"The curse and this underground laboratory shouldn't have much of a direct connection."
Zhao Yi spoke with certainty.
After wandering around the cafeteria a couple of times, the two of them had become somewhat familiar to most of the monsters. Zhao Yi then led Yang Linlin out of there and back to the outside laboratory.
"How can you be so sure?"
Yang Linlin pursed her red lips tightly. Every time Zhao Yi spoke, it made her feel like a fool.
Even though they were always together and saw the same clues, she could never guess what was going on in Zhao Yi's mind.
"If this were the source of the curse, then why aren't the monsters here affected?"
"Compare it to everything in the teaching building. Don't you think this underground laboratory is too harmonious and normal?"
Yang Linlin's face was expressionless.
Damn it,
How is this laboratory harmonious and normal?
It's full of terrifying monsters!
Zhao Yi continued:
"Based on the current information, the black shadow outside is likely the ultimate creation of this experimental base, [X-2]. It can pass through walls, fly, and its state is quite unstable. I believe you noticed these traits when it was chasing Li Sheng earlier..."
Yang Linlin nodded.
But her mind was actually blank.
The abilities of the shadow...
She hadn't noticed at all!
It seemed like it could fly?
...Forget it!
If Zhao Yi says it has them, then it does!
After all, she's just a tag-along; following Zhao Yi is the right choice!
"It has such abilities, yet it stays by the entrance without wandering around. Don't you find that strange?"
Zhao Yi leaned against the door, fiddling with the human skin coat's siphon at the back, showing an innocent smile.
He looked just like... a pervert.
"Maybe it can't find anywhere to go, so it just lingers outside?"
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Yang Linlin didn't bother to speculate on a specter's motives.
Zhao Yi shook his head:
"Rather than saying it can't find a place to go, it's more like... it's guarding the entrance."
"The monsters inside the base are so terrifying, with combat power comparable to a small army. Ordinary threats are nothing to them."
"The only thing that can threaten them is... the curse!"
Yang Linlin was shocked: "They're... afraid of the curse too?"
Zhao Yi:
"Remember what Li Sheng told us before?"
"On the seventh day of the curse, all the teachers and students at the school carried their own heads, searching every corner for their prey..."
"Those specters are the real hunters in this dungeon!"
"And they're the problems we need to solve in our main and side quests!"
Zhao Yi paused, seemingly thinking of something.
"Last night, the school was shrouded in ghostly fog."
"And besides lowering the spirit of living beings, there are many extremely terrifying 'things' inside the fog!"
"I think the black shadow outside is guarding the vertical shaft to prevent these things from entering the experimental base!"
"It's protecting the monsters inside this experimental base!"
Yang Linlin swallowed:
"Are those specters even more terrifying than the monsters down here?"
Zhao Yi said seriously:
"Theoretically, yes!"
"And they're much more terrifying than the monsters in the experimental base!"
"These monsters, after all, are just modified creatures. No matter how bizarre and powerful, they're still within the realm of 'humans.'"
"For example, the owner of this human skin coat, its combat power isn't actually high and it has fatal weaknesses. Even without using that sealed item, we could take it down if we're willing to pay a price!"
"But those specters... are a different story!"
At this point, Zhao Yi quickly took out the key note from earlier, spread it on the table, and pointed to a line:
"Look—The Mayor of City A instructed the experiment personnel to evacuate Rockridge Experimental Base with the data, and they would 'find a way' to help destroy everything here."
Yang Linlin covered her mouth, her eyes showing shock!
"Are you saying... this curse was also man-made?"
"The purpose is to... erase everything here?!"
Zhao Yi nodded slowly, his face showing an increasingly eerie excitement.
Yang Linlin, seeing his strange expression, couldn't help but take a step back.
Damn, this dungeon is so dangerous... why are you excited?!
"The conflict is now established—A group led by the Mayor of City A wants to use the curse to destroy everything related to the experimental base and Rockridge High School, while the experimental base's rebellious entity X-2 wants to preserve it all."
"It clearly has self-awareness."
"This is good for us, after all... the enemy of our enemy is our friend!"
"If we can find a way to communicate with it, we might obtain key information about the curse from it, and even help us take a shortcut to complete the side quests!"
Zhao Yi became more and more excited, his brain working at high speed.
Clearly, under normal circumstances, they would need to survive the death trials in the school over the next few days, analyze the source of the curse from the loopholes in some rules, and then find a way to break it!
But now, they might be able to take a shortcut and complete the side quests ahead of time.
That reward, the substitute doll, just by its name, indicates its preciousness.
In such a dangerous and terrifying world, what's the most valuable thing?
Of course, it's life!
Anything that can save a life is extremely precious!
Yang Linlin was silent for a while, then suddenly reached out her small hand to touch Zhao Yi's forehead, muttering to herself:
"No fever... why are you talking nonsense today..."
Zhao Yi rolled his eyes and slapped her hand away.
"You really lack imagination."
Yang Linlin pouted, hands on her hips, and said seriously:
"This isn't about imagination. You saw how dangerous that thing outside is... it wants to kill on sight, it's so fast, let alone communicate, you can't even finish introducing yourself before..."
Zhao Yi was speechless.
"Who said I want to communicate with that thing?"
Yang Linlin: "Huh???"
Zhao Yi:
"Forget it, it's too troublesome to explain to you. Just follow me later."
Yang Linlin puffed her cheeks, making an adorable angry face, but didn't retort.
Whether they can complete the side quests now depends entirely on Zhao Yi's performance. She still wants to tag along with Zhao Yi to get the substitute doll reward!
The two waited in the laboratory for a long time.
Zhao Yi kept an eye on the time displayed on the instruments. With X-2 guarding the entrance outside the experimental base, neither the ghostly fog nor the specters within it could come in.
It was safe here.
He occasionally peeked through the door crack to observe the monsters in the white cafeteria.
Since these things were created by humans, they would get tired, and when tired, they would return to their rooms to sleep.
He wanted to enter the door at the very edge but didn't want to attract the attention of other experimental subjects.
If they all stayed away from that door, and Zhao Yi approached it, it would easily expose him as an outsider.
Around 2 a.m., all the experimental subjects left the cafeteria and returned to their experiment chambers.
Apparently, they had already claimed those as their territory.
Zhao Yi observed for another ten minutes.
Once he confirmed there were no issues, he carefully led Yang Linlin out of their experiment chamber.
They groped their way towards the door at the very edge.
On the door, it read X-2.
"Sure enough... behind this door is the experiment chamber of the most powerful experimental subject!"
"No wonder the other monsters didn't want to approach here during the day. With their territorial instincts, they must be afraid of X-2 attacking them, right?"
Zhao Yi mused to himself, stroking his chin.
Then he pushed the door open.
The scene inside made Yang Linlin and many viewers in the live streaming room shiver!