The thick smoke slowly rose from the valley where Allen fell. Dong Zheng was the first to notice this scene. He stopped to look into the distance.
Something seems to be burning.
Cui Zuojing waited for him quietly, Dong Zheng took a deep breath, looked at the boy, and whispered, "Let's go."
They walked along the path for about an hour and a half, and at the end, they stood on the mountainside and saw a unique building in the valley below.
The entire biochemical research institute should be built underground like the armament base. Before the Ice Age came, this was just an entrance above it, but after three thousand years of wind and snow, the building with the low entrance had already formed a thick layer. The ice cap directly raised it by fifty meters.
The heavy pressure of ice and snow also sunk the entire entrance by half a meter. The building materials in 2472 are very strong and have not been deformed, but the foundation can no longer bear it.
They went down into the valley and cleared the snow in front of the gate of the institute a little to make room for them to pass.
The explosion-proof door is completely sealed, and it is difficult to crack with external force. Fortunately, Dong Zheng obtained the relevant permissions when he was in the military base, which directly eliminated the cumbersome identity authentication. The chip on the wristband and the dynamic key can be used to open the door. .
Wang Que was in the middle of the team without saying a word. When Dong Zheng opened the door, she noticed the familiar pulsations coming from the ground, frowned, and said softly: "There are bugs in there, and there are quite a few. "
Dong Zheng snorted: "So many giant insects are estimated to be the result of biochemical infection, and this research institute is estimated to be the most difficult part of the whole box."
He turned his head, his eyes swept across everyone's faces, and asked, "Are you ready?"
Dong Linhai picked up the flamethrower and responded with action.
They checked each other and confirmed that there was no problem with the protective clothing. Dong Zheng entered the dynamic key, only to hear a beep, and the door that had been covered by ice and snow for three thousand years slowly opened.
Many black beetles the size of thumb nails emerged from the cracks in the door and merged into two black streams, which soon disappeared under the white snow.
There was an unbearable stench in the air, but fortunately everyone was wearing helmets and masks, the oxygen supply was still plentiful, and the nose didn't have to suffer.
Turning on the overhead lights, they each carried their weapons and walked in cautiously.
Cui Zuojing glanced at the data on the gas detection meter, and the oxygen content dropped rapidly after entering, approaching 1%.
There must be a lot of creatures that need to consume oxygen, otherwise even if the research institute has been closed for three thousand years, the oxygen content will not be as high as it is now.
The light of the headlamp illuminates the floor and walls, and there are many corpses of insects on it, which are stuck by some kind of material, forming a shell made of insect corpses. Every step of the fall, many are trampled and broken, accompanied by stuck and stuck. The crisp sound of jumping.
However, there are not many live insects. The above-ground part of the research institute is not large. Soon everyone explored it. It is mainly like a hub, connecting the underground part.
They stood in front of the elevator, waiting for Wang Que's perception.
In a pitch-dark world, dots of light are shining, and each dot of light represents a life that can be sensed by her. Every place under their feet has dim or bright spots of light, only the one directly below the elevator. It's total darkness.
"It seems to be a safe house below." After confirming again and again, Wang Que said, "It's about 10x10 in size and quite far from the ground, but I can only confirm the situation of the bugs, and I don't know if there will be other things inside."
"Enough." Dong Zheng carried a submachine gun with a laser clip, made a tactical gesture of forward, and the five entered the elevator.
Cui Zuojing followed behind him, still using his favorite cold weapon, Tang Daozhanyue's blade was cut, which was made when he wanted to cut off the spider silk that trapped Allen.
The numbers on the screen representing the depth of the underground are getting bigger and bigger. Dong Zheng closed his eyes and waited for the elevator to stop, which was also regarded as a kind of rest.
Cui Zuojing was looking at the instructions attached to the elevator. He was quite curious about the technology in 2472, but unfortunately, apart from the weapons on his body, he didn't see much along the way.
The elevator stopped 97 meters underground.
The indicator light at the top glowed green, and everyone raised their weapons and aimed at the door.
The elevator door slowly opened, and the headlight illuminated a disinfection room.
Everyone, no matter who they are, must go through strict multi-layer disinfection before entering the main structure of the real biochemical research institute.
At this moment, the disinfection room had already stopped working, and everyone spread out tacitly. After checking the room of more than 100 square meters, it was found that it was indeed a safe house.
The crowd suddenly relaxed.
At this point, there are still nearly 48 hours before the box closes, two full days, and they have arrived at their final destination. During this time, as long as they can find the place where the signal is emitted, they can end the mission.
Time is no longer the most important issue, and now, they can take a good rest.
The numbers on the dashboard, representing oxygen levels, returned to normal, and everyone took off their helmets.
Dong Zheng sat on the ground leaning against the wall, let out a long sigh of relief, and suddenly relaxed. The exhaustion accumulated in the previous 26 hours poured out all over his head, making him a little overwhelmed.
He hasn't rested for too long, and he has experienced so many thrills. His spirit is like a string, and it has long been tense and is about to break.
