The soft glow from the system upgrade slowly faded within the warehouse.
The Guide's translucent figure appeared before them once again. He bowed slightly to Chen Shouzhou and said in his usual placid tone, "Congratulations, Host. The Safe House has successfully been upgraded to Lv.2. As an additional reward for an S-rank evaluation, the system will now unlock a hidden area for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he led the group to the familiar entrance of the basement warehouse.
"Brother Guide, are you sure about this?" Chen Shouzhou was a bit confused. "We've run back and forth through this place eight hundred times. What else could be hidden here? Is there gold buried in the walls?"
The Guide didn't answer. He simply extended his hand, formed of light and shadow, and gently tapped on the innermost load-bearing wall of the basement.
Rumble—
A heavy mechanical sound echoed as the wall, which looked no different from the surrounding ones, slowly slid open from the middle, revealing a deeper, more ancient stone staircase leading further underground.
A cold draft, carrying the musty smell of ages of dust and the strong scent of disinfectant, rushed out from below, sending a shiver down everyone's spine.
"Holy crap! There really is a second basement level!" Chen Shouzhou's jaw nearly hit the floor. He had always thought he knew his safe house inside and out, but he never expected it to hold such a secret.
He snapped his fingers, his face alight with the excitement of an explorer discovering a new continent. "Let's go, brothers! Our 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' project officially begins now! Stick close, don't fall behind. If you get lost, no one's coming to save you!"
Chen Shouzhou, A'Jie, and Lin Mo formed the "vanguard exploration team," armed with flashlights and weapons, and carefully descended the stairs. Su Wan'er remained on the upper level, maintaining contact with them via walkie-talkie, ready to provide medical support at a moment's notice.
This passage was clearly much longer and more ancient than the one leading to the basement warehouse. The walls were covered in moss, and faint scratches and long-dried, dark red bloodstains were still visible. The flashlight beam swept across the walls, revealing faded warning signs spray-painted in red—"QUARANTINE ZONE, NO ENTRY!" and "INTERNAL CONTAMINATION, NO LIABILITY!"
These ominous words added a layer of grimness to the already eerie atmosphere.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, they reached the end of the passage: a heavy, circular, airtight door made of alloy. On the door was a massive, rusted combination lock, like that of a bank vault.
"This... this is the standard B-class biological shelter door from the old era!" Lin Mo pushed up his glasses, his voice filled with shock and disbelief. "A shelter of this level could withstand a low-yield nuclear impact! We... we've been living on top of a military-grade fortress all this time!"
In a corner near the door, A'Jie discovered a small doorway that had been hastily sealed with bricks and cement, looking as if it had been blocked up forcefully later. On the sealed wall, a number was scrawled in red paint—"B7."
He curiously knocked on the wall, and the echo that came back was indeed hollow.
"There's something behind the door!"
Chen Shouzhou immediately activated his [Advanced Resource Appraisal] skill to scan it.
[A hastily sealed brick wall. Material: Common red brick, cement. Condition: Structurally unstable. Behind the wall is a small isolation observation room. Remark: A friendly reminder, before opening Pandora's Box, please ensure you have the ability to deal with the demons inside.]
"Guide, what's the deal with this place?" Chen Shouzhou asked mentally.
The Guide's voice, tinged with a rare note of warning, sounded in his mind: "According to the system database, this location was formerly the initial quarantine and observation area for the 'T3 Virus' at Monitoring Station X7. It contains the first batch of out-of-control infected samples. Host recommendation: Proceed with caution until you have acquired B-class or higher defensive capabilities."
"Quarantine zone?" Chen Shouzhou's eyes lit up. "Then there must be good stuff in there! The higher the risk, the greater the reward!"
Completely ignoring the system's "friendly reminder," he took a sledgehammer from A'Jie and smashed it against the brick wall.
CRASH! CRASH!
After a few swings, a large hole was smashed through the wall.
The scene inside the secret room made everyone gasp. There were no monsters as they had imagined, only an old computer with a faintly flickering screen and a pile of yellowed, brittle paper files scattered on the floor. The entire room was like a corner forgotten by time.
Su Wan'er had followed them down. She put on gloves and carefully began to leaf through the files. Soon, her face became incredibly grave.
"Shouzhou, look at this!" she said, pointing to one of the files, her handwriting a bit shaky.
It was a research document marked "TOP SECRET," detailing a core strategic substance called "Ethicore." According to the document, "Ethicore" could greatly enhance the cellular activity and strength of mutated creatures, making it the key to creating advanced "controllable test subjects"! The report was accompanied by several blurry photos of terrifying creatures that had become abnormally large after being injected with "Ethicore."
Chen Shouzhou frowned as he read the document. "So, all those mutated spiders and rats we fought before were just appetizers. The real 'main course' has to be cooked with this 'Ethicore'?"
Just as they were about to leave, the screen of the flickering old computer suddenly went black. Then, the ground began to tremble slightly.
A metal wall at the back of the secret room suddenly opened automatically, and a dusty mechanical arm slowly extended from within. At the end of the arm, a vial of glowing, eerie blue liquid was held steady in a special container.
The Guide's voice, for the first time, carried a tone of gravity and... fear?
"Warning! Warning! The 'Ethicore' primary solution is being activated by an unknown program! Energy fluctuations are extremely high! Host, please evacuate immediately!"
However, Chen Shouzhou's train of thought was, as always, on a different track from normal people.
He looked at the vial of mesmerizing blue liquid, and the first thought that popped into his head was—
"This thing... looks like it might be really expensive!"
He dashed forward and, just before the mechanical arm could fully retract into the wall, he snatched the vial of "Ethicore" primary solution.
"I'll just hang onto this for now. Maybe I can trade it for a seaside villa at the black market later," he said, gleefully stuffing the vial into his backpack.
When they returned to the surface, still shaken, a series of bright red warning messages suddenly flooded Chen Shouzhou's system interface.
[WARNING! High concentration of 'Ethicore' energy fluctuation detected! The Safe House has automatically entered 'Alert Mode' Level 1!]
[WARNING! Your actions have triggered an unknown beacon. High energy readings are attracting all advanced mutated creatures within a ten-kilometer radius!]
As the voice faded, a low-frequency roar, louder and more majestic than any they had heard before, echoed from the distant hills. The sound seemed to come from the depths of hell, making the very earth tremble.
Immediately after, the sky to the west of the safe house was dyed a grotesque, blood-red color. The red light spread at a visible speed, as if a wound to hell had been torn open in the sky.
Chen Shouzhou looked at the ominous red glow on the horizon, then at the "culprit" in his backpack, still glowing blue, and muttered to himself:
"Well... this time, I think I've really attracted the big one."