Chapter 22
The air in the data processing room was stagnant and oppressive, the only sounds being the hum of the terminal fan and the rustling of flipping papers. Chen Mengzhou's fingertips traced the cold surface of the data slate, his gaze seemingly focused on the incomplete characters and charts, but his mind had already soared beyond the cramped space, lingering on the signature and the name "Kronos" that he had only just glimpsed.
Kronos... Time...
The cold "Anchor Project" and "Correcting the Root Error" in the memory fragments...
All of this, like invisible threads, tightly and strangely sewed her to this apocalyptic world, to this deep underground fortress. She was no longer just an awakened being struggling for survival, but more like a chess piece, laid out long in advance and now quietly activated.
This feeling made her extremely uncomfortable, as if there was a thorn stuck in her throat that she could neither spit out nor swallow.
But she quickly suppressed the emotion. Whether pawn or executioner, the key was to survive, to find out the truth, and to control one's own destiny. And Area A was the key to uncovering all these mysteries.
Her work was dull but efficient. With her memory and analytical skills, enhanced by her supernatural powers, she quickly sifted through and sorted through vast amounts of data fragments, quietly memorizing seemingly insignificant information that might hold clues—especially those related to keywords like "Kronos," "Lighthouse," "Ark," and "SG Series." Occasionally, she would place one or two less conspicuous pieces of information with unique signatures or project codes in a red box.
Over the next few days, she behaved like an ordinary survivor, a bit clever, hardworking, and eager to perform for better treatment. She wore the monitoring ring quietly and showed no abnormalities.
Her "good performance" seemed to be working. The guard delivering the food no longer looked so cold, and occasionally even gave her a small piece of synthetic protein. The cold female assistant would occasionally come over to give her some slightly more complicated retrieval tasks.
Chen Mengzhou knew that she was gradually gaining a tiny bit of trust.
The opportunity came quietly one afternoon.
The female assistant walked in with a frown, looking a little annoyed, holding a stack of data slabs that had obviously just been retrieved from an unstable area and were still stained with some energy dust crystals.
“…The residual radiation exceeds the standard and needs to be purified before it can be put into storage… What a hassle…” She complained in a low voice, her eyes swept over several “clerks” and finally fell on Chen Mengzhou, who seemed the most “peaceful” and “free”.
"S-07," she called, using Chen Mengzhou's designation for Area A, "Send these to the B-7 cleanroom. Do you know the way?"
Chen Mengzhou's heart skipped a beat, but his face immediately revealed just the right amount of nervousness and a hint of flattery: "B-7 purification room? I... I roughly know the direction. I looked at the map before and it seemed like I passed by it..."
The female assistant waved her hand impatiently: "Turn right when you go out, then turn left at the third intersection, and you'll see the door with the blue sign. Just hand the things to the staff inside. Hurry up and don't waste time." She stuffed the heavy stack of data tablets to Chen Mengzhou, then ignored him and turned to do other things.
Chen Mengzhou hugged the data board tightly, lowered his head and responded, then quickly walked out of the data processing room.
Her heart beat steadily and powerfully in her chest. Cleanroom B-7! According to the mental map she'd secretly drawn over the past few days, that direction was very close to the core laboratory area of Area A! Normally, only researchers wearing higher-level protective suits could enter!
This was a pleasant surprise and a great reconnaissance opportunity.
She walked briskly, following the directions given by her female assistant. Her gaze was like the most sophisticated scanner, recording everything along the way: the structure of the passage, the position and angle of the surveillance cameras, the type and frequency of the airtight doors, the personnel she occasionally passed by, and their authority identifications...
The further in, the more distinct the energy fluctuations in the air became, and the scent of ozone and strange chemicals grew stronger. The doors on either side of the passage were no longer simply numbered; instead, they began to bear alarming labels like "High-Risk Sample Library," "Energy Extraction Center," and "Gene Sequencing."
She could even vaguely hear the teeth-grinding energy howling and the nervous shouts of researchers coming from behind a heavy isolation door.
This is the real heart of Area A.
Finally, she saw the door with the blue logo - Cleanroom B-7. The door was ajar, and the hum of equipment could be heard from inside.
Just as Chen Mengzhou was about to step forward, another door next to him, labeled "High-Frequency Energy Testing Room," suddenly opened!
A researcher in full-body protective gear stumbled out, his face pale beneath his mask. He clutched a burnt, blackened instrument component in his hands, muttering to himself, "...it's unstable again...the threshold fluctuates too much...there's no way to measure it...the Ark's rejection reaction is getting stronger..."
