With a crisp, short "beep," the indicator light on the metal door turned from blue to green, and a soft light shone through the crack in the door.
Xiao Guo quickly brought his eyes close to the pupil scanner next to the access control system, and his pupils contracted under the light.
A moment later, accompanied by a slight mechanical whirring sound, the heavy metal door slowly slid open to both sides.
"Ding—Detection successful, welcome Researcher Guo..."
Meanwhile, behind the laboratory door, Professor Chen and four others were hiding behind a heavy metal door.
Their ears were pressed tightly against the cold surface, every tiny sound was amplified infinitely, and their heartbeats and breaths mingled together.
Unfortunately, the laboratory door was too thick, and the materials used were top-notch.
This effectively blocked out most of the outside sounds, leaving only some indistinct and chaotic noises.
Professor Chen frowned, his eyes flashing with unease and doubt.
He tried to discern any possible clues from the noise, but as time ticked by, they caught nothing but the irritating din.
There wasn't even a gunshot.
This sudden turn of events was like an invisible hammer, striking Professor Chen's already tense nerves and causing ripples in his heart.
Could it be that their judgment was wrong? And it wasn't military personnel who arrived?
Just as this uncertainty was gradually enveloping the five people like a fog, almost swallowing up their hopes, a faint but familiar voice instantly broke through the oppressive atmosphere in the laboratory.
The group's expressions changed drastically; it was the notification sound of the door being opened! Someone was opening the door!
The moment they realized this, Professor Chen and the other four felt their blood boil, and an indescribable sense of urgency surged into their hearts.
They didn't have time to think it through; only one thought was spinning wildly in their minds—outside, there are zombies outside!
So they were all terrified and hurriedly left the gate.
Professor Chen's eyesight was failing and he had been starving for several days. He staggered and fell to the ground without realizing it.
"professor!!"
"teacher!!"
Almost at the same moment, several anxious and concerned voices broke the silence of the room.
Shi Lei's heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth slightly and muttered to himself, "Wait a minute, I didn't say anything just now?"
Puzzled, he quickly looked up, his gaze piercing through the dim light, and fixed on the figure hurrying in from outside the door.
That was Xiao Guo, who looked anxious and whose eyes were full of worry for Professor Chen.
Upon seeing it clearly, it was as if a beam of light suddenly shone in Shi Lei's heart, and all his fear and despair vanished instantly.
"It's my junior brother!" Lei's heart skipped a beat, and he almost cheered.
Xiao Guo's appearance meant that he had brought a rescue team and that he was going to be saved!
"Teacher, how are you?" Xiao Guo's voice trembled slightly as he quickly and carefully helped Professor Chen up, his movements slow and gentle.
After all, the teacher is quite old; what if he gets seriously injured from the fall?
On the other side, Pan Lizhi and Wan Sha also acted almost simultaneously. They rushed over to help Xiao Guo lift Professor Chen up.
Don't let them all get there, only to fall to their deaths instead of dying at the hands of zombies!
"Xiao Guo?" Professor Chen's voice trembled slightly, like a candle flickering in the wind, piercing through the frozen air around him.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Guo almost instinctively responded, "Yes, it's me, teacher!"
Professor Chen's gaze passed over Xiao Guo's broad shoulders and landed on Xiao Jin and the others behind him.
Looking further towards the entrance, there lay a pile of zombie remains, their grotesque bodies torn into countless pieces.
This scene brought tears to Professor Chen's eyes, a scholar who was usually calm and composed. His voice choked with emotion as he said, "Finally... we're saved."
Xiao Guo's eyes reddened: "I'm sorry, teacher, I'm late."
………………
In the next five minutes, Xiao Guo gave Professor Chen and his group a concise and quick report on the details of their mission.
They were about to leave the research building and head to the Universal Building. They would then temporarily settle there and await the arrival of the next escort team.
Upon hearing this news, the fatigue on Professor Chen and the others' faces seemed to vanish, replaced by an irrepressible excitement and urgency.
They stood up almost simultaneously: "Then let's get going." They really didn't want to stay here for another second.
Xiao Guo frowned: "Teacher, you're not feeling well right now, why don't you rest for a bit?"
“The Capital Institute must be getting impatient too. We have a lot of work to do, we don’t have time to rest,” Professor Chen disagreed.
"Besides, I've been 'resting' here for several days now!" he urged Xiao Guo.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade him otherwise, and that the research building wasn't a good place to rest, Xiao Guo had no choice but to agree with Professor Chen and decide to continue their journey.
As for the way out, we will choose the same route we took to get there.
The group climbed up the pipe one by one, with Wan Sha leading the way. The five researchers were tightly surrounded by the group, while Lu Jiawei was at the very back.
Ever since Xiao Jin eliminated the zombies below, Lu Jiawei has been like a mute, not speaking and not daring to look Xiao Jin in the eye.
He was now in a relatively safe rear area, which he actually found quite good, just as he had hoped.
The journey back was peaceful. The mutated plant had been severely injured and would be difficult to recover in the short term.
However, halfway there, the group encountered a small incident.
Liu Chong had previously dismantled several sections of pipe to prevent zombies from sneaking up to the rear of the group. Sure enough, his words came true.
As they walked, Wansha's ears twitched. When she looked up, she saw two zombies wearing white coats with distorted faces.
They are struggling to climb out of the broken pipe walls, relying on their remaining instincts.
Especially after sensing Wan Sha and her group, it excitedly rushed over with a series of thumps.
Seeing this, Wan Sha reacted quickly. Almost the instant the zombie peeked out, she drew the sword from her boot and accurately pierced the throat of the first zombie.
The zombie's body convulsed for a moment, then collapsed limply inside the pipe. Wan Sha took the opportunity to kick it down into the pipe along with the second zombie that crawled over afterward.
A dull thud sounded, and Wan Sha peered down, her brow furrowing slightly at the sight below.
Beneath the pipe, a small mountain of zombies had accumulated, layer upon layer, an extremely terrifying sight.
Wan Sha understood. No wonder those two zombies were able to climb up the pipe; there were so many stepping stones below!
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