Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

"It’s just an illusion." Xu Xingguang walked to the wall and said, "By applying a layer of special material on this wall, it creates a dull, heavy illusion when struck. Experienced secret passage designers know this."

Hearing this, Zheng Lie instinctively asked, "How does Miss Xu know?"

Silence filled the room.

Xu Xingguang smiled and said, "I am an experienced designer myself."

Zheng Lie blushed and lowered his head, choosing to remain silent.

Xu Xingguang then took out a measuring tape and re-measured the wall in front of her. She found an intersection point, then looked back at the wall behind her. She extended the tape measure outwards, and when it reached 1.2 meters, she said to Huo Wen’an, "Brother A Zui, go to the end of the tape."

Huo Wen’an walked to the end of the tape.

There was a patch of empty space, with no signs of a suspected mechanism switch.

"Squat down," Xu Xingguang instructed, "and tap the floor tiles with your hand."

"How many taps?"

Xu Xingguang frowned and said, "How should I know? It all depends on the designer’s preference." She asked Huo Wen’an, "How many do you think?"

Seeing Song Chi and Zheng Lie looking at him with teasing expressions, Huo Wen’an felt embarrassed himself.

He selectively shut himself off, quickly curling his fingers and tapping lightly on the floor.

Once, twice, three times...

When he tapped for the tenth time, the wall still showed no reaction.

"Stop tapping," Xu Xingguang said, "Mechanism locks like these won’t exceed ten digits."

"Then..." Huo Wen’an thought for a moment, uncertainly saying, "Isn’t it just about tapping a few times?"

"Yes." Xu Xingguang turned and surveyed the equipment room, noticing a painting hanging on the wall behind her. The painting depicted a half-open door with stairs extending towards heaven.

Xu Xingguang approached the painting and studied it closely for a moment, then suddenly said to Huo Wen’an, "Tap twice, then five times, and... give a slap."

Although puzzled, Huo Wen’an followed Xu Xingguang’s instructions.

As soon as he slapped, the wall in front of Zheng Lie and the others suddenly emitted a rumbling sound, the noise of countless mechanisms simultaneously moving.

After more than ten seconds, a strange creature resembling corn silk emerged from the wall, coalescing into an eye that eerily stared at the people in the room.

Zheng Lie and Song Chi were so startled they took two steps back, while Huo Wen’an and Xu Xingguang approached and examined the eye, feeling uneasy.

He said, "I feel like vomiting."

Xu Xingguang stared at the creature and said, "Two, five, zero."

Upon hearing this, the creature eerily melded back into the wall, and the eastern wall suddenly fell entirely downwards.

It turned out this entire wall was the entrance to the secret base.

After the wall fell into the ground, a staircase appeared in the northeast corner, measuring 1.2 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, extending downwards!

Seeing this, Zheng Lie’s eyes suddenly filled with admiration as he looked at Xu Xingguang.

On the other hand, Huo Wen’an’s face turned dark, saying, "So the entry code is 250, who is it insulting?"

Xu Xingguang said, "Typically, the designer of such a mechanism is either the planner of the entire scheme or someone doomed." She looked at the painting behind her and said, "The designer of this mechanism has already gone to heaven. At the moment when the mechanism was completed, he locked himself inside it."

"That painting is the answer he left for the buyer."

"Two five zero is an insult, and that designer used his work to mock the planner of this secret base." Every time they entered this secret room, they had to utter 250; isn’t that ridiculous?

Upon hearing this, Huo Wen’an and the others found it inconceivable.

"Zheng Lie, Song Chi, you guard here." Xu Xingguang checked her earpiece and said to Huo Wen’an, "Brother A Zui, let’s go down."

What lies beneath, nobody knows.

For now, Xu Xingguang doesn’t want Zheng Lie and the others to see what’s below.

Song Chi and Zheng Lie hesitated, knowing that what’s below might be the most dangerous place. Rather than staying here, they preferred to accompany Xu Xingguang and Huo Wen’an in exploring below.

"Listen," Xu Xingguang told them, "This mental hospital conceals a deep conspiracy. This is an entrance, but there might be other exits. Leaving you here isn’t because I think you’re useless, but because if someone discovers us, you must guard the entrance and fight to buy us time."

"So your role is actually very important, understand?"

Song Chi and Zheng Lie suddenly felt a heavy responsibility on their shoulders.

"Don’t worry, we’ll definitely hold our ground!"

"Good."

Having reassured them, Xu Xingguang then donned a gas mask with Huo Wen’an and ventured into the underground world. As they descended the dark staircase, Huo Wen’an laughed and said, "You’re quite good at convincing people."

"No, I’m telling the truth," Xu Xingguang said, "A cunning fox would never design the exit and entrance at the same place; they will always leave a way out for themselves."

"What I said just now about if discovered, letting Song Chi and Zheng Lie hold the entrance to buy us time is also true," Xu Xingguang calmly and ruthlessly said, "What we face might be an unknown threat capable of threatening global human life, and bloodshed and death are inevitable in finding the truth."

"Huo Wen’an, I’m not some kindhearted girl; does that disappoint you?"

Huo Wen’an watched her stubborn and calm back, smiled, and said, "What’s there to fear? If this path is destined to have casualties, then I’ll strive to walk with you to the end, becoming the gatekeeper on your path."

"Xingguang, just boldly move forward."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xingguang’s tense back slightly relaxed.

"We’ve reached the ground," Xu Xingguang said as her foot stepped on the floor.

She looked up, and the flashlight on her forehead illuminated the distance, revealing the scene ahead of them. It was a row of offices with doors, each marked with plaques.

Xu Xingguang and Huo Wen’an walked forward in unison, maintaining a steady pace.

Xu Xingguang looked to the left, Huo Wen’an to the right.

On the plaques it read—

Specimen Room No. 1, Specimen Room No. 2...

All the way to Specimen Room No. 40.

This basement contains forty rooms, specifically for storing ’specimen data.’ They don’t know what these specimens were collected from or the purpose and intention behind collecting them.

"What’s ahead?" Huo Wen’an noticed that there seemed to be a wide open space in front of the office.

"Let’s take a look."

The two cautiously entered the open space, lifted their heads, and used the flashlight on their foreheads to examine their surroundings.

In front of them stood a sculpted stone pillar, inscribed with—

Mortal World Cleansing Plan.

Beneath the stone pillar lies a long stairway extending downward, leading to a sprawling plaza whose length and width seem boundless.

On the plaza, countless transparent experimental cages of bulletproof grade stood, containing many grotesque, terrifying, and twisted ’monsters.’

Contained in the cages are animals, plants, and humans.

They were all dead.

Some maintained a stance of trying to break the glass as they drew their last breath. Some animals curled up in the corner of the cage, licking their wounds in solitude...

They all became mummified.

The entire underground of Cangshan Town is an experimental plaza!

Seeing this scene, Xu Xingguang felt her skin crawl.