Underground Elevator

The other information operations room was relatively spacious, with tables, chairs, and stools piled haphazardly together. There were even signs that people had slept on the floor.

"This place will do." Lin Xian dragged over a stool and looked at Kiki. "Get some rest first."

Kiki looked disdainfully at the filthy floor. On the other side was a command console with more than a dozen screens and information devices. But with the power outage, those electronic devices were worth less than a piece of bread.

Her eyes lit up, and she walked over with great interest. "Hey, bad guy, can you move this stuff onto the train car and convert it into an Information Center for me?"

"An Information Center?"

Lin Xian's heart stirred. He had noticed outside that the base had a Sentry Warning System, but the entire system was extremely complex. It was not something he could simply dismantle and move.

"You make it sound easy. How are we supposed to move it back...?"

Kiki pouted. "Are you stupid? Isn't there a freight railway outside? It must connect to the railway at Beiwan Station."

"I know." Lin Xian gave a bitter smile. "What I mean is, we're trapped in the fog and can't get out. We barely have time to escape. Where would we find the chance to move anything?"

"Uh... that's true." Kiki deflated, then stretched lazily and looked at Lin Xian with tired eyes.

"I can't take it anymore. I need to rest for a while."

Lin Xian found a corner and leaned back against it, leaving her alone. He knew Kiki was already incredibly weak.

Whether it was Qian Yu or Tang Hai, Lin Xian knew they each had their own motives. In this kind of environment, everyone thought only of saving themselves at others' expense. They were being so polite to him and Kiki solely because the two of them were Espers.

Once everyone escaped the fog, Lin Xian would become their greatest threat.

Of course, some people probably wanted to rely on Lin Xian and Kiki as well. But no one knew whether they would live or die, and there were only two days left until the Polar Night. Whether they could survive was still another question.

"Logically, a place like this should have backup power or generators." Lin Xian looked at the survivors in the hall outside, who were lighting candles on the ground. That meant the ventilation system was still intact, but the power had been completely cut off.

"It's in the armory. It stinks."

Kiki sat down beside Lin Xian, rested her head on his shoulder, and fell asleep.

Lin Xian turned to look at the girl, his expression complicated.

Yesterday, she had used her ability twice against Big Bug and passed out immediately. Yet today, she had endured until now without changing expression. She was smart. If the others learned that her ability could not last long at all, Qian Yu and Tang Hai would not fear the two of them so much. Even though Lin Xian had displayed his own ability, the pressure he gave off was clearly nowhere near as shocking as Kiki's.

Thinking of how she had deliberately pretended to sleep for three days, Lin Xian even began to wonder who this girl really was. How could a wealthy young lady possess such a resilient temperament?

Night fell. Whether it was the various convoys in the outpost compound outside or the people inside the air-raid shelter, everything was silent.

No one deliberately made a sound. Tonight was destined to be sleepless, not only because of their fear of the darkness, but also because everyone was preparing to charge out of the fog tomorrow. It was a plan whose outcome was entirely uncertain.

Lin Xian did not rest. Instead, he placed his hand on the command console and activated the Mechanical Heart to establish a connection.

But he quickly realized that this command system was not merely a set of servers and information devices. It was an integrated hub connected to the entire outpost system.

The scale of the system exceeded his expectations, and his energy began draining rapidly. Lin Xian's expression changed. Just as he was about to withdraw the Mechanical Heart's coverage, he suddenly discovered something strange: beneath this underground installation, there was actually a hidden elevator.

And at that moment, the elevator was descending!

Lin Xian frowned and immediately stood up to look toward the hall outside, but there was no movement at all.

Then where had someone entered the elevator from?

And this underground installation no longer had power, so how was the elevator still working?

"Backup energy?"

Lin Xian looked at the sleeping Kiki and recalled her saying there was a reserve generator in the armory.

The moment he sensed something was wrong, Lin Xian became cautious. Tang Hai was the first person who came to mind.

In truth, both he and Qian Yu felt that something was off about Tang Hai. Although everyone acknowledged his purpose, Lin Xian and Qian Yu both felt that the timing of his appearance was too convenient.

Lou Shasha had arrived the day before yesterday, while Qian Yu's group had arrived a day earlier. Logically, Tang Hai should have known the moment they arrived. Yet he had only shown himself today, even risking an attack by the zombie horde.

But Tang Hai was a local, and he had directly led everyone to this shelter, which was obviously safer than the square. That had dispelled some of their suspicions.

So although the teams were wary of one another, being trapped in the fog meant they were all in the same boat. Tang Hai had even opened the door to the underground air-raid shelter, so Lin Xian could only suppress his concerns for the time being.

Still, out of caution, Lin Xian decided to investigate the area.

He set Kiki down, found an abandoned sleeping bag for her to lean against, and walked out of the operations room.

The survivors outside eyed Lin Xian strangely. Since Feng Yuming had brought him in, no one said anything. They all appeared quiet and reserved.

Lin Xian ignored them and entered the armory again. Sure enough, at the very back, he found a large diesel generator and energy storage system.

But when he probed it with his ability, he discovered that the generator set had long been damaged and had no fuel. His expression changed at once.

"What's going on? There's obviously no power. Could there be another backup energy source?"

That discovery made his suspicions surge.

He searched around for a while, then simply returned to the air-raid shelter's hangar entrance. The iron door was locked tight. Lin Xian quietly opened it with the Mechanical Heart and found that dozens of survivors' vehicles were parked silently in the outpost compound at the foot of the hill. Faint light leaked through the gaps of quite a few vehicles. Many people clearly had no intention of sleeping peacefully; they were preparing to keep watch all night.

Lin Xian made a round of the area. Not only did he fail to find the elevator entrance, he also saw no sign of Tang Hai or Feng Yuming. He had no idea where the uncle and nephew had gone.

A nameless unease rose in his heart. Lin Xian closed the iron door and returned to the operations room. He took a deep breath, then directly pushed the Mechanical Heart to full power, trying to use the command hub to connect to the pathways throughout the base. Before long, it felt as if a huge amount of his vitality had been drained away, and his face grew weary.

But after Lin Xian used the command center hub to scan the mechanical structure and pathways of the entire base, his eyes suddenly flew open. A fierce flash of lightning seemed to pass through them. After a long moment, he snarled coldly.

"Fuck!"

Lin Xian's expression changed drastically, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. After thinking for a moment, he picked up Kiki, carried her into the armory, and locked the door.

The stench in the armory made the sleeping Kiki frown slightly. Lin Xian turned on his flashlight and moved her beside the generator at the very back. It was close to the ventilation ducts, so the smell was relatively less intense there.

After setting Kiki down, Lin Xian switched off the flashlight. Listening to Kiki's faint breathing in the darkness, he placed his hand on the generator set and scanned it again.

"Just as I thought!"

In the darkness, Lin Xian's gaze was grave, and even his heartbeat quickened.

"It stinks so bad..."

Half-asleep, Kiki muttered beside him.

"Little girl."

Lin Xian grabbed Kiki's little face. Exhausted, Kiki was abruptly pinched awake by him. Smelling the foul odor around her, she frowned and struggled to sit up.

"Hey... you!"

Before she could finish, Lin Xian covered her mouth.

Click. Lin Xian switched on the flashlight and pointed solemnly at the wall beside them.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Lin Xian's expression, Kiki became serious as well. Fighting through her grogginess, she asked, "Did monsters come?"

Lin Xian's expression darkened. "I think... this might be even more troublesome than that."

New author here—please keep reading and recommend!