Chapter 288

No response.

Only deathly silence remained in the speaker. The static of the current had also vanished. As if that clear guidance just now was merely a flash in the pan.

Overhead, faint heavy footsteps and metal friction sounds drifted over, getting closer and closer. "Thud… thud… thud…" like heavy hammers striking the metal floor, mixed with the fine clatter of equipment.

The 'Scavengers' had caught up. Fifteen minutes, maybe less.

"Left… can't go…" Xuanyuan Qing's voice was too weak to be heard, but exceptionally firm; she laboriously raised her hand, pointing to the left side. "Intuition… very bad…"

Lin Yu looked at the three unknown forks before him, then at the dying Xuanyuan Qing in his arms, who could collapse at any moment. The middle path had resonance, but was abnormally dead silent. The right side had mechanical sounds, meaning artificial facilities, possibly the core area, but also possibly a heavily guarded area.

Time ticked away second by second, the footsteps of the pursuers overhead already close at hand.

"Middle," he heard his own dry voice, that was where Xu Xiaochuan's intuition pointed.

"Right," Lin Yu finally pointed to the right, his voice decisive and unquestionable. "Mechanical sounds, follow the facilities, only then is there a chance to find the life support pod." He looked at Xuanyuan Qing. "Your intuition saved us, but now, we gamble on logic."

Xuanyuan Qing didn't oppose him again, just closed her eyes, her body going even softer.

Lin Yu didn't hesitate, hoisted her, and stepped into the right passage.

Just after walking less than ten meters, the metal floor beneath their feet made a crisp 'crack' sound without warning!

Lin Yu cursed under his breath, his reaction extreme; he slammed backward with force, simultaneously pushing Xuanyuan Qing hard against the wall!

"Boom!"

The ground where they had just been standing collapsed downward, revealing a bottomless black pit! The edges were jagged, and looking down, there was only pitch darkness, as if leading straight to the center of the earth. The pit walls seemed to flicker with the faint light of some energy force field.

Close! Just one step away!

Xuanyuan Qing was pushed against the wall, letting out a muffled groan, her already weak body suffering even more, but looking at the collapsed deep pit, a miserable, bitter smile appeared on her face instead. Traps were everywhere.

The footsteps overhead were closer, and they could even hear the pursuers' shouts.

Lin Yu looked at the deep pit, then at the direction of the passage entrance behind them, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes. He placed Xuanyuan Qing in a relatively safe corner, fished out the last piece of C4 from his backpack, and with agile movements, pressed it beneath a precarious metal plate at the edge of the collapse, connected a makeshift trigger fuse, and cleverly covered it with a few pieces of rubble.

"Leave a little surprise for them." He clapped the dust off his hands, the searchlight beam locking onto the depths of the passage.

The two continued forward, behind them the cleverly modified death trap. The mechanical operation sounds in the passage grew clearer. After walking for about five minutes and rounding a bend, the view ahead opened up.

A heavy circular metal door blocked their path. The door was lead-gray, smooth on the surface, seamless, exuding a cold, sinister aura. In the center of the door was embedded a palm-shaped recess, the edges of the recess glowing with faint biological sensing light.

Authority authentication. Echoing the words spat out by Xiao Chengzhou's broken body before he died.

Lin Yu reached out and touched the sensing area. Cold, no reaction.

The door was locked tight. And the footsteps behind were already clearly audible.

The cold lead-gray metal door, like a tombstone, blocked their path. The palm-shaped recess in the center of the door, its edges glowing with dormant light, mocked the helplessness of the intruders. Lin Yu swept the searchlight carefully over the door seams; seamless, not even a needle could be inserted. He reached out to touch the recess, the coldness of the metal seeping through his combat gloves; the recess had no reaction.

"Damn it…" Lin Yu cursed in a low voice, the searchlight beam turning toward Xuanyuan Qing. She was slumped against the wall, her head tilted to one side, her breathing so weak her chest movement was barely visible. That face had lost all blood color, presenting a deathly blue-gray. The black bloodstains on her severed arm were still expanding, like ink dripping into water, slowly and ruthlessly spreading.

From the spiral passage entrance overhead came a clear metal impact sound! "Thud! Clatter!" The sound of heavy objects hitting the secret door they had just come through, mixed with the friction of equipment and heavy military boot footsteps.

The 'Scavengers' had found the secret door and were breaking it down!

Lin Yu's temples throbbed with cold sweat; he quickly checked the walls around the door, no obvious control panel, no pryable seams. The design of this door was clearly meant for total isolation. He felt his waist; only a tiny piece of C4 remained. Blow open this door? Maybe it would work, but God knows what was behind it. If it triggered a structural collapse or destroyed the only path, they would be trapped here to die. Not to mention, Xuanyuan Qing couldn't withstand any violent vibration.

"Chip… Xu… notes…" Xuanyuan Qing's lips moved, emitting a few blurred syllables; she laboriously raised her uninjured hand, weakly pointing at the black 'brain' in the wall recess.

Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. Xu Jianhua's notes? That bio-chip? He tried to pull the black 'brain' out of the recess to stick it onto the handprint scanner, but the thing was embedded tight, as if fused with the wall.

"Useless…" The speaker on the wall suddenly burst into sharp electronic static, and Xiao Ya's stable yet emotionless voice sounded again. "That chip is an interface for the early network, not an authority key. The scanner needs… living biological characteristics… B-level authority or higher."

"Living?!" Lin Yu turned to look at the severed limb he'd dragged in, still twitching slightly, his stomach churning. It was covered in disgusting blue mucus and charred tissue.

"Xiao Chengzhou… is a B-level authority holder," Xiao Ya's voice didn't hesitate, cold to the point of cruelty. "His biological tissue… theoretically can activate the scanner. But need… cooperation with my system interference, and also need… that interface." She meant the black 'brain' on the wall. "Put it… with the sample… in the scanning area… I'll try… to trick the system."

Lin Yu looked at the severed limb still squirming, then at the dying Xuanyuan Qing, and finally listened to the increasingly loud, increasingly urgent door-bashing sounds overhead. No choice.

He walked over, enduring the nausea, and used his dagger to cut off a relatively intact piece of the severed hand with skin tissue. The touch was cold and sticky, carrying a strong smell of disinfectant and burnt protein. He nearly vomited, but forced it back.

"Place it… in the palm recess," Xiao Ya's voice urged. "Press that black chip… on top of the sample… quick! They're about to get in!"