under the tower

Although he only said such a simple sentence, Yan Yi knew that Bai Qihuan's hardships behind them these days were not less than his own, just listening to his distressed voice at the moment.

"Thank you." Yan Yi said sincerely, "Thanks to you this time, if we didn't have enough weapons, we wouldn't be able to go so smoothly."

"Fortunately, fortunately, there were a lot of ammunition before." Bai Qihuan said with lingering fear, "I heard from Han Ming, Boss, you were bitten? That's why they drove back alone? At that time, I was really scared to death..."

Yan Yi was silent for a moment.

"Ah."

Bai Qihuan on the other end of the phone trembled all over: "...?"

"We encountered a new type of monster, similar to a deformed human, but much bigger." Yan Yi said in a calm tone, "I was indeed injured. At that time, I really thought it was hopeless."

Bai Qihuan's tongue was tied up: "...but, then what?"

"So I let them go first and stayed in the wild by myself." Yan said, "But fortunately, after a few days, we were not infected."

"Huh? Huh?"

Bai Qihuan said in a scream that almost jumped up: "I'm stupid? Is it true?"

After he finished speaking, he realized that because he was too excited, he asked a completely nonsense question.

Yan Yidao: "Maybe that thing is not contagious, but anyway, we passed the genetic test at the city gate."

"This..." Bai Qihuan paused for a long time before he managed to regain his language skills, "Boss, you are really lucky... You can encounter such a one-in-a-million thing. I really can only say... ...Uh, is there good reward for a good man?"

"Yes." Yan Yi replied indifferently, "So usually do more good deeds."

Bai Qihuan: "..."

Understood, I will donate tomorrow.

"So boss, what are your plans?" Bai Qihuan asked, "The Chang family unilaterally tore up the agreement, and moved so many people this time, why should we settle accounts with them?"

"Yeah." Yan Yi said, "I'll discuss it with you in a few days."

Bai Qihuan's tone immediately became enthusiastic: "Can we do it now?"

"Get ready." Yan Yi simply said two words, his eyes were bottomless.

"Understood." Bai Qihuan smiled sadly, "I'll inform the others."

In the evening, Ji Xi and Yan Yi agreed to go to Chongming District together.

There are two towers in the Chongming District, and the auxiliary tower is a research institute specializing in mutant virus vaccines.

Injured but not infected is a major discovery, and they both need to know why, both emotionally and logically.

However, the base has too strict control over the entry and exit of the Chongming District, and it is impossible for them to admit that they have survived the attack of the suspected abnormal person. It is too dangerous to do so.

This time, they still need to sneak in quietly.

After Ji Xi proposed his plan, Chang Huai didn't ask any questions, and immediately and efficiently sent a copy of the layout map of Chongming District after two hours, with two words attached, good luck.

Compared with the main tower, the security level of the auxiliary tower is much lower, because all the secrets of the Chang family are sealed in the main tower, and the latest research information of the auxiliary tower is transparently disclosed to the public almost every other quarter. So unless your brain is shot, you will run to the side tower to steal information at the risk of going to jail.

But after Ji Xi escaped from death this time, he subconsciously affirmed that the side tower must still be hiding something unknown.

The abnormal virus is unsolvable, and it is already recognized by the residents of the end of the world. The research report of the vice tower has never mentioned the infection rate, and the existence of that new type of "abnormal person" has never been disclosed before. This allows them to be checked and balanced by a huge information gap when they are suddenly attacked.

Ji Xi instinctively sensed something was wrong.

The layout that Chang Huai gave this time was more detailed than last time, and it also included the time for the patrolling sentries to change guards. Obviously, he was worried that Ji Xi would commit the same crime as last time, and he would have to go to the dungeon to find people himself.

This is too much to ask for a lower limb disability.

Ji Xi and Yan Yi shared the layout plan, and they decided to sneak into the auxiliary tower during the group changing of the guard at eleven o'clock in the evening.

This time the infiltration went smoothly. In theory, as long as Ji Xi doesn't get confused, with his reflexes, he will definitely not be caught by those drowsy patrols.

Chang Huai gave them a string of internal codes, which can temporarily stop working for an hour for the impenetrable monitoring equipment in Chongming District after the rectification.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Ji Xi and Yan Yi entered through the side door of the auxiliary tower.

The regular commute time for researchers in Chongming District is from [-]:[-] am to [-]:[-] pm. Now the entire tower has completely turned off the lights, and there is no one in the empty corridor.

In front of them is a mirror-like white marble floor, and a series of rectangular doors are neatly arranged in front of them, with house numbers hanging on them in sequence, laboratory α, laboratory β, laboratory γ...

Ji Xi held the doorknob of one of the laboratories with her gloved hand, and the door remained motionless.

"It's locked." Ji Xi said, "We have to find an authorized ID card. Breaking the door forcibly may trigger an alarm."

