"Is it stuck?" Director Wu held the table.
"I think we need to inspect or evaluate it first," Li Feng pushed the chair against the wall, now leaning back like a recliner, "If it doesn't return to its original position after a while, we should start opening the door."
"It's better if you say so," Director Wu glanced at him, "I'm already having trouble breathing."
"Sit down for a while." Li Feng said, "You are too nervous."
"How can I not be nervous?" Director Wu came over. There was only one chair left, and the others were all put away and fixed. He could only sit on the ground next to the wall and lean against it. "I am waiting to see whether I live or die."
"You've been waiting since you were born," Li Feng said, "Aren't you used to it yet?"
"If you insist on saying that..." Director Wu sighed, "You always have a twisted logic."
"Everyone works crookedly, how can we make things right?" Li Feng smiled. "Why not think about how to deal with the two chiefs after we get out? They probably put in a lot of effort to open the door this time, so they can't be warehouse managers anymore."
"Just reinstate them to their original positions," said Director Wu. "It's just that they are a bit weird."
"Then find some leverage to hold on to," Li Feng said, "God is not a fool."
Director Wu glanced at him.
Li Feng felt in his pocket, took out the cigarette box and took a look: "No more."
"It's better to be gone," said Director Wu. "I'm almost suffocated."
"I'll take a nap." Li Feng said.
"Haven't you gotten enough sleep these past few days?" Director Wu was stunned and turned to look at him. "Really?"
"Yeah," Li Feng nodded and closed his eyes. "I don't know how long it will take me to get out. There will be a lot of things to deal with once I get out. I won't be able to finish them if I don't stay up for a few days... Prepare some more medicine for me."
"I asked them to prepare the formula," Director Wu said, "Didn't your throat feel uncomfortable after using the previous one?"
"You are willing to put in a lot of effort on something that is of no use." said Li Feng.
"I've adjusted it to feed the dogs." said Director Wu.
Li Feng laughed: "I have never seen a dog in my life."
"I haven't seen it either." Director Wu sighed.
"I want to get a dog," Li Feng said, "I'll go out for a walk when Yuncheng is fine."
"Looking for a dog?" asked Director Wu.
Li Feng laughed even harder: "Old Wu, you are a talented person."
"I'm afraid you won't be able to leave Yuncheng for the rest of your life," Director Wu said. "You've gotten yourself here, do you still want to leave?"
"Shut up," Li Feng closed his eyes again, "Don't disturb my sleep."
The probe has flown in front of the turntable.
The turntable was parallel to the bottom of the laboratory and was very large. The numbers around it were all there, just as Qiu Shi had seen on the paper.
However, just by looking at the returned picture, you can tell that this turntable is very heavy. In addition, it has not been moved or maintained for so many years. I don’t know if it will get stuck when it turns.
"Let's go back." Xing Bi said.
The operator controlled the probe to return along the original route, taking the small cube of the biochemical body with him.
"The two biochemical bodies should be able to open it," Lin Sheng said, "I'll bring someone in."
"I'll go in with you." Xing Bi said.
"You have to go to the laboratory," Lin Sheng said. "Once the door is opened, we don't know what the situation inside is. Chen Dang brought in two hidden guards."
"Then you..." Xing Bi looked around.
"I'll go." said Qiu Shi.
"What?" Xing Bi looked at him. "This kind of thing is easy for a biochemical body to do."
"I've strengthened myself, so it won't be hard for me to do it," Qiu said. "I have to be in it."
Xing Bi said nothing.
"Do you understand what I mean?" Qiu Shi asked.
Xing Bi was silent for two seconds: "I understand."
"I don't understand," Colonel Yu said from the side, "Qiu Shi, you don't have to..."
"Colonel Yu, there are no outsiders here for me," Qiu Shi turned to look at him, "I'll be frank. As long as I'm in here, no one will lock the person who opened the door inside after it's opened."
Colonel Yu opened his mouth, and after a while he sighed: "I am the one who makes the decision here. No one will do this without my permission..."
"If anything happens, I can guarantee that someone will come to rescue me while I'm inside," said Qiu Shi.
Colonel Yu said nothing.
