The Trembling World
chapter-258

TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney

“Ah, later on we can just regulate the splitting. Brother Liu just got an ID card, that should be the one to open the door right? The building has a steel door that requires an ID card before it can open.” Wang Chao quickly explained.

“Yeah yeah! What’s the rush?” Other players chimed in to help pacify the situation.

Aside from Liu Zhi Gang who had acted recklessly, all of the others knew the severe consequences that would come about if they angered Liu Gan. In a post-apocalyptic world, whoever was right was judged by whoever’s fist was hardest. It was no longer judged by who was more correct or just. Liu Gan had just demonstrated that he was the strongest. At the very least he was above these players, so no one dared test Liu Gan’s patience.

Liu Gan simply glanced at them, but didn’t say anything. He simply walked over to the building’s doorway with ID card in hand. The building’s entrance was still on an electrical grid, so after swiping the card on the doorway, the red light turned green. The steel door automatically slid apart on both sides.

The large lobby inside the building was searched, but nothing was discovered. Surprisingly there was no presence of any variant zombies, nor were there any unique zombies. There weren’t any high tech goods, unique equipments or even special medicines.

The first floor lobby only had a door in the back that led straight into a rear courtyard. As everyone passed through the lobby into the rear courtyard… The rear courtyard was spectacular. It occupied an abnormally large area. There were at least a dozen factories that were all equally tall at ten stories high. There were noises coming from a certain direction along with booming sounds. It sounded like the operation of machinery.

Within the large area of the courtyard, there was still not a single living thing. Not even a zombie could be found.

“Well… Brother Zhang, with so much ground to cover, perhaps we should split up and search. Finder’s keepers. Whoever finds it, can keep it. How do you feel about that?” Wang Chao suggested to Zhang ShengLi.

If Zhang ShengLi agreed to the proposition, this would be favorable to Wang Chao. In terms of strength, they were all weaker than the three of them. If they fought it out for the treasures, then the losing side would be Wang Chao. However, by splitting up the teams Wang Chao would have a higher chance of finding treasures because of the advantage he held by having more people to search.

“Okay. Let's do it your way.” Zhang ShengLi agreed, after discussing with Liu Gan.

To have a higher chance of finding treasure, Wang Chao split the six people into three groups. They would work together in pairs. Their mission was to search faster than Liu Gan’s group. Liu Gan’s group didn't split up at all, and they remained grouped up together as they headed into the building areas.

The main concern for not splitting up was that this was a secret laboratory, and nothing was known about the danger that lurked in the shadows. It was hard to tell where the hidden dangers and traps were. If the three of them stuck together, at least one of them could help in the nick of time.

Wang Chao’s team strength was already weak to begin with. After they split up, they were even weaker. Even if there were treasures, it was doubtful if they could take them. If they set off any troublesome issues, then it would buy enough time for Liu Gan’s group to escape.

Zhang ShengLi had risen a level. Liu Gan had also risen a level. Now they needed to help Yin He find the things she needed. This way, everyone would be able to gain something from this trip. This secret laboratory was still running on electricity, so there should still be some instruments operating. To have hidden all of this away so deeply, it seemed like there was a certain danger associated with it. The yield at this laboratory could be higher than if he went to a different laboratory.

...

After an hour had passed, Liu Gan’s group was only able to search through two buildings without any gains. However, in Wang Chao’s group, there was a pair that went to a very far corner of the courtyard. They had found something.

Wang Chao split the team into three pairs. Wang Chao was with Doctor Su. Since Wang Chao was with another level 6, and he had the ability to heal, Wang Chao was giving himself a safety net. Lu Fan was grouped with Qiao Feng. Huang Yu was grouped with Liu Zhi Gang. The pair with the major discovery was the Huang Yi and Liu Zhi duo.

Since they had entered the secret laboratory Wang Chao’s faction had only killed three variant zombies, with the experience given to Lu Fan, Wang Chao, and Qiao Feng. Huang Yi and Liu Zhi Gang were the only ones that had gained nothing, so when they found something that looked like a discovery, the two of them got excited. To prevent the others from taking the treasure, they didn't report back to their leader, Wang Chao.

Huang Yi and Liu Zhi Gang found a security pass inside the drawer of a certain desk. On the security card it had the words ‘Cold Room’. After they searched a map, they had found that their factory building was close to a thousand cubic meters, but in actuality it was missing a hundred cubic meters. After they intensely searched around the building, the two of them coincidentally found the secret entrance to the cold storage room.

The entrance to this cold storage room was behind a steel cabinet. The ground of the cabinet shifted as the steel cabinet was pushed with force. After they pushed aside the cabinet, they scanned the security card and the door opened. After the pair entered the doorway, the steel cabinet resealed the path behind them, back to its original location.

The temperature inside the Cold Storage Room was extremely cold. Looking at the thermostat on the wall by the doorway indicated that the temperature was thirty degrees Celsius below zero. Next to the doorway was a wardrobe where specialized jackets for protecting against heat loss were kept. As long as person didn’t remain too long within the Cold Room, there wouldn’t be too much of a problem with hypothermia.

Liu Zhi Gang and Huang Yi entered the Cold Room to look around. Normally, there would be racks for holding food or medicine in a freezer room, but not this one. There was only an ice cube. A very large ice cube that was six meters high, eight meters wide and twelve meters deep. The edges of the ice cube were very defined. Along the four walls of the Cold Room were round covers that were a meter wide, their function not yet known. At the corner was a metal cabinet.

“Hey, back when I was in the real world I saw an entertainment program for Room Escape. The person who designed it would stash treasure deep within the ice cube so I think… that within this ice cube is a startling legendary item.” Liu Zhi Gang stared at the ice cube.

“Yes! That has to be it! Why else would anyone hide a large chunk of ice so well?” Huang Yi agreed with the speculation.

“Let’s find a fast way to melt this ice cube. Before the others can come to us, we need to find the treasure within.” Liu Zhi Gang said to Huang Yi.

“That wouldn’t be too good…” Huang Yi hesitating.

“Not good? Do you want the other faction of three to take it from us? Or perhaps you want Boss Chao to take the treasure, and maybe he would feel generous and give it all away to an outsider, the doctor? This entire time we have we both contributed just as much as everyone else, but we still haven’t received any compensation!” Liu Zhi Gang angrily yelled.

“Okay okay… Let’s go according to your plan. However, do you have any idea how to melt this ice cube? With this huge ice cube, I don’t think it would be possible to crack it open any time soon. If we make too much noise, the others might come this way.” Huang Yi poured in his thoughts.