Found

"Don't scare me like that!" Alice clung tightly to Zhou Bai, her voice trembling as if she were about to cry.

"You've got this little courage and you still dared come out." Zhou Bai gave a shudder as he extended the power of his Primordial Spirit outward.

Over the past few days, whenever he had nothing to do, he had tested the limits of his Primordial Spirit's power. Its maximum range was about ten meters from his body, and like a hand, it could relay a faint sense of touch, letting him know whether it had touched anything.

But the power of the Primordial Spirit was not inexhaustible either. Like running, walking, or swimming, using too much of it would tire him out, and he needed rest.

So Zhou Bai had not used it carelessly before.

But now, as the power of his Primordial Spirit swept through the area, there was no one within a ten-meter radius.

Swallowing hard, Zhou Bai recalled the cafeteria's size, appearance, and layout.

We're at the right corner of the cafeteria. If they're beyond ten meters...

Forcing down the fear in his heart, Zhou Bai grabbed Alice and rushed a few steps to the cafeteria entrance.

"There's only one entrance. If I block it, then they're still inside this cafeteria..."

Zhou Bai mapped out a route in his mind. His Primordial Spirit lifted tables and chairs and set them down. He would search the entire cafeteria inch by inch, force the other person into a corner, and find them.

Alice stood in the darkness, not knowing what was happening. She could only cling tightly to Zhou Bai, listening to the sound of tables and chairs being pushed through the dark as she asked nervously, "What's wrong? What's that sound?"

Feeling her frail body trembling constantly against him, Zhou Bai was frightened too, but he still forced himself to stay composed. "It's fine. Stay with me."

But after Zhou Bai used the cafeteria tables and chairs to block the entrance, then searched the entire cafeteria with his Primordial Spirit, he still found no trace of anyone.

"They're gone?" Zhou Bai's heart sank. "Who was it? I blocked the entrance immediately. How did they get out?"

Although Alice did not understand the power of the Primordial Spirit, as she followed Zhou Bai, she had guessed what he was doing. "You're looking for that person? What about checking the ventilation ducts?"

Zhou Bai's heart clenched. With the aid of his Primordial Spirit, he hurried to the ventilation duct. As his Primordial Spirit probed inside, his heart skipped a beat.

Zhou Bai said, "The grate we saw during the day has been torn open."

Alice said, "So does that mean... that person came up from the laboratory on Underground Level 5? Then happened to run into us? And went back down afterward?"

Zhou Bai looked toward Alice in surprise, but all he could see was darkness. Still, he was amazed that this girl barely in her teens had reacted so quickly, able to suppress her fear and think in such an environment.

Alice asked, "What do we do? Have we been discovered? Will the teacher know?"

Zhou Bai rubbed his chin and said, "You're coming down with me."

Alice said, "Huh? You're still going down? But we already..."

"I don't know what the consequences will be if we've been discovered, but if we hurry down now, we still have a chance to find what we're looking for before they can react." Zhou Bai looked at Alice beside him. "I'm worried it'll be dangerous if you stay here alone, so either you come down with me, or I'll take you back now."

Alice fell silent for several seconds, then nodded firmly. "Taking me back would waste too much time. I'll go down with you."

"Climb on. I'll carry you..."

Alice's thin body pressed against him. To Zhou Bai's eighteen-year-old body, the little girl was far too light. He could even feel her ribs digging into him.

Although the base provided basic food and water, in order to conserve supplies, it was still not enough for Alice, who was in the middle of growing up.

That was why Elsa cried about being hungry all day. Of course, Zhou Bai felt that aside from the lack of food, the biggest reason that glutton was always hungry was simply because she could eat far too much.

Carrying Alice as he climbed into the ventilation duct, Zhou Bai's descent was extremely easy with the help of his Primordial Spirit. Before long, as he climbed downward, he saw lights ahead.

Emerging from the ventilation outlet on Underground Level 5, they found themselves facing a long corridor. Dim night lights were scattered along both sides, so the darkness before them was no longer pitch-black.

Neither Alice nor Zhou Bai had ever been here before, so Zhou Bai set Alice down and picked a direction at random.

Stay close to me.

As they walked down the corridor, a scream suddenly came from deep within the passage, startling both Alice and Zhou Bai.

The two exchanged a glance, then ran swiftly toward the source of the scream.

Soon, brighter and brighter lights appeared before Zhou Bai and Alice. It was a massive laboratory.

The two crouched down and hid in the shadows behind a table.

At the center of the laboratory, a twisted human figure was imprisoned inside a transparent cultivation tank, constantly pounding on the glass and letting out hoarse roars.

"Ban... Bandu!!" Alice stared in shock at the deformed person inside the cultivation tank, yet she still recognized him from what remained of his face.

Seeing Alice about to rush forward, Zhou Bai grabbed her. "Don't be reckless." He frowned and swept his gaze across the laboratory, but he did not see Dr. Zhuang.

Tears streamed from Alice's eyes as she looked at Bandu in the cultivation tank. "Why did Bandu become like this? What happened?"

Below Bandu's navel, there was nothing left. His remaining upper body was swollen and twisted.

Zhou Bai sighed. Alice was only a girl in her early teens after all. It was perfectly normal that she could not control her emotions at a moment like this. The fact that she had not screamed and shouted already counted as calm.

"But why am I so calm too?" Zhou Bai realized that in such a bizarre situation, his thoughts had started running wild. "Could it be that I have those protagonist qualities—calmer the more dangerous things get, unflustered in a crisis, clever and brave?"

Just as Zhou Bai's mind began wandering under the pressure, a woman's voice arose in his head.

"What are you standing around for?! Hurry up and come rescue me!"

Zhou Bai froze. The woman's voice rang out again. "Look behind the table on your left!"

Zhou Bai ran over with Alice and saw a long-haired white cat trapped inside a glass enclosure behind the table. It stared at them with wide eyes, jumping up and down as its voice echoed in Zhou Bai's mind.

"Hurry up and let me out! That guy's about to come back!"

Hearing that, Zhou Bai immediately activated the power of his Primordial Spirit, grabbed a nearby chair, and smashed it over. After several blows, cracks slowly appeared in the glass enclosure. Then the Primordial Spirit shoved inward, instantly punching a hole through it.

The white cat cheered and squeezed out through the hole. With a leap, it pounced toward Zhou Bai.

"Hahaha! Idiot! It's all mine now!"