It wasn't too cold in the research institute. Victor came out of the summoned beast space to take care of the exhausted Dong Linhai and Wang Que children. Seeing Lin Hangzhi rubbing his calf, he said nothing, like He had a cramp, and ran over to purify him again.
Cui Zuojing opened a package of self-heating hot pot—the only thing he brought out of the military base that could be eaten hot. He just opened it and cooked it for a while, when the fragrance wafted away, attracting everyone.
The amount of hot pot was not large, only a pair of chopsticks. After Cui Zuojing cooked it, he gave the chopsticks to Wang Que. Wang Que took a bite of the noodles, chewed it slowly in his mouth, and gave the chopsticks to Dong Linhai.
Dong Linhai took a bite of ham and gave Dong Zheng the chopsticks, Dong Zheng gave it to Cui Zuojing, Cui Zuojing gave it to Lin Hangzhi, and Lin Hangzhi gave the chopsticks to Wang Que.
Victor didn't worry about eating and drinking in the summoned beast space, so he squatted on the side and watched quietly. Everyone took turns eating the hot pot one by one. Even the hot soup was eaten by the already big appetite. Dong Linhai drank it. He originally wanted to share it with Wang Que, but Wang Que thought it was too salty, so he only took a sip.
Eat something warm to warm your stomach and feel comfortable.
After that, everyone ate some compressed biscuits. After the stomach was full, the sleepiness became particularly obvious.
Dong Zheng leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Because of the helmet, he always felt uncomfortable in his neck. Cui Zuojing was by his side, but he moved closer. He leaned against Dong Zheng and patted his shoulder. , "Go to sleep, I'll let you rest for a while."
Dong Zheng did not refuse. It seems that since Dusk Island, Cui Zuojing's attitude towards him has sometimes become extraordinarily good. Sometimes Dong Zheng seems to be shocked by this kind of goodness. He knows that these are very important to Cui Zuojing. The most common words and actions will make him sink deeper.
He leaned on the boy's shoulder. After the time seal was lifted for a while, Cui Zuojing grew up and his shoulders were wider. Leaning on it made Dong Zheng feel much less guilty.
He closed his eyes, and before he fell into a deep sleep, he suddenly thought of something.
"Chang Hui's power in my body has reappeared." Dong Zheng said softly, "When my emotions were about to collapse, it helped me suppress my emotions and impulses, otherwise I would not be able to rationally put Linhai and Linhai together. Wangque dragged away."
"She helped you?" Cui Zuojing frowned. He remembered that when he checked Dong Zheng's body with Victor Fu Zhe, he did not feel the malice of that power.
Why did Chang Hui help Dong Zheng
Dong Zheng also realized the abnormality: "You said that the girl named Chang Hui is one of the five heirs. Since J and Kether both want my life, why did she save me?"
"I don't know." Cui Zuojing replied honestly, "She... has always given me a strange feeling. Although she is the heir of the queen, she does things more for herself."
"For myself." Dong Zheng murmured and repeated, "Is it any good for her to save me?"
Cui Zuojing also didn't know that Dong Zheng's mother had a deal with Chang Hui. Would Chang Hui see this and help Dong Zheng
But she has already handed over the black gold card to Dong Zheng. It stands to reason that the transaction has been completed. Chang Hui has got what she wants and will not spend any extra effort.
Dong Zheng didn't expect to get an answer. Cui Zuojing was also very tired. He rested his head on Dong Zheng's head.
"I'm so uncomfortable." Dong Zheng suddenly muttered such a sentence, whether he was talking about his extreme exhaustion, or the lingering sadness in his heart because of Alan's departure.
Or both.
Cui Zuojing snorted, he reached out and gently pressed Dong Zheng's head on his shoulder, closed his eyes and said softly: "I know, go to sleep."
This time, Cui Zuojing slept very deeply. He didn't need to worry about anything in the safe house. To be precise, the setting of the box is determined by the world rules of the pure white world. Even the creator of the dungeon, Kether, can't be in safety. Manipulation in the house.
The law cannot be violated by anyone, even the queen.
So he didn't know when the posture of the two became that Dong Zheng was leaning against the wall alone, he was lying on Dong Zheng's lap, and when Cui Zuojing opened his eyes, everyone else was still sleeping, and Victor was snuggling On Wang Que's right hand, she comforted the girl who had never come out of sadness and self-blame with her fluffy warm body.
Dong Linhai and Lin Hangzhi were lying together, and they also had no consciousness of sleep.
Cui Zuojing got up and took a sip of ice water, looked at Dong Zheng, who seemed to be completely unaware, hesitated for a while, but did not continue to lie on him.
Guessing that it didn't take long, Cui Zuojing yawned. Seeing that Dong Zheng seemed to be dreaming of something troublesome, the eyebrows gathered together, and the word between his eyebrows became a Sichuan character, and he kindly reached out to help him heal.
Dong Linhai murmured vaguely, as if he was arguing with an invisible person. Cui Zuojing glanced at him, didn't care, leaned against Dong Zheng and fell asleep again.
In the frozen world, people cling to each other and draw warmth from each other.