She remembered that Xie Dingyuan had once told her the core lab zone had another set of encrypted access protocols.
One of the checkpoints even used iris recognition technology.
Its level of security and alertness was self-evident.
Jiang Fuyue had only tried swiping the card out of curiosity, wondering whether it would work at all.
She hadn’t expected it to… actually open?
The metal isolation door stood half ajar, beeping in short intervals—a timeout warning. Once the set time passed, the door would automatically close.
Jiang Fuyue hesitated. Should she go in or not?
She still vividly remembered the last time, when her protective suit was torn—what a mess that was. And now, without Xie Dingyuan’s permission—the rightful owner—she had opened the isolation door on her own, even if the card had been given to her by him…
Jiang Fuyue took a half-step back, finally deciding not to go in.
Even elementary school kids know not to mess with someone else’s things without permission—she couldn’t be worse than a grade-schooler, right?
Just as she was about to turn and leave, a loud boom erupted from within.
This time, it wasn’t the faint, barely noticeable noise from earlier—but something more akin to an explosive chemical reaction.
“Xie Dingyuan?! Are you in there?!”
Calling out his name, Jiang Fuyue immediately realized—there were five interlocking doors between them. No matter how much she shouted, no one inside would hear her.
But then, she froze.
That explosion had been audible even through all the interlocked doors—meaning the real situation must be far more serious than she’d imagined!
Her eyes darkened with resolve. No more hesitation.
She slipped in just before the door shut completely.
As expected, if her card could open the first door, then it could open the second, third…
Sure enough, with a series of beeps, Jiang Fuyue made her way smoothly through all five checkpoints.
The closer she got to the core area, the more pungent the smell became.
Before opening the final door, she had already suited up in full protective gear, complete with a gas mask. She even carried a spare set.
She figured it might come in handy.
Beep—
The last door opened, and thick black smoke billowed out toward her.
Jiang Fuyue’s heart sank—this might be worse than she’d thought.
Still, she didn’t panic.
She was fully equipped, and as long as her gear didn’t get compromised like last time, she’d be fine—even in heavy smoke.
She pulled out a walkie-talkie she had found in the prep room’s storage locker.
“Xie Dingyuan? Can you hear me?”
Silence.
“You don’t need to respond verbally. Just make some kind of sound so I can locate your general position.”
The smoke obscured her vision—visibility was less than one meter. She was, effectively, blind.
Suddenly, a sharp metallic clinking rang out.
Jiang Fuyue began mentally reconstructing the lab’s layout from memory.
Her brain worked like a scattered puzzle—pieces rapidly snapping into place, reconstructing a detailed spatial image in her mind, down to the bottles and jars on each lab bench.
That metal sound just now—it should have come from…
She turned 50 degrees to one side, facing a specific direction, and suddenly opened her eyes.
“You’re at Lab Bench No. 3, toward the right side near Bench No. 4, correct? If I’m right, knock once. If not, knock twice.”
Clang!
Just one knock!
She’d gotten it right.
“Okay, I’m heading toward you now. I’m starting from roughly your four o’clock position. Are there any obstacles between us? One knock for yes, two for no.”
Clang clang!
Perfect.
Jiang Fuyue began walking toward him…