"It's not that I don't believe you," Qiu Shi said, "I just don't believe Yuncheng. There are too many things that no one knows. No one knows about the two people inside, including the first batch of biochemical bodies that came here that year."
"That's it," Xing Bi said, "He has decided it."
"Do we need one more person?" asked Colonel Yu.
"No, I should be able to do it," Qiu Shi said, "and the space is limited."
"Let's start." Xing Bi said.
"Everything is normal at the laboratory entrance."
After hearing Xing Bi's voice in the headphones, Qiu Shi and Lin Sheng climbed up the ladder and entered the bottom of the laboratory.
It was a bit choking, as the dust was filled with the smell of unknown creatures that had died or were dying over the past one or two hundred years.
There may still be dust from the two skeletons in here.
"Can you avoid inhaling the dust?" Qiu Shi asked Lin Sheng as he followed behind him.
"Yes," Lin Sheng replied, "I can hold my breath for a long time."
Qiu Shi tried to hold his breath, but failed before ten seconds.
This narrow, oppressive space with a huge object above made it difficult for people to breathe, not to mention holding their breath. There was a light on the opening, and they all had spotlights on their heads, but the countless steel grids at the bottom of the laboratory could not be penetrated by light. No matter how much light was illuminated, there would always be half a shadow left. In fact, the stronger the light, the deeper the shadow. The strong contrast between light and dark made people feel more blinded and suffocated.
When he came to the controller, Lin Sheng stopped, bent his legs and leaned against the steel frame behind him, looking at the controller in front of him.
"We've reached the control room," Qiu said, "and are now preparing to lift the lab."
"Okay." Xing Bi replied.
Lin Sheng pressed the button. After a dull metallic popping sound, the bottom of the slanted laboratory continued to rise. After more than a hundred years of silence, the hinges and gears began to turn, making various friction sounds.
He and Qiu Shi squatted in the steel frame together. Although it was impossible in theory, in case of slippage or something like that, this space could keep them alive.
Qiu Shi found that this posture was very similar to that of the two skeletons before, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
"Do you think those two will be partners?" he asked Lin Sheng.
"It should be. Tasks like this are usually assigned to partners," said Lin Sheng.
"Do you think your neck was broken by your partner?" Qiu Shi asked again.
"Yeah." Lin Sheng replied.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. He didn't know if it were him and Xing Bi, trapped in this small space waiting to die, whether Xing Bi would break his neck and then die silently.
"Xing won't do that," Lin Sheng said, "He was previously defined as uncontrollable. He won't wait to die."
Qiu Shi glanced at him and asked: "Is answering questions in biochemical bodies a compulsory course for you?"
Lin Sheng smiled.
The laboratory stopped after more than ten minutes of rising so slowly that the change was almost imperceptible.
"The height has reached the entry requirements." Qiu Shi said.
"Pay attention to the unusual noise," Xing Bi said, "This is the first time the door has officially opened in the opposite direction since it was installed."
"Got it." Lin Sheng said and started to move towards the turntable inside.
Qiu Shi followed behind him, climbing over the steel racks one by one. Some of the rough metal was so cold that it froze his hands. He could feel the chill penetrating through his gloves.
The exhaled white air mixed with the dust around, making everything look a little blurry.
Turning over a metal shelf, Qiu Shi saw the two piles of bones that had been shattered into pieces: "We're here."
"Start when you are ready." Xing Bi said.
Next to the bone is the turntable, which is huge and tilted. When turning it, one needs to bend one leg and exert force at an angle. After all, it is impossible to turn the laboratory 90 degrees while lying down.
Qiu Shi and Lin Sheng already knew the four sets of code numbers by heart. They stood on either side and grabbed the turntable.
"Let's start." Lin Sheng said.
Qiu Shi and he exerted force at the same time and turned the dial clockwise to the first number.
The turntable slowly began to turn.
"Fuck," Qiu Shi gritted his teeth, "Is this fucking rusty?"
"No." Lin Sheng said.
"I know, if it's rusted, it won't turn," Qiu Shi gritted his teeth and continued to push, "I just said it casually, I talk a lot."
The first number is completed, then move on to the second number.
