The night was deep and the cold wind howled.
Lin Yuan and his companions emerged from the gaping hole in the core area, vanishing into the vast darkness like ghosts.
"Phew, we finally made it out!" Li Li patted his chest and let out a long sigh. "The Qi Gong Association's lair is truly dangerous! My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would leap right into my throat!"
"You're not kidding! If it weren't for Brother Yuan's Time Manipulator, we might have ended up as roasted pigs today," Zhang Qiang said, still shaken. He exaggeratedly rubbed his arm, as if he could still feel the searing heat of the laser defense grid. "Good thing I ran fast; otherwise, I'd be a charred corpse by now, haha!"
Lin Yuan remained silent, quietly savoring the abundant Lingqi within him. In the core area, he had absorbed a significant amount of Lingqi from the disintegrated laser defense grid. Now, he felt invigorated, as if filled with endless energy, buzzing with excitement. "This feeling is amazing!" he thought to himself, feeling as though he could punch through a mountain.
"Brother Yuan, where do we go next? How about finding a place to celebrate with hot pot?" Zhou Haoran asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together.
"Hot pot? You still have the appetite for that?" Lin Yuan chuckled and gave Zhou Haoran a playful knock on the head. "First, let's find a safe place to rest and recover our strength. Then we can explore other areas of this base and see what secrets we can uncover. Who knows, we might even find a treasure map from the Qi Gong Association!"
Su Jiu'er took out a compass, its needle spinning rapidly like a drunken top before finally pointing toward a direction deep within the base. "There seems to be a strong Spiritual Energy Fluctuation in that direction," she said, indicating the compass. "Perhaps that's where we need to go; there might really be treasures there!"
"Let's go! Treasure hunting!" Lin Yuan waved his hand, and everyone moved excitedly toward the direction indicated by the compass.
They passed through a long corridor that was eerily silent, their footsteps echoing ominously in the stillness. Eventually, they arrived at a dilapidated Metal Door. The door was rusted and covered in a tangle of wires and pipes that resembled a spider's web, enough to trigger anyone's claustrophobia. A mixed scent of metal and disinfectant hung in the air, reminiscent of a hospital morgue, sending chills down their spines.
"This place looks a bit eerie," Li Li frowned nervously and swallowed hard. "What if it's a trap? There could be mutated rats hiding inside or some terrifying biological weapons!"
"What are you afraid of? Brother Yuan is here!" Zhang Qiang patted his chest confidently, adopting an unafraid demeanor. "Brother Yuan is our guardian; nothing can scare us!"
"Be careful, it never hurts," Lin Yuan said, taking a deep breath as he gathered his Lingqi in his palm and slammed it against the Metal Door.
With a loud bang, the Metal Door was blown off its hinges, dust swirling in the air and revealing a dimly lit corridor behind it. The commotion was likely heard throughout the entire base.
The walls of the corridor were lined with a tangle of wires and pipes, and the air was thick with a mix of metallic and antiseptic odors, creating a suffocating atmosphere, as if stepping into an abandoned chemical plant.
"This place... feels like a laboratory," Zhou Haoran adjusted his glasses, speaking seriously. "It could be some secret research facility. Who knows, we might find alien remains!"
The group cautiously stepped into the corridor, each footfall deliberate and careful to avoid triggering any traps. After walking for about ten meters, they arrived at a spacious room.
Inside the room were various instruments and equipment, with screens displaying complex Lingqi data and experimental records that dazzled the eyes. In the center stood several large glass containers filled with bizarre biological samples and plant specimens, all emitting faint Spiritual Energy Fluctuations. Some floated in the liquid like jellyfish, while others twisted together like vines, their strange shapes sending chills down their spines.
"This is definitely a laboratory!" Lin Yuan exclaimed excitedly. "Let’s see what treasures we can find! Maybe there’s an elixir of immortality here!"
He approached a large data terminal and began browsing through the information displayed. The terminal detailed the processes of the Spiritual Energy Channel experiment and its impacts on the current world.
"Parallel World Channel Experiment?" Lin Yuan furrowed his brow. "What on earth is the Qi Gong Association up to? Are they trying to open a gateway to another world?"
As he continued reading, his expression grew increasingly grave. The data revealed that the Qi Gong Association had been secretly conducting the Parallel World Channel Experiment, attempting to acquire Lingqi resources from other worlds, even subjecting failed samples to inhumane treatments.
In a hidden video file, Lin Yuan saw high-ranking members of the Qi Gong Association conspiring to use the Spiritual Energy Channel for cross-world resource plundering and detailing their brutal methods for handling failed experiments—content that was utterly shocking and appalling. Even more startling was when Lin Yuan attempted to analyze the data with a Time Manipulator; there was a brief distortion in time and space within the laboratory, revealing incomprehensible symbols and images in the footage—like some mysterious code hinting at even greater secrets.
"These guys are absolutely insane!" Lin Yuan gritted his teeth. "They're playing with fire!"
At that moment, the alarm in the laboratory suddenly blared, its piercing sound causing pain to their eardrums, while red warning lights flashed wildly like the eyes of a demon, sending chills down their spines.
"This is bad! We've been discovered!" Zhang Qiang exclaimed. "Run!"
"Quickly!" Lin Yuan waved his hand, and everyone dashed toward the exit of the laboratory.
However, the main door had already been locked tight, trapping them inside.
"What do we do now?" Li Li asked anxiously. "Are we going to be caught like sitting ducks?"
"Don't panic!" Lin Yuan said. "Let me think of a solution."
He activated the Time Manipulator again, attempting to pause time, but this time, it failed to respond at all, feeling like a useless piece of scrap metal.
"What’s going on?" Lin Yuan thought in alarm. "Could it be the effect of the earlier time-space distortion?"
Just then, the walls of the laboratory suddenly cracked open, and a group of heavily armed guards stormed in, each wielding high-tech weapons and radiating an aura of menace as they surrounded them.
"This is trouble," Lin Yuan said with a wry smile. "It looks like we're in for a fierce battle today."
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