Chapter 49: A Mysterious Creature Hidden Nine Levels Underground! Countdown to Escape from Prison...
“Of course, Dr. Linka, you don’t trust us?” a strange female voice came.
“How could that be? I’m just worried about potential oversights. After all, it happened so suddenly, we must ensure that all important supplies and researchers are safely transferred, otherwise all our years of effort will be wasted.” Linka was met with a polite but firm rebuttal, but she didn’t seem to mind and continued.
"Don't worry, Doctor. We will send a fleet in a few days to transfer supplies under the guise of transporting them. We won't alarm those old guys."
"Then I'll wait for good news."
Inside the secluded meeting room, Linka sat opposite a brown-haired woman, A. Linka took a sip of her tea and glanced seemingly unintentionally at the doorway.
"Since the doctor has no objections, then it's settled. Don't forget our deal." The brown-haired woman A finished her tea in one gulp and turned to leave.
After everyone left, Linka poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it slowly. "What a waste! Such a fine ancient Eastern tea is not being properly appreciated."
After finishing her tea alone, she left. Before closing the conference room door, she glanced at the secluded corner on the right, which seemed like a good place for a person to hide.
"She's clever..." Linka chuckled, smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes, and turned to leave.
Soon, it was dinnertime. Pei Qing finished getting her food with a heavy heart and ate it listlessly.
Feng Qi had been waiting for her in the corner for a long time. She was also puzzled. Usually, this person was the most enthusiastic when eating. Could it be that his injury had not fully healed and he had no appetite?
She brought the food to Pei Qing's side, patted her on the shoulder, startling her. Pei Qing was also surprised and casually asked, "What's going on? Did you see a ghost in broad daylight?"
"Is your injury fully healed? Will you dare to be careless again next time?"
Pei Qian took a sip of the hot soup and finally caught her breath. "It's nothing. I'm so grateful to you last time. I haven't had a chance to thank you properly yet."
"Why are we being so polite? We rely on each other. Just be more careful next time. It's a ring competition, after all; injuries are inevitable."
“I have something to tell you,” Pei Qing looked up from her plate. “Time is running out. Has your partner given you a rough timeframe? We’ve explored the underground area thoroughly these past few days and have a pretty good idea of which locations we need to cover. We can’t afford any mishaps at this crucial moment.”
"Don't worry, she's an insider, very well-informed. She should be able to send the message in two or three days." Feng Qi thought she was scared and comforted her, "Don't worry, this will be fine."
"Hmm...okay, Feng Qi, I have something to tell you, don't be angry..." Pei Qing whispered in the woman's ear.
"you say."
"Exactly, is your so-called insider really reliable? I don't mean anything by it, it's just..."
Before she could finish speaking, Feng Qi interrupted her, his face unusually serious.
“Pei Qing, you can doubt me, but you can’t question her. You don’t know, she really is…” Feng Qi took a deep breath, “She is a really good person. If it weren’t for her, I might not be alive now… Doing this would not have benefited her in the slightest, but she still chose to help.”
"In short, I consider you a friend. If you consider me a friend in return, please don't say things like that again."
Looking at Feng Qi's serious expression, Pei Qian realized that she had been a bit reckless. However, too many things had happened in the past few days, and she could no longer remain optimistic.
Moreover, it's a major matter like the research institute setting up a self-destruct program.
Pei Qing thought for a moment and decided to tell the whole story. Now that things had come to this, there was no need to hide anything from her allies. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to question you, but I heard some bad news today."
“I heard that Linka is the chief researcher at that research institute,” Pei Qing explained, afraid that she wouldn’t know who she was, but Feng Qi looked completely at ease.
That makes sense, considering she's been here for a long time, it's normal for her to know.
"She was talking to someone who seemed to have a lot of decision-making power. They were talking about things like self-destruction and programming, and also about transporting important experimental results out of the country," Pei Qian continued.
"I have a feeling that something unexpected might happen that could significantly hinder our escape."
Pei Qing's words were incoherent, but fortunately Feng Qi understood them.
"I understand. I'll find that person and ask them as soon as possible. Thank you for telling us this."
"Of course."
The next morning, before the morning exercise had even started, Turansen came running over, panting, and was about to speak before he could even catch his breath.
"Take a breath first, otherwise we won't understand what you're saying."
"Um, huff, huff," Turansen said, bent over, panting, "Last night, I received a message from the little robot confirming huff."
"Don't rush, speak slowly."
"The signal fluctuations at the main control console have been confirmed to be part of the self-destruct program. This program exhibits significant signal fluctuations with a certain regularity, so there's no doubt about it."
"A self-destruct program? If that's the case, then the supply transport channels will definitely be closed sooner than we expect."
"According to the original plan, the transport of supplies would last for two whole days. We took advantage of the lax guard on the second night to sneak into the starship and leave with the supplies."