The turntable still had that heavy, sticky and stagnant feeling. If Qiu Shi didn't continue to exert force, he felt that it would turn back in the opposite direction.
The first set of three numbers took several minutes to complete.
"The first group is done." said Qiu Shi.
"All data on the laboratory structure are normal," Ji Sui said in the monitoring room, "We can continue."
"Has it stopped?" Gao Shan asked from the other side of the glass wall.
"Yes." Chen Dang said.
"Then why has there been no movement from the door for so long?" Gao Shan had been pointing his gun at the door, his squatting posture looking a little funny. But now the room was tilted, so if he wanted to stand steadily, it would not be easy to get a good-looking posture.
"Not sure." Chen Dang glanced at Li Feng. "There may be more steps to open it. After all, it is a living coffin that prevents the biochemical body from leaving. It can't be too easy to open it."
Li Feng was leaning against a table facing the door. If Xing Bi brought someone in, he would be the first person to see him.
Cheng Gu was beside him, holding a gun in his hand hanging by his side.
Director Wu was still sitting inside against the wall, with a table and two cabinets blocking his way, so he could hide for a while if a fight broke out.
The atmosphere is a bit tense now, or rather, Chen Dang is a bit nervous. They can use Mr. Long as a hostage, but they also know very well that although Li Feng said that Mr. Long is very important to Yuncheng, he will give up this puppet at the critical moment.
Li Feng knew that Chen Dang wanted to wait for him to say something, but he didn't say anything. No matter what he said, he didn't want to give the other party time to think.
Especially since the other party is a quick-thinking biochemical being.
So he remained silent and waited for the final opportunity.
Only then did he begin to feel that the oxygen was indeed insufficient, and he needed to exert a little more effort when breathing in.
"There's an oxygen mask inside," Cheng Gu said, "Do you want to use it?"
"No," Li Feng shook his head, "Don't break this wonderful tension."
Chen Dang glanced at him.
Li Feng smiled.
The laboratory door suddenly rang.
Click.
Then Li Feng felt a slight air flow sweeping through the solidified air.
He could even smell a hint of coolness.
The door was about to open, Qiu Shi, Xing Bi and others had done it.
"Chen Dang," Li Feng turned his head and looked at Chen Dang, his tone steady but his speed fast, "listen to me."
"Hmm?" Chen Dang also looked at him.
"Don't resist," Li Feng said, "Donglin underestimated Yuncheng's strength. I can tell you for sure that Donglin Town already belongs to Yuncheng. The only consequence of your resistance now is death."
Chen Dang didn't say anything.
"No one in this world has only one side. There are people who will betray you, and there are people who will save you," Li Feng said. "It's also the same in reverse. See this clearly and choose the right path for you."
"Did you give me the way?" Chen Dang asked.
"Stay alive first." said Li Feng.
The moment the door was opened a crack, the two undercover guards who had been standing in the corner without moving suddenly rushed over and lowered their guns.
"Xing Bi!" Li Feng shouted.
The door did not open further, but stopped at a crack.
"It's safe inside." Li Feng walked to the glass wall.
The door opened, and Xing Bi came in with several secret guards, controlled Chen Dang and Gao Shan, and two more secret guards, followed by several soldiers carrying stretchers.
"How is Mr. Long?" Minister Liu followed behind with some difficulty, holding on to the wall, and exchanged glances with Li Feng.
"I'm fine." Mr. Long, who had been meditating in the corner, spoke up.
"Send Mr. Long to the hospital first," Minister Liu instructed, "Minister Song is at the door."
Mr. Long was carried onto a stretcher. When he passed by Li Feng, he turned his head and looked at Li Feng.
"Have a good rest, leave the rest to me," Li Feng said, "Mr. Long."
Xing Bi walked up to Li Feng and knocked on the glass: "Director Li, are you injured?"
"No," Li Feng said, "Old Wu, Cheng Gu and I are all fine."
"Yeah." Xing Bi looked up at the top of the glass.
"Don't smash it," Li Feng said, "It will trigger the anesthetic gas, which has the same effect on biological bodies. Old Wu will also chase the Security Bureau for new glass, but the Security Bureau doesn't have this stuff... Where is Qiu Shi?"
