Chapter 1 What to Investigate Now?

Li Cheng颐 looked back. He had entered from the side wall of the highest level entrance of the parking lot.

Below, layer upon layer, should be the entire inner cavity of the Gries parking lot.

'So, how does the method of leaving the blind spot correspond to the real site?'

Li Cheng頤 pondered, taking steps forward.

The two silver-white engineering spiders beside him moved along, illuminating the surroundings.

'According to the company's information and think tank suggestions, I must first find the safety exit for the staff here, because the normal entrance and exit are blocked.'

Li Cheng頤 looked back at the slope where the entrance and exit should have been.

There, sure enough, stood a stone wall that was completely sealed off, with many gray-black stains on the wall, like splattered paint.

'Then find the safety exit first.' Li Cheng頤 moved slowly, his eyes constantly glancing at the small red door on the side in front of him.

In the blind spot, that place was the inevitable exit for all the face monsters.

He just didn't know what was inside that door in reality...

Thinking of this, he steeled his resolve and simply walked towards the nearest red maintenance door.

According to the blind spot information collected by the company, dangerous situations like those in the blind spot have never occurred in reality.

So, it should be safe.

Li Cheng頤's hand gripped the handle of the maintenance door.

Even through his gloves, he could feel a slight chill and roughness.

*Click.*

The handle slowly turned.

*Whoosh!*

Suddenly, he pulled it open.

The door swung wide open, revealing a patch of darkness inside.

An engineering spider slowly crawled over from the wall on the right, illuminating the inside.

A face!

A pale, smiling human face!

Suddenly appeared in the white light, facing Li Cheng頤.

He took a step back abruptly, gasping for breath, almost sitting on the ground.

By the white light, he could now see clearly.

Inside the door, hanging in mid-air, was a male head that appeared to have been processed and not decayed.

He was smiling, his eyes open, his pupils staring at the doorway, his hair tied with a rope, hanging the entire head in the air.

Anyone who opened the door would see him immediately.

"...What the hell!!" Li Cheng颐's chest rose and fell rapidly. The moment he saw the human face, he almost put on the Flowery Scale Armor to fight.

"What's wrong?" Ding Chongyi's voice came through.

"Nothing, just encountered a corpse."

"Be quick."

"Understood."

Li Cheng颐 did not close the door, but avoided the head and walked into the maintenance door from the side.

The narrow space inside the door was actually filled with a lot of things.

In addition to basic cleaning tools, there were also some scattered fragments of white bones and tattered clothes on the ground.

Apart from that, there was nothing else to be found.

Li Cheng颐 endured the nausea and quickly got up, heading towards the door.

Suddenly, his body went numb, and his scalp felt like it was being electrocuted, instantly losing sensation.

From his angle looking out of the door.

He could clearly see that someone seemed to be standing on the left side of the maintenance room doorway.

That person was standing outside the door, hiding quietly and silently.

It was just that he seemed to have accidentally revealed a hand, which Li Cheng頤 saw.

'How could there be anyone here??' Li Cheng頤's heart beat like a drum, his breathing becoming rapid.

Just as his emotions were stabilizing slightly, the hand suddenly retracted and disappeared.

*Hiss...*

Traces of purplish-black Flowery Scale Armor quietly covered Li Cheng颐's arm.

He moved forward, little by little.

When he reached the doorway, he suddenly rushed out.

With a *poof*, he rushed several steps into the hall, stabilized his balance, and looked back.

Outside the maintenance room, there was nothing by the door.

The surrounding dozens of meters were only old, damaged gray walls.

'That's not right!' Suddenly Li Cheng颐 seemed to have discovered something.

On the door frame where that hand had been, on the wall, he approached and saw that something seemed to be carved on the wall.

He made a gesture of taking a photo.

Immediately, he photographed the things on the wall and sent them to Ding Chongyi.

"What is this?"

"A... symbol? It looks like... a crawling person? Or a painting?" Ding Chongyi's voice was intermittent, the signal was a bit bad.

"I'll continue." Li Cheng頤 replied.

He suddenly recalled the pale human hand he had seen on the ground, and his heart faintly became confused between illusion and reality.

He suspected that what he saw was not a hallucination, but most likely a blind spot omen.

According to the records, a very small number of people would occasionally experience blind spot omens when investigating blind spot situations.

This had nothing to do with how much time was left in the blind spot interval.

'If it's really an omen, then...'

Li Cheng颐 knew very well that omens were not just omens, but could actually cause harm.

That was equivalent to briefly entering the blind spot space, rather than a dream or hallucination.

He had already tested this before.

'This is troublesome...'

He kept his arms covered with Flowery Scale Armor, quickened his pace, and moved in the underground parking lot.

'The exit must be near the ground.'

'It's likely related to that crack.'

'According to the rules, if I were a staff member, I should leave an opening on each floor that can be observed, otherwise there would be no way to know the situation of the people on the lowest level. So... the exit or observation point must be in a position that is inconvenient for ordinary people to access, but can safely observe all situations...'

'Then...' Li Cheng頤 recalled the analysis given by the company's think tank and quickly locked onto several of the most likely locations.