"I'll go find her tonight and get to the bottom of this," Feng Qi said finally, before leaving with a solemn expression.
"good."
There was no other way. They could do nothing but wait.
The research institute is located on the ninth underground floor, which is the deepest part of the entire underground area. Compared to the brightly lit floors, this floor is mostly dark, with only a few scattered lights on.
Deep within the darkest and densest darkness, the sound of scales rustling against the ground, unique to some large reptile, could be heard from time to time, accompanied by the swaying of chains.
Suddenly, two dim, yellowish lights appeared in the darkness, flickering around and going out and coming back on.
As night fell, at a moment no one expected, a surge of mental energy swept through the entire prison, causing the signal alarms to buzz and giving everyone splitting headaches.
"What is that...?" "What happened...?" "Can't a person get some rest...?" "So annoying..."
Upon hearing the alarm, Linka quickly snapped out of her nap and opened a hidden file.
As the above values increased dramatically, the surge of mental energy intensified, but Linka's smile grew wider and wider.
"He actually woke up! The number of times he's woken up over the years can be counted on one hand..."
Linka flipped through the data in various colors, which flew by rapidly before her eyes. "We thought that the Luo family's child was doomed, but we didn't expect his mental sea to recover so well. No amount of medicine could achieve that."
“If, let him also…” Linka pondered for a moment, her eyes shifting uncertainly.
She opened the information interface of her personal terminal, jumped to one of her contacts, deleted and edited some text messages, and sent a message.
"Knock knock!"
"Please come in."
"Doctor, you wanted to see me?" The assistant's usually meticulous hair was a little messy, indicating that he had rushed over, but it was unclear whether it was because of a sudden summons from his superior or because he was busy with something else.
After glancing around, Linka's smile deepened. She shook her head, then, as if remembering something, pointed to the chair next to her. "Sit."
"No need, Doctor." The assistant shook her head, smoothing her messy hair and looking somewhat embarrassed.
"If there's nothing else you need, I'll be leaving now. I still have some materials to process—"
"Is it to handle materials, or someone else?" Linka's smile faded slightly, though her tone remained gentle; she seemed somewhat weary.
"...No, it's just some scrap material. We can deal with it tomorrow..."
The assistant carefully considered her words, cautiously observing the other person's expression. She wasn't sure if things had been exposed or if anyone had noticed anything amiss, given their frequent contact lately.
"Since there's nothing else, let's sit with you for a while. It's been a long time since we've sat quietly like this."
"……good."
Linka took the warm teapot, poured a cup, and pushed it across to the other side, saying, "Have some tea."
The assistant sipped her food slowly, glancing at Linka every now and then. Linka chuckled and reached out to pat her head. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...I thought the doctor would say something to me."
"Ah, what should I say? I do have a lot to say, but I feel like there will be plenty of time to say it later. Let me look at you more tonight. Have you been eating well lately? You've lost weight."
"No, it's just that the food in the cafeteria isn't very good..." The assistant stopped mid-sentence, her face flushing slightly. It must be because she hadn't slept well; how could she be so careless?
"Really? It doesn't taste very good." Linka tried to smile, but the smile looked bitter no matter how you looked at it.
"It's okay, it'll be fine in the future," she suddenly whispered.
The assistant, head bowed, didn't hear what was being said. The atmosphere tonight was so strange. She had thought Linka had found out... but she hadn't said anything, and was instead being so gentle.
It made her feel as if she had returned to more than ten years ago, when the two of them were still working at the Federal Research Institute of the Capital Star.
At that time, life was peaceful and happy.
Before we knew it, it was already very late at night, and we had drunk two pots of tea.
Even though she was drinking tea, not wine, Linka felt as if she were drunk. Looking at her younger sister's still somewhat childish face, she felt reluctant but helpless.
Fortunately, this time she has found like-minded partners, so she shouldn't be alone on the road ahead.
Just as they were about to pour the third pot of tea, Linka pressed down on Lina's hand.
“It’s late, and I’m a little sleepy. Could you grab some documents for me and then head back?” Linka stared intently at Lina, as if trying to imprint her image deeply into her mind.
"What information?" Lina was so sleepy she was completely dazed.
Linka smiled. "The approval documents for the base's self-destruct procedure."
"!!!" Lina looked up abruptly, staring at the woman with disbelief.
"Why are you so surprised? Go ahead, the documents are in room 170. The corridor is dark, so walk slowly."
“Okay… Doctor.” The assistant’s voice was a little hoarse.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I've written a little bit of the supporting characters' storyline...
Not very good at family dramas [chin resting on hand][chin resting on hand][chin resting on hand]
Another little beauty has appeared, and this time she might actually have some cosmetics (just kidding)...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com