"Under the lab." Xing Bi said, and then looked at the interfaces on both sides of the glass wall, "This can't be opened?"
"It can be opened," Li Feng said, "It can be opened from the inside."
"You won't open it?" Xing Bi asked, "Are you used to living here?"
"Is Qiu Shi injured?" Li Feng asked.
"If anything happened to him, your glass would have broken long ago." Xing Bi said.
Li Feng looked back at Cheng Gu. Cheng Gu pressed a button on the instrument console and the glass wall moved to both sides.
"He almost didn't come back." Xing Bi said.
Li Feng stopped walking out: "I didn't...think he could do this."
"You thought of it." Xing Bi said.
Li Feng glanced at him and said nothing.
Xing Bi didn't say anything else, turned around and walked out of the laboratory: "Colonel Yu, Xu Jie will take the person over immediately." "It can be reset, right?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Yes, both of you come out," Xing Bi's voice came from the headset, "I'll go downstairs now."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
When leaving the turntable and going out, there are bright searchlights in front of you, while when coming in, you can see shadows everywhere, which are two completely different feelings.
Lin Sheng stopped in front of the controller and motioned for him to go out first.
Qiu Shi flipped two shelves forward and waited at the exit.
Lin Sheng pressed the button, and the bottom of the huge laboratory above began to slowly fall back.
When he and Lin Sheng came down the stairs from the maintenance floor, the laboratory had returned to its original state. The turntable and the two piles of bones were left in the underground space composed of a complex combination of metal shelves.
When the opening on the top of the maintenance floor began to be closed, Xing Bi turned in from the other end of the corridor.
"How is it?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Everything is fine," Xing Bi said, "Chen Dang and the others have already taken him under control. Colonel Yu and Li Feng will handle it."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Take a break," Colonel Yu glanced at the time, "There will definitely be a meeting later that you will need to attend. Qiu Shi is still injured, go check him out."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
He was reluctant to go to the hospital as that place had never left a good impression on him.
"Go to the medical cabin in the laboratory and take a look," Xing Bi brushed the dust off his head, "and clean it up at the same time."
"What if he's locked inside?" Qiu Shi said.
"Only Li Feng knows how to activate the lock." Xing Bi said, "He is not here now."
Qiu Shi smiled and turned to look at him: "Did you beat him?"
"I held back," Xing Bi said. "I was afraid I would lose control and beat him to death, and then you would have saved him in vain."
“Fuck,” Qiu said, “you’re really out of control.”
"See who is in control." Xing Bi said.
"Turn off the group call." Lin Sheng's voice came from the headset.
"Everyone, take a break and go to the dormitory arranged by Minister Liu," Xing Bi said, "If you need anything, Lin Sheng can communicate directly with Minister Liu."
"Okay." Lin Sheng said.
"Are there any dormitories?" Qiu Shi took off his headphones.
"Yes," Xing Bi nodded, "Li Feng had someone vacate the top of the company's mountain when we were still washing horses."
"What about you?" Qiu Shi asked, "Do you live in the dormitory too?"
"There is my room," Xing Bi said, "but I don't think I will live there."
"Where do you live then?" Qiu Shi looked at him.
"Aren't you going back to the bunker?" Xing Bi asked, "Although Zhao Lu and the others are not here, I guess as long as you are in Yuncheng, you won't live anywhere else."
"Hmm." Qiu Shi frowned, "What's the situation in Xima Town? I haven't had time to ask."
"Everything is going well," Xing Bi raised his hand and pinched his shoulder. "Colonel Yu told me yesterday that we already have people in Shidi and Zhuyuan. The next step is to expand outward and eliminate potential dangers."
"We need to find out who the leader of Zheng Ting and his gang is," Qiu Shi frowned, "I..."
"Qiu Shi," Xing Bi interrupted him, "Relax a little and forget about these things for now."
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
"You are not Captain Qiu, nor an advisor now," Xing Bi pushed him forward slowly, "You are Qiu Shi, the unreasonable corpse collector outside the city who kicks anyone when he is unhappy."
Qiu Shi smiled: "Was I such a person before?"