He jogged along the way, the crisp sound of his footsteps echoing in the dead underground space, appearing lonely and strange.

The echoes formed by the footsteps continued to reverberate, spreading layer by layer deeper into the underground.

Soon, Li Cheng颐 arrived at the location where he had previously discovered the crack.

He quickly groped on both sides of the wall.

"Found it!" He suddenly exclaimed in surprise, discovering a crack half a person wide!

But to his surprise, this crack did not seem to be deliberately dug out, but rather seemed to be a natural split in the wall.

He looked around, behind him and to the left and right were all darkness, the light of the little spider could only illuminate twenty or thirty meters, and further away it was shrouded in darkness again.

He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything.

After confirming that it was safe, standing in front of the crack, Li Cheng頤 took a deep breath and directed a small spider to crawl in from the edge.

The white light immediately illuminated everything in the crack.

He concentrated and observed, finding that this crack was very deep, extending to a place he couldn't see.

"I've found that crack, preparing to go in and take a look." He said in a low voice.

"Hiss... hiss..." But apart from the hissing sound of electricity, there was no response in the AR.

Obviously, the signal was too affected here and there was no way to contact them.

Li Cheng颐 steadied his mask, turned sideways, and squeezed his body into the gap little by little.

He could just barely squeeze in, following the engineering spider, all the way in.

After moving about ten meters, suddenly.

Li Cheng颐's vision swept over and he saw that there seemed to be words carved on the wall in front.

He controlled the little spider to move over and illuminate this section of the wall.

The handwriting quickly became clear.

It was written in the Yiguo script, crooked and not like it was written by an adult, but more like a child had carved it with a small knife.

'Mom said that when you're desperate, as long as you sing that song in your heart, you'll definitely find hope, you'll definitely find a way to survive!'

'It's so noisy outside, they're calling again. Patients are like that, Dad wouldn't call, he would only smile.'

'Why don't they ever call Dad to eat?'

'The meat today is so delicious. Why didn't Dad come?'

'I haven't seen Dad in a long time...'

Row after row of distorted handwriting gradually emerged as Li Cheng颐 stroked them.

'Mom isn't coming either, am I the only one left?'

'It's starting again outside, close your eyes and hum a song, everything will pass.'

'I've sung it so many, many times... why isn't Mom coming yet?'

'Hungry....'

The handwriting stopped abruptly here.

Li Cheng颐 frowned, constantly stroking and searching around, but found no other traces.

*Crack.*

Suddenly, a clear cracking sound came from the hall outside the gap.

The engineering spider that was left outside suddenly flickered with white light.

Then, with a *poof*, it went out.

Only the engineering spider beside Li Cheng颐 was still on.

He turned his head, staring tightly at the outside of the gap.

Clearly, he was the only one who came down here! Clearly, it was a relic two hundred meters deep underground!

How could there be other sounds!?

His whole body tensed, his hands hanging down, pressing against the stone wall, lightening his breathing, ready to put on the Flowery Scale Armor and rush out at any time.

But just then, his right foot touched something hard.

Li Cheng頤's heart stirred, and he slowly lowered his head, looking there through his AR glasses.

On the ground, a V-shaped metal tag was quickly captured by the glasses, then adjusted and enlarged.

It was a metal tag with a thin thread threaded through it.

Although it was V-shaped, the tip of the bottom had been worn quite round, and it was likely the tool used to carve the words on the wall.

While keeping his eyes on the outside of the gap, Li Cheng颐 carefully used his toes to pick up the tag.

He bent over, then hooked it with his hand, pinched it tightly, and brought it to his eyes.

The tag was only the size of a walnut, silver-black in color, with many decorative patterns of leaves and vines on it.

On the back, there was a line of small writing.

'Dongdi. Jiaji'er'

A name!?

Li Cheng颐's spirit was lifted, this was likely a life plaque engraved with a name!

He quickly took a photo and uploaded it to Ding Chongyi.

*Click.*

Suddenly, there was another slight sound outside, like someone's footsteps.

Li Cheng颐's scalp tingled, and he stared tightly at the outside of the gap again.

After pausing for a few seconds, he slowly put the tag into his clothes and moved out of the gap little by little.

At the same time, a semi-transparent Flowery Scale Armor began to slowly appear all over his body.

Those were the traces of him putting on the armor.

*Poof!*

Suddenly, Li Cheng颐's eyes sharpened, his feet stepped out, and his whole person suddenly rushed out of the gap.

*Bang!*

The wall was slammed hard by his Flowery Scale Armor-clad right arm, leaving a row of small holes.

Those were the sharp thorns of the Flowery Scale Armor's gauntlets.

But unfortunately, there was nothing outside the crack, just silence.

Li Cheng颐 stood in place, withdrew his hand, and cautiously scanned his surroundings.

Strangely, the other damaged engineering spider had also disappeared at this time, its whereabouts unknown.

"Chi... found it!" Ding Chongyi's voice suddenly came through at this time. "This name you found, this Dongdi. Jiaji'er! Was the only survivor of the Gries parking lot back then! He lived to be a full ninety-eight years old!"