Chapter 58 Laboratory
The concert was a great success. Those infected people who had tried so hard to hide their condition were all found out. The superhumans were given important roles, and the zombies were isolated and are under observation.
After this internal purge, Luozhou will be able to enjoy peace for a while longer. Jiang Ye and his group left Luozhou and headed northwest.
The frustrating thing is that Luming Ancient City is quite far away. Now that they don't have navigation, they have to drive around with a map, stopping and starting to find their way. Sometimes Zhou Zhuohua and Jiang Ye even argue over forks in the road.
Jiang Ye won the argument and happily drove over, only to find it was a dead end, forcing him to turn back, which earned him a sarcastic remark from Zhou Zhuohua.
It was quite a lively scene, too.
Although Bai Chenzhu did not open his eyes while studying his own superpower, he could hear their back-and-forth conversation.
Four or five hours later, Zhou Zhuohua took over from Jiang Ye and sat in the driver's seat.
Jiang Ye yawned and opened the back door of the car, scanning the situation inside. Tang Zhao was asleep on the left, while Bai Chenzhu was sitting in the middle looking at a map.
Jiang Ye stepped in, sat to Bai Chenzhu's right, and closed the car door.
As usual, he lowered his head, intending to lean on Bai Chenzhu's shoulder for a nap, but was unexpectedly pushed away.
"What are you doing?" Jiang Ye asked sleepily.
"You're leaning on me, aren't I tired?" Bai Chenzhu asked back.
"Isn't that how it's always been? What's wrong with leaning on it?"
“That was then, but you don’t have that privilege anymore,” Bai Chenzhu said coldly.
Jiang Ye stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then looked at Tang Zhao, who was fast asleep by the car window. He never expected that he would be treated the same way as Tang Zhao.
He asked, "What's this?"
"Think for yourself," Bai Chenzhu said calmly. He closed the map, leaned back in the seat, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Jiang Ye gritted his teeth, leaned closer, and was blocked. He leaned closer again, and was blocked once more.
The voyeur, Shirato, let out a gloating sound.
Jiang Ye's resentment was so deep that he looked like a male ghost. He glanced at Bai Tao, who quickly covered her mouth but made a provocative "hehehe..." eerie sound.
He was being mocked. Jiang Ye glanced at Bai Chenzhu, but Bai Chenzhu showed no intention of helping him at all, crossing his arms and staring straight ahead as if the unchanging asphalt road in front of him was something special.
Well, apart from a few more weird and twisted zombies, there's not much to see.
Jiang Ye refused to accept this and forcibly turned Bai Chenzhu's head towards him, saying, "What are you looking at? Are zombies as good-looking as me?"
Bai Chenzhu glanced at him sideways, "Ugliness has its own characteristics. Occasionally looking at them can increase the pressure of survival, and pressure is motivation."
He couldn't understand it; it was all nonsense. Jiang Ye was extremely frustrated and couldn't figure it out. In the end, he attributed it to Bai Chenzhu not wanting to be friends with him anymore, and he sullenly leaned against the car door.
Bai Chenzhu glanced at Bai Tao, and their eyes met in the rearview mirror. Bai Tao lowered her hand from her mouth, cleared her throat, and sat up straight.
They walked and stopped, and as summer approached, the wind that blew by was scorching hot.
——
Another big mountain.
The car was parked by the roadside for camping, with mountains on both sides, covered in tall wild grass. Zhou Zhuohua held a map and pondered the directions, while Jiang Ye, without a cigarette, popped a piece of candy into his mouth and crunched it loudly.
Bai Chenzhu stood alone by the roadside, gazing at the dense forest in the distance, lost in thought.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Zhuohua asked as she noticed his expression was off.
Bai Chenzhu pointed to the towering mountains in the distance, "There are fluctuations of spiritual energy over there. The spiritual energy of the mutants is very weak, almost non-existent. This spiritual energy doesn't seem like that of the mutants."
Zhou Zhuohua's gaze held a hint of inquiry. "Is someone living in seclusion here?"
The so-called end times are nothing more than man-made disasters, so living in seclusion seems like a good idea.
