Chapter 286: Approaching Dead Line

The heavy metal door slammed shut and locked behind them with a "clang," completely sealing off the deafening explosion and the inhuman roars of Xiao Chengzhou.

Lin Yu half-dragged and half-carried the nearly unconscious Xuanyuan Qing, stumbling into the darkness behind the door. This was a spiral passage winding downward; the walls were cold and damp, and the air was filled with a pungent, heavy odor of rust mixed with machine oil, along with a faint, lingering scent of disinfectant similar to formalin.

"Cough... cough..." Lin Yu coughed violently, his lungs feeling as if they were stuffed with post-explosion dust and ash, burning with pain. He carefully leaned Xuanyuan Qing against the metal wall, which was covered in beads of condensation. Her face was a sallow gray, her lips purple, and the bandage on her severed arm had been completely stained black; viscous blood was still slowly seeping out, soaking through his Combat Uniform. When he touched her, her body was terrifyingly cold.

"Hold on!" Lin Yu tore a relatively clean strip of cloth from his own gear, attempting to reinforce her wound again, but his movements were clumsy due to the narrow space and dim light. The effects of the adrenaline were fading rapidly; Xuanyuan Qing's body began to tremble violently, and her teeth chattered uncontrollably, making a faint "clack-clack" sound.

He quickly checked their remaining supplies: half a pack of compressed biscuits, less than a third of a canteen of water, and only a few painkillers and a roll of new bandages left in the medical kit. The antibiotics and potent hemostatic agents had been exhausted in the previous battle.

"Damn it..." Lin Yu cursed under his breath, his heart sinking to the bottom. In Xuanyuan Qing's current state, let alone continuing to fight, it was uncertain whether she could even hold on until they found Xiao Ya's Maintenance Chamber.

Just then, an old loudspeaker embedded in the passage wall suddenly emitted a sharp burst of electrical noise, harsher than any before. After the noise, a clear, steady girl's voice, still carrying a synthetic electronic quality, rang out and echoed in the narrow passage.

"Lin Shu, Xuanyuan Qing, you have safely entered the B3 Channel." It was Xiao Ya's voice, exceptionally clear this time, without the previous stuttering and interference. "The explosion on B2 triggered the backup power, and the 'Scavenger' is clearing the scene. They will discover the secret door soon; you have fifteen minutes at most."

Lin Yu looked up sharply at the loudspeaker from which the voice originated.

"Xiao Chengzhou is a Monitoring Node placed by 'Ouroboros.' His body has been deeply modified with biotechnology to simulate vital signs, with the goal of delaying you and luring you into a preset capture trap." Xiao Ya's voice was calm, without a ripple, as if she were reading a technical report. "The information he provided is not to be trusted."

Xuanyuan Qing seemed stimulated by the voice; her unfocused pupils slightly converged, and she tremblingly raised her uninjured hand, pointing at Lin Yu. "He... notebook... Biological Chip..."

Lin Yu understood immediately and looked at the black "brain" Xuanyuan Qing had desperately inserted into the control panel earlier—it was still embedded there, brought in with the closing of the secret door, and was currently plugged into an inconspicuous slot on the inner wall of the passage.

Xiao Ya's voice continued: "The B3 Level is the true core of the Observatory, divided into three areas: Experimental Zone, Life Support Zone, and Main Control Zone. The Maintenance Chamber is at the lowest level of the Life Support Zone. However, the passage is filled with Biological Sensors and Directional Energy Fields left over from early experiments, and some areas remain under the surveillance of 'Ouroboros.'"

A slight Data Stream noise came from the loudspeaker, and then Xiao Ya said: "I have already overlaid the unencrypted structural map of B3 onto the signal Node left by the equipment you are carrying... wait..."

Almost simultaneously, the black "brain" Xuanyuan Qing had inserted into the wall slot suddenly emitted a faint buzzing sound. Immediately after, thin, vein-like patterns on the inner wall of the passage began to emit a faint, ghostly blue light, tracing a blurred path along the spiraling downward wall.

"That Biological Chip... one of the backdoors left by Uncle Xu," there seemed to be a trace of imperceptible emotional fluctuation in Xiao Ya's voice. "It connects to the early biological sensor network here and can bypass some of the 'Ouroboros' surveillance. Follow the light, quickly!"

The ghostly blue light was not bright, even flickering, but in the pitch-black passage where one could not see their own fingers, it became the only guide. Lin Yu did not hesitate; he hoisted Xuanyuan Qing up again and moved quickly downward in the direction indicated by the light.

The spiral passage seemed endless, and the metal steps underfoot had become exceptionally slippery due to years of dampness. Xuanyuan Qing's weight pressed almost entirely on Lin Yu; her breathing grew weaker, and every gasp carried a heart-wrenching scent of blood. Lin Yu gritted his teeth, stepping with extreme steadiness, the muscles in his arms knotted and bulging from the exertion. He could not fall, not now at least.

After walking downward for an unknown amount of time, the ghostly blue light guided them to the end of the passage. Ahead, there were no more spiraling steps, but flat ground. What made their hearts tighten, however, was the appearance of three pitch-black forks in the road, like the mouths of three giant beasts waiting to devour them, leading into the unknown darkness.

And the ghostly blue light that had led them here became extremely faint and blurred before the three openings, as if its energy were exhausted, finally dissipating evenly and no longer pointing in any specific direction.

"Damn it! Are you kidding me?!" Lin Yu growled, sweeping the beam of his flashlight toward the three openings. A strong smell of chemical agents blew from the left opening; the middle opening was exceptionally quiet and bottomless; from the right opening, a low, rhythmic sound of mechanical operation could be faintly heard.

"Xiao Ya?!" Lin Yu shouted at the loudspeaker on the wall.

No response. There was only dead silence in the loudspeaker.

Above them, heavy footsteps and the sound of metal rubbing against metal could be heard faintly, drawing closer. The "Scavenger" had caught up.

Lin Yu looked at the three unknown forks in front of him, then at the dying Xuanyuan Qing in his arms, and tightened his grip on his gun.

The heavy metal door slammed shut and locked behind them with a "clang," completely sealing off the deafening explosion and the inhuman roars of Xiao Chengzhou. Lin Yu half-dragged and half-carried the nearly unconscious Xuanyuan Qing, stumbling into the darkness behind the door.

This was a spiral passage winding downward; the walls were cold and damp, and felt slimy to the touch. The air was filled with a pungent, heavy odor of rust mixed with machine oil, along with a faint, lingering scent of disinfectant similar to formalin, which drilled into his nostrils and made his throat tighten.

"Cough... cough..." Lin Yu coughed violently, his lungs feeling as if they were stuffed with post-explosion dust and lime powder, burning with pain. He carefully leaned Xuanyuan Qing against the metal wall, which was covered in beads of condensation. Her face was a sallow gray, her lips purple, and the bandage on her severed arm had been completely stained a deep black; viscous blood was still slowly seeping out, soaking through the shoulder of his Combat Uniform. When he touched her, her body was terrifyingly cold, trembling slightly.