Red Queen's Motherboard Acquired

Hao Shuai noticed Alice looking at Spence with a strange expression, her eyes shifting between confusion and annoyance.

He knew that the moment Alice saw Spence, memories began to resurface in her mind, likely scenes of her marriage to him. It was natural for her to assume Spence had the closest relationship with her among everyone present. However, her memories were fragmented and incomplete, leading to her greater annoyance and her inaction.

The train sped through the tunnel, and soon they reached their destination: the underground entrance to the Hive.

"Get off."

James was the first to jump off the train, gun raised as he cautiously scanned their surroundings. The others followed suit. When it was Alice's turn, James turned and gave a deep look at Spence, who was standing behind him, and Hao Shuai, who was at the very back, before jumping off the train.

After everyone else had disembarked, Hao Shuai told Rain that he needed to use the restroom. Under Rain's watch, Hao Shuai walked towards the rear of the train. Glancing around, he soon spotted a backpack hidden by Spence in a corner behind the train's rear door.

Seizing the opportunity when Rain turned away, Hao Shuai quickly stashed the backpack into his Space and then pretended to have finished his business before walking back.

As Rain escorted Hao Shuai to catch up with the others, James was explaining the situation at the Hive to Alice. Once James finished, the passageway opened.

The group entered single file, marveling at the wall display showing a cityscape with tall buildings. Outside, the sun shone brightly, the sky was a clear blue, and the sounds of the city, including police sirens, filled the air. It was just like working on the surface.

A medic scanned the area with a detector and confirmed, "The toxic components have dissipated."

Everyone visibly relaxed. Matt walked over to the window, looking at the computer-simulated scene on the wall, and quipped, "This device is used to improve the underground work environment. It shows you what it's like on the surface."

Hao Shuai thought Umbrella's technology was truly impressive, considering their even more advanced cloning and artificial intelligence technologies. He already considered all of this his own.

Meanwhile, James and JD opened the elevator doors. However, it was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen. JD took out a flare, twisted it, and dropped it down the elevator shaft. As the flare descended, they saw the elevator with its steel cables severed.

JD turned to James and said, "Looks like we'll have to take the stairs."

Hao Shuai followed the mercenaries down the stairs, feeling a profound sense of emotion. Thank goodness I'm a self-transmigrator. If I had transmigrated into a mission world like in Infinite Horror, I probably would have died on the way down the stairs.

As the group neared the bottom, Kaplan suddenly reported, "Red Queen has locked onto us. She knows we're here."

"Who is Red Queen?" Alice asked, confused.

"Red Queen is the best artificial intelligence in the world, a computer that controls the research center," James explained.

The group descended the stairs to the ground floor's office area. At this point, both the laboratories and the administrative sections were flooded.

Kaplan looked at the continuously rising water and said helplessly, "This will delay our operation. We have to pass through many laboratories to get to Red Queen."

"Rain, JD, go assess the situation. Kaplan, continue searching for another route to Red Queen."

Spence couldn't help but interject, "What happened here?"

Seeing the confused looks from Alice and the others, James hesitated before saying, "About five hours ago, Red Queen suddenly started killing people. She sealed off the Hive and killed everyone inside! When we discovered what happened here, my team was dispatched to shut her down."

"Why did she do it?" Hao Shuai asked, feigning ignorance.

"We don't know. It's possible she was influenced externally."

Just as James finished speaking, he was interrupted by a panicked scream.

"My God!"

Matt cried out in alarm. Everyone turned to look, and saw a corpse floating in the water opposite them, startling them all.

Hao Shuai had been staring in that direction from the start, so he was the first to spot the female corpse. After all, he had gotten goosebumps when he first saw it in the movie.

"Something's not right here. Stay close behind me later," Hao Shuai said, turning to Alice.

"Did you remember something?" Alice asked anxiously.

"No. Just a vague impression," Hao Shuai continued his act.

"Sir, there's no way forward. The entire floor is flooded," Rain reported, returning from scouting ahead.

"Alright, we're falling behind schedule, so let's move."

After taking a long detour, the group arrived in a large hall filled with rows upon rows of cultivation tanks.

Seeing the cultivation tanks, Hao Shuai knew they contained Lickers. He thought to himself that these were the tools used by predecessors in the Sovereign Space to earn points. Countless predecessors had gotten rich and embarked on their paths to dominate the Sovereign Space using these Lickers.

"Where is this?"

"Restaurant B. That's what the map says," Kaplan replied.

Everyone looked suspicious, including Kaplan himself. JD said, "Maybe you misread it."

Matt chimed in, "Perhaps the company is hiding some secrets here. These are classified."

James stared at Matt. "JD, you and Rain stay here and guard the prisoners."

"Wait, something's very wrong here. It's best if we don't split up." Remembering Rain had been somewhat considerate towards him earlier, and knowing Rain would be scratched and infected if left behind, Hao Shuai spoke up to stop them.

"Do you know something?" James asked, staring at Hao Shuai.

"I just have a general impression that the things inside are very dangerous, so it's best we don't split up."

James looked at Hao Shuai's honest eyes and said, "Everyone stay together. We're heading to the control area immediately."

Once they reached the central control room, Kaplan quickly breached Red Queen's defense system, and the door to the laser corridor swung open.

The captain turned back to Hao Shuai and the others, saying, "You guys stay here. We'll handle Red Queen."

"If you're going to commit suicide, then go ahead," Hao Shuai blocked James and the others. "This is the most advanced anti-theft system. You can call it a 'laser corridor.' If the door closes behind you and a row of lasers comes out, what will happen to you?"

Hao Shuai's words sent a shiver down everyone's spines, but they couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not. They could only turn to the technicians for an answer.

"I-I think... I've already broken through its defense system," Kaplan said, not entirely confidently.

"Are you sure? You're confident your computer skills surpass the AI Red Queen? If I were you, I'd comb through it again, see if there are any dormant defense systems or anything," Hao Shuai said disdainfully.

In the end, Kaplan heeded Hao Shuai's advice and meticulously re-examined Red Queen's defense system, successfully finding the dormant defense system.

When Kaplan discovered the dormant defense system, sweat immediately broke out on his face. He thought about the consequences if Captain and the others had entered this passage without Hao Shuai's intervention and advice...

Hearing Kaplan's explanation, even a tough guy like James couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He looked at Hao Shuai with gratitude and unlocked Hao Shuai's handcuffs.

After Kaplan cracked the dormant defense system, James, still uneasy, placed a steel pipe at the entrance to prevent the passage from being locked down.

However, they worried for nothing. The door to Red Queen's main control room was opened smoothly.

As everyone entered Red Queen's main control room, Kaplan took out the shutdown device, preparing to shut down Red Queen. Red Queen couldn't help but appear before Hao Shuai and the others via holographic projection: "Get out, get out, you must get out, please move aside, I beg you."

But as mercenaries who strictly followed orders, James and the others decided to shut down Red Queen. Seeing that it was unstoppable, Red Queen left behind a seemingly threatening reminder, "You will all die here," before canceling the holographic projection. Afterward, Kaplan successfully shut down Red Queen and removed its motherboard.

When Hao Shuai saw Kaplan take out Red Queen's motherboard, he directly pulled the motherboard over with his Psychic Power.

"I'm very interested in this motherboard, so it belongs to me. Does anyone have an objection?" Hao Shuai said to James and the others after taking the motherboard and storing it in his Space.