefs.
"Wow, Brother Lu, are you doing street dance?" The blacksmith stared wide-eyed at Lu Zhaoming's dazzling movements and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Lu Zhaoming had no time to pay attention to him; his brain was racing, constantly calculating the trigger time and attack range of each mechanism.
"Qinglian, do you recognize these strange scribblings on the walls?" Lu Zhaoming asked while dodging the traps.
Qinglian had already activated her special ability; her eyes gleamed with a faint blue light as she carefully observed the ancient runes on the wall.
“These runes… seem to be some kind of code, and we need to decipher them carefully.” Qinglian’s voice was somewhat solemn.
Lu Zhaoming nodded, indicating to the blacksmith to help record the arrangement of the runes.
"Hey buddy, stop just watching the show, grab your weapons!"
The blacksmith then came to his senses and quickly picked up his sledgehammer, carefully tapping the wall to completely imprint the runes.
"Snap!"
Suddenly, a crisp sound rang out, and the light in the passage instantly became bright.
Lu Zhaoming looked up and found that they had arrived in a huge underground space.
The space was as big as a football field, with the walls covered with a dense network of pipes and wires, and the air was filled with a pungent chemical smell.
In the center of the space, a figure stood quietly.
He was an old man wearing a tattered lab coat, with gray hair and thick glasses, looking like a down-on-his-luck scientist.
Beside him stood a thin young man wearing a dirty vest, holding a rusty dagger, watching Lu Zhaoming and the others warily.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the old man asked, his voice somewhat hoarse.
"Old man, don't be nervous, we're here to rescue you," Lu Zhaoming said with a shrug and a smile.
"Save us? Hmph, stop pretending! You guys are all here for 'Operation White Robe,' aren't you?" the old man sneered.
"'Project White Robe'? What's that?" Lu Zhaoming pretended to be clueless.
"Stop pretending! Do you think I don't know? Those guys have gone to any lengths to get what's here!" The old man was somewhat agitated.
"Old man, calm down." Lu Zhaoming waved his hand. "We really weren't sent by those people. We just want to stop a disaster."
"Stop the disaster? With your abilities?" The old man sized up Lu Zhaoming and the others.
“Just us,” Lu Zhaoming said confidently, “and we have a common enemy.”
The old man remained silent for a moment, seemingly pondering the truth or falsehood of Lu Zhaoming's words.
"How can you prove it?" the old man asked.
"Proof?" Lu Zhaoming grinned, revealing a mysterious smile. "I can tell you some things you don't know."
He lowered his voice and whispered in the old man's ear, "For example, your son didn't actually die in the nuclear war, but was captured by the 'white coats' to be used for experiments."
The old man's body jolted violently.
"How...how did you know?" the old man asked in a trembling voice.
“I know far more than you can imagine,” Lu Zhaoming said. “Now, do you still consider us enemies?”
The old man remained silent for a long time before finally sighing and saying, "Alright, but you must promise me that you will stop 'Project White Robe' no matter what!"
“Of course,” Lu Zhaoming said, “but we need your help.”
"My help?" The old man gave a bitter laugh. "I'm just a useless person now, what can I do to help you?"
“No, you can,” Lu Zhaoming said. “You need to take us to the core control room, where the key to stopping ‘Project White Robe’ is located.”
"The core control room..." The old man's expression turned grim. "It's riddled with traps, and there's more..."
“And there are also people in ‘white robes,’ right?” Lu Zhaoming said. “Don’t worry, we’ve already made preparations.”
The old man nodded and said, "Alright, I'll take you there. But be careful, the 'white-robed' people have already infiltrated this area."
Just then, the system notification sounded.
"External interference signals were detected, possibly originating from the implanted device in the white coat."
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