He seemed not to notice Chen Mengzhou at the door, and irritably pulled off his torn gloves, revealing his forearm - there was a clear, relatively new injection mark of the Thunder logo, which seemed to be some kind of identity authentication or authority enhancement mark.
At this moment, Chen Mengzhou felt that the bottom piece of the data board in his arms seemed to have activated some remaining energy fragments because of the bump just now, and it vibrated very weakly!
Almost at the same time, the thunder symbol on the researcher's arm, the violent energy aftermath leaking from the testing room, and the weak vibration of the data board produced an extremely brief but extremely clear triple resonance!
The researcher suddenly raised his head, as if he also sensed something. He looked at the data board in Chen Mengzhou's arms in confusion, and then looked at her.
Chen Mengzhou's heart tightened, and he immediately lowered his head, pretending to be terrified: "Sorry! I'm here to deliver the purified data! I'll leave right away!"
The researcher frowned, as if he thought the sensation was just an illusion, perhaps interference from the energy leak in the testing room. He said nothing, simply waved his hand impatiently and hurried away, carrying the damaged component.
Chen Mengzhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly sent the data board into the clean room, handed it to the staff inside wearing heavy protective clothing, and then almost trotted back along the same route.
Along the way, her heart could not calm down.
That researcher's words—"the Ark's rejection reaction"..."threshold fluctuation"...
And that brief triple resonance!
She was almost certain that the genetic medicine in the metal box had a connection to the "Ark" project at the heart of Area A! It might even be a derivative or failed product of the "Ark"!
The Thunder logo is not only the symbol of the organization, but also seems to be a way of authenticating energy authority!
Back in the data processing room, the female assistant just glanced at her and said nothing. Chen Mengzhou sat back in her seat and continued with her previous work as if nothing had happened.
But inside her, a bolder plan was brewing.
Passively gathering information was too slow. She needed to be more proactive and find a way to break through.
And the breakthrough may lie in the Thunder logo.
If that mark represented some kind of energy authority, then could the energy hidden within her, an "outsider" and originating from the same potion, be... simulated? Or even... deceived certain systems here?
This idea is extremely dangerous, and if it fails, the consequences will be disastrous.
But she had to try.
She began to pay closer attention to all data fragments related to "energy authentication" and "authority identification," especially those involving low-level errors or system vulnerabilities. At the same time, she attempted, in an extremely discreet manner, to mobilize the gentle energy from the potion within her body to simulate the energy fluctuation characteristics of the thunder symbol on the researcher's arm that she had previously sensed.
This process was extremely difficult and delicate, like carving with a single strand of hair. She had to control the energy fluctuations to be extremely weak, to avoid being detected by the monitoring ring or any scanning equipment.
A few days later, another opportunity arose. The female assistant asked her to deliver a batch of purified data tablets to another area—the temporary sample transfer warehouse. This warehouse was relatively centrally located, and the management seemed somewhat disorganized.
During the handover at the transit warehouse, the staff were busy manually recording a batch of "relic" samples that had just been sent from outside and were covered in mud, complaining that the newly issued identity scanner had jammed again.
Chen Mengzhou put down the data tablet and glanced at the scanner on the table next to him, which was in standby mode and the screen was flashing with debugging codes. He also glanced at the universal permission card used to open the sample cabinet that the staff had casually placed aside.
Now is the time!
She pretended to bend down to tie her shoelaces, and her fingertips brushed the scanner's sensing area very lightly!
At the same time, the energy fluctuation in the body that was carefully simulated to imitate the authority of the Thunder Mark was instantly injected like the slightest electric current!
The scanner screen flickered violently, displaying a series of confusing error codes before returning to its normal standby mode. The permission indicator light next to it flashed green rapidly before returning to red.
Success?! Although it was extremely brief, the scanner seemed to have mistaken her simulated energy fluctuations for some kind of valid authority!
Although she couldn't directly obtain the permissions, this proved that her idea was correct! The energy recognition system here is not perfect!
The staff member was attracted by the abnormality of the scanner. He muttered and tapped the machine a few times, but found no problem and continued to work.
Chen Mengzhou stood up, completed the handover as usual, and turned to leave.
Her heart was pounding, not with fear, but with excitement.
She found a possible loophole.
Next, she needed to find a suitable target, a device or warehouse that could be opened using this temporary privilege tactic and that could potentially provide access to critical information.
Her gaze once again turned towards the isolation room.
Niu Niu...and the medical robot that comes to record data on a regular basis every day and always places its personal data tablet casually on the cart.
Maybe, we can start from there.
Her infiltration and exploration entered a new stage.
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