"Yes," Xing Bi said, "I hope you always will be."
The laboratory looked as if it was about to be run away. All movable objects were packed into the small cabin inside, making it look a bit empty.
There were quite a lot of people there, all the laboratory staff were busy putting various things back in place and restarting and debugging the shut down equipment.
"The medical cabin is fine and can be used," Director Wu seemed to be in a good mood, with a sense of relief after surviving a disaster. "You can just operate it directly. It has been used many times."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi responded.
"Qiu Shi." Director Wu walked two steps away and then stepped back, looking at him.
"Don't be too affectionate. I'm not used to it," Qiu Shi said immediately. "If you want to ask anything else, wait until the meeting later."
"No need to ask. You've worked hard." Director Wu said and turned away.
Qiu Shi's examination results showed that everything was fine. He took a shower and put on a set of clothes from the closet that was prepared for someone. They looked new and fit him well.
After hanging up his holster and knife, he felt more comfortable.
Director Wu's laboratory assistant gave him some medicine.
"Captain Qiu," the assistant said, "this is two days' worth of medicine."
"I know." Qiu Shi said.
"Twice a day, take four times." the assistant said again.
"Can't I even tell the difference?" Qiu Shi was speechless.
"I was in charge of you when you were in the hospital. I saw you taking a day's worth of medication at a time," the assistant said. "That's not good. Overdosing can easily cause problems."
“…Okay, I’ll eat them in order.” Qiu Shi said.
Xing Bi smiled and said nothing.
"What a joke," Qiu Shi said, "Let's go back to the bunker."
The car assigned to them was still in the parking lot. When getting in the car, Qiu Shi suddenly felt a little emotional. The corpse collectors who used to be unable to enter the inner city were now driving the Security Bureau's cars and traveling freely on the streets of the inner city.
When the car drove out of the checkpoint, it was not stopped again. When Lao Lu saw clearly that it was him in the car window, he stood up straight.
Qiu Shi smiled at him.
Old Lu didn't smile, but looked very serious, just like his usual attitude towards various inner city officials.
Qiu Shi looked at him, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable.
He is no longer the same Qiu Shi.
"Qiu Shi, you are no longer the corpse collector you used to be."
When he first heard this, he never thought it would be true.
The outer city was as chaotic and bustling as ever, with a primitive vitality hidden in the dead air. After the car drove out of the tunnel of the outer city, a familiar scenery came into view.
It seemed as if nothing had changed, the same wasteland covered with broken rocks, the same biting cold wind, but in fact a lot had changed.
There are garrisons on the periphery. There will be no more infected people, no more refugees rushing in, and no more people collecting corpses...
The car drove to the bottom of the slope of the bunker and stopped.
Qiu Shi jumped out of the car and looked up at the sky.
Human memories are as numerous as the stars in the universe.
Maybe it's true. The bunker in front of him brings back countless memories.
The difference from what he remembered was that this time when he came back, there was no large group of people rushing out of the bunker and running towards him shouting.
"Are we going up?" Xing Bi got out of the car. "Brother Shi."
"Let's go." Qiu Shi waved his hand.
Nothing in the bunker had changed. When Qiu Shi walked into his room, there was not much dust inside. After all, he had not been away for very long. He just had experienced a lot.
Qiu Shi took off his coat. It seemed that until this second, his tense nerves finally relaxed, and all the crazy thoughts in his mind were finally thrown away.
Xing Bi took off his coat, sat down on the bed, and looked at him: "How is it? Familiar places are still relaxing."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi also looked at him. For some reason, the first thing he noticed was that Xing Bi was not wearing the one-piece uniform today.
Xing Bi smiled.
"What are you laughing at?" Qiu Shi asked.
"No." Xing Bi said with a smile.
"Your ancestors," Qiu Shi walked over and pushed him on the chest, "Don't think you're the only one who can answer quickly."
Xing Bi fell on the bed. Just as he was about to sit up, Qiu Shi pressed his shoulders and raised his knee to press between his legs: "Don't move."
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.
I was delayed by something and missed the 5:20 T_T. I haven't checked it carefully yet. If there are any typos, I will correct them later.