Chapter 539 The Underground Base
Chen Yang was startled by Zhou Shanshan's words and instinctively felt a stir in his heart. He quickly pushed Zhou Shanshan aside, threw her his schoolbag, and said, "I'm warning you, don't play with fire. Hurry up and put on your clothes."
Zhou Shanshan was stunned for a moment. When she understood Chen Yang's meaning, her face turned red, and she quickly put on her clothes with her back to Chen Yang.
After they were both dressed, they let out a sigh of relief simultaneously.
Zhou Shanshan lowered her head, her heart still beating fast. In fact, for a brief moment, Zhou Shanshan had truly wanted to lean against Chen Yang forever. She paused for a few seconds, and then they both turned their flashlights to the maximum and looked ahead. Chen Yang reminded her, "Try to control your breathing. This place might be filled with poisonous gas."
Zhou Shanshan hurriedly fumbled in her small bag and pulled out a simple gas mask. She handed it to Chen Yang and said, "You use it!"
Chen Yang glanced at it and said, "I don't need it. You put it on quickly. We'll keep moving forward. This poisonous gas won't harm me."
Zhou Shanshan thought for a moment and nodded, then put it on her nose. This was a naturally formed underground tunnel, but it clearly bore traces of artificial excavation. It was evident that someone had discovered this underground passage and then modified it.
They walked dozens of meters along the tunnel, which sloped downwards all the way.
Three minutes later, they stood before a massive bronze door, and even Chen Yang felt a sense of awe.
The bronze door before them was over thirty meters high and more than ten meters wide, with the two doors fitting together seamlessly.
The lock used was a nine-dragon coiled lock, and on both sides of the bronze door, thick cement had been poured to form stone piers.
Zhou Shanshan gazed at the door, her eyes wide with astonishment. She exclaimed, "This… this is incredible! The defenses around here are so strong that even explosives wouldn't be able to break them open!"
"Is this the underground treasure vault that Wang Zhiqiang was looking for? It looks eerie and terrifying, and also extraordinary. What's inside?"
Chen Yang shook his head and said, "I don't know. You stand back. We'll find out when we open it."
Chen Yang took out the golden key and inserted it into the lock. He tested it, then rotated it counterclockwise three times. With a "click," the nine-dragon coiled lock on the two bronze doors emitted a series of dense "clicks."
Then, the lock cylinder, over a meter long, quickly disassembled, and finally, with a "creak," the bronze door moved.
Chen Yang pulled out the golden key and pushed the bronze door open with his hand. The underground vault, sealed for ninety years, finally revealed its true face once more.
Chen Yang was fully alert. After pushing the door open, he slightly retreated, guarding against any traps or monsters inside. However, it was silent within.
Chen Yang paused for a few seconds, then pushed the door open completely and walked in with his flashlight. The underground base was very spacious and tidy. Even after ninety years, it was still spotless.
Chen Yang searched around and found a power switch. He pulled the lever up, and then a "rumbling" sound of a generator started, followed by a faint smell of gasoline. It was a diesel generator.
As the generator started running, all the incandescent lights in the underground vault "clacked" on, instantly making the underground base brilliantly lit.
Zhou Shanshan walked in and was stunned by the sight. She couldn't help but hug Chen Yang's arm and whispered, "This… how much manpower and resources must have been spent to build this base back then?"
"I never imagined that after ninety years, this entire underground base would still be perfectly intact."
Chen Yang looked at the surrounding structure and said, "Fortunately, I got this golden key before. Otherwise, even if we found this underground base, it wouldn't have been easy to get in!"
As they were marveling, Zhou Shanshan suddenly pointed not far away and said, "Chen Yang, look, there seems to be a corpse over there."
Chen Yang walked over and indeed found a man in a white lab coat lying in the corner. Perhaps because it was a base, his body had not decayed despite being dead for a long time. Instead, it had dried out and shriveled, like a discarded skin bag.
Chen Yang looked down at the corpse's neck and saw clear bite marks. Seeing this, Chen Yang immediately grabbed Zhou Shanshan's arm and said, "Bad news, there's something wrong with this base. Stay by my side and don't move around."
Zhou Shanshan quickly nodded, then asked doubtfully, "What's wrong, Chen Yang? What did you see? This is just an ordinary corpse!"
Chen Yang waved his hand, immediately led Zhou Shanshan to the entrance of the base, and then, with a swipe of his hand, closed the massive bronze door behind them.
Zhou Shanshan was startled by Chen Yang's action of closing the door and asked, "Why did you close this door? If we get trapped inside, it'll be bad."
Chen Yang shook his head and said, "It's not clean inside the base. If monsters get out, it'll be bad."
Zhou Shanshan asked doubtfully, "What kind of monsters?"
Chen Yang shook his head, then took out his curved saber and tapped the bronze door behind them with a "clang."
The metal saber hit the bronze door, emitting a harsh sound.
The next moment, a figure suddenly appeared at the deepest part of the base corridor. Its eyes were red, staring at Chen Yang, and it let out a "hissing" roar from its mouth. Then, the humanoid monster charged towards Chen Yang and Zhou Shanshan, still letting out "roar, roar, roar" sounds from its throat.
Seeing this, Zhou Shanshan quickly hid behind Chen Yang. He said, "This is very similar to the illness of the villagers in Qingshui Village. How is this possible?"
"The base hasn't been opened for ninety years. Do these monsters live in this base for ninety years? What do they rely on for survival? Can they survive for so long without eating or drinking?"
While Zhou Shanshan was still in doubt, the monster roared furiously and charged directly at Chen Yang.
Its body was very thin. Although its appearance was withered, Chen Yang could see that it was likely an ordinary local resident before.
Seeing this, Chen Yang sighed. He had already understood.
With a "swish," Chen Yang's curved saber directly cut off the monster's head, then he stomped on its skull, crushing it.
Soon, seven more monstrous figures appeared in the corridor. Some monsters had lost their arms, and some had their internal organs exposed, but they were not dead. They let out unwilling roars from their mouths and ferociously lunged at Chen Yang and Zhou Shanshan.
Clearly, they were somewhat afraid of the light, and the light only made them more enraged. Their pair of scarlet eyes were eerie in the underground base.
Zhou Shanshan spoke from behind Chen Yang, "I know, I know. These… these people are the compatriots that Wang Zhiqiang mentioned were used for experiments."
"Those bastards! They actually turned living human beings into monsters, into machines on the battlefield that only know how to kill."
Chen Yang clenched his fists, then swung his curved saber. Although these zombies had great strength and speed, they were no match for Chen Yang. In the blink of an eye, all the monsters had their heads chopped off.
Chen Yang took Zhou Shanshan's hand and walked towards the depths of the base.
They pushed open the first large door on the left.
Upon entering the room, Chen Yang and Zhou Shanshan looked at the scene inside, their eyes both filled with anger.