Chapter 292

He stubbornly resisted the main system's frantic counterattack, entangled with Xiao Ya's data stream.

"Interfering with the main system control node..." Xiao Ya's voice became unusually mechanical, speaking extremely fast, "Forcibly creating a window for electric grid energy fluctuations! Effective time, twenty-five seconds!"

Countless chaotic codes and broken images flashed before Xu Xiaochuan's eyes, his brain stirred into a paste by the violent current.

He seemed to be able to "see" the desperate situation of Lin Yu and Xuanyuan Qing in the electric grid passage, and could "feel" every jump of those deadly energies.

His consciousness, his pain, seemed to have merged with Xiao Ya's system, struggling with difficulty under the massive shadow of the main system.

"They have entered the air duct!" Xiao Ya's voice rose sharply, "It's the backup route left by Uncle Xu!"

Xu Xiaochuan's tense nerves were just about to relax a bit when all the alarm lights on the console flashed suddenly!

The red light was blinding!

A series of data streams representing the highest threat level rolled wildly across the screen!

"The ventilation system has entered emergency lock mode!" Xiao Ya's voice revealed unprecedented urgency and unease, "The main system is closing all fire valves in all areas! Preparing to pump high-concentration neurotoxin into the B3 level ventilation system!"

"What? No!" Xu Xiaochuan shook violently, his hands already beginning to smoke, the charred flesh emitting a nauseating smell.

"Stop it! Quickly stop it!"

"I can't!" Xiao Ya's voice carried obvious emotional fluctuations for the first time—anxiety, and even a trace of... powerlessness, "Aborting the poisonous gas injection program requires B-level security clearance or higher! I don't have it! But I can—"

Her words stopped abruptly.

The holographic image distorted and flickered violently, almost completely collapsing into a patch of light spots!

"Xiao Ya?!" Xu Xiaochuan looked at the blurred light and shadow in horror.

"Detected... biological chip signal... triggering... backup ventilation system... emergency activation..." Xiao Ya's voice was intermittent, like broken glass, "Lin Shu and the others... have found... the last side path left by Uncle Xu..."

Xu Xiaochuan's heart tightened, just about to ask further.

"That path leads to the B3 level... life support zone..." Xiao Ya's holographic image stabilized slightly, but the next words made Xu Xiaochuan's heart sink to the bottom again, "However... the air duct structure is severely damaged... the support system is about to collapse... they will... fall!"

The veins on Xu Xiaochuan's forehead throbbed wildly; he stared fixedly at the surveillance screen, but there was only a mess of static left.

Lin Shu... Xuanyuan Qing...

Their situation was in imminent danger!

And he, could only stand here, enduring inhuman pain, yet unable to do anything!

"Damn it!"

Xu Xiaochuan used his last bit of strength, punching the cold console fiercely!

"Ahhh—!"

Boom!

A muffled sound, the world spinning.

Lin Yu felt his internal organs had been shaken out of place.

In the darkness, he protected Xuanyuan Qing in his arms tightly, his back slamming hard against the cold metal.

Broken duct fragments rained down with a clatter, the sound sharp and harsh.

"Cough... cough cough!" A sweet, fishy smell of rust mixed with blood filled his throat, and he coughed heart-rendingly.

His bones felt like they had fallen apart, his whole body screaming with pain.

He couldn't care about himself, immediately reaching out to check Xuanyuan Qing's neck.

Under his fingertips, the pulse was so weak it was almost imperceptible.

Her body was cold, somewhat stiff.

Where her arm was broken, the bloodstains had congealed into dark, hard lumps.

But the blue-gray color on her face clearly indicated that life was slipping away rapidly.

"Hold on... damn it, hold on for me!" Lin Yu's voice was hoarse and dry.

He shook his dizzy head and propped up his tactical flashlight.

The beam swept shakily around.

They had fallen to the bottom of a small, circular space.

Around them were slippery, damp metal shaft walls; looking up, there was only bottomless darkness.

Directly ahead, at the end of the shaft passage, stood an unusually thick, circular, lead-gray metal door.

The eerie blue light he saw while falling was seeping out from the tightly closed gap of this door.

What made his hair stand on end even more was the movement coming from behind the door.

"Creak... creak..."

The sound was sticky, as if someone was using fingernails, or something else, constantly scratching the inside of the metal door panel.

It was also mixed with wet dragging sounds, and some kind of non-human low growl forcibly suppressed in a throat.

The roar carried a sense of madness and hunger, making one's heart crawl.

At the same time, B2 level laboratory.

"Ah—!"

Xu Xiaochuan let out a shrill scream, his hands pressed tightly against the deep blue sensor board on the console.

His palms were already charred black, bloody and mangled, sticking to it, and the burnt smell of high-temperature protein burning permeated the air.

The intense pain was like a tide, washing over his nerves wave after wave, almost swallowing him completely.

On the console, the two red dots representing Lin Yu and Xuanyuan Qing's life signs disappeared completely the moment they fell.

The screen was full of static.

"Xiao Ya! Where are they? Speak!" Xu Xiaochuan roared at the air, his voice distorted beyond recognition by pain and despair.

"Signal lost... inferred from the last trajectory... fallen to the bottom of the reserved passage on B3 level..." Xiao Ya's holographic image flickered, like a candle flame about to go out, "This area... is adjacent to the B3 biological experimental zone..."

Biological experimental zone!

Xu Xiaochuan's brain "buzzed," and the crazy, scribbled records in his father's notebook flashed through his mind.

Out-of-control "samples"... irreversible "fusion"... hell...

"Warning: B3 biological experimental zone detected high concentration... residual neuroinhibitor and potent hallucinogenic mixed gas..." Xiao Ya's cold electronic voice was flat, "Multiple 'Scavenger' unit signals detected in the upper passage, rapidly approaching the fall point..."

Poisonous gas, monsters, pursuers...

Xu Xiaochuan's heart sank into a bottomless abyss.

At the bottom of the shaft.

"Thud... thud... clatter!"

Above his head, the sound of heavy objects hitting metal was clearly audible, along with the sound of equipment rubbing and the echo of military boots stepping on metal rungs.

Getting closer!

The "Scavengers" had found the shaft entrance! They were coming down!

Lin Yu glanced at Xuanyuan Qing, whose breathing was weak in his arms, and then at the door that was emitting evil blue light and terrifying movements.

In front was hell, behind were pursuers.

Damn it, there was no choice!

He carefully placed Xuanyuan Qing against the shaft wall and rushed to the door.

There was no electronic lock on the door, only an unusually complex, circular mechanical lock core that looked very ancient, covered with rust and scratches of varying depths.

"Old... old thing..." Xuanyuan Qing's eyelids struggled to lift a slit, her lips moving, her voice as thin as a thread, "Mechanical lock... needs... chip..."

Lin Yu's brain turned, immediately thinking of that black "brain" biological chip!