Bai Chenzhu shook his head, his expression solemn. "What I'm concerned about is that there's a spiritual energy aura there that's exactly the same as the fragment."
Zhou Zhuohua was shocked and called everyone else over.
Bai Chenzhu pointed to the distant mountains, "Actually, they are quite far away, and they are on the mountain, so our car can't drive over there."
The implication is that it's time to go.
Which fragment is this? Is it from the ancient city of Luming? Or is it the last piece? We have no way of knowing.
Jiang Ye was extremely anxious and waved his hand, "You all stay here, I'll come over."
"Are you sure?" Bai Chenzhu raised an eyebrow. "There are several spiritual auras there, and they're all quite strong. If another one of them appears, are you sure you can succeed?"
Jiang Ye frowned, his gaze shifting between the distance and his companions in front of him. "You're coming with me?"
Upon hearing this, Bai Chenzhu felt relieved that his goal had been achieved. He nodded reservedly and accepted Jiang Ye's invitation.
Bai Tao and Tang Zhao immediately chimed in, "I'll go too!"
Without rushing to get to the front, Zhou Zhuohua said objectively and calmly, "I'll stay and guard the car."
Their supplies are all in the vehicle. If everyone leaves, someone might pick up the vehicle without them even knowing. It will also be inconvenient for them to go anywhere afterward.
Bai Tao bit her lip, looking at Jiang Ye and Bai Chenzhu with some reluctance, then at Zhou Zhuohua, "But Sister Zhuohua, are you alright by yourself?"
“Handling a few zombies is no problem.” Zhou Zhuohua twisted his wrist and patted the gun at his waist. “And you forgot, I have this?”
Bai Tao became even more nervous.
Dealing with zombies is no problem, but what if we encounter a superhuman with malicious intent? Although the probability of encountering a superhuman in this desolate wilderness is very low, it's not impossible, especially on a highway.
Bai Tao still felt that Zhou Zhuohua needed her more, "Then, then how about I go with you?"
Tang Zhao, who was standing nearby, said, "You should go with Brother Bai and the others."
He patted his young and energetic body, "We can't leave the two of you girls to guard the car. With me here, Sister Zhuohua and the car will be fine."
“Ordinary superhumans are no match for Tang Zhao.” Jiang Ye nodded. “Bai Tao, you choose. A Zhu and I can go together.”
Bai Tao exclaimed urgently, "I want to go! I want to go see the next fragment!"
She had vaguely sensed that, under the pressure of a stronger mental force than hers, or under the depletion of mental force, her mental strength was gradually increasing.
But this growth is far less than others.
She remembered when they first met, her mental power was so strong that it caused Jiang Ye to faint. But now, her mental power could only cause Jiang Ye some discomfort.
She felt she was falling behind in upgrading her superpowers, so Bai Tao couldn't wait to find another way to improve herself.
The three of them each carried two days' worth of dry rations and began hiking up the mountain.
——
The trees are lush and green. Fortunately, it hasn't rained in the past few days. If it had rained, the mountain road would have been even more muddy and difficult to travel.
People with psychic abilities probably don't have much physical strength.
Jiang Ye leaned against a high tree, his expression unchanged, his breathing steady, watching Bai Tao and Bai Chenzhu each pick up a branch and climb up the mountain, panting like old men.
He shook his head, walked down alongside Bai Chenzhu, and teased him deliberately, "Call me brother, and I'll carry you up."
Bai Chenzhu glanced at him sideways and raised his stick to shoo him away like a small animal. Jiang Ye nimbly dodged Bai Chenzhu's stick and said with a sly smile, "Just one shout, and it's such a long way, not a loss at all."
Bai Chenzhu ignored him. Bai Tao, however, raised his stick, "Hey! Boss Jiang, I've already called you Boss, why don't you ask me anything!"
She's very happy to not have to walk, she's extremely happy!
Jiang Ye looked at her forehead covered in sweat, gloating, "Girl, you know that men and women shouldn't touch each other, right?"
Bai Tao glared at him, "Don't you know that men shouldn't touch each other?!"
"Who the hell said that?" Jiang Ye said, "They're corrupting high school students."
