They went to the morgue on the basement floor of the clinical trial center because the hospital's power had not been restored, so the elevators were unusable.
Fortunately, the initial packages provided by the production team included bread, water, and small flashlights. Everyone took out their own flashlights and, one after another, walked down the stairs, flashlights in hand.
Wang Quan and Zhang Nan were sandwiched between the group. Wang Quan felt colder the further down they went, and he got goosebumps. Fortunately, there was no damp or musty smell in the air, but there was a cold and damp smell that made the hairs on his body stand up involuntarily.
Wang Quan silently sang the national anthem in his heart, and also silently recited, "Don't blame anyone, blame Ivan who led the way, don't blame him."
Everyone in Ivan's team looked tense, but they remained vigilant. Zhang Nan seemed out of place among them, strolling leisurely downstairs as if he were not going to the morgue, but rather wandering in a beautiful garden full of birdsong and spring blossoms.
Wang Quan unconsciously swallowed. What a strange person Zhang Nan was. He even wondered if Zhang Nan was missing a nerve, which was why she didn't seem nervous at all.
At the end of the stairs was a large stainless steel door, above which were three large red characters: "Morgue".
Everyone else stopped and looked around, but Zhang Nan didn't hesitate at all and went straight up to open the door.
Following the faint light of the flashlight, one could vaguely see that inside the door was a long, narrow passageway containing a guard room, a toilet, a changing room, and so on.
Ivan's team truly lived up to its reputation as an excellent team; they assigned tasks to each person in just a few words. If the occasion weren't inappropriate, Wang Quan would have loved to applaud their excellence. However, Wang Quan and Zhang Nan were excluded from the task assignments.
After Ivan's team assigned tasks, they quickly entered their respective rooms to search thoroughly, leaving no corner untouched. This carpet-like search looked very well-organized and showed great teamwork.
Zhang Nan was looking at the visitor list outside the guard room as soon as he entered the room. Wang Quan then realized that he also had to get moving, so he pretended to go into a room to check as well.
Wang Quan was surprised to find the room occupied. He was about to turn around and leave when the other person immediately told him to leave, "This room is taken."
Meeting the other party's wary gaze, Wang Quan could only shrug and enter the empty disinfection room next door to search. As he searched, he thought to himself that Ivan's team was too cautious, and Zhang Nan was indeed easier to fool.
Then, he suddenly remembered that Zhang Nan didn't seem to have realized he was infected. He glanced at the time on his bracelet and suddenly realized that his health, which had been at full, wasn't full anymore! His tenth health bar had dropped by half. At that moment, he no longer cared that he still had more than ten minutes left before he could infect Zhang Nan again.
Wang Quan shouted excitedly, "Look at the health bars on your bracelets!"
The others who were searching were disturbed and frowned, but when they saw that their health bars on their bracelets were no longer full, they all looked troubled.
"What's going on?! Why am I losing blood?"
Ivan's brows were furrowed so deeply that they looked like a pretzel. The others noticed that their health was still dropping. "My health is still decreasing," Ivan said.
"Me too."
"I was fine upstairs just now, how did I start losing blood?"
Yang Shanshan from Ivan's team, the female PhD who found the clue, seemed much calmer than the others. As if struck by a thought, she suddenly turned and walked out of the morgue, back into the stairwell, paused for a moment, then walked back in, saying with a relaxed expression, "It's the low temperature that's causing the health to drop. This must be part of the game's mechanics. Looks like there's an important clue here. Health doesn't drop in the stairwell, but it starts dropping as soon as you step into the morgue. We can't stay here long; we need to find the clue and leave as soon as possible."
Once Ivan's team learned the reason for the blood loss, they were much relieved and their searching became even faster.
However, Wang Quan was somewhat troubled. He didn't know how long it would take to find these clues, and he was considering leaving now, since he didn't actually need to look for any. But if he left now, Ivan certainly wouldn't let him go.
Wang Quan realized that there were only a dozen minutes left until the one-hour countdown to the infection mission was over. He could then eliminate Zhang Nan, completing his hour-long task, and only then did he feel a little relieved. He could only be thankful that he still had Zhang Nan, that clueless idiot, by his side.
Ivan's team was too vigilant. Wang Quan felt that if they continued to operate together, he would be the first to be eliminated for failing to complete the infection mission. After all, if he were to infect Ivan's team, they would have already sentenced him to death before he even had a chance to do anything. He definitely needed to find a way to break away from Ivan's team.
If he were eliminated in front of Ivan, his identity would be 100% exposed. He would have to find a secluded corner to eliminate Zhang Nan, or secretly infect him when people gathered together.
Wang Quan stealthily approached Zhang Nan and said, "How about we go alone?"
"What?"
"Keep your voice down..."
Ivan's voice came at just the right moment, "Wang Quan, where are you going?"
Wang Quan couldn't say a word because everyone else was watching him.
"No, we didn't go anywhere. I mean we need to search quickly."
In the darkness where no one could see, Zhang Nan smiled and said, "Brother Wang, you mean, let's just search the morgue?"
"Yes, that's what I meant." Wang Quan was bitter inside. That wasn't what he meant at all; he just wanted to leave. But now that Ivan was watching him, he was in a bind and had no choice but to grit his teeth, bear everyone's gaze, and walk towards the morgue at the end of the passage.
Wang Quan watched the health bar on his bracelet slowly drain away, feeling as if his heart was bleeding. He quickly and decisively pulled the door shut. But to his surprise, the moment his hand touched the door, an alarm suddenly went off.
Everyone looked around warily, but nothing happened.
It was at this moment that Wang Quan realized the door couldn't be opened. "Why can't I open this door? Do I need a key? Wait, why is my health dropping so fast?!"
Wang Quan stared intently at the bracelet, but unexpectedly, his health returned to its previous slow decline.
Yang Shanshan approached the door and examined it carefully. She touched the doorknob and looked at her bracelet. Her health was dropping faster. After she removed the bracelet, the rate at which her health dropped slowed down.
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