Chapter 21

Noticing Li Ang’s啧啧 amazed look, Zhuang Pengpai absorbed the flame into his palm before immediately putting on his hazmat gloves again.

The Stonemason held up his flashlight and peered inside, then took a spare flashlight from his backpack and tossed it in. It wasn’t attacked.

After confirming that the area was clear, the Stonemason didn’t rush in. Instead, he turned to Alphons and asked, “By the way, in this area, are there any monsters that could be called ‘the Source’?”

“The Source?”

Alphons was stunned. “I’m sorry, I don’t know of any such thing.”

“Then let me rephrase,”

The Stonemason asked, “Where did you put the Biologic Template?”

“Before the disaster, I locked it away in a hidden room below this level.”

Alphons said calmly, “Even the Blood-Flesh Mycelium can’t reach it.”

The Stonemason’s eyes turned cold. “You lied to us.”

“That’s right.”

Alphons replied quietly, “The Biologic Template will only ever bring disaster. No matter how tempting or powerful it may seem, it’s just a Pandora’s Box containing calamity.

If I were you, I wouldn’t think about getting close to it.”

The Stonemason stared intently at Alphons for a long time before finally averting his gaze. Together, they entered the room containing the backup generator.

The others stayed outside, watching as the two of them flipped the switch on the generator.

It had to be said that Alphons, as a former top capitalist, hadn’t cared about spending money when building the underground laboratory’s infrastructure. All the equipment had been designed to be “advanced, durable, and reliable.”

Even after decades, the backup generator could still be started normally.

As the generator let out a low rumble, the underground laboratory, which had been shrouded in darkness, finally had a hint of human creation.

The light bulbs embedded in the ceiling, even though they were already covered and obscured by the Blood-Flesh Mycelium, still emitted a faint glow.

The insects, which had never felt light before, frantically burrowed into the Mycelium’s veins and pipelines.

The bizarre, alien plants also gently swayed their branches, as if expressing feelings of panic and helplessness.

“We need to hurry.”

Alphons and the Stonemason ran out of the room, pulled the alloy door shut, and turned to the other players. “The Aberrations here are numerous. Some aren’t aggressive, but others are extremely ferocious and violent.

We need to get to the Main Control Room and activate the self-destruct system before they cause widespread destruction.

That will start the countdown for hundreds of small-yield nuclear bombs buried throughout the laboratory.

I’ll set the timer for 20 minutes. You guys use that time to get back to the surface and leave this place.”

Li Ang frowned and asked, “What about you?”

“Me?”

“I’m the sinner who personally caused the downfall of humanity. If it weren’t for revenge, I would’ve long ago given in to despair and gone completely mad.”

Alphons gave a self-deprecating smile and pointed with his swollen fingers to his deformed, grotesque face.

“Besides, even if I escaped with you, I wouldn’t be accepted by the survivors looking like this, would I?”

The former president of Tianping Company had long harbored a death wish. Perhaps for him, death wasn’t a burden, but a release.

“Let’s go. The Aberrations on the surface could come down at any time.”

Alphons struggled to move his bloated limbs and ran down the corridor without looking back.

The six players followed behind him, running for a long distance before finally reaching the Main Control Room.

At that moment, a cacophony of noises echoed from the far end of the same floor. All kinds of beasts roared and howled, piercing through the winding metal walls and reaching everyone’s ears.

The Aberrations seemed to have realized what was happening. Some began smashing the lights in the ceiling, while others followed the strange scent in the air, rushing toward Li Ang and the others.

“Open the door!”

The Stonemason shouted at Alphons, drawing his utility knife and standing with two teammates at the intersection of the T-shaped corridor.

The Main Control Room’s defenses were extremely tight. The metal door had remained firmly shut, and even the Mycelium hadn’t been able to corrode or penetrate it in decades.

Now that power had been restored, Alphons took out a rather old metal card from the inside pocket of his suit and swiped it across the frame of the alloy door.

“You all stand back. The Main Control Room is set up to only allow those with a pass to enter.”

Alphons had Li Ang and the others stand farther away.

“Anyone without a pass will be immediately cut into countless pieces of cooked meat by the laser cutters on either side of the doorframe.”

As the door slowly opened, the lights in the Main Control Room came on, and a gentle, artificial intelligence female voice echoed throughout the spacious, pentagonal room.

“Dr. Alphons Anderson, welcome back. It has been 1 year, 7 months, 2 days, 12 hours, and 10 minutes since the last activation.”

“It’s been a while, Nina.”

Alphons called out the name of the artificial intelligence, a hint of a smile flashing across his hideous face.

He awkwardly squeezed through the door, seemingly unaffected by the stale air in the Main Control Room.

The other players stayed outside, watching as Alphons, this inhuman monster with a deformed appearance, went straight to the control panel.

His hands trembling, he took a metal necklace from around his neck.

At the end of the necklace was a cylindrical alloy key.

This indestructible key had been constantly caressed by Alphons’ fingers over the long years, and its tip shone with a smooth, brilliant metallic luster.

Alphons took a deep breath, gripped the alloy key, and pressed it into the circular slot on the Main Control Room’s control panel.

His chubby, radish-like fingers clumsily turned it.

“Doctor, you have activated the Experimental Center self-destruct sequence. The countdown is 20 minutes. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, nothing.”

Alphons seemed to have lost all his strength as he slumped deeply into the chair, looking up at the ceiling, which he had once known so well and which was now stained with coffee.

“Nina, close the door.”

The Main Control Room’s door slammed shut.

The six players in the corridor had just heard the artificial intelligence announce the 20-minute countdown to nuclear detonation when they saw the door close.

At the same time, the system’s prompt quietly sounded.

The six players were stunned. Once the unstoppable nuclear countdown had begun, did that mean the mission was complete?

Player Fierce

Player Fierce