The high school student, Bai Tao, whose face was contorted with sarcasm, exclaimed, "You! You're hypocritical! You're a scoundrel!"
Jiang Ye was smug and looked incredibly irritating.
Bai Chenzhu was using his mental power to explore his surroundings. He confirmed that apart from the place where he sensed the fragment of aura, there was no other life nearby.
“It’s too quiet,” Bai Chenzhu stopped the two who were about to fight. “There should be small animals or mutants on the mountain, but there are none here. Don’t you find that strange?”
Bai Tao's spiritual power couldn't perceive changes in the vicinity, while Jiang Ye's five senses could detect changes but couldn't distinguish living beings. Neither of them sensed anything was wrong and shook their heads.
Jiang Ye asked, "How much further?"
Bai Chenzhu pointed ahead, "You'll see it once you cross the mountain."
Bai Tao took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and said with a determined look in her eyes, "Then let's climb over in one go!"
They said they would climb over in one go, and by the time the three of them reached the top of the mountain, it was already evening.
Light and shadow mingled in the woods. Looking down from the mountaintop, the lush forest blocked their view, and the direction Bai Chenzhu pointed to was hidden in a grove of trees, with no one in sight from their vantage point.
But Bai Chenzhu said, "There are three spiritual forces. Although two of them have left, there is indeed one left there."
Seeing no living creatures, Shiramo crossed her arms and shivered. "N-no, could it be a ghost?"
Jiang Ye rested his chin on his hand and looked at it, his brows furrowing more and more as he looked.
——
They finally arrived at their destination, an ordinary grove of trees that looked perfectly normal.
Bai Chenzhu himself found it strange. He stepped on the soil and began to doubt himself, "Could it be some kind of object?"
But can objects possess the spiritual power of living beings?
Jiang Ye paced back and forth, his eyes narrowing. He said with certainty, "There is definitely something wrong here. I heard some faint sounds of machinery running, which shouldn't be in the woods."
But what's in front of us is just an ordinary grove of trees.
Before my eyes?
Bai Chenzhu realized something, so he closed his eyes, abandoned his vision, and used his mental power to explore his surroundings.
What appeared in my mind was not the image of a forest, but a square open space with a semi-circular building standing on it, like a quarter of an egg standing on the ground.
Bai Chenzhu suddenly opened his eyes. Jiang Ye and Bai Tao came over. Seeing his surprised expression, they couldn't help but ask curiously, "What did you see?" Jiang Ye asked.
Bai Tao tried to close her eyes and sense things like him, but she couldn't see anything.
“It seems we’ve arrived at some incredible place.” Bai Chenzhu felt a chill run down his spine. He said, “Let me ‘see’ again.”
He closed his eyes again, and what appeared before him was still that strange building. His mental energy could only sketch out the general shape of the objects, but he couldn't see the details.
He reached out his hand, and a solid, warm sensation landed in his palm.
Jiang Ye seemed to understand his thoughts perfectly. "Then try walking towards the strange places and take a look. I'll help you."
Bai Chenzhu nodded, closed his eyes, and walked step by step toward the building.
In Jiang Ye and Bai Tao's eyes, he was standing under an ordinary sapling.
Bai Chenzhu opened his eyes. "It's here."
He rubbed his eyes, and there were clearly tree roots in front of him. He squatted down and touched the area; it was smooth and cool, a completely different feel from the roughness of the tree roots.
Bai Tao asked in confusion, "But there's nothing here."
Bai Chenzhu was troubled about how to tell them. He belatedly remembered that he had once released his spiritual threads into Jiang Ye's spiritual sea, so he raised his hand and covered Jiang Ye's eyes.
Jiang Ye tensed up, his hand just about to be raised in a reflexive gesture of refusal, but then he remembered that it was Bai Chenzhu and stopped himself from moving.
Bai Chenzhu mobilized his spiritual power, guiding the spiritual threads in Jiang Ye's spiritual sea to flow towards his eyes.
A moment later, Jiang Ye opened his eyes and found himself standing under a semi-oval door, which surprised him greatly. He stepped on the empty ground in front of him, but instead of the stability of soil, he felt a hard, steel-like texture.