Yan Yi took out a piece of black iron from his pocket, but it might not be pure iron. Under the dim light, the small round thing exuded a psychedelic luster, as if there were some dots of particles mixed in it. ,Extremely Beautiful.

Ji Xi took it, and saw that the disc was empty, except for a Roman numeral - "I" engraved in the center.

"Where did it come from?"

"I found it at home." Yan Yi said, "I took some time to go back to the sick wood area before."

Ji Xi was holding the small piece of iron in his hand, but he didn't open the door of the laboratory immediately, but asked in a knowing tone: "Can this thing open all the permissions of the base?"

"Yes."

Ji Xi looked at him with a questioning look: "Aren't you going to tell me something?"

What he meant was very clear. As Chang Wentao's own son, Chang Huai might not be able to do this. How could you have such a thing?

Yan Yi watched him silently.

Then, he suddenly said: "When everything is over, I hope I still have time to explain everything to you."

His words sound very twisted, what do you mean by "still have time"?

Ji Xi asked: "Isn't it possible now?"

"Yeah." Yan Yi said, "Not now."

His eyes looked very gentle, like a deep universe.

But Ji Xi knew that it was his final decision, it could not be changed, and there was no room for negotiation.

Ji Xi stared at him for a moment, her eyes looked hurt.

"Okay," he finally said.

Ji Xi put the iron sheet on the smart sensing area of ​​the gate, and with a beep, the door opened automatically.

The entrance is a huge laboratory, and various heavy instruments such as particle separators are in front of you, but they are not in operation.

The two stepped forward and searched for the desk on the right side of the laboratory.

The strange thing is that the desktop of this desk is very clean, and there are no documents on it, not even a pen, a paper clip, or any other artificial traces.

Next to the table is a mobile cabinet with a key in it.

Ji Xi opened each drawer of the cabinet one by one, but was stunned.

It was also empty inside, with nothing in it.

They checked all the laboratories on the first floor in turn, but the situation was exactly the same.

There are many machines in the room that seem to have stopped working for a long time, but none of the documents can be found.

How could this be?

Could it be that those materials were deliberately evacuated?

The entire sub-tower is about 300 meters high, with hundreds of floors, and each floor has about a dozen different laboratories. It is impossible for them to check one by one.

Ji Xi and Yan Yi went upstairs. It had been about 10 minutes since they entered the tower, and the monitoring would only be disabled for an hour. They didn't have much time left.

They don't know the structure of the auxiliary tower at all, and the only identification is the house number outside the laboratory.

They have no functional description and cannot be distinguished, except for the Latin letters marked differently.

Ji Xi pushed open another door, as before, they returned without success.

He even suspected that there was nothing in the entire side tower.

etc--

Ji Xi suddenly froze.

There is nothing here.

What if this is not a deliberately fabricated illusion, but a fact?

All the experimental instruments stopped working, and the information announced to the public was only some specious words, but there was actually no effective information.

There is nothing in the entire virus research institute.

The base has long since given up researching vaccines.

Ji Xi stood there, feeling cold all over.

"...is it possible?" he murmured.

"In the entire Chongming District, people come and go every day, but no one has discovered that the Vaccine Research Institute has long been an empty tower?"

"Scientists are strictly controlled." Yan said, "They can only contact a limited number of colleagues every day, and they are escorted in and out by patrol soldiers. It is impossible to go to other places, let alone find any abnormalities."

So it can be established.

Ji Xi looked at Yan Yi with trembling eyes: "...you know? Or did you already know?"

Yan Yi shook his head, but there was a kind of compassionate sadness in his deep eyes.

The whole base is like a wriggling ant nest.

And inside, it's already rusted away.

The source of the evil was standing on a high place, overlooking them with a half-smile.

Ji Xi and Yan returned without success.

They simply washed up and fell asleep.

Ji Xi's heart seemed to be blocked, and the suppressed emotions were transpiring in his blood vessels, and he continued to feel a sense of depression.

Although all this is not surprising in retrospect, after all, he already knew that Chang Wentao, the supreme ruler of the Beicheng base, was likely to be an alienated and abnormal person. His order to stop vaccine research was completely understandable from Chang Wentao's standpoint.

It wasn't even a mean thing.

He just confirmed once again that there is a dark side behind this seemingly calm world.

In the middle of the night, when Ji Xi was in a daze, he suddenly heard a piercing "ding" sound in his earphones.

The smart assistant will automatically enter silent mode after the human body sleeps, and any message will be placed in the inbox to be processed. Only when the sender marks "abnormal urgency" will an exception be issued to remind.

This shows that he has received a very urgent message.

Chang Huai: "Someone will come to you tomorrow, don't resist, don't conflict with them, follow the arrangement. If you can, bring your bodyguard."