Doggy Dependency

The pit after the iron gate opened was a passageway leading to the direction of the small building's basement. There were no stairs, so they had to jump directly in.

The passageway was only a little over a meter high, so they had to crouch to get through. However, there was still over a meter of space above their heads.

Therefore, without stairs, people had to jump directly into the pit.

At over two meters high and not too wide, it wasn't actually that easy for an ordinary person.

Lu Xi'an guessed that the basement definitely wasn't dug out from here when it was originally constructed.

After Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei jumped in, they crouched and squeezed through the two-meter-long passageway, and their vision suddenly opened up.

Jumping down a one-meter high step, they entered a square space below. What greeted them were tables, chairs, computers, beds, and cabinets covering the entire wall.

In a corner against the wall, there was also a toilet and a sink. Next to the sink lay a metal straight ladder, which looked just long enough to be placed sideways at the entrance of the passageway.

Lu Xi'an understood. This ladder was probably meant for people to descend from the entrance, but it could be removed afterward.

If someone discovered the basement later and wanted to enter, they would have to jump down from the pit entrance, which would definitely make a noise and alert those in the basement.

But after jumping down, there was still a section of passageway requiring them to crouch. By then, those in the basement who received the warning would have enough time to react and attack intruders in the passageway with weapons.

However, there were no signs of a struggle here. It was clear that this arrangement had never been used.

There weren't even any traces of people, not even skeletons or hair. The shelves covering the walls were also completely empty.

Lu Xi'an strongly suspected that this basement had never been officially put into use after its construction.

He checked. There was a mattress on the bed, which was softer than the one in the Shelter at Tan Village Entrance in Fengcheng County. It should be very comfortable to sleep on.

The bedsheet on the mattress had creases, indicating someone had sat on it, or even lain on it. But it was also possible that after the items were arranged, someone came to test it out and then left, without actually staying?

"Did you find anything?"

Lu Xi'an asked Yao Wei.

Yao Wei shook her head, indicating she hadn't.

"Doggy, what about you?"

Lu Xi'an asked the Mechanical Dog again.

Doggy blinked its dog eyes twice and also indicated it hadn't.

It seemed there was really nothing here, or perhaps it was never put into use.

Lu Xi'an looked around, still not giving up. He looked at the computer on the desk and had Doggy connect it to power.

The computer could still be turned on, but the inside of the case was "buzzing," clearly indicating that years of dust had taken their toll on the fans.

Therefore, starting the computer was a bit difficult. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei waited for a full few minutes before the screen finally switched to the last opened screen.

But to their dismay, the computer was password-protected. Lu Xi'an tried "1234567890," "six ones," "six sixes," "eight eights," and similar combinations, but none worked.

He didn't dare to try any more, fearing the computer would lock.

"Sigh, if only Doggy could crack the password while supplying power and maintaining its state,"

Lu Xi'an sighed and said.

Doggy always entered a dormant state when supplying power. Otherwise, it had the function of cracking passwords.

Yao Wei nodded, but then she felt that thinking this way was a bit greedy.

Doggy was already so powerful; what more could she ask of it?

However, she didn't voice this thought to Lu Xi'an. She felt that Doggy belonged to Lu Xi'an, and she couldn't hold him to her own standards.

Moreover, no matter how much Lu Xi'an hoped, Doggy truly couldn't do it.

Just then, Lu Xi'an suddenly thought of something and turned to Yao Wei:

"Why don't we find the building's electrical box, connect the power with your Power Bank, and then have Doggy try to crack the password?"

He suddenly remembered that Yao Wei had a tool that could power up circuits through the electrical box.

Before they had Doggy, Yao Wei always did this when refueling at the gas station. Now, they had both become reliant on Doggy and had actually forgotten about that tool.

Yao Wei also just realized and nodded, saying, "Okay."

She immediately turned and went out to find the building's electrical box.

She felt a bit annoyed with herself for forgetting the tools she already had.

Lately, she seemed to have become too reliant on Lu Xi'an...

And even more reliant on Doggy...

She couldn't go on like this!

But Doggy was just so useful...

While lost in thought, she went into the rooms and found the electrical box.

Compared to the basement, the rooms in the small building were in disarray. They were empty, having been ransacked by who knows how many people. Even the doors and windows had been removed.

Those that weren't removed had been smashed to pieces.

Yao Wei found the electrical box on the wall at the turn of the stairs in the two-story building.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder as soon as she got out of the car. The tools for connecting the electricity were inside. She could take them out now, connect them to the wires in the electrical box, and everything would be fine.

She tested the lights in the room, and they turned on. The circuit was fine.

After closing the electrical box lid and concealing it, Yao Wei returned to the basement the way she came. She couldn't help but think:

She was always worried about the electricity stored in the power unit running out, but Doggy didn't have to worry. Could she let Doggy charge the power unit?

--The power unit had a charging port, and since Doggy could charge the drone, charging the power unit shouldn't be a problem.

After jumping back into the pit and passing through the corridor, the basement was already lit. However, the incandescent bulbs flickered erratically, looking like they were about to break at any moment.

Lu Xi'an had already unplugged the host and monitor from Doggy's back and connected them to the existing power source in the basement.

A data cable extended from Doggy, connecting to the computer's interface. The red light in Doggy's eyes flashed, indicating it was working on the decryption.

This task wasn't difficult for it. When Yao Wei walked up to the screen, she saw the desktop's lock screen change, and application icons appeared one by one.

Decryption complete.

Doggy is so useful!

Yao Wei couldn't help but feel this sentiment.

Then, she felt a bit lost.

This kind of sentiment seemed like something Lu Xi'an would have.

She had never felt this way before...

Was she infected?

Yao Wei wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

But Doggy was indeed useful.

The applications on the desktop were very simple, only "This PC," "Control Panel," "Recycle Bin," "Videos," and "Audio."

The Control Panel was useless to Lu Xi'an, and the Recycle Bin was empty. Lu Xi'an opened "This PC" to check. This should be equivalent to "My Computer."

However, it was basically empty inside as well. Opening it revealed program folders, nothing else.

Lu Xi'an had to check the videos and audio next. The video folder had a list filled with video files. Lu Xi'an glanced at them; they were all movies and TV shows, apparently prepared by the people here back then for entertainment.

But he couldn't find these movies and TV shows anywhere in "This PC."

Lu Xi'an then checked "Audio." Instead of songs or anything he expected, it contained files named with timestamps.

2100/5/1

2100/5/2

2100/5/3

Up to 2100/5/7.

A seven-day series?

Lu Xi'an frowned and clicked on the first timestamp file. Sound came from the computer's built-in speakers:

"The signal here is gone. I have to go to another Shelter. But that Shelter is too cold, I can't rest there.

From today on, I can only go there to receive signals every day and come back to rest. Also, I've run out of paper. From now on, after receiving messages, I will try my best to remember them in my mind and record them here.

Sigh, I should have used the computer to record things earlier. Otherwise, I'd still have paper and it would be more convenient at that Shelter...

Happy New Year, everyone!

If you like this book and think it's worth reading, I hope you can also take some time during the New Year period to keep up with the updates. There are only two chapters a day, not much, and you'll finish them quickly.

Thank you all for your support!"