Chapter 359: Secret Room Entrance

Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Secret Room Entrance

Upon learning Dr. Ai was missing, Ye Ming reacted instantly. "Leo, go check Dr. Ai’s break room again. There has to be a secret chamber in his room."

He suddenly remembered something. The last time he’d gone to Dr. Ai to ask about the Insect Clan investigation report, he had gone to his office and made quite a stir, yet Dr. Ai had remained in the break room for a good while before coming out.

Most importantly, it wasn’t lunchtime.

However, Dr. Ai had a lot of freedom in the lab. Ye Ming never strictly enforced their work hours, letting them arrange their own schedules. Therefore, he hadn’t thought anything of it when he found Dr. Ai resting at that time.

At his words, Leo and two others immediately got to work in Dr. Ai’s break room.

Meanwhile, Ye Ming grabbed his weapon, gathered his subordinates, and followed Shi Lan into a Hovercar, heading for the place she had mentioned.

Shi Lan didn’t recognize the area, but she had a vivid memory of the path she had taken, so the Hovercar retraced her steps.

Inside the Hovercar, Ye Ming gazed out at the pitch-black night. Knowing Shi Lan had walked such a long way through the darkness alone to reach the slums, his eyes filled once more with heartache and self-reproach. "I’m sorry, Lanlan. I couldn’t find you myself."

Shi Lan took his hand and shook her head. "It’s all right. It was nothing."

She hadn’t been that scared walking at night, as long as there were no strange animal cries. Fortunately, the Capital Star was a major habitable planet, and all threatening animals had been driven away. Aside from her feet getting a little tired, she was fine.

But Ye Ming’s heart was still filled with guilt.

’Shi Lan is our wife. We should be the ones protecting her, but in the end, she had to do it all on her own.’

’I’m still so useless.’

Perhaps from learning so much distressing news that evening, Shi Lan could sense Ye Ming’s mood growing heavy. He seemed to be shrouded in a hazy fog, exuding an air of despondency.

’This is no way for an heir to behave!’

Shi Lan immediately cupped his face. After a quick glance at Ye Ming’s subordinates confirmed that no one dared to stare, she swiftly pecked him on the lips. "There now, be good. My Eldest Prince is the best, so don’t you worry about all that nonsense, okay?"

"At least I’m back safe and sound, and I found that organization’s base. As for everything else, we’ll solve it all one by one, right?"

Shi Lan was the type of person who prided herself on her positive outlook. Once she was sure of her feelings, she was not one for second-guessing or internal drama, and she disliked it when partners kept things from each other.

And Ye Ming was exactly that sensitive type.

Fortunately, he was steadfast in his feelings, and she was more than willing to be the one to guide their relationship.

Feeling the warmth on his lips, Ye Ming’s face suddenly grew hot. His green eyes, tinged with a faint shyness, gazed at her quietly. He nodded lightly, his tense expression relaxing without him even realizing it.

’Lanlan was right. His greatest fear had been for her safety, and now she was here beside him, completely unharmed. Nothing was more important than that.’

’The important thing now is to catch the people from this organization and prevent this from ever happening again.’

In the silent night, the inside of the Hovercar was filled with a warm sense of bliss.

In the back of the Hovercar, the subordinates kept their heads bowed, daring only to secretly perk up their ears. A trace of envy couldn’t help but appear in the eyes of the single males among them.

’SOB... The Eldest Prince’s wife is so amazing!’

’The Eldest Prince is so lucky to have met such a great wife!!’

’I’m so jealous~’

Having been unwittingly subjected to the couple’s public display of affection, the subordinates were relieved when they arrived at their destination and everyone quickly shifted into a combat-ready state.

Shi Lan pointed to the ventilation duct she had escaped from, and the subordinates couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up.

’The Eldest Prince’s wife is amazing, crawling all the way out of a place like that.’

Ye Ming knew Shi Lan could transform into her spirit body, but his subordinates were unaware. They only saw that the duct was extremely narrow and couldn’t imagine how Shi Lan had crawled all the way out. For males of their build, crawling through such a duct would be difficult; they probably couldn’t even squeeze inside.

Ye Ming examined it and confirmed that it would be difficult. However, the initial forms of some male spirit bodies were relatively small, and they could enter by transforming into their smallest state.

So Ye Ming picked out a few Beastmen with small spirit bodies from the group and arranged for them to enter through the ventilation duct.

As for the rest, he would figure out another way in. The priority was to get some men inside to gain control and prevent the enemy from moving their base of operations.

Just then, Ye Ming received a communication from Leo. After a long search in Dr. Ai’s break room, they had finally found the entrance to a secret chamber under the bottom panel of a small drawer in the bed frame. But even though they had found it, they couldn’t enter. They lacked the clearance; only Ye Ming had the authority.

Even if Dr. Ai had set up the secret chamber, as long as it was within the bounds of the research lab, Ye Ming possessed the highest level of clearance for all systems—a mandatory requirement for all projects conducted there.

Hearing this, Ye Ming immediately divided his forces. Aside from the subordinates he had just picked out, the rest would follow him to the research lab.

Since Dr. Ai had secretly built another hidden chamber in the base, he was surely hiding a major secret.

The Hovercar moved even faster on the way back.

Shi Lan was also curious about what exactly Dr. Ai had been researching.

Some thirty minutes later, Ye Ming arrived at the research lab with his men.

Leo was waiting for him inside. Upon seeing him, he said immediately, "Your Highness, we’ve searched the entire room. This is the most likely switch for the secret chamber."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over to Shi Lan behind him. He paused for a moment, then smiled. "Miss Shi Lan, hello. It’s been a long time."

Shi Lan returned his smile. At that moment, the thought that she was now Ye Ming’s wife—when she had once considered a marriage of convenience with Leo if she couldn’t find a male to marry—made her feel a little embarrassed.

But the feeling quickly dissipated. After all, she had never thought of Leo as a backup plan and had personally rejected him.

And after she became sure of her own feelings, the two of them had had no other private communication. They could be considered friends, so things weren’t so stiff that they couldn’t even face each other.

Shi Lan reined in her thoughts and followed Ye Ming to the location of the switch, looking down at it curiously. It was called a switch, but it actually resembled a small door, framing a little square that looked like it could be pressed.

Ye Ming didn’t waste any time. He reached out, pressed the panel, and a door slowly opened on the floor next to the inner side of the bed.

Everyone in the break room stared with their mouths agape. So there really was a secret chamber.

Leo and the other two researchers were especially shocked. They had never imagined Dr. Ai would be so audacious as to build a secret passage behind the Eldest Prince’s back.

Just then, a subordinate stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I’ll go in first. You stay behind us; we’ll take point."

Ye Ming grunted a soft "Mm" and turned to look at Shi Lan. He was about to say that it might be dangerous inside and that she shouldn’t follow him, but he quickly closed his mouth.

After the incident with her recent disappearance, he now felt there was no place safer for her than right under his own watch. He was going to take Shi Lan inside with him.