Bai Tao quickly said, "Brother Bai, I want some too!"
Bai Tao is not Jiang Ye, and possesses her own aggressive mental power that repels external mental power. Bai Chenzhu can only guide her mental power to touch that door.
Unexpectedly, after realizing there was something there, Bai Tao's mental energy quickly sketched out its approximate shape.
The moment the three of them bumped into the tree trunk, which was also the instant they stepped through the door, the woods in front of them disappeared.
Bai Tao exclaimed, "Wow, high technology!"
Jiang Ye realized what was happening and wasn't surprised. "It's a 3D projection."
"Just a projection?" Bai Tao exclaimed in disbelief. "My God, my eyes are deceiving me!"
The room was bathed in a shimmering silver light, exuding a high-tech feel. A staircase slanted downwards, making it hard to imagine who would install such a bizarre house here. A 3D projection was even used to conceal it within the grove of trees.
Bai Chenzhu's eyelids twitched. He looked around at the empty space, then at the stairs in front of him, and said thoughtfully, "Bai Tao, wait for us here."
Bai Tao asked in surprise, "Can't I come down with you?"
Bai Chenzhu said, "This is obviously someone else's basement. I did 'see' some people leave. If anyone comes back..."
His eyes turned cold. "If any creature returns, we'll need you to keep watch."
We can't let people be blocked from both the front and the back.
Bai Tao's heart pounded; she understood Bai Chenzhu's implication. "But how am I supposed to inform you?"
At this moment, she missed the convenience of the internet age, where there was nothing that couldn't be reached with a phone call or a message.
Jiang Ye stared at the passage below. "A-Zhu can distinguish people by the strength of their mental power. He can sense when you move."
Bai Chenzhu raised an eyebrow at him, "You stole my lines."
"I'm really sorry about that." Jiang Ye smiled casually.
Bai Chenzhu spread out his palms, revealing a white palm with a small mole near his thumb.
Bai Tao tilted her head in confusion.
"Put your hand on mine."
Bai Tao did as he said, and her fingers actually touched a cool little thing that flowed down her fingertips and disappeared quickly.
“I can pinpoint your location briefly. If you encounter danger, just run out of this strange forest, and I will know,” Bai Chenzhu said.
Even without doing so, he could still sense Bai Tao's spiritual power, but if there were multiple spiritual powers present, it was easy to get confused. Now, it was like painting a black or white chess piece on a map with a bright color, making it easy for him to distinguish.
Bai Tao clenched her fists, a worried look appearing between her brows. "Then you must be careful."
She watched as the two of them went down the stairs.
The staircase had no security features whatsoever; it was simply left there openly, as if confident that no one else would discover it. The steep staircase descended into complete darkness.
Bai Chenzhu looked around curiously. Jiang Ye walked ahead of him, as if he was very familiar with the route. His back view looked very relaxed. "You seem to know this place very well. You also recognized it as a projection as your first thought."
Jiang Ye scoffed, "How could we not be familiar? Before the veil of pretense was torn off, I was treated as a VIP guest."
Jiang Ye's words indirectly confirmed the owner of the laboratory.
A different race? What exactly is that? Bai Chenzhu felt an inappropriate curiosity.
Soon, they went down the stairs and stood in front of a passageway.
The white light above automatically turned on, and the brightness was just enough to see the situation clearly.
Jiang Ye walked in front, with Bai Chenzhu following behind.
They walked along the passageway until they reached the end, where they found metal doors on both sides of the corridor, smooth in appearance and without handles.
After studying it for a while, Bai Chenzhu came to the door that looked the largest in the room. He raised his hand and gently touched it, and the door was easily pushed open to both sides, serving only as a barrier.
The area inside the door is not large, with a test bench in the middle and transparent pillars all around.
Bai Chenzhu's pupils suddenly contracted.
Inside each transparent pillar were bizarre human figures, some rotting, some covered in deformed tumors, some with upturned features and twisted joints...
He could even see a white and red fleshy mass blowing bubbles at them from inside the transparent pillar at the very end, grinning with a gaping hole full of teeth.
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