The Incinerator

Ultimately, the group reluctantly stood up under the orders of the cleanup team and followed them out of the corridor.

There's nothing we can do; those with weapons are the bosses.

Carlos walked silently at the back of the group, with a cleanup squad member behind him responsible for bringing up the rear. All the way, Carlos could feel the faint threat of gun barrels behind him.

They were inexplicably returned to the lobby, only to find that the detection equipment and other equipment had been removed, but the cleaning team continued their work, leading them in another direction.

"Wait?!" The burly man's voice betrayed a hint of fear. "Where are we going?"

"Isn't it supposed to be a retest?" a bespectacled young man asked calmly. "Logically speaking, we only need to repeat the testing process once to resolve the previous problem. Why go elsewhere?"

The middle-aged member of the cleanup team didn't seem to have thought about how to answer the question. He tightened his grip on his gun, almost making Carlos think that the gun was about to fire.

A few seconds later, the man's brow relaxed as he came up with an explanation. "The second test requires more precise data, so you'll have to lie down in the testing chamber."

"I'm a former technician at the base. How come I had no idea there was such a thing as a testing chamber?" The bespectacled young man adjusted his glasses. "What exactly are you hiding?"

Upon hearing this, pairs of eyes immediately fixed on the cleanup team with a variety of complex emotions.

Once proven guilty of lying, coupled with this bizarre attitude, even the most oblivious person would realize that they were in a precarious situation.

"..." The cleanup team members all had the same cold expression. They glanced at each other, then stopped pretending and spread out to surround the thirteen "infected" individuals. Their tone became fierce, "Just do as we say. Don't talk nonsense. If you talk nonsense again, we'll shoot. This is the commander's order."

"What does the officer mean?" The short-haired woman, unable to withstand the pressure of the gun, flinched. She murmured those five words repeatedly, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes, "She wouldn't be planning to kill us, would she?"

Could it be?

The "infected" wanted to deny the possibility, but seeing the cleanup team's attitude, they ultimately didn't ask the question.

It looks like it might be true.

Someone tried to resist, but was hit on the head with a rifle butt and fell silent in fear.

These people were driven toward a metal door that they could not recall ever opening before. As soon as the door opened, a faint heat emanated from it.

Carlos immediately thought of one word.

Incinerator.

As you continue walking forward, the deeper you go into the corridor, the more pronounced the heat becomes.

The corridor was no longer lit by dim fires, but by bright lights, and at the end was a strange stone door.

"Ha." Carlos thought torches were outrageous enough, but he never expected to see a simple stone door in a postmodern world. But thinking about it, it makes sense. If you want to keep out flames, a stone door is indeed more practical than a metal or wooden door.

When they reached the stone gate, apart from one person swiping a card to open it, the members of the cleaning team all made way for the thirteen of them.

"I have a bad feeling..." Xiao Yao felt the heat so close to her face, her face turning pale.

The heat was palpable even through the stone door; without that door, it would surely be...

The room was ablaze with flames.

It's the kind of thing that can definitely burn people to death; it's definitely not a testing chamber.

They all realized what they were about to face. A thin man suddenly knelt down, gripped the leg of a member cleaning his calves by sheer terror, and sobbed, "I don't want to go in! There must be some mistake! I've just been living a law-abiding life in the base. If the test results are wrong, I'm willing to be tested multiple times, as many times as I want! Don't give up on me..."

"Yes, yes, you must be mistaken. I don't look like someone who's been infected at all!"

"Really, I spent some time in the city before, and I know exactly what infected people look like! You guys know too, right? Huh? I wasn't infected at all!"

One plea for mercy after another, tinged with a glimmer of hope, echoed down the corridor.

The bespectacled young man sighed, "Why bother asking them? It's the superior's order; they can't possibly disobey."

Carlos glanced at the young man and felt that the young man was very calm, as if he knew something.

As expected, the cleaning team remained unmoved. The person who swiped the card to open the door withdrew, and the stone door opened with a rumbling sound, opening to both sides.

A raging wave swept in, and flames shot forward several meters high, nearly setting Carlos's clothes ablaze.

Sure enough, behind the door was a room engulfed in flames, with high-powered lights embedded in the ceiling and walls. In that instant, it felt as if one were being engulfed in flames, an unbearable experience.

The firelight danced in Carlos's emerald eyes.

The other "infected" immediately retreated, but the cleanup team blocked their way.

The guns were still pointed at them. The leader said, "Don't back down. You've been infected. For the safety of the entire base, the commander wants you to take your own lives."

"Infected my ass!" the short-haired woman cursed. Since things had come to this, she wasn't so afraid of guns anymore. Being shot might still allow her to survive, but being put in an incinerator meant certain annihilation.

She took her own life? Why would she take her own life if she wasn't infected?!

"The officer must have made a mistake. I make clothes for you guys, and I'm about to get a new job. How could they suddenly diagnose me as infected? The green light was on when I took the test!" Xiao Yao shouted.

The cleanup team did not answer.

"Could it be because we all spoke ill of the test?" The burly man racked his brains for a way to salvage the situation, and his suggestion gave Carlos a glimmer of hope.

Who knows?

However, he didn't know if others had mentioned it or if it was the reason. Oh well, there was no point in him speculating on his own. He might as well take all these people with him so he could have plenty of time to eliminate any errors.

Carlos spoke up, "Brother, I have a suggestion."

He said this to the cleanup team, and they looked up at him silently.

Carlos said, "None of us are out of control right now, and the base wants us dead because we pose a security threat. So how about this: let us live, and we'll leave the base ourselves. This way, those who listened to the fake broadcast won't suspect anything later." (The fastest updates for the mobile version can be found at: [website address missing])