Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 119: Chapter 116: Touching the Mechanism

Song Yiguo noticed something was off with Chen Xing and immediately went to her side. "Mom, can’t you just let us be alone for a bit?"

Seeing her son shooing her away, Zeng Yuanrou glared at him before standing up. "You brat, let me tell you, no matter what happens, I won’t let you bully Chen Xing!"

Song Yiguo was speechless. ’Who would dare!’

’Even if I did dare, she’s such a valuable asset. Why would I bully her and make things difficult for myself?’

"I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare, I absolutely wouldn’t!" Song Yiguo gave his mom a little push.

Zeng Yuanrou took the hint and left.

As soon as she was gone, Song Yiguo asked, "What’s wrong?"

The change in Chen Xing’s expression had been instantaneous.

After scanning the room again, she didn’t mince words. "I feel like someone’s watching me!"

The feeling just now had been too strong; it couldn’t have been her imagination.

’How should I put it?’

She searched her mind for a similar sensation—it was the same feeling she’d had at the Research Institute, when that thing she could never quite see clearly was staring at her.

The feeling sent a chill down her spine. She searched the crowd again, but it was as if whatever it was had turned invisible, and the feeling vanished along with it.

"Have you heard of the Xingguang Research Institute?" Chen Xing asked directly.

’Perhaps that mysterious person from the Research Institute is hiding in this very crowd.’

’But they’re hiding so well that I must have missed them.’

’But... I’ve scanned the crowd more than once, and I was very thorough. There’s no way I could have missed someone.’

"Xingguang Research Institute?" Song Yiguo repeated. His eyes then landed on a man nearly sixty years old in his father’s group. "That’s the Lu Family’s research institute, run by Lu Bingtian!"

Chen Xing followed his gaze.

Three people were sitting over there.

One was General Song, another was Mr. Qian who had been chatting with Song Yiguo earlier, and the last was a man who, though close to sixty, was full of vigor.

His features weren’t delicate, but they were sharp and imposing, especially his eyes, which were as piercing as a falcon’s.

At that moment, he was nodding with a faint smile. It wasn’t a cunning smile; on the contrary, he projected an air of integrity.

"The Xingguang Research Institute was founded sixty-eight years ago, and it was always just a minor operation. It only took off in the last twenty years after Lu Bingtian took over the Lu’s Group!" Song Yiguo didn’t hide anything, telling her everything he knew.

Seeing Chen Xing staring intently at Lu Bingtian, Song Yiguo also observed him. "Rumor has it that Lu Bingtian is an upright man. Among the Four Great Families, he’s considered the one least interested in fame and fortune!"

’But... that’s just the public story. I have my doubts.’

Chen Xing scoffed.

’Least interested in fame and fortune?’

’As if I’d believe that.’

’What kind of person who isn’t driven by fame and fortune would create a place as horrifying as the Xingguang Research Institute?’

But Chen Xing was certain the stare hadn’t come from Lu Bingtian.

"Why the sudden interest in the Xingguang Research Institute?"

"I have a grudge against them," Chen Xing stated simply.

Song Yiguo’s eyebrows shot up, his interest clearly piqued. "I’m more than happy to do anything that gives the other three families a hard time!"

He was clearly offering to form a united front with Chen Xing.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Young Master Song. The moment you have any news about the Research Institute, notify me immediately. I will make the Lu Family pay dearly!" Chen Xing finally understood.

’So my capture by the Research Institute was the Lu Family’s handiwork.’

’Whether Lu Bingtian was involved or not, I won’t let the Lu Family get away with this.’

Song Yiguo hadn’t expected this welcome bonus to come from asking Chen Xing for help, and he accepted her offer with delight.

Having put on enough of a show, Song Yiguo didn’t bother saying goodbye to his parents and left the banquet hall with Chen Xing.

The area outside was also brightly lit. The vast lobby was as quiet as another world.

Song Yiguo was just about to call Vice General Du when Chen Xing shot out like a bolt of lightning.

By the time he reacted, she was nowhere to be seen in the lobby.

He immediately chased in the direction she had run, trying to call her as he went.

This place might look straightforward, but it was extremely dangerous.

Without a guide, it would be easy to trigger a trap and be smashed to smithereens.

But... Chen Xing’s dress made it inconvenient to carry her phone, so she had left it in the dressing room.

"Fuck!" When Chen Xing didn’t answer, Song Yiguo cursed under his breath, then called Vice General Du as he continued the chase.

’I finally managed to get on the same side as Chen Xing; I can’t let her get herself killed just like that.’

As for Chen Xing, she had felt that intense gaze bear down on her again the moment she reached the lobby, and she’d immediately given chase.

In truth... she didn’t know what she was chasing.

She hadn’t seen anyone or anything from start to finish.

But... her instincts told her she was heading in the right direction.

After she’d run for some distance, the sensation abruptly vanished.

When she stopped and looked around, she realized she was standing in a long corridor.

Compared to where the Cao Guangrong family lived, the corridor here seemed a bit brighter.

The walls weren’t made of brick and tile, but solid iron.

Moreover, the whole place screamed danger.

As if sensing what was to come, she immediately tried to turn back, but a security camera overhead swiveled suddenly, seeming to lock onto her.

Chen Xing: "..."

In the blink of an eye, Chen Xing had only taken a few steps when she heard a series of loud RUMBLES.

Immediately after, starting from her position, rows of iron plates dropped vertically from above, like steel blades.

Chen Xing sped up, barely managing to dodge the steel plates.

A cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

’Did I just nearly trigger a trap and die a violent death?’

Before she could even register her narrow escape, red lines appeared in the corridor ahead of her.

The lines spun a few times before forming a net-like pattern that shot rapidly in her direction.

Even though Chen Xing had never seen anything like it, she could easily imagine it would slice her to ribbons if it passed through her.

The grid stretched from ceiling to floor, leaving her no room to escape.

Chen Xing turned and ran.

But the camera ahead of her swiveled again, searching.

Before long, another red laser grid, identical to the one behind her, materialized ahead.

’Looks like going forward means death, too!’

At this moment, Song Yiguo had also caught up.

Seeing Chen Xing trapped, he didn’t dare call out, afraid he would startle her and put her in even greater danger.

’I really regret it. I should have learned how to use the controls when they were being set up.’

’How could I have ever thought I’d need them one day?’

Up ahead, Chen Xing was far calmer than Song Yiguo.

With her path blocked in both directions, she leaped up and punched right through an iron panel in the ceiling.

She successfully vaulted through the opening just a moment before the two laser grids converged.

The laser sliced off the tip of her shoe as it passed.

Song Yiguo was speechless. ’Badass!’

He had just let out a huge sigh of relief when he heard the sound of rapid movement overhead.

’How could I forget? There are traps in the ceiling, too!’

While not as immediately lethal as the traps in the corridor, the ones up there were not to be taken lightly.

Swarms of mechanical mice that would bite anyone they caught, stripping them down to the bone.

"Jump down over here!" Hearing Chen Xing getting closer above him, Song Yiguo yelled.

Just then, the iron ceiling panel behind him was smashed open. Chen Xing leaped down from above, landing behind him.

But to their dismay... the mechanical mice came pouring down after her.