Monitoring Center

Xiang Yang stepped over the monster's corpse and came to Lu Ren's side, pointing beneath the Netherfiend. "There are two wounds underneath it!"

Lu Ren: "..."

Thirty seconds later, Xiang Yang smoothed down her messy short hair and muttered, "What was that about? I only said a couple of things. Why did you have to be so fierce?"

Lu Ren remained expressionless behind her, turning a deaf ear to Xiang Yang's complaints as he vigilantly watched their surroundings. If this place truly did not require Xiang Yang to lead the way, he would either have kept his distance from someone with that kind of mindset or simply killed her.

After passing through two office areas without incident, they found scattered documents all over the floor, toppled computers, overturned chairs, shattered desks, and dark brown bloodstains that had dried long ago splashed everywhere. All of it revealed that a massive riot had once taken place here.

Not until they arrived before a door marked Monitoring Center did Lu Ren look down the corridor in both directions, at the flickering fluorescent lights and the doors at either end.

Other than their breathing, everything here was silent.

"It seems this used to be the territory of that Contaminated Creature," Xiang Yang said with certainty.

Lu Ren was a little surprised. "These monsters know how to divide territory too?"

Xiang Yang nodded and leaned toward the Monitoring Center's door. "Once these Contaminated Creatures evolve to a certain degree, they'll fight for territory like wild beasts do."

Something seemed off about Lu Ren's mood.

"You're saying they can evolve too?"

"That's right. Before the official institutions collapsed thirty years ago, they released a report stating that these Contaminated Creatures determine their evolutionary direction based on the environment they inhabit."

Xiang Yang turned to glance at Lu Ren. "Don't worry. Their evolution rate may indeed be much faster than humanity's, but over a span of only a few decades, they can't evolve that far beyond us."

After a pause, Xiang Yang pulled a chip card that had been worn nearly blank from her pocket and swiped it over the electronic lock on the Monitoring Center door.

Beep beep!

As an electronic confirmation tone sounded, the Monitoring Center door opened in response.

Xiang Yang said happily, "Dad really didn't lie to me. The chip card issued with his position back then can access the entire base."

Lu Ren casually said, "Didn't you just verify your Super Administrator permissions through the Main Control AI's computer?"

Xiang Yang: "...It's been so many years. A lot of facilities have fallen into disrepair. What if the fingerprint and iris verification devices are broken? Then traditional methods would be useless, okay?"

Lu Ren paused, then seemingly casually said, "Your dagger looks pretty sharp. You said it was called an Ultra-High Frequency Cutting Blade?"

Xiang Yang's little face immediately filled with wariness, and her hand instinctively gripped the hilt.

"Don't get any ideas! Activating overfrequency oscillation mode consumes a tremendous amount of energy. This dagger has less than a minute of charge left."

Lu Ren curled his lip. "I don't care."

The technological level of this Otherworld Wasteland was indeed fifty years ahead of the real world. If it had not been destroyed by the interdimensional passage, it probably would have begun interstellar exploration by now.

What interested him most was the dagger's energy storage technology. If he brought it back, it would definitely fetch a good price. As for keeping it for himself, Lu Ren had not given it much thought. A person's energy was limited.

Whether he should take the path of a tech genius or a muscle-bound powerhouse was a question worth considering.

The two quickly entered the Monitoring Center. Looking at the room full of pitch-black screens, Lu Ren raised his brows. "Looks like this Monitoring Center has stopped operating."

"Then we'll start it up!"

Xiang Yang strode confidently to the control console, then fell silent for a long time as she stared at the buttons below.

Lu Ren asked in puzzlement, "What's wrong?"

Xiang Yang: "...I'm gathering myself."

Lu Ren asked with concern, "Why do you need to gather yourself? Is it because you don't know how?"

Xiang Yang flushed red. "W-what do you mean, I don't know how? It's absolutely not that! It's just been so many years, and a lot of the markings have become blurry, okay?"

Lu Ren walked over, examined it closely, and shook his head slightly. "All right. You study it first. I'll rest for a while."

The fight to the death with the Netherfiend earlier had been mentally exhausting, leaving him with a trace of fatigue.

After confirming that the Monitoring Center door was shut, Lu Ren went to sit in a corner, ate something, and rested quietly, leaving Xiang Yang to fiddle with the controls.

Three hours later, Lu Ren, who had remained in light sleep and secretly set up a simple alarm nearby, was jolted awake by Xiang Yang's sudden voice.

"It worked, it worked! Just as I thought! I knew I was a genius!"

Lu Ren raised his head and saw lights beginning to flicker across every screen, startup interfaces appearing one after another.

Then Xiang Yang called out, "Qingxu, report the base's status!"

A calm, emotionless male voice answered.

"Greetings, Super Commander. Haizhou Testing Center Base currently has sufficient energy reserves. After confirming that no personnel were operating them, I shut down and placed most facilities and equipment into dormancy. Other than emergency lighting and ventilation systems, all functions in the office areas have been shut down. All project equipment in the research zone has been shut down. The High-Energy Particle Accelerator level has ceased operations. Material storage is in good condition. The power assembly system is functioning properly."

Lu Ren stood up. "Who is that?"

"Greetings, Commander. I am Qingxu, the Main Control AI of Haizhou City Experimental Center Base."

An AI?!

This world's AI technology seemed a little too advanced.

Lu Ren raised his brows but said nothing, quietly watching Xiang Yang.

Xiang Yang grew even more smug. After shooting Lu Ren a meaningful look, she began operating the entire Monitoring Center according to Qingxu's instructions.

Lu Ren could not help glancing at a surveillance camera in one corner of the ceiling.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the Main Control AI codenamed Qingxu was connected to the entire Testing Center Base—its surveillance, equipment, and perhaps even its weapons and security systems.

In other words, the entire Testing Center Base was under its control.

Lu Ren's eyes flickered slightly, but he did not say anything.

Once the base's surveillance system had fully started up, Lu Ren was surprised to discover that none of the surveillance equipment was damaged.

"It's been fifty or sixty years, and it still works?"

Other than some unstable current at the beginning that caused the images to flicker, there were no further issues.

Xiang Yang stared at the screens without turning around. "These are military-grade products. If anyone dared cut corners on quality, they'd be sealed up and shot.

"Found it, found it!!"

Xiang Yang pointed excitedly at the central surveillance screen. It displayed the central collision point of the High-Energy Particle Accelerator on the third level.

A blue-glowing oval ring of light floated there in midair.

Lu Ren's heart trembled slightly.

"This is the interdimensional passage?"

"Yes, exactly!"

Xiang Yang stared fixedly at the screen. Her joy vanished in an instant, leaving only the calm she struggled to maintain. Her hands clenched tightly, and her eyes were slightly red.

Lu Ren had been observing every change in Xiang Yang's emotions.

Something is seriously wrong with this girl!