The Trembling World
chapter-71

“Generally speaking, the building’s electrical machines and backup power source should also be located underground to avoid radiation. It could also be in basement level 1 or basement level 2 type locations.” Jiang JinYuan just remembered as he replied to Liu Gan.

“So, we should head downwards and not upwards.” Liu Gan responded to Jiang JinYuan’s statement.

“Yes, that is correct.” Jiang JinYuan nodded.

“Alright, we’ll head downstairs and look for the building’s backup power source. After regaining the electric power to operate the building’s master operating system, you can download a large portion of the layout for the building and search for the laboratory.” Liu Gan recapped to confirm the next step of the plan, as they both headed to go down the stairs.

Jiang JinYuan followed closely behind Liu Gan. With each step he took down the steps, he nervously looked upwards and around. Even if Liu Gan was walking in front of him, he still didn’t feel very safe. He was afraid that in between the floors, a sudden rush of zombies would possibly appear in these dimly lit stairs. By that time, even if Liu Gan was brave, it was unlikely that he could protect both Jiang JinYuan and himself.

However, the fire escape staircase was very peaceful and after going down three flights of stairs, they hadn’t even encountered a single zombie. After reaching the first floor, the PDA started to automatically readjust the indicators to reflect the zombies on the floor. Based on the indicators, the first floor lobby had at least a dozen zombies wandering about. Near the exit by the metal door three zombies were standing guard outside. Luckily, the two of them didn’t need to enter into the lobby, and they could continue heading down to the basement. They proceeded to the building’s basement level 1 and headed into the parking lot.

Originally, the weather wasn’t that great, and the light source coming in was very low, so it was dimly lit. As they headed lower, the source of light would only become fainter. Everything around them seemed to release an eerie sinister feeling. In addition, they heard the moaning of zombies both near and far. This caused people’s concentration to waver and become nervous.

The danger and the secrets that lay underground were all unknown factors to be discovered by these two.

Liu Gan pulled out the flashlight that he found earlier in the minimart and carefully illuminated the stairs as they went down. According to the PDA indicator for basement level 1, the exit had at least 4 or 5 zombies wandering on this floor.

Although Liu Gan was level 5, his strength had improved quite a bit. Right now, facing off with 4 to 5 zombies was a piece of cake. The only factor that limited his ability was the setting within a small, dark, and narrow room. If he wasn’t careful, the zombies could infect him by biting him. On the other hand, he had to protect Jiang JinYuan as he was the treasure guide and the only one who could use the PDA. Knowing this, Liu Gan had to be extra careful in everything he did.

After reaching basement level 1, the stairs can continued proceeding downward. It seemed like there were more levels going deeper like basement level 2 or possibly beyond that. However, it was too dark to see further down.

Basement level 1 was the parking lot, according to Jiang JinYuan and San Xing Corporation’s construction design characteristics. The electrical machinery and backup power source couldn’t possibly be on basement level 1. So he suggested to Liu Gan to continue heading downwards. Liu Gan didn’t have any objections, so they both continued. By the time they reached basement level 2, the stairs reached the end, and they couldn’t continue further down.

If this underground laboratory resided deep within the building, these stairs wouldn’t be the way down to it.

Exiting the fire escape stairs was a long interior hallway. By the time they reached this area, their surroundings were pitch black. They could extend their hand, but it would be so dark that they couldn’t even see their five fingers. Liu Gan had his senses strengthened, especially his eyesight, but even in this darkness he couldn’t see clearly. He was like a cat that relied on partial darkness to distinguish objects. But upon experiencing this type of complete darkness, he was more like a blind person unable to see anything due to lacking light sources.

Right now, Liu Gan had to rely on the flashlight’s weak ray of light to check out the surroundings. However, the flashlight’s brightness amongst the dark setting was a huge contrast that could attract the attention of zombies. So Liu Gan was very reluctant in leaving the flashlight on in this dark hallway. Occasionally, he would turn on the flashlight and shine it on his surroundings and then proceed to move forward by relying on his sense of touch.

This pitch-blackness freaked Jiang JinYuan out, and he had goosebumps ever since walking down the stairs. It was as if he was a child relying on an adult, and he held onto Liu Gan’s arm to avoid getting lost in the dark.

Amongst searching in this pitch-blackness, it reminded Liu Gan of an earlier moment when he was playing a frightening game. In the game, he knew the dangers that were within the dark, yet he could only continue forward.

Luckily, the PDA was very helpful, but it couldn’t beat having eyesight. So they could only proceed forward and let any monsters in the dark ambush them.

According to the PDA, in the basement level 2, the hallway didn’t have any zombies. Only when they reached the end of the hallway by the metal door were two zombies waiting on the other side. Other than these two zombies, the whole basement level 2 floor oddly didn’t have any other zombies. So knowing this, they can headed toward the metal door at the end of the hallway. They went to kill the two zombies, which meant basement level 2 was somewhat safe.

Even though it was somewhat safe, Liu Gan couldn’t explain his faint feeling of uneasiness. It was like the calm before the storm. The dangers that he was about to face unsettled him. However, since they already arrived at this location, they couldn’t just leave without getting anything.

After arriving at the metal door near the end of the hallway, a key wasn’t required. It opened simply by turning the door lock, and the noise created from opening the door attracted the two nearby zombies over. However, the two zombies didn’t pose a threat to Liu Gan anymore. After shining the light for a little bit, Liu Gan took two steps and sent one of the zombies flying. Then with the fire axe he crushed the skull of the other zombie.

The zombie that was sent flying had its pelvic bone shattered, so it was unable to move. It could only crawl on the floor toward Liu Gan. Liu Gan walked a few steps and crushed the zombie’s neck.

Based on the two zombies’ clothing, they seemed to be this level’s security guards and were designated to guard here.

“If this epidemic was caused by the blood rain, then why did these two on-duty security guard that were isolated from the outside world become infected. How about the colossal zombie?” Liu Gan shined his light on the two zombie corpses as he asked Jiang JinYuan.

“This I don’t know.” Jiang JinYuan laughed lightly in embarrassment. He got close to Liu Gan and retrieved the PDA. Even though it showed that there were no zombies nearby, he still had an unexplainable fear.

Humans were naturally afraid of the dark, and this fear was innate. But this place was really just too dark.

Liu Gan didn’t ask any further, and he shined the light to the four corners to see the situation.

Basement level 2 wasn’t a parking lot, and after exiting the hallway was this safety check area. These two security guards were responsible for the safety check. After the security check, another metal door was situated a few meters ahead. The safety check was only an empty shell. It seemed like to enter the basement level 2 secret area, they must pass through the heavy-duty metal door in front of them.