Chapter 323 177: Hell Laboratory

Yes, literally. The air-raid shelter could contain guns, explosives, or knives.

If stored properly, it's very likely they're still usable... You shouldn't underestimate the gun ownership rates and stockpiles the Eastern Country had back then.

As for the air-raid shelter in the current case...

"This is a forgotten air-raid shelter. The people from the Celestial Kingdom learned of it somehow and subsequently renovated it."

"Ultimately, it became a place for their experiments and other evil deeds."

"After you proposed the idea that they were operating within the country, we spent five days conducting interviews and indirect reconnaissance to pinpoint this location."

"We then sealed it off immediately and prepared to make arrests, but unfortunately..."

"They had already disappeared long before we officially opened the case."

"In other words, they've found a 'new game,' so to speak."

"As for what this so-called new game is... we don't know for now."

According to Zhou Hou, the Creator's Game was just one of their 'games'.

He was only able to escape because he had been eliminated from the game.

If there's a new game...

Then what is this so-called new game?

A game on par with the Creator's Game? Or... even greater?

There was no way to know.

「On the outskirts of Jiangsan City, by a small hill.」

Dozens of police officers had cordoned off a local shrine, with personnel moving about both inside and outside the temple grounds.

Zhang Liang stood before a stone statue, searching for something. A moment later, he reached out and pressed a section of it.

Instantly, a hidden door behind the statue swung open.

Inside was an elevator.

The elevator wasn't huge, but it wasn't small, either—at least, the entire team could fit inside without a problem.

"An underground elevator..."

As Xu Huo stepped inside, the sound-activated lights flickered on, and the space was suddenly filled with light.

"Looks like quite a few people were involved in this."

A construction project of this scale was not something a single person could accomplish.

Zhang Liang said nothing.

He reached out and pressed the button to descend.

WHIRR!

With a low hum, the elevator began to move, slowly descending.

A few moments later, with a soft CREAK, the doors opened.

An immense underground world appeared before Xu Huo.

It was an air-raid shelter, but it had been renovated to the point of being unrecognizable. It resembled a themed underground hotel or perhaps a medieval Western castle.

"According to Zhou Hou, this place is divided into four zones: A, B, C, and D."

"Zone A is for accommodations, Zone B is the site for scientific experiments, and Zones C and D are for the so-called 'Creator's Game.'"

Zhang Liang took out a crude map.

Zhou Hou had provided this as well.

"Let's check out Zones C and D first," Xu Huo said, glancing at the map before heading toward Zones C and D with the others.

It wasn't dark down here. The place was immense, and its construction must have been measured in years.

However, since this was originally an air-raid shelter, renovating on top of the existing foundation... there was no telling how long that would have taken.

A few moments later, the group stood before a door.

It was a door with an electronic lock. Su Cheng took out his laptop and began to crack it.

Noticing the card reader on the panel, Xu Huo paused, then stepped forward.

"Hold on."

He took out a card made of Obsidian with a golden Pyramid inlaid in the center and placed it on the reader.

Nothing happened.

Xu Huo paused again, then swapped it for another card—one depicting a hand holding up the Blue Star.

The next second...

CLICK.

The door opened.

"Huh? Those things are keys!?"

The people around him were slightly stunned.

"I don't know," Xu Huo replied without offering any further explanation, a thoughtful expression on his face.

The others didn't press the issue.

"You guys go in first. This isn't a standalone system. I'll try to use it to backtrack their location," Su Cheng said, his eyes glued to his computer.

Xu Huo didn't hesitate, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

The moment the door opened...

A hallway appeared before them.

They walked slowly down the hallway... and soon reached its end.

This was the main control room for a research area.

Inside were multiple surveillance monitors. It also served as an archive; the nearby walls were lined with numerous files that looked very new.

Xu Huo casually pulled out a file. It was a daily log. He opened it and began to read slowly.

[October 2, 2000.]

[This laboratory was established based on the data from Experiment 002.]

[Research Topic: The physical vitality of young people is different from their vitality when in a state of fear. We preliminarily suspect it can be used to slow the aging process...]

[...]

[December 6, 2000.]

[After a month of research into the state of fear, we have reached a conclusion.]

[Burning, drowning, and psychological terror all decrease vitality. In the end, we opted to focus on direct physical stimuli...]

[...]

[February 1, 2001.]

[The experiment was a great success. While the extracted component is still unidentified, it has produced perfect results in multiple test subjects, demonstrating an ability to slow the aging process.]

[But this also brought a problem: we are still unable to determine what causes this phenomenon.]

[Initially, we suspected it was due to adrenaline stimulation.]

[However, even when we injected subjects with enough adrenaline to cause cerebral hemorrhaging, accelerated heart rate, circulatory system failure, and multi-organ decay,]

[we were still unable to obtain this vitality. Our preliminary hypothesis is that it originates from the body's most mysterious and primitive biological instinct: the 'will to survive.']

[Damn it. This stuff can't be replicated. We need a huge number of test subjects. Fortunately, we're not short on them here; they're everywhere.]

[...]

[February 13, 2001.]

[Although we still don't know what gives rise to this bizarre vitality, we have found a way to create it.]