The passageway beneath the ancient well was much wider than expected. The moment Han Feng's feet touched the ground, motion-activated lights automatically illuminated a downward-facing metal corridor. Blue light guide strips embedded in the walls pointed deeper into the corridor, and a faint smell of disinfectant filled the air.
"I've taken control of the security system..." Su Wanwan's voice came through the earpiece.
Han Feng moved quickly along the wall, pausing cautiously for half a second at each corner. At the end of the corridor was a heavy, blast-proof door, next to which a biometric device flashed a green standby light. Su Wanwan's voice came through the earpiece at just the right moment: "The identification system is active. Press it with your left ring finger."
Han Feng did as instructed, and the device beeped as the explosion-proof door slowly slid open. The scene behind the door made him raise an eyebrow. The Ikegami family's laboratory came into view, with pure white walls covered with data screens and two rows of fully enclosed operating cabins in the center, through which complex instruments and equipment could be seen.
Strangely, the entire lab was empty. The coffee on the workbench was still steaming, and the computer screens were all unlocked, as if the researchers had just hurriedly left.
"Has everyone left?" Han Feng muttered to himself, quickly scanning the entire space.
"The surveillance footage shows an emergency evacuation five minutes ago," Su Wanwan replied. "It seems the Chishang family received some information. Be careful, this isn't normal."
Han Feng nodded and walked straight to the main control panel. The system interface of the Ikegami family was completely different from that of a regular laboratory, using a large number of graphic symbols instead of text. He inserted a special USB drive, and a series of progress bars immediately popped up on the screen.
"Start download. Expected to take two minutes." Han Feng said as he quickly flipped through the paper documents on the table. Most were routine lab records, but a folder sealed with red wax caught his attention.
Just as he was about to open it, Liu Xiaoran's calm voice came through the earpiece: "The Miyamoto family has been cleared, and the terminal hard drive has been retrieved. No gene serum was found, and the explosives have been distributed."
"Received." Han Feng glanced at the download progress and began to connect his consciousness with his clone.
Through the connection of consciousness, he saw the real-time footage of the Makino family laboratory: the clone was attaching the last piece of plastic explosive to the main server rack, the action was exactly the same as the original.
"It seems the Makino family has also made arrangements." The clone's information was transmitted back through the Star Link.
Han Feng refocused his attention; the USB drive had finished downloading the data. He quickly checked the lab's refrigerators and safes, finding nothing except a few vials of common gene enhancers.
"Strange..." Han Feng crouched down and tapped the floor. The echo indicated that there was indeed space below, and Su Wanwan had explicitly stated that there was another layer of space below the laboratory, but no passage or entrance could be found in the laboratory.
As he stood up, he caught a glimpse of an inconspicuous silver button beneath the control panel, designed to blend seamlessly with the surface. Han Feng tentatively pressed it, and the floor in the corner of the laboratory suddenly slid open, revealing a circular elevator shaft.
"Found the way." Han Feng approached the elevator and noticed that the control panel required iris authentication. "Wanwan? Can we bypass this?"
"Cracking... Wait, this system seems to be independent!" Su Wanwan's voice suddenly became tense. "Han Feng, the security on the lower level is completely outside the main network. I have limited time and can't control it. Should we just give up?"
Han Feng stared at the dark elevator shaft, lost in thought. What kind of good person would build a separate space under a laboratory? Could this be the Ikegami family's training room? He vividly remembered Ikegami Masashi's ability to confuse consciousness at the dock that day.
"Xiao Ran, take the hard drive and evacuate as planned. I'll have my clone bring the hard drive to you," Han Feng decided. "I'll go down another level to see what the situation is."
"Isn't this too risky?" Liu Xiaoran objected. "Our mission objective has already been achieved."
"The space the Ikegami family deliberately hid likely contains something more important than the gene serum." Han Feng had already stepped into the elevator. "If I don't come out in five minutes, or haven't given you any information, you should leave."
Without waiting for a response, Han Feng pressed the close button. The elevator descended silently, and the numbers on the display jumped from B3 to B4. There wasn't that sense of emptiness when he came down from the ancient well, and this floor wasn't even displayed when he received the information, so it was clearly a later expansion.
When the elevator doors opened again, a bone-chilling cold rushed out. Han Feng's breath condensed into white mist in the air, and the sight before him made his pupils shrink sharply.
The entire B4 level is like a giant ice cellar, with a temperature of at least minus twenty degrees Celsius.
"This kind of low temperature... is not something that ordinary refrigeration systems can achieve," Han Feng thought to himself.
Han Feng's breath formed a thin layer of frost on his mask. He carefully stepped forward, his footsteps making a soft cracking sound as he stepped on the ice. Suddenly, the beam of his flashlight shone on a thick stone pillar, covered with intricate runes that gleamed an eerie dark red in the light.
One, two, three... As the beam of light moved, twelve identical stone pillars gradually appeared in a ring. In the center of the ring, a huge eye pattern, about three meters in diameter, was carved into the ground. The eye was half-closed, with a dark blue crystal embedded in its pupil, which emitted a faint glow even in the dark.
Han Feng instinctively looked at the eye, and suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. The world before his eyes began to distort and warp, and he heard countless whispers around him. He saw Liu Mengran, covered in blood, reaching out to him; he saw Su Wanwan swallowed by darkness; he saw Liu Xiaoran turn to ashes in an explosion...
"No!" Han Feng bit his tongue hard, the sharp pain instantly snapping him back to reality. Stellar power surged within him, forming a protective barrier. "This is an illusion..."
He forced himself to look away, his forehead already covered in cold sweat. Such power from a single glance—this was no ordinary formation. Considering the eye techniques the Ikegami family excelled at, this appeared to be their secret training ground.
Carefully avoiding the central pattern with his flashlight beam, Han Feng examined the stone pillars along the outer perimeter. Each pillar was engraved with different ancient runes, some resembling Sanskrit, others completely unrecognizable. The surface of the pillars was covered with tiny grooves, containing traces of dark red.
"A blood tank? Could it be a ritual activated with fresh blood?"
Han Feng's communicator suddenly crackled with static: "Han Feng? How's the situation?" It was Liu Xiaoran's voice.
"We've discovered an ancient formation, possibly the source of the Ikegami family's power," Han Feng said in a low voice. "I'm going to